We are pleased to present an interview with Alex Klenman, Chairman & COO of Nexus Gold Corp. The interviewer, Carsten Ringler from Ringler Consulting and Research GmbH does not own shares of Nexus Gold Corp. He was reimbursed indirectly by a third party for the preparation and distribution of this interview.
About Nexus Gold: Nexus Gold Corp. is a Vancouver based exploration and development company focusing on gold projects in the world's leading exploration and mining areas. The company is currently developing two promising projects in the West African country Burkina Faso. Nexus Gold is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (NXS) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (F6E), and in the USA (NXXGF). More information about the projects and the company can be found at:
https://nexusgoldcorp.com/index.php/en/ 1) Carsten Ringler: Hello Alex, thank you for taking the time to talk with us about Nexus Gold and their projects. Could you please tell our readers a little bit about your background and your key management team at Nexus Gold? Alex Klenman: Thank you, Carsten. I’ve been a long-time investor in the markets, going back to the dot com days actually, but my background is in communications, media, business development, branding and project finance. Around 2010, I was working with a handful of juniors as a communications consultant, mainly working on messaging, presentations, market support, investor outreach, and media initiatives. Some of those companies like Roxgold Inc. and Integra Gold, might be familiar to your readers. At that time, I met current Nexus president & CEO Pete Berdusco, who was working with some related clients. We formed a company together and brought all the clients under one roof. Pete eventually brought a private company, Columbia Star Resources, to life with a Nevada gold project. I got on board relatively quickly and that venture, through a reverse take-over, resulted in Nexus Gold. The rest of our management team includes Mike Kinley, our CFO, who brings a wealth of public company experience to Nexus, and our board, which includes geologist, Dr. Doug Oliver; Rodney Stevens, an analyst and finance specialist; and Warren Robb, our senior geologist, who brings lots of exploration and development success to the team. 2) Carsten Ringler: Nexus’s goal is to find and develop economic gold deposits in West Africa. Why did you decide to go to Burkina Faso? Alex Klenman: After working in Nevada, we wanted to expand our portfolio of projects into other jurisdictions. Our director and senior geologist, Warren Robb, was chief geologist with Roxgold in 2011-12 and knew Burkina Faso very well. He had many contacts and basically a crew, in country, and suggested we might consider moving our exploration activity there. We recognized a unique opportunity. Burkina is an emerging gold producer, with a realtively brief history of modern mining activity. It’s a gold rich environment, and we felt there is room for a small junior, with the appropriate experience, to make its mark. Nevada, arguably, poses more obstacles for a smaller company like ours. Burkina, on the other hand, offered us a way to grow the company by accessing prospective ground without placing as much stress on budgets. But most importantly, we had Warren and his Burkina crew. They have a track record of success in gold exploration in Burkina due to their time with Roxgold, and specifically as part of the crew responsible for the Yaramoko discovery and early development. This is critical, as exploration in Africa requires an experienced hand, and it is certainly a positive for Nexus that our guys know the ground, and how to operate there. 3) Carsten Ringler: You are active in the Boromo greenstone belt. Can you tell our readers why this belt is so prospective for finding gold? Are there other companies with projects and operations in the area of ‘Niangouela’ and ‘Bouboulou’? Alex Klenman: The Boromo, like the Hounde, is part of the prolific Birimian greenstone belt that stretches throughout Burkina Faso and neighboring countries. The Birimian belt hosts several significant gold deposits. In comparison to many of the world’s more well-known gold districts, it is realtively underexplored. Part of the reason for this I think is first of all, modern mining has only been going on in Burkina for the last thirty years, and Africa in general is a specialized environment. If you don’t have hands on experience there, it’s not an easy place to parachute in and set up shop. Endeavour is a big operator in the area, with the Karma mine, which they acquired in the take-over of True Gold in early 2016 and the‚ Hounde project, both multi-million ounce resources. Roxgold, Orezone and Norgold are also operating along the belt. 4) Carsten Ringler: Nexus recently completed the drill program on the ‘Niangouela’ concession areas. Can you inform us about the highlights? Alex Klenman: Well Niangouela is a quite a story. Warren was in Burkina last fall doing some preliminary work on our Bouboulou concession when the team looked at the 178 square kilometre Niangouela property. Warren liked what he was seeing. There were a number of significant artisanal workings (i.e. local miners) on site, some of the shafts appeared to be quite deep, and he spotted several quartz outcroppings along the apparent strike area. The potential of a mineralized quartz vein system was certainly compelling. Warren of course was part of Roxgold’s Yaramoko discovery, which is a high-grade quartz vein deposit. He saw some structural similarities in this regard, and we made the decision to acquire Niangouela. The first few samples the guys took were off the charts. Warren grabbed some samples from the artisanal shafts, so basically from depths of 46 metres to 60 metres below surface, and they returtned some significant values. 