Golden Predator Mining Corp. (TSX.V: GPY) – Case Study

Introduction

With gold breaking out and hitting new all time highs, many analysts and banks are projecting it to move very quickly up and over the $2,300 mark in the coming months. In our opinion this is the perfect time to be looking at projects close to or just starting up production. Past producing projects are being re-evaluated all over the world and many with great success. A number of once operating mines that were forced to close due to plunging gold prices 20 years ago are once again seeing new life as the lustre has returned to gold. Money is pouring into gold and the mining sector as fears of inflation, instability of fiat currencies and a second wave of Covid-19 are starting to mount. This is where opportunities such as Golden Predator’s Brewery Creek mine restart project could become a very profitable operation in this rising gold environment.

Golden Predator Mining Corp. (TSX.V: GPY; OTCQX: NTGSF) – is focused on restarting the 100%-wholly owned, past-producing, Brewery Creek Mine project located 55 kilometres east of Dawson City in Yukon, Canada. The past producing licensed mine sits in a 180 square kilometre land package and is accessed via the Dempster and Klondike Highways. The area became famous during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896 and has a long history of placer mining which still continues in the region today.

Interestingly the Brewery Creek Mine was the first sub-arctic heap leach operation in the world and as such was designed to a very high standard. When the mine was put into temporary closure in 2002 following the collapse of the price of gold in the early 2000’s, it took less than a year for the heap leach field to be detoxified. Reclamation on the property was award-winning and during the temporary closure period both flora and fauna have flourished throughout the project. Golden Predator took over this responsibility in 2009 and this high standard has been maintained and exceeded as they work towards a restart.

Having operated in the Yukon for a number of years and known for their high standards of community engagement and social responsibility, Golden Predator has the support of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation (THFN) for a restart of the mine under the existing licenses. Since taking over the project, The Company has had tremendous exploration success and has increased the known resources by eight-fold since 2009 which is expected to grow as there is an updated resource estimate currently being done which is scheduled to be completed in August. The Company is also currently doing a Bankable Feasibility Study which is scheduled for completion late this year to provide for a production and financing decision that could see the mine move into development as early as 2021, with the first gold pour in 2022.

Summary

The Brewery Creek Project Overview – The Company’s Flagship Brewery Creek Project is located 55 kilometres from Dawson City which is home to several operating placer mining operations. The project has year -round road access, infrastructure on site, a water license, a mining license for 4 million tonnes/year, exploration upside and the support of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation.

Geological Setting – The Brewery Creek project is located within a zone of regional extensive, compressional deformation developed along the margin of North America over a 40 million year period beginning in the mid Jurassic.  Three regionally extensive thrust faults, the Robert Service, Tombstone and Dawson, are mapped over strike lengths of 100’s of kilometre in the Yukon and define the northern structural boundary of the Proterozoic-Early Paleozoic Selwyn Basin.   

Brewery Creek Exploration – The results from the last 10 years of exploration have grown the known resource from 150,000 ounces to 765,000 indicated and 440,000 inferred ounces of gold as per the 2019 Resource and have ultimately accelerated the company’s plan to restart the project. Additional ounces will likely be added as the company is in the process of incorporating 137 drill holes from the 2019 drilling campaign into an updated Mineral Resource Estimate.

Mine Development Planning – Brewery Creek is one of the few projects in the world that has over 1 million ounces of combined indicated and inferred gold ounces at over 1.1 gpt in a safe jurisdiction with all the licenses and permits in place to restart the mine. Since first acquiring this project the intent has always been to get the past producing mine back into production and planning is well underway for a timely restart. Although subject to the completion of the comprehensive feasibility study it is likely that the Capex for the integrated restart will be less than $100 million US.

Environmental, Social and Governance Responsibility – The long-term success of Golden Predator Mining Corp. requires the integration of sustainability into their business. Leading environmental, social and governance performance is strongly correlated to strong financial performance and creation of long-term value.

Additional Assets – Golden Predator holds several additional assets in the Yukon, including; The Yukon Mint™, a 20% equity position in the newly formed Group 11 Technologies, a 35% interest in Taku Gold Corp and 300,000 shares of Seabridge Gold, valued at approximately $8 million CDN today.

Valuation

With licenses to mine, growing resources and exploration upside across the property, Golden Predator represents a great opportunity to gain exposure to gold as the company works to advance the Brewery Creek Mine back towards production in a timely manner within a progressive, developing, modern day mining jurisdiction. With a market capitalization of approximately $68 million CAD, the company does not reflect the value and upside potential of its assets. With a fast track to production, bankable planning study and mine planning underway, a growing resource and gold breaking through $2050 USD, the economics of this project are looking very good. Golden Predator has an experienced management team, the backing of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation, strong investors like Eric Sprott and a track record of success within the yukon. In our opinion this project has real potential to be back in operation by 2022 and by ocusing on production and near-term revenue will allow for further exploration on numerous targets across the property that could see the life of the mine extended beyond current resources.

