An Overview of Bluerock Resources with Michael Collins,
President and Chief Executive Officer
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
We added Bluerock Resources to our portfolio not long ago
and watched as investors pushed it down by 50%, only to see the stock double
back to where it had previously traded. After watching this we decided Michael
Collins would be a great interview as he could explain to investors what BRD is
currently up to.
Michael explained that BRD was, and still is, in the
process of evaluating properties which will add to shareholder value in the long
run. This was why the company went out and recently added two new properties to
their land position, with one of the projects actually being permitted for
uranium mining. The company hopes that they will have the mine ready when
Denison Mines Ltd. has the nearby mill ready for processing.
We felt as though BRD was a stock (and company) not
understood by many, so we were very eager to allow the President and CEO the
floor to explain and educate us all on the fundamentals which will drive
Bluerock Resources' stock in the years to come.
-theinvestar:
Mr. Collins, can you give investors out there an overview of your company in
regards to the entire property portfolio?
Mr. Collins: Bluerock Resources is focused in two main
areas with uranium projects in the US Southwest and Mongolia. The Company is
looking to expand our portfolio in both of these areas.
The company has several projects in Colorado and Utah and
continues to negotiate to add to that base. Our main project right now is the
Tramp Mine in Montrose county, where we hold an active mine permit and have
historical ore grade intersections in both underground sampling and near mine
drill intersections. With a drilling permit in hand and a total of 59 claims, we
are very bullish on our prospect to be ready to produce toll mill ore by the
time Denison has finished renovating its White Mesa Mill in 2008. The PSC
Project in Utah is also a very attractive exploration target; where we have 2
past producing mines and 2 historic drill outs. We see a number of relatively
shallow drill targets and are moving quickly to permit a drilling program there.
Work on the Skull Creek Project progresses. We are looking at a near surface
target for which had historic work which has produced leached, historic trench
samples at .08% U3O8 and historic grades of 1.2% to 0.1% U3O8 over a 200 ft. in
a shallow adit. We see a lot of potential for a high grade, open-pittable target
there and expect to have a drill program running there this summer as well.
In Mongolia, we currently hold over 280,000 hectares of
prospective ground divided into 8 discrete projects. Applications are currently
being processed to gain tenure of an additional 40,000 hectares of ground that
we identified as being highly prospective in our fall 2006 exploration. The 8
properties in Mongolia range from advanced exploration with historical drilling
to grass roots. At the Khavtsal project we have historical drill results of up
to 0.3% U3O8 over 0.3 meters. Strong targets have been identified in the other 7
projects based on near radiometric anomalies, soil, rock and water samples as
well as uranium anomalies in oil and gas wells. We expect to run several follow
up ground surveys to build on results from 2006 and then to move to drilling
this summer.
We’re also negotiating on several deals in several past
producing properties in Utah and are also looking at some very attractive
projects in both Arizona and Colorado. Bluerock also possesses several precious
and base metals projects which were inherited from a predecessor company, but
these currently are not the focus of our development plans.
-theinvestar:
With the uranium market in a very strong bull market, will you focus on these
properties and put on hold any plans for your other projects?
Mr. Collins: Bluerock Resources inherited several valuable
gold and base metals projects through its predecessor company Better Resources.
We think it is important to keep our corporate message focused on Uranium so our
strategy is to spend Bluerock dollars on Uranium and find joint venture partners
to advance the gold and base metals projects. We think that the value in the
company is going to be driven by the development of our uranium projects and by
expanding our position in the uranium market.
-theinvestar:
Experience and expertise are key in the industry, can you share with us
Bluerock’s?
Mr. Collins: Bluerock has worked hard to identify and pull
together a strong core team of geologists, permitting and development experts
and because we have worked hard to be a real exploration company we are starting
to attract quality individuals who are seeking us out because they see us as
running competent and exciting programs.
In the US Southwest we are working with local uranium
geologists, people who grew up in uranium towns, permitting experts who help us
proactively deal with government regulation and local contractors who can work
effectively on the ground and demonstrate our commitment to local communities.
In Mongolia we have developed a team of local geologists
who operate at the permitting and regulatory level as well as in the field.
Supporting this local nucleus, we have a group of expatriate; Canadian, Russian
and German specialists who contribute in key areas on an as needed basis. Our
Mongolian team can draw on a strong base of experience in both conventional and
ISL uranium extraction exploration and development.
-theinvestar:
Mr. Collins, over the past few months it seems
Bluerock
has begun to focus on two properties, Skull Creek and
Khavtsal.
Can you tell us about them?
