“Elephant country” within northwest B.C.’s Golden Triangle
By Daniel T. Cook
Mining Analyst/Writer
The Eskay Camp in the heart of Northwest British Columbia’s Golden Triangle features some of the highest-grade mineralization and largest deposits found anywhere on Earth, including the Brucejack gold mine (profitable since it was commissioned in 2017), famous Eskay Creek (one of the richest ore discoveries in the world over 20 years ago, and now under development again by Skeena Resources), and KSM (massive reserves of copper and gold). It’s a multiple commodity camp with a strong focus on gold, silver and copper, but high-grade nickel and various styles of VMS deposits are increasingly being pursued.
The potential rewards for Eskay Camp investors are astronomical (the history of this region has proven that out) but it may surprise even the not-so-casual observers that the average market capitalization of the dozen or so juniors in this district (excludes Pretium and Seabridge) climbed as high as $160 million this past summer ($128 million as of the end of November after a gold price correction). Exploration real estate isn’t cheap in this part of the world and “barriers to entry” are extremely high given that there’s virtually no ground to stake. All the more reason why upstart Sassy Resources (CSE: SASY) is closing out the year as one of B.C.’s most intriguing resource company stories of 2020 given how they maneuvered themselves into this rather “exclusive club” and managed to generate immediate exploration success, setting the stage for what could be a spectacular 2021.
Sassy’s President and CEO is Mark Scott who crossed over from the world’s largest producer of nickel, Vale, to take his first shot at the junior resource sector (he was with Vale Canada for many years and most recently served as head of the company’s Manitoba division). Sassy was formed in mid-2019 as a spin-out subsidiary of Crystal Lake Mining (now Enduro Metals), and Crystal Lake’s former flagship Nicobat Project in northwest Ontario was put into Sassy along with a rare Eskay Camp property deal (Foremore) that Crystal Lake had secured on favorable terms during a weak market period. Sassy carried out a small but effective prospecting program in the summer of 2019 and then hired their President and CEO in January of this year, two months before the pandemic struck.
“COVID-19 caused a short delay in our go-public plans but with a strong group of investors we were able to raise $3.5 million as a private company and complete our public listing requirements in order to start the exploration season on time and commence trading on the CSE in August,” explained Mark Scott. “We’ve shown a lot of agility and effective execution, corporately and on the ground, which has helped build the Sassy brand of being lively, bold and full of spirit.”
It’s highly unusual in this industry to take a virgin piece of ground (no previous systematic exploration) to an early stage drilling discovery in just three months of work, but that’s exactly what the Sassy team did at its Westmore gold-silver target in the southwest part of the 146 sq. km Foremore Property. In addition, the company greatly increased its knowledge of the historic VMS corridor that begins a few kilometers northeast of Westmore. In both cases initial drill hole assays are expected soon. Notably, Sassy now owns 100% of Foremore after recently accelerating the original option agreement with the claim owners by three-and-a-half years.
“We’ve positioned ourselves very well for 2021 at our flagship Foremore Project where an expanded program will continue to build out both the Westmore discovery and what may have the potential to become the Eskay Camp’s largest VMS corridor,” added Mark Scott. “In the meantime, we’re one of the only Eskay Camp/Golden Triangle companies that will remain active on the exploration front over the winter with a second project outside the Golden Triangle.”
Sassy actually finished the exploration season at Foremore with more money in its treasury than when it started thanks to a $4.5 million private placement (90 cents hard dollar and $1.20 flow-through) at the end of October plus over $800,000 in warrant exercises.
With only 38 million shares outstanding and less than four months into its journey as a publicly traded company about which investors are still learning, Sassy’s market capitalization remains low by Eskay Camp standards at only about 20% of the district average. That could change dramatically in 2021, though, given how this “lively, bold and full of spirit” team has already shown it can perform in a challenging yet prolific mining and exploration camp.
Disclaimer: Sassy Resources paid no compensation for this article which does not constitute investment advice. Each reader is encouraged to consult with their individual financial professional and any action a reader takes as a result of information presented here is his or her own responsibility. Daniel T. Cook, writer for BullMarketRun.com, a shareholder in Sassy, hails from Texas and now resides in Florida. He became a licensed investment professional who was a Bright Future’s Scholar at the University of Central Florida, graduating in 2010 with a major in Finance.