Interview with Craig Lindsay, President of Otis Gold Corp. (TSX.V: OOO, OTC: OGLD): Portfolio of Quality Precious Metal Deposits in the Western USA
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By Dr. Allen Alper, PhD Economic Geology and Petrology, Columbia University, NYC, USA
on 11/30/2016
Otis Gold Corp. (TSX.V: OOO, OTC: OGLDF) is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company
with a portfolio of quality precious metal deposits in the Western USA. Otis is currently
developing its flagship property, the 100% owned Kilgore Gold Project, which is an open pit,
heap leach, oxide gold deposit located in Clark County, Idaho. We learned from Craig
Lindsay, President of Otis Gold, that in 2016 they have substantially increased their land
position at Kilgore by 116% and are currently completing a drill program designed to grow
the deposit both in size and in grade. Near term plans include an updated resource estimate
in 2017. Otis Gold has a very strong base of high-net-worth investors, who have supported it
through the recent downturn. Otis Gold is now in an excellent position to grow during the
next several years.
Kilgore Gold Mine Project
Dr. Allen Alper: This is Dr. Allen Alper, Editor-in-chief of Metals News,
interviewing Craig Lindsay, President of Otis Gold. Would you like to tell our
readers/investors what is happening with Otis Gold, your focus, and your plans? What
differentiates Otis Gold from other junior mining exploration companies?
Mr. Craig Lindsay: We are developing the Kilgore gold project, which is an open
pit, heap-leach gold deposit, located in Idaho. We have current resource of 820,000 ounces
of gold at Kilgore, including 520,000 ounces in the Indicated category and 300,000 in the
Inferred category. We are in the process of implementing a 10,000 meter drill program,
consisting of about 40 holes. We're just in the process of completing that drill program.
The goal of the drill program is to increase both the size and the grade of the deposit out
of Kilgore. We feel good about the potential of achieving this goal because in January, we
announced drill results out of Kilgore that include 5 or 6 holes that graded 2 to 4 grams
per ton, with intercepts between 50 and 100 meters. The best intercept was 94 and a half
meters of about 4.2 grams per ton. These intercepts are thicker than the average thickness
of the existing deposit and the grades are much stronger than the existing grades.
As a result, we really feel there's some nice potential to grow the deposit. We have
announced the first 15 holes from our ongoing 2016 drill program. The best intercepts we've
announced include 30.5 meters at 5.37 grams per ton and 120 meters at 1.55 grams per ton. We
really are excited about what we're seeing out of Kilgore right now. It's an exciting time
in the development of the company.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent! Also, you increased your land
position at Kilgore, substantially. Is that correct?
Mr. Craig Lindsay: Yes, we did. Thank you. Prior to this fall, we had about
4,000 acres of land at Kilgore. That land package covered the highest priority targets that
we have seen out at Kilgore. However, due to our drill success over the past 12 months, we
felt we had to increase the land package to cover a larger area. Most of the land we have
acquired is on the major controlling fault structure that exists at Kilgore (the North West
fault). We've actually added over 200 claims this fall. We now have control of 8,720 acres
of land, or about 35 square kilometers, so we've increased our land position by about 116%
this fall. It's a significant increase in the land package. Something that I think is a
really critical piece of our land tenureship at Kilgore is that we have 100% interest in
this land package and it's not subject to any underlying royalties or other encumbrances.
Dr. Allen Alper: That's excellent. Could you tell me a bit more about your
plans for the remainder of 2016 and going into 2017?
Mr. Craig Lindsay: This drill program we're currently implementing is going to
wrap up by the end of November. We will be in the process, in between now and probably
January, of getting back the assays on the drill program and communicating them to the
market. Then we'll take all our updated drill information and update the geologic model at
Kilgore, adding new cross sections throughout the deposit. Ultimately that will lead to an
updated resource estimate, which we hope to have completed by mid-2017.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds exciting! A very interesting time for Otis!
Mr. Craig Lindsay: It really is. It's been a difficult time for all junior
exploration and development companies, due to the markets we've faced over the past couple
of years. Otis has been really fortunate in that we have a very strong base of high-net-
worth investors who have supported us through this downturn. We now have about 10
shareholders who own over 60% of the company. That's what I would refer to as sticky money,
in that these guys are long term investors. They've funded us so that we can implement our
business plan. They've funded us for the long term and there's additional capital available
from these people to invest in the company as we continue to grow out in the next several
years. We are in an excellent position from that point of view.
Dr. Allen Alper: It's very good to be in that position. Could you tell me a
bit more about your Capital and Share structure and your finances?
