Categories: Base Metals / Mining Stocks
Topics: General Base Metals / Copper Stocks

V Ten Metals (TSX-V: VTEN)(OTC: VTNMF) CEO Blair Way on Tanami Drill Program & Ni-Cu-PGE Targets

 

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Resource Stock Digest. Joining me today is the president and CEO of V Ten Metals (TSX-V: VTEN)(OTC: VTNMF), Mr. Blair Way. Up, up and away, Blair, here we go again. How are you today?

Blair Way: I'm good, Gerardo. It's good to catch up again. Obviously you've seen the news. It's good to have a chat about what we've got going on at our Tanami property and another drill program. It's always fun to start a drill program program.

Gerardo Del Real: No, it is. Look, obviously we have history and luck has been kind to us in the past with PMET, formerly Patriot Battery Metals. PMET continues to deliver on all fronts on their end. V Ten is a newer company that you are quarterbacking here. And so look, anytime a drill rig is mobilized and drilling is imminent, I get excited because that's why we're in this business, we're looking to hopefully make a discovery or discoveries here over the next several months and years. Can you talk about the drill program, the approach to it, and what you're hoping to see?

Blair Way: For sure. Yeah, as you said, this is when it gets interesting. Obviously you got to do all the prep work to get prepared, get permitted, get your funding, get all those ducks in a row, but this is what it focuses in on. And yeah, so we've got the rig mobilizing to site. The plan is these RC holes, we're chasing sulfide mineralization, that's the goal. We're chasing basically what we've identified in the geophysical models, and that's what the drill program is targeting. So we get that material out of the ground, we send it to the lab, and obviously when you pull it out of the ground, you get some indication, but you've got to get it to the lab and get the assays done, and then we know what we've got, and that helps us plan the next round of drilling. It's not a massive drill program because we're targeting understanding in the area, using geophysics to do that targeting. And yeah, this is what it's all about, is getting lined up, get the drill on the ground, and get moving.

Gerardo Del Real: What do the next couple of quarters look like as you get a better understanding just of the targets and what you actually may have and how to best approach that in a more aggressive fashion in a phase two program?

Blair Way: Yeah, so phase two is a function of, the work that we're doing in this first drill program will then help us better identify the drill targets for ideally a more enhanced drill program. Obviously, we need the data from these drill holes to define that. But as you said, the next couple of quarters will... First, this quarter, we do the drilling, we'll send the samples to the lab, we get the assays from that, we can then do a geological interpretation and then figure out where we want to drill next.

We do have some parties that have certainly expressed some interest in the property that, again, depending on how the results are, we may have some other avenues there. Obviously we've got Newmont optioned into part of the property and that's carrying on. They're doing their thing over there and we'll be able to talk about that sometime in the future. But for our part of the property, we'll do this drill program. From that, we'll get the data, interpret the data, and then plan out what the next program is for drilling. And if there are other parties that are willing to assist us with that, that's awesome. But obviously we're capable of raising the funding and doing it ourselves as well.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. You're a newer company. Obviously, market cap is tiny. I got to believe, knowing your background and knowing how you operate a little bit, that you're looking around if the right opportunity presents itself property-wise. Would that be an accurate assessment?

Blair Way: Absolutely. As you said, we're a brand new company, we've got our first qualifying property. We've made commitments to obviously do the work on the property, which we are doing, but we are looking out there for other properties that will compliment our portfolio, which is we're a one property company right now, and our goal is to build a company that has access to a number of different assets. And not every exploration program delivers the goods, you've got to have diversity in your assets so that you can have the opportunity to, first, chase good assets that have good geological potential, then do the work. Which is typically, or most typically, it's a drill program so you actually know what's in the ground and move forward from there. And as you and I have both experience in exploration programs, they don't always play out the way you want, but that's why you want multiple assets so you can spread that workload and also spread that risk around and also spread the likelihood of getting a discovery.

Gerardo Del Real: Can you speak to the share structure a little bit? Both you and I are friends with Mr. Jeff Phillips, who really has been kind in teaching me the business two decades ago, not many decades ago, but a couple of decades ago, right?

Blair Way: Yeah.

Gerardo Del Real: Some 18 years ago. And the first thing he told me was, "Look, it's all about share structure. You start with that." V Ten is appealing to me, and I'm a biased shareholder, let me be honest about that. But it's appealing to me, in part, because of the share structure. It's why I was willing, along with Jeff and several other shareholders, to escrow shares and then just basically have them be untouchable for X amount of time. We wanted the team to be able to have the leeway to go out, get the work done, get an understanding of what's the potential at the property, and potentially go do some other deals and get some other stuff into the portfolio. But can you speak to the share structure a little bit? Because I think that's important and it's not talked about enough, especially with newer companies.

Blair Way: Absolutely. And as you know, Jeff and I have worked together in a number of different companies and some of them don't have the best share structure. Often you're picking up an adopted company and you got to deal with the share structure. Sometimes, the worst case scenario is you do rollbacks and people may or may not recall, but back in the day we did do a brief or a small rollback on Patriot just to get the share structure in control or in better control.

With this particular company, V Ten, we are fresh out of the box. We built our own company and we're able to really ensure that we have the tightest possible structure that we can manage the company moving forward. Also part of that, is bringing in people that understand the exploration thesis. In other words, understanding that you get properties, you do the work, drill the holes, test it, and then sometimes that properties don't work out, but the key is to have the right team in place. And that's my background, is we keep seeking out properties until we get the discovery. And people, again, may not recall from the Patriot days, there were a number of properties in the portfolio for Patriot and you had to find the right ones. And some of them were drilled and some of them had some modest success and some had great success. And that's now how we have the Shaakichiuwaanaan discovery and now a development project in Patriot, PMET.

So you've got to have the right structure, you've got to have the right investors, you've got to have the right approach to an exploration company. So you have the bandwidth, find the properties, drill the properties, and move them forward and get to chasing discoveries. And not every project, not every property will give you a discovery and you have to accept that, but also be resilient enough to carry on.

And, God, even people who may not remember Queensland Gold Hills, which became Q2, same thing, went through a couple of properties to get there, but look where Q2 is as well. So there's a method to the madness, tight structure, get the properties, do the work. And yeah, that's what you're chasing, is a discovery.

Gerardo Del Real: Well, excited to see what mother nature left behind in Australia. Excited for the rest of the year. We talked a bit off air, I think we're going to have a heck of a metals market here in the rest of August, September, October, November, and December. And I think 2027 is going to be one for the record book. So I think, look, any discovery of merit in a top tier jurisdiction like this one is going to get significantly re-rated, excited for it. Anything to add to that?

Blair Way: For sure. And look forward to it. As I said, drills are on their way. The drill is on its way to the site. Look forward to being able to report once we start the drill turning and then sending materials to the lab and talking about assays after that. So we'll keep feeding the market, telling them what's going on so everybody knows how the proceeds that we raised are being deployed in the ground.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent. Blair, thanks for your time as always. Appreciate it.

Blair Way: Thanks, Gerardo. Good to catch up.

Gerardo Del Real: All right, chat again soon. Cheers.

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