Mirasol Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: MRZ, OTCPK: MRZLF): Premier Project Generation Company Focused on Precious Metal and Copper Deposits; Interview with Norman Pitcher, President and CEO
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By Dr. Allen Alper, PhD Economic Geology and Petrology, Columbia University, NYC, USA
on 8/18/2019
Mirasol Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: MRZ, OTCPK: MRZLF) is a premier project generation company that is focused on the discovery and development of profitable precious metal and copper deposits, operating via a hybrid joint venture and self-funded drilling business model. Strategic joint ventures, with precious metals producers, have enabled Mirasol to maintain a tight share structure, while advancing its priority projects that are focused in high-potential regions in Chile and Argentina. We learned from Norman Pitcher, President and CEO of Mirasol Resources, that the Company currently has about 40 projects from early to advanced stage, and three of the projects in Chile are under JV agreements: two with Newcrest Mining and one with Hochschild Mining. Mr. Pitcher believes, with this many quality assets, Mirasol has a better chance to make a discovery.
Mirasol Resources Ltd.
Dr. Allen Alper: This is Dr. Allen Alper, Editor-in-Chief of Metals News, interviewing Norman Pitcher, who is CEO of Mirasol Resources. Norman, could you give our readers/investors an overview of your Company?
Norman Pitcher: Sure. Mirasol is a TSX Venture listed Company. We've been around since about 2003, when our Company was originally started. We have projects in Argentina and Chile. We are a project generator slash exploration company. We do a little bit of both, and we have some very prospective properties both in Chile and Argentina.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds great. Could you tell our readers/investors a bit more about your projects?
Norman Pitcher: The Company altogether has about 40 projects, some of which are extremely early stage, in fact, some haven't actually had boots on the ground yet. And then we go all the way up to current agreements to joint venture, of which we have three right now. Two are with Newcrest Mining out of Australia, high-sulfidation epithermal projects, up in a high altitude in Chile.
Our other joint venture is with Hochschild Mining, which is a little bit lower down, still in Chile. It's called the Indra project. It's more of a low sulfidation, probably vein type deposit.
Dr. Allen Alper: Impressive project venture partners you have there. That's great!
Norman Pitcher: Yeah, we've been lucky. We think these are quality projects, and I would like to think that we've attracted quality companies to them. In addition, we have two on which we've been putting out some news lately, Los Amarillos, in Chile and Sasha - Marcelina in Argentina. Both of those had land positions, which were recently consolidated. So we got some additional land from a company called, ENAMI (Empresa Nacional de Minería) in Chile, and that sort of consolidated the Los Amarillos package. Then we consolidated some land in Argentina, the Marcelina claim. That gave us a bigger package in Argentina as well. Now both of those are low sulfidation epithermal and have the potential to be high-grade, probably vein type deposits. And they are both in quite easy places to work.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent. Could you tell our readers/investors the objective of your Company?
Norman Pitcher: The objective of our Company is to find something, to find a deposit. It's really quite simple. To be honest, I think it's what most people are trying to do in this business. We probably have a better chance because of the number and quality of our projects. But the objective is to increase shareholder value, by more joint venture agreements, more exploration ourselves, really in the end, more drilling to find something.
Dr. Allen Alper: That's great. What type of projects are you looking for? What minerals?
Norman Pitcher: We're pretty much focused on gold and silver and copper. All of our copper projects are porphyry style, up in prospective areas of Chile.
The real focus is on gold and silver, and that's in both Chile and Argentina. Argentina is pretty much all gold and silver.
Dr. Allen Alper: That's excellent. So could you tell our readers/investors a bit about your background and the Management Team and the Board?
Norman Pitcher: Sure. I am a geologist. I studied at the University of Arizona. I'm Canadian, but I have lived in the U.S. quite a bit. Previously, before Mirasol, I was President of Eldorado Gold, which is an intermediate gold mining company, headquartered here in Vancouver. Prior to that, I worked for Pan American Silver as Chief Geologist. Prior to that, a bunch of different stuff, consulting, exploration, development, a little bit of everything. In addition, we put a small office in Vancouver, four people altogether. We have Jonathan Rosset, who's our VP Corporate Development. In Argentina and Chile, Tim Heenan is our Country Manager. Tim has been with the Company right from the very start. He has over 30 years’ experience in South America. He knows the landscape in both Chile and Argentina very well. Reporting up to Tim, we have some project geologists who are quite experienced as well in their respective jurisdictions.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds like excellent experience. Very knowledgeable! That's really excellent.
Norman Pitcher: Yeah.
Dr. Allen Alper: How is it operating in Argentina and Chile?
Norman Pitcher: They're both fine. In Argentina, it's very much province dependent. We're in a province called Santa Cruz, down in the south, and it's a mining friendly jurisdiction. Newmont Goldcorp is down there at Cerro Negro. Yamana at Cerro Moro and Pan American are there. So it's a good place to do it. And, of course, Chile is a mining country. I feel quite comfortable working in both countries. I personally have worked in some what would be considered difficult jurisdictions throughout the world in previous companies. But these locations are great!
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent. What differentiates Mirasol from other similar companies?
Norman Pitcher: I guess it's the breadth of experience and the number of properties we have. I think that's the main. To be successful, any mining company or exploration company has to have three things; good people, good properties and a good treasury. It's sort of like a three-legged stool. Without one of those legs, the stool can be unbalanced. In Mirasol, we have all of those. We have great people. We have a huge portfolio of properties. And we have over $20 million in the bank right now.
Dr. Allen Alper: That's fantastic. That's a great position to be in. It shows that people respect what you're doing and are willing to fund you. Excellent! That's great. Could you tell our readers/investors about your capital and share structure?
Norman Pitcher: We have about 54 million shares outstanding, 60 million fully diluted. Of that, it's about 28% insiders, 47% high-net-worth and retail, and 26% institutional. So very tightly held share structure! On top of that, we have about $20 million in the bank.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent!
Norman Pitcher: Yeah.
Dr. Allen Alper: Could you sum up for our readers/investors why they should consider investing in Mirasol?
Norman Pitcher: I think if you're interested in this space, we offer a unique opportunity. Our share prices has gone down a fair bit recently. I think we're very undervalued, considering what we have, the properties and the people. We finished the small drill program at one of the Newcrest joint ventures. They'll start drilling again in late September, October. Both Newcrest joint ventures plan to be drilling before year end. The Indra Precious Metals Project, in Chile, with Hochschild, is going to be drilling here probably in the next couple of weeks or so. We're going to have good news flow from those three projects. And we have some other stuff that we're working on as well that I think will provide pretty reasonable news flow throughout this year and into 2020.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds excellent. Is there anything else you'd like to add, Norman?
Norman Pitcher: I think that's a pretty good summary. I just want to thank you for interviewing Mirasol Resources for Metals News.
Dr. Allen Alper: You are very welcome. I enjoyed hearing about all your success. We’ll publish your press releases as they come out so our readers/investors can follow your progress.
http://mirasolresources.com
Norm Pitcher, President and CEO
Tel: +1 (604) 602-9989
Email: contact@mirasolresources.com
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