Categories: Precious Metals
Topics: General Precious Metals

RSD at Beaver Creek Interview Series: Magna Gold (TSX-V: MGR) CEO Arturo Bonillas

Sept. 24, 2019

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the President and CEO of Magna Gold (TSX-V: MGR), Mr. Arturo Bonillas. Arturo, como estas?

Arturo Bonillas: Muy bien. Thank you very much. Great to see you again.

Gerardo Del Real: Great to see you again. We met last year here in Beaver Creek. Very different sentiment this year.

Arturo Bonillas: Very different, yes. We've also done a lot of work during that period of time. When we met last year, we were still a capital pool company.

Gerardo Del Real: Shares were halted at the time?

Arturo Bonillas: Shares were halted, yes. So we got approval on June 6th to go ahead and start doing the actual work. So it's been three months and we have done a lot of work in the property, the Mercedes Property.

Gerardo Del Real: You've been busy.

Arturo Bonillas: Very busy, yes. We are about 75% into our drill program and about same advance on the reconnaissance of the area. If you recall – and it's in our press releases – the targets of the first exploration program were one; to confirm the existence of a potential ore body on surface, which we detected through all historical drilling.

Gerardo Del Real: Right.

Arturo Bonillas: So we're almost done with that. Results will be coming out in about three weeks. We're very happy as well, I can tell you.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. And just so I can provide a little bit of context for everybody, the near-term goal for the Mercedes Property, which is the flagship, is to identify at the very minimum a million oxide near surface ounces of gold. Correct?

Arturo Bonillas: That is correct. Not in three months. But yes, maybe in one year or so. That's why we are approaching drilling the central area that was known, but also we are finding out a system of mineralized structures that we have actually baptized them. We have named them the Mercedes Corridors.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent.

Arturo Bonillas: And very exciting. We will be publishing again in, you know, probably three weeks from now. So we're very active. We've done a lot of work. And we're also very active in looking into other properties. We just signed the letter of intent on a property that's in the state of Sonora.

Gerardo Del Real: Okay.

Arturo Bonillas: A very nice property that we always liked, we always wanted to get. That would also come out in a press release in a few days.

Gerardo Del Real: Well that's exciting, Arturo, because I know your background. For people that are not familiar with your background, I've called you the Michael Jordan of exploration and development, because the last five deposits that you've discovered you managed to turn them into mines. So now you're going for number six. Right? Michael Jordan, of course, with the six rings.

Arturo Bonillas: Yes, thank you.

Gerardo Del Real: So when you tell me that you found another property that you're doing due diligence on, shareholders should be excited about that.

Arturo Bonillas: Absolutely, yes. I'm excited and also active in the M&A sector. We needed to float Magna Gold as a platform to take advantage, through that platform, of all the experience we've had in Mexico of the team and knowledge of the country and that's what we're doing.

We're trying to move very, very fast. I don't want to move faster than I can. But you know, we're all very passionately working on that vision of becoming a very important company.

Gerardo Del Real: With gold at $1,500, I know it's important for you to take advantage of this new bull market.

Arturo Bonillas: Yes.

Gerardo Del Real: And so I believe that's why you're as aggressive as you are. Both on the M&A side and in developing the Mercedes Property and getting it to a production decision within a reasonable time frame. Is that correct?

Arturo Bonillas: That's correct. Yes, yes. We definitely have to take advantage of this bull market. Hope it continues the way it goes. It will give us a lot of leverage as a company. It'll give us also a lot of a possibility to further finance all of our findings. So we are into it, that's our target.

Gerardo Del Real: Let's look forward a year from now. I think gold prices are going to be much higher. I believe we're going to see $1600, $1700, $1800 gold prices.

Arturo Bonillas: Yes.

Gerardo Del Real: Where do you see Magna Gold a year from now in a perfect world? Which we know doesn't exist, but if you could have it your way, 12 months from now where is Magna Gold?

Arturo Bonillas: 12 months from now we should be on our way to making announcements in the qualifying transaction project, Mercedes. And we also should be very close to production in one of the other potential acquisitions that will make...

Gerardo Del Real: In 12 months?

Arturo Bonillas: Yeah, yes.

Gerardo Del Real: Wow.

Arturo Bonillas: I'm very optimistic, at times I'm too optimistic, but that's the way we should operate. Also, all our team is working under that passion and speed.

Gerardo Del Real: Everybody should know I'm biased, I'm a shareholder, I participated in the latest financing. If there's another one in the future I plan on writing another check. Share structure is excellent. I believe you have approximately 38 or 39 million shares outstanding.

Arturo Bonillas: That's right. 39 million shares outstanding.

Gerardo Del Real: Zero warrants.

Arturo Bonillas: Zero warrants and 450,000 options and that's it.

Gerardo Del Real: And that's a market cap of approximately $13 million Canadian.

Arturo Bonillas: Approximately now, yes. We trading around the $0.35, $0.36 Canadian and it's been sustained. So when the news come out I think it will be a very good trend in the stock prices.

Gerardo Del Real: I think if you have it your way, Arturo, those $0.35, $0.40 aren't going to last too long.

Arturo Bonillas: No, no, no. We plan to do a lot of work to take it up as soon as possible. You know, we need that price to go up to make some of these acquisitions or potential JVs with various companies.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Arturo, thank you so much.

Arturo Bonillas: Thank you, Gerardo. Great to see you again. Gracias.