Profiles in Mining: Millrock Resources Inc. g
In business of building projects
the next say $5 million to earn into the project. By operating this way, we are giving up a big chunk of each project but are able to operate four to six proj- ects at one time, and thereby increase our chance of success four to six times, and not have to raise money so often by selling shares.” Major mining companies are attracted to Millrock because we not only generate great geological ideas, M`_LW^ZMPNL`^PbPSLaPL^_]ZYR^_Lʬ_ZPcPN`_P responsible, technically sound and innovative ex- ploration programs on the project developed”, he said. “That’s how our business has evolved, and we’ve stuck to that model. Some other companies operate this way, primarily in regions where they have local geological and operational expertise. “Alaska is home turf for us, and that’s why we are the best there is at generating new projects here.” The challenge is in convincing investor compa- nies to share the risk. Although several of the executives are based in Anchorage, Millrock is a British Columbia company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Millrock has developed a number of Alaska projects. “We developed the Alaska Range Project, then ^ZWOT_Zʬ_Z;ZWL]C]P_LTYTYRL]ZdLW_dTY_P]P^_ ɭ:YPZQZ`]XLTYRZLW^T^_ZN]PL_PNL^SʮZbTYR ]ZdLW_TP^?SL_T^_SPVPd_ZʭYLYNTLW^`^_LTYLMTWT_d for our exploration business. But also, if there is a huge discovery, worth billions Millrock shareholders bTWWR]PL_WdMPYPʭ_MdTYN]PL^PO^SL]P[]TNPLYONL^S ʮZb “That’s a good example of developing a very good large-scale project. PolarX has put over $10 million into that project in the state. We worked with them to prove that there is even better mineral potential than we thought. It’s a good success story.” Alaska has an endless supply of potential projects like that, he said. “The next big one is the Goodpaster District around Pogo. We recently staked over 660 square kilometers of claims there. We had proprietary data that we purchased from companies leaving the state. This data is a great competitive advantage LYOSPW[PO`^ʭYP_`YP_SP^_LVTYRPaPY__ZNZaP] the most prospective ground. The next step is to
SPECIAL TO THE ALASKA MINER Millrock Resources Inc. is building a new business model for discovering new mines in Alaska. Millrock is a project generator company focused on discovery and development of high value gold and copper and other metallic deposits in Alaska, British Columbia, the Southwest United States, and Mexico. “Phil St. George and I started this company in 2007,” said Gregory Beischer, President and CEO of Millrock. “Phil’s biggest claim to fame was that he discovered the Pebble deposit as a young geolo- gist working for Cominco. But he also was key with NovaGold at the start. He added a lot of gold to the gold deposit at Donlin Creek. Phil has a lot of pounds of copper and ounces of gold to his credit!” Beischer is a seasoned “explorationist” previous- ly with Inco Ltd., and the Bristol Bay Native Cor- poration. He is a geologist and mining engineering _PNSYZWZRT^_LNP]_TʭPO[]ZQP^^TZYLWRPZWZRT^_[L^_ president of the Alaska Miners Association and he serves on the Alaska Minerals Commission. Explorationist is another word for exploration ge- ologist, he laughs. “There is a lot more to mineral exploration than just geology.” “I came up through ranks of Inco, an internation- al nickel mining company,” Beischer said. “They moved me here in 1995 and it’s been my home ever since. I Love Alaska!” 8TWW]ZNVɪ^ M`^TYP^^ XZOPW T^ OTʬP]PY_ Q]ZX _SP industry norm. Only a couple of handfuls of compa- nies operate the way we do,” he said. “Most mineral exploration companies raise mon- ey by selling shares of company. The Geologists get a bright idea, need to drill holes and they raise mon- ey by selling shares. “The reality is that in the early stages, the geol- ogist is almost always wrong. He or she might get a couple of shots at making the discovery, but more often than not the company goes defunct. It’s not sustainable. ɭ8TWW]ZNVbLY_PO_ZʭYOLbLd_ZLaZTO_SL__Z build a sustainable exploration company. We adopt- ed a business model called the Project Generator. In a nutshell we identify prospective areas for miner- als. We acquire mineral rights at low cost by staking claims and put together a geological picture before we spend any serious money for drilling. “We bring in a partner company and they spend
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July 2019
The Alaska Miner
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