Investigator Resources (IVR) - Retail Access to Silver in Australia

Investigator Resources Limited (ASX code: IVR) is a metals explorer focusing on silver, copper and gold discovery in South Australia. 

Australian silver is not something we often get to talk about. Andrew McIlwain is keen to talk about the scale of their silver asset and informs us that he is a keen gold bug too.  Investigator also have an asset in Tasmania which is polymetallic. 

We Discuss: 

• 1:43 - Company Overview 

• 2:28 - New Breath to an Old Story: History & Journey 
• 3:42 - Business Model & Strategy: Focus of Money Allocation 
• 6:06 - Paris Silver Project: Value Growth, Data & Potential 
• 13:54 - Greater Plans Long-Term & Challenges to Face 
• 17:59 - PFS on the Go: Time for Timeline Acceleration? 

• 21:20 - Red Flag Identification: ESG Component, Permits & Licenses 
• 22:50 - Management Remuneration 
• 24:25 - Plans for Exploration Targets in Tasmania 
• 29:28 - Merian Global Investors Up Their Stake, Why? 
• 31:51 - Have They Got Enough Scale to Interest Institutional Investment? 

• 33:23 - Telling the Story & Exciting the Market Once Again 

Company Overview 

Investigator Resources is a metals explorer, and their prime asset is the Paris Silver project, which is in a reasonably accessible but remote area of South Australia. With the current resource and current Australian Silver price, they estimate to have AUS$1.5Bn worth of Silver in the ground and are keen on seeking other assets to diversify and are also researching ground in Tasmania. 

They recently formed a joint venture with Oz Minerals and had a very exciting Iron Oxide Copper Gold target which Oz Minerals came in to drill at their cost but unfortunately the holes didn't deliver what they were looking for. 

Investigator want to be producing precious metals. They have 2 geologists on the board and McIlwain is a mining engineer. They have a great team with good historical understanding and are looking to move forward into the mining development space. They are keen to acquire projects to develop and produce without the high-risk expenditure so are looking at pre-development projects with potential for advanced exploration. 

Investigator raised USD$8M in August and has another USD$7M potentially coming from options and their major shareholder, Marine Capital, underwrote the placement. McIlwain says that the Paris job will be cost USD$3M-USD$3.5M within 12-months, so they will still have finances available for either the development of Paris or another project. The Paris project needs to move to an indicated status to produce a reserve and have a financeable project. A Feasibility Study will also complete the met-testing and all the other infrastructure design, process plan and costings. 

Paris Silver project 

McIlwain says that there is a 3km trend that hasn't been explored or drilled historically due to heritage clearance issues. Investigator now has those clearances and will have a regional exploration program there as an additional resource that can bulk up the silver at the Paris project. Paris on its own is a 7-10-year project with great economics and a great Australian Silver price. 

The Paris Silver Project and other mining tenements in South Australia - Investigator Resources Company Presentation Aug. '20

Investigator has the money to lift this project into its next stage of development. They’ve had some specific test work which focused on one component of the resource that has a lower than average recovery and are going to see how they can improve it. If they can get another 5% recovery, then it goes straight to the bottom line of the project says McIlwain. They also expect the resource grade to lift which has happened every time they’ve drilled it before because there's some high-grade zones that haven't been spread wide. As they infill, they will be able to have those influence a greater part of the resource. There are 7 other targets to drill in parallel with the program in Paris, which is opportunity for other mineralisation in the district. Paris is the highest-grade Silver project in Australia, and has started to look like some of the South American projects which are a great grade says McIlwain. 

The Paris Silver Project in South Australia - Investigator Resources Company Presentation Aug. '20

The PFS covers a range of aspects, both technical and social, and McIlwain thinks that AUS$3M will complete that in 8-months. They have already done a lot of the environmental benchmark work and have continued doing monitoring of water boards which provide a baseline for any environmental study, so it won’t take too long to complete. The rate determining step is taking the samples from the drilling, which is weather dependent. When the samples are taken, they must be dried as the ore body is damp. So, if it rains, it just takes a bit longer explains McIlwain. The mine planning work cannot start until the assay information returns and the resource is recalculated. After that, it's a relatively straightforward 12-month build process, and then it's a simple open pit, within 120m of the surface he adds. 

Within the next 4-weeks, there will be 3 drill rigs on site and McIlwain explains that they’ve got to get this resource done as quickly as possible because it is the pre-determining step for the next stage. 

Environmentally, they are not concerned of any hold-ups as they have done some pre-work, and it's not in a sensitive area. It's outside of the Artesian Basin that might be more challenging so they hope it will be relatively straight forward.  

McIlwain explains that there are limited other Silver opportunities in Australia and the long-term aim for Investigator would be to find a high-margin, cheap Gold mine which would be hard to find in the current environment. 

Exploration in Tasmania 

McIlwain used to run a Gold mining company called Unity mining which operated the Henty mine in Tasmania. It was the highest-grade Gold operation in Tasmania for many years and produced 1.5Moz and Investigator is now interested in getting involved in the Henty Gold mine which is currently up for sale. They have just picked up some tenements next to the Henty mine, but also to the north, there is the historic Rosebery Lead Zinc operation, which has run for 100-years, and may have some opportunities too. 

Mining Tenements in Tasmania - Investigator Resources Company Presentation Aug. '20

Investigator have started making applications to those exploration licences and have budgeted at AUS$1.5M over the next 3-years which will be their minimum commitment. Tasmania is a challenging exploration environment as it's quite undulating and, in some places, a helicopter might be required to lift a drill rig in, but you can't do that in 100km/hour winds explains McIlwain, so they are taking things slowly. 

The Rosebery mine has been one of the more prominent southern hemisphere Zinc producers and adjacent to that is the Renison Tin mine, and the Henty Gold mine, which have all been major producers. Lately though, people haven’t spent much money on regional exploration, and they've tried to sustain the mine life so these projects could do with some investment. 

Merian Global Investments 

Merian have been involved in Investigator for some time and have just just upped their stake to around 15-16% and in the last 3-months, have put AUS$4.5M into the company. Merian think that the Silver price is going to soar and see this as a great Silver opportunity. 

Investigator recently went out to raise AUS$3-5M, got offered over AUS$20M and took AUS$8M and McIlwain ends by saying that they will shortly have results from this portfolio which will show them what it will look like, how big it is and what it will be worth for the future. 

To find out more, go to Investigator Resources Website.