Ian McPherson, Director of Marketing for the Discovery Group with Al Alper at the Cambridge House World Investment Resource Conference in Vancouver June 2010
The main concept behind the Discovery Group is to create opportunities for world-class exploration success through the sharing of resources and intellectual capital. Director of Marketing Ian McPherson deals with all the companies in the group and so is the ideal person to put us in the picture about its various activities.
The Discovery Group was formed in 2005 by John Williamson, P.Geol. and John Robbins, P.Geo. , both of whom had achieved great exploration success. At the time there were several companies but this number has since expanded to eight.
Independent Companies
“They’re all independently traded and independently managed,” comments Ian. “So, while there is some crossover and sharing of ideas, the whole purpose for the group is to create a vehicle to share infrastructure and marketing costs and leverage industry relationships to allow our management groups to focus more resources on their own unique company projects.” In addition to this, the group also shares investors, with a number of key stakeholders across several companies.
In regards to the pooling of knowledge, the general thinking is that if one company in the group comes across a kind of geology it hasn’t experienced before or a jurisdiction it hasn’t operated in, then somewhere in the group is likely to be someone who has the necessary knowledge and ability. “It makes sense to be able to pool these resources,” says Ian.
Another benefit is the shared equity between companies within the group. Ideally a good news story released by one company can reflect well on the other members of the group. Ian remarks: “It may be something to which the market will react positively, gets a lot of attention and allows the other companies in the group to borrow some equity from that.”
The common theme among the companies is that they’re all actively involved in exploration and development projects, although across a diverse range of mineral commodities. “They’re companies that are able to offer people a diverse view, both in geology and geographic areas, as far as Australia, Alaska as well as Canada,” confirms Ian. The geographic spread covers both North and South America plus Australia.
Award Winning Company
•Gold - Kaminak Gold Corporation, North Country Gold Corp., Niblack Mineral Development Inc. and Cedar Mountain Exploration Inc.
•Uranium - Kivalliq Energy Corporation
•Base metals - Niblack Mineral Development Inc. and Brilliant Mining Corp. (former nickel miner)
•Diamonds - Indicator Minerals Inc.
•Coal - Corsa Capital Ltd.
The Discovery Group Companies
Brilliant Mining Corporation (BLT: TSXV) is a two-time TSX-Venture exchange Top 50 award winning resource company. Having sold a 25% interest in the Lanfranchi Nickle Mine to Panoramic Resources in Australia in 2009, it is looking for new projects and has funds available. The aim is to find undervalued but quality resource projects that are at an advanced stage, irrespective of the commodity.
Cedar Mountain Exploration Inc. (CED: TSXV) is advancing its newly acquired Kelly Creek project in Alaska, which fits into the business well. The aim for all Cedar’s projects is to assess whether they are worth advancement and make quick decisions rather than expend years of effort. “We are currently doing exploration on what appears to be a sediment-hosted gold deposit— gold sampling, etc.,” says Ian.
The third company is Corsa Capital Ltd. (CSO: TSXV), which is headquartered in Vancouver but is currently looking at metallurgical coal in Pennsylvania. This is a 105-acre site, operated though an option agreement, where the size of the reserve is still to be determined.
Adding to the group’s diversity is Indicator Minerals Ltd. (IME: TSXV), a diamond exploration company that is exploring more than 2.27 million acres in the Canadian Arctic. It has two main projects are underway at Nanuq North and Grail in Nunavut, with drilling ongoing and some significant kimberlite discoveries.
Kaminak Gold Corporation (KAM:TSXV) has several current projects, with the main focus on its Coffee Gold Project in the White Gold district of the Yukon where eleven gold zones have been identified through soil sampling and trenching and drilling is currently underway. Ian comments: “The first discovery hole was 17.1 grams per ton gold over 15.5 meters. And that was in the first two holes drilled on the property, which were in the Supremo Zone. There has been substantial drilling and significant results this summer with a planned 15,000 to 20,000 metres to be drilled on the property.
