The 6ix Report - Steppe Gold Ltd to Acquire Anacortes Mining Corp

0:00 Disclaimer. 6th Inc. Does not act as a securities dealer or advisor and does not register to do so under applicable securities law. The accuracy of any statements made by individuals interviewed is not verified by 6th Inc. These individuals or the firms they represent are solely responsible for their statements. Nothing in this interview is a recommendation by 6th Inc. For any securities, nor is it investment advice or a substitute for professional investment advice. All investments and securities carry risks. Everyone's investment needs are different. Investors should obtain professional advice from a registered investment dealer, advisor, or other professional third party. For a full disclaimer, please refer to the description below Hello everyone, and welcome to The 6 Report. I'm here with Anil, the Executive Vice President and Director of StepGold. And you're currently at PDAC, is that right, sir?

0:47 How would you describe PDAC this year? Well, it's our 2nd PDAC within 12 months, so it's been a first I would say. But certainly it's busy, good positive vibes here. I would say busier than I expected. So it's been good so far. I've heard the sentiment has been great at PDAC. So that's excellent. And you're coming on today to talk about your company just releasing news about a letter of intent to acquire Anna Cortez Mining Corp. So I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about the bind-in agreement terms. Sure. We just released that early morning yesterday.

1:30 It's a fantastic asset that we were able to acquire, I guess, in a weak market today. It's a very complimentary asset. 2.5 million ounces, 1.9 million ounces in sulfides With leachable oxides and sulfides of another 600,000. So very similar to what we did in Mongolia. We have the ability to Build a heap leach operation as a starter project in Peru now. We're diversified from a country perspective We're in a new country. That's very mining centric. It's a mining jurisdiction Well established was not a frontier emerging market like Mongolia, yet we've doubled the size of our company with minimal pollution. It's about a 21 million dollar Canadian acquisition, shares only. So it's a fantastic result.

2:25 It sequences very well with our Phase 2 expansion in Mongolia. We can then bring this online after we bring production online in phase 2 in Mongolia, we can then bring our team to go develop this heaping operation which we've already built in Mongolia in Peru in the next couple of years. And yeah, I'll paraphrase, you almost stated this, that this transaction will transform Stepgold into a multi-asset, multi-jurisdiction gold company. But why don't you tell us why you specifically had your eyes on Anna Cortez Mining and the logic behind this acquisition?

3:01 Sure. So actually, this is an asset that we've known for a few years. Actually we looked at it a few years ago and didn't have the ability to transact on it. Another company was able to raise money and it transacted at a value that's 5 times our current valuation, our acquisition valuation. So I guess patients who are lucky to be able to grab this asset, a depressed valuation in the current market, But it certainly is in a good jurisdiction. So it's a strong endowment today that will continue to grow. So we see a lot of upside on the oxides, on sulfides, and a quick path to production once we complete the permitting and the feasibility study. So it's actually a natural fit in our pipeline of development We've brought about phase 1 online in Mongolia, which the heat leach our phase 2 will come online in early 2025 and by that time in 2025, we should be able to start construction on this project and in 2026 can bring it online.

4:04 We want to bring our production profiles closer to about 200,000 ounces across 2 different jurisdictions. So it's definitely what we're hearing from the market investors it's definitely good to have optionality and diversification in terms of jurisdiction. So no matter how well we do in 1 jurisdiction, we may not get the value that other companies get by having multiple assets in multiple jurisdictions. This helps for a re-rate, a diversification of risk and our profile. Okay. And with these ongoing protests in Peru, it has been making headlines as country for the last couple of years, And some individuals might be concerned about this jurisdiction. Why is your team comfortable acquiring an operator out of Peru?

4:52 Sure. Yeah, the social issues today in country are, I would say, not generally related to mining, per se. And Yes, it has to do with the leaders in the country. There's noise in a lot of countries where everyone operates, including Canada. So you see the same type of noise or distraction. But the bottom line is Peru is a mining jurisdiction. It's a top mining jurisdiction. They have many producing mines. It's the driver of the economy, of jobs, of the country, just like Mongolia. So it's very crucial for the mining projects to come online to create more jobs and revenue and business. So we don't see that as an issue.

5:39 We see that as noise and actually an opportunity. Well, you know, this will, you know, will not last too long. We think, And for us, it's not a lot of at risk capital to acquire this asset and move it along over the next couple of years without having to actually spend a lot of money in construction. Thank you so much. If you want to learn more about Stepgold, you can go to stepgold.com. Thank you, Anil, for taking the time to chat with me today, and I'll let you