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| Golden Valley Mines: Doing it On its Own |
| Profile | |||
| By Chris Petersen | |||
| Friday, 03 October 2008 | |||
 Golden Valley Mines’ ability to generate its own projects is due in no small part to the experience of its management team and the skills of its technical staff.
In the exploration industry, firms often have to share properties because neither one has the resources to find and/or develop them on their own. That hasn’t been much of an issue so far for Golden Valley Mines, which hasn’t had to share the vast majority of its properties in the northern section of Ontario and Québec. Vice President of Exploration Michael Rosatelli says Golden Valley Mines stands out in the industry because it has found so many of its properties on its own without the need to joint venture with another firm. “What makes us really unique is that we generate our own projects,” he says. Only four of the company’s 135 prospect properties currently under development are being explored under a joint venture, he says. The rest are all the result of the company’s in-house project generation. “That’s really different from most companies,” Rosatelli says. Based in Val d’Or, Québec, Canada, Golden Valley Mines has a property portfolio consisting of precious, base metal prospects located in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in northwestern Québec and northeastern Ontario. Rosatelli says the firm was founded in 2002 to explore the Abitibi Greenstone Belt and since has expanded to explore other opportunities in Saskatchewan and northern Québec for uranium and the James Bay lowlands in Ontario for nickel-copper-PGE exploration. “We’re really quite unique to the industry from our peers because we’re a pure grassroots exploration company,” he says. Sole Owner The company’s ability to generate its own projects is Golden Valley Mines’ greatest strength, Rosatelli says. He says the company has been able to make this happen thanks to the experience of its management team and the skills of its technical staff. Rosatelli says the company has an experienced technical team of geologists, geophysicists and prospectors who can identify prospects and develop exploration plans quickly, giving Golden Valley Mines the edge in being able to scoop up properties before others. In the case of one of the company’s most recent acquisitions in the area of Noront Resources’ Double Eagle (Ni-Cu-PGE) discoveries in Ontario, Rosatelli says, Golden Valley Mines saw an emerging mining camp being developed in the area. The company was able to move in quickly and stake 19,000 hectares. Being able to identify and develop its properties completely in-house also means Golden Valley Mines doesn’t have to split the findings with a joint venture partner. Rosatelli says that gives Golden Valley Mines shareholders a huge upside advantage. “The most significant part here is we own 100 percent of these properties,” he says. “If we make the big hit, it’s 100 percent owned by us, so our stock is definitely going to rise because of it. We’re going to own 100 percent of that property. “That’s the biggest upside potential for us,” he adds. Staying the Course Even though the company has significant advantages over other exploration firms, Rosatelli says Golden Valley Mines is still subject to the same pitfalls and difficulties as its competitors. “The biggest challenge right now is the market,” he says. With the economy in North America slowing down, juniors and other companies are finding it difficult to raise money. However, this is one area where Golden Valley Mines is grateful to have some joint venture partners working with it, as the company counts on them to provide capital for exploration of areas outside of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. “This year alone, our budget is about $8 million, and about 75 percent of that is coming through our joint venture partners,” Rosatelli says. Even without that support, he adds, Golden Valley Mines can still do a lot of exploring in the Abitibi region without spending a lot. Rosatelli says the company has good reason to be optimistic about the future, as two of its most recent drilling jobs discovered new nickel-copper-PGE and cobalt-nickel-silver drill intercepts, at the the Ducros and Island 27 prospects, respectively. “These are examples of how our programs are actually successful,” he says. |
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