Exclusive Interviews, STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS
Interview: Shawn Perger on the Global Economic Mess, Silver Mining and Chinchillas
By Daily Bell Staff - September 04, 2016

Shawn Perger is based in Vancouver Canada and has worked in the international financial markets for 30 years with a primary focus on mining.  For the last 15 years, he has worked with mainly silver companies in corporate finance and communications capacities.

The Daily Bell: Let’s start at the beginning for those who are new to Golden Arrow. Explain a bit more about what you do.

Shawn Perger:  I support mining companies, mainly in silver production. I am located in Vancouver, which is the center of junior resource exploration. It’s afforded me great opportunities to meet and associate with some of the best people in the business and some of these companies have had tremendous success.

Golden Arrow is one such success than I am very proud of; I have been with the company going on four years since the first drilling was underway on the Chinchillas property our flagship. I came to the company because of the management team’s proven expertise. They have a track record in discovering world-class mineral deposits. In fact, the promising Chinchillas property is their third economic discovery.

The Daily Bell: Sum up the opportunity of Chinchillas and Silver Standard.

Shawn Perger: Golden Arrow’s Chinchillas deposit is one the world’s newest and one of the largest primary silver deposits that is on a fast track to production with an agreement in place with the 7th largest primary silver producer, Silver Standard. That mining firm happens to be a short distance from our Chinchillas property, and they are excited about the promise of Chinchillas because their silver mining in the area has diminished.

Below is a webcast from Silver Standard Resources in which Golden Arrow has an agreement.  In the webcast Silver Standard states they are working toward a new mine by the end of the year with Chinchillas.

The application for the mining permit has been filed and a 6,000 meter condemnation drill program has been completed. (Golden Arrow and Chinchillas Minute 10:04, Minute 15:13.)

Joseph Grosso the CEO of Golden Arrow Resources points out that if Silver Standard agrees to the joint-venture, Golden Arrow will accrue 25% interest in Pirquitas’ cash equivalent earnings, less expenses, since Sept. 30, 2015. Grosso explains that Golden Arrow’s objective is to become “cash-flow positive mining company.”

The Daily Bell: Any further updates?

Shawn Perger: Silver standard has stated numerous times they will make a decision in the last quarter of this year. So far everything is moving smoothly and they don’t foresee any issues with moving ahead.

The DailyBell: Are there many opportunities like Chinchillas in silver?

Shawn Perger: Economic primary silver discoveries like Chinchillas are very rare and a fully staffed, fully permitted operating mine as your neighbor and whose mine is closing down is almost unheard of. The stars have aligned for us in this case. It’s a win for us, and big win for Silver Standard and a huge win for the people of the province of Jujuy in Argentina.

The Daily Bell: There are relatively few silver miners compared to gold, yes?

Shawn Perger: Silver mines are rare and they need to have larger deposits to make them economical because of the price differential in the metals. For every ounce of gold, perhaps seven ounces of silver are produced. Most of the world’s silver production comes as a by-product from other types of mining such a copper mining, so a discovery like Chinchillas is important.

The Daily Bell: Give us a sense of the potential magnitude of Chinchillas.

Shawn Perger: Only 35% of the property has been explored and our technical team feel that Chinchillas is going to get much bigger, the deposit is still open in all directions and at depth.

Golden Arrow holds a 100% interest in the Chinchillas project which hosts a resource at this point of 100 million ounces of silver/155 million ounces silver equivalent (AgEq) in the Measured & Indicated categories and 44 million ounces silver /90 million ounces AgEq in the Inferred category

We have done some exploratory drilling as far as 1.5 kilometers from the main discovery have hit mineralization; we are looking forward to drilling the area more. A primary silver discovery with room to grow makes Chinchillas a very rare find.

The Daily Bell: Elaborate on the progress path.

Shawn Perger: It’s straightforward: To close the deal and start sending feed from Chinchillas property to the Silver Standard’s Pirquitas mine and become a revenue producing silver company.

The Daily Bell: Is it a good time to look at Chinchillas?

Shawn Perger: The overall metals market has had a pullback recently, which is probably necessary given that precious metals and junior resource sector in general were top performing markets so far this year. The summer doldrums hit some time ago, but now we are coming into the fall.  I feel personally September and October could be tremendous buying opportunities for many issuers including GRG. These are quality stocks “on sale.”

The Daily Bell: How about the larger picture in Argentina? Does the environment remain supportive for Golden Arrow and for Chinchillas?

Shawn Perger: Argentina is increasingly open for business following the end of the last administration. Mining is a big focus for Argentina.  CEO Joe Grosso is in Argentina as we speak and will meet with the Federal Minister of Mines. He’ll also meet with the new president Mauricio Macri.  Joe is recognized in Argentina as a very respected an mining pioneer and has received many prestigious awards. Last year Golden Arrow received an award for the best exploration company.

The Daily Bell: Will Argentina continue on a favorable path do you think?

Shawn Perger: From what I’ve heard, The Argentine government wants to unify mining regulations under a proposed federal law that would permit open-pit mines to operate throughout the country as part of an effort to jump-start investment in the sector.

The new government has dropped the export tax on concatenate and bullion and is allowing companies to repatriate funds. The government is moving fast and through these changes, we are seeing big increases in mining activity. President Macri made revitalizing the mining sector a main platform during the recent election. Here and here is more information on the Macri mining initiatives.

The Daily Bell: Golden Arrow has been focused on Chinchillas but what about some other projects?

Shawn Perger: It’s’s an active company. In fact, we’ve just acquired a very exciting property that has a lot of the earmarks that Chinchillas had early on.

The Daily Bell: That’s exciting. What about generally – are we on the way up with gold and silver?

