Maurice Jackson: Today we will highlight a company that has established itself as a premier project generator, Millrock Resources Inc. (MRO:TSX.V; MLRKF:OTCQX). Joining us today is Gregory Beischer, the president, CEO and director of Millrock Resources.
Gregory, Millrock Resources has had a very busy week publishing three press releases. Let's begin our discussion in Mexico at the La Navidad (Press Release). What can you share with us regarding trench results?
Gregory Beischer: It has been a busy time. Active on many fronts, but La Navidad project is one of the most active. We've been working away since February doing several different types of surveys, but mostly we've done trenching. Cutting through the soil with an excavator exposing the rock so that we can collect rock samples, continuous chip samples, along the length of the trench. We've announced the results of that work. Nineteen different trenches were excavated. We got some pretty darn good results. I would point out trench number six, for example, where we got 16 meters of rock that averaged 0.59 grams per ton gold. That's a decent width at a decent grade.
That's the sort of grade that we're looking for in this type of deposit. We seek here an orogenic deposit. This type of deposit has large volumes of relatively low grade gold. We've got the grade in places. We've got the width exposed at surfaces in the trenches, but ultimately we need thicker intersections than most that are listed here in this table. The only way to find that is to drill. We started drilling about a month ago and drilling continues now.
Maurice Jackson: Speaking of drilling, in addition with this press release, you have some great news for shareholders. Centerra Gold, which is the JV partner on La Navidad, just made a decision regarding future drilling. What can you comment on that?
Gregory Beischer: We had initially been authorized to drill a number of holes totaling around 1,500 meters and then we were meant to pause, evaluate the results before authorization to continue would be given, but upon review Centerra said, "Well, let's just go ahead and drill the entire program that was proposed in the order of 2,900 or 3,000 meters." No break. Just keep drilling. That is in progress now.
Maurice Jackson: Let's move on to New Mexico where Millrock made another strategic move (Press Release). Talk to us about staking and claims being sold.
Gregory Beischer New Mexico seems to be an emerging jurisdiction and destination for mineral investment. It's opened up. It's a state that's now much more open to mining than it was. Millrock's actually been in New Mexico for a number of years. We own a uranium deposit in the state. We continue to hold those claims, but more recently we acquired claims on a lithium brine project and immediately sold them to a company called Xinda International Corp. It was a good move for us. We didn't have to put a lot of our cash resources to work to acquire the claims, but have immediately recouped that investment.
We're now a large shareholder of Xinda International Corp., and we will hold a royalty if there's ever a discovery of a viable lithium brine mine. It's something new for us. We know that there's lots of companies pursuing very similar geologic prospects in Nevada. We thought, "Well, why not New Mexico?" There was really no competition in this area, so we staked it and sold it all in one move.
Maurice Jackson: That press release really speaks to Millrock's business acumen. Before we leave New Mexico, give us the name of the uranium project you have there.
Gregory Beischer: We call it the Red Basin Project. It's a deposit of uranium that was discovered by Gulf Minerals back in the 1970s. That company delineated it with quite a number of drill holes. We don't have the drill hole data, but we understand that there's a reasonable size deposit not verified yet. We own the claims over the deposit and covering below surface where we suspect that there could be extensions of mineralization. The idea would be to recover any uranium deposit by in-situ mining methods—very low cost mining that's being done in Texas and in Kazakhstan, and elsewhere in the world. It was a target of opportunity. We saw it come open and available for staking some years ago.
The uranium market's not in good shape, although maybe there are signs of life. We expect though that uranium will one day increase in price. We fully expect that we'll be able to vend our claims or make an agreement to see a partner explore those.
Maurice Jackson: It's important to remember that as a shareholder of Millrock Resources you have exposure to gold, silver, lithium, copper and uranium, which speaks to the value proposition that we have before us. Finally, moving on to Alaska, Millrock issued a Press Release regarding the Alaska Range Project, which is funded by PolarX. Are the drills train there yet?
