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Cogitore Resources Is Focusing On The
Abitibi Belt In Quebec And Ontario, A World-Famous Mining Country Which
Combines Excellent Potential for new deposits, easy access and
infrastructure
Metals/Mining
Base Metal Exploration
(WOO-TSXV)
Cogitore Resources Inc.
Suite 101, 50 Richmond Street East
Toronto ON Canada M5C 1N7
Phone: 416-924-9893
Gerald Riverin
President and CEO
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFOinterviews.com
Published – April 4, 2008
BIO:
Gerald Riverin
President and CEO
Dr. Riverin is currently President and CEO of Cogitore
Resources Inc.
Prior to joining Cogitore,
Dr. Riverin spent 27 years working for Inmet Mining Corporation and its
predecessors, including ten years as General Manager for North American
exploration.
He obtained his Ph.D. from
Queen’s University in 1977 and has been involved with the development of
several properties, including the discovery of Inmet’s Troilus open pit
gold-copper mine near Chibougamau. Dr. Riverin is internationally renowned
as an expert on the geology of volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits and is
routinely invited as a speaker and lecturer on various aspects of the
geology of volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits and on exploration
technology.
He is also currently serving
on the board of JUNEX Inc. (a junior oil and gas exploration company),
Yorbeau Resources Inc., and Odyssey Resources Ltd. He recently completed a 2
year term as President of the Quebec Mining Exploration Association.
Company Profile:
Cogitore Resources Inc.
Backed by experienced management and strong
financial expertise, Cogitore Resources is now entering its fourth full year
of exploration activities. 2008 is proving to be both challenging and
exciting, with three high-profile projects currently underway. Estrades,
Lemoine and Scott all demonstrate great potential in yielding mineral
discoveries that will help us achieve our vision of becoming a successful
mineral producer.
CEOCFO: Mr. Riverin, what is your vision
for Cogitore Resources?
Mr. Riverin: “The vision for Cogitore
Resources is through exploration success to become a profitable mineral
producer.”
CEOCFO:
Please tell us about the area where you are focusing.
Mr. Riverin: “We are focusing in the
Abitibi Belt in Quebec and Ontario. We selected the area both for its
potential for new deposits and because of easy access. This is a proven
mining area that is known worldwide and we were fortunate enough to assemble
a good package of excellent properties in the Abitibi Belt. All of these
properties have the same recipe of strong exploration potential and easy
access.”
CEOCFO: Why did you choose those
properties?
Mr. Riverin: “We were lucky to acquire
properties that were well located in relation to previous producers. For
example, two or our projects have past producers. Not only do they have past
producers but also those past producers are amongst the highest grade in
terms of volcanogenic massive sulphide (“VMS”) deposits in the world. The
grades were high not only for base metals but also precious metals.
Therefore, two of our projects have two past producers that were super
high-grade in both base metals and precious metals. Many of our other
projects are adjacent to or along the extension of other mines, for example,
a project called Selbaie West, which is located eight kilometers west of the
big Selbaie mine. We have a project called Normetal West, which is also
along the extension of the past producing Normetal mine. It is just that the
timing of this acquisition was such that we were able to get those excellent
properties when no one wanted them.”
CEOCFO:
Where are you in the various projects?
Mr. Riverin: “It varies. In some
projects, we are in the early stages for example, Selbaie West we are doing
right now our very first drilling program ever on that project. Whereas
other projects like Estrades we are in our third drilling program and we are
also conducting a feasibility study on one part of the project. There was a
past producer at Estrades that happened to have remaining resources which
are very high grade and because of the high grade and the fact that the
property is already developed with a ramp down to 200 meters for example,
that allowed us to conceive a small producer of high-grade ore at a
reasonable capital cost. On that particular project we are doing drilling
for new deposits and at the same time we are doing feasibility studies. We
have the full range of early to fairly advanced projects in our portfolio.”
CEOCFO: Is
there much difference between Ontario and Quebec?
