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

Hannan Metals (TSX-V: HAN)(OTC: HANNF) CEO Michael Hudson on Doubling Prospective Corridor to 13 km at Previsto, Peru

 

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the CEO of Hannan Metals (TSX-V: HAN)(OTC: HANNF), Mr. Michael Hudson.

Mike, great to have you back on. We were overdue for a catch-up. How are you today, sir?

Michael Hudson: I'm top of the world down under. Thanks, Gerardo.

Gerardo Del Real: Well, let's get right to it. You had some news this morning that was really well-received. You received the results of a high-resolution, remote geological mapping and photogrammetry study. See, we're going to go and lean on your geo expertise here, me not being a geo. But the bottom line is you doubled the prospective corridor at Previsto to 13 kilometers. And so look, obviously the market liked the news. I would love to get your take on what this means, and then let's talk about next steps because I know that there's a lot going on behind the scenes despite the fact that it's been relatively quiet, right?

Michael Hudson: Yeah. So, little news doesn't always mean little activity, and we've got a great focus on Previsto with six geologists monthly going into the field there and doing the work. So you've seen that work being reported, and that's continuing. And we've got Zac Turschwell down there as our exploration manager leading it all. And it's just the start of that discovery and there'll be so much more to come, so watch the space on what is one of the biggest footprint copper-gold discoveries in the business at the moment, and certainly has attracted that attention.

And of course, we're waiting for the permitting, and Peru is never fast, but all is on track. We've got Cathy Vargas, who's our general manager down there doing an amazing job with Fernando Alva and others in the team. So that is all on track as well. It looks like we're pushing towards the end of the year at best for the permit, which puts us into the wet season. So that means drilling... We can't fly helicopters during that rain and cloud, so it looks like it could be pushing into next year. And we've got some strategies to bring to the table to ensure our news flow continues while we're waiting for those permits, so watch that space.

And then we've done this work that you referred to. Basically, new technology means that we've got better resolution from some of the satellite data. And we made the initial discoveries first up using the satellite interpretation, and then going in there and doing some reconnaissance work at the main areas at Previsto, and the other, 18 different porphyry centers we've got over this 150-kilometer area in this new belt, this new discovery belt in Peru. And Previsto itself is a subset of that area. That's where we've trenched hundreds of meters at grams and got a footprint of five-by-five kilometers of soils and magnetics.

Now, we've extended this to 13 kilometers through essentially a new satellite technology that gave us higher resolution. And we just went back with the understanding we'd made in that core area, where we made these high-grade discoveries, and looked at that and applied that knowledge to the broader area. And it was pretty clear and obvious, once we know what we know now, that this system just doesn't stop at that five-by-five K footprint and it extends to 13 kilometers. So this is a real district that's telescoped, or multiple porphyries and epithermal systems, they're alkaline. That's a technical term, but they're copper and gold basically, and in these special and weird rocks that occur in a few places on earth and produce massive systems elsewhere. And this is looking like a massive system that just got more massive.

Gerardo Del Real: Tell me about the field season that's coming up because, look, the market obviously always wants a discovery and they want it yesterday. Everyone that's involved with Hannan, and again, I'm biased because I'm a shareholder and have been for a while and will continue to be, but all of us are aware that the prize is unique and exceptional. But as far as the upcoming field season, what can we expect from that? Because I noticed in the release there, you talk about having a very active one. And I imagine now with the doubling here at Previsto, what you're calling Previsto Far North, and it seems like it's all part of the same massive system, how's the field team going to be deployed and what can we expect from them?

Michael Hudson: It's a matter of de-risking at various scales, I think is the way that we treat it from the business of exploration. So you'll see a lot more focus into the high-grade areas that we've found and delineated over the last year and a little bit. Remember, it's really only 15 months old, this discovery, when we made those initial high-grade discoveries at the start of last season. So you'll see us going back to the various high-grade parts of this system and really unpacking those, making those bigger, understanding those, and getting them ready for drilling.

And so ideally, those high-grade indications that we've got will grow and we'll understand the controls on mineralization more and more. This is in dense jungle, so this is hard work. It's not just walking up to a rock and bashing it. It's uncovering outcrops under dense moss and vegetation, and they're sporadic and not common. And then, so that's de-risking at that smaller scale over hundreds of meters, I suppose, where we already know the gold's there. And they say gold is where you find it, so go back to where we found it and look for more.

But then this additional 13-kilometer trend, which extends it by eight kilometers, we need to go in there and do reconnaissance. We've already done some reconnaissance work and found that we've got stream sediments that are 10 to 20 times background. So we know there's metal in the system at at least the level where we're collecting small samples in streams that are draining off these large areas, and they're what we say highly anomalous. And then we need to go in there and start doing soil samples and rock chips and all those kind of things to determine whether the eight additional kilometers has legs, and it looks like it does. And if it does have legs, where are the best areas to focus in there?

So much earlier stage, but you're always working up a triangle with your base of the triangle being lots of higher risk, if you like, or earlier stage projects until you point up to the pinnacle of that triangle and identify where the mine or the future mine is. So we're always de-risking as we work up that exploration triangle.

Gerardo Del Real: No, look, exciting times. I'm curious to have you back soon to chat more about, you touched on the strategies that you're looking to unlock value and how you're active behind the scenes there, so definitely looking forward to getting more details on that front. And look, couldn't be more excited to be growing what is clearly now just a massive, massive discovery that I think when it's all said and done is going to definitely be worth the wait.

Anything to add to that, Mike?

Michael Hudson: No, we've done it before and we'll do it again, Gerardo. And watch this space. A little frustrating that everything is moving in this market and we're caught within this permitting moment where Hannan has been for some time, but we're advancing. We've got a great discovery. Stay patient. This is going to unravel, and these things move very quickly when they do. So really looking forward to that moment for Hannan.

Gerardo Del Real: And when Mike says unravel, folks, he means that in the best possible way, just to be absolutely clear.

Mike, thank you so much for your time. Absolutely appreciate it. Looking forward to having you back on. Thank you.

Michael Hudson: Thanks, Gerardo.

Click here to see more from Hannan Metals Ltd.