Brewery Creek Project Overview

The Company’s Flagship Brewery Creek Project is located 55 kilometres from Dawson City with year round road access, infrastructure on site, a water license, a mining license for 4 million tonnes/year, exploration upside and the support of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation.

First discovered in 1988 by Noranda Exploration Company and funded by Loki Gold Corp, The Brewery Creek Project saw a combination of percussion, reverse circulation and diamond drilling totaling 39,815 m along with a range of geophysics, geochemical sampling, trenching and pit sampling over the course of 5 years. Then in 1993, Loki Gold acquired 100% interest in the property and immediately began with a drilling campaign of 8,542 m along with a feasibility study. By 1995 Loki advanced the project to construction and secured financing to expedite the project into production.

In March 1996, Loki Merged with Baja Gold and Viceroy Resources Corp and as a result Viceroy gained 100% ownership of the Brewery Creek project and by 1997 the mine was fully operational. In the first two years of operation they produced 151,783 ounces of gold. However the company was forced to reassess the project in 1999 and brought in an independent company to study the recovery process in an effort to improve recoveries as they only produced 49,164 ounces in the third year. The challenge Viceroy ran into was the decision to operate with run-of-mine ore, this decision was based on metallurgical tests of surface ore from shallow trenching samples instead of deeper drilling. While the thoroughly oxidized shallow material placed on the heap leached as planned, the material below the surface did not leach as anticipated.

The Independent study, by SRK, determined the Company should be crushing the ore placed on the heap, instead of processing run-of-mine ore. Viceroy elected to continue the run-of-mine operation as the cost of a crushing system was not in the budget with an already declining gold price.  In September of 2000, Viceroy made the decision to cease operations however, gold recovery would continue through early 2002 with residual leaching of the ore on the pad.

While the mine was in production from late 1996-2002 they produced roughly 280,000 ounces of gold from 7 near surface oxide deposits and while many exploration targets were identified between pits and extending into other areas of the project, the low gold prices combined with lower than anticipated recovery from run of mine ore meant the exploration budget was not available.

During 2002, Alexco Resources took over the project, placed the project into temporary closure and undertook award winning interim reclamation on the project awaiting higher gold prices. The Yukon Water Board, Yukon Government and Alexco intentionally left the project in temporary closure with both reclamation and production clauses in the licenses to allow for a timely restart when market conditions allowed. 

In 2009, Golden Predator optioned the Brewery Creek project and began to explore extensively across the project while also setting their sights on a restart of production under the existing licenses. Some geophysics were completed on the property in 2011 and 2012 which were used to help guide drilling when Golden Predator acquired 100% interest of the property in 2012.   

Golden Predator made initial attempts to put the Brewery Creek project back into production in 2013, but ran into challenges in the permitting process when interpretation of the production clauses hit a wall. The company has since rectified with the cooperation and confirmation from the Yukon Government and through the strong support of the THFN, that the licenses include production clauses are in place and offer a timely benefit to the shareholder and community alike.   

Since 2013 Golden Predator has conducted various metallurgical tests including a number of column leach tests on 10 of the existing deposits and on material from the former heap leach pad.  Recovery rates from the existing deposits average from 60 to 70% with some tests as high as 92%.  Pre 2019 column tests on the former heap leach material showed recoveries of an average around 45%.  It’s also important to note that all tests before 2019 were conducted with material crushed to 80% passing 9.5 mm. 

New  2020 column leach tests have been conducted on material from auger holes in the former heap leach pad at a coarser crush size of 19 mm and data is indicating similar recovery rates to the finer crush tests. Results from these tests conducted by McLelland Labs as part of a restart plan in the final stages by Kappes Cassiday are expected in the coming weeks. Planning is underway to acquire additional metallurgical samples from permitted deposits to run more column leach tests at the coarser crush size of 19 mm.  If similar recoveries can be confirmed on the 19 mm versus the 9.5 mm material positive economic benefits can be realized from less crushing not only on reprocessed heap material but also from newly mined material.

Golden Predator has been extremely successful in increasing their resource over the last 10 years and are in a very good position to advance the project forward. The management and technical team have been with the project since 2009 and have a solid corporate memory of the project’s history, geology, resources and potential. Building on the long-term institutional knowledge, management has bolstered its team by the addition of key personnel whose expertise lies in mining and operations, all with a history of working in the Yukon. In addition to the 2019 feasibility level studies of restarting operations and reprocessing of the heap contracted Kappes, Cassiday & Associates, the Company has also  selected Tetra Tech Inc to complete  the feasibility level mine planning and operation scheduling in order to assure the project generates optimal cash flow from increased early production combining reprocessing of the existing heaps with new mining.  The overall comprehensive Bankable Feasibility Study will be completed, by Kappes Cassiday, and expected by the end of 2020. Details from the first phase study of the reprocessing option will be released over the coming months.

