Categories: Energy
Topics: General Energy

Consolidated Uranium (TSX-V: CUR)(OTC: CURUF) CEO Philip Williams and Newly-Appointed President & COO Marty Tunney on Advancing Multiple Assets in a Rising Uranium Market

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the president & CEO of Consolidated Uranium… now two gentlemen… Phil Williams and Mr. Marty Tunney. Gentlemen, how are you this morning?

Phil Williams: Yeah, very well, Gerardo. Good to talk to you.

Marty Tunney: Yeah, doing great, Gerardo.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Phil, I have to start with you. You're strengthening the management team. You've added a president & COO now — a very experienced one in Marty. 

Walk me through the thought process here. Obviously, 2022 is going to be a very, very busy year following an already busy year for Consolidated. You know how I feel about the uranium space. I think it's going to be an exciting 2022. Why Marty and why now?

Phil Williams: Yeah, look, you hit it on the head there, Gerardo. 2022 is going to be a big year for us. And as we wrap up this year — with all of the projects that we have, with all of the different programs that we want to get going on these projects — we really needed to add bench-strength, particularly on the mining side. And that's really what Marty brings, and we couldn't be more happy to have him on the team.

Gerardo Del Real: Marty, I'll ask you a similar question. Why Consolidated? You've worked for several majors; senior management roles; NewCastle Gold, Inco Limited… little startup named Newmont, right? Why Consolidated and why right now?

Marty Tunney: I think it's the time. I've had a longstanding interest in the uranium space. I spent most of my time in gold and base metals. And I'm looking at what's going on in terms of green energy and carbon-free energy, and I think this is the right time to enter the market. Phil has assembled a fantastic portfolio of assets… so what else could you ask for?

Gerardo Del Real: I absolutely agree. Phil, obviously, with you being CEO, with Marty being president and COO — how does that look in your mind moving forward here for 2022?

Phil Williams: Yeah, look, I see this as a real partnership and where we're going to be working hand-in-glove together on everything. But with Marty's experience in mining — putting projects into production — he's really going to be taking a hands-on approach with our projects, particularly in the US. 

Of course, you and, I think, the audience would know, very well, what we've done there in our acquisition of the project portfolio from Energy Fuels. Marty is jumping right in. He's going down to Denver next week… going to sit with the Energy Fuels guys and really dig into those projects. 

And I think we'd like to let investors know that we've got a very big year planned for those projects. We're going to come out very early in the new year with those plans. And Marty's fingerprints are going to be all over it in terms of… let's go and really push the pedal to the metal… move those projects ahead. 

And of course, his background in developing projects will be instrumental for the company in moving those projects ahead.

Gerardo Del Real: I like it. Marty, for those that are not familiar with your extensive background, can you give us just a brief overview of some of your experience. I highlighted a couple of past companies and outfits that you've worked with. But you really have a special skill-set that I think is ideal for advancing these projects. Can you speak to that a bit?

Marty Tunney: Yeah, sure, I certainly can. I'm a mining engineer by background. As you alluded to, I've worked with companies such as Inco, Placer… I worked with Newmont… just in terms of the majors I've been with. And I was involved in putting some projects into production there. 

And then, I've also been involved in the junior space. I was around when NewCastle Gold got started — Castle Mountain Mining got started up — and led that towards the production phase. And, ultimately, it did go into production, and it’s sitting in Equinox, and they're pouring gold. 

And then, after that, I got into the junior exploration companies. So I was one of the founders with Solstice Gold. And after spending a bit of time there, I realized that my skill-set, really, is more suited towards the development and production phases. And when the opportunity arose here — I jumped at it!

Gerardo Del Real: Phil, you've clearly brought in someone with ‘majors’ experience to a company that's looking to sprint towards a billion dollar valuation in 2022. I think that's where Consolidated is heading. Can you set the table for 2022 and what we can expect?

Phil Williams: Yeah, absolutely. I think it's a lot more of the same. And to go back to the question you asked… what is Marty going to let us do? It's going to let me focus a lot more on new project acquisitions. It continues to be a big part of our mandate. 

We've seen M&A happening in this space. I think we'll be at the forefront of that. And when you talk about a billion dollar valuation, of course, that's certainly something that we would absolutely love to achieve. And I think one of the big ways we'll do that is through continued M&A. 

And we've recently funded the company. We closed on a C$20 million financing, which is really well-funded with C$35 million in the bank. And that presents a whole world of opportunity. And as we look around the world, we'll continue to do that… and we'll continue to consolidate this space just as it heads into what we think is the very early stages of this new bull market for uranium.

Gerardo Del Real: Agreed. Before I let the two of you go, Phil, I have to ask about the Labrador spinout — obviously, again, biased shareholder… if I didn't like management, I wouldn't be talking with you two… and obviously, I like the company and the future prospects there — how is that coming along?

Phil Williams: Gerardo, I could not be more excited about what they're doing over there. The CEO, Stephen [Keith], is just outside my office right now. And he was taking us through some of the stuff that they're working on both on acquiring more land in the area, bringing on specialists — mining and exploration people — to the team. 

I think it's a big year for the company coming up. We're going to announce a lot more of the activity and the plans for the company in the coming weeks here. I think the real focus is, of course — outside of the project level stuff — is getting the company listed. And everything is on-track for a late-January, early-February listing of Labrador. I think it's going to come out of the gates very, very strong.

Gerardo Del Real: I'm looking forward to having him on. We should make that happen soon. Marty, is there anything else that you'd like to add?

Marty Tunney: No, I just think it's going to be a great year. Phil is pretty gung ho on taking this to that billion dollar valuation that you alluded to… and I'm excited to be part of the team here.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent! Gentlemen, thanks for your time. Look forward to chatting soon.

Phil Williams: Yeah, thanks, Gerardo. Great talking. 

Marty Tunney: Thanks, Gerardo.