Maurice Jackson: Joining us for a conversation is Dr. John-Mark Staude of Riverside Resources Inc. (RRI:TSX.V; RVSDF:OTCQB), where "knowledge is golden." Dr. Staude, on behalf of all the shareholders, happy new year, and glad to be speaking with you today, sir.
Riverside has just consummated a banner year for shareholders in 2020. And today, the company released the corporate outlook for 2021. Before we look forward, John-Mark, let's take a look back on the strategic successes of 2020, as shareholders profited from a share price increase from $0.10 up to $0.54, to include a spin-out, which was just the icing on the cake. Take us through 2020 and share some of the key highlights for us.
Dr. John-Mark Staude: For us, 2020 saw us accomplish several milestones under very difficult circumstances. We've focused on being COVID-focused and careful. We were already been operating in Mexico, and our property portfolio was already in hand. So for us, the success with BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP:NYSE; BHPLF:OTCPK): Working with them in the field allowed us to move ahead on copper. On the gold side, we were able to do a deal with Hochschild Mining Plc (HOC:LSE), in which we then were able to drill. And we've been very excited about going forward with them.
The third thing, of course, was the spin-out that we were able to do. And that's been excellent, as you say, the icing on the cake. And now we get the benefits of a fourth deal that we got last year on the Cecilia project, where we'll now see drilling in 2021.
So 2020 was a great year and it sets us up well for going forward. I'm excited about where we're going.
Maurice Jackson: I'm excited about all of the catalyst going forward here, in particular, Cecilia. I've been there with you so I'm looking forward to seeing what the future brings there.
Dr. Staude, all of the aforementioned was accomplished during a global pandemic. Share with us some of the internal adjustments that Riverside made that contributed to the accomplishments last year.
Dr. John-Mark Staude: It was very tough. First off, we had to focus on our staff. And it was hard. We had to leave our offices and go and work from home. We also had to go and work with protocols and work with the Mexican government and in Canada, as well to put forth all the required steps. We, therefore, went through training and worked on it. And now we've got a very clean office setup, we've set up new rules to operate in a safe environment. And we've also made coordination with doctors, where we can get rapid tests done, and we can monitor our camp situation.
Running a drill program with over 40 people in the camp was a quite significant event for us. And we were able to do that without any COVID cases, being careful and monitoring it. Also, we've taken things to the community, masks in protective areas. We've set up new houses that we're staying in, instead of hotels. We've hired cooks and are working in our setting instead of going to restaurants. We modified our work to have as little impact on the communities and to be as careful as we can for all of our staff and clients. I'm very excited about managing this in 2021.
Maurice Jackson: Looking forward, Riverside just released the corporate outlook for 2021. And you've referenced in previous interviews that the future for Riverside is very bright. Let's find out just how bright. John-Mark, walk us through some of the objectives and timelines the company's outlined for this year
Dr. John-Mark Staude: For us, one of the things is partner drilling. I have a rock sample here from the Cecilia project. And what we're excited about at Cecilia is this breccia; this breccia will be one of the many things that we're going to get to drill. We're going to finally get the drill results from Cecilia. In the coming weeks, that's happening.
A second thing I'm excited about is our work in Mexico with BHP. Working with BHP—the world's largest mining company, which has a mega focus on copper, operates large copper mines—we see copper as a key commodity. And operating with them, [we will] be able to meet the key standards of COVID and the key standards of a global major company and working and operating for and with them, even in these times. I predict we'll be able to extend our alliance going forward for more years. And that's going to be great. So, that'll be fun to see that in the news flow.
A third thing I'm very much excited about is, again, drilling and that's actually in Ontario, with our Longnose Project, the drilling of our Oakes Project. Here we see some of the vein systems that've been previously been mined at the neighboring property adjacent to us. And we see the potential of continuing the mineralization on our ground and a drill program to work at our Ontario projects in drilling.
Important to note, Equinox Gold Corp. (EQX:TSX; EQX:NYSE.A) recently bought out Premier Gold Mines Ltd. (PG:TSX) for over $600 million, adjacent to Riverside's tenure. So, our Oakes Project, our Longrose Project, our Pichette Project are three projects that we see as catalysts for the new year.
Another thing we see is more growth in our Mexican portfolio. We see more deals coming out in our La Silla Project and are working on things there.
And a fourth thing we see is the work going in our High Lake Greenstone Gold Belt Project. There, last summer, we did work and worked up targets.
And so, I think, we'll see news flow in 2021, potentially with partners and going forward with exploration there. So we have a rich history, but we have a great "sunglasses needed" future. The drilling at Cecilia, the going forward with BHP, the great work we have on additional projects in Mexico, and of course, the whole portfolio in Canada. Definitely a good year coming ahead.
Maurice Jackson: And all that with the metal prices moving strategically in your favor—gold and copper. And one of the things about copper, I think, that gets overlooked, that many people may not be aware of and I'm not sure we've highlighted it before—the global demand in the next 25 years for copper is going to be more than all of the entire consumed copper in recorded history in the next 25 years. And those are one of the two key elements that you're looking for here. And again, thank you for highlighting that and making us aware of it. When can shareholders begin to see news flow in 2021 in Mexico and Canada respectively?
Dr. John-Mark Staude: So I think in the next three weeks, we'll have news flow coming out of Mexico. I predict we'll see an expansion of our alliance with BHP going forward, with another year of work at least. That's going well.
I think also, we'll see news flow from Mexico coming out in the next few weeks for our Cecilia Project. The people are in the field right now. Our teams are working on getting it. We're waiting on the signing of a drill contract there. That'll be a good news flow. And we're excited about the potential there.
And in Canada, we're working on the portfolio there. And I think we'll see news flow in the first quarter coming out of our Canadian projects and some of the transactions we're working on.
We're super busy and excited. It's been so tough with COVID. People are working from their homes, but it has made them available to contact. And we, operating on the ground, being boots on the ground, working in our local communities, can be the implementers and taking action during this time to make discoveries. So with the commodity prices going up, Riverside was positioned well. And now we're able to take advantage of it; excited about 2021.
Maurice Jackson: Right. Switching gears, let's look at some numbers. John-Mark, what is the capital structure for Riverside Resources?
Dr. John-Mark Staude: Riverside continues to have a tight capital structure. We haven't put out shares very often. We have fewer than 69 million shares out. We also have a good cash position, over $3.5 million in cash. Of course, no debt, never debt for Riverside. And the thing we like is the income we're getting from the sale of shares, but also the income we're getting from our joint venture programs we're having. We see the capital structure continue to be tight and good for the coming year and two.
Maurice Jackson: In closing, sir, what would you like to say to shareholders?
Dr. John-Mark Staude: Thank you so much for hanging with us this year in 2020. And we're so excited about the ride for 2021. We also look forward to being available if anyone does wish to reach out. Come to our website www.rivres.com. We are working very actively and we look forward to sharing on social media as well as in our news releases, the steps, and excitement that we have for what's happening going forward.
Maurice Jackson: Dr. Staude, it's been a pleasure speaking with you today. Wishing you and Riverside Resources the absolute best, sir.
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