By The Gold Report

Source: Maurice Jackson for Streetwise Reports   05/27/2019

Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable interviews the CEO and senior project geologist working on expanding the prospects in this well-known mining district between Fairbanks and the Canadian Yukon.

Maurice Jackson: Joining us for a conversation is Gregory Beischer, the president, director and CEO of Millrock Resources Inc. (MRO:TSX.V; MLRKF:OTCQX), along with Senior Project Geologist Chris Van Treek. Gentlemen, welcome. We have some exciting news to discuss. Mr. Beischer, before we begin, please introduce us to Millrock Resources and share the investment opportunity that you present to the market.

Gregory B.: Millrock is a project generator company. We stick rigorously to this model whereby we acquire mineral rights over favorable ground using our own information to develop mineral prospects, and we move those forward to a drill-ready stage. But very typically, before we’re ready to drill and hopefully make that big discovery, we bring in partner companies. That way we’re a much more sustainable, longer-lasting company that has, in the end, a better chance of success, because we’re drilling or exploring on three, or four, or five properties at one time. So, we’ve really stuck with this model and that’s part of the reason we’re still here today 13 years later after starting the company, and I think on the verge of making one of those big discoveries.

Maurice Jackson: Gentlemen, in our last interview, we focused our attention on the Goodpastor District in Alaska. Chris, you’re the senior project geologist there. Where is the Goodpastor District and why is Millrock Resources focusing its efforts there?

Chris Van Treek: The Goodpastor District is located in eastern Interior Alaska in the Yukon-Tanana Highlands, in a section of the crust that’s been dubbed the Tintina gold province because of the prolific amount of gold deposits within it, between Alaska and Yukon. The Goodpastor is located about 40 to 50 kilometers from the town of Delta Junction along the Richardson and Alaska Highways. So, it’s well positioned, it’s got good infrastructure, and very nearby to Fairbanks, which has daily jet surface from the Lower 48 and the rest of the world. Some of the other deposits in the area include the Fort Knox gold deposit, at 13 million ounces, near Fairbanks, and the White Gold and Coffee districts in Yukon, and then, of course, Pogo, located in the Goodpastor District, at eight million ounces now, four million produced and four million in reserve and resource.

Maurice Jackson: Mr. Beischer, before we delve into today’s interview, management has been working hard behind the scenes to procure capital. Millrock was able to secure financing through EMX Royalty. Please provide us with the details of this transaction.

Gregory B.: We were happy to do this transaction. EMX is a great group of geologists and business people. They have invested CA$1 million in our company by buying shares at a substantial premium to our market trading price at the time, paying almost 100% premium on our shares. In turn, we agreed to use at least half the funds to acquire this great land package, which we’ve done in the Goodpastor District near Pogo Mine. On top of that, we use the additional funds to put into the ground and to use for general or corporate purposes. In return, for paying this premium, we are granting EMX some royalties on the claims that we’ve staked. They’re not a big royalty, so it’s not something that’s really going to encumber the property. But that was EMX’s goal, to create a new royalty for themselves. So, it’s been a win-win transaction for us both.

Maurice Jackson: Gregory, what does that tell the market when prudent capital like EMX Royalty is willing to pay a significant premium to participate in the Goodpastor District with Millrock Resources?

Gregory B.: EMX Royalty is well known in the mineral exploration community. By them investing in Millrock, it was a great endorsement of the project that we’ve been able to put forward. They recognize the mineral potential and recognize that we may very well discover gold deposits here in the Goodpastor. So, we’re pleased that they were willing to invest in our company. But not just invest, but invest at a premium, paying extra for every share.

Maurice Jackson: Take us to the Goodpastor District, where Millrock has just announced claim staking. Where are you staking and why?

Chris Van Treek: The crown jewel of the Goodpastor District would be the Pogo Gold Mine. It’s been operating for 12 years and produced four million ounces. There’s only been one big push of exploration in the district following up on the discovery of Pogo, which took place in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Millrock purchased a large database from past explorers in the area, and leveraging that, we identified quite a few highly perspective areas surrounding the Pogo Mine, as well as in another mineral belt along the Shaw Creek fault.

These newly staked areas really pull together portions of the exploration model being applied at Pogo, and we feel they’re highly perspective to bring in multiple partners to really explore this district systematically over a number of years, and discover multiple possible new mines along the Pogo Trend. It’s got great infrastructure. The Pogo Mine road runs right through a lot of our claims and it’s got a lot of open land to further expand on our exploration efforts.

Maurice Jackson: Chris, how much of a land position does Millrock Resources now have in the Goodpastor District?

Chris Van Treek: The total land position now is up to 66,000 hectors of Alaska state claims, 1,176 claims in three blocks. The majority of the claims are surrounding the Pogo Mine and along on the Shaw Creek Trend. But we also have two ancillary claim blocks that are subject to the most recent press release, the North Pogo and divide claim blocks.

