Interview with Jim Paterson, CEO of ValOre Metals (TSX-V:VO)

LINK TO PREVIOUS INTERVIEW: https://youtu.be/xBOhGy5l_M8

ValOre Metals is a Canadian exploration company with a PGE + gold asset in North-Eastern Brazil, Pedra Branca, and projects in Canada. Pedra Blanca has a 43-101 and now the funding is all in place for the first drill programme of 3,000m. It is part of the Discovery Group of companies, including Great Bear, Fireweed Zinc, and Bluestone. Paterson states that the companies within the group are "on fire."

Following on from our interview 3 weeks ago, we wanted to hear the latest news from ValOre. As soon as it is safe, phase one of the drill program will begin at Pedra Blanca, and this is because of a US$1.2M drawdown credit facility that was finalised in the last few weeks. ValOre Metals is now ready to roll.

What is the plan for deploying capital? Drilling, obviously, but also assaying and a few other tasks on the property. The focusses in phase 1 and 2 are resource expansion, target advancement, and greenfield discovery drilling. There will be a mix of each in both programmes, which will appeal to different kinds of investors. COVID-19 restrictions are currently all that is holding the company back, but Paterson doesn't think the company will be too delayed. Paterson believes it would be safe to move rigs in right now because the area surrounding the Pedra Branca gold + PGE project doesn't have too many issues. ValOre is currently planning to get back to work in June. The money should last for 3-4 months of drilling. Between now and then, Paterson will be hard at work seeking out additional investors. He won't need to raise any more than C$3M, including the existing credit facility.

What about the latest discovery group announcement? Bluestone has just closed a C$92M bought deal financing, which Paterson regards as "phenomenal." Great Bear has just announced a C$20M bought deal that has been upsized to at least C$33M. The Discovery Group is raising lots of capital right now and the management teams are "knocking it out of the park." Investors are fully behind them. Behind the scene at the Discovery Group, the companies are communicating a lot and are trying to take advantage of this marketplace. Paterson is particularly excited about what Bluestone could accomplish with this money.

What did you make of Jim Paterson and ValOre Resources? Are you a fan of the Discovery Group of companies? What do you want to see from Paterson and ValOre in 2020? Comment below: we respond to everyone.  

Company page: http://valoremetals.com/

Make smarter investment decisions, subscribe here: https://www.cruxinvestor.com

For FREE unbiased investment information, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook:

https://twitter.com/cruxinvestorhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/crux-investor/https://www.facebook.com/cruxinvestor

Take advantage, hear it here first: https://www.youtube.com/CRUXinvestor

Interview with Joseph Hamilton, CEO of Unigold Inc. (TSX-V:UGD)

Unigold is a Canadian gold junior, focussed on exploring & developing its gold projects in the Dominican Republic, a country it claims is highly prospective for gold and polymetallic mineralization.

Unigold has been conducting exploration in the Dominican Republic for around 18-years. The current focus is concentrated within the 75km-wide Cretaceous-age Tireo-formation volcano-sedimentary rocks, known for hosting major deposits. Sprott's investment in October 2019's public financing seems to have brought a new lease of life to this story. Old shareholders have lost a lot. New shareholders appear to be getting some solid value. Let's dive into this.

18-years in the making, Unigold has spent over C$43M, most of it on 125,000m of drilling, and most of it on one deposit: Candelones, which has a NI 43-101 2Moz gold inferred Resource. He says that the resource is at surface and has easy metallurgy to recover. Unigold would like to start production with 30,000-50,000oz gold per year for 3-4 years for the oxide component of the deposit. This is far from a large operation, but Hamilton claims it is a starter operation that will be highly economic: a 95% recovery in 24-hours at a 1g/t "dump-leach." The plan is to conduct a PEA and PFS in the near future before making a FID. Can Unigold attract relevant funding?

Unigold current has around C$250,000. A public financing is cleary on the cards because the cash reserves won't last long, though Hamilton claims the institutional base of shareholders will continue to support them. Sprott owns 20% of the company, but is this just option money for him? He states raising money has never really been an issue for Unigold, but why is the company choosing to cut it to the wire? Does this make the company's negotiating position weaker? Hamilton states that Unigold Inc. needs c. C$2.5M to complete economic studies. Most of the in-field drilling has been done, it's a case of "going through the desktop studies" and doing the engineering. Then there will be environmental work and community relations issues to solve.

How is the Dominican Republic as a mining jurisdiction? How is the mining code? He claims the mining ministry has been quite supportive. Exploration concessions are granted for a 3-year period, and there are 2 automatic 1-year renewals. At the end of the 5-years, a company has to reapply for the concession, though the existing concession holder is given preference. Then, there is an exploitation permit for 75-years, which needs to be supported by an economic study. Unigold has held the concession for over 20-years and this is their 4th renewal. He claims it is hassle-free and doesn't cost anything.

C$43M Spent, but only a C$14M Market Cap? There's lots of work to do. Hamilton is confident that putting some studies will shore up the operation, give investors confidence and help push the company forwards to a phase of growth.