2,950 grams-per-tonne, 403 g/t, 49 g/t... just crazy numbers. Several included gorgeous visible gold contained in chunks of pristine white quartz. Amazingly, and signicantly, the big hit was not visible gold, but in fact, free gold contained within the shear that appears to envelope the quartz veins. This was a nice development. We followed up the sampling with a Rotary Air Blast (RAB) drill program to test a section of the strike area for anomalous gold. It’s important to note at this point the property had never been drilled. We had no geochem and no geophysics to go off of either, only some historical sampling and trenching and of course, the artisanal activity. So, the RAB helped us delineate the initial strike area of about 1000 metres, in addition to an oblique trend that intersects that main trend. Based on the sample and RAB results we immediately executed a 2000 metre diamond drill program. Eight of the first nine holes intersected gold, which was extraordinary. I don’t think many projects start out this way, with that type of success rate in the very first holes drilled on the property. Perhaps this has created some monster expectations for Niangouela, but given this scenario, or a miss scenario, obviously, we’re happy. The main intercept was 26.69 g/t over 4.85 metres at about 57 metres from surface. This included a little over a metre of 132 g/t as well. We also pulled 6.2 metres of 4 g/t, including a metre of 20.50 g/t. There were several 5 g/t and 6 g/t hits as well. Honestly, a real nice way to break in a property. Since then we’ve drilled an additional 2500 metres and we expect those assay results relatively soon. We are excited about Niangouela. It’s big, it’s new, it’s wide open, and it contains multiple quartz veins and associated shear zones that appear to be mineralized. It’s going to take some time to figure out just what’s there. 5) Carsten Ringler: Nexus did a financing at the end of February. How long will it last probably? Could you tell me a bit about your actual capital structure? Alex Klenman: We have done a couple of financings now, and are well positioned to continue exploration drilling at both of our Burkina projects. The ongoing conundrum of juniors of course is the constant need to replenish the treasury. Exploration, and more precisely drilling, takes money. And we’re active. Development doesn’t happen any other way. At this point we’re good for multiple programs at each property, and we will be active throughout 2017 and into 2018. I should mention we have the support of some fantastic shareholders, with an international presence. We have many shareholders across Canada and the USA, and throughout Europe, where we have established some great relationships. 6) Carsten Ringler: How much of Nexus is owned by the management? Alex Klenman: Management, close associates and family members, own approximately 40% of the shares, or more, in the company. We all have a large stake in Nexus and will continue to participate in financings and in the market. 7) Carsten Ringler: Are you open for the acquisition of new concession areas or would you focus on both ‘Niangouela’ and ‘Bouboulou’ before thinking on further project? Alex Klenman: Yes, we do plan to add projects to our active portfolio. We view this as a way to both increase the likelihood of success and to mitigate the downside risk of exploration. Multiple quality projects simply give you better odds of discovery, while decreasing the market impact of a miss, or slower developing project. Our growth will come from project development, and property acquisition is a key component. 8) Carsten Ringler: Nexus plans to start a 2,000 metre diamond drill program at ‘Bouboulou’ mid June this year. I saw in your presentation. that one of the previous owners of the project was Roxgold. They also had a successful drill campaign with nice gold intercepts. How did you get the project? Did you acquire it from Roxgold? Alex Klenman: We did not acquire the project from Roxgold. My understanding is the option on the property lapsed several years ago, and for whatever reason, Roxgold did not pursue the project. There was a change in government and a new mining minister was installed, all at the same time Roxgold was going through both very rapid growth and a proxy battle at the board and management level. It simply could be a case where the project fell through the cracks. Warren kept in contact with the optioner after leaving Roxgold and when he joined us at Nexus it became part of the conversation. 9) Carsten Ringler: What are the primary reasons why our readers and investors should consider investing into your comany? Alex Klenman: We are active, number one. We not only market the company on an ongoing basis to reach a wider, global audience, but we are active on the ground. With Niangouela we went from acquisition to discovery in four months. In six months, we’ve run a sample program, a RAB program, two 2000m diamond drill programs, and a 400m trenching program. And now, rather than take time off during the rainy season in Burkina, we’re going to begin drilling Bouboulou. Active companies build opportunity for growth. Secondly, our situation may appeal to those investors that recognize timing. The gold cycle is clearly up, and into a bull that many feel will be very pronounced. It is companies like ours, smallcap exploration and development, that can generate huge returns in market cycles like this. Timing is excellent. We are active with multiple catalysts on the horizon, the long-term gold cycle is favorable, we have excellent projects, and we have a sound development strategy and the experience to execute. Our early investors are seeing nice returns, and we feel things have only just begun. Our marketcap has a lot of room to grow. 10) Carsten Ringler: Is there anything else you'd like to add? Alex Klenman: I would urge anybody with interest in Nexus to follow us on social media, and to subscribe to our news release service on our website. We keep the market informed constantly. If anybody would like to speak to us directly, just drop us a note or call the office, we’d be happy to hear from you! 11) Carsten Ringler: Excellent! Thank you for sharing your insights with us. 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