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

Millrock Resources (TSX-V: MRO) CEO Greg Beischer Gives an Update on Exploration at its Properties in Alaska, New Mexico, British Columbia, & Mexico

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is President and CEO of Millrock Resources (TSX-V: MRO)(OTC: MLRKF), Mr. Greg Beischer. Greg, how are you this afternoon?

Greg Beischer: Doing quite well, Gerardo. Thank you very much for having me back on your show.

Gerardo Del Real: Well thanks for coming on. I know it's been a tough month. I know there was a sell recommendation by a pretty well-known and respected newsletter writer that has put some pressure on the stock recently. I have to think you're probably near a bottom and man if you don't have a lot going on.

Let's start with a brief overview of Millrock for people that may not be as familiar with the story as I am. Could you do that for us, Greg?

Greg Beischer: Of course. We're generative explorers, early stage specialists, and we quite rigorously follow the project generator model. That's to say we come up with good geologic ideas, acquire mineral rights, but very early in the process invite other companies to participate and share the risk. So we've got multiple projects we're operating at any one time, increasing our odds of exploration discovery success and minimizing dilution to shareholders. So that's it in a nutshell.

We're Alaska-based, so this great state is one of our exploration focus areas. We balance that seasonality with exploration in Sonora State, Mexico. But we've also branched out into British Columbia and the state of New Mexico. Recently we sold our assets in British Columbia for a big stake in a new junior company. Quite happy about that. I wouldn't mind reviewing that in a minute with you.

We've got three interesting projects in New Mexico: a Carlin-style look-alike gold project, a lithium brine project, and a potentially in situ recoverable uranium deposit that was drilled off by Gulf back in the ‘70s. So, very interesting things we've developed there.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. You mentioned being the operator on a lot of projects that allow you to minimize dilution and collect management fees. A great example of that is the the Zackly copper-gold deposit. I was going to say copper deposit because the copper grades are there, but the gold is significant as well. In Alaska it's a partnership there with Polar X. There's some drill results that looked pretty good to me from October the 1st. A highlight intersection was 54.6 meters of 0.6% copper and 2.8 grams per tonne gold.

Can we talk a bit about that project and the latest results there?

Greg Beischer: Yeah, it's very interesting. It's 850 meters along strike from the known high-grade copper-gold resource. So it’s quite some distance. It's similar mineralization in that it's skarn. But unlike the other skarns it appears to be generally flat laying, low angle and good thick intersections of decent grade gold right from surface, intersected in two drill holes. Thickness in the order of 45 to 50 meters, around 3 grams of gold per tonne right at surface, in a flat laying configuration makes one think, well if this thing blossoms out into a significant zone, well it could be mineable even. A lot more work to do on it of course, but I think it's a great new discovery.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. And pivoting just a bit here, you also have news here out of Mexico. You just started drilling at the Picacho gold project in Sonora State, Mexico. I believe that program is a 10 hole, 2,000 meter program.

Greg Beischer: Yes, that's correct sir. It's well under way at this point. Going great guns there, drillers are making great headway. Really interesting project. It's just exact same geologic sequence and setting as the nearby San Francisco mine, which is just 15 kilometers to the east from our project. We've been working away over the past year identifying targets through geologic mapping, soil sampling, rock sampling, trenching. Now's the time to make the test to of the first prospect we've identified, there's quite a few prospects that have come out of this. So we can't drill them all at once and this one's the first. So anticipate results from that later on in November.

Gerardo Del Real: Fantastic. You've mentioned projects in the Golden Triangle. There's exposure there, via Sojourn Exploration. Can you explain to listeners the interest there and how things are coming along on that front?

Greg Beischer: Sure. Gerardo, you know this is quite a hot exploration and mining area. There's a new mine in production, there's some great deposits around that likely will become mines one day. In a high, mountainous terrain where glaciers are receding, exposing mineralization that no geologists has ever seen, quite an exciting district.