Gregory Beischer: You bet. We know we have a copper and gold deposit there. Our partner, PolarX, is funding the work. Millrock's executing it. I've just returned from the site. The crew was all comfortably installed. That's really a beehive of activity. Both drill rigs are turning. We're drilling holes that, if successful in hitting the target, will extend the known deposit significantly, a long strike to the east. That would be a good news for everybody.
Maurice Jackson: I want to commend you and the entire Millrock team for working laboriously to make these projects come to fruition. Because of press releases such as the aforementioned, Millrock Resources once again has been hand selected by Rick Rule to be an attendee at the Sprott Natural Resource Symposium, which will be held the 17th through the 20th of July in Vancouver, British Columbia. That speaks volume for Millrock Resources. Congratulations.
Gregory Beischer: Thanks, Maurice. We're looking forward to it. This will be the third year running that we've participated in this conference. I look back at them that we've been really dragging along the bottom of the market for these entire three years. I keep feeling like we're on the verge of a breakout in the general markets in mining, but it hasn't really come yet. I know that I've seen quite a few cycles in the mining business now. It's got to change at some point. All those roughly 50 companies that are hand selected by Mr. Rule to participate are going to do very well.
Maurice Jackson: Speaking of Mr. Rule, he and I were in New Orleans two years ago and were having a private discussion. I know he doesn't mind me sharing this, but he said, "Everyone is a contrarian when the price goes up." This is the time to deploy your capital to companies such as Millrock Resources. I know that Sprott thinks highly of the company and there's a reason why as we've heard in today's interview. Mr. Beischer, what is the next unanswered question for Millrock? When should be expect an answer? What determines success?
Gregory Beischer: I think the mark of any successful project generator is how many partners have you generated to fund work on the projects. We find it pretty easy to generate projects, Maurice, but the harder part is convincing mining companies with cash to part with it to test our geologic ideas. We're working hard all the time showing our projects to potential partners. We've done quite a lot of that lately. It's clear that mining companies have bigger exploration budgets than they have in past years because they're really shopping.
I'm reasonably confident that we're going to have new partnerships formed in Sonora, Mexico, on some of our projects there and also a new one we've developed in Alaska. That's what we've been working on mostly and that you can expect potentially some news on soon.
Maurice Jackson: If plan A doesn't work, what is plan B?
Gregory Beischer: It really does come down to partner funding, Maurice. We're sticking with plan A. We know it works. We're not going to deviate from our model. We're close enough and major mining company budgets have certainly improved. That's what we'll stick with. We'll raise most of our funding by joint venturing our projects with other companies.
Maurice Jackson: Last question, what did I forget to ask?
Gregory Beischer: You didn't ask about Millrock's share prices. Since you and I last talked, it increased fairly a substantial amount. I think finally the market's recognizing that Millrock has a lot of potential catalysts. We've got two projects being drilled now. I know another one will be drilling soon. We'll have a drill turning on one project or another throughout the rest of 2018. Every one of those drills is a chance to make the discovery that will really propel Millrock's share price, but it's nice to see the share price improving and rewarding our shareholders.
Maurice Jackson: If readers want more information on Millrock Resources, please share the contact details.
Gregory Beischer: The easiest is just to Google our website millrockresources.com and you'll find all the contact information there.
Maurice Jackson: And last but not least, please visit our website www.provenandprobable.com where we interview the most respected names in the natural resource space. You may reach us at [email protected].
Gregory Beischer of Millrock Resources, thank you for joining us today on Proven and Probable.
Maurice Jackson is the founder of Proven and Probable, a site that aims to enrich its subscribers through education in precious metals and junior mining companies that will enrich the world.
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1) Gregory Beischer: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Millrock Resources. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: Millrock Resources.
2) Maurice Jackson: I, or members of my immediate household or family, own shares of the following companies mentioned in this article: Millrock Resources. I personally am, or members of my immediate household or family are, paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None. My company has a financial relationship with the following companies mentioned in this article: Millrock Resources is a sponsor of Proven and Probable. Proven and Probable disclosures are listed below.
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