Trident is an explorer focused mainly on gold in Saskatchewan, with work centered on the past-producing Contact Lake area plus four other gold deposits. It also has the Knife Lake copper project. This interview focused on drilling status and plans at Contact Lake, funding sources (cash, liquid securities, warrants), insider ownership, and near-term risks.
TL;DR
Jon told me they completed a 7,000m, 19-hole program at Contact Lake in the fall and are still waiting on assays for 16 holes, expected over the next several weeks. They’re planning a winter drill program of minimum 10,000m and potentially 20,000m, starting in late January and finishing in late March, with results expected early in the summer. They currently have access to approx $12.5 million (about $4 million cash plus Skeena shares), plus approximately $3 million expected from warrant exercises.
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- What have you done for shareholders lately?
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Jon highlighted the merger that formed Trident and said much of the post-rollback selling pressure has likely cleared based on volumes. Operationally, he said they’ve completed the fall drilling program at Contact Lake and released results from the first three holes, with the remaining assays expected soon. Wiesblatt also said marketing and investor outreach ramped up in the fall after completing an MRE and beginning Contact Lake drill news flow.
– - How much money do they have and what are they spending it on?
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CEO Wiesblatt said they have access to about $12.5 million of cash and liquid securities, including about $4 million cash, and he expects warrant exercises to add ~$3.0 million, taking liquidity to ~$16 million. He estimated the winter drill budget at about $5 million for 10,000m (or ~$10 million for 20,000m), and said the winter work is funded from current liquidity. On overhead, the steady-state operating G&A is about $100k/month with marketing on top, so they’re targeting up to $2 million per year of non-exploration spend on a normalized basis.
– - Upcoming catalysts
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Management expects release of the remaining assays from the fall program over the next several weeks. Winter drilling is expected later in January (once ice conditions allow rigs onto the lake), and that’s expected to finish mid-to-late March, with those winter results expected in early summer. We also discussed the possibility of a further 10,000–20,000 m program later in the year, and Jon said warrant exercises are ongoing from the prior financing.
– - Risks
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Jon told me that the gold price is the main risk and acknowledged geology risk, especially given the early stage of its own drilling and the pending assays needed to talk about continuity. Execution risk was also implied around winter access (ice conditions), timing of assays, and whether deeper drilling below historical mining levels delivers supportive results. He also said they do not have access to historical core and lack certain deeper historical drilling information (below ~340 m), which he said is a disadvantage. Financing risk, he told me, is mitigated by current liquidity and warrant exercises, with an implied reliance on the value/liquidity of the Skeena position if sold for funding.
Trident Resources CEO Interview With Jon Wiesblatt
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