What have been Margaux Resources’ major developments over the past few years?

Margaux Resources’ portfolio is polymetallic, which provides security to investors because they are not gambling on one specific commodity. The portfolio includes gold, lead-zinc, tungsten, silver, bismuth, and molybdenum. Our flagship project is the Jersey-Emerald property in southern British Columbia. We did some drilling there in 2014, but then the price of tungsten dipped, and we had to change our strategy. We now have an eight to 10 year mine lifespan on tungsten and a three to five year mine lifespan on lead-zinc. In October 2014, we acquired the nearby Jackpot/Oxide property which was historically worked on by Cominco. Because the property is only ten kilometers away from the Jersey-Emerald property, we will be able to consolidate assets and bring the lead-zinc mine lifespan up to eight to 10 years if we can convert the historic resource into a 43-101 compliant resource. While we were drilling at Jersey-Emerald, we happened upon gold unexpectedly. In December 2016, we extended the drilling on that area of the property to further investigate the gold anomaly. Lead-zinc is still our primary focus there, but we view the gold discovery as a bonus. At the beginning of 2017, we acquired an option on the Bayonne and Sheep Creek historic gold camps, which added more gold potential to our portfolio.

Have you experienced any hurdles from the regulatory process or local communities?

Margaux Resources has been in the permitting process for its’ drilling programs on and off for about three years, and we recently submitted all of the permits for the upcoming Spring drill program. The government has worked closely with us throughout the permitting process because of the uniqueness of our properties. We are fortunate to have such great support and communication with the town of Salmo, British Columbia. Many citizens of Salmo are currently looking for work due to recent layoffs in the Oil Patch, and we receive about ten applications per week, which is very important to our operations. Regarding infrastructure, our properties have good access to water, a natural gas pipeline that runs through the area, and an easily accessible highway that runs along the bottom of the mountain.

What are your plans for 2017?

A unique aspect of Margaux Resources’ project portfolio is that the Jersey-Emerald property is a room and pillar mining system, so we are looking into using one of the rooms for tailings. We are bullish on the lead-zinc market, as the price has doubled over the past four months. We are currently in a financing round of $5 million, of which $3.5 million will be from common stock and $1.5 million will be from flow-through share tax credits. We raised $3.5 million in total last year, and it is noticeably easier to raise money this year than it was two years ago. Our management team and board of directors comprise the majority shareholders, which should add confidence to additional investors. We are looking to acquire more properties, and our aim is to stay within the region of our existing portfolio and continue to consolidate our core area of interest. After the acquisitions, once we bring all of our resources under a 43-101, we will then commence a Pre-Economic Assessment followed by a pre-feasibility. We do not have a lot of overhead expenditures, and our fundraising goes toward groundwork. In 2017, we plan to spend $1 million on drilling at the Jackpot, Bayonne, and Sheep Creek properties.

Are you looking to engage in any partnerships with any of the nearby majors?

Margaux Resources has been discussing offtake agreements with potential smelters for its lead/zinc but further metallurgical testing is required. Additionally, Kinross Gold has a mill nearby that is struggling to find enough ore to process, which we also view as a potential opportunity for us.