Mr. Riverin: “Honestly no. Quebec is
ranked high because it has been mining-friendly compared to many provinces
and many other countries in the world. With Ontario, it depends on where you
are, but in my mind, working in northeast Ontario is not different than
working in Quebec. The financial incentives are a little bit better in
Quebec. For example, there is a tax credit that allows you to get reimbursed
for up to 35% of your investment in exploration in Quebec. Therefore, if you
raise hard cash, or even if you raise flow-through money from other
provinces to bring new money to Quebec, then at the end of the year you file
a report to the government and then you get reimbursed 35%. Hence, this is a
true incentive to work on one side of the border as opposed to the other
side. However, in our recipe we are looking at the technical aspects and
access, before we look at the tax credit. Our business is to make
discoveries and not to receive tax credits, but all things being equal then
you probably work on one side of the border but then if you think that in a
particular area the Ontario side of the border is better for exploration
success, I would go for exploration success first.”
CEOCFO: Do
you own your properties 100%, and what is your philosophy on partnering?
Mr. Riverin: “Some projects we own 100%:
for example the Estrades mining lease, this is the one on which we are doing
the feasibility study, it is owned 100%. The Normetal West, we staked it
last year so we own it 100%. We have the Scott Lake project in the
Chibougamau area which is owned 100%, but also there are projects that we
optioned from partners. For example the Caribou project, which is just to
the west of the Estrades project; we just signed an option agreement last
year with IAMGOLD, and we can earn 70% of IAMGOLD’s interest in that
particular project. With other projects, we have earned or are in the
process of earning our interest from Inmet Mining. In those cases, we can
earn 50% and if Inmet Mining does not participate, then we just dilute them.
For example in the case of the Lemoine project near Chibougamau, we have
earned our 50% relatively quick from Inmet and Inmet has already declined to
participate in two consecutive programs so their interest is down to 23% so
we have 77%. It is a whole combination of 100% owned projects and projects
with partners. Our philosophy is that it is a case by case thing, if we
really want a project and all we can get is fifty percent then we will take
it, 50% of a mine is better than 100% of nothing.”
CEOCFO:
What is the financial picture of the company?
Mr. Riverin: “We were pretty well financed
last year before the market went down in the last two months. At the end of
December, we still had over five million in the bank and right now in mid
February we are down between four and five. We are fairly well financed to
carry out the full 2008 program. We will have to do some financing in the
year in preparation for the 2009 program.”
CEOCFO:
There are a lot of mining, and exploration companies for investors to choose
from, what sets Cogitore apart?
Mr. Riverin: “What makes us different is
the large number of projects and quality of projects. I mentioned two of our
projects have past producers which means those are proven mineralized
systems, plus in each of these past producer projects, we have large
property position on strike with it. With the Lemoine past producer we have
17 kilometers of favorable stratigraphy to explore. With the Estrades past
producer, we have 25 kilometers of stratigraphy to explore. In the Selbaie
mine area we have 12 kilometers of favorable stratigraphy to explore. In the
Normetal West we have 25 kilometers. Therefore, we were able assemble large
property position in productive belts, and this sets us apart from many
other junior companies. In addition, we are fortunate enough to have an
advanced project, a very high-grade deposit at Estrades. We are doing a
feasibility study and we are at the stage now of discussing with smelters
and potential custom mills, and then we will see whether we go ahead with
that project or not. Therefore, we have the full range of early projects and
fairly advanced projects in extremely well located properties. For all of
our properties we can drive with pick-up trucks so we don’t spend any money
on helicopters or airplanes to access our projects. Having such a portfolio
of high-quality projects in a world famous mining area and at the same time
have these projects easily accessible, this is a big reason to be interested
in Cogitore Resources.”
CEOCFO: In
closing, please touch on the strength of the management team.
Mr. Riverin: “I
have been in this business for over 30 years now so I am well experienced.
We have our focus on one type of deposit, which are the volcanogenic massive
sulphide (“VMS”) deposits and I specialize in that kind of deposit. I have
also done my PhD thesis on one of these deposits. Therefore, I am a fairly
well known expert in VMS deposits. Our vice president has 12 years of
production experience, so not only does he have exploration experience but
also he has production experience. He has actually done production in a
massive sulphide deposit, a zinc/copper deposit called the Langlois mine in
Quebec. Our senior geologist Benoit Lafrance has done a PhD on the Normetal
Mine belt; he is the local expert in that belt and we happen to have a big
property position in that same belt, so we are able to tap into his
expertise. Therefore, our management team, our vice president, our senior
geologist and myself are all very experienced in this kind of deposit. We
are fortunate to have assembled this kind of team. At the upper management
(board) level we have guys that are quite experienced, such as David Comba,
who is a very well known explorationist as well. Finally, we also have the
Goodman family behind us for the financial part of things.”
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