RE: press release, ceocfointerviews
Guess everyone on the WRI mailinglist has received this information incl: "Immediately adjacent to the property, is Newmont’s Trenton Canyon Mine. There are several other mines controlled by Newmont, Barrick and Goldcorp. within a few miles of the property. Millions of ounces of gold have already been delineated within 5 miles of this property. This is in the center of American gold mining!Adding to the “close-ology story” is the fact that gold has been found on the property. Not only is there gold, but it is near surface gold."
September 17, 2012
All rights reserved!
ceocfointerviews.com
CEOCFO Magazine - The Most Powerful Name In Corporate News and Information
With First Time Diamond Drilling being Conducted on their Gold Project in Nevada,
Waseco Resources, Inc. is Moving Forward at a time When Other Junior
Companies are Retrenching and trying to Save their Treasuries
Resources
Gold and Uranium Exploration
(TSXV: WRI)
Waseco Resources Inc.
2 Queen St. East, Suite 1500
Toronto Ontario Canada M5C 3G5
Phone: 416-364-3123
www.wasecoresources.com
Richard Williams
President and CEO
BIO:
Richard Williams, LLB. - Mr. Williams
was Vice- President, Secretary,
Counsel to a group of publicly listed
companies for 10 years before founding
Blackwell Investor Relations
Corp., a firm specializing in introducing
public companies to the investment
community. He has been active
in the mining industry for over 25
years and currently sits on the Boards
of several public mining companies.
Mr. Williams is the Company President
and Mr. Richardson is the Company
Secretary-Treasurer.
It has been determined that in this
day of regulatory compliance, where
independent verification is needed in
most areas of the industry, reliance
on joint venture partners and outside
consultants is the preferable route to
adopt. In so doing, the Company is
able to maintain an extremely modest
overhead cost and ensure that funds
are used primarily for in the ground
exploration.
Company Profile:
Waseco Resources Inc. is an exploration
company focused on uranium
exploration in the Quebec Labrador
Trough and gold exploration in Nevada
and Kalimantan. The Company
is debt free and trading on the TSX
Venture Exchange and the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange. There are currently
approximately 30.3 million shares
issued and outstanding.
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFO Magazine
CEOCFO: Mr. Williams, what is the
focus at Waseco?
Mr. Williams: Waseco is focused on
three projects. Our main focus currently
is on a gold project in Nevada,
which is immediately adjacent to a
Newmont project called Trenton Canyon
and we are now drilling it. Near
surface gold has already been identified
by reverse circulation. Our current
program is the first time diamond
drilling is being conducted on the
property. We expect to add to the resource
and gain a better understanding
of the structures that deposited
the gold. We are quite excited by the
prospects.
We also have an alluvial gold project
in Indonesia which, at one time, we
took to feasibility and we were unable
to advance because of the change in
investor sentiment to the region as a
result of the Bre-X scandal. We still
have all of the data, which is still useful
and valuable. We are now looking
to advance this project through a joint
venture with a local Indonesia group.
We are in discussions with two interested
mining groups and we remain
hopeful that this project, which should
be a very low cost producer, can be
revived.
Our third project is a uranium exploration
project in Quebec, where we
have a joint venture with the French
uranium company Areva. It is the
largest fully integrated uranium company
in the world, and have completed
$2 Million of exploration to
earn a 50% interest in our project.
Exploration has been curtailed with
the current decline in uranium interest;
however, we see the market coming
back and look forward to resuming
work when the time is right.
CEOCFO: Was there a deliberate
attempt for diversification or is it opportunistic?
Mr. Williams: It is primarily opportunistic,
I would suggest. We know gold
very well. We first went to Indonesia
because we had good contacts there
and there was a great deal of excitement
about gold in Indonesia at the
time. The uranium situation presented
itself at a time when interest in uranium
exploration was just starting.
Our Chairman has a strong background
in both uranium and gold, so
we felt confident that these were projects
that we could handle. The uranium
joint venture that we structured
was rather unique, in that Waseco, a
2
junior company, remained the operator
during the earn-in phase. One of
the collateral benefits of being the
operator in the province of Quebec, is
that the Quebec government has a
rebate program to encourage exploration
investment. We actually made
money while exploring. Our most recent
gold project in Nevada came
available at a time when junior share
prices were depressed and the owner
did not have the means to make the
advance royalty payment and fund
the exploration program. Here again,
being very comfortable in the gold
sector, we have the advantage of
having a director who worked many
years in Nevada for Gold Fields and
has been able to make the time to be
project manager. So in all cases, we
have the expertise to take advantage
of the opportunities that presented
themselves. Timing was critical, but
we have stayed within our knowledge
and comfort base.
CEOCFO: What is happening on the
ground today at the gold project?
Mr. Williams: We are halfway
through the drilling program
on the Nevada property,
which is called the Battle
Mountain Ridge property.
