Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (12 page)

“
Do you know anything about them?
”

“
Not much. So, I pulled their
corporate
records up online.
They
’
re
a small
privately held
mineral
-
exploration company
based
in Vancouver
. But
,
get this
,
according to their filings, all their outstanding shares
are owned
by an outfit called
Carib International, Corp. Want to guess where Carib is based?
”

“
Caymans?
”

“
Good guess.
”

“
So, if the buying through Cayman Island Securities is related to Twisp River
’
s buying, they
’
re building a serious position in our shares.
”

“
Seems
to fit the information we have,
”
Wally replied
.
“
The
sixty
-
four thousand dollar
question is
,
wh
at
’
s their end
game
?
”

“
Maybe they just like the Sullivan Mine, or maybe they
’
re looking for a seat on our board
.
”

“
Yeah,
or maybe they have something else in mind down the road
.
”

“
Hostile takeover?
Ain
’
t happening
,
Wally
. Not
with me holding three and a
half
million shares
,
and
you
and Will
with a
half
mill
ion each.
”

“
Agreed, Trace. But as we do additional financings, our ownership will get diluted.
Plus, I
’
m a little worried about Richard Rosenburg. I
’
ve heard some talk on the street. Could be he
’
s in a little financial trouble
, and h
e
holds
the other
half
million founder
s'
shares.
”

“
The public market can be a damned rough place,
”
I
whispered
,
to myself.

“
What
’
d you say
?
”
Wally asked.

“
Nothing, just something
someone
once mentioned in passing.
”

“
Well, I
’
ll keep an eye on the trading
and
Richard
, a
nd
keep you boys posted. Just keep
the drills
turning to the right
.
”

I knew Wally was
correct
. T
here was nothing to be done about Twist River or the buying coming out of the Caymans.
But R
osenburg
’
s
founders'
shares could be a big problem. If he was bleeding money,
t
he Virus would smell it like a damned great white.

I worked up a second round of core drilling. We
’
d drill
three
more holes from the original drill sites
,
but at sixty
-
degree angle
s
. The steeper angle would allow us to intersect the vein at a much deeper depth
an
d, if successful, would increase our indicated reserves greatly.

I also planned
three more drill locations, one thousand feet apart along the trend, or strike
,
of the vein. We
’
d
also
drill two holes from each of the new locations
, a
gain
,
at forty
-
five
a
nd sixty degrees.

The program would give us a total
twelve
holes
,
a
nd go a long ways toward developing additional reserves. I also knew
,
if the core results continued to be positive,
Montana Creek Mining shares
were fix
in
’
to take off
.

*****

“
The kid has permitted
nine
new holes at the Sullivan,
”
Thorny said, handing Cyrus a cup of coffee.

“
Who the hell trained this guy?
”
Cyrus asked, sipping the very hot black coffee.

“
Best I can tell, he worked about eight years with
Continental
Minerals
,
down in Denver. D
oing
mainly uranium exploration.
”

“
So he
’
s no rookie, at least in min
eral exploration
. We
’
ll see how he does in the public
sector. What
’
s our ownership position in Montana Creek
Mining
?
”

“
About seven percent.
”

“
Okay, I think it
’
s time
we
shake the
ir
tree a bit.
I want to try and get one of our people on
Montana Creek
’
s
board. It can
’
t be
me
,
I have
a
damned felony conviction. And you, well
,
you
’
re a bit too close to me.
”

“
What about Malcolm Trueblood
?
He
’
s president of Twisp River Resources, has an MBA
,
and is clean as
the
p
ope
’
s underwear
.
”

Cyrus laughed
.
“
Good choice
, Thorny
. He
’
s done a good job with Twisp
,
and he
’
s smart and
knows the public markets
.
Have Malcolm contact Montana Creek
’
s board and see how they react.
”

I
’
d just hung up
from
talking to
Red
.
He
and
his
crew
s
were drilling the
first
of the
sixty
-
degree hole
s.
The phone rang
,
and I picked it up
,
thinking Red had forgot
ten
to tell me something.

“
Yes,
sir
. Forget something
?
”
I said
,
with a chuckle.

“
No, I don
’
t believe so, Mr. Brandon. This is Malcolm Trueblood with Twisp River Resources in Vancouver, Canada.
”

“
Sorry, Mr. Trueblood
.
I thought you were my driller calling back.
”

“
Oh, are you drilling again?
”

“
Yes,
sir
. We
’
ve
start
ed
a second round. Just spudding in
our
fourth
hole
,
as we speak.
”

“
Well, as a shareholder
,
I am of course pleased to hear the news.
”

“
There
’
ll be a press release at close of trading today. So, what can I do for you
,
Mr. Trueblood?
”

“
Excellent,
Trace
. M
ay I call you Trace?
”

“
Surely.
”

“
Well,
Trace,
as you no doubt know, Twisp River bought two hundred and fifty thousand shares of your private placement
,
and our holding company has acquired a similar
number of shares
in the open market.
"

“
By holding company,
I
take it you mean Carib International?
”

“
My compliments, Trace. I see you
’
ve don
e
your homework.
”

“
Well
,
we like to know who are shareholders are
. E
specially our larger shareholders.
”

“
Which brings me to the purpose of my call
, Trace
. Twisp and Carib now own a bit more than seven percent of Montana Creek Mining. W
e feel very strongly we should have some representation on your board of directors.
”

“
I see. And who would you propose we add to our board?
”

“
If it
’
s not too presumptuous, I would like to nominate myself.
”

“
What
’
s your background, Malcolm?
”
I asked, thinking
,
y
eah,
it
is
pretty
d
amned presumptuous.

“
MBA from Stanford, fifteen years with
GoldEx
in Vancouver
,
and the last five years
as CEO of
Twisp River Resources. I
’
m widowed
. M
y wife was killed in an auto accident some years ago. We had no children. Other than work, my main passion is flying. I hold a number of ratings and have several thousand hours of flight time.
"

“
I
am
also
well connected with the securities and financial markets in Vancouver and Toronto. I am assuming you will be moving off the Vancouver Stock Exchange and onto the Toronto Exchange as soon as you meet the listing requirements?
”

“
Sorry to hear about your wife, Malcolm
,
”
I replied, ignoring his assumption.

“
Thank you
. I
t was a long time ago
,
but I still miss her.
”

“
I can imagine.
Listen, your experience is top shelf. But t
o be frank, we haven
’
t discussed bringing on any new directors at this time
. I will, however,
discuss you
r
proposal with
the
other board members.
”

“
Thank you, Trace.
Please
be assured we have
nothing but the best interests of Montana Creek Mining
at heart
.
I
’
ll look forward to hearing from you.
”