Back in July, in a run of the mill round-up of various junior mining explorers, I pointed to an unknown story that was beginning to stir, that I figured might be worth watching.
I wrote:
Not to be confused with Orex Minerals, which has the REX.C ticker symbol, or Rex Minerals on the ASX, or the US ethanol company REX American Resources, BC’s own Rex Resources (OWN.V) is best known for being unknown – presently.
Inside trades at the company have been stagnant since 2022 – that is, until May through July of this year, when warrant executions and purchases on the market have started [landing] among the control group, right alongside news the company has optioned a property near Port Alberni in BC..
Market cap is just $2m, only 20m shares out. Share price has moved from $0.06 to $0.14 this month before a little fall away.
I love finding deals like this, because usually a junior miner that’s failed doesn’t die off competely, they go stagnant for a year or two. They may lapse on a property option, they might roll back the share structure, and the wind will whistle through it all while underwater investors sell off at a half cent and move on.
Then, one day, when nobody is looking, there’s news of a new board, a new property, a small raise, and nobody is any the wiser because it’s not on anyone’s radar anymore.
Often, the company is okay with that while insiders are gathering cheap stock, before they start promoting the deal to others.
The trick is to get in at that sweet spot, before the clarion call to all investors. That’s when the smart money comes in.
So what’s that property look like?
No idea. No website. No deck that I can find. News releases don’t describe much beyond “8 claims” on 275 hectares, and dont even mention what metal they might be looking for. And those of you who have been around the traps know, when all of the above is the case, it’s deliberate.
Well the website has now dropped, and it’s interesting.
This is the Mactush.
The Mactush property hosts eleven (11) documented BC MINFILE occurrences, including two prospects (one developed), plus 31 other mineral occurrences identified and located previously. The Property is comprised of 8 contiguous mineral claims covering about 274.78 hectares (678.99 acres) situated in the Alberni Mining Division centered approximately 10 kilometres southwest of the town of Port Alberni.
That’s right: Vancouver Island gold, copper, and silver, baby.
Yers, you heard – Vancouver Island. Which means you’re never far from infrastructure and ports. In fact, the nearby 18,000 person town of Port Alberni has a deep ocean port right there, as well as paved highway to the rest of the island. The larger towns of Parksville and Nanaimo are a stone’s throw away.
This property has been explored before a LOT of times.
The list of explorers includes groups as disparate as solo prospector Walter Guppy, and Bethlehem Copper Corp in the ’70’s, Pacific Seadrift Resources, Missile Resources, and Cous Creek Copper Mines in the ’80’s, SYMC Resources in the ’90’s, Ashworth Explorations in the ’00’s, G4G Resources and Nahminto Resources in the ’10’s, and a numbered company in 2022.
In fact the property has a historic NI 43-101 attached that, at a time of far lower copper prices, didn’t point to an economic producer.
But the drill results WERE interesting in terms of today’s copper commodity prices, that are around 50% higher than in 2006 when the resource was compiled, and looking likely to continue to rise, with gold prices also way up of late.
So who’s behind all this?
That’s also been revealed.
Today the company announced its QP geologist, and that he would also be a director fo the company.
Mr. [Kris] Raffle is a partner and principal geologist with the leading Edmonton-based geologic consulting firm Apex Geoscience Ltd. In addition, Mr. Raffle is a current director of Monumental Energy Corp., and has held past director roles at Defense Metals Corp. and New Placer Dome Gold Corp. He has over 25 years of experience conducting project evaluations, exploration program design, data analysis and geological modelling, with respect to Archean- and Carlin-type gold, copper-gold-porphyry, gold-silver-epithermal, volcanic-hosted massive sulphide, rare earth element, and kimberlite diamond deposits throughout Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Kris Raffle is a legit name, especially in this region. That he was a part of Defense Metals (DEFN.V) is also important because who’s the CEO, Chair, and Director of Rex Resources?
Craig Taylor, former CEO of Defense Metals until earlier this month.
If you’re unaware of what Defense Metals is, it’s a literal executive seminar of how to build a junior miner in a way that legitimizes it at every step of the process.
DEFN is a monster in the making, and if Taylor is stepping off that train to stickhandle Rex Resources, Im taking it as a serious move.
Also – it’s no coincidence that DEFN’s share price plunged when he stepped away.
I should make mention that DEFN is a former client of mine and that I’ve known Taylor for some time, so having him show up on my ‘miners that seem to be building quietly’ list is why I’m even talking about it. I watched him build DEFN from an average early stage rare earths explorer into a real deal that people respect in elevated circles.
22 million shares out. Stock on a recent rise. Permits have been requested. Go time.
Watchlist.
— Chris Parry
FULL DISCLOSURE: Not a client but, as mentioned above, I have had commercial connections to companies run by this CEO in the past.
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