BTU Metals Corp (CVE:BTU) (OTCMKTS:BTUMF), which has a market cap of around C$15 million, is another name to have emerged from the reignition of interest in the already famous Red Lake gold mining area in Ontario, Canada.
The group's flagship project is the Dixie Halo property, which covers 19,723 hectares, of which 200 square kilometres (sq km) is contiguous with, and surrounds junior gold explorer's Great Bear Resources' (CVE:GBR) Dixie project, from where a litany of positive drill assays have been recorded.
In 2019, also putting the district in the spotlight, Aussie major Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) bought from Goldcorp its Red Lake mine complex in a US$375 million mega-deal. That mine has churned out 27 million ounces in the last 75 years.
At Dixie Halo, BTU has identified three main targets: the Gold-in-till area and the Dixie Creek target (which borders Great Bear's project to the north and east) - both of which are prospective for gold, while a third - the TNT target - is prospective for copper-silver-gold massive sulphide mineralization.
BTU is currently embarked on a 2,000 metre (m) drill program that aims to evaluate a number of priority targets at Dixie Halo. Proactive recently caught up with the company's CEO Paul Wood to find out more...
Proactive: Please can you give a brief description of how BTU Metals was established?
Paul Wood (PW): BTU Metals started out like many other junior mining companies, as a shell with a good team around it – a team with the ability to raise money; to identify prospective properties; to do deals to acquire those properties; and create value through methodical and cost-effective exploration. When Great Bear Resources announced their discoveries in Red Lake, Ontario, we were able to pounce and acquire the best neighbouring ground in five separate acquisitions and some staking. We now have 200 sq km pretty much surrounding Great Bear Resources and are about 1/50th their market cap.
Proactive: For those who are unfamiliar with the district, what makes Red Lake such a significant area for gold mining?
PW: Red Lake is a world-famous high-grade gold district in North-West Ontario which has already produced more than 30 million ounces of gold. The district continues to draw significant investment in the mining sector which has yielded major new discoveries, most recently by our immediate neighbor, Great Bear Resources, who hit $1 billion in market cap last summer. Red Lake is a mining town - mining-friendly, many skilled people, great support services, BTU has year-round road and exploration access, power through the property, and is 20 minutes from town.
Proactive: What do you consider to be the company’s greatest/main achievement(s) to date?
PW: First, we have been able to build an experienced and well-rounded team, from our board and management to our field crew. We were able to complete multiple property deals to acquire a large and highly prospective land package, which shares geology and major structures with the significant discoveries made by neighbouring Great Bear Resources. We have been able to complete attractive financings along the way and have attracted strategic investors with a long-term view.
On the geological side we have been aggressively growing our database on a land package which had seen little prior work due to the glacial cover in the area. The methodical approach to our exploration has started to yield results, including the discovery of significant polymetallic mineralization (TNT Zone) late in 2019, and the discovery of the first visible gold in a drill hole on the property in 2020.
Proactive: What can investors expect in terms of news flow from BTU Metals over the next 12 months or so?
PW: Investors can expect to see a steady stream of results as we are well funded and will be actively putting money into the ground along a 15km structure where we are targeting high-grade gold. The climate and ground conditions in Red Lake are amenable to year-round exploration, and this is what we will be doing. We are excited to follow up on our recent discovery of visible gold and that will be the focus of our drilling early in the new year.
We are also expecting the results of a major 3D geochemical-geophysical interpretation of the TNT Zone which will help us decide the best way to move forward as we assess the economic potential of the significant polymetallic mineralization we have encountered there.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com