In an age where negative stories seem to supersede positive news the vast majority of the time, it is always refreshing to hear an optimistic voice or opinion. We have all been privy to the damaging effects that have come in the wake of the sharp fall in metal prices and economic activity in the mining sector, a prolonged event that has seen a lot of company’s share prices plunge as they fail to raise much needed capital, however if you search around you will find people that are much quicker to speak of the opportunities that do exist today.
One such individual is Ron Tremblay, president and chief executive officer of Levon Resources. “For us, the downturn in the metals industry presented an opportunity to channel our efforts on securing the last piece of the puzzle when it comes to the Cordero Project.”
The puzzle piece Tremblay speaks of is the Aida mining claim, located in a central part of the Cordero Project, itself found in northwest Mexico. “Prior to purchasing the Aida claim we had spent the better part of the last five years trying to strike a deal under extremely difficult circumstance,” he states. “As luck would have it, the market conditions allowed us, with a lot of effort and hard work on our team’s part, to finally come to an agreement to purchase the claim at a cost of $2 million.”
With a complete package now in place Levon Resources recently set about conducting a drilling program on Aida. Should drilling prove successful it will allow the company to re-evaluate its resource calculation.
These latest developments represent the next phase in the growth of what is one of the world’s largest silver resources. In less than four years Levon Resources has amassed a resource at Cordero containing 364 million ounces of silver indicated and a further 91 million ounces inferred. Additional indicated resources of 945,000 ounces of gold, 6.1 billion pounds of zinc and 3.3 billion pounds of lead have helped establish Cordero as one of Mexico's premier polymetallic porphyry targets.
Having successfully cut back on expenses in the last 18 months or so, a process which the company intends to continue while metal prices remain low, Levon Resources also carries with it the knowledge that it retains considerable dollar value in the form of its underground assets. With Tremblay confident that we will see a new high in terms of silver prices in the future, as well as increases in the value of gold and zinc, it stands to reason that the company’s aforementioned assets will only appreciate over time as the economics improve.
“I am one of those people who seek out opportunities before they happen, not after,” he says. “I am also a believer in the fact that one can’t fight against the tide of change and therefore one must deal with the things that can be dealt with during challenging times in order to be best equipped to take advantage when good market conditions return and deal from a position of strength. This is precisely what we have done by continuing to advance the Cordero resource in a key area, in a responsible, cost effective way.”
With the company in an extended period of exploration and development it can also look forward to an IVA tax refund that could exceed $4 million in total. Of course such a large sum of money does not simply get handed over in one go. The company has had to carry out a great deal of due diligence and complete a large volume of paperwork to ensure that everything is carried out in accordance with Mexican and international regulations.
“To date we have met all of the qualifications necessary to receive these funds, while a recent audit also indicated no issues therefore we expect to begin receiving our tax refund in the coming months,” Tremblay highlights. “In line with our policy of reinvesting back into the company, a proportion of this will then most likely be used to cover the cost of our latest drilling program.”
The company’s operations schedule, as estimated at the time of writing, indicates that the drilling program on Aida should be complete by the end of January 2014. Once this has happened Levon Resources will be able to provide its Tucson, Arizona based engineers with the assay information and data that will be required to model and optimize the pit design for future recovery to take place.
This information will also help give the company a clearer picture of what Cordero has to offer in terms of its total resources. “Early indications suggest that we could be looking at an asset containing somewhere north of 600 million ounces of silver,” Tremblay explains. “In terms of the pit itself we are potentially looking at a pit design of over three kilometres long, two and a half kilometres wide and up to one kilometre deep. Based on the information we have to hand at present we could be looking at anywhere between a 60,000 to 125,000 tonnes per day operation with a 25-plus year lifespan.”
While a great deal of Levon Resources’ efforts are understandably focused on Cordero, it has not prevented the company from evaluating the possibility of securing further growth outside of Mexico. “We continue to look at different opportunities all over South America, Central America and North America,” Tremblay enthuses. “What we are specifically looking for are highly prospective properties that have the potential to support a large scale mining operation in a good jurisdiction. It also needs to be an opportunity that we can earn into at a reasonable cost, much like Cordero.”
Despite the excellent progress made by the company in the last few years, Levon Resources, and the Cordero Project in particular, remains an extremely undervalued opportunity for investors. Now, with 100 percent ownership of the Aida claim obtained and with signs of an upturn in the metals market beginning to appear, the time could not be better for interested parties to get on board.
“What Cordero represents is the perfect opportunity for investors to get involved, basically on the ground floor, with a well advanced project backed by a company that has enough capital in place to carry out work for at least the next ten years without having to go back to the market to raise extra finance,” Tremblay concludes. “There is no doubt in my mind that it is because of these factors that the big boys out there continue to watch us closely and that it is only a matter of time before one or more of them puts their cards on the table and gets involved.”
Written by Will Daynes, research by James Boyle
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