http://www.vancouversun.com/index.html
Rob McLeod returns to Stewart to explore for gold at Red Mountain, site of his first job after graduation
When exploration geologist Rob McLeod graduated from the University of B.C. in 1993, his first job was drilling for gold at an underground project at Red Mountain near his hometown of Stewart.
It was a “dream job” for McLeod, who grew up fishing, hiking and exploring abandoned mine shafts in the area. During the winter drill program, he would pack ski equipment on the Snowcat they used to travel up the mountain and ski down at the end of the day.
The skiing was good, and so were the drill hits. “I’ve had my eyes on it ever since,” McLeod said of the property at the southern edge of B.C.’s “golden triangle,” a mineral-rich area beside the Alaska panhandle that hosts high-grade gold and stores of copper and silver.
McLeod now has his hands on Red Mountain as well, after an option agreement with current owner Seabridge Gold. The deal gives McLeod’s Revolution Resources 100-per-cent ownership of the project in exchange for a total of $3.5 million in cash and the expenditure of $7.5 million in exploration and development expenses over the next three years.
That requires raising money — $5 million in a private placement — in one of the most gruelling junior mining bear markets in recent memory.
So the geologist — who was once treed by an angry moose north of Kamloops and survived a violent helicopter crash landing in the wilds of Alaska — was dressed in a suit during a recent interview at a downtown Vancouver coffee shop, ahead of meetings with Dundee Securities and Canaccord Genuity.
“If a buddy sees me, he goes, ‘Oh, you’re asking for money today, eh,’ ” he laughed.
Raising exploration capital is tough these days, even for a CEO with McLeod’s track record. His resume includes selling Underworld Resources and its Yukon White Gold project to Kinross for $139 million in 2010.
Five years before McLeod first worked on Red Mountain, nearby discoveries at gold-rich exploration plays such as the Murray Pezim-promoted Eskay Creek sparked trading frenzies on the Vancouver Stock Exchange.
Now, mining brokers McLeod has worked with for 20 years — “guys who would love this kind of stuff” — have been saying ‘no thanks’ to exploration financing, he said.
“When you see a few of these grizzled veterans pulling out, you know we’re at the depths of the nuclear winter, still.”
But he noted the investing climate has improved since last year, when the bellwether S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index sunk to 860, barely above the lows of the 2008 financial crisis. It’s trading now at about 990.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Mining+Geologist+takes+mineral+hunt+hometown/9835508/story.html