Categories: Base Metals / Precious Metals
Topics: General Base Metals / General Precious Metals

Millrock Resources (TSX-V: MRO) CEO Greg Beischer on Sale of Stellar Copper-Gold Project to Coventry Resources for Equity Stake

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is President and CEO of Millrock Resources (TSX-V: MRO)(OTC: MLRKF), Mr. Greg Beischer. Greg, how are you this evening?

Greg Beischer: I'm doing very well, Gerardo. Thanks for speaking with me again.

Gerardo Del Real: Well, thank you for taking the time. I know that you're up in Vancouver for the Sprott Conference. How is the mood?

Greg Beischer: It's pretty upbeat. I think it's been improving through the week, Gerardo. We've been in the summer doldrums, but I think investors are ready to get back at it in anticipation. It's very common in September that things pick up, I think people are anticipating that. They're excited to be looking at the companies that are here at the Sprott Natural Resource Symposium, which they're all great companies. There's 50 hand-chosen companies here in which Sprott is an investor. We're very pleased to be counted amongst them.

Gerardo Del Real: I don't think it's a coincidence that Millrock received an invitation. You have the possibility for multiple drill programs happening, beginning in August. We got the first news release explaining that today. The news, the headline reads, "Millrock Takes Equity Stake in Coventry Resources Through Sale of the Stellar Copper-Gold Project and Begins Drill Program." Can you provide the details of the drill program, when it will start and just a bit more about Coventry? Because I understand they just successfully raised about $5.5 millions dollars, that a large part will go into this drilling program.

Greg Beischer: Yep, sure thing. It's actually much more common for Millrock to make exploration agreement with major companies but I think now is the time for investors and, for that matter, Millrock to be taking up equity positions in junior companies. So, we've ended our project for shares. We're now a major shareholder of Coventry Resources. They held up their end of the deal and raised a substantial sum of money. Much of that cash will be directed to expanding the resource, the high-grade copper-gold resource that we believe exists on our Stellar Project at the Zackly deposit.

We'll have two drills, hopefully starting two weeks from now. One drill to re-establish this historic resource, which had at least a quarter million ounces of gold. And then to test for extensions along strike in both directions. I really think we are going to expand that deposit. The induced polarization geophysical surveys conducted last year by Coventry showed that it really does look like the deposit extends. We might be able to build a pretty darn good resource there in a short time, really, in the next 60 to 70 days. It's a little late in Alaska to be starting a major field program. We'll be butting up against the end of the field season in October, so we're going to have to really hustle to get this one done, but I'm confident in our team. I'm very hopeful for great results that will help our share price.

Gerardo Del Real: So you'll have a drill program at the Alaska property. You will also have several other properties that are being prepared for drilling in Mexico. Can we talk a bit about those properties and when you expect to have drills on the ground there, Greg?

Greg Beischer: You bet. Despite the heat in Sonora State, Mexico right now, we're in field busily working away on the La Navidad and El Picacho projects, which we recently picked up both of those in conjunction and with our alliance with a major producer, Centerra Gold. We'll, by fall, have both of those moved forward to drill readiness and anticipate that we'll drill at the La Navidad gold project in the fall. I suspect El Picacho will be drilled sometime early in 2018. The way it's shaping up, between Alaska and Sonora, we're going to have a drill turning right through the remainder of this year and into next year.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Now, you'll be, Millrock will be the project operator on all of those projects. Is that accurate?

Greg Beischer: That's true. That's what we do.

Gerardo Del Real: Fantastic. And I imagine that you'll be generating a management fee, which should probably keep you afloat for at least the rest of the year.

Greg Beischer: Well, that's right. It's shaping up like we'll be doing on the order of $5-6 million dollars worth of exploration work in the coming six months. And we take a percentage of that. That's probably represents at least $400,000 US dollars in revenues to offset our overhead costs. Those revenues really help keep our overhead burn rate low.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Well, Greg, I hope to have you back on once those drill programs commence. Obviously, the copper market here is on fire lately. I think a copper-gold project success there in Alaska, I think, would go a long way towards catching people's attention again.

Greg Beischer: Yeah. I've been very bullish on copper for a long time. I really think it's going to be a metal in huge demand as we move to electrified cars and the like. So over the coming years, I see nothing but a bright future for copper and everything I hear from major companies is that there's a real dearth of quality copper projects around the world. I think that bodes very well for us copper explorers.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Well, Greg, I want to thank you again for taking the time this evening. We'll chat soon. Millrock Resources, Greg Beischer.

Greg Beischer: All the best, Gerardo. Thank you.

Gerardo Del Real: Thank you.

Click here to see more from Alaska Energy Metals