Hamilton has been through 3 different management teams; why will it be any different this time around? He claims this time things will be different because he is taking total charge, and market conditions are more favourable. Why should investors opt for Unigold Inc. over other gold juniors with far better track records? Hamilton claims Unigold Inc. is miles ahead of most gold juniors, having done all the groundwork. The company has identified a resource and it is expanding and open. The capital costs will become transparent this year. Hamilton puts the company's past failings down to a sliding gold price. Is Unigold at a turning point? Will it have an economic operational mine in the next 5-years? Will the institutional shareholders follow their money?

What did you make of Hamilton? Would you opt for Unigold over other gold juniors? Comment below: we respond to everyone.  

Company Page: http://www.unigoldinc.com/

Make smarter investment decisions, subscribe here: https://www.cruxinvestor.com

For FREE unbiased investment information, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook:

https://twitter.com/cruxinvestorhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/crux-investor/https://www.facebook.com/cruxinvestor

Take advantage, hear it here first: https://www.youtube.com/CRUXinvestor

Interview with Stephen Stewart, CEO of Orefinders Resources (CVE:ORX)

Orefinders Resources (founded in 2013) is a gold developer with gold assets in Canada’s Abitibi, including its 100% owned McGarry, Knight and Mirado Projects. The company has c. US$2M cash and this should see them through a drill programme, with developing 2 of the 4 assets the focus for now. Sprott is involved, picking up around US$1M of shares in the recent private placement. The investor PPT says: 'Orefinders is not your traditional gold junior.' Orefinders Resources claims to have a unique 'value-based approach' that investors shouldn't ignore. What are the two key strategies?

'1. When the market presents an opportunity to acquire assets for less than their fair value, we look to acquire.

2. When the market pays fair value for assets and rewards exploration results, then we will pivot, return to the drill bit and focus on developing our existing assets.'

Buy when the gold market is down, pivot towards exploration when the market is up: investing rather than acquiring. 'Acquisition capital is best deployed in a bear market,' exploration capital is best raised in a bull market.' It looks a sensible strategy. Is it it really that different to most gold juniors we interview though? Let's unpack this.

Orefinders Resources is a contrarian gold developer that is looking to buck the trend of drill, drill, drill. Stewart came aboard in 2015 when the company had a share price of C$0.005 with just C$200,000 in the bank. He hit the reset button and resurrected the company, moving away from the traditional simplistic mining model the company had previously adopted. It was a tough environment for gold at the time, but the idea was to buy quality assets in the ground and create a 'hub and spoke model.' Not just any old ounces: quality ounces that were strategic to the master plan.

What sort of specific criteria get employed? Potential assets must have access to infrastructure and is preferably on a road within a 20km-30km radius, and must have had sufficient work already done on them. This is how Stewart has attempted to build value for Orefinders shareholders. Several of Orefinders acquisitions were undervalued because they were problematic, some involving litigation (Stewart wanting to get rid of the board and management of a company), but by eventually solving these issues, Stewart has successfully picked up them at a discounted price.

What will Orefinders next move be with just US$2M in the bank? The focus will be drilling on the Knight project, 70km to the west of the company's other properties, with 3 styles of mineralisation to focus on. If it wasn't for COVID-19, Orefinders may well be on the ground right now. The second drill programme will be on the McGarry project. Both these drill programmes will be completed in 2020. Why these two assets? Knight is the one that got investors most excited. The mineralogy looks promising. US$500,000 should get Orefinders 4,000m of drilling in 60 to 90-days, to add to the 30,000m of drill core from previous owners. This will go into the projects 43-101 (it's the only project owned by Orefinders without a 43-101). The projects sits on top of a 4Moz asset owned by Pan American Silver (who is in the process of selling it), which should see investment for the first time in years. He thinks this makes Orefinders an attractive proposition because the two projects belong together. The chess move on McGarry is similar: McGarry is close to one of the most historically profitable mines in Canada. The geology is all similar. Stewart is attempting to connect the dots. Orefinders also owns the tailings facility.

The next potential raise doesn't appear to be on the cards anytime soon. Will investors be concerned that Orefinders will be running its capital too low? Stewart is on C$10,000 pm and owns c. 5M shares (all paid for).  

Company Page: http://www.orefinders.ca/

Make smarter investment decisions, subscribe here: https://www.cruxinvestor.com

For FREE unbiased investment information, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook:

https://twitter.com/cruxinvestorhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/crux-investor/https://www.facebook.com/cruxinvestor

Take advantage, hear it here first: https://www.youtube.com/CRUXinvestor

A Conversation with Brandon Munro, CEO of Bannerman Resources (ASX: BMN)

Munro is back. What pearls of wisdom does he have to share for uranium investors this time around?

It's been a week of calm, contemplation and reflection in the uranium space. Uranium investors have been able to take a breath after an extremely eventful period. Munro states he has a range of supply curtailments, with Kazatomprom announcing there will be at least at 10% disruption to 2020 uranium production, which is already operating at a significant deficit. As part of his work for Bannerman Resources, Munro has seen a slight relaxation in lockdown policies in Namibia. He is just starting to see the mines get back "into a semblance of normal production." He believes Namibian uranium mines will struggle to hit their optimal numbers for several months, and this punches another big hole in the supply side of things given that Namibia is the fourth-largest uranium producer in the world. Cameco's Cigar Lake is still down indefinitely.