Maurice Jackson: Gregory, Chris referenced the North Pogo claim block. Why did Millrock Resources stake this area?

Gregory B.: Well, it’s interesting, Maurice. Let me explain. First, [in the image] you can see our claim blocks, outlined in blue, bright yellow, and red colors, [which show] sample sites where we know there’s gold at surface. You can see there’s some real bright spots. The Goodpastor batholith represented here in the light pink shade is an intrusive magmatic rock that is thought to have brought gold into the surrounding rocks and caused the gold mineralization at the Pogo Mine and a series of other deposits along the southern margin of that granitic magmatic intrusion.

It seems like no one thought, “Well, let’s look on the other side of the batholith, on the north side, where the same host rocks exist, the same flat-lying structures exist. The ground looks to be well prepared to receive gold mineralizing fluids there.” But, that’s Alaska, and that’s what I love so much about this state. There [was] such a low degree of prior exploration [that] a very simplistic idea like this might result in the discovery of a whole new deposit or a gold mine. So, we were happy to pick up this block of claims that Chris identified as being perspective, and we look forward to getting out on that land for the first-pass geochemical work.

Maurice Jackson: Now gentlemen, I also notice in the press release there was discussion about Divide Claims. What can you share with us?

Gregory B.: Those are the ones in the very eastern most part of our area, the Goodpastor District. You’ll see some bright orange and red spots on our block of blue claims there. We had known about these spots from the database of information that we’d purchased about five years ago.

We see competition heating up in this district. Our neighbors here are Tectonic Metals. This is a new company, a Vancouver-based private company that’s announced they’re about to go public. The executive team is the same team that formally ran the company called Kaminak, which made great gold discoveries just across the border in the Yukon Territory, recently bought out by Goldcorp Inc. This team has recognized that the Goodpastor, and eastern Alaska generally, is a great place to explore. There’s super mineral potential and there’s a lot less competition. But they’re here, and we’re glad to see them there.

But that’s why we staked up these claims. We knew about these good surface indications of gold immediately adjacent to their property. So, we thought, “Well, we better cover that,” and that’s why we staked that divide block. We also note that a company called Northway, also a good Yukon explorer group, has moved into this district too. So, the competition’s heating up in Eastern Alaska generally, and the Goodpastor in particular. But, we’ve established an dominant land position here in the Goodpastor, and the land is positioned on some really great geologic targets.

Maurice Jackson: What are the next steps that shareholders should be looking forward to?

Gregory B.: Well, the next step for this particular project accessing more capital. We’re willing to put some of our existing funds into the ground to advance the project. But what we envision here is a sustained exploration effort across the entire district over a number of years, moving developing prospects forward until they’re ready to drill test, and then doing a good drilling program on each one. That’s how you find ore bodies. To do that kind of work, we’re going to need some pretty serious capital, multiple millions of dollars over the course of several years. So, we’re looking for the mid-tier or a major mining company, or a private equity group, that share the vision with us [and want] to do serious systematic exploration over time to maximize the chances of making discoveries.

Maurice Jackson: Mr. Beischer, my favorite question and your favorite question: What did I forget to ask?

Gregory B.: Well, you always catch me off guard with this one, Maurice. But I think the answer is we always forget about the price of gold. The price of gold drives investment and mineral exploration companies. There’s other avenues for speculators to invest now and make fast money. Cannabis, and Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies, and the like, and the general stock markets still are quite buoyant. So, there’s not a lot of capital available for explorers. But, all it takes is an increase in the price of gold, and suddenly the money comes flooding back in. I’m anxious for that day to happen. It’ll make life easier and we’ll be able to do a lot more great exploration work so that we can make these discoveries.

Maurice Jackson: Now gentlemen, I know we focused today’s efforts on the Goodpastor District, but are there is other activity going on with the Millrock project portfolio?

Gregory B.: Indeed. We’re working on all our Alaska projects, and you can watch for news coming out of our Mexico project soon.

Maurice Jackson: Mr. Beischer, before we leave, for someone [who] wants to get more information on Millrock Resources, please share the contact details.

Gregory B.: Sure. You can find our website at millrockresources.com, and on that website you can find the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of anyone you may wish to talk to at our company.

Maurice Jackson: As a reminder, Millrock Resources trades on the TSXV symbol MRO, and on the OTCQX symbol MLRKF. Millrock Resources is a sponsor of Proven and Probable, and we are proud shareholders for the virtues conveyed in today’s message.

Finally, we invite you to visit provenandprobable.com. We deliver mining insights and bullion sales. Mr. Beischer, Mr. Van Treek, thank you for joining us today on Proven and Probable.

Maurice Jackson is the founder of Proven and Probable, a site that aims to enrich its subscribers through education in precious metals and junior mining companies that will enrich the world.

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( Companies Mentioned: MRO:TSX.V; MLRKF:OTCQX,
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