Geological Setting

The Brewery Creek Property is located in the foothills of the Ogilvie Mountains, along the north-eastern boundary of the Tintina Fault.  This major fault zone is defined as a +1,000 kilometre-long tectonic boundary separating the Selwyn Basin from the Yukon-Tanana terrane. The Selwyn Basin is comprised of Late Proterozoic and Palaeozoic marginal, oceanic basin deposits of an ancient North American Craton. The stratigraphy includes thick sequences of the Lower Proterozoic Hyland Group, Cambrian-Ordovician Road River Group and Devonian-Mississippian Earn Group sedimentary rocks.

The Selwyn Basin rocks have been poly-deformed and imbricated by the Jura-Cretaceous Dawson, Tombstone and Robert Service Thrust Faults and are intruded by mid-Cretaceous igneous rock of the Tombstone Plutonic Suite.  These igneous rocks form a northwest-trending belt of widely spaced intermediate to alkalic composition stocks and plutons associated with several styles of gold mineralization which know as the Tintina Gold Province.

The majority of the gold mineralization at Brewery Creek is hosted within or adjacent to monzonitic rocks and is associated with arsenopyrite-pyrite mineralization and carbonate/clay and quartz alteration. The monzonitic intrusive rocks form sill-like geometries the within the major thrust faults which control gold mineralization.

On the property there are 16 identified areas that make up the current resource. The sixteen deposits are; Blue, Bohemian, Canadian, Classic, East Big Rock, West Big Rock, Upper Fosters, Lower Fosters, Golden, Kokanee, Lucky, Moosehead, North Slope, Pacific, Schooner, and Sleemans. However, a new porphyry style of mineralization has been recognized in the southern portion of the property where a younger alkalic intrusive hosts gold mineralization. Surface sampling in 2019 established anomalous gold values approximately 4 km away from where they were drilling at Classic and Lone Star along the Western edge of the porphyry, in a location where the porphyry encountered in drilling at Classic and Lone Star outcrops along a cliffside.  The limits of this mineralization have not yet been defined but the aerial extent of the intrusive is approximately 20 square kilometres.

Brewery Creek Exploration

Since 1989 a total of 3,335 holes have been drilled, totalling 253,394 metres, on the Brewery Creek project along with a range of geophysics, including airborne magnetic surveys, induced polarization surveys and soil sampling. Of this total, Golden Predator has conducted approximately 40% of this work with the balance having been completed prior to the Company’s involvement with the project.  Additional work has been done on the leach pile by way of sonic and auger drilling in order to determine what was left behind by the previous operators.

The Company conducted exploration drilling on the Brewery Creek project from 2009 to 2013 increasing the known resource by 5 times and were ready to restart the mine until complications with the interpretation of the mining licenses arose. The company quickly addressed these issues and continued to move the project forward.  

The 2016 program focused on re-evaluating the former Kokanee, Golden and Lucky pits. Based on historic drill information unmined oxide mineral resources were modelled at these areas. The Golden Predator program conducted geotechnical, environmental and metallurgical drilling at these areas to confirm the historic information.  Metallurgical drilling consisted of 12 PQ core holes and these samples were submitted to SGS Canada Inc. of Burnaby, BC for column leach testing.  Six composites of material from Kokanee, Golden and Lucky were subjected to cyanide column leach tests with the material crushed to 80% passing 3/8” (9mm).  Final gold extraction on the column tests ranged from 41 to 92 %.

In 2018, Golden Predator drilled a combination of 9 exploration and 13 metallurgical holes aimed at expanding the mineralization of the existing zones and to investigate alternate processing methods. Eight of the 9 exploration holes were successful in expanding the mineralization around Schooner, Sleeman, Lucky, Bohemian and Lone Star.

Highlights of the 2018 drill program include:

• Lucky Zone-Hole BC 18-604 intersected 8.5 m of 5.05 g/t gold from a depth of 29.00 m including 4.0 m of 9.66 g/t gold from a depth of 33.0 m.
• Schooner Zone-Hole BC 18-597 intersected 6.55 m of 3.03 g/t gold from a depth of 35.75 m and 39.20 m of 1.64 g/t gold from a depth of 52.90 m.
• Lone Star Zone-Hole BC 18-605 intersected 6.0 m of 0.8 g/t gold from a depth of 50.0 m and 2 m of 21.0 g/t gold from a depth of 86.0 m.

