Key Projects
Samalayuca
VVC has been involved in the Samalayuca property since October 2013, when the company optioned 33.75 percent of the project and took on management control. In 2015, VVC then increased that option to 67.5 percent.
Helium Portfolio
Plateau Helium Corporation
In January 2021, VVC Exploration acquired Plateau Helium Corporation (“PHC”), a Wyoming Corporation focused on helium exploration and development, primarily in the western US. PHC’s initial target project is located in Kansas and currently comprises 69 leases covering 13,760 acres known as the Syracuse Helium Project.
The Company issued 7,000,000 shares of VVC to the shareholders of PHC in exchange for the 90% interest in PHC and placed the remaining 14 million VVC Shares in escrow, which will only be released from escrow in two tranches of 7 million shares each upon completion of two predetermined benchmarks. Any of the remaining VVC Shares not released from escrow within twelve (12) months will be returned to the treasury of VVC for cancellation. The shares are subject to a Hold Period expiring on May 27, 2021.
Monarch Lease
VVC also purchased a new helium property called Monarch Lease in April 2021. The transaction bolsters VVC’s ability to capitalize on the growing demand for helium, driven by increased global usage.
The purchase agreement allows MP to retain a 3 percent royalty in the shallow well rights from surface to 3100 feet (the “Shallow Rights”) and a 50 percent non-operated working interest in the deep oil and gas rights below 3100 feet (the “Deep Rights”). In addition to the 3percent royalty, standard industry royalties of 12.5 percent are payable to arm’s length land owners from the proceed of any production.
The Monarch Lease is a 1,720-acre property that is located in the Byerly Field in Greely County, Kansas and includes six formerly producing gas wells that are still connected to the Tumbleweed Midstream pipeline. All wells produced both methane and helium. PHC believes that production on these wells can be restarted with only minor re-work. Re-work on the Byerly field will commence immediately with the current expectation that the existing wells can be fully operational within 60 days.
Syracuse Extension 1
VVC Exploration through its wholly owned subsidiary PHC, acquired a new gas property known as Syracuse Extension 1. Extension 1 is a 320-acre property located in Cheyenne County, Colorado and includes 2 gas wells drilled in 1989-1990 which were never put into production.
This property is adjacent to the Tumbleweed Midstream pipeline which is linked to a helium processing plant. Both wells contain methane and helium. At the time of drilling, one well had tested over 2,000 mcf per day and the other, over 3,000 mcf per day, of helium rich gas. These historical results have not been verified by PHC or any other independent party.
2019 Resource Estimate
In March 2019, VVC Exploration released an updated resource estimate for the Samalayuca property. The report outlined an indicated resource of 59.4 million pounds of copper and an inferred resource of 89.33 pounds of copper.
“The 2019 resource estimate was generated using all exploration data up to December 2018. Whereas, the previous resource estimate in 2013 showed only an inferred resource, now both indicated and inferred resources are being reported. With a base case resource of 59.40 million pounds of copper indicated and 89.33 million pounds of copper inferred, VVC has a solid basis for treating Samalayuca as an attractive, viable project,” said VVC Exploration Chairman Terrence Martell.
Management Team
James (Jim) Culver, PhD—President, CEO and Director
Dr. James Culver has spent his over 40 years in the fields of commodities, international trade and trade finance, holding posts in government, academia and the private sector. For the last 20 years, he has focused on commodity finance and commodity project finance, primarily in mining and metals and agricultural products. He spent 22 years working in New York City where he most recently managed two private commodity asset-based lending companies and developed hedge funds to support their lending activities.
Previously, Dr. Culver served as Chief Economist and Director of the Economics and Education Division for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission where he was responsible for market surveillance and new product approvals. He also served for five years on the staff of the Committee on Agriculture of the US House of Representatives. In addition, Culver has been an active participant in a family-owned and operated business, The Parsons Group International Education Inc., for-profit educational services company. He earned his B.Sc. at the University of Tennessee Martin and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Tennessee Knoxville.
Andre St-Michel, PEng—Senior Consultant, Mexican Operations
A Canadian mining engineer and geologist residing in Chihuahua, Mexico, Andre St-Michel has over 30 years of experience in the mining business with a focus on mine development, mill operation, administration and finance. He has spent the last 10 years working in Mexico where he currently serves as President and CEO of Freyja Resources.
From 2003 to 2008, he was a senior executive of Dia Bras (now Sierra Metals), responsible for its exploration programs and the start-up of its Bolivar copper and zinc mine. From initial start-up of the mine in 2005, production reached 450 tons per day in 2006 with annual projected revenues of approximately $27 million and cash flows of approximately $10 million, Prior to 2003, he served as President of ECU Silver Mining, developing programs and properties in the US, Brazil and Mexico. He holds a degree from the Laval University Engineering School and a Master’s degree in Project Management from University du Quebec. He is a professional engineer.
Michael Lafrance — Director and Secretary-Treasurer
Michael Lafrance has been VVC Exploration’s Secretary and Treasurer and geological consultant since December 2012. Since 1980, he has served in similar roles with many other publicly-traded exploration companies. He is also the corporate secretary of POET Technologies Inc. (formerly Opel Technologies), a pioneer in the field of integrated circuits. He is a graduate of the University of Ottawa.
