Another big trading day for RNC Minerals

RNC Minerals [RNX-TSX], aka Royal Nickel Corp., shares rose sharply again Monday September 24 after the company said a new exploration drive on 14 Level at its Beta Hunt Mine in Australia has recovered more visible coarse gold.

The find provides further proof of concept that the structures containing the Father’s Day Vein discovery extend 200 metres (25 metres up-dip and 180 metres along strike] above the Father’s Day discovery area.

The company said it is applying a model for these high-grade coarse gold structures to historical drilling and mapping, and has identified a number of targets for follow-up. The hope is that the company can continue to extend the discovery.

Investors reacted to the announcement by sending RNC shares up 93% or $0.51 to $1.08, on volume of over 70 million, making it by far the most actively-traded stock on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The 52-week low is 7 cents.

RNC recently attracted international attention following news of a once-in-a lifetime gold strike in the same structure at Beta Hunt. The company said it had extracted 9,250 ounces of gold, worth $15 million, from a 130-tonne cut of rock about 500 metres underground at the mine.

The find included a single 95-kilogram chunk that contained 2,400 ounces of gold, worth about $3.8 million. A second 62-kilogram stone contained 1,620 ounces.

The term Father’s Day Vein refers a discovery that was made on Father’s Day in Australia.

“I am thrilled to provide this update, which extends the sediment structures 200 metres from the Father’s Day Vein gold discovery in an area adjacent to existing mine infrastructure,” said RNC President and CEO Mark Selby. “I believe we have only scratched the surface of the high-grade gold potential from this sediment layer, which is a district-scale feature extending across the entire property,” he said.

“With exploration and development ongoing, we will continue to provide timely updates on this very important gold discovery.”

RNC is headed by a group of former executives of the nickel giant formerly known as Inco Ltd. The Canadian mining icon and its Sudbury, Ontario operations were acquired by Vale [VALE-NYSE] of Brazil in 2006.

RNC principal asset is a 28% stake in a joint venture that owns the Dumont project, which is located in the Abitibi mining region in Quebec.

RNC has a 100% ownership interest in the producing Beta Hunt gold and nickel mine in Western Australia, as well as a 27% stake in the producing Reed Mine in the Flin Flon-Snow Lake region of Manitoba.

The Beta Hunt Mine, located 600 km from Kambalda, is a deposit with a very rare feature of hosting both nickel and gold resources in adjacent discreet mineralized zones. RNC’s interest is held through a 100% interest in Salt Lake Mining Pty Ltd. (SLM), a private company. SLM operates Beta Hunt by virtue of a sub-lease agreement with Gold Fields Ltd.