PDAC 2009: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd: C.C. (Chuck) Downie
By June of this year, western Canada-based junior mineral company Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. will make, for the first time in its 16-year history, that crucial leap from exploration to production with the recent signing of a joint venture agreement to produce in partnership with Prize Mining Corporation. Classified as a “Project Generator” in reflection of its 35 mineral research undertakings, Eagle Plains refers to itself as a grass roots explorer. Furthermore, concerning advancement of the properties it acquires, the model the company employs revolves around the joint venture in order to most efficiently move its projects along to the benefit of its shareholders. Eagle Plains Vice President of Exploration Chuck Downie recently spoke with Metalsnews.com and provided a very informative cross-section of the company he’s played a major role at since1993.
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 An outdoorsman at heart who followed the lead of his father into the exploration business, Downie received his bachelor of science from the University of Alberta in 1988. Five years later he was leaving Cominco Ltd. with extensive experience in grassroots exploration, property evaluation, and mine development, construction and production, to join the highly capable team at Eagle Plains to consult copper, gold, porphyry, volcanics and sedimentary exhalative from North America to South America.
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 President and CEO Tim Termuende, outside of being an accomplished geologist and great guy with whom I’ve collaborated since 1993, is very forward-thinking, always on the lookout for particular projects and very cognizant of the fact that we’ve got some cash in the bank and we’re going to be guarding that,” explained Downie.
Lately, all the commotion at the Eagle Plains headquarters has taken place surrounding its most current acquisition, a project located in Atlin, which is the third largest placer camp in British Columbia. By entering into a joint venture with Prize Mining, Eagle Plains has positioned itself, through extensive leverage of share cap, to invest in a previously sagging deal and generate revenue.
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“This project at Yellowjacket was brought to us in the fall last year by a colleague that I've been working with for over 20 years,” Downie said. “The company that has it currently experienced a bit of financial difficulty. Basically, we're stepping in to immediately enter into a 40/60 joint venture with them on this mechanically simple, high-grade, very low-impact project.
Being in an old placer channel, extraction is as easy as scraping away to expose the bedrock and a big excavator to mine the gold. The gravity-fed mill that’s already on site ensures that no potentially environmentally-challenging chemicals are necessary.
“It's a very, very simple process,” admitted Downie. “Just based on the initial financials we've completed, it looks very robust and very likely we should be able to get our money back this year and some on top of that. This keeps in line with trying to protect our treasury because we've got about 5 million in the bank right now, and we want to keep it that way.”
Downie confessed outside of having never entered into production, his company’s most significant challenge to overcome regarding its 35 projects is maintaining a consistency with their 16-strong workforce in the present economic crisis.
“The problem is, if you split everyone up and lay people off, when things look good again in two or three years you’ve got to start from scratch again because you're kind of behind the eight ball. So, our biggest focus is to keep all the guys we have right now working.”
Concurrent with the spectacular historic drilling there with head grades coming up between 9 and 10 grams, Downie announced the pouring of gold bars on the Atlin property is forecast to commence this June.
“In 2003 when Homestake drilled up there I was actually working in the Atlin area, and when they put out the news release that said 5300 grams over .49 meters, it was the only good story that ever came out in the whole market for three years, and the stock did very well,”
Between that date and now, Downie noted a few crucial measures which needed attending to before production could get under way besides the obvious effort to de-water their pit. In order for Eagle Plains to take out its initial 35,000 tonnes, the company must apply for a small mines permit. Once the region’s characteristic heavy snows have melted and the connection for the sag mill properly reinstalled, the company can then initiate additional stripping.
From the Eagle Plains’ website regarding the joint-venture gold production at Atlin:
“Under terms of the Joint Venture, Eagle Plains will purchase a 40% interest in the project by providing $2,000,000 CDN in working capital. These funds will be used to clear existing liens and obligations on the property, in addition to completing upgrades of the existing mill facility and covering costs related to engineering, permitting and environmental compliance. Eagle Plains will in turn receive 60% of all net proceeds of production up to $2,000,000, at which time it will revert to a 40/60 working interest. Eagle Plains will have the option of increasing its working interest to 60% by making payments to Prize totaling $2,000,000 by the sixth anniversary. It is expected that commercial production activity will commence by the third quarter of 2009.
What’s great for shareholders, said Downie, is the potential of never having to go to the market to raise money again if this thing works out. When our stock price gets to be about a buck, buck and a half, we might think about it, but for the foreseeable future and maybe never – maybe we'll never have to go to the market again.
The excited vice president concluded by suggesting paying close attention to his company’s quarterly financials in anticipation of how successful Eagle Plains expects to be with its newest project.
“By Q3 next year we should have cash flowing in, so that's going to be a critical part of it. One glance at our business model and you immediately see how much logical sense it makes to have other people putting up the risk money. Even in these relatively lean times, we've still got half a dozen joint venture partners that are going to be spending money on our projects this year. We're looking forward to another good year.”
For more information visit www.eagleplains.com
Head Office
Operations & Exploration:
Suite 200, 16 – 11th Ave. S.
Cranbrook, BC V1C 2P1
Toll Free: 1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673)
Local: (250) 426-0749
Fax: (250) 426-6899
Email: info@eagleplains.com