Cardinal is blazing a trail as the only Australia-listed company in its corner of Ghana. Explorers express confidence in many ways, some more convincingly than others, and this junior company has expressed this with the most sincerest form of investment any explorer can make: management lives on location.

Managing director Archie Koimtsidis has been living and working in west Africa for more than 20 years. He says this onsite presence offers the company an edge that other foreign operators with distant headquarters can't match.

"Our management and exploration team lives less than an hour's drive from the drill and our main tenements," he said "This enables us to make hour-by-hour decisions.

"We are not a massive oceanliner - we can operate like a speedboat, manoeuvring, ducking and weaving while taking advantage of opportunities as we drill.

"Having a tight corporate structure and onsite presence gives us an advantage over other junior explorers. By the time other juniors process important information through multiple corporate layers they have already spent the money. Our corporate structure enables fast decisions and faster outcomes."

Perhaps the ultimate form of business confidence in its future prospects is underpinned by the ownership structure of the business.

"The directors own 19% of the stock, which speaks volumes. We're heavily invested in what we believe," Koimtsidis said.

"The top 20 shareholders, who have supported Cardinal Resources since the beginning, also own over 57% of stock."

However, it is not all cocky confidence, the geology is also pretty outstanding. Cardinal's flagship Namdini project recently produced intercepts including 51m at 3.6gpt gold from 85m and 41m at 2.7gpt gold from 98m.

Grades at Namdini, which is 6km southeast of an operating gold mine, have reached as high as 9.3gpt gold over 3m from 14m.

A massive 8000m of drilling over the past half year led the company to the cusp of a resource statement and growth plans that include a small, shallow, open pit mine.

This will be used to fund future expansionary exploration with the aim of a multi-million-ounce resource discovery.

The company also reports that all essential infrastructures are in place, including water, power and transportation logistical requirements.

"Becoming a producer puts us in a unique position because we are doing something out of the norm as a junior explorer," Koimtsidis said.

"This is what the big guys do; they produce, have cash and provide shareholder value.

"We want to build a business, pay dividends, take care of our shareholders by having cash coming in while we are building our multi-million-ounce resource."

In its quest to function like the majors, a conspicuous sign of project faith is evident in Cardinal's move to buy and operate its own equipment.

The operating model this situation provides is more streamlined than that of the average junior explorer.

Cardinal can drill selective holes, wait for the assay results from an SGS laboratory just a three-hour drive away in Burkina Faso, and be on standby as the results are received. Once the results have been assessed Cardinal can then plan further drill holes to maximise expansion of the gold potential at Namdini.

"The disadvantage of a contract drill plan is that whether the information is good or bad, the results are assessed at the end," Koimtsidis said.



"We can assess hole by hole because we have our own rigs. We have the luxury and advantage of being able to pinpoint exactly where we need to drill next.

"At these early stages of exploration, most junior explorers may not be as confident in the ground they are drilling so it is easier to get a contractor in for a short drill program.

"We're confident we will be there for quite a while and we have the confidence in the ground to make those investments for the long term."

The company owned and operated drill rigs at Namdini are poised and ready to push into a tantalising extension area as the maiden resource is defined.

Cardinal said this approach traces a series of artisanal diggings "as far as the eye can see," following the orebody.

Outcropping and artisanal workings in the area have provided proof that various follow-up ground surveys over the trail of mineralisation and visual cues are begging for a concerted exploration effort.

"The orebody extends ahead of us.

"We simply need to further explore and drill," Koimtsidis said. "It's pretty obvious the money's there ahead of us ... it's a no brainer."

*A version of this report, first published in the March 2015 edition of RESOURCESTOCKS magazine, was commissioned by Cardinal Resources.