Categories: Precious Metals
Topics: General Precious Metals

Gold Mountain Mining (TSX-V: GMTN)(OTCQB: GMTNF) CEO Kevin Smith on the March to a Million Ounces & Production in October

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the CEO of Gold Mountain Mining, Mr. Kevin Smith. Kevin, how are you?

Kevin Smith: I'm really good, Gerardo. Thanks for having us back.

Gerardo Del Real: Well, thanks for coming back on. I know you're also really busy. I want to start with some news that you had on June the 30th. You've been very vocal about the fact that Gold Mountain wants to get to a million ounces by the fall. The release on the 30th describes it as ambitious, I've described the goal to get into production in the second half of this year as aggressive. Frankly, you've knocked it out of the park so far with the execution on all fronts. I want to get into the high grade intercepts that you hit and just why they're so important. So the headline read:

Gold Mountain hits additional high-grade intercepts in its phase two 10,000 meter drill program.

Some of the highlight intercepts included, one meter grading 17.3 grams per tonne, gold 1.3 meters grading 13.9 grams per tonne gold, and 1.12 meters grading 6.4 grams per tonne gold. Tell me why the high grade is important as you try to get that resource to that million ounce mark.

Kevin Smith: We're really fortunate to have a lot of a historic drill data on this project. So we're still infilling and stepping out and, again, we're just methodically doing that in order to add more ounces. So we told the market that, when we bought this project, that we thought there were a lot more ounces on site, and it's important to us to show people that we can execute on our goal. So hitting these types of grades exactly where we expect them to be shows that our geological model is on. And this is just the first set of holes from our 10,000 meter drill program. And we're anticipating to continue to deliver these types of results to the market as phase two progresses here.

And we want to show the market that the Elks, even though people thought it was a known quantity, there's a lot more going on, on this really large land package. We have over 65,000 acres that's largely unexplored. And the areas that have been drill tested are showing similar grades and structure. So the Siwash North has lots more to give, and we have seven other zones that have historically been drill tested and showing similar grades and structure. And we're going to keep marching our drill around the property, and showing the market how serious we are and how capable we are of bringing it up to that million ounce by fall. And then continue pressing forward with adding ounces beyond that.

Gerardo Del Real: You mentioned the geologic model. Let's talk about how you've developed that because as of June the 30th, you had a team of eight geologists that were kicking off a soil sampling and field work program in the Elusive Zone, which is four and a half kilometers away from the open pits. And what was interesting to me about that zone is that, there's numerous copper showings, and the second highest gold and soil anomaly. That could be a game changer for the company if mother nature cooperates, right?

Kevin Smith: Yeah, absolutely. So with all the copper showings and second highest golden soil anomalies on the property, we feel this is an area that deserves some attention. So towards the tail end of phase two, we'll be moving the drill over to the Elusive Zone and starting to drill some maiden drill holes with the goal of finding a bulk tonnage style target. And we announced recently to the market that we've signed an extension to keep delivering our high grade ore to New Gold instead of building a mill onsite. And that was due to trade-off study suggesting that we need to get our production profile up for the economics to make sense, to go out and build a big new shiny mill on site.

So we're going out and looking at bulk tonnage targets, as well as poking holes in this Siwash North, and some of these other drill tested zones to the south of the Siwash North. And again, the whole goal here is to show the market scalability and that we're serious about growing this. A big part of our story is production, but we also feel a big part of our story, even in bigger part is the exploration potential of this property that's kind of gone overlooked with previous owners.

Gerardo Del Real: How's the core relog program coming along, because that's also, again, another aspect to getting that resource up and frankly, giving yourself the best shot at new discoveries, right?

Kevin Smith: Yeah, absolutely. So it's going really well. I think we've just started sending assay ore samples in to get assay. So we should be seeing those in the next couple of weeks here. But again, we're going to old holes that have already been drilled, where we do have gaps in our geological model where it would make sense where those veins continue. And really, I think the previous operators who had this in production, they were just looking for those bonanza grades, and they were overlooking some of these other intercepts that we really feel are going to showcase the potential to add ounces in a very cost efficient manner. So phase two relog is going really well, and looking forward to delivering some assays on that really quickly in parallel with the ones coming out of our drill program.

Gerardo Del Real: Last but not least, October is the target month for production. You recently received an update from the ministry of mines, how is that process progressing?

Kevin Smith: It's going really well. So we already have our early works in construction permit. So the site's on full swing right now, which is great. And we're pushing forward on the development of all the infrastructure that we need to upgrade in order to go into production. And we're patiently waiting for the province to make a final decision in conjunction with the surrounding indigenous communities. We've had a lot of information requests, we've always been very open and transparent about our goals with the project, and we're very open to answering any questions that both the province and these communities have. And this forward progress, I think, is showing the success that we're having in properly navigating the British Columbia mining permit process.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Excellent. A lot to look forward to, you just recently closed a $12 million financing. How is the treasury looking, Kevin?

Kevin Smith: Treasury is strong. We have about $15 or $16 million in the bank as we speak. Obviously, when you're in construction and going into waste rock mining through the gravel borrow that came with that construction permit, the treasury goes quick, but we feel we have enough money right now to get us into production. And as you mentioned, we're anticipating delivering first ore in October to New Gold's new Afton Facility. And then with our 17 day payable that we have with them, that would mean November we'd have our first cash flows.

Gerardo Del Real: Looking forward to it. Great work. Anything else to add to that?

Kevin Smith: No, I think you hit the nail on the head. Lots of progress on exploration, lots of progress on the development of the site. And really looking forward to getting this into production so we can expand in a non dilutive manner.

Gerardo Del Real: Lots to do, I'll let you get to it. Thank you again for your time, Kevin. Appreciate it.

Kevin Smith: All right, Gerardo. Thank you so much.

Gerardo Del Real: All right. Chat soon.

Kevin Smith: Bye.