Mines Management Inc. – Advanced World Class Silver Deposit at the Montanore Project
Overview
Mines Management Inc. (NYSE:MGN, TSX: MGT) is a U.S. based mineral exploration and development company focused on the acquisition of silver dominant mineral properties. The company’s prime focus is on the advanced stage Montanore silver-copper project located in northwestern Montana, the northern extension to a region with historic production exceeding one billion ounces of silver.
The Company also explores for precious and base metals in Peru. The Company’s primary Gold project is the Peruvian La Estrella Project.
Investment Highlights
- US$13 million cash in the bank
- Montanore project: 231 million ounces silver and 1.7 billion pounds copper
- Low share count (only 29 million shares outstanding)
- Excellent infrastructure for both projects
- Advanced stage project with development permits pending
Key Property
Montanore Silver-Copper Project
The wholly-owned Montanore Project is located twenty-three miles south of the town of Libby, Montana, and hosts one of the world’s largest Silver-Copper deposits. It is located near one of the most prolific silver regions in the U.S. which has produced more than one billion ounces of silver historically. The project has excellent infrastructure for mine development close at hand; with road, rail, low cost power and abundant labor residing in a the mining friendly jurisdiction.
The deposit is categorized as a stratabound sediment-hosted silver-copper deposit, and is one of three major deposits in the area, which include, the Troy Mine and Rock Creek deposits. In-situ mineralization is estimated at more than 230 million ounces of silver and nearly two billion pounds of copper. These mineralized zones strike northeast, dipping to the northwest, with only a small portion of the mineralized zone exposed at the surface. This makes the Montanore project best suited as an underground operation. The copper and silver values are carried predominately in the minerals bornite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite and native silver in varying proportions.
The project has undergone extensive engineering, and is designed with an initial production capacity of approximately 12,500 tons per day, estimated to yield six million ounces of silver and 50 million pounds of copper per year. The project benefits significantly from past work which included: 70,000 feet of exploration drilling, advanced stage engineering and mine planning, and construction of a 14,000 ft. underground evaluation adit.
The project is currently undergoing the permitting process, and preparations for an underground evaluation drilling program to support a feasibility study. The objective of the two-phase evaluation program is to validate the resource, and convert resources to mineable classifications; then to gather further technical data for completion of a final feasibility study.
Click here for the Montanore 43-101 Resource Estimate
La Estrella Gold- Silver Project
The La Estrella property encompasses approximately 2,500 hectares of land within the Central Peruvian polymetallic belt, located 130 kilometers south of Huancayo, a region with a rich history of silver mining dating back to the 1500′s. The La Estrella is an advanced stage exploration project on which a large gold and silver mineralized zone has been identified through previous surface exploration and drilling. The project boasts well-established infrastructure, and lies within 30 kilometers of Minera Buenaventura’s historic Julcani Silver Mine, which first opened in 1955 and still operates today.
The company has established and maintained constructive community agreements with all stakeholder communities, and the property possesses exploration permits which enable, with modification, continued drilling activities. It is part of the corporate ethos, that engagement with indigenous people’s happens early, and often, making the region’s people an integral part of the development process.
The company completed drilling of eight new diamond core drill holes totaling approximately 2,700 meters, in August of 2012, in a program designed to test the southwestern extent of the gold and silver mineralized zone. Seven of the eight holes intersected significant thicknesses of gold and silver mineralization.
The 2012 drilling program extended the known mineralized zone by approximately 500 meters north to south by 300 meters to the west. Thickness of mineralization averages approximately 150 meters, and includes high-grade intervals, with silver and gold grades exceeding 200 grams per tonne and 1.0 gram per tonne, respectively, within the mineralized package. Analysis and planning for the next phase of exploration is ongoing.
Click here for La Estrella’s Latest Drill Results
Summary
Mines Management Inc. is a mineral exploration and development company head quartered in the U.S. trading on the TSX under the symbol MGT. The advanced stage Montanore Project, located in Montana, is approaching both final permitting and feasibility stages. The Montanore Project’s mineralization is estimated at more than 230 million ounces of silver and nearly 2 billion pounds of copper. The company’s La Estrella gold-silver project in Peru, is an exploration stage property that recently completed a large drill program that greatly extended the zone of mineralization, and included several high grade drill intercepts.