One thing that has happened this week is Kazatomprom making a few statements. Let's dive into them.

'Kazatomprom will NOT attempt to make up the tonnage from COVID-19 production cuts once they return to full operation.'

This cements the uranium production volume decreasing by up to 4,000 tU. This is meaningful because is turns Kazatomprom's supply deficit from a worry to a definitive concern for utility companies. These pounds aren't coming back into the market. Sorry, uranium bears.

'The production impact will affect each partner in different ways, which will vary over time.'

Kazatomprom’s disrupted production has created uncertainty in three dimensions: absolute volume, the impact of time on volume, and the impact on each partner and the relationship this has with their commitments. The immediate example that springs to mind is Cameco VS Orano VS Uranium One. If this supply disruption stretches out longer than 3 months many companies will come under immense pressure.

'The disruption is a force majeure event under their sub-soil use contracts (ie Mining Licence).'  

This takes away Kazatomprom's 'pinch point' when it comes to reducing its production levels below the 20% corridor detailed in its mining licence. Kazatomperom has a big strategic advantage over uranium producers who rely on Kazakh JVs rather than a portfolio of assets e.g. Inkai - Kazakhstan (40% Cameco: 60% Kazatomprom).

'KAP will honour its deliver commitments and will not use this as a force majeure event.'

This will support stability and will avoid utility companies getting caught short in the next 12 months. However, long-term it will allow pounds to continue to be depleted out of uranium inventories.

'KAP holds sufficient inventory to meet "lost tonnage in the short term" but will, if necessary, purchase material in the market to meet deliveries.'

This is the leveraged impacts of further delays, and things are going to get interesting if the delay stretches beyond the current expectation of three months.

'Production might be disrupted into 2021 as "ramping up the mines will be a well-planned process over several months."'

Connect the dots, uranium bulls. The picture should be becoming very clear now.

'Exploration and development work will be delayed for some time.'

Kazatomprom has been underinvesting in exploration for a while now. This just further paints the picture of uranium supply falling even lower.

'The carry trade is looking "increasingly obsolete."'

Cameco endorsed this comment earlier last week. It's an arrow to the heart of utility companies and their purchasing habits. Producers aren't accepting this any longer.

Company page: https://www.bannermanresources.com.au/

Make smarter investment decisions, subscribe here: https://www.cruxinvestor.com

For FREE unbiased investment information, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook:

https://twitter.com/cruxinvestorhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/crux-investor/https://www.facebook.com/cruxinvestor

Take advantage, hear it here first: https://www.youtube.com/CRUXinvestor

Interview with Paul Huet, CEO of gold producer, RNC Minerals (TSX:RNX)

RNC Minerals is a great turnaround story in the gold space. CEO Huet returns to talk us through the latest updates for the stable gold producer with exploration potential.

After becoming a much less nickel-focused company, now RNC Minerals could have a name change to match. RNC Minerals could become Karora Resources (TSX: KRR). This is dependent on shareholder approval, but he claims that shareholders have been keen on a name change for a long time.

RNC Minerals has been suffering from some legacy issues when it comes to marketing, and this appears to have put off some of the larger funds. Huet had already wiped then strategic plate clear, but now the name change could be the final step to clearly communicate the new value proposition that RNC Minerals has to offer. RNC Minerals may be completely separated from its confused, nickel-focused heritage. This is precise, focused marketing, and Huet sees it as a long-time coming.

Away from the new name, RNC Minerals has been busy working on a new acquisition: Spargos. RNC's heightened cash flow and the Morgan Stanley renegotiation have allowed RNC Minerals to look at potential M&A much more actively. Huet sets an aggressive timescale of Q4/20, but a realistic timescale of Q1/21. The company has just signed a "definitive agreement" on Spargos, and it is just c. 45km from RNC's plant. This gives the company 90 days of exclusivity. He claims that while the company still has to conduct its final due diligence, but the veins in the resource are a higher average grade than their underground Beta Hunt mine (excluding coarse gold). There are over 130,000oz in the resource that are over 4g/t. It's looking like an average 3g/t grade in an open pit. RNC Minerals is now much less reliant on Beta Hunt, and this matters for shareholders. Huet thinks Spargos could have a transformative impact on RNC Minerals' economics. The proximity to the mill is another game-changer. Has this opened a lot of doors for RNC Minerals? Will the optionality increase the share price? Will Higginsville operations get ramped up now?

Company page: http://www.rncminerals.com

Make smarter investment decisions, subscribe here: https://www.cruxinvestor.com

For FREE unbiased investment information, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook:

https://twitter.com/cruxinvestorhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/crux-investor/https://www.facebook.com/cruxinvestor

Take advantage, hear it here first: https://www.youtube.com/CRUXinvestor