Cartier Resources: Drilling Down in the Abitibi

An Interview with CEO Philippe Cloutier

Jay Currie, March 10, 2014

http://resourceswire.com/2014/03/cartier-resources-drilling-down-in-the-abitibi/

In the new junior mining world new, more realistic, business models drive investment. For Philippe Cloutier, President and CEO of Cartier Resources ( V.ECR ) that means “giving investors an exit strategy and making money.”

As Cloutier puts it, you begin with “Location, location, location!”, in this case the prolific Abitibi Gold Belt in the mining friendly jurisdiction of Quebec. “When the last gold bull run occurred in 2003 the majors and juniors bet on projects from the Abitibi. These were old deposits. None were new discoveries.”

Just like the majors, Cartier is working on projects in the Abitibi in order to de-risk the possibility of a solid return. “This is an area with services and good infrastructure. There is a history of past production. Although it is not exotic it is rewarding.”

Executing the strategy means “targeting  smaller known deposits”. In most cases projects which had production but went off line when metal prices dropped. “Now these projects can be reborn because we’re in a completely different economic environment.”

The projects themselves host small deposits at surface which have been identified or even mined. “You drill at depth. The signature geology of the Abitibi is that you can find a mine underneath a mine. You keep drilling at depth.”

In its  February 27, 2014 news release  Cartier was able to illustrate the strength of this drilling strategy. Reporting results from the first hole of the drilling program beneath the Pusticamica Gold Deposit on its Benoist property, Cartier had the satisfaction of a 5 meter interval grading 10.3 g/t AU. Cloutier commented, “These drill results reward our perseverance. To date all of the holes have intersected the targeted mineralization-alteration zone below the deposit”.

The Benoist property has a historic resource of 100,000 ounces. However, as Cloutier pointed out, “This historic resource is within 200 meters of the surface. The new holes are not in the historic resource. We are drilling to 650 meters. We have earlier holes which prove that the (gold) system existed at depth.”

Obviously, the intersection is excellent news for Cartier and its shareholders but as Cloutier pointed out, “In the new market paradigm news sometimes is treated as a liquidity event. But you keep going. The market cannot ignore high grade intercepts in mine country.”

Cartier believes that  drilling where gold has already been discovered reduces the risks of failure. It is a “slow and steady” approach with what Cloutier describes as “guaranteed gold”.  The drills define the volume and determine the grades. As Cartier gains more information about the structure of a deposit it can determine the feasibility of a mining operation.

Projects that make the cut are those that show they can grow. “The decision is about which project can generate the most ounces in the ground.” said Cloutier.

Cloutier pointed to another Cartier project in Quebec: the Chimo Mine. Cartier acquired the Chimo Mine in a bankruptcy sale in August 2013. At the time Cloutier said, “Cartier believes there is good potential for these reported gold zones to constitute additional resources beyond the known resources left behind when the mine closed down.”

The mine produced just under 400,000 ounces between 1964 and 1997 and was closed when the price of gold fell below $300/oz. It has an 860 meter shaft and Cartier believes it contains un-mined, high grade, gold zones near the historic workings.

Here, again, the Cartier strategy is to look for gold where gold has been found before and where there is the infrastructure to bring a mine into production quickly and economically.

“We provide investors with a solid business model which we believe is a low risk-high reward opportunity. We want to construct growth in a proven productive district.” concluded Cloutier.

Cartier has the cash on hand to continue its drive towards production. Cartier last traded at $0.16. It has 64.7 million shares outstanding for a market cap of $10.4 million dollars.