Geologists Turn to Wyoming in Search of Gold, Backed by Investors and Public Listing

In a modern-day twist on gold prospecting, two geologists based in Stillwater, Minnesota, have set their sights on the hills of Wyoming, aiming to uncover what they believe could be a significant untapped gold resource, the Minnesota Star Tribune reports.

Rob Bergmann and Brian Lentz, co-founders of Relevant Gold, are spearheading a venture they say could reveal a geologic extension of Canada’s Abitibi gold belt—one of the most productive gold regions in the world.

To support their ambitions, Bergmann and Lentz took Relevant Gold public on the Canadian Securities Exchange in 2022. Since then, the company has graduated to the Toronto Stock Exchange Venture Exchange and also listed shares on the U.S.-based OTCQB market. These listings have enabled the company to attract investment capital despite broader market hesitancy toward traditional IPOs. Canadian exchanges, in particular, are known for their more favorable conditions for early-stage resource companies and an investor base familiar with the inherent risks.

Relevant Gold’s business model is exploratory and speculative, common for junior mining companies, which often face high failure rates. The company’s shares currently trade around 25 cents each. Nonetheless, they have drawn interest from notable investors, including William Bollinger, retired co-founder of Egerton Capital Limited, who recently increased his stake. In a news release, Bollinger expressed confidence in the leadership team and the potential for “district-scale” gold discoveries in Wyoming.

The company’s efforts are centered in west-central Wyoming, where it has secured over 50,000 acres across five exploration sites. Bergmann and Lentz base their theory on the belief that part of the Abitibi gold belt, now located in Canada, may have shifted to present-day Wyoming through plate tectonic movement roughly 2.7 billion years ago. Using this “new eyes on old rocks” approach, they are conducting geological mapping, test drillings, and scientific data analysis to validate the theory.

Relevant Gold’s operational headquarters remain in Stillwater, with a field office in Riverton, Wyoming, and a legal base in Vancouver, Canada, to meet exchange requirements. The company has raised approximately $23.6 million CAD through its listing and private placements, including a $5.6 million direct listing raise in 2022.

Their strategic investor network includes Kinross Gold Corp., a major Canadian mining firm that now holds a significant share of Relevant Gold. Bergmann and Lentz, both geologists by training, are not focused on operating mines themselves; if test results show economic feasibility, they expect to sell the project to a larger mining company for development.

Beyond Relevant Gold, the duo also runs Big Rock Exploration, a consulting firm that has partnered with major global mining companies, and Exsolve Recycling Technologies, which extracts battery-grade metals from industrial waste. Still, their current priority is advancing Relevant Gold’s fieldwork and investment outreach.

As interest in securing domestic sources of precious and critical minerals grows, Bergmann and Lentz believe they are well positioned.

“The pump is primed, the market is primed,” Bergmann noted, signaling optimism for what lies ahead in Wyoming’s bedrock.