Interview with David Grondin, President and CEO TomaGold Corporation (TSXV: LOT): A Rapidly Growing, Well Diversified Canadian Project Generator, has Three Joint Ventures with IAMGOLD, Goldcorp and New Gold
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By Dr. Allen Alper, PhD Economic Geology and Petrology, Columbia University, NYC, USA
on 7/27/2017
TomaGold Corporation (TSXV: LOT) is a rapidly growing, well-diversified Canadian
project generator, engaged in the acquisition, assessment, exploration and development of
gold mineral properties, together with major mining companies. We learned from David
Grondin, President and CEO of TomaGold that they have 3 joint venture agreements with:
IAMGOLD Corporation, for the Monster Lake project that recently published high grade
drilling results, Goldcorp Inc., for the Sidace Lake property, and Goldcorp and New Gold
Inc., for the Baird property. Additionally, TomaGold has interests in six gold properties
in northern Quebec: Monster Lake, Winchester, Lac-à-L'eau-Jaune, Monster Lake East,
Obalski and Lac Cavan near the Chibougamau mining camp. It also has an interest in the
Sidace Lake property, near the Red Lake mining camp in Ontario. Finally, it has an option
to acquire a 70% interest in the Hazeur property, at the southern edge of the Monster Lake
group of properties. According to Mr. Grondin, TomaGold has good exposure with
institutions, a good portfolio, is well diversified, well financed, and participates in
joint ventures, with established companies - all significant plus factors to invest in the
company.
Bonanza Grade of 237.6 g/t Au at Monster Lake
Dr. Allen Alper: This is Dr. Allen Alper, Editor-in-Chief of Metals News,
interviewing David Grondin, President and CEO of TomaGold. Could you give our
readers/investors an overview of your company?
Mr. David Grondin: Yes. TomaGold is a Montreal-based company. We are a
project generator. We bought our first project in 2012 and now have three active joint
ventures with majors. We have one in particular, with IAMGOLD, called "Monster Lake." It's
in the Chibougamau mining camp in Quebec. The project historically started as a huge
learning program. We ended up doing a joint venture with IAMGOLD at the end of 2013.
The Monster Lake joint venture project (IAMGOLD: 50%; TomaGold: 45%) is located 50
kilometres southwest of Chibougamau, Quebec, Canada. We recently announced that IAMGOLD
intersected some very strong grades on the property, including 121.67 g/t Au over 3.1
metres.
Only half of the grades that are available were
published. Of the 10,800 meters that we've contracted, we have released the results for
about 5,100 meters. We have more grades to come, and pretty soon I guess.
We also have a joint venture with Goldcorp in the Red Lake mining camp. The project is
called Sidace Lake. It is well located and easily accessible. We have a 39.5% interest in
the project, whereas Goldcorp has the remaining 60.5%. The property hosts a deposit, which
has an indicated and inferred NI 43-101 resource of over 360,000 ounces of gold and is
open at depth. We are looking to fund an exploration program during the current year.
The last JV we have is with Goldcorp and New Gold. It's called Baird. It's a grass root
project in Red Lake. Right now we are assessing what kind of work can be done on the
project. It's still a project with two majors, so it could be really interesting.
We also have the Obalski gold-silver-copper project, of which we own 100%. This advanced
past-producing project is located south of Monster Lake and includes one mining concession
and hosts seven separate mineralized zones, one 85-metre shaft and two ramps. 230 holes
were drilled on the property for a total of over 60,000 meters, most of which was surface
drilling. In 1964, United Obalski Mining Co. Ltd. mined 90,093 tons grading 3.0 g/t Au,
6.2 g/t Ag and 1.53% Cu. Our latest 1,700-meter drilling program has enabled us to
intersect semi-massive sulphides grading 15.0 g/t Au, 46.8 g/t Ag and 10.4% Cu over 2.0
meters at a vertical depth of 95 meters. More work is planned during the current year.
The Hazeur project, which is on the southern border of the Monster Lake group of
properties, is more of a grass root project, located on a different gold structure. It has
yielded some strong geophysical and early stage drilling targets. More work will be done
there during the current year.
Our final project, of which we own 100%, is Monster Lake East, also a grass root
play. The project is located on the southern edge of Monster Lake. We did some geophysics
as well as some structural drilling to identify and test what we saw in the geophysical
report. More work needs to be done there, which we are planning to do during the current
year or next year.