The 2019 The Company completed a 137 reverse circulation drilling program, totalling 15,623 m, that focused on shallow, oxide gold targets which had not been historically explored within the currently permitted mine area.  The drilling program focused on two structural zones, each with ~ 500m of surface strike length, which were not well defined by earlier soil sampling or well tested by historic drill programs. The western zone is located between the Fosters and Kokanee resource areas and the eastern zone is located between the Golden and Lucky resource areas.

Reverse circulation development drilling, focused on the permitted portion of the Reserve Trend over a 3.5 km strike length, continues to expand the oxide gold resource within a section of the currently defined 9.5 km strike length of the greater Reserve Trend. The 2019 drill results define continuous; near-surface gold mineralization along this trend which remains open at depth and suggest gold mineralization within this 3.5 km segment of the Reserve Trend may model continuously along strike when the 2019 results are included in the upcoming August 2020 updated resource estimation.

The positive results from the drilling provide  mineralized intercepts in more than 86% of the 137 drill holes. A total of 10,233 samples were submitted for fire assay analysis with 265 (2.6%) samples returning values greater than 1.0 g/t gold and 900 (8.8%) samples returning values greater than 0.25 g/t gold. A total of 118 drill hole encountered gold mineralization in excess of 0.25 g/t Au over 1.52m.

Highlights of the Lucky Zone in 2019 drill program include;

• 10.7 m of 2.4 g/t Au from a depth of 76.2 m in drill hole RC19-2550
• 15.2 m of 3.3 g/t Au from a depth of 1.5 m in hole RC19-2552
• 12.2 m of 2.1 g/t Au from a depth of 19.8 m in hole RC19-2555 
• 3.5 m of 4.6 g/t Au from a depth of 103.6 m in drill hole RC19-2587
• 3.1 m of 2.6 g/t Au from a depth of 41.2 m in drill hole RC19-2650
• 1.5 m of 15.0 g/t Au from a depth of 57.9 m in hole RC19-2655
• 16.8 m of 0.9 g/t Au from a depth of 62.5 m in drill hole RC19-2661
• 36.6 m of 1.73 g/t Au from a depth of 45.7 m including 14.7 g/t Au over 1.5m in hole RC19-2673
• 13.7 m of 1.12 g/t Au from a depth of 62.5 m in hole RC19-2674

Highlights of the Kokanee/Golden Zone in 2019 drill program include;

• 15.2 m of 4.6 g/t Au from a depth of 65.5 m in drill hole RC19-2561
• 30.5 m of 1.25 g/t Au from a depth of 53.3 m in drill hole RC19-2562
• 1.5 m of 12.1 g/t Au from a depth of 32m in drill hole RC19-2564
• 10.7 m of 3.0 g/t Au from a depth of 115.8 m in drill hole RC19-2599
• 7.6 m of 1.29 g/t Au from a depth of 68.6 m in drill hole RC19-2607
• 6.1 m of 1.4 g/t Au from a depth of 68.6 m in drill hole RC19-2609
• 10.6 m of 1.92 g/t Au from a depth of 96.0 m in drill hole RC19-2611
• 35 m of 0.53 g/t Au from a depth of 100.6 m in drill hole RC19-2612
• 10.7 m of 1.92 g/t Au from a depth of 12.2 m in drill hole RC19-2621
• Three of the drill intercepts in the zone bottomed in gold mineralization (RC19-2612, RC19-2616 and RC19-2622)
• 19.8 m of 1.28 g/t Au from a depth of 9.1 m in drill hole RC19-2651

Highlight from Foster Zone in 2019 drill program include;

• 27.4 m of 3.21 g/t gold from a depth of 1.5m in drill hole RC19-2573

Highlight from the Camp Zone, 2019 drill program include;

• 24.4 m of 0.61 g/t gold from a depth of 3.1m in drill hole RC19-2553

Step-out drilling highlights along 400m of previously untested strike include;

• 10.7 m of 1.39 g/t Au from a depth of 9.1 m in hole RC19-2614
• 12.2 m of 2.60 g/t Au from a depth of 22.9 m in hole RC19-2624
• 7.6 m of 1.24 g/t Au from a depth of 29.0 m in hole RC-2659
• 10.7 m of 3.0 g/t Au from a depth of 115.8 m in drill hole RC19-2599
• 19.8 m of 1.28 g/t Au from a depth of 9.1 m in drill hole RC19-2651 

In-fill drilling continued to improve resource confidence as demonstrated below

• 15.2 m of 4.6 g/t Au from a depth of 65.5 m in drill hole RC19-2561
• 30.5 m of 1.25 g/t Au from a depth of 53.3 m in drill hole RC19-2562
• 19.8 m of 0.56 g/t Gold from a depth of 15.2 m in hole RC19-2596
• 9.2 m of 3.9 g/t Gold from a depth of 24.4 m in hole RC19-2646

The Company also released an updated Resource Estimate for the Brewery Creek project prepared by Gustavson & Associates with an effective date of October 1, 2019 and was filed on SEDAR on January 23, 2020.  However, the 2019 drill program consisting of 137 drill holes are not included in the report as they were not available at the time of the estimation. Those results are to be incorporated in the upcoming resource estimate in August.

