Brixton Metals on its Hog Heaven Project in Montana and Exploring in BC's Golden Triangle

Trevor Hall [00:00:09] Welcome back to Mining Stock Daily and the Association for Mineral Exploration Roundup Conference 2020. Joining me now is the CEO of Brixton Metals. Brixton Metals trades on the TSX Venture with the symbol BBB and also on the OTC QB market in the U.S. with BBBXF and they are a corporate sponsor of the show. Gary, good to have you back on the show. How you been? How're the shows going?

Gary Thompson [00:00:32] Doing well. Well, thanks for having me again. Yeah, it's been good. It's busy. You know, I don't know the numbers that came in on the roundup.

Trevor Hall [00:00:40] 6000.

Gary Thompson [00:00:41] Is it 6000? So it's up on the top end of the range. A lot of people. I think the sectors are starting to turn on again.

Trevor Hall [00:00:50] Let's let's talk about that. I mean, obviously, there are a number of different levels of companies as far as advancement of projects, and Brixton kind of plays in that early exploration type portfolio. As the CEO of a company in the exploration, do you feel the sentiment turning around, you know, where we are here in this cycle?

Gary Thompson [00:01:09] Yeah, I do think it is turning and it's been slow and choppy. You know, having gone through two main downturns in the mining sector. 2015 was the bottom, there's no question about it. You know, 2016 was looking pretty good. It had a bit of a run. Everybody thought it was coming back. Now it kind of rolled over again in 2017. So we get these windows of excitement. And even last year, 2019 at a similar the summer was looking pretty good. Gold was hitting highs.

Trevor Hall [00:01:39] This spring was looking terrible.

Gary Thompson [00:01:40] Yeah. Yeah, exactly right. So they get these little sections of time where, you know, people see it turning on. We had a run obviously earlier this year, around the new year and stuff. So it's so we get these pockets of runs. But I guess the way I see it is the general trend is an upward trend for mining and in precious metals and base metals is where we live. So that's obviously what we watch more, more importantly. So, you know, I think it's a choppy ride in front of us, but I think we're in for better days ahead.

Trevor Hall [00:02:17] How about for Brixton in general? I mean, what are the things that come down the pipeline for 2020 that you're excited about and obviously your shareholders and maybe enquires would want to know about what you're planning?

Gary Thompson [00:02:29] Well, you know, we're in exploration, that's our wheelhouse, I would say. And while it's been the most difficult and it's the challenging part of the space to get capital, risk capital, that's also the biggest reward opportunity for speculating investors. So, you know, that's the kind of thing we're looking at. We're, we've got a, obviously a number of projects, we have for our assets. And, you know, we can't work them all. You know, we were successful in 2019. We raised a total of about 10 million dollars. So we're beginning 2020 with I think about five and a half. So we have to kind of go through these things and, you know, decide, OK, which project is gonna get some attention this year. And while we haven't officially had our technical meeting and budget approvals, the general consensus is, you know, our project in Montana, which hasn't seen any drilling since 2000, well, actually, 1994 was the last drilling done and most of the building was in the 70s and 80s.

Trevor Hall [00:03:35] So it's a hog heaven project.

Gary Thompson [00:03:37] It's a hog heaven. So we have not drilled it. But if you look at the historical data that we compiled and we built a digital model on it and there's some pretty spectacular silver, gold, copper numbers coming out of that deposit that I mean, it's not an early-stage project. It's seven hundred and twenty-two holes, sixty thousand meters of drilling. And it was a feasibility stage project in the late 80s. They actually had a permitted actually a permitted mine here to build. But of course, that's vintage eighty nine. So we need to go in there and dust it off. Basically, what we want to do is drill some confirmation holes to confirm some of the historical drilling is in line with what's reported. And we see a number of other targets on the property to expand it. So there was two areas that they focused all their drilling on where they had their mine plan to build the mine there. We obviously see more potential than that. So really to get in there, get some, you know, 2020 drilling and what's is, you know, it's interesting to us is because if you look at where we did a lot of the work last year was in British Columbia, northern B.C. We're not going to get to Thorne, our Thorne project until probably June, July program where we can get into Montana here and April, May.

Trevor Hall [00:05:02] Right.

Gary Thompson [00:05:02] So we'll get a bit of a jump on the season. You know, in a couple of three months now, we'll be actually having drills turning there.

Trevor Hall [00:05:08] And what about the project in Ontario? I mean, you kinda got you got a lot of things in that little, little area.

Gary Thompson [00:05:15] Yeah.

