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

Abacus Mining & Exploration (TSX-V: AME)(OTC: ABCFF) CEO Paul Anderson on Pending Assays at Willow and Advancing the Ajax Copper-Gold Project

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the president and CEO of Abacus Mining, Mr. Paul Anderson. And I should say Abacus Mining and Exploration. How are you, Paul?

Paul Anderson: I'm just fine. Thanks Gerardo. How are you?

Gerardo Del Real: I am well, thank you for asking. It's great to have you back on. I reached out because you had some news earlier this month and you just had some news this morning providing a brief update on Ajax. Before we get to the Ajax news, I want to ask about assays that are pending for the Willow project. We know that it's been a bit of a task to get assays turned around from the lab in a decent amount of time. It seems like you're dealing with the same issues, any updates on that front?

Paul Anderson: We're expecting it any day basically. The assays went in roughly mid November for the three holes that we drilled. We sort of waited until everything was ready to put in at once and we've been waiting ever since. I have been in touch with the lab, they indicated that we should see things by end of February, something like that. So we're hopeful that we get it end of February, early March. And it's going to take us a little bit of time to sit down and sort them out and interpret them. These are again, mostly geochemical results so we sample quite extensively for about fifty odd geochemical elements. And then I get my geologist to play with it and we're looking for increases in certain elements in the holes which gives you a direction towards a potential porphyry copper center. So like a deposit. So we're waiting, like everybody.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Let's pivot to Ajax because that's where a company with a tiny market cap, like Abacus becomes extremely attractive to me. Full disclosure, I'm biased. I'm a shareholder. I plan on continuing to be a shareholder. I'm supportive, and I think at these price levels, Abacus is the equivalent to a lottery ticket in the resource space. And I say that because of your 20% interest in the Ajax copper gold project, which hosts a significant amount of copper and gold, 2.7 billion pounds of copper, 2.6 million ounces of gold, 5.3 million ounces of silver. We're talking proven in probable reserves at much lower prices. It seems like there's more traction with your partner, KGHM. Can you speak to that project a bit?

Paul Anderson: Yes, absolutely. So, as you're aware, this is our major project. We do have a 20% carried interest through to production with our partner KGHM the big Polish miner. We've had this project on the books for quite some time. Abacus initially worked the project in the 2000s, brought in KGHM in 2010 to earn their 80% interest. And we've been carried ever since. So we're sort of a contributing, carried silent partner a bit, but we've been watching KGHM lately sort of ramp the project out. And there's a bit a background. The project has been up to the mine development cycle, the approval process here in British Columbia in late 2017, we did get a note from the government for the project. And it was mostly based on not having agreement with local First Nations groups and of course you  need that to move ahead.

KGHM after that point, basically put the project on the shelf for a couple of years, there wasn't a whole lot of activity. We've been pushing them ever since to get back going again, late 2020. They reel to in office, a local office in Kamloops just outside of the project area. They hired new people to run that office. And they got going with a program of basically trying to reengage First Nations, trying to develop a relationship with them. So it's been a very small process the last year or so watching that all unfold, we would like to be moving faster on it, but we're not in the driver's seat on that. However, I did put some news out a week or so ago, and we meet regularly with our partner every few months just to discuss the project, get an update. There's a management group set up that we're a part of.

And we had a meeting just a couple of days before Christmas, and it was interesting because we detected a pretty significant change in attitude from our partner, a little bit more upbeat, a little more positive on the project, wanting to get things moving a little bit quicker. And I really can't speak to specifics about some of the things that are going on behind the scenes, but we were quite encouraged with the more positive tone. Of course, the whole issue is First Nations, getting them involved in the project. I think there are certainly various ways to do that and our partner’s looking at that at a moment, but we're quite pleased that it seems to be gaining some momentum within KGHM and of course, Ajax for us is a major project.

It's a major part of our company. For KGHM, it's a very small portion of a multi-billion dollar company that produces tons and tons of copper in Poland and elsewhere in the world. It can sometimes be hard to get their attention on a project like that, but it seems like things are starting to move a little bit. So we're encouraged with the tone and we're hoping to see things ramp up a little bit more on that project. So positive news, I think all around.

Gerardo Del Real: Paul, thank you so much for the update that's as positive and update as we've received on Ajax in years, I am looking forward to developments on that front, looking forward to continued exploration at Willow. I think we have the right copper and gold market for A, a discovery and B, developing and moving forward with a project that has the kind of skill that Ajax has. Thanks again for your time, Paul.

Paul Anderson: Oh, thanks. Very much Gerardo. I appreciate it.

Gerardo Del Real: All right. Chat soon.

Paul Anderson: Okay.