Anthony Cohen Plato Gold’s President and CEO
Plato Gold Corporation (TSX, V: PGC) is a junior Canadian exploration company, based in Toronto that was formed by President and CEO Anthony Cohen in 1995 when he first became involved in the mining business. Prior to that, he had a business background, having gained a Bachelor of Science, Business Administration degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. He founded Gulf & Pacific Equities Corporation, a publicly listed real estate company, and was a Director of public merchandising and energy company Gendis Inc. and of Chauvco Resources Ltd., a public oil and gas company.
Precious Metals Company
Plato was formed as the result of Anthony picking up some claims in Timmins, Ontario. It went public in 2005 and its shares are now traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the PGC symbol. It is, essentially, a precious metals company that is focused mainly on gold. Since its formation, as Anthony recalls, the company has grown significantly: “Our first group of claims were in the famous Timmins gold camp in Northern Ontario. In 2006, we optioned some claims in Quebec where we have a large property. And in 2007, we picked up a large 73,000 acre property in Southern Argentina, in Santa Cruz province, and that is a very well located property as well.
The Timmins project originally comprised the Guibord, Harker, Holloway and Marriott projects, in which the company holds a 100% interest. In December 2007, Plato acquired a further 24 claims within the Harker-Garrison townships. These new claims, amounting to 384 hectares, bring to 154 the number of claims in the region, with a total area of 2,473 hectares.
The Val d’Or project in Northern Quebec started in 2006 when the company signed an options agreement for two claim blocks comprising a total of 21 claims and an area of 298 hectares. This project is the one that Anthony is most confident will bring positive results quite quickly. He says: “In Quebec we have a respectable size NI 43-101 compliant gold deposit, so we have a lot of upside there. We recently released very promising drill results, so this is an area with big potential.”
Simplified geological map of southeastern part of Abitibi Greenstone belt
The latest official announcement, in March 2009, was a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate showing indicated resources of 30,212 ounces and inferred resources of 146,315 ounces. The ultimate aim is to develop the project to the state where a major will take it to production.
“The next step is to raise more money to drill and expand the size of our gold deposit there and to continue to grow the size of the deposit,” says Anthony. “Ultimately, in my opinion, it will take about a million ounces to get one of the majors interested in the project.”
The Roca Blanca Formation also hosts precious and base metal mineralization on the property adjoining Lolita to the southeast
The most recent project, which Anthony describes as having “the most blue sky potential”, is at Santa Cruz in Argentina. The Lolita Project is a joint venture with Dr Paul Lhotka that began in 2007 and comprises 29,904 hectares.
Anthony comments: “There’s been a lot of exploration success in the immediate vicinity of us and we’ve just done prospecting work on the property so far. So, it definitely has huge blue sky potential.” The Santa Cruz province has become one of the most successful areas for mining exploration in South America, with many senior and junior exploration companies becoming interested and four precious metal mines being constructed.
Plato has discovered three previously unexplored hydrothermal structures on the property. Anthony says: “In our prospecting work, we have encountered literally kilometers worth of structures and we look forward to exploring them to see whether they’re mineralized. There’s very good potential for silver as well as gold, and the potential for base metals and rare earth metals. So, Argentina is a whole wide-open ball game. There could be many different types of metals on that property.”
Well Located Properties
Aside from their exciting potential, a common feature of the properties, as Anthony confirms, is that they are all well located: “Our Timmins properties are all right along major highway 101. Our Quebec properties are located very close to major highway 117. And in Santa Cruz in Argentina, our property is also near infrastructures. So, we’re well situated in all three of our plays.”
All the properties also benefit from being in areas where there is significant activity around them. “What’s exciting and unique about our company is that there are not only the results that we get from our work but, because we are in well located existing camps, we also bask in the reflection of our neighbors,” comments Anthony. “In Timmins and in Quebec, we actually have some neighbors that have gone into production. So, we enjoy the benefit of being in an area that’s in play in all three of our areas.”
Getting the Market’s Attention
Despite all the activity going on at the three properties, one of Plato’s main tasks, in Anthony’s view, is getting the recognition it deserves: “The biggest challenge right now, I would say, is to get the market’s attention about the fabulous properties and potential that we have in our company. This is not some sort of a fantasy in the future. We have properties right now, we have gold deposits in Quebec right now with great growth potential and so it’s just about getting the story out.”
The lack of recognition does, of course, provide opportunities for investors to benefit from a share price that perhaps does not give a true reflection of the company’s value. Anthony is convinced it will be much higher as results come through. He concludes: “I think that, as we continue to drill our properties, there will hopefully be good news coming out, which should also excite the market. I might also add that the company management has a quite heavy ownership position in the stock, so we’re there alongside our investors as well.”
For more information:
http://www.platogold.com
Phone: 416-968-0608
Fax: 416-968-3339
Email: info@platogold.com
Address: Plato Gold Corp.
1300 Bay Street, Suite 300