Trevor Hall [00:05:16] So I, and then I know I've asked you this almost every single time you and I talk. But why not sell that off and take some cash?

Gary Thompson [00:05:24] Yeah. I mean, we're, look at it again, we can't drill them all, can't work them all. So we need to focus our resources and efforts. We, you know, I wouldn't say that it's we're not going to give it away, put it that way.

Trevor Hall [00:05:37] Right.

Gary Thompson [00:05:38] I think the area is geologically it's very interesting. We've drilled some spectacular grade. I've never seen silver like I've seen silver in this camp. Like we're getting I think the highest silver numbers we've seen there are like in the percent, like multi percent, up to 18 percent silver. Like when people are talking percent silver, it is very rare. Where I usually use grams and ounces and maybe kilos if you're lucky. So we're off the charts silver grades there. But it's gonna take a lot of drilling to make anything. It's typically narrow, very high grade, narrow, small tonnage things which are fine. So, yeah, we've, you know, found the right partner to come in or sell it. Absolutely. In fact, I would look at all of our projects and say each one of these things is available if somebody wants to strike the right deal with us. You know, we own these things 100 percent. You know, we're not married to any one of them, I think, from that perspective. If the right deal came along with the right partner, in fact, our Thorne project is a classic one that, you know, we continue to work. We're closer to the porfory. It's one of the porfory centers than ever, but just not quite, not quite there. We have some great drilling, but not quite on the periphery target. So that one is a classic one where we're really are looking for a major partner on that hog heaven. If someone were to show up with a big check and take it off our hands. Absolutely. So I'd say any one of these things, you know, we would sell. We're looking for J.V.s on some of them specifically. So we're you know, we're keeping the blinders off and looking to unlock value, our monetizes, these things in one way or another. So our three-pronged focus for 2020 was continue to do exploration because we think there is a market coming for exploration. And people are starting to get rewarded for, you know, for good, good drilling success. Look for J.V. partners on one or more of our assets and then potentially some MNA if we could find a like minded company like Brixton, you know, at the end of the day, you want to grow. We want to grow as a company. We want to get bigger, faster and MNA is one way of doing it. But, you know, we've, it's not easy. You know, there's a lot of companies out there. And if you can put the right talents and assets together, you know, you can build a bigger, better company. And that's what we're trying to do.

Trevor Hall [00:08:08] So you think the real definition of your 2020 strategy could be decided and shared to shareholders in a press release next month or two?

Gary Thompson [00:08:18] Well, we laid out our 2020 plan already, which is just that. It's really a, you know, a focus on a couple of projects. For the most part, hog heaven is gonna see some activity. And Thorne, which is where we drilled the big hole last year and spent we spent a lot of money there so far. And it's a big property, our Thorn package, land package has expanded. I want to say Brixton owns one of the largest mineral tenures in the Golden Triangle. Almost, almost the largest. I'm not sure if we're going to run the numbers and see with other competitors are doing. But if you look at some of the bigger players in the Golden Triangle, I think we have the largest land position there. So we need to take a step back and do some more exploratory early-stage work because what we don't want to do is spend all of our efforts in one area. You know, we've been mostly focused on a 10-kilometer by 10-kilometer area on this massive land position. If you look at that little block inside of our block, it's right. It's just a little pinprick.

Trevor Hall [00:09:18] You have so many targets that you want to go after, right?

Gary Thompson [00:09:21] Yeah. And what we're looking for is a low hanging fruit. So the Camp Creek target is where we did some drilling last year. We actually never got to drill the holes that we wanted to drill there. So the objective was to get some geophysics done because we know that Camp Creek target is the porphyry target there is that depth we know based on we don't see it that surface, basically. But we have all the indications that there is a porphyry there. So we started to drill at the end of last year. We didn't get the geophysics done because of the winter chased us out. So we've got half the survey done. So we want to complete that geophysical survey early in the year, probably June, get in there in June and finish that deep seeing geophysics that will hopefully image something in that sort of 5 to 500 meters to a kilometer depth. That seems to be where it lives. And we know we did attempt to drill it even though we didn't have the geophysics. We thought, well, let's take a shot in the Camp Creek area to lower down and we got to about five hundred and fifty meters. But it looks like now we're on the shoulder of it on the porphyry, where for the first time, actually in Camp Creek, we're getting poor freestyle mineralization. Most of the drilling historically there has been too shallow. So now we're getting into deeper drilling depths and we're starting to see poor freestyle mineralization. And what's really encouraging about hole 162, which is one of our last holes we drilled at the Thorne project, is that the grades from about 250 onto was about 250-meter interval of about of a third of a gram copper equivalent. I saw a third of a percent copper equivalent. But what's more interesting about that is if you look at the histogram of the drilling results, the grades are increasing. The hole ended in mineralization and the grades are increasing at the bottom of the depths, bottom of the hole.