Mr. Craig Lindsay: We just put about $850,000 into the company through the
exercise of about 5.7 million warrants, which increased our outstanding shares up to about
127 million shares. We're trading at about a 25 cent range, Canadian. The valuation is
relatively low on a per ounce in the ground basis relative to our competitors, particularly
given the growth potential we see at Kilgore. From a treasury perspective, September 30th,
we had about $2 million in the bank. So our drill program that we're implementing right now
is fully funded through to completion.
Dr. Allen Alper: That's excellent! Could you tell me a little bit more about
your background, your team and your board?
Mr. Craig Lindsay: My background is corporate finance and investment banking.
I've had a long career here in Canada, as well as in Hong Kong, where I was a partner in a
company. I've built up and sold a number of companies in both the technology and the mining
space. The most recent mining deal I did was as a founder and the CEO of a company called
Magnum Uranium. We built that up and sold it to Energy Fuels, which is the largest producer
of uranium in the United States. I then founded Otis and my team and I have been focused
on it since then. The guys that really add a lot of value to the company are my exploration
team.
They consist of 2 fellows by the name of Dr. John Carden and Mr. Mitch Bernardi.
Both of them have a long and successful career in developing gold and base metal projects in
the Western United States. I've worked with them for probably 12, 13 years now, since the
development of Magnum Uranium, and they're just fantastic guys. Excellent field geologists.
Very strong in all facets of the whole exploration game, so I'm fortunate to have them. Both
of them worked at a company called Echo Bay Mines in the mid-1990s. In fact, during that
period, Echo Bay was the operator of our Kilgore project. It was actually Mitch Bernardi
that ran the exploration program for Echo Bay at Kilgore from the period of about 93 to 95,
96. So they have a long history with the Kilgore project, which is fantastic.
I also have a very supportive and active board for a junior company. It's led by Dr. Roger
Norwich, a founder of a company called Rio Alto, who played an active role in helping
develop that company up to be a 200,000 ounce a year producer. That company was sold last
year for about $1.1 billion dollars. A number of the investors that supported Roger through
that endeavor are now investors in the Otis story. We're very fortunate to have Roger
involved with the company. Also Dr. Don Ranta is on our board of directors. He is an
excellent geologist, very well known in North American exploration circles. He also was a
former Echo Bay guy. In fact, when Echo Bay owned the Kilgore project, Don was the Vice
President of Exploration for Echo Bay, so another connection to Echo Bay and Kilgore.
We really have a strong team from both the exploration, technical side of things, as
well as from the board. We're well set up to implement our business plan.
Dr. Allen Alper: It sounds like you all have amazing backgrounds, absolutely
brilliant in finance, banking, geology, technical, exploration and more; very seasoned, very
experienced, and well balanced. That's very good.
Mr. Craig Lindsay: Thank you.
Dr. Allen Alper: What are the primary reasons our high-net-worth readers/investors
should consider investing in your company?
Mr. Craig Lindsay: I think the primary reasons are that when you're investing
in Otis, you're investing in a company that has 100% interest in an 800,000 ounce, open pit,
heap leach, oxide deposit that has some very interesting characteristics, in that it has a
project 1 and a half to 1 strip ratio on the existing resource. The resource has excellent
metallurgy. We get very very good gold recoveries, up to about 85% at inch and a half on
column leach test. Just as importantly, the Kilgore project has an existing 800,000 ounce
resource, but we have demonstrated, through our drill programs that we have a clear path to
increasing both the size and the grade of this deposit. Again, we own it 100%. There are no
underlying royalties. I think those are the primary reasons that one would consider
investing in this company. From a valuation perspective, we are currently sitting at about
$35 million Canadian in terms of Market Cap. With our Oakley project, which has 163,000
ounces, you're looking at about $38 an ounce and a gram from a valuation perspective, which
relative to the market is very cheap. Given the growth potential that we see out of the
Kilgore, I think there's some real valuation upside existing in the company at these price
levels.
Dr. Allen Alper: Sounds like very strong reasons our investors should look
closely at Otis. Is there anything else you'd like to add, Craig?
Mr. Craig Lindsay: We're very excited about what we have going out of Kilgore.
We have a very interesting fall ahead of us; fall and early winter with the release of these
40 drill holes upcoming. We look forward to some exciting drill results for our investors.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent!
http://www.otisgold.com/
580 - 625 Howe Street
Vancouver, B.C., V6C 2T6
Tel: 604.683.2507
Fax: 604.608.9002
E-mail: info@otisgold.com
Craig Lindsay, President
E-mail: craig@otisgold.com
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