There are seventy-three
previous holes, which were
drilled using reverse circulation.
Now, we are going in there with a
diamond drill and drilling deeper.
There is a non-conformable 43-101
resource of about eighty thousand
ounces of gold and we think we can
add to that. Our game plan is to try to
increase the ounces. We are hoping
that we can entice one of the majors
to acquire it at some point. Obviously,
we always go in with the intention of
being able to mine it. However, in this
case, it makes more sense to sell it to
someone who is already established
and for them it becomes a trucking
operation. Our game plan is to see if
we can establish a meaningful reserve
and then we would be open to
selling it.
CEOCFO: How was your property
overlooked?
Mr. Williams: The area where we are
working, is called the Battle Mountain
trend. It is one of the world’s most
prolific gold belts. Newmont, Barrick
and Goldcorp, all have major production
in the camp. As I understand it, at
one point, much of the area was
owned by the Santa Fe Railroad and
they had rights to the land on either
side of the rail line. Much of the area
was what they call checkerboarded,
which made it difficult for third parties
to come in because each of the areas
was relatively small. But with success
in the State and in the immediate
area, everything got staked and
worked. This property was not overlooked,
a number of predecessors
carried out the earlier drilling; it’s just
that market conditions became a factor.
Eventually, a prospector was able
to secure it, worked it a little bit, sold
it to a junior, and, as mentioned
above, it became available to us.
CEOCFO: With all the activity around
you, is it difficult to find personnel?
Mr. Williams: For the drilling, we are
using a group out of Canada that relocated
to the States and had set up
shop over there because they have
the expertise. In the field, we are also
using a Canadian geologist who has
been working on the property for the
last five years with the predecessor
company. I think we have assembled
a very good team of people over the
years and we have access to a number
of very good consultants, so I
think we are fine. It is getting more
difficult but in our case we still have
the relationships that we can call
upon.
CEOCFO: Would you tell us about
the background of the team at Waseco
to let people know that you have
the expertise needed to be successful?
Mr. Williams: Our Chairman was
really the founder of the earliest
phase of the company. He assembled
the project in Indonesia and his name
is Peter Howe. He is the founder of
A.C.A. Howe International which is an
international geological consulting
firm. He brings about sixty years experience
in the industry. He assembled
the team to go to Indonesia and
put the feasibility study together. Part
of that team included Derek Bartlett
who is on our board of directors and
works for Gold Fields. He has worked
for a number of years on a number of
projects in Nevada. He adds another
forty years of hands on industry experience.
Also on our board, we have
Jay Richardson who is a C.A. who has
been a director for the last fifteen
years and has been part of senior
management and on the boards of a
number of mining companies, so he
brings the financial expertise to the
table. In my case, I was an officer of a
company called Minefinders and a
number of other junior companies and
have been on the boards of public
companies in the mining sector for
the last twenty-five years. My background
is international corporate,
commercial law so we cover the contract
area. Finally, our most recent
director Rick Ekstein, comes from
private industry and he is the president
of one of the largest privately
owned lumber company in Canada
and contributes from his
years of business experience.
He is on a number of
boards, but mainly on the
private side and complements
us quite well.
CEOCFO: Are you looking
at additional properties and projects?
Mr. Williams: The Nevada project
was just acquired in the spring. It is a
good lead project and we have the
funds to complete the current initial
program and a follow-up program.
There appears to be quite a bit of gold
close to surface. We expect to generate
good results. The gold price
seems to be going in our favour.
Hopefully, this will translate into
shareholder value. That is where
much of our focus will remain in the
short term. Getting a partner and reviving
our Indonesian project will continue
in parallel, and this too could
have a serious positive impact.
That said, we are always on the look
out for additional projects provided we
can add value and they can be
funded. Both elements have to be
present.
“I think we have timed it quite well. We are trying
to be opportunistic, moving forward while
many of the junior companies have been retrenching
and trying to save their treasuries.” -
Richard Williams
3
CEOCFO: What is your opinion on
the economy and price of gold?
Mr. Williams: The gold price has held
up very well. There is a bit of a disconnect
between the gold price and
the gold equity prices. This has made
financings for juniors challenging, but
that can change very quickly if gold
stocks regain appeal in the investment
community. I think we have
timed it quite well. We are trying to be
opportunistic, moving forward while
many of the junior companies have
been retrenching and trying to save
their treasuries. We are now in the
process of spending a little bit more
because we believe that the results
that will be generated will allow us to
gain market attention and move
ahead from there.
CEOCFO: There are many companies
in your areas for investors to
choose from, why pay attention to
Waseco Resources?
Mr. Williams: One of the leading
things for an investor to look at is the
people. We have assembled a very
strong management team. We have
mainly knowledgeable mining people
as shareholders in the Company. We
are not taking a lot money out in
management fees and salaries because
we want the money to go into
the ground and hopefully come up
with a discovery and advance the
company through results.