Edward (Ted) Ellwood, MBA, President & CEO Peloton Minerals Corporation
Where has Peloton Minerals focused its attention in recent years?
For the past five years we have been focused on Nevada, USA, primarily in Elko County. We strongly believe there is a new gold trend of significance in that north-eastern corner of Nevada, where the Long Canyon Project was discovered and taken over by Newmont in 2011 for US$2.3 billion. Peloton Minerals has three Carlin-style exploration targets along that new trend in Nevada, one of which, the Independence Valley Project, is now subject to a joint venture with Kinross Gold. On that project there was an extensive amount of geologic mapping. soil geochemistry sampling, and geophysics conducted by Kinross in late 2018, with the aim of designing and budgeting a 2019 drill program.
What is the status of Peloton Minerals’ other projects in Nevada?
Our two other projects in Nevada, the Golden Trail Project and the Texas Canyon Project, have new or updated 43-101 technical reports being prepared to consolidate the considerable data we have on each. Two years ago we conducted an airborne survey over a large section of northeastern Nevada using hyperspectral imaging, which uses UV light to determine the type of mineralization that is at the surface. The Texas Canyon Project came from that airborne survey and Golden Trail was expanded from 300 acres to 900 acres due to alteration anomalies identified on, and adjacent to the original claims.
How does Peloton Minerals’ business model differ from other junior companies? Our difference is largely in project selection, in that we are strictly looking for projects that we feel a major mining company would want to get involved with after we have assembled the package and added initial value through solid technical, geologic and geophysical work. It is a very strict focus and once we have the current Nevada projects further along, we will then look to expand further by adding projects either in Nevada or other countries.
Can you tell us more about the other two projects that you have in the US and Ontario?
The River Stage property near Rainy River, Ontario, is in probably the most underexplored greenstone belt of Ontario. There is a lot of activity in the area, with New Gold recently bringing a new 2000 mt/d gold mine into production. Our property is very early stage but in a promising area.
The Montana property was acquired prior to our present focus, but we think it is a perfect project for a small to mid-sized company looking for near-term production potential, and we are actively looking for a partner on it. It hosts two past-producing gold mines with the old shafts about one kilometer apart. Through geophysics we have largely concluded that these mines were operating on the same vein system, which extends beyond the shafts for some distance. So, there is some size potential, and from a production view there are custom mills nearby.
What do you see as the benefits of trading on the CSE?
One thing that stands out about the CSE from an issuer standpoint is that it treats the listed companies like customers, even though they are an exchange with necessary regulations. At the CSE, they go out of their way to look at the challenges that issuers are facing and provide a service that helps companies build and grow. The CSE does not charge tremendous fees that some other regulators charge, and as a small company this is crucial.
What is the main focus for Peloton Minerals over the next 12 months?
We look forward to the results of Kinross’s fieldwork on our Independence Valley project and their plans for a 2019 drill program. In addition. we will be updating the technical reports on the Golden Trail and Texas Canyon Nevada projects with a view toward discussing potential joint venture partnerships on those.
As I mentioned, the Long Canyon Project in that area was taken over for US$2.3 billion. Our three projects nearby are much earlier stage but the geologic model is not unsimilar. Our focus is in moving those forward as a group with one or the other occasionally taking the lead. Much like our company name Peloton. and the fluidity of a peloton in a bicycle race.