Shawn Perger: The world has not recovered from this Great Recession, and I’d suggest things are getting worse. For the first time in recorded history we  have negative interest rates. The debasement of most fiat currency including the US dollar continues at a high rate. And when it comes to the US, the presidential election seems unusually difficult. That can’t help either the country or the dollar. In such an environment, with the potential of even more chaos, it seems to me that having a variety of gold and silver exposures, including both physical gold and quality precious metal stocks provides safety as well significant potential profits.

The Daily Bell: Well, if next year is a repeat of 2016, people holding gold and silver should see significant appreciation.

Shawn Perger: The over-all mining sector suffered the biggest, prolonged downturn over the past four years. But the mining sector is a cyclical and the rebound has been spectacular, I think it was so severely oversold that it was coiled up like spring. It’s been a great first half the year and now a healthy pullback. I believe we remain in a bull metals market and we have a significant ways to go.

The DailyBell: Give us a bit more on 2017. Simply a continuation of the first part of 2016?

Shawn Perger: Well, that’s hard to say because of a significant elite constituency that manipulates gold to ensure it doesn’t go up too far and too fast – thus damaging the fiat currencies they control. However, I think we’re so far along in the curve that it will be difficult to slow the progress too much of precious metals in 2017. Even in the near term, the fundamentals are in place to see continued appreciation.

The Daily Bell: What about miners specifically? Are they heading up as well?

Shawn Perger: Without question the cycle we’re in holds for all kinds of metals instruments including stocks.

The Daily Bell: Precious metals stocks and the larger stock market can diverge as they did in the 1930s. Can the larger stock market sustain progress?

Shawn Perger: People and funds are being forced into the larger market because of the desperation to generate yield. There are plenty of market watchers who believe that as a result of this move and because of previous monetary debasement, we ought to be expecting a huge crash in markets around the world.

The Daily Bell: Including mining stocks?

Shawn Perger: Not necessarily. Mining stocks may prove to be a fundamentally different animal as they have been in the past. But there is no question that larger, traditional markets are in trouble and severely overextended by almost any measure. That goes for housing too. The housing market is in an obvious bubble, though in the past month we’ve gotten signals that it is deflating fast. None of these markets are sustainable. But remember, unlike the rest of the market, gold and silver equity has just emerged from a long recession.

The Daily Bell: That’s a good point. As far the larger economic scene goes, we’ve maintained the West is in a quasi-depression.

Shawn Perger: Well, I don’t believe the government numbers. We never get the real facts. I think we are in a worldwide depression and debt crisis and it’s not going to get better before it gets worse.

I believe, in fact, we are witnessing the breakdown of the welfare state and the accompanying quasi-socialist environment of most Western countries. The constant expansion of the fiat currency system and the political charade that accompanies it are not sustainable. Something will give and then there will be panic – and collapse. That’s when the physical gold and silver you stored as insurance with find its larger purpose as the only real currency available, as has been proven over the millennia.

The Daily Bell:  Sounds like a discouraging but reasonable prognosis. Circumstances make it increasingly unlikely that Yellen will be able to raise much.

Shawn Perger: It hardly matters if she tightens a bit. She’s lost all credibility. Even if rates move up, the market is showing that sooner or later she’ll have to drop them again. A quarter point, a half point – it hardly matters. She’s in no position to go much higher. In fact, we’re more likely to see negative rates than positive one. I suppose she may tighten in December because she has to, but she’ll do it for rhetorical reasons not economic ones.

The Daily Bell: How about the rest of 2107?

Shawn Perger: More of the same. Again, I wouldn’t be surprised to see negative rates – or even helicopter money. That’s another possibility that they may just give up and lob $100 billion in the direction of the US taxpayer. It sounds crazy, but I’ve been hearing more and more people speculate about that possibility.

The Daily Bell: That would certainly benefit gold and silver.

Shawn Perger: It seems like anything is possible these days.

The Daily Bell: What about the US election. Any predictions regarding how the US would look under Hillary or Trump?

Shawn Perger: I think Hillary would be the larger disaster. If Hillary gets in I’m sure a lot of investors will start buying a lot more gold and silver.

The DailyBell: And Trump?

Shawn Perger: Trump is a wild card, if he can get control and can make things happen I think he might be good for the economy but that’s a long shot. I’d suggest gold and silver will be a popular purchase under either one.

The DailyBell: That’s probably going to beneficial to Chinchillas. How do you see your relationship with Chinchillas and Golden Arrow evolving over time?

Shawn Perger: I really love my work and the people I work with. We have two more companies coming on line, one in the uranium space called Blue Sky Uranium.  It trades In Toronto with the symbol BSK.v. We’re undertaking a small financing and invite your accredited readers to partake.

The Daily Bell: Any final thoughts?

Shawn Perger: We live in very interesting times. Central banking is literally falling apart, and that has tremendous ramifications for the larger monetary system and for the dollar-reserve system in particular. We are going to witness some powerfully unpleasant events in the coming years, and people will need to take heed and protect themselves as best they can.

The Daily Bell: One way certainly is to continue to build exposure to gold and silver. For those who are interested in exploring these opportunities how can they reach you?

Shawn Perger: I am available 24/7 and I’m very serious about the opportunities I have available. I choose them carefully and I think generally we are on the cusp of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the metal markets. Again, I believe we have some of the best products to choose from in the junior resource sector and no matter what you’re interested in, I’ll be happy to share my thoughts with your readers about their situations or the larger economic challenges. So good hunting, folks!  Call anytime …

Golden Arrow Resources: CAN:GRG.v, US;GARWF
Blue Sky Uranium BSK.v
Cell 778-686-0135

GOLDEN ARROW RESOURCES is a sponsor of The Daily Bell under a new marketing program. The company welcomes your interest and support. Please consult DB’s disclaimer before making investment decisions. This interview does not constitute an endorsement.

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