In total, the company has drilled 105,653 m in 449 diamond drill holes, 381 reverse circulation and 18 sonic holes all while conducting a range of metallurgical work and geophysics. Given the uncertain nature of work in the Yukon this summer given the COVID-19 pandemic and related travel restrictions and quarantine guidelines the proposed work would begin at the earliest in September 2020. The 2020 drill program is designed to obtain additional samples for metallurgical tests from the Fosters, Kokanee, Golden and Lucky zones.  The previous metallurgical testing (column leach tests) were conducted at a 9.5 mm crush size but new data from columns underway at McLelland Laboratory as part of the restart study by Kappes, Cassidy of Reno indicated similar gold recoveries may be achieved at a coarser crush size.  The 2020 program will submit the samples for column testing at 19 mm crush size.

Mine Development Planning

Since first acquiring this project the intent has always been to get the past producing mine back into production. While undertaking the 2019 drill program intended to expand resources between known pits, the Company also focused on expanding their metallurgical understanding of the project as a critical component for decision making. This is an important step in advancing an economical project.

The Company intends to work to restart the mine by reprocessing and crushing the run of mine material remaining on the heap leach pad and adding new (licensed) oxide material from the resources on the property. Kappes, Cassiday & Associates are completing a feasibility level study of restarting operations at Brewery Creek with the reprocessing of the heap material. Kappes, Cassiday & Associates built the original ADR plant at Brewery Creek and is developing an engineering design and construction budget for re-processing of the former heap leach material as a component of the restart plan. The study includes detailed heap inventory, re-processing design, plan and operational schedule, operating cost estimates, site layout, capital cost estimates and an economic model. It will also include a project implementation schedule, sourcing needs, and an economic cash flow model sufficiently detailed to move directly into procurement, development and construction if economically warranted.   

Based on a review by the Company’s consulting engineer of historical production records from Viceroy’s operations, Viceroy placed 9.5 million tonnes of uncrushed Run of Mine (ROM) broken rock on the heap leach pad at an average grade of 1.5 g/t gold containing approximately 497,000 ounces of gold.  Refinery records state that 277,170 ounces were produced from the heap leach pad, which based solely on those historical records, would result in approximately 220,000 contained ounces in the existing heap leach pad.  This material is not included in the current 2019 Mineral Resource Estimate as moved material and not an in-place resource that us unmined.

Note – The above estimates, including estimates of tonnage and grade from prior operations, are considered historical estimates. Historical information has not been classified as a current mineral resource. A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource or mineral reserve.  

Tetra Tech, Inc. of Golden, Colorado, is completing feasibility level detailed mine planning which will include operational plans and scheduling for freshly mined material as well as the reprocessed material to be placed on the active heap leach pad. The combination of reprocessing and new mining is expected to provide the economic factors necessary to achieve significantly accelerated cash flow from increased early production. A comprehensive Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) will compile and integrate all work. With a low capex and a history as a potentially 75,000 ounce/year producer this project could see a mine life that can continue to grow with more exploration. Information on this potential will be provided in the feasibility studies now underway.

Environmental, Social and Governance Responsibility

Environment

The long-term success of Golden Predator Mining Corp. requires the integration of sustainability into their business. Leading environmental, social and governance performance is strongly correlated to strong financial performance and the creation of long-term value for shareholders and other stakeholders. This includes striving to meet the highest standards, contributing toward sustainable development and serving as responsible natural resource stewards in order to ensure they make positive and lasting impacts on the communities and nations where they operate. 

Golden Predator considers appropriate innovative and progressive methods to meet and exceed these responsibilities within their financial means. The Company actively collaborates with the communities where they live and work in order to preserve the land and meet environmental standards. The Brewery Creek Mine will operate with zero water discharge from operations and there are no environmental legacy issues or liabilities from the previously operating mine.    In fact it has a strong track record of operating safely and environmentally consciously.

Social

Golden Predator is a strong advocate for engaging with the community, various levels of government and indigenous communities in progressive and innovative manners. The Company believes in bringing the community along with them and creating spin-off benefits locally from exploration and mining activities.  It is their belief that activities must leave a positive lasting legacy, creating wealth locally.  A strong local business community, healthy community and labour force are important to the Company, the community, the First Nation Government, the Yukon and Canada.