Kevin Barnes—CFO
Kevin Barnes has served as the corporate controller and CFO of various public and private companies over the last 12 years. He also served in the role of IT Manager and Senior Accountant with Duguay and Ringler Corporate Services, a firm which provides corporate accounting and secretarial services to publicly-traded companies. He served as the Controller of Canada’s Choice Spring Water, one of Canada’s first publicly-traded bottled water companies.
He currently serves as CFO of Poet Technologies Inc., a pioneer in the field of integrated circuits and Controller of an international training institute with revenues of $100 million. Barnes received a computer operations diploma from Careers Development Institute and has a Certified Management Accountant designation from the ICMA Australia. In 2006, he became a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Canada.
Terrence Martell, PhD—Chairman of the Board
Dr. Terrence Martell is the Director of the Weissman Center for International Business at Baruch College and the Saxe Distinguished Professor of Finance where he oversees a myriad of international education programs and projects. He is also the Chairperson of the University Faculty Senate and an ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees at The City University of New York. His area of expertise and research is international commodity markets.
He is a Director of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) where he serves on the Audit Committee and has many roles. He serves on the Board of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and is a member of their Executive Committee. He is also a member of the New York City District Export Council of the US Department of Commerce and a member of the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index Oversight Committee. Dr. Martell received his B.A. in Economics from Iona College and his Ph.D. in Finance from the Pennsylvania State University.
Peter Dimmell—Director
Peter Dimmell is a geologist and prospector who has been involved in mineral exploration in Canada, the United States and overseas for 38 years. He is experienced in all aspects of the mining industry and has guided on-site operations from exploration through to production. He is a past president of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), a director and former chairman of the Newfoundland and Labrador Chamber of Mineral Resources and a councilor and member of the Geological Association of Canada. He sits on the Board of Directors of four other public companies: Arehada Mining Ltd, Linear Gold Corp, Pele Mountain Resources Inc and Silver Spruce Resources Inc, for which he also serves as CEO.
Bruno Dumais—Director
Bruno Dumais is Vice President, Finance, for BroadSign International, a Montreal-based provider of digital signage solutions. He possesses over 20 years of experience in financial, forecast and strategic planning and is responsible for overseeing global financial activities. Prior to joining BroadSign, he was the Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of Finance and a Consultant at Mitec Telecom for seven years. He has also held senior level positions in companies crossing a variety of sectors, such as Gestion Exponent, Nortel Networks and Premier Tech. Dumais is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds both a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Quebec in Rimouski and an International MBA from the University of Ottawa.
Patrick Fernet—Director
Patrick Fernet is a legal, operations, and corporate governance expert with more than twelve years’ experience in Canadian small-cap public corporations. He serves as a consultant to VVC on a variety of corporate matters. He has more than 15 years of governance experience with small-cap Canadian corporations.
Scott Hill—Director
Scott Hill has served as Chief Financial Officer of Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) since May 2007. He is responsible for all aspects of ICE’s finance and accounting functions, treasury, tax, audit and controls, business development, human resources and investor relations. Hill also oversees ICE’s global clearing operations. Prior to joining ICE, Hill was Assistant Controller for Financial Forecasts and Measurements at IBM, where he oversaw worldwide financial performance and worked with all global business units and geographies. Hill began his career at IBM and held various accounting and financial positions in the US, Europe, and Japan, including Vice President and Controller of IBM Japan, and Assistant Controller, Financial Strategy and Budgets.
Emily King—Director and Secretary-Treasurer
Emily King is a professional geologist specializing in building and leading multi-disciplinary teams to achieve clients’ high-priority objectives. She is the Founder and CEO of Global Ventures Consulting (GV), a mining and natural resources consulting firm. She is also the President of DZG, focused on partnering North American and Afghan capital to develop Afghanistan’s mining sector, and Senior Geological Advisor for SODEVCO, a chromite toll processing company.
Prior to founding GV, King led the $40 million per year mineral exploration, investment and promotional activities for an economic development task force in the US Department of Defense where she oversaw a team of over 40 experts. In that role, she explored 15 mineral deposits throughout Afghanistan, promoting and tendering four early-stage copper and gold deposits in partnership with the Afghanistan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, Afghanistan Geological Survey and the US Geological Survey. She earned a degree in Geology from Bowdoin College, where she recently was a guest lecturer for the Earth and Oceanographic Science Department. She is also the Founder and active leader of Women in Mining: USA.
Leon Vijay Shivamber - Director
Leon Shivamber is a transformation leader with more than three decades of successful transformations under his belt. He learned about Strategy and Business Integrity during his years at McKinsey & Company, Change Management, and Rapid Transformation during his New York Consulting Partners years and High-Performance Acquisitions during his years at Arrow Electronics. He spent five years leading the prize-winning Supply Chain and Operations transformation at then Harris Corporation (now L3 Harris Technologies. For three years after that role, Leon extended and applied his transformation experience as a leader and general manager building an international joint venture in the Middle East.
Thereafter, Leon spent three years as CEO leading the vibrant UAE headquartered Atlas Group with strategic businesses in communications, defense, energy, food, healthcare, hospitality, public safety, and security. He also spent two additional years advising Atlas Group and other Middle-East-based corporations on their transformation efforts. Since that time, Leon has returned to the United States and has been acting as a Senior Advisor to several corporate transformations. He is a Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI), and a Trustee of the Board of Directors of Baruch College Fund.
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