Categories: Precious Metals / Mining Stocks
Topics: Gold Stocks / Copper Stocks

Almadex Minerals (TSX-V: DEX)(OTC: AAMMF) CEO Morgan Poliquin on Targeting Copper & Gold Discoveries in North America

 

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the president and CEO of Almadex Minerals (TSX-V: DEX)(OTC: AAMMF), Dr. Morgan Poliquin, great to have you on. How are you today?

Morgan Poliquin: I'm doing outstanding. Thanks very much. Thanks for having me on. How are you?

Gerardo Del Real: I am well. I am well. We live in interesting times and you're doing a lot of interesting things. You had some news here recently and you've had actually a couple of releases now, where it's clear to me and it should be clearer to the market that 2026 is going to be a year of discovery drilling for Almadex. And so you provided an update here on New Hope that I want to get into. And then you gave a general exploration update, which I think did a really good job of capturing just how busy 2026 is going to be for you and the team at Almadex.

Morgan Poliquin: Well, thank you very much for that. That's exactly right. We've spent the last, just for people who might be new, we've spent the last few years focused on a very early stage generative exploration program, which is ongoing. We have a big idea on where we think there are unrecognized porphyry and related deposits, along a belt that we've defined.

So we do big science, we have big ideas, but we get out with boots on the ground and chase them down. And so, a lot of effort has gone in the last three years and we've assembled a portfolio of projects. We've done the hard lift to find them, stake them, acquire them, and do the early stage exploration to bring them up to the drill stage. And while that is ongoing, that work, we think our idea, there's a lot more to do with it. And we still generate, out there trying to generate new things.

We're at the stage where the ones that we have put together, we're ready to drill. And the way you put it is exactly right. It's a year focused on the one hand of, while we're always doing that exploration, on the other hand, the truth machine, the drill is out there.

Gerardo Del Real: Well, listen, you are a big proponent, as am I, frankly, I absolutely love using the drill bit to figure out what's there and cutting through a lot of the noise. A lot of other people approach it in a more, I don't want to say methodical, but I would say a longer drawn out way, right? And you like to get to it, but you are methodical in the sense that you do a lot of prep work behind the scenes that I don't think the market quite appreciates.

So I noticed on Big Sky here, you have drone based magnetic surveys that you've been doing. How much of that is recent or is that something that you've done for a bit now, Morgan?

Morgan Poliquin: Yeah, we've been doing that in the background. We like to do everything as much as we can ourselves, internally, so that we're flexible. I think that makes us unusual. This is research and development in the metal space is early stage exploration. And not to get too philosophical, but there's very few companies that are starting out with a concept of premise, a big idea, and turning it into tangible property that you then go and test for that idea.

Most companies are focused on acquiring an asset that's already proven to some degree. And, we like to do this early stage conceptual exploration, because our target is something that's out of the park. We're looking for something huge from the get go. And obviously the odds are extremely long in any individual project that you're going to find it, but the entry cost is very low because we're staking it.

And we've had success doing this in the past. We're not nobodies. We've made multiple discoveries by coming from big ideas. And so, we think there's a lot left to find on Earth. That's the starting premise. And what we find is that we're amazed when we're out in the hills, and we're banging on a rock, and there's no one around us. And something that is permissive for what we're looking for, there's no one around and it's open for staking.

So we think that what we're doing is pretty special in that regard. And back to how we do it, we combine it with early stage drilling. So my view is, a lot of people, as you say, drilling can be extremely expensive and a lot of people put it off until later.

We don't mind if we kill a property, if we drill and we don't have success, because it allows us to move on to the next thing. And I think a lot of people are reluctant to drill for that reason, because of the expense of it. I think of risk as a factor of odds and the capital you need to spend.

So what we focused on is trying to decrease our odds, as everyone does, the best we can by targeting with this early stage work that we do in-house, but then we reduce the capital by owning our own drills. And so therefore you're reducing the risk. And so, our view is you put holes in early and often, and sometimes you kill projects and that's fine, but even if you don't hit a home run or... You learn a lot about the geology about how to follow up and be more productive with future drilling on that project.

So we own our own geophysical equipment, we do our own IP surveys. I don't do my own drone based mag surveys, because it's pretty complicated. We do hire a consultant for that. But we do all of our internal work geologically ourselves, and that makes us very nimble. So, hopefully that's a good explanation for people.

Gerardo Del Real: Lots of shots on goal. What comes next, Morgan?

Morgan Poliquin: We've got a portfolio of projects that we would like to move our drill across to, throughout the course of this year. We're waiting on results from the second hole from New Hope. I like the big alteration zone that we have there. I like the target.

We are pretty bold. We went and drilled a couple holes on one IP section. We realized now we're going to do some more IP. We're hopeful when you have all the results in, it will give us a very clear vector on what to do next. But in the meantime, the drill will move elsewhere. We're still working out where the next project is we'll drill, but we're just going to systematically move for our portfolio drilling.

Gerardo Del Real: How excited are you to be working in a jurisdiction that is stable, and despite the instability in many parts of our government here in the US right now, there is most definitely very established property law as it relates to mineral rights and mineral properties. You have to be thrilled to be working in a place where if you make a discovery, you get to keep it, you're not too worried about government coming in and taking it, given your track record of making those discoveries.

Morgan Poliquin: I think it's the most important factor today. And the United States, as you say, in my opinion, it's the only jurisdiction for a North American to be working in. And, I think the world will continually shrink in terms of where it's safe and secure to develop natural resources.

Mining is particularly difficult. It's even more difficult than oil and gas, because it takes so long to have payback, and to do a feasibility study and develop a mine. You have to be looking out decades. So to me, it's the only place to work in these turbulent times.

Gerardo Del Real: Couldn't agree with you more in the sense that the US is a great place for mining, for exploration. I think North American jurisdictions will continue to fetch a premium. And I think discoveries of significance are really going to be rerated to the upside here in the next several years. Looking forward to Almadex getting a few of those under its belt.

Morgan, thank you so much. Looking forward to having you back on. Thanks again.

Morgan Poliquin: Thank you so much, Gerardo.

Gerardo Del Real: All right. We'll chat soon. Cheers.

Morgan Poliquin: Bye.

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