Exclusive Interview: Viscount Mining Chairman Kaare Foy

Viscount Mining (TSX-V: VML) / (OTCQB: VLMGF) is a project generator with 2 silver (“Ag“) / gold (“Au“) properties in the Western U.S., Silver Cliff and Cherry Creek.  Silver Cliff in south-central Colorado consists of 2,029 acres that were host to high-grade silver, gold & base metal production from 1878 to the early 1900’s.  A Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS“) was completed in the 1980s, but that report is not NI 43-101 compliant.  The PFS contained very-high grade assays including an interval of 68 troy oz./ton Ag (2,125 grams/tonne) over 44 ft. (13.4 m).  Late last year, management twinned several of the holes from the 1980’s and was quite pleased with the results.  {See table of twinned holes below}

The Cherry Creek property in northeastern Nevada consists of over 400 un-patented and patented claims as well as mill rights.  There was a robust 2-year exploration program (at no cost to Viscount) in 2015-16 by a former earn-in party that yielded detailed and positive results that the Company plans to follow up on this year.  Interested parties are looking at Silver Cliff and Cherry Creek.  A farm-out agreement on one or both properties could be a 2017 event and would represent important investment catalysts.  A Phase 2 drilling program at Silver Cliff is expected to start in September/October.

Looking more closely at Viscount, I discovered that there are in fact a number of near-term catalysts, so I reached out to Viscount’s Chairman Kaare Foy to learn more.  The following interview was conducted from August 3-8 by phone and email.  

Kaare, can you give readers a brief overview of your background? 

Yes, of course.  l was born in New South Wales, Australia, earned a Bachelor of Economics Degree from Monash University and received a Green Beret with the Australian Commando Regiment.  I worked in the construction materials industry in Melbourne, Switzerland & Saudi Arabia before emigrating to Canada in 1995.  I was appointed Hon. Consul of Montenegro to British Columbia in 2010 and awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.  Since 2008 I’ve been a Director of Golden Prospect Precious Metals Ltd. of the UK.  

I have more than 35 years’ experience in senior management and Board roles for both public & private companies in Australia, Canada and the UK.  Most pertinent to your readers might be my 18 years at Great Panther Silver (NYSE: GPL) / (TSX-V: GPR), a producer operating the Guanajuato Mine Complex, which includes the San Ignacio and Topia Mines, both in Mexico. 

I became a Director in 1994 and Executive Chairman in 2003, the position I held until I retired in 2012.  I led the company from a one-person start-up to a successful mid-tier producer.  In the year before my retirement, Great Panther’s share price reached US$5, and its market cap US$600 million.

CEO and Founder Jim MacKenzie convinced me to come out of retirement in July 2013 to become Chairman of Viscount.  I was particularly impressed with his forthrightness and his vision for the Company – one of generating multiple projects, having mid-tiers and Majors earn-in and subsequently acquire the properties, and distributing (via special dividend) the resultant sale proceeds to shareholders.

Please tell us about the people on Viscount Mining’s team.

First off there’s Jim our CEO, a Director & Founder of Viscount in 2010.  He brought me in, but more importantly he brought in the Cherry Creek and Silver Cliff projects and assembled our excellent team.  Jim’s a skilled deal maker and negotiator of joint ventures, land acquisitions & exploration agreements.  He has demonstrated strong results through strategic planning, high quality acquisitions & partnerships.  

Dr. James Robinson B.S., M.S., [Ph.D] joined our Technical Board in April.  He has deep knowledge of Nevada, structural geology, precious-metals deposit models & exploration techniques.  Jamie was a senior consulting geologist to the former earn-in party involved in all aspects of their 2-years of exploration of Cherry Creek.  His experience is proving especially valuable as he accompanies interested parties on site visits. 

Dr. Gilles Arseneau has been retained to complete a NI 43-101 Technical Report on our Silver Cliff project.  Dr. Arseneau has more than 25 years’ experience and holds a Ph.D Geology, from the Colorado School of Mines.  

Mark Abrams B.Sc., M.Sc. is a Director & senior Technical Advisor.  He has more than 30 years’ of domestic & international mineral exploration experience.  Most recently he was responsible for exploration & acquisitions in the U.S. for Golden Predator Corp., Prior, he worked for 12 years for Agnico-Eagle (USA), where he led his exploration team to a gold discovery in northeastern Nevada. 

Dr. Howard Reino Lahti, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.  is our VP of Exploration.  He has 45 years’ of mineral exploration experience.  Dr. Lahti has managed mineral exploration projects in Canada, Thailand, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Panama, the Artic & Ecuador, and has prepared several NI 43-101 technical reports.  

Can you describe Viscount Mining’s Cherry Creek property?

Our 100% owned Cherry Creek property is ~30 miles north of the town of Ely in northeastern Nevada.  The district produced mainly high-grade silver, and some gold, from the mid-1800’s to 1920.  We have 2,600 acres of patented and 7,200 acres un-patented claims, a property that’s host to more than 20 past-producing mines.  Since 2011, we’ve painstakingly consolidated nearly 10,000 acres, plus mill rights, for the first time, all under one roof. 

Last December a former earn-in party completed a 2nd year of comprehensive geologic mapping, surveying soil & rock-chip sampling, including 2 full RC drilling programs.  They spent several million US dollars completing extensive exploration that required a lot of time & coordination.  All that data has been logged and integrated with a significant amount of historical information, allowing us to identify several really exciting areas. 

How much exploration was done at Cherry Creek in 2015-16 and what do you expect to accomplish this year?

A great deal of valuable work was completed (at no cost to us) in 2015-16 including; geologic maps, multi-element analyses of surface samples and drill cuttings, lithologic logs from drill holes, digital maps & databases, subsurface interpretations & comprehensive summary reports.  As I said, several million (US dollars) was invested over that 2-year period.  That’s a significant work commitment on a single project controlled by a company our size.  If not for the earn-in party, we would probably have spent that and issued tens of millions of shares to fund the exploration.  Instead, we were able to meaningfully advance Cherry Creek and maintain a tight capital structure.  Today we have just 41 M shares outstanding and zero debt. 

In May we announced some very promising gold & silver exploration target areas.  We found key characteristics similar to sediment-hosted gold mines in eastern Nevada like Newmont’s Long Canyon and projects similar to Liberty Gold’s Kinsley Mountain.