We, Millrock, went in there 3 years ago and saw the potential at the very bottom of the market. We were able to consolidate very large land positions over favorable areas. Took some guts to do that and some money, but we got them at very low costs. We had to maintain them for several years. I estimate that all in we've spent close to $800,000 Canadian dollars on these projects. But recently we turned around and sold them for a major share position in a junior company called Sojourn Exploration. We identified and brought in the management team, top notch technical folks who will follow the generative exploration model.

They brought their own four projects, which looked quite interesting as well and so as a result we own, approximately $1 million dollars in today's market of Sojourn stock. We've created royalties on the two properties we've brought to the table and so if this company, Sojourn, is successful, ultimately Millrock shareholders will benefit in a big way.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent, now I've talked in the past about your ability to use these depressed markets to your advantage. Obviously, the share price doesn't reflect the amount work and due diligence that you've done. There's whispers in Alaska about a potential discovery very, very nearby one of those properties that you were able to bring in during the bottom of the market. Can we talk about that at all, Greg?

Greg Beischer: We could. You know it's a little premature because we don't have solid information yet, but recently the Pogo gold mine was sold by the former owners, Sumitomo, to Northern Star, an up and coming Australian mid-tier gold producer. Sumitomo was an excellent operator. We think Northern Star will be, too. But we think they will be much more aggressive in exploration.

Millrock 3 years ago, at about the same time as we acquired the assets in BC, staked and purchased and optioned quite a series of properties all through the Goodpaster mining district surrounding the Pogo gold mine. We haven't done a lot of work on them, just kept the maintenance fees paid up knowing that better days were likely to come, and owning mineral properties within sight of mines is a good thing.

Well it turns out Sumitomo announced a new discovery, west of the mine about halfway to Millrock’s claim boundary. And they’ve been drilling away all though 2018 and looks like they're delineating a new deposit discovery. It appears that the drills are starting to get pretty darn close to our claim boundaries. We're excited about what they're finding and we know were going to learn more, definitely about a month from now.

We're waiting with baited breath to see if there's a deposit headed right on to our claimed boundary. So we’re just binding our time right now to learn more. It's exciting and it's good cheap exploration for us. All we have to do is stand on our claim boundary and watch the drills come our way.

Gerardo Del Real: Now for those aren't familiar with the Pogo mine, this is the high-grade gold quartz load system. Right?

Greg Beischer: Yup, produces nicely 300,000 ounces of gold a year. It's produced almost 4 million ounces for Sumitomo. Has at least a million ounces of reserve and resource out in front of it. I know there's a lot more to be found on Northern Star’s property for sure. I think the entire Goodpaster district will be a mining camp of significant proportion one day. It reminds me of somewhat of the Val-d’Or district in northern Quebec where gold was discovered back in the 1920s and there's still multiple mines producing very effectively today.

Gerardo Del Real: Now this is exciting to me because you control 100% of this project. Right?

So unlike some of the other projects, where you joint venture these projects out or you take over as operator of the projects and give up a significant interest for being able to develop these properties with other people’s money. This is one of these properties you happen to own or have access to 100% of. Is that accurate, Greg?

Greg Beischer: It is. We've very rigorously followed the model in our 11 years of existence. Always getting a partner early in the stage, exploration stage, but you know this one has cost us little and I think we'll just be patient and see what develops right next door. It may be one that we want to take a little further down the road at least before making an agreement on it.

Gerardo Del Real: That's exciting. Greg, is there anything else you'd like to add? We've covered Mexico, we've covered the Golden Triangle, we've talked Alaska. Is there anything else you want to mention?

Greg Beischer: We executed a good surface program at our Liberty Bell gold project where Kinross is a partner, we're working with them now to formulate drill plans for next summer. You know it's one drilling program after another, steady pipeline of new projects, new partnerships and one of these is going to hit the big one, one day I think, Gerardo.

Gerardo Del Real: Fantastic. Greg, thank you so much I look forward to having you back on as we get closer to getting more details out there in Alaska on the West Pogo project. Thank you again.

Greg Beischer: You're very welcome, sir. Talk to you again soon.