SIRIOS Resources (TSX-V: SOI): Pioneer in the Discovery of World-Class Gold Deposits in James Bay, Quebec; Interview with Dominique Doucet, President and CEO
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By Dr. Allen Alper, PhD Economic Geology and Petrology, Columbia University, NYC, USA
on 7/11/2019
SIRIOS Resources (TSX-V: SOI) is a project generator founded in 1995, and, over the years, has discovered numerous gold and silver showings in Nord-du-Québec, Eastern Canada. The Company's current flagship project, Cheechoo, located in the Eeyou Istchee James Bay region of Quebec, is the largest and most promising gold discovery in the history of Sirios. We learned from Dominique Doucet, President and CEO of Sirios Resources, that the gold mineralization at Cheechoo is spread over a very large area between 1 and 1.5 kilometer long, and 500 meter wide, and over 300 meter vertical depth. The deposit is a low-grade, up to 1 gpt envelope, with many high-grade veins inside that could reach many hundreds of grams per ton, over one or two meters and multiple grams per ton, up to ten meters wide. Plans for 2019 include finishing metallurgical testing of 5.5 tons composite core samples, and commissioning of the maiden resources estimate.
Sirios Resources
Dr. Allen Alper: This is Dr. Allen Alper, Editor-in-Chief of Metals News, interviewing Mr. Dominique Doucet, who is President and CEO of Sirios Resources. Dominique, could you give our readers/investors an overview of your Company?
Mr. Dominique Doucet: Sirios is a project generator exploration Company focusing on a specific area of Quebec province, Eastern Canada, which is Eeyou Istchee James Bay.
The Company that I have started almost 25 years ago, focusing on that specific area, and looking for mainly precious metal, gold, has lead us toward a great gold discovery that we did in 2016. In fact, that year we received the award of Discovery of the Year in Quebec Province for the gold Cheechoo discovery.
Today, the Company flagship is Cheechoo, and we are concentrating most of our effort to develop that project.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent. Could you tell our readers/investors some of the recent results that you have received, and drilling results from your winter campaign?
Mr. Dominique Doucet: Yes, first I should mention that during the last few years, we were doing very small drilling programs, limited by the tough financing period that we were in. But in the last two or three years we accelerated and increased investment in the project and increased the size of the drilling programs.
Today, with the last winter drilling program that we completed, there're 245 diamond drill holes completed on the project. That last winter program gave us again, good and encouraging results, like the previous one that we completed during the last two or three years. We were targeting some specific high-grade veins or zones that were intersected in previous drilling, and we did confirm the lateral extent of these at depth at around 300 meter of vertical depth.
These high-grade zones are a continuation of mineralization that occurs in the very large area or volume or tonnage area, which is our main drilling target. We completed, at that place, a systematic 50 meter drilling pattern and we now know that the gold mineralization at Cheechoo is spread over more than a kilometer long, probably between 1 and 1.5 kilometers long, and 500 meters wide, and it's still there at 300 meter vertical depth.
It's a low-grade envelope. The grade is varying between let's say 0.3 gram per ton and 1 gram per ton. Very large low-grade extent into the rock, which is a tonalite. But, within the low-grade envelope, we intersected many high-grade smaller or small vein systems or veinlet systems that could vary within half a meter up to five or six meters wide. And these high-grade veins or vein systems could reach many hundreds of grams per ton over half a meter, one or two meters, giving good multiple grams per ton up to five to six, seven or even ten meters wide.
But we have to remember that these high-grade vein offshoots are within the large low-grade envelope that probably in the future, if we will think of a possible open pit mining situation, will be a situation where the high-grade stuff will be mined at the same time as the surrounding low-grade. That's the way we see it.
Dr. Allen Alper: What are your plans for 2019?
Mr. Dominique Doucet: Our plan this year is to complete the metallurgical testing. These tests started on January and we expect to receive full set of results probably at the end of this summer, July, August. And these tests are done on a series of composite, very large drill cores.
There's a set of 33 or 35 composite samples, totalling 5.5 ton, and we are doing comminution test, gold deportment studies, thin section studies, gravity recovery testing as well as cyanide leach to find the most suitable grinding size that should be used for optimal recovery of the gold.
These tests will give us very precious information for our project. And this is in addition of the maiden resources commission that should be completed before the end of this year.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent. Dominique, could you tell our readers/investors about your background and your team?