As they work in the backyards of the communities, they employ a good neighbor policy.  Part of this is actively reaching out to communicate, engage and bring along communities with their developments. They hold regular community meetings, operate community offices and communicate in different ways to assist with the understanding and awareness of their projects allowing them to listen to the comments and issues raised by the local communities.

Golden Predator has a socio-economic accord with the THFN, which provides a solid foundation for mutually beneficially working relationships with the community and local governments and provides for profit sharing in the Brewery Creek project. It also allows for business, employment and training opportunities. The proximity to Dawson City provides the company an alternative to a complete fly in/fly out camp environment which contributes to the overall health of the community. 

Governance

Golden Predator has a diverse and inclusive work force, with significant Yukon employment. Management is one of the largest shareholders and motivated to make strategic business decisions designed to create benefit for all their shareholders. Corporate governance policies range from a Code of Conduct and social media guidelines to the prevention of insider trading and sharing of confidential information.      

Additional Assets

The Yukon Mint

In 1853, Canada adopted the gold standard as a monetary system and this standard helped develop a growing interest in minting gold at a Canadian mint.  Canadian miners often lobbied for domestic refining capabilities because they were being forced to sell their gold to the United States. It took over 40 years for Canada to establish its first mint and it wasn’t until a major gold rush in Yukon’s Klondike region brought an awareness of gold mining to the forefront of Canadian consciousness. The first gold coins struck by the Royal Canadian Mint (then called the Ottawa Mint) in the 1890’s were Canadian in almost every aspect, from raw material to design.

Golden Predator recognized that the Yukon did not have its own mint despite the fact the region had been mining gold for the last 125 years. Therefore, in 2018 they formed a subsidiary called ‘The Yukon Mint” and remain the 100 percent owners of the subsidiary company. Given that Golden Predator is very active in the community, it was only fitting that they utilized Yukon artists to help design the inaugural series of the coins. Kicked off in 2018, The Yukon Mint is focused on creating gold coins that are Yukon in almost every aspect, from raw material to design.

Group 11

The Company holds a 20% equity ownership position in Group 11 Technologies Inc., a U.S. based technology firm focused on In Place Mineral Extraction utilizing environmentally friendly liquids to recover gold and other metals. Group 11’s new proprietary process has been tested on high grade concentrates and is now ready for testing on further wide ranging applications with an emphasis on non-invasive metal extraction. This is an emerging technology which may revolutionize the mining industry with a commercially viable, sustainable alternative to standard cyanide processes and conventional invasive mining practices. GPY has contributed its Secondary Recovery Unit and expertise gained through its test work at their test plant to Group 11.

Company Holdings

The Company holds an approximate 35% interest in Taku Gold Corp. (CSE: TAK), which is one of the largest landholders within Yukon’s emerging White Gold and Klondike districts.

The Company holds 300,000 shares in Seabridge Gold (TSX: SEA) valued at over $7.5 million ($26.80 CAD). The Company considers this a core holding and has initiated a covered call writing program to generate income from its holdings.  The Seabridge stake was received  from the sale of the Company’s 3 Aces project. Seabridge Gold has several North American gold resource projects and advancing the KSM asset which is one of the largest undeveloped gold and copper assets in the world.

Additional Property Assets

The Company also holds non-core assets available for sale or option including the Grew Creek, Gold Dome and Marg projects. The Marg project has a 2013 NI 43-101 Indicated Resource of 3.96 million tonnes of 1.57% copper, 1.92% lead, 3.90% zinc, 49.40 g/t silver, and 0.79 g/t gold and an Inferred Resource of 7.78 million tonnes of 1.12% copper, 1.36% lead, 2.89% zinc, 34.88 g/t silver, and 0.52 g/t gold filed.

Backed By Sprott

Last year Eric Sprott increased his ownership of Golden Predator and now holds roughly 13 million shares making him one of the largest share holders in the company. Eric, William Sheriff and Janet Sheriff account for just fewer than 10% of the float and several high net worth investors at CIBC own around 20%.

Financials

Having sold the 3 Aces Project to Seabridge Gold for 6.67 million worth of shares (currently worth approximately $8.04 million CAD) and a further 2.25 million in contingent future cash payments plus a royalty, the company is in a good financial position to advance the Brewery Creek project and is 100 percent focused on their primary asset. Their current cash balance sits around 1.3 million dollars CAD, which should be enough to complete their studies and fund this year’s exploration drilling program. 7

