Redstone follows its leader; shops for royalty interests

Debt-free and with $1.3 million cash in its treasury, Redstone is now ready to invest in new mining related ventures. Following in the footsteps of its new parent, it is seeking a non-gold source of royalties. Expressing confidence that a deal will be made, Pierre Lassonde, now chairman of the Redstone board, told the meeting that the target is a U.S. base metals acquisition for royalties, with a partner doing the work.

But the company’s main interest still centers on its Coates copper deposit in the Northwest Territories, where past drilling has indicated reserves of 37 million tons grading 3.97% copper in an extensive flat lying sheet with estimated potential reserves of some 250 million tons.

While no work has been done on this property since Shell Canada dropped its interest in the project in 1978 (in part because of its remoteness), the whole economic picture there is changing, President David Harquail told the meeting.

To provide an up-to-date assessment of the deposit’s economic potential, Kilborn Ltd. has been commissioned to prepare an independent review. Based on a thickness of only 3.3 ft. which would reduce grade to 2.8%, it estimates the cash operating cost to produce a pound of copper at 70 cents (US).

Redstone believes that there is potential of outlining thicker ore sections to the south of Shell’s delineated reserves, where intersections up to 30 ft true width have been pulled.

Discussions with potential partners for the further development of this deposit are already being held.

In addition to Lassonde and Harquail, Redstone’s revamped board includes Seymour Schulich, David R. Crombie and Edward Godin.

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