Metallic Minerals (V.MMG) announced its second placer agreement in the Yukon. This one is for a mile of claims along a bench of Dominion Creek. Metallic acquired these claims and then executed an exclusive mining agreement with an experienced placer outfit. Metallic will retain a 15% royalty on all the gold mined.
Once again, CEO Greg Johnson is putting the placer expertise of his VP Susan Craig and his Director Bill Harris to work. Much of the real wealth in the Yukon comes from the creeks and the benches of those creeks. While Metallic is exploring for silver around Keno Hill, developing placer driven royalty streams can give the company significant, positive, cash flow and reduce the need to go to the markets for additional funding. It is a great model but it really takes local knowledge for it to work.
Bill and Sue have that local knowledge. They own placer operations and have a pretty solid idea of where good, unworked, placer targets can be found. They also know the tight knit community of Yukon placer operators. The right set of claims with the right operator can be a very lucrative proposition.
Given Metallic’s large land position at Austrailia Creek it is a good bet that Metallic will announce more of these royalty arrangements in the coming months. It will take a while for the market to assess the value of these deals but a junior exploration company with free cash flow is a bit of a unicorn.