Trevor Hall [00:11:08] I would encourage our listeners, Gary and I, to do a corporate update in December after those drill holes came out.

Gary Thompson [00:11:15] Correct.

Trevor Hall [00:11:15] Pretty, pretty good conversation and discussion about that. So I would you know, we don't have to rehash that conversation yet. But I do actually want to ask you about working in the Golden Triangle. I mean, obviously, it's not without its challenges. I mean, you even mentioned that you're looking at about a good two-month window of when things can, you really have to take that opportunity because it's so narrow. It's not necessarily the weather, but it's also infrastructure like, you know. But there's no doubt that there's incredible mineralization in this area. But I think, you know when you talk to investors who have these concerns about putting money behind plays in the Golden Triangle, how do you, what are those conversations? Like to say that, you know, this is an excellent place to be?

Gary Thompson [00:12:00] Well, there's no question we're seeing more and more companies active in this area. You're seeing major companies put down roots. You know, it's probably one of you know, it's up on there on the top of the list of the most metal-rich districts in the world. And I know people call it the Golden Triangle, but, you know, it really should be a 500-kilometer long gold belt because there's a big trend from basically from Stuart all the way up to the B.C. Yukon border. So really is a major trend that, you know, it goes through these phases of up and down of activity based on the markets and metal prices. But I've never seen it busier in the Golden Triangle than the last few years. And I think 2020 is gonna be no exception.

Trevor Hall [00:12:50] Well, we know pretty Predium came online with Bruce a couple of years ago. Obviously, they've had their challenges and Ascot seems to be on track to get the Premier project up and going perhaps.

Gary Thompson [00:13:03] Yeah.

Trevor Hall [00:13:04] You know what it is getting somebody like Ascot up and running two operating mines in the Golden Triangle. Is that just check the box one more time to say that this can be done like you're de-risking the whole jurisdiction just based on the second mine?

Gary Thompson [00:13:21] Yeah, I don't know if I'd go, I mean I think the infrastructure is, well, it's never been so good. You've got that new power line up there now. So that's really opened. I think it's opened it up for for the operators in around central escaped. So, you know, I don't think that's becoming less of an issue. Doesn't really help us, though, because we're a little bit further north up the trend. The power line doesn't quite go that far yet. But I think, you know, you're starting to see more, as you see more eyes on it, as you see more development on it, you will see more infrastructure builds. We're in a bit of a unique environment because we are further up, up the way we actually have a path or a proposed path, a plan. We're actually fairly close to Tidewater where we are. So we have the potential to have Tidewater access. You're talking 20, 30. The border is about, the Alaska B.C. border is about twenty-six kilometers to Tidewater and we're not far from from Alaska and B.C. border. So if you go to Google Earth, you can see where the project is. You can see, there's a channel. We have a little bit of an appendix that sticks out of our claim block and we put that in there for a reason as to secure surface rights and mineral rights on, basically that somebody's not going to stake around us. We have a clear path from our claim block anywhere in our claim block to this Tidewater. So that, you know, that's a possibility for access to Port Power Road, all that stuff. So we're looking at that as opposed to what everybody does in northwest B.C. as they tie into Highway 37 and they drive their concentrate down to Stewart, which is a deepwater port. But that's a long ways away. So for the Rechris mine, they spent a lot of money in transporting down to the port. So we have a we have an alternate plan for that which should be attractive to majors and and other people in the area might be looking if we could get that done. That kind of opens up that whole part of the world right now, which is which has limited access.

Trevor Hall [00:15:27] Gary, it's good to catch up with you once again. Appreciate you. You're a frequent guest on the show, which is great.

Gary Thompson [00:15:31] Yeah. Thank you very much.

Trevor Hall [00:15:32] Thank you. Between you and Paul West-Sells from Western Copper and Gold, you might have to duke it out.

Gary Thompson [00:15:36] Oh, is that right for the most effort?

Trevor Hall [00:15:37] Well, I told him you just got to put another notch.

Gary Thompson [00:15:43] Happy to update you anytime.

Trevor Hall [00:15:46] All right. That's Gary Thompson. He's the CEO of Brixton Metals, which trades on the venture exchange with a simple BBB and also in the U.S. with the simple BBB XF. Thanks so much, Gary.

Gary Thompson [00:15:57] Appreciate it. Thank you.