For a complete summary of the companies financials please visit www.SEDAR.com

Management

William M. Sherriff,MSc

Executive Chairman

An entrepreneur and visionary with over 30 years’ experience in the minerals industry and the securities industry. Mr. Sheriff is the founder and Executive Chairman of Golden Predator Mining Corp. Mr. Sheriff was a pioneer in the uranium renaissance as co-founder and Chairman of Energy Metals Corp., and was responsible for compiling the largest domestic uranium resource base in US history before the company was acquired by Uranium One Corp for $1.8 Billion. Mr. Sheriff also serves as Chairman of enCore Energy Corp. and is a Director of Ely Gold Corp. He previously served as a Director of Western Lithium USA Inc., Uranium One Inc., Midway Gold Corp., Eurasian Minerals Inc. and Starcore International Mines Ltd. Mr. Sheriff was also a registered representative, holding positions with A.G.Edwards and Mitchum Jones and Templeton, in addition to having his own securities firm. Mr. Sheriff holds a B.Sc. degree (Geology) from Fort Lewis College, Colorado and an MSc in Mining Geology from the University of Texas-El Paso and compiled one of the largest privately held mining databases in the world.

Janet Lee-Sheriff

Chief Executive Officer

Ms. Lee-Sheriff has served as Chief Executive Officer of Golden Predator Mining Corp. since 2015. In addition to managing the Company she brings a strong commitment to aligning the interests of the community, shareholders and the Company. She previously served as the Company’s Vice President of Communications and First Nation Relations and also served as President of Tigris Uranium Corp. Prior to her work in public companies, Ms. Lee-Sheriff managed Cabinet Policy and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Conservative, Liberal and NDP governments of the Yukon, developed the Yukon Economic Forums and delivered gold conferences in North America and the United Kingdom.

She has also worked proactively for over 30 years with First Nation governments and business groups in the Yukon and has implemented innovative programming and initiatives for Golden Predator highlighted by the successful Elders in Residence program. She has negotiated and implemented socio-economic agreements and exploration agreements between the Company and several Yukon First Nations. A strong advocate for sustainability, inclusion and regional economic benefits, she founded the Yukon Mint, Yukon Mining Alliance and the Yukon Mine Training Association securing $20 million in federal funding for aboriginal mine training. She is a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Commemorative Medal awarded for outstanding achievements by Canadians, is a member of PDAC’s Indigenous Affairs Committee and a graduate of Queen’s University.

Michael Maslowski

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Maslowski is a geological engineer with a career in the mineral resource industry spanning more than 35 years in exploration, engineering, underground and open pit mining design and operation in the Americas and East Africa. Mr. Maslowski previously worked with Golden Predator from 2011 to 2014 as Vice President of Exploration and then Chief Operating Officer, expanding the Brewery Creek resource more than 5 fold in 3 years and directing the Brewery Creek Preliminary Economic Assessment Study. Since 2017 he has been the Technical Services Superintendent for Teck Washington Inc. at their Pend Oreille mine in NE Washington State, an underground lead-zinc mine. Prior to 2011, he was with Coeur d’Alene Mines for ten years in numerous positions including Director of Exploration and Assistant General Manager of the Palmarejo Mine in Mexico. He was the team leader for the discovery of the Diamond Hill Mine for Pegasus Gold then was responsible for advancing the mine into production. Mike is a member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) and the American Institute of Professional Geologists. He holds a B. S. in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG) with the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) and a Qualified Person (QP) as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

James Hesketh, M.Sc. MMSA

Engineering

James Hesketh has 35 years experience in open pit heap leach operations and management. His strong background in mining finance, mine engineering, development and operations includes senior positions with Atna Resources Ltd, Canyon Resources Corporation, NM Rothschild & Sons (Denver) Inc., Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, Pincock Allen & Holt, Inc., and Dresser Industries Inc. He brings previous knowledge of the operations of the Brewery Creek Mine where he headed up the economic evaluation of the project for Rothschild’s. One of the few engineers with actual year round commercial operational experience in the Yukon, he operated an open pit barite mine and processing plant in the SE Yukon during the 1980s. He is qualified to assist with mineral valuation, financial and mining costing, infrastructure and project management. He holds a B.S. in Mining Engineering and a M.S. in Mineral Economics, both from the Colorado School of Mines.

Scott Davis

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Davis is a partner of Cross Davis & Company LLP Chartered Professional Accountants, a firm focused on providing accounting and management services for publicly-listed companies. His experience includes CFO positions of several companies listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. His past experience consists of senior management positions, including four years at Appleby as an Assistant Financial Controller, two years at Davidson & Company LLP Chartered Professional Accountants as an Auditor and five years with Pacific Opportunity Capital Ltd. as an Accounting Manager. Mr. Davis previously served as the CFO of Golden Predator prior to his reappointment in 2020.