Landmark Partnership
Kivalliq Energy Corporation (KIV:TSXV) was formed out of Kaminak and is a uranium exploration and development company specifically formed to advance the historic Lac Cinquante uranium deposit in Nunavut. “The interesting thing about it is that it’s the first company in Canada to sign a landmark partnership with the Inuit of Nunavut to explore for uranium on Inuit-owned land there,” says Ian. “It’s a partnership with the Inuit, it isn’t a supplier relationship. The Inuit are actually involved as stakeholders in the project.”
The area was unexplored for 25 years but there is a lot of historic data available from work prior to that. Ian explains: “It’s an historic 20.4 million pound uranium deposit non NI 43-101compliant, so we’re aiming to get a compliant resource for quarter one of next year and we’re currently drilling a 10,000 meter program this year. We’ve just finished about 2,300 meters of that program.”
Niblack Mineral Development Inc. (NIB: TSXV) has an advanced stage asset in South East Alaska on Prince of Wales Island. “It’s a joint venture with Heatherdale Resources Limited, which is a Hunter Dickinson company,” remarks Ian. “It’s a copper-gold-zinc-silver deposit and Heatherdale has a right to earn a 70% interest. They have to spend $15 million over three years to get 51% and an additional $10 million to get 60%. They’ve to take it to bankable feasibility to get to 70%.”
The last of the companies is North Country Gold Corp. (NCG: TSVX), which was created to develop the Three Bluffs Gold Deposit in the Committee Bay greenstone belt in Nunavut. There’s a lot of activity in 2010, with an extensive drill program planned to finish by the end of summer. The NI 43-101 compliant deposit has 2.7 meters at 5.85 grams per ton of gold and 1.27 meters at 5.98 grams per ton, giving 508,000 ounces of gold indicated and 244,600 ounces inferred.
“There are a lot of companies so there are a lot of things going on, which makes the Discovery Group very dynamic,” concludes Ian. “It’s certainly an interesting place to be when you have so many talented people under one roof. The sharing of knowledge is great.”
For more information:
http://www.discoveryexp.com
Contact
Ian McPherson
Director of Marketing
Phone: 604-646-4523
Email: ianm@discoveryexp.com
CORPORATE OFFICE
Discovery Group
1440-625 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6C 2T6
Phone: 604-646-4527
Fax: 604-646-4526
EDMONTON OFFICE
Discovery Group
220-9797 45th Ave.
Edmonton, AB
Canada T6E 5V8
Phone: 780-437-6624
Fax: 780-439-7308
AUSTRALIAN OFFICE
Discovery Group
39b Kensington St
East Perth
Western Australia 6004
Phone: 011-61-8-9261-9190
Fax: 011-61-8-9221-6288
Brilliant Mining Corp.
Investor Relations
Brian Budd
Direct Tel: 604-646-4525
Cell: 604-671-5291
Toll Free: 1-888-331-2269
Email: info@brilliantmining.com
Cedar Mountain Exploration Inc.
Investor Relations
Charles Chebry,
CEO, Director
Direct Tel: (403) 454-1297
Email: Charlesc@cedarmountainexp.com
Corsa Capital Ltd.
Main Tel: 604-646-4527
Toll Free: 1-888-331-2269
Email: communication@corsacapital.com
Indicator Minerals Inc.
Direct Tel: 604-331-4605
Toll Free: 1-877-331-4605
Email: info@indicatorminerals.com
Kaminak Gold Corporation
Investor Relations
Tony Reda
Direct Tel: 604-646-4534
Toll Free: 1-888-331-2269
Email: info@kaminak.com
Kivalliq Energy Corporation
Investor Relations
Tony Reda
Direct Tel: 604-646-4534
Toll Free: 1-888-331-2269
Email: info@kivalliqenergy.com
Niblack Mineral Development Inc.
Investor Relations
Brian Budd
Direct Tel: 604-646-4525
Cell: 604-671-5291
Toll Free: 1-888-331-2269
Email: info@niblack.com
North Country Gold Corp.
Investor Relations
Brian Budd
Direct Tel: 604-646-4525
Cell: 604-671-5291
Toll Free: 1-888-331-2269
Email: info@brilliantmining.com