Hello, I’m Ricki Lee, and this is The Capital Compass. Today we’re speaking with Group Eleven Resources (TSXV:ZNG) (USOTC:GRLVF)— a company undergoing a strategic shift. Long known for its zinc exploration success in Ireland, Group Eleven is now increasingly being recognized for something else: silver.
Recent drill results have delivered one of the best silver intercepts globally to date, prompting a rebrand that reflects the scale of the opportunity.
The project is located in Ireland — a stable, mining-friendly jurisdiction — at a time when permitting and geopolitical uncertainty in places like Mexico is forcing investors to think carefully about where their silver exposure sits.
Joining me now to walk us through the evolution of the story, the current drill program, and what comes next is Bart Jaworski, CEO of Group Eleven Resources. Bart, great to have you with us.
Bart: Thanks so much Ricki. Great to be here.
Ricki: So, tell us Bart, we’ll start with the bigger picture first. Group Eleven has historically been associated with zinc, as we mentioned, especially exploration in Ireland, but the silver component of your recent discoveries has really shifted the narrative here. So can you walk us through how the company has evolved and why you’re now positioning as a silver exploration story?
Bart: Well, we’ve been getting silver all along our zinc discovery for the last three years, but I think it’s fair to say we’ve really started to hit it out of the park on the silver front, pretty much over the last year or so and really come to the fore in the last few months in that we’ve got a 50 meter intercept now of 330 grams per ton silver, which is one of the best silver intercepts in the world year to date on the Canadian, US and the Aussie exchanges. So, we’re batting way above our weight in terms of silver hits. And that is basically an indication of a deeper copper silver system that’s brewing as well underneath our discovery.
So, the silver numbers are hitting it out of the park. It’s indicative of a deeper copper silver system, which we’ve also intersected now on two drill fences, about 350 meters apart. That’s also a growing story, and we’re also finding parallel zones to the zinc mineralization. Initially it’s emerging, it’s another emerging idea, but we have very strong economic looking hits over 2.6 kilometers so far, and that’s just one part of a six kilometer long perspective trend. So there’s a lot of upside here, and the silver is certainly looking good as well as the copper hits which we’re getting up to 10.5% in some cases.
Ricki: So, you’re speaking about how great these silver results are, right? And that’s fantastic news, but what is it that really sets these drill intercepts apart from other silver projects on the market today?
Bart: Well, just the fact that it’s continuous. It’s only 300 meters deep. It seems to be coalescing in one area. It’s not poddy, some discoveries can be in multiple horizons, multiple orientations that can be folded and faulted, quite messy. In our case that’s not the case. It’s pretty much flat as a pancake along the base of a limestone unit. And underneath that pancake, if you will, is another what appears to be a fairly continuous steeply dipping copper silver system.
So, the continuity seems to be there. The depth is nice, only 300 meters deeper, so it’s hanging together. The shape of it is also conducive to mining on both fronts. So, it’s all looking pretty good. It’s not oxidized, so that could be another problem with new discoveries. This is all pristine sulfides, which lends itself to good flotation and everything else. So again, we’re expecting good things on the recovery front when we do met (metallurgical) work, hopefully in the next 12 months or so. So it’s all lining up to be a really interesting discovery.
Ricki: And one of the other great things about the project, if I’m not wrong, is that it’s located in sunny Ireland, right? So it’s a safe and established, very established mining jurisdiction maybe not so sunny today. But at a time when we’re seeing challenges in traditional silver producing regions like Mexico, for example, how important is jurisdictional stability in attracting long-term capital?
Bart: Well, it’s huge. It’s a really good question because obviously we’re seeing flare ups in other parts of the world. Not even talking about what’s going on in the Middle East right now, obviously, but in more close to home [jurisdictions] for North Americans. So it’s definitely a key consideration. I think the other key advantage of Ireland is the infrastructure. So it’s a very much a gating item for base metal projects. For precious, it’s not as important to have key infrastructure, but for base metal projects, it’s absolutely critical. You have the roads and ports here on tidewater, proximity to European smelters. We have all that in Ireland. So that’s a key consideration.
Plus, obviously it’s a safe democratic country with a first rate mining code, politics sort of down the center, very pro-business. And all those things really come together and that’s why the six discoveries that have been made in Ireland over the last 60 years have all been built into active mines in their time. So, it does have a very good legacy here in the country for producing discoveries and then actually putting them into production.
Ricki: Okay. So it looks like we are looking for a pot of silver instead. I’ll let them all know. Turning to the current drill program, you’ve completed roughly 5,000 meters, if I’m not mistaken, and still have around 20,000 remaining. Where are you in the program right now and what are you targeting with the remaining drilling?
Bart: Well, we just closed a $12 million bought deal with Cormark and Beacon, and that really triples our meters. So, we had a funded drill program about, like you say, 20,000 meters going forward, and right now it’s more like 75,000 meters if you take the overallotment. Because there was a $10.4 million deal, which went up to $12 million with the overallotment. So we actually have more meters than we have in the use of proceeds. So, it’s about 75,000 meters from 20,000. So, it’s like almost a 300% increase in the amount of funded meters that we have for the rest of this year and into 2027. So, it’s a pretty significant boost, a huge shot in the arm for us. And we can really roll up our sleeves now and get to work on Ballywire, but also on our neighboring property called Stonepark, where we’re hoping to find the next Pallas Green deposit. Now that Pallas Green deposit is one of the largest undeveloped zinc deposits and we have a geological lookalike to that just south of Pallas Green on our side of the camp. And we’re very much looking forward to being able to drill over 15,000 meters there as well over the next couple of years. So very exciting times for us.
Ricki: Very exciting indeed. So, we’ve spoken about how Ireland is great for jurisdictional safety, right? But what about the cost structure involved? How does operating in Ireland affect your drill costs and overall exploration efficiency compared to other more remote projects for example?
Bart: It’s surprising. Most people I think will be very surprised, but it’s actually low. So, it’s actually a good news story. In Ireland, you would think it’s a high cost jurisdiction, but if you think about it, we don’t need helicopters. We don’t need to build roads; we don’t need to build a camp because everybody can drive in. It’s a tiny country. Everyone can drive in from home to get to the drill site every day. And it just so happens, we’re very lucky, the lab that services all of Europe and all of Africa is just outside of where we’re working, about a 45 minute truck ride away. So we’re saving tons on air freight as well. So, it all boils down to about $150 Canadian dollars. The FX obviously is up and down here, but it’s around that $150 per meter mark, including assays and everything else. So, it’s a very efficient use of capital here, we get a lot of bang for the buck here in Ireland.
Ricki: Wow, amazing. Thank you so much for taking us through that today, Bart.
Bart: Thanks so much, Ricki, appreciate it.
Once again, that is Bart Jaworski, CEO of Group Eleven. For more information, visit groupelevenresources.com. I’m Ricki Lee and this has been the Capital Compass. Thanks again for watching and I’ll see you next time.