Jeff Cary

Project Geologist

Mr. Cary has worked in the mineral exploration sector for over 30 years focusing on projects across the western United States and Canada’s Yukon. Mr. Cary previously worked with Golden Predator from 2010 to 2012 managing exploration projects in the Yukon. He also worked as a Senior Geologist for Battle Mountain Gold Inc. from 1991 to 2001 where he was part of a multi-disciplinary team which produced a positive feasibility study on a 6 million ounce gold reserve. Mr Cary previously held the position of Exploration Geologist for Kinross Gold and has worked as a consulting geologist for Kinross Gold, Eurasian Minerals Inc., Anthill Resources Ltd. and Energy Metals Inc. His responsibilities throughout his career have included design and implementation of multi-year drill programs, resource estimation, 3-D structural modelling, budget management, project generation, data compilation and evaluations.

Mr. Cary is a member of the Geological Society of Nevada, the Society of Economic Geologists and the American Institute of Professional Geologists. He holds an M.S. in Geology from Western Washington University and a B. S. in Geology from Fort Lewis College and is a former Instructor with Fort Lewis College Geosciences Dept. in Durango, Colorado.

Edward Huebert

Director of Government Relations and Environmental Affairs

An experienced environmental affairs professional, Mr. Huebert joins Golden Predator Mining Corp.as the Director of Government Relations and Environmental Affairs. Mr. Huebert previously served as Senior Environmental Affairs Manager with DeBeers Canada (NWT) where he oversaw the Snap Lake Mine and permitting of the Gahcho Kue Project (now mine). Previously, he has served as Yukon Deputy Minister of Environment and while the Yukon’s Deputy Minister was responsible for the temporary closure and reclamation of the Brewery Creek Mine and implemented innovative solutions at the site in collaboration with industry and the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation. Mr. Heubert also has served as the Executive Vice President of the Mining Association of Manitoba and Director of Marketing with Manitoba Energy and Mines. Recently he has been managing Essential Resource Strategies a boutique consulting firm. He holds Masters of Natural Resources Management from the University of Manitoba and attended UBC in Regional Planning as a Ph D Candidate. He is a past Emergency Preparedness Canada Research Fellow and is a past World Wildlife Fund of Canada board member.

Joseph Harrington

President of Minterwater Inc – Geochmeical and Environmental Technical Advsior

Mr. Harrington serves as the President of MineWater LLC. Formerly he was Vice President of Business & Strategic Development with Alexco Resource Corp, he previously served as the CEO and Founder of Green World Science, and the patent inventor of the heavy metals immobilization treatment technology. Prior to his role at Alexco, Mr. Harrington was the Vice President of the mining and metals business for ARCADIS, conducted research and development for controlled release fertilizers, fuel ethanol, phosphate mineral processing and bioremediation technologies for the J.R. Simplot Company. While with ARCADIS and prior to that with Green World Science he was instrumental in the implementation of innovative solutions for the reclamation of the Brewery Creek Mine from 1999 through 2004 and continues to provide advice and technical support to the project and Golden Predator. Mr. Harrington graduated summa cum laude from the University of Idaho in 1996 with majors in Chemistry and Microbiology and completed his graduate work at the University of Idaho in 1998 in Metallurgical Engineering.

Conclusion

After reviewing this project in detail, it is apparent that the restart of the Brewery Creek project is advancing nicely. Golden Predator has done an amazing job of building the right relationships, focusing their exploration dollars and accelerating the process of putting Brewery Creek back on the map. This open pit bulk tonnage project will do very well in this rising gold environment especially in the safe jurisdiction of the Yukon. With both local and Government support, an excellent proven past operational history, and anticipated low capex the risks have been greatly reduced and make the project very appealing in today’s market.  

Upcoming Catalysts

• Completion of the Mineral Resource Estimate – Q3/20
• Results from the Heap Leach Pad Restart study including Capital equipment costs
• Metallurgical and Geotechnical drill program in the Foster Lucky Trend – Q3/20
• Feasibility Study – Year end 2020
• Construction Decision 2021
• Continuing development of Group 11 IPME Technologies

Company Contact Information

Contact– Janet Lee Sheriff, Chief Executive Officer

Phone– (604)260-8435

Email– info@goldenpredator.com Website– http://www.goldenpredator.com/

Disclosure

Golden Predator is a Sponsor of Insidexploration, however the thoughts and opinions expressed are the authors and do not represent that of the company. The Author may also buy and sell the stock at any point in time without warning.

Disclaimer

Insidexploration has prepared this document for general information purposes only. This document should not be considered a solicitation to purchase or sell securities or a recommendation to buy or sell securities. The information provided has been derived from sources believed to be accurate, but cannot be guaranteed. This document does not take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual recipients and other issues (e.g. prohibitions to investments due to law, jurisdiction issues, etc.) which may exist for certain persons. We are not registered financial advisors and one should always do your own due diligence and consult a licensed investment adviser prior to making any investment decisions. Always reference www.SEDAR.com for important risk disclosures.