Nicola Mining is focused on identifying, acquiring and exploring several types of mineral property interests.
The British Columbia-based resource company counts a mill and tailing facility, a fully-permitted silver mine, an exciting copper project and active rock quarry and gravel pit among its assets.
The company’s President and CEO Peter Espig sat down with The Market Herald’s Simon Druker to discuss it’s recent progress.
TMH: Looking at the Company’s news updates there is a lot exciting activity. Is this the driver of your strong share performance?
PE: There’s a lot going on and to really simplify it I think that we’ve put ourselves in a position where, as a junior mining company we have cash flow, we’ve got stable operations and we have exploration upside and I think that’s reflected in the news releases from an overall picture of what’s going on in the company.
TMH: We mentioned the different types of assets you have, and you recently re-started operations at your Merritt Mill (in British Columbia), why is that so substantial and what’s the current status of the property?
PE: The milling activities is one of our operations that we have onsite and it is very unique in that we own the land and because you own the land, it gives you an opportunity to start more industrial business function. We are currently milling material from Osisko Development, which we’re producing a gold and silver concentrate. We have a gravel pit, we have a rock quarry, we have a partner Trans Mountain. We utilize their materials for reclamation, which is really good because we pride on ourselves on being ESG and a green company and yet we’re getting paid to do our reclamation. So, we’re creative and I think that comes from the background, we’ve got a very strong board. Myself, I was a former executive at Goldman Sachs and private equity and really focused on cash flow and because once you have the cash flow, you de-risk the company. That’s very important in markets that don’t have a lot of clarity and where we are right now. We just look at it all these businesses are really funded, they bring in cashflow and then they fund the exploration, which is really our key asset.
TMH: At your new Craigmont Copper Project you recently returned some promising geochemical results there too, give us a snapshot of those?
PE: The Craigmont project is very unique and it’s almost hard to conceptualize. When you think of that the Craigmont Mine was the highest-grade copper mine in history of Canada and it actually precedes Highland Valley, which is the largest copper mine in Canadian history and it’s the third largest copper mine in North America. So, you’ve got this high grade copper asset that was really largely unexplored and it wasn’t until November of 2015 that we consolidated the ownership and then in 2016, our first drill hole intercepted 85 metres of 1.1%. and it’s been very quiet but that really is our flagship asset and so this year we’re very excited because we’re going to be drilling and the operations fund that drilling. We’re also the corner of two very significant land units where you’ve got the Lornex Fault (zone) which goes into Highland Valley, it goes right through our property and then you have the Nicola unit, which goes East-West or West-East and you’ve got the Guichon (Creek) batholith, the Nicola unit and then the Spence’s Bridge unit, which are all known copper-bearing and we’re kind of the corner of all three and it’s largely on export. So that’s something we’re really excited about.
TMH: You also recently signed a mining and milling profit share agreement, and you are seeing demand increase for your milling, to the point where you are considering increasing the output of your ball mill, correct? What’s behind that higher demand?
PE: The mill was built for expansion. The bottleneck that we have is the Ball mill. Currently it’s a 200 ton a day mill but the crushing capacity and the flotation capacity is much higher than that and so when they constructed the mill, they built it so that they could increase capacity up to a thousand tons. That was the original plan, but we have our contract with Osisko, we also have other groups that we’re interested in. We’ll really consider upgrading the throughput capability when we have a lineup of those contracts that essentially justify because there’s no point in spending money unless you need the capacity. That’s kind of where we are now but if the capacity’s there and again, we are the only mill in British Columbia permitted to receive third party material. if you were to think of it conceptually, you’ve got all these projects that are like airplanes and we’re like the airport and they need somewhere to land.
TMH: You think that demand is going to increase though?
PE: I really believe it is. I think what we’re seeing is we’re seeing a lot more positive vibe in B.C. mining in general. The Ministry of Mining has hired more people. I think the understanding with the First Nations and, and the relationship with the Ministry of Mining and also with mining companies, as all three get more used to working together, which we’ve seen in the past two years, I see a lot more projects coming moving forward.
TMH: I’m going to take it to a macro level now, we touched on a lot. What excites you the most over the next 12 months for the company?
PE: I think what excites me the most and that’s pretty easy is again, the cash flow lets me sleep at night. That gives us stability and it allows us to not have to worry about the future. What’s really exciting is the exploration. I mean, when you think of that, this is the highest grade copper mine in the history of Canada that is very unexplored and it’s only been unexplored because if you had multiple owners that we consolidated and we weren’t actually permitted, even though the mine is a permitted mine, we weren’t permitted to drill over the entire property because we were drilling around the historic pit. This year we received our what’s called a five-year MYAB permit. We have now five years of drilling capability up until November of 2027, where we’re able to drill up to 199 drill holes in 14 kilometers of trenching in the areas that were always our main target. So that’s really exciting. Our drill program starts in May and it’s going to be a very fun year when you start pulling the core of the growth.
Thanks again for joining us today here at the Top Line and sharing your insights.
Peter Espig is the President and CEO of Nicola Mining. The company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol “NIM.” You can also visit www.nicolamining.com for more information.
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