Gordon Cummings, President and CEO of Kimber Resources Inc. at the Hard Assets Conference in NYC May 2009
INTRODUCTION
We recently had an opportunity to catch up with Gordon Cummings, who, since November 2007, has been the President and CEO of Kimber Resources Inc., a Vancouver-based advanced gold-silver exploration company with an increasingly important profile.
Kimber Resources growth potential is tied up in three projects in Mexico totaling 50,000 hectares of mineral concessions. The first project is Monterde, in the northern Sierra Madre, while the other two projects are Pericones, 100 km southwest of Mexico City, and Setago, 20km to the west of Monterde. It is clear then that the northern Sierra Madre is very important to Kimber Resources.
Mexico of course is an area that is no stranger to mining, with a history of mining that goes back almost 500 hundred years, with gold and silver being mined and held in high esteem in the area even before the arrival of the Spanish and Hernando Cortez in 1519. Silver has been particularly prevalent in Mexico (the Spanish found more silver than anything else), but gold, and even copper and iron have been mined in quantity. As a mining area, modern Mexico is relatively stable, both politically and financially, and with such a long history of mining, the quality and quantity of the local workforce is high.
KIMBER RESOURCES AND THE PRESENT DAY
The history of Kimber Resources dates back to 1995 when it was founded as a private company. In June 2002 they were first listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. At that time they had recently purchased a former underground mine in the Monterde region, which now seven years later is proving to be one of the best potential gold-silver properties in the region not yet in production.
Since 2004, Kimber Resources has also been upgraded to the full Toronto Stock Exchange (trading symbol KBR) and on the American Stock Exchange (trading symbol KBX) since November of 2005, proving the growth of the company in recent years. Kimber Resources’ strategy is to “to excel as an exploration company specializing in the discovery, definition and development of gold and silver deposits in Mexico, building resources and advancing our projects into valuable assets capable of becoming profitable mining operations.”
Gordon Cummings, as CEO and President, brings a wealth of experience from a variety of business sources. He initially qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KMPG in London, England, one of the world’s premier accounting firms, before gaining New York Stock Exchange experience with a UK-based insurance company. This was then followed by two years as a Senior Manager with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the West Indies, and then 6 years running a small hedge fund group with operations in Canada and Barbados (briefly as CFO then as CEO and Director) before moving to Vancouver and then making the transition to mining with Kimber Resources.
A wealth of skills and experience is exhibited by the board of directors and the management team of Kimber Resources, with many years of experience both within and outside the metals industry. Since becoming CEO, Gordon Cummings has strengthened the team, bringing in Lyn Davies as CFO, and Marius Mare as a VP of Exploration. The changes however, are not limited to senior management, as the exploration team in Mexico has been rebuilt from the ground up as well, with a considerable changeover, for the better, in the senior and junior geologists.
ONGOING PROJECTS
The main project undertaken by Kimber Resources is the 29,000 hectare (290sq km) site on Monterde. Kimber resources has spent a great deal of money effort and time in recent years on coming up with an accurate estimate for the level of gold and silver deposits on the property. This has involved complicated geological modelling and exploratory drilling with a considerable geological staff.
The current resource estimates show, according to Mr. Cummings, “about 1.5 million measured and indicated gold-equivalent ounces and over 0.4 million inferred gold equivalent ounces. This is made up of 0.9 million gold ounces and over 46 million silver ounces of measured and indicated in 37 million tonnes , and 0.3 million inferred gold ounces and over 7 million inferred silver ounces in 8 million tonnes.” Understandably, the geological models are constantly being monitored and improved, and new figures are expected to be released in September of this year based on the refined geological models and a significant number of drill holes not included in the current resource estimates. There are three main sites at Monterde: Carmen, Veta Minitas and Carotare, and the figures released later this year will be the most complete and most accurate yet released. The vast majority of the resources can be found at the Carmen site, and the company has recently announced a find to the north of Carmen. A recent news article released by Kimber Resources states that the exploration process and the upgraded geological modelling to date has involved “results from more than 786 drill holes completed to date, in aggregate more than 170,500 metres of drilling.”
