Categories: Precious Metals
Topics: General Precious Metals

Revival Gold (TSX-V: RVG)(OTC: RVLGF) CEO Hugh Agro on Upcoming 5,000 Meter Drill Program at Flagship – 3 Million Ounce – Beartrack-Arnett Gold Project, Idaho, USA

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the president & CEO of Revival Gold — Mr. Hugh Agro. Hugh, how are you this afternoon?

Hugh Agro: Thanks for having me, Gerardo. I'm great.

Gerardo Del Real: Thanks for coming back on. I would ask but I know that you are extremely busy. You just announced a plan to drill 5,000 meters. You're also simultaneously engaging multiple, multiple firms for engineering and environmental work. 

And it stood out to me that you mentioned production and the path towards production in 2022 multiple times. So I'd love to ask you about all of that. I'll let you provide the context for the release.

Hugh Agro: Thank you, Gerardo. There are some busy people working away at the Beartrack-Arnett Gold Project, and we'll have lots of news flow to come. But as you point out, the first track of our activities is centered around restarting the Beartrack-Arnett Gold Project. Of course, it’s the largest past-producing gold mine in the state of Idaho, and it was shut in early-2000 when the price of gold went below $300.

Since then, we've put 3 million ounces on the book, and quite a bit of that is leachable. And part of the restart first phase opportunity, which, again, as you point out, we are driving towards a decision by the end of 2022 for production. 

And alongside of that first track of activity, we are also continuing to explore. We're drilling 5,000 meters; about half of that focused on the oxide heap leach material at Haidee and the other half focused on that high-grade target that we announced just at the beginning of this year, over a kilometer of strike, in the underground setting at Beartrack. 

And so we've got lots of news coming. Two tracks of action; the first to take the project forward to production and the second to continue to build out the resource.

Gerardo Del Real: I had the pleasure of visiting the project a few years back, and I walked away very, very impressed by the technical team's ability to model and map these structures that, even back then, where it was really apparent that they were going to play an important part in future exploration success. 

I can't help but notice as well that in the release, you mention assessing potential new exploration opportunities on cross-fault structures with ongoing computer modeling and artificial intelligence applications. Can you talk to me a bit about that and what that looks like?

Hugh Agro: The deposit just keeps giving. We've hit on every drill hole in the Beartrack system to-date. And our finding cost to-date has been about US$5 per ounce. And so there's lots of opportunity here. 

We do have a super team, led in the exploration by Steve Priesmeyer and our general manager, Pete Blakeley, both of whom have a ton of experience and allow us to operate so efficiently. But the deposit just keeps giving, and we've got an open-ended system both to the north and to the south and at-depth. 

And the engagement of Mira Geoscience, which is what you're referring to with their artificial intelligence system and platform, will allow us to expand on our understanding of the exploration potential at Beartrack-Arnett.

We have lots of drilling into the project. But as I said, it's open in all directions. And so our challenge isn't whether to drill. Our challenge is how many places and what priority should we be drilling? 

And so that is what Mira is helping us out with. They've got some very cool tools to apply that bring and integrate our geophysics, our soil geochem, our structural modeling, and our drill data all into one place on one platform and to utilize artificial intelligence to help prioritize drill targets.

Gerardo Del Real: April is right around the corner. You're looking to commence drilling in May, and it looks like you're starting at the high-grade target, which is Joss, right? You also planned, as you mentioned, a second rig. So you're going to be plenty busy the next several quarters. That's a lot of news flow, Hugh.

Hugh Agro: Yes, it is. And listen, we like to phase things so we are starting with the one rig in May. We'll have the second rig join in June. And well, stay tuned because we may do even more work this season. Last year, we drilled right up until the end of December, and we've certainly got capacity to do more. 

This is the first phase, this announcement of drilling. And stay tuned for the results. We're excited about what's to come.

Gerardo Del Real: Looking forward to it. I continue to insist that Revival Gold is one of the better speculations in the entire gold space. I know that gold is going through a bit of a consolidation phase where people tend to get bored. 

But I tell you, me personally, Hugh, I've made the good bulk of the money that I’ve made, the little bit that I have, whether it's in real estate or in the junior space, by buying right, right? And you don't buy at the highs. You buy at lows. And I think it's an attractive opportunity. Anything else to add to that, Hugh?

Hugh Agro: Yeah. Just want to make a plug for the exploration story over and above the metal because we have this tremendous option value and ability to add value beyond what the metal might do. 

Our first phase heap leach project is scaled for about 72,000 ounces a year. And our economics are done at US$1,550 [per ounce] gold, which is well below where we are today. And that offers opportunities for investors to see even greater returns than even we're forecasting in our preliminary economics. 

We're throwing off as it is C$30 to C$40 million a year of free cash flow in that forecast for the first phase of the operation. And meanwhile, we continue to add ounces, and we're doing so in a much healthier gold price environment than those economics have been generated. 

So there's lots of option value. There's lots of excess value. And there's lots of opportunity for investors to do very well. Regardless of what the gold price does, our economics are rock solid.

Gerardo Del Real: Well said, and I completely agree. Hugh, thank you so much for that. I appreciate it!

Hugh Agro: Okay, Gerardo. Thank you.

Gerardo Del Real: Chat soon.

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