Among the latest drilling highlights at Bug, it hit 0.73m at 87g/t gold down plunge at the South Zone.

"The re-emergence of high-grade vein style mineralisation in the hanging wall region of the South Zone as we proceed to depth is encouraging, as is the continuity of the South and Horsefly Zones outside the recently-defined resource shells," president and CEO Darin Wagner said.

However while Balmoral plans to continue to explore the broader Martiniere gold system, it will pursue third party and other strategic options to advance the Martiniere West and Bug gold deposits.

"There are currently no plans for additional mid-level delineation drilling on either the Martiniere West or Bug gold deposits during 2018," the company said.

Balmoral is planning to "return to an exploration focus" - and will look at the potential of near-surface gold discoveries at Martiniere, Grasset and Detour East.

It is also planning to resume exploration work at the Grasset nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE deposit, saying the prices and the Canadian dollar exchange rate all exceeded the assumptions used in its 2016 resource estimate.

Balmoral shares dropped sharply after announcing a maiden resource for Martiniere in March.

The company said it had working capital of about C$7 million (US$5.4 million) and said it was reviewing "a variety of outside opportunities and strategic options".

Its shares lost 1c to close at 21c yesterday, representing a drop of about 62% year-to-date, valuing it at $29.1 million.