Overall, that's what we do. We are currently open to acquiring other high quality
projects, entering other joint ventures or reselling these projects. We're a project
generator. We think it's the best way to minimize the risk for the company. By working
with majors, you share common interests and you work with qualified technical teams. You
don't usually count on external contractors, everything is done by internal staff, which
is a more efficient way to work.
We're open to acquiring projects in Canada. We've looked at projects abroad. If
the quantity, the price, and the contract terms are right, we might venture out of the
country. But, for now, we are focusing on what we have.
That's TomaGold.
Dr. Allen Alper: An excellent approach! You have terrific partners. You're getting
very good results! Excellent!
Mr. David Grondin: Yes.
Dr. Allen Alper: Could you tell me a bit about yourself and your team?
Mr. David Grondin: I'm a former analyst and investment banker. I've been with
TomaGold since the inception of the company in 2012. I was also involved in another
company, in Quebec, where we made a discovery. I've been in the mining industry for over
ten years. That's my background, finance and now mining.
Our CFO is Martin Nicoletti, with more than twenty-two years of experience. He has
been involved with public junior mining companies since 2004. He also acts as CFO for a
number of public companies.
The board members are either lawyers or businessmen. Ciro Cucciniello, is a
lawyer. Pierre Lépine is a business entrepreneur, co-founded Groupe ABP and held various
senior positions at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) government pension
fund. Vittorio Violo is a businessman, former broker, banker, and investment banker. And
Robert Desjardins is a former director by trade, so he sits on numerous boards of public
companies. That's our board and management.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds like a very good team.
Mr. David Grondin: Yes, it is.
Dr. Allen Alper: Excellent! Could you tell us a bit about your capital structure?
Mr. David Grondin: Right now we have about 110 million shares outstanding,
126 fully diluted, including warrants and options. Most of the warrants will expire in May
and June of this year. Forty percent of the shareholders are institutions spread
throughout Canada, U.S., Europe, and Asia. We have a strong investment base in Asia and in
Europe. We've committed to some marketing time in Asia and Europe in the last few years,
so we have long-term investors and large shareholders over there.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds very good. I notice you have some recommendations from
newsletters.
Mr. David Grondin: Last year Gecko Research covered us and wrote a good
recommendation. RB Milestone in New York gave us some good coverage, and also from time to
time, AlphaStock based in Vancouver.
Dr. Allen Alper: Sounds good! What are the primary reasons our high-net-worth
readers/investors should consider investing in your company?
Mr. David Grondin: In light of our recent results, I would say that
TomaGold’s future is pretty bright. We are highly optimistic on Monster Lake. IAMGOLD has
released half of the drilling results for the current program; the other half should
follow soon and they’re very committed to the project. We're also looking to do work on
Sidace Lake and on our own projects. We have a consistent news flow on our projects with
good, above average grades, mostly from Monster Lake.
We are well diversified. It's not just the one play, one company project. The risk
is spread over multiple projects, multiple joint ventures, and partners. Nothing relies
only on one head. The risk and benefits have been spread to different areas: IAMGOLD in
Quebec, Goldcorp in Ontario with the JVs we have. We don't have to spend millions to
sustain our position in the JVs. The costs of the claims are already covered. We have a
strong international position. Long-term players are involved in the capital, in the
stock, and in the equity of the company.
All significant plus factors to invest in the company: good exposure with institutions, a
good portfolio, well diversified, and joint ventures with majors.
Dr. Allen Alper: Sounds like excellent reasons! You're getting such great results.
You have great plans. Sounds like excellent reasons for our high net-worth
readers/investors to consider investing in TomaGold.
Mr. David Grondin: Well, thank you. I think we have something really good
going on here. The future looks really bright. We're looking forward to seeing the next
update with IAMGOLD because, well the first one was really good and spectacular. They did
an amazing job confirming what we found, identifying new zones, and possibly expanding
Monster Lake’s gold potential.
Dr. Allen Alper: Sounds excellent. Is there anything else you would like to add,
David?
Mr. David Grondin: Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you,
Allen.
Dr. Allen Alper: I enjoyed talking with you.
http://www.tomagoldcorp.com/en/
David Grondin
President and Chief Executive Officer
514 583-3490
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