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sAReIc PReVIeW Investigator’s Maslins Project: 6500000mN surface
View looking north-east
surface
EL5705 Whittata
Silver stream 6486000mN to top of residual
Proposed Drill Hole
Locations, from surface
gravity shell
(Between
350 and 750m)
6km strike length
dreams and Oz 5km depth Maslins modelled EL5705 Whittata
(to 5km depth)
on the go 728000mE residual gravity shell 4km N

IVR’s EL5705 (OZ MInerals earning in)
IVR proposed Diamond Drill Holes
series of conferences in Vancouver to start line and we are not surface Historic drill holes (tails indicate depth)
A the new year has put a spring in the step of far away from that,”
Investigator Resources Ltd managing director McIlwain said at a By mid-July, Oz needs to have spent $1.4 million at Maslins to fulfill
Andrew McIlwain. time silver was trad- stage one earn-in requirements. Under a heads-of-agreement signed
The coronavirus outbreak in China has ob- ing at about $26/oz. in 2019, Oz can earn up to 70% interest in Maslins through a three-
viously had some impact on global markets, Silver’s steady stage programme and expenditure of $10 million over five years
however, McIlwain is confident the tide will be appreciation has not
high for resources companies in 2020. been lost on punters
“People were suggesting that it was the in North America, with McIlwain indicating a the top 500m.”
best it has been in Vancouver for 8-10 years. handful of streaming and royalty groups were He said the earn-in JV with Oz had ena-
Money is coming out of marijuana and tech taking some interest in Investigator. bled Investigator to “hit the ground running
stocks and looking for a home. Whilst we see “Unashamedly, going to Vancouver was this year”.
an added benefit of the gold price here in Aus- to get in amongst investors who understand “I can’t speak highly enough of the relation-
tralia, they are talking heavy gold prices in US silver because in Australia it is a bit ho-hum ship that we have been able to generate with
terms as well. There is an air of optimism that I given there are only a couple of explorers and Oz Minerals,” he said. “They have been very
came away with,” McIlwain told Paydirt. people don’t go chasing silver investments,” supportive of this programme, the rig that we
“The coronavirus took a bit of sting out the McIlwain said. are using is the rig Oz was using to finish a
market, but I think this year is going to be a “Americans and Canadians understand hole before Christmas. They earmarked it to
cracker for us and the resources sector. You that space and part of what I was looking for come straight to us when the drillers came to
wouldn’t like to think that zinc or copper are was whether we would find a partner to be work, so it has come together well.”
going to be any worse off than they are now. involved in Paris and how that might be struc- Investigator is effectively being paid to drill
It is undeniable that the EV market is march- tured, whether it is a royalty or streaming deal. Maslins and success will only see Oz contin-
ing on. The renewable energy generation is We are starting to circle the wagons to see ue to fund exploration there, taking the pres-
marching on and if you look at what goes into what needs to be done to push Paris forward.” sure off the former’s cash at bank.
cars, wind turbines and things; it is all going to The success of Wheaton Precious Metals To the end of December, Investigator was
come out of the ground somewhere.” Inc, Sandstorm Gold Inc and Osisko Mining well poised with $4.5 million, comfortably
Despite the typically cold Vancouver Janu- Inc has spurred other groups to follow suit enough to continue its search for a gold pro-
ary weather, McIlwain said he was outside with similar streaming-based business ap- ject.
enough to notice the particularly high vol- proaches. Given the strength of the gold price, McIl-
umes of EVs on the road. McIlwain said about nine streaming/royalty wain said some vendors were being over-
“It is happening,” he said of the EV revolu- parties have requested more information on zealous when it came to pricing projects,
tion. Paris. which has kept Investigator at bay for now.
Also evident to McIlwain was the increasing “I think it is a more palatable investment “They might come back to us, so we’ll clear-
number of non-traditional financing options decision, it is not dilution of equity and not sell- ly be involved in something and I suspect that
becoming available to companies like Inves- ing down a percentage of your project. If it is it might happen this quarter,” he said.
tigator, which has persevered at the Paris sil- structured appropriately everyone benefits,” “Our target area is not greenfields, but ad-
ver project in South Australia’s northern Eyre he said. vanced exploration, early development type
Peninsula. As the options start to open up at Paris, projects.”
Recent work on Paris – 9.3mt @ 139 g/t sil- Investigator is kicking on with drilling at the Just where Investigator lands a gold pro-
ver and 0.6% lead for 42 moz contained silver Maslins IOCG project in the Olympic Dam ject remains to be seen, but in the meantime,
and 55,000t contained lead – has included Domain of the Stuart Shelf, Gawler Craton. McIlwain is happy to be among the vibrant ex-
a geological structural review plus ongo- Maslins, subject to an agreement whereby ploration sector in South Australia.
ing work on improving capital and operating Oz Minerals Ltd is earning in, is south of Car- “The Government is waving the flag and
costs to help deliver a robust economic model rapateena and 85km south along trend from trying to progress a number of things. I think
for the project. BHP Ltd’s Oak Dam. they are releasing 11-12 tenements under
There is also confidence within the com- At the time of print, Investigator was on tender and they are fairly disparate tenements
pany that if further drilling was carried out the track to hit the basement about 700m deep and not in one particular province, but every-
trend of improving grades would continue at and anticipated its targeted drill depth of one has a spring in their step,” McIlwain said.
Paris. 1,000m would be achieved in mid-February. “Oak Dam drilling has got people’s juices
Drilling will remain idled at Paris for the time “We are [diamond] drilling at about 30m per flowing; the rising tide lifts all boats although
being, as Investigator keeps a watching brief shift, but that will slow down as we get deep- we haven’t seen it from a share price point of
on the gradual improvement of the silver price. er,” McIlwain said. “It was always going to be view yet.”
“My throwaway line is that $30/oz [$US17.5/ pretty boring, bland rocks at the top and that
oz] silver is something that sees Paris over the is what we have seen and expected to see in – Mark Andrews

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