Mr. Dominique Doucet: First I should mention that I started involvement in mining exploration as a teenager in the mid-70s. My brother Roger was at that time Exploration Manager for Lac Minerals, I was acting as a junior geologist at that time. And later on, I did complete geological engineering studies at École Polytechnique de Montréal, Quebec in 1982.
Since then, the first one I went through was William Resources that I started in 1987, just after the October crash in the market. I created Sirios Resources in 1994, focusing in Eeyou Istchee James Bay.
I secured a very young and very bright team in the last few years. When I realized that the Cheechoo project was a success and a winning project, I started to form a strong team to be sure that all the expertise and geological knowledge and exploration capacity was completely in-house.
Consequently, we do not farm out or contract our exploration activities to contractors. We have a full team of eight geologists or geologists-in-training. They are young, and that, for me, was the way to create and to bring the latest technologies inside the Company.
Those young people brought to the Company their computer science knowledge. We are using all the top notch technologies. Drones, 3D software, digital blue tooth geological field pads, etc. And all this is done in-house.
We also developed, by ourselves, our own technological tools to gain efficiency in the field. So everything is digital and starting directly in the field, and then directly to the office, with the very strong system of telecommunication from field directly to the office. It's very fantastic to see the team working with all these new technologies.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent. Could you tell our readers/investors about your ownership and share structure?
Mr. Dominique Doucet: Actually, there're 152,000,000 shares outstanding, and we have a good share structure. Our main shareholder is Newmont Gold Corp. In 2016, we signed an agreement with Goldcorp at that time, today Newmont Goldcorp, wherein Newmont Goldcorp could increase, at any time, its share ownership up to 19.9% when we're doing an equity financing.
We did start collaboration with that group in 2016. They have one member on our technical committee for the Cheechoo project, so a very good collaboration and support from our main shareholder.
We also have a series of Quebec based firms, like Caisse de dépôt, SIDEX Inc., CCPME, which is related to the Desjardins Investment Group, also SDBJ. So, all these firms investing in mining exploration are good, supportive shareholders and these five different groups own together probably around another 12 to 15 per cent of the share capital of the Company.
In addition, we have started to have some US-based funds as US Global Investors and also Marquest, Maple Leaf Funds in Toronto, Ontario. All this gives a share ownership, in the range of around 50 per cent of the total shares owned.
Personally, with the other members of the Board, we own probably two or three per cent, which is low, I admit. However, if I take into account my close family and relatives, this number increases in the range of 13 per cent.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds very good, and it sounds like you have some very strong shareholders and backup, so that's excellent. Could you tell our readers/investors the primary reasons they should consider investing in Sirios?
Mr. Dominique Doucet: The strong points specific to Sirios are; I'm proud to be the leader, the founder of the Company. We have developed a strong expertise in a specific area for more than 20 years and that area is among one of the best places to do mining business in the world, Canada. Inside Canada, Quebec is one of the best. I think Quebec ranks fourth on the Fraser Institute evaluation for last year, so among the four best places in the world to be for a mining business.
Our specific project is in Eeyou Istchee Bay in Quebec Province, one of the best places to be because in the mid-70s, there was an important agreement signed between the Quebec government and the Native Cree communities. So there's a way to proceed, with the natives over there, there's a rule written in black and white, on how to do things over there. We developed a strong relationship with the Native Crees. It's very important today to have support from the local people living around. This is another strong point.
Another advantage is that we have the support of our main shareholder, Newmont Goldcorp. Also our gold discovery is less than ten miles away from the Éléonore Gold Mine, operated by Newmont Goldcorp, so all the infrastructure is next door. I'm talking about road access, airstrip, even telecommunications, cellular phone communication is working on the project.
All these reasons make Sirios among one of the best investments to secure a strong leverage for any investor beginning to know about us.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds great. Sounds like very strong reasons to consider investing in Sirios Resources.
Mr. Dominique Doucet: Thank you, and thank you for interviewing Sirios Resources for Metals News.
Dr. Allen Alper: Thank you. I know our readers/investors are going to enjoy learning about Sirios Resources. We’ll publish your press releases as they come out so our readers/investors can follow your progress.
https://sirios.com/en/
1000 St-Antoine West, #410
Montreal (Quebec)
Canada H3C 3R7
Phone: 514-510-7961
Fax: 514-510-7964
info@sirios.com
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