1. Why did previous operators drop the McVicar property?
The main operator previously was BHP, a very large company. They didn't find anything large enough to meet their criteria, but did spend about $10 million in exploration. Later two other juniors had it for a short time, but they did not do serious amounts of work. A smaller explorer like Wildcat does not need the same level of results on a property for it to be viable that a big company would, and the price of gold is a lot higher today than it was when BHP had it.
2. Question on Foster River.
Zinc has been found on the property, but the price of zinc is too low right now to justify development. Access is an issue and creates enormous costs for serious development. A large company with a zinc focus might look at it differently and partner with WEL.
3. Who initiated the JV on Poundmaker?
SKP approached Wildcat, and spent close to $1,000,000 on exploration, besides paying over $475,000 to Wildcat. However, SKP's focus has changed to their Nova Scotia properties now, so they did not want to continue at Poundmaker.
4. What kind of JV arrangemnts is Wildcat looking for?
Wildcat is open to joint ventures, likely an option deal like we had with SKP on Poundmaker where the partner does work at their expense to earn an interest in the property, as well as making cash payments to Wildcat. Wildcat will be selective on whom they JV with; the optionee must have the technical skill to do the work at a professional level, and they must have the financial ability to carry through with the arrangement; these criteria tend to limit JV's to larger companies. The optionee decides where they will do the work, since it is their own moeny they are spending.
5. Can Wildcat comment on any other prospective properties they are looking at?
Currently the focus is on adding a few more Uchi properties, as mentioned earlier, and WEL will look for partners to advance them. Wildcat does receive propositions from other parties on a regular basis, but most do not meet the criteria that the company has set for viable prospects. One of the main criteria is that Wildcat prefers properties within a day's drive of Winnipeg, and especially when they are near to other existing Wildcat properties since this helps considerably to control costs.
