Resource World Magazine

A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 5 Editor's Comments Ellsworth Dickson Ellsworth Dickson, Editor-in-Chief Email: editor@resourceworld.com T: 604 484 3800 | 1 877 484 3800 The Alpala deposit mineral resource estimate (MRE*) reports 2.05 billion tons at 0.60% copper equivalent ("CuEq") (8.4 Mt Cu, 19.4 Moz Au) Indicated (with a cut-off grade of 0.2% CuEq), including a high-grade core of 400 Mt @ 1.49% CuEq (3.6 Mt Cu, 11.9 Moz Au) Indicated 15% of the Cascabel Cu-Au Project in Ecuador financed to completion of a feasibility study plus 9.22% of the shares of JV partner SolGold Plc (total ~23% direct and indirect interest in Cascabel) 3 projects being funded by partners (Bramaderos in Ecuador with Sunstone, & Miocene in Chile and Caña Brava in Ecuador with Newcrest); 2 more available for option/joint venture Strategic Exploration Alliance Agreement with Ecuadorian State Mining Co. ENAMI EP – 9 concessions near Cascabel * See Nov. 20, 2018 news release and Technical Report filed Jan. 3, 2019 at www.sedar.com. Mr. Martin Pittuck, MSc, CEng., MIMMM, is responsible for the updated MRE and is an "independent qualified person" as defined in NI 43-101. D uring the recent Prospectors and Developers of Canada convention in Toronto, it was so cold outside that, when people spoke, their words would freeze and we won't hear what they said until spring. Well, maybe not that cold; it was only -13 C (-24 C wind chill). In any case, it was warm inside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre where throngs of delegates visited the hundreds of booths, networked and attended various learning sessions. This year, PDAC 2019 hosted 25,843 attendees from more than 130 countries. The event is widely recognized as the world's pre - mier annual mineral exploration and mining convention. "After my 44th straight year attending the PDAC Convention, the enthusiasm I saw from exhibitors and attendees in 2019 was among the best yet," says PDAC President, Glenn Mullan. "Although we continue to face economic challenges and uncertainty, the mineral exploration and mining industry is experiencing a renaissance and a renewed sense of confidence, highlighting its resilience once more." Having attended PDAC conventions since 1984, I can say that each one has its own ambience depending on the state of the mining sector cycle. People that I spoke to acknowledged that the mining recovery has been slow and improvements are taking moderate steps – nothing like the frenzy after the Hemlo, Dia Met Minerals and Voisey's Bay discoveries. Investors have been hoping for a major discovery that would jump start the TSX and the TSX Venture Exchange. However, they realize that discovering a major mineral deposit is a very dif - ficult challenge and getting more difficult as time goes by with the low-hanging fruit having already been picked. That's where a number of new exploration technologies at the convention come in such as drone-powered photography and geophysics, mineral analyzers, artificial intelligence, and 3D scanning of underground workings to name a few. Except for some juniors having financing challenges, the mood at PDAC 2019 was fairly upbeat and many investors noted that a number of juniors are seeing success. One potentially important event at PDAC 2019 was the federal government's announcement of the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan. In 2017, Canadian mineral production totaled about $44 bil - lion – 60 minerals and metals at 200 mines and 7,000 quarries. That accounts for 19% of domestic exports and 5% of the coun- try's GDP. The plan envisions world-leading financing and taxation sys- tems that support exploration, efficient regulatory systems that protect Canadian interests, world-class geoscience, increased cer- tainty on land access and use, more infrastructure to unlock the potential of northern, remote and isolated areas, and downstream activities that provide opportunities for entrepreneurs as well as support for communities and regional development. It was impressive to note that so many foreign countries showed up – all with the same objective of building up their min - ing sectors. They recognize that responsible mineral development can bring long-lasting, high paying jobs and generate millions in taxes and royalties which makes me concerned that, here in Canada, it seems that there is so much opposition to resource development. Some Canadian industrial sectors are already suf - fering – oil & gas, home construction, the GM Oshawa auto plant looming closure, etc. The last thing we need is unwarranted opposition to responsible mining. Mining plays a crucial role in maintaining our way of life – let's not damage our economy fur- ther with unnecessary delays and cancellations. n PDAC 2019 convention in Toronto upbeat and busy

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