Management
Glenn Dobbs – President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Dobbs has broad experience in international finance, investment banking, natural resource financing and as a business development consultant. Mr. Dobbs was the founder of the Alpha Commodities Fund in 1976, founder and Board Chairman of First American Bank in 1978, Dallas regional manager for Monex International, founder of the InterGold Fund in 1996 and a former member of the Washington State House of Representatives. Mr. Dobbs has written and lectured extensively on precious metals sector investing, resource development and financing.
Glenn Dobbs – President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Dobbs has broad experience in international finance, investment banking, natural resource financing and as a business development consultant. Mr. Dobbs was the founder of the Alpha Commodities Fund in 1976, founder and Board Chairman of First American Bank in 1978, Dallas regional manager for Monex International, founder of the InterGold Fund in 1996 and a former member of the Washington State House of Representatives. Mr. Dobbs has written and lectured extensively on precious metals sector investing, resource development, and financing.
Nicole Altenburg – Controller and Principal Financial Officer
Ms. Altenburg has served as the Company’s Controller since she joined the Company on May 7, 2007. In that capacity, she has been responsible for financial and accounting activities, as well as filings with the securities regulatory agencies in both the United States and Canada. Ms. Altenburg has previously practiced as a certified public accountant. Ms. Altenburg obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Montana.
Douglas Dobbs – Vice President, Corporate Development, and Investor Relations
Mr. Dobbs joined Mines Management in October 2002, with more than 20 years of broad experience in investment management, corporate planning and marketing. Prior to joining Mines Management, Mr. Dobbs served as senior business and marketing analyst with Avista Labs, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA), involved in the development of fuel cell energy technology. While at Avista, Mr. Dobbs was responsible for strategic planning, as well as market and corporate development activities.
Prior to joining Avista, Mr. Dobbs spent thirteen years in the investment industry with companies including Piper Jaffray Co., and National Securities Corp., ultimately founding and operating Dobbs Financial Services, an investment management firm involved with investment and market analysis and portfolio management. Mr. Dobbs holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Hillsdale College in Michigan, and was formerly both a licensed investment manager and advisor.
Michael G. Rasmussen – Vice President of Exploration
Dr. Rasmussen has more than twenty-five years of experience in mining and exploration in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Dr. Rasmussen held senior roles at Echo Bay Mines, Kinross Gold, Endeavour Silver, and he was previously a consulting geologist prior to joining Mines Management. He earned a masters degree in geological sciences from Loma Linda University and a PhD in Economic Geology from the University of Washington. He is a member of the Society of Economic Geologists, Geological Society of America, Northwest Mining Association, and the American Institute of Professional Geologists.
Of note, he has conducted exploration extensively throughout Mexico, having overseen programs in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, and elsewhere throughout the Sierra Madre, as well as having been responsible for exploration in New Mexico, British Columbia and Washington State, where he has been credited with the discovery of the Emanuel Creek epithermal gold deposit for Echo Bay Mines.
Douglas Dobbs – Vice President, Corporate Development, and Investor Relations
Mr. Dobbs joined Mines Management in October 2002, after thirteen years in investments, corporate planning and marketing. Prior to joining Mines Management, Mr. Dobbs served as senior business and marketing analyst with Avista Labs, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA), involved in the development of energy technology. While at Avista, Mr. Dobbs was responsible for strategic planning, as well as market and corporate development activities.
Prior to joining Avista, Mr. Dobbs spent thirteen-years in the investment industry with companies including Piper Jaffray Co., and National Securities Corp., ultimately founding and operating Dobbs Financial Services, an investment management firm involved with investment and market analysis and portfolio management. Mr. Dobbs holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Hillsdale College in Michigan, and was formerly both a licensed investment manager and advisor.
Michael G. Rasmussen – Vice President of Exploration
Dr. Rasmussen has more than twenty-five years of experience in mining and exploration in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Dr. Rasmussen held senior roles at Echo Bay Mines, Kinross Gold, Endeavour Silver, and he was previously a consulting geologist prior to joining Mines Management. He earned a masters degree in geological sciences from Loma Linda University and a PhD in Economic Geology from the University of Washington. He is a member of the Society of Economic Geologists, Geological Society of America, Northwest Mining Association, and the American Institute of Professional Geologists.
Of note, he has conducted exploration extensively throughout Mexico, having overseen programs in the states of Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, and elsewhere throughout the Sierra Madre, as well as having been responsible for exploration in New Mexico, British Columbia and Washington State, where he has been credited with the discovery of the Emanuel Creek epithermal gold deposit for Echo Bay Mines.
