Tombill Mines is involved in mineral exploration, primarily gold and has 74 royalty-free claims; of which 60 are owned and patented. Tombill Mines owns various mineral exploration and past-producing gold mines and claims in the Geraldton Camp and Beardmore region, Ontario. Tombill Mines went public in mid December 2020 which raised $6.5M.
We recently met with Adam Horne, CEO and Chairman of Tombill Mines. We spoke to him about their recent successful stock offering and the plans they have at the Tombill Mines property.
Company Overview
Tombill Mines is a gold exploration company focused in the Geraldton Camp and Beardmore areas, about 285 km north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Canada. The company is involved with 74 royalty-free claims, of which 60 are owned and patented, and lying between two past-producing mines. An exploration program including diamond drilling is currently underway.
The original Tombill property was prospected by Tom and Bill Johnson with the backing of Newmont Gold in 1935, hence the name “Tombill”. The land has been owned by Tombill Mines for over 40 years.
Tomball Mines currently has over 153,000,000 shares outstanding. The company trades under the TBLL ticker on the TSXV.
Management Team
As mentioned, Adam Horne is the CEO and Chairman of Tombill Mines. He is assisted by John Alexander, CFO and Director; Reda Jalabi, IT and Corporate Director; and Elizabeth Vida, Exploration Manager. Additional professionals as well as an advisory board provide aid and counsel to the management team.
Horne’s Detailed Overview of Tombill Mines
Horne told us that Tombill Mines went public in December, 2020, and was able to raise about $6.5 M in capital. The Tombill properties are ideally located on the Trans Canada Highway, he said. Adjacent mines had past production during the 1930s to the 1960s, which yielded about 3 M oz. of gold. In 2008 to 2016, the adjacent Hardrock gold property was drilled and evaluated by Premier Gold, who were able to prove up some 6 M oz. of gold, culminating in a 50% buyout by Centerra in 2016 for CAD $ 200 M. Then, just recently, Equinox entered the picture and now owns 60% of Hardrock, and they appear quite gung-ho to move it along, right adjacent to Tombill’s landholding.
The great results that Premier had, plus the upswing in gold price, led us to assemble a high-quality team, three of whom were in charge of the Hardrock deposit evaluation. They are now prepared to advance the Tombill property in a modern way, said the CEO.
Tombill’s Business Plan
Ok, we understand you are involved in a “closology-type” play, we said. So, we then asked Horne what his business plan is. He responded by saying that with the great results in adjacent holdings, it is natural that Tombill would undertake a modern evaluation. Who better to do that than its owners, he intimated, allowing for the inference that they are also a potential irritant to the business next door.
Tombill has raised capital, is involved with their drilling program (6,000 m drilled as of June 2021), and is indeed seeing the same mineralogy that their successful neighbors have encountered. The drilling program encompasses a two-pronged attack, he told us: deep drilling to define the zone similar to Hardrock and other set of holes in the northeast part of the property where they’ve collected some high-grade grab samples.
We pressed him further, asking how far they intend to take this work. He told us that the company's objective is to prove up the resource, then raise more working capital. If things pan out, they’ll push forward, he said. Our neighbors are building a mill that needs 27,000 t of ore each day, and it will need to be fed, he also pointed out. We have that situation firmly in mind, he said.
Attraction for Shareholders
We continued with a question about Tombill’s shareholders, asking the CEO what type of investors he’d like to attract. He responded that his family owns about 51% of the outstanding shares. They would definitely like to attract more retail shareholders, who are currently only about 10% of their shareholder universe, he told us. We believe most of our shareholders are long term, but indeed, your question suggests that you think we might be attracting some short-termers who are looking for a quick sell out, he mused.
He continued that after their work this year they should have about $3 M left in the coffers. They plan on continuing to add value with additional drilling and conducting assays and he hopes that shareholders will see that. They aren’t going to stall, he said. Subject to gold price, they are going to move forward, he reiterated. They just have to move properly with the right capital and the right human resources to take it to the next step, he told us.
Tombill’s Value Proposition
We then asked him about timing and value creation, reminding him that they’ve been at this for about 40 years. Are you in a rush now to move things along, we asked.
Indeed they are, he said. The drilling results so far indicate quite a bit of upside in terms of market value for the company, he believes. He went on to say that returns could be quite high if they demonstrate a viable resource.
Looking Ahead
Tombill Mines will announce assay results for the first half of the current drilling program soon, Horne said. These results could very well show much more mineralization, he summarized. There’s more work to do but they are on course, he told us.
