Gold hasn't totally lost its lustre as the surging Metalstech Ltd (ASX: MTC) share price demonstrated this morning.
Shares in the gold explorer rallied 15% to an all time high of $0.65 at the time of writing. Its outperformance stands in contrast to other ASX gold shares too.
The Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) share price sunk 0.5% to $22.52, St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price slipped 0.6% to $1.35 and Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) share price gave up 1.1% to $8.41.
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Metalstech share price defies falling gold price
The weakening gold price is weighing, but that's not enough to keep the Metalstech share price down.
Management excited the market after it reported "excellent" results from its first drill hole of its phase 2 program.
Metalstech reported that it struck a thick, continuous, mineralised zone of 45m @ 2.65 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold. It also hit 10.4 g/t of silver from 52m.
Additionally, it struck 35m @ 3.31 g/t of gold from 60m. This included 19m @ 5.08 g/t of gold and 12.9 g/t of silver from 67m.
Caveat to the good results
These results from UGA-17 offers "strong confidence" to the mineralised zone interpretation at the southern margin of the Sturec Mineral Resource, according to Metalstech.
The results from UGA-18 are pending but management has high hopes. It reported visible gold at 81.35m downhole and the lab results are expected within days.
However, the bullish announcement comes with a disclaimer. The intersections are not the true thickness as the drill hole was drilled at an acute angle to the mineralised zone.
This is due to location of the underground drill site relative to the target zone. More drilling is necessary to get an accurate picture.
Hopes building for more good news
But this isn't dampening the excitement of the Metalstech share price or management.
"Its [sic] great to we have hit nice thick mineralisation with excellent gold grade right out of the gate on this program," said Metalstech chairman Russell Moran.
"The next hole looks fantastic based on the visible gold seen in cut core and we look forward to reporting on that in a couple of days when assays come in."
The Sturec Gold Mine is 100% owned by Metalstech and is located in Slovakia. The explorer has competed two diamond drilling programs to date.
How the Metalstech share price compares to other ASX gold shares
The Metalstech share price has surged by over 270% over the past year. That stands in contrast with the bigger ASX gold shares, which have slumped into bear territory over the period.
This is because the gold price has retreated since hitting a record high over US$2,000 an ounce. The outlook for gold isn't bright either as with withdrawal of QE and rising global interest rates have dampened the outlook for the commodity.
