Richard Williams, President and CEO of Waseco Resources (TSX-V: WRI): Exploring Gold Property Adjacent to a Newmont Mine on the Prolific Battle Mountain Trend in Nevada.
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By Dr. Allen Alper, PhD Economic Geology and Petrology, Columbia University, NYC, USA
on 2/24/2017
Waseco Resources (TSX-V: WRI) is an emerging international exploration company focused on a highly prospective gold property adjacent to a Newmont mine on the prolific Battle Mountain Trend, in Nevada. We learned from Richard Williams, President and CEO of Waseco Resources, that in October they had all seven holes hit gold and they were able to extend their Stibnite gold zone both to depth and on strike. Plans for 2017 include follow-up on the drilling program and putting together a very strong four person technical advisory committee with about 200 combined years of exploration and development experience. The company is fairy tightly held with management owning 30%.
Dr. Allen Alper: This is Dr. Allen Alper, Editor-in-chief of Metals News, interviewing Richard Williams, President and CEO of Waseco Resources Inc. Could you give me an overview of your company, Rick?
Mr. Richard Williams: Certainly. We're a junior resource company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and we're also listed on several exchanges in Germany. Our main focus at the moment is on the Battle Mountain Ridge Project, a property on the Battle Mountain Trend in Nevada. This property is adjacent to a Newmont mine that's on care and maintenance, where their focus was on the near surface oxides. Our property also has near surface oxides and we have done some work expanding the resource, however our current focus is on systems that may have brought the gold to surface.
Dr. Allen Alper: Wow, that's great. Could you tell me a little bit more about your property and the drilling results that you've been getting in the Stibnite Gold Zone?
Mr. Richard Williams: Well, in October, we carried out a seven hole reverse circulation program and all seven holes hit gold. Five of the holes were following-up on what we call the Stibnite Gold Zone, where we intersected 25 grams of gold per ton in one of the holes of our previous program. We wanted to follow-up on that and we put five holes down. All five holes hit. We hit up to 10 grams and had a couple of five gram intersections as well. We've extended the zone both to depth and on strike. We've added about 45 meters on one end of the discovery hole and 110 meters on the other. We've also added about 70 meters at depth, so it is starting to look very interesting. We have more work to do. Our model suggests there is a fault to the south and that the zone has been displaced to the east. We have some more drilling to get to the fault line, but then it might go across the entire property. It could turn into something significant.
We drilled two other holes, one of which was on the zone where most of the historical work was carried out. We hit the same sort of gold material that they had found historically, the near surface oxide. We've added tonnage to the N-I 43-101 non-compliant resource. Our other hole was a little bit of a wildcat; testing a geophysical and geochemical target that had never been drill tested. Again, we hit some gold there, on the south central portion of the property. There is lots of work to be done and we're quite encouraged by it.
Dr. Allen Alper: Sounds very good, very good results! Could you tell me what your plans are for 2017?
Mr. Richard Williams: Well, subject to financing, we plan to follow up on the program that we just completed, but in addition, we have assembled a technical advisory committee. They are four senior geologists that have worked with us in the past and who have expressed interest in working with us on this project. We're going to have a lot of talent. There's about 200 years of experience there. These are proven mine finders. We are going to have them look at the Battle Mountain Ridge Project and a number of other opportunities in the area. That's going to be our focus.
Dr. Allen Alper: All right, sounds very good. Could you tell me a little bit more, Rick, about your background, your board and your team?
Mr. Richard Williams: Sure. I have 30 years’ experience in mining. I was in-house counsel to a group of mining companies. I then set up a consulting firm. I currently sit on two other public company boards, but this is the one that has my name on it, as President. Mike Ellingson just joined our board. He is a mining engineer and was a stock broker focused on mining. He lives in the States, so I think that will be helpful to us. Our CFO, who is a CPA, is also on our board and he's a director with lots of experience in mining as well. Then we have Derek Bartlett, who is a mining engineer. He has a fair bit of experience in mining, about 40 years. Then Peter Sever, who has an MBA, and has worked with me on mining projects over the last 30 years. It's a small, tight board of skilled people.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds very good. Could you tell me a bit more about your share and capital structure?
Mr. Richard Williams: We're fairly tightly held. We have 40 million shares, issued and outstanding. I own about 10%. We I have another shareholder with about the same, just under 10%. Management holds about 30% of the stock. We have a good shareholder base in Europe and a good retail base here in Canada. We’re looking to see our retail base expand in Germany and possibly elsewhere.
Dr. Allen Alper: What are the primary reasons our high-net-worth readers/investors should consider investing in your company?
Mr. Richard Williams: Well, we have a low market cap, a small float, not a lot of shares issued and outstanding. I think we have a good property in a very good neighborhood with a great address. Management owns about 30% of the stock so we put our money where our mouths are and we want to perform.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent.
Richard Williams just sent us a News Release announcing the formation of a Waseco Technical Advisory Committee. He states “As you will note, this is an amazing group of dedicated geologists who will help us a lot, both at the BMR project and with the evaluation of other opportunities. This team adds tremendous credibility to the Company and I personally regard this as an important game changer.
Joining the Technical Committee are:
• Brian Arkell- B.Sc. Geo, M.S. Econ Geo. Mr. Arkell brings over 30 years of world-wide experience in team building in base, precious metals, coal and uranium operations and exploration. Featured among his many accomplishments is an extensive international career with Newmont Mining Corporation.
• A. Lee Barker- P.Eng., P. Geo. Mr. Barker brings over 40 years of international mineral exploration and development experience. For the past few years, Mr. Barker has been the Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 policies, overseeing the reporting of results from the Company’s Battle Mountain Ridge gold project in Nevada. Mr. Barker is also the current President and CEO of Sparton Resources Inc.
• Gary O’Connor- B.Sc. Geo, Geophysics & Environmental Studies. Mr. O’Connor also brings over 30 years of mineral exploration and development experience, having worked on all continents of the world. He is currently the Vice-President of Dundee Resources, where he is responsible for the technical due diligence and review of resource projects for the corporation.
• Alexander Po- B.Sc. Mining Engineering, M. Engr. Mining Geo – Mr. Po brings over 45 years of mineral exploration and development experience, including extensive work in Nevada, Canada, the Philippines and Guyana. Mr. Po recently retired from Guyana Goldfields Inc., where he led the team in the delineation of the Aurora Gold Mine.
The initial focus will be on conducting an in-depth review and analysis of the Battle Mountain Ridge project in Nevada, where the Company has recently completed a drilling program. The property is strategically located on the Battle Mountain-Eureka Trend, immediately adjacent to Newmont’s Trenton Canyon Mine.
http://wasecoresources.com/
Waseco Resources
c/o Blaney McMurtry
2 Queen St. East, Suite 1500
Toronto, Ontario Canada
M5C 3G5
Richard Williams, LL.B., President
416 364-3123
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