Kimber Resources’ second largest project, in Pericones started off as a relatively small project 6,300 hectares in size, but has grown since 2007 to be just a few hectares short of 12,000 hectares. Pericones is about 100 kilometres southwest of Mexico City. As this project site was only acquired in 2006, it is, of course at a much earlier stage of development than Monterde. So far, only early stage exploration work and sampling has been undertaken, with indications of the presence of high grade silver, and some gold, as well as the potential for there to be greater amounts present. There are four targets in the Pericones project (Plaza de Gallos, Aguacate, Tejamanil and El Cirian). More mapping, sampling and assessment work is taking place at Pericones, the results of which will no doubt determine the extent of future drilling at the site. However a small drill program is planned for later in 2009 at the primary Pericones target, Plaza de Gallos with the potential for more drill programs to be added at this site and the other targets based on results
Color Anomaly on Setago
The third project that Kimber owns can be found at Setago, which is west of Monterde by about 20 kilometres. This property is fractionally smaller than Pericones at just over 10,000 hectares and is split into three different sections. Kimber Resources has been working on Setago since the initial exploratory work in June 2003, although it was not until the latter part of 2007 that significant work was done that shows the presence of polymetallic and gold-silver deposits. Kimber Resources intends on carrying out further and more detailed exploration on the Setago site at a later stage, but it is understandable that the vast majority of Kimber’s resources are currently taken up at the Monterde project and to a lesser extent the Pericones project.
THE FUTURE OF KIMBER
Much of the future of Kimber Resources may depend on the Company’s ability to demonstrate positive economics at the Monterde project. Gordon Cummings is clear as to the direction of the company in the coming months when he states that, “our focus obviously is to come out with a revised resource estimate for Monterde. We then need to address the potential economics of the deposit and, I think, drive towards development; at this stage we’re very focused on advancing Monterde to a development decision as well as building mineral resource ounces through strong exploration.”
It is this development decision that will have a strong influence on the future for Kimber resources, but at the moment the signs are looking good. Initial figures for Monterde are already positive, and recent samples taken at Pericones show some good potential targets. It is hoped the Carmen site at Monterde can be developed as a combined open pit and underground mining site, once a decision has been made.
Of course, Mexico was struck by the H1N1 virus during April and early May, and although Kimber Resources closed operations at the beginning of May for five days by Presidential decree (along with the rest of the country), work has since re-commenced and there have been no reports of the virus among the workforce.
Gordon Cummings with Alejandro Alarcon, General Director of Mine Promotion of Mexico
Mr. Cummings is bullish also about the location of their focus as a company, “The government is very supportive of mining. We’ve had absolutely no problems on any of the projects that we’ve been involved in, in terms of government or local people. Mexico is the area that we want to keep as our focus for the company.”
A strength of Kimber Resources, as it moves towards its development decision on Monterde, as well as further explorations at Pericones and Setago, is its solid cash position with no debt and a steady approach to its financial growth.
Gordon Cummings and the team that are now in place at Kimber Resources have proved in their short tenure to be a team that can instil confidence in the company, which is always a key sign that potential (and even current investors) want to see. The management, board of directors and the exploration teams on the ground have made improvements that show the company’s drive and potential for future growth.
Kimber Resources isn’t relying entirely on the success of its current projects, but is actively looking for other projects in Mexico, which show potential for exploration and development, and will be planning to grow both its current and future projects in the coming years.
Contact information:
http://www.kimberresources.com
Matthew Hamilton, Manager of Investor Relations or Gordon Cummings CA, President and CEO
Kimber Resources Inc.
215 - 800 West Pender Street
Vancouver BC V6C 2V6
Telephone: 604 669-2251
Toll free: 1-866-824-1100
Fax: 604 669-8577
Email: info@kimberresources.com