Mr. Collins: Skull Creek is located in NW Colorado. It is
a near-surface, lignite hosted uranium deposit. We went there trying to prove up
a 44 million pound resource done in 1956. Our work there has demonstrated that
while there is good, solid uranium grades, the continuity and grades do not
justify that estimate. Our work has also indicated that we are seeing
mineralization near-surface that extends out into the sandstones away from the
lignite. This suggests that there is a near surface concentration of uranium
which forms a really nice target there.
In Mongolia the Khavtsal Project has a historical resource
of 5.2 million pounds at a .06% U3O8 grade. We look at that as indicative that
there is a good solid target there in the basin for an ISL style deposit. So
we’re bullish about that.
While these two projects form very solid targets, we are
also excited about the Tramp Mine and PSC project in Colorado and Utah and the
potential of the additional 7 properties in Mongolia. We expect to see a lot of
drilling on these projects in 2007.
-theinvestar:
On Skull Creek the drill results were not received well by the stock market. Do
you think that investors misinterpreted them, simply do not understand the
geology or were correct in their assumptions?
Mr. Collins: I think that perhaps some investors
misinterpreted the positive results and moreover some investors were just
looking for a quick drill program that would have proved the 44 million pounds
in historical resources. When you look at our marketing campaign prior to
releasing those results, we were trying to balance the potential of the historic
resource with a clear description of the data underlying the resource. We view
the program as having been successful in both defining and expanding our near
surface high grade exploration target and also demonstrating that the market can
have confidence in Bluerock to design and execute drill programs and release
information in a transparent and timely manner. Looking forward with Skull
Creek, I think we will see a lot of value added there which will eventually be
reflected in the stock price.
-theinvestar:
What drilling plans does Bluerock
have for the year 2007?
Mr. Collins: Bluerock is moving to get a program up and
running at the Tramp Mine as soon as we can compile the data into a model and
mobilize a drill rig. Permitting is going ahead on 3 permits for 30 drill holes
on the PSC Project and we are actively working to modify our permit at Skull
Creek to allow us more flexibility in rig positioning and adding additional
drill holes.
In Mongolia we are currently working on a drill program in
the Ulaan Nuur depression and are considering 3 other potential programs for our
Mongolian properties.
All in all, we expect a busy year with a solid news stream
from exploration and drilling programs.
-theinvestar:
Can you explain your working relationships with both Energy Metals and
Uranerz
Exploration?
Mr. Collins: Uranerz was looking for a uranium exploration
partner with experience working overseas. Bluerock brings a lot of that type of
experience to the table, if you look at the resumes of our management it is
evident that we have spent a lot of time overseas and we are also aggressive
explorationists. We have promised and subsequently delivered on, developing and
executing quality exploration programs which has allowed them to focus on their
Wyoming projects where they have a critical mass in personnel and expertise.
Our relationship with Energy Metals is quite similar. The
main corporate focus at EMC has been to develop their ISL assets which opened up
the potential for JV opportunities on their conventional mining assets. We
convinced them to JV the Skull Creek property to us, even though they aren’t
interested in doing JV projects with a lot of people. Part of that was our
promise that we would move quickly to test and, if possible, exploit the
historical resource there. We’ve pretty much demonstrated a commitment and
ability to do that with signing the JV agreement in August, having it permitted
in mid-September. We went forward and ran into trouble with our first drill
lined up for it but had drills turning there in early fall and wrapped up the
program as early as we could. They are happy with how we’ve handled the project
and demonstrated that we will fulfill our commitment.
-theinvestar:
In Mongolia, should you be able to add to the “probable reserves” how long would
it take to begin mining?
Mr. Collins: The “probably resources” at Khavtsal were
defined by soviet work in the late 1980’s. We have managed to get access to the
original data, and in review we feel that the historic resource forms a solid
basis to explore from as opposed to a resource to build on. We feel it is
important to get a handle on the mineralization through the basin, as opposed to
focusing exclusively on the Khavtsal deposit. Khavtsal is a solid exploration
target on it’s own but may not be the best target in the property.
-theinvestar:
How will Bluerock
achieve its desired growth going forward, organically, buying or selling assets?
Mr. Collins: It will be a combination of both organically
growing projects, as well as joint venturing or buying additional projects. The
mix will depend on market conditions, the value of other companies and our
ability to attract and utilize capital and exploration expertise. So we are open
to moving the company forward through both manners.
-theinvestar:
Mr. Collins, is there anything else you would like to add at this time?
Mr. Collins: If you look at Bluerock Resources and what we
have accomplished in the last year and a half, you will see a demonstrated
commitment to growing shareholder value through real exploration and development
of uranium assets.
Looking forward our management is focused on continuing to
grow and add value, not only through exploration, mergers and purchasing of
assets, but also by looking beyond the current uranium industry and market
conditions to gain advantage by positioning our company in front of market
evolution.