Quebec is one of the most prolific gold mining jurisdictions in the world. It is home to Canada's largest gold mine, the Canadian Malarctic mine. It is also home to a plethora of promising junior explorers and developers all of which hope to find the next gold mine.
One of these companies has been quietly growing an impressive deposit in a well-known district. Falco Resources (FPC.TSXV) controls one of the last large Abitibi Greenstone Belt mining camps.
Sean Roosen, the c0-founder and former CEO of Osisko Mining (sold in 2014 for $3.9 billion), agreed to join Falco as Chairman in mid-September 2014. Roosen's latest venture, Osisko Gold Royalties, just agreed to merge with Virgina Mines in a $500 million transaction. Osisko Gold Royalties owns 19.99% of Falco.
Today, Falco announced that its Board will gain even more strength; Claude Ferron, Luc Lessard and Rene Marion are being proposed to join the Board at the company's AGM on December 23rd.
The three each have impressive track records.
Mr. Ferron was the former COO of Xstrata Copper Canada (now Glencore Canada) and actually began his career at the Horne mine as a metallurgist. Luc Lessard is currently the COO of the Canadian Malarctic mine and Rene Marion was the former President and CEO of AuRico Gold where he oversaw the takeover of Northgate Minerals and their Young-Davidson mine which is AuRico's cornerstone asset.
The Board will now be comprised of seven members with Sean Roosen and the three new directors, plus Trent Mell, Paul-Henri Girard and Jim Davidson (the incumbents). Two former directors will not stand for re-election.
"Each of these individuals has an outstanding track record and will be called upon to help formulate Falco's strategy," said Mr. Roosen.
Falco's focus is on the Horne complex which includes the historic Horne mine. The company has outlined a 2.8 million ounce inferred gold equivalent resource and plans to grow that to over 5 million ounces.
The Horne mine began producing in 1927 and ended up staying in production for 50 years. It was one of the richest VMS mines in Canada and produced an estimated 54 million tonnes at 6.10 g/t gold, 13 g/t silver and 2.22% copper.
The company has been digitizing the over 80 years of historical exploration and production data from the property. They are also currently drilling in order to try and define an indicated resource.
"We have high expectations for the Horne Complex and our Rouyn-Noranda land package and I believe we are assembling a team capable of unlocking meaningful shareholder value," said Mr. Roosen.
The company has $12 million in cash and trades at a $44 million market cap. Trading at $11.50 (EV) per gold equivalent ounce; the company is undervalued compared to the peer group which trades at ~$29 per ounce in the ground (Falco's corporate presentation).
Shares are up $0.045 (10%) to $0.47 per share this morning on the announcement of the new Board members.
Read: Falco Announces Three New Independent Board Nominees and Withdraws Rights Plan
Related: This $40M Junior Just Added a Canadian Mining Legend as Chairman