Scott Baxter, President and CEO of Sniper Resources was at the recent PDAC convention and trade show. He's been a member since 1992, has over thirty years in the business and has been highly successful, so it's usually worth taking note of what he says.
“I took my last company, Tone Resources, public in May 2003 at 50 cents,” recalls Scott. “I turned $78,000 into $53 million in 2006-07 at this show when Rob McEwen took me over. He invested in me and so did Teck Cominco. They both made 1000% and I was offered a position with them but, to be honest, I like to go from zero to $50 million on my own.”
Need to insert the latest version with all 5 properties shown. I think Joey has a newer version with text from the new handout. Here’s the map though.
Business Model
He's following the Rob McEwen model by owning around 21% of his current company and is trying to replicate the success he had with Tone Resources, which is to develop good basic gold prospects, specifically in Nevada where his skill set is and his team is based. In order to achieve this, there's a lot of activity at a number of projects within the state. Scott says: “We've just done two drill programs, our fifth and sixth. We drilled Guild in September, Overland Pass in January and February and came off from that with technical successes but not as good as what we were looking for. We're now drilling Weepah; where we just completed eight holes last month. Assays have been received and showed significant values in all eight holes, with a high of 21.8 grams Au/tonne over 5 feet in one hole, and a longest continuous significantly mineralized interval of 155 feet in another hole, running from surface to the end of the hole.
“The expectations at Weepah are for a Carlin-type ore zone, quite different from the relatively thin quartz vein mined historically. I'm expecting ore grade holes out of this because there have been some pre-existing holes that we set up over the top of and we're just trying to increase the ore body size. So it's a very positive outlook and I've also got the Laura claims I'm now going to do some geophysics there to identify targets for drilling. They're 1.6 miles from Barrick’s Cortez Hills complex and I acquired the Lauras last year. So this is going to be my seventh drill program. I'll probably do that in June. I'll go back to Weepah and finish the second drill campaign there before the end of April.”
Sniper Resources has control of five properties in Nevada, totaling 6,220 acres. Overland Pass is next to Barrick's multimillion ounce Bald Mountain Mine, which is currently being operated and expanded. The recent second phase drilling program comprised 18 holes at 14 drill sites and totaled 7,330 feet. One of the drills was subsequently moved to Weepah where the drill program aimed to offset and fill in between holes drilled previously by Columbus Gold Corp.
Long Game
Four of the properties were acquired from vendors John Livermore and Andy Wallace, who have made a number of discoveries in the state. “We're probably one of their most productive joint venture partners,” remarks Scott. “This is our sixth drill program in 14 months but we realize if we put 70 cents of every dollar in the ground, we'll probably have a better chance of coming up with something. That's what we're going to do and there are other projects we're looking at on an on-going basis. Some you hit and some you don't but that's the game. If it was that easy, everybody would be doing it, so it is challenging and money's extremely scarce. But if you work a little harder and put the money in the ground, it repays itself and, like Tone, you've got to have patience and remember it's a long game.”
Concentrating on putting money in the ground was one of the reasons Scott recently raised almost $350,000 through a non-brokered private placement. This comprised units of one share and one warrant to purchase an additional common share at 25 cents per share for a period of one year. There were no finder's fees or commission paid, meaning everything raised can be invested in the company.
Need to update shares outstanding etc I think.
Scott accepts it's a tough time for juniors, whose stocks haven't recovered like some of the producers have done. However, he thinks this is the year for the juniors, which will be partly due to the state of the economy and the price of gold: “I think you can concur that the banking system really hasn’t changed other than they've added three zeroes rather than the typical one. But the US still hasn't even reported they're in any trouble yet but we know Europe's the same and we know the banking system is one that's going to make gold go higher. If you want an example, in 2003 when I did Tone, gold was $258, now it's $1700.
“McEwen Mining had an 18 month payout on this silver project in Argentina. It turned out to be five months because silver went from $10 to $48 then, now $34-35. I don't see it retreating because the currencies are a loss and you can't afford to play that game. That's why people are in the metals and I think it’s here for a long while. I know Rob McEwen was quoted on Tuesday that he's looking at $5000 gold.”
Scott puts a great deal of faith in his management team, who has a lot of experience in Nevada in particular. Vice President of Exploration is Doug McGibbon who has discovered ten million ounces there. He discovered several new orebodies at the Marigold and Pinson mines, and took Marigold, which is still producing, from exploration through to production for nineteen years and is very well connected in the state. His connections include drill crews, which is why the company uses drilling contractor Boart Longyear, one of the few juniors that does.
The management in general has enough faith in the company to own 16-17 million of the 30 million shares issued and Scott says they're in it for the long haul. He continues: “We have a lot of experience in Nevada and a very good reputation. The trick is to keep hanging on by just keeping your nose to the ground and keep drilling. The only way to change material facts is to drill. We promote when we have something and the only way to have something is to drill and find it.”
http://www.sniperresources.com/
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Contact Information |
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Mr Scott D. Baxter, President
3374 West 19th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V6S 1C2
Toll Free 1-888-737-2454
Telephone 604-263-5614
Fax 604-263-8415
E-Mail scott@sniperresources.com |