Ihor P. Wasylkiw, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at the Toronto PDAC International Convention
We recently had an opportunity to sit down with Ihor P. Wasylkiw of Alhambra Resources Ltd., and their outlook for the upcoming year is one filled with promise. Wasylkiw is Vice President and Chief Information Officer for the company. With 32 years of experience in the industry and a background with Alhambra dating back to 2006, Wasylkiw certainly knows a good thing when he sees it, and his excitement about the upcoming year certainly left us with a positive feeling too.
Alhambra has worked to develop two main corporate objectives this year. First, they plan to double their resources within 2 years from January 1, 2012. Second, they intend to increase production by a factor of ten within five years. In order to achieve those goals, Alhambra has several plans in place.
Currently, they have over 7600 drill samples being assessed, and they anticipate that within the next two months, the results of those assessments will be released. That information will help further guide the 2012 drill program. As a result, that could help investors feel a bit more confident about the year which may, in turn, help to firm up the company’s stock price.
Additionally, Alhambra completed gravity and magnetic surveys and a remote sensing survey on 1360 square kilometers of their property. The data from all three surveys is currently being interpreted which is expected to be completed in April, and the results of these surveys will be incorporated in the company’s 2012 exploration plans.
Updating their resource reports is another priority this year that will help the company achieve one of its two main corporate goals. By mid-year they will have released three new resource reports. In early February, the company released its first initial resource report for their Dombraly project. Initially explored by Alhambra’s 100% owned Kazakhstan operating subsidiary from 2002 – 2006, this area has long been held in high regard for the potential it holds. The initial NI 43-101 resource report reported 301,000 ounces of inferred resources and 22,000 ounces of indicated resources.
The second resource report was issued at the end of February for their Shirotnaia project. Shirotnaia is located in the southeastern part of Alhambra’s license area. Its 100 kilometers from the current operating open pit heap leach mine at Uzboy, and the initial survey completed in 2004 offered some encouraging outlooks. This initial NI 43-101 resource report estimated 645,000 ounces of inferred resources and 71,000 ounces of indicated resources.
The third and final upcoming resource report is for the already operating open pit gold heap leach mine at Uzboy. Alhambra has already identified at Uzboy nearly a million ounces of measured and indicated ounces plus just under half a million inferred ounces. In addition to updating this resource report, which will be available by mid-year, a newly updated Preliminary Economic Assessment for the project will be completed. The earlier report was done when gold was at $850 an ounce. Because the price of gold has increased to well over $1600 an ounce since that time, the new report should present a stronger picture of the gold deposit as a whole.
“When I look at the old Uzboy resource report, which was done at a gold price of $850 per ounce,” said Wasylkiw, “our consultants valued our operating mine under various operating and technical parameters. The values they assigned to our Uzboy gold resources only, on a net present value basis, discounted at 10%, ranged between ninety cents to $1.95 per share. Given our current trading range of approximately forty cents, that means we are currently being discounted by the market at anywhere from fifty to seventy-eight percent. So given the new resource reports and a new preliminary economic assessment, that discounting, with all else being equal, will even be more severe. We believe that as we continue to release updated drilling and other corporate information, the market will take note, and there will be a lot of room for multiple expansions and a firmer stock price for Alhambra.”
In addition to the release of these resource reports to help achieve their corporate goals, Alhambra is also pursuing a dual stock listing in Asia. The resource reports are essential to reaching this goal, and they hope to meet it prior to year end 2012.
Alhambra is also looking at progressing a new feasibility study on their Uzboy gold deposit which is important in achieving their goal of increasing production by a factor of ten within the next five years.
Wasylkiw painted a strong picture for potential investors. He suggested there were four reasons why investors should consider Alhambra. First, naturally, is their current list of assets. They have a 2.4 million acre property, and within it, they’ve found 100 gold occurrences. At the moment, they’re focusing on ten of those. Of the ten, three have NI 43-101 resources and of those three, they’re producing gold via a pilot open pit heap leach operation from one of them.
Second, their management team has a track record of success, including many years of successful operating experience in Kazakhstan, some of them since the late 1980’s, so they have a solid understanding of Kazakhstan and its laws.
Third is the upside opportunity involved in the company. They’re in the process of increasing their resources and production significantly, which could mean some very real results for investors in the near future, and many have already taken notice of that fact. “There’s no doubt in any of our investors’ minds that we have a very large property of merit, one that has significant upside potential,” mentioned Wasylkiw.
Finally, Wasylkiw mentioned the company’s valuation. They’re trading at a significant discount, and with the assessment value set to increase, this is the perfect time to get in on a great deal.
http://www.alhambraresources.com/
Alhambra Resources Ltd.
Head Office
Suite 3, 4015 - 1St Street S.E.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2G 4X7
Phone: (403) 228 2855
Fax: (403) 228 2865
E-mail: ir@alhambraresources.com