In an August 2020 Stockhouse article, metals & mining investors were introduced to an mid-stage exploration company that's ahead of the curve in ...

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In an August 2020 Stockhouse article, metals & mining investors were
introduced to an mid-stage exploration company that's ahead of the
curve in copper.

Meet Midnight Sun Mining Corp. (MMA) (TSX-V.MMA, OTCMKTS: MDNGF,
Forum) and their experienced CEO, Al Fabbro. The Company is currently
focused on discovering copper and cobalt in the sub-Saharan African country
of Zambia – one of earth's most prolific, yet underexplored, copper producing
regions. At present, MMA holds an 80% interest in the Solwezi Licences in the
Zambian-Congo Copperbelt, located in the mineral-rich North-Western
Province of Zambia.

Controlling an impressive land package in one of the largest copper producing
areas in the world, and located adjacent to the largest copper mine in Africa –
First Quantum Minerals Ltd's (TSX.FM) Kansanshi Mine – Midnight Sun
boasts a number of target areas which have proven mineralization and offer
exciting potential.

The Company's Solwezi Licences consists of contiguous exploration licences
which cover over 506 square kilometres adjacent to First Quantum Minerals'
Kansanshi Mine – the largest copper mining complex in Africa. Midnight Sun
Mining has entered into an Earn-In and Joint Venture Agreement with Rio Tinto
to explore the Solwezi Licences.

In another Stockhouse exclusive article detailing the future global demand for
copper (especially given the electric vehicle revolution and the ramping up of
electrification projects in third world countries) we reported on how the price of
copper is projected to increase as demand is expected to exceed supply
moving forward through 2021.

Recently, Stockhouse Editorial sat down with Company CEO Al Fabbro to talk
about all things happening under the 'Midnight Sun'.

SH: To start off, Al, can you update our investor audience and your
Midnight Sun shareholders on any new company developments,
especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic?

AF: I am happy to. Since the last time we spoke, Rio has completed their $3
million US due diligence spend. The original time frame to complete this work
was 2 years and they completed it in 6 months. The work included geophysics,
geochemistry, geology, air core drilling and diamond drilling. The goal of the
work was to broaden the geological knowledge of the area and to develop drill
targets for the next phase of exploration. This licence has very little outcrop
and is under 30 to 40 meters of soil cover, so we rely on geophysics and
geochemistry to guide our exploration.

Currently, Rio has begun the four-year $16 million US exploration phase,
which, upon completion, will earn them an initial 51% of the licence. This

program is multi-faceted and will include more soil sampling, air core drilling,
RC drilling and diamond drilling. We expect the first results from this program
to be made available this summer.

Covid has slowed down the exploration program to a degree but for the most
part it has only been a minor irritation and crews have worked safely through
this period.

SH: For Stockhouse investors that may be learning about Midnight Sun
and copper in Zambia for the first time, can you tell us a bit about the
history of MMA and mining in Zambia in general.

AF: We came to Zambia in 2012/13 looking for copper projects. Our Chinese
partner had the Solwezi licences, we liked what we saw and did a deal to earn
in on the project by spending $3.7 million and issuing 15.33 million shares of
the company. We had initially joint ventured a Namibian copper project from
them but they initial drilling results did not meet our expectations and we
quickly moved off that project and onto the Zambian one.

Zambia has a long and important history of copper mining and some of the
best copper mines in the world are in the immediate vicinity. For example,
Kansanshi, which is run by First Quantum Minerals, is the largest copper
mining complex in Africa. They were a micro-cap junior in the 1990's until they
purchased Kansanshi from Cyprus Minerals and 25 years later they are a
multi-billion dollar market cap copper producer and Kansanshi is still their most
productive mine.

SH: The Zambian-Congo copper belt is host to some of the world's
richest mines, with operators that include mining giants like Barrick,
Glencore, Ivanhoe Mines, and First Quantum. Clearly, there's a lot of big
players in the area. Where do you see Midnight Sun positioning itself
amongst them?

AF: Obviously, Midnight Sun is miniscule compared to these multi-billion dollar
market cap giants and we view ourselves as quite fortunate to have acquired a
large land position in this very prospective belt. Assuming exploration success,

we would see ourselves more as a take-out candidate than a production
development company. I believe the key point to remember in all this is with all
these major companies in the vicinity all the issues of geology and jurisdiction
have been answered. Zambia is a good place to do business, has great
geology and the mechanisms are in place to seamlessly move from exploration
to development. These are very important boxes that have all been checked
and validated by the major mining companies operating in the region and a big
part of why Zambia attracted us in the first place.

SH: The company announced in mid-April that mining giant Rio Tinto has
commenced their initial 2021 exploration campaign on your Solwezi
Licences in Zambia. This may be news to many investors. Can you
unpack the benefits of it any drilling updates?

AF: Our licences, for the most part, are under 30 to 50 meters of cover. There
is very little outcrop. The guiding exploration tools are geochemistry and
geophysics. Rio has spent the last 15 months upgrading the data base and
getting comfortable with the geology in order to better define drill targets. This
work has resulted in enhancing known targets and developing additional
targets that were previously unknown. Rio is currently reverse circulation and
diamond drilling on several of the known targets and air-core drilling other new
target areas. The results of this program should be available to us in the
summer and will direct the work for the remainder of the year.

SH: In December, Midnight Sun & Rio Tinto Completed the initial work
program phase at Solwezi. Can you expand on this initiative for our
investor audience?

AF: Rio had 2 years to do a $3 million US due diligence exploration program
on the licences which would determine their desire to formally enter into a joint-
venture earn-in agreement. They completed the work in 6 months and entered
into the agreement in November of last year. The significance of this was it
validated the prospectivity of the project in terms of potentially hosting Rio
Tinto size deposits.

SH: Midnight Sun boasts a number of target areas which have proven
mineralization and offer exciting potential. Can you walk us through the
project and the main Solwezi target zones?

AF: MMA had developed three main target areas: 22 Zone, Mitu and Dumbwa.
The 22 Zone was the initial discovery area on the licence and we drilled some
very high grade copper numbers but were never able to develop the continuity
necessary to determine an economic deposit. The theory now is that the
potential is at depth.

Dumbwa is a very large high grade soil anomaly (14 km of Cu ranging from
0.05% to over 0.7%) but limited drilling on the anomaly never properly
explained it. A 2,600 meter drill program is scheduled to test a new geological
model.

Mitu is a 17 km long trend on the western flank of the Solwezi Dome. The
original theory was that it was a continuous ore body abutting the dome but
geophysics have now shown that there are several separate and discreet
anomalies along this trend. Rio will test several of them during this program.

SH: Al, can you tell us about the overall size potential of the deposits that
you're targeting at your Zambian properties? It sounds enormous!

AF: One of the first questions I asked Rio was "Why us?". Their exploration
manager stated they were looking for deposits in excess of 10 billion pounds
(500mt @ 1%) and they felt there were at least 3 target areas on our licences
that had the potential to host this size of a deposit. Our neighbours include
First Quantum's Kansanshi (in excess of 15 billion pounds) and Sentinel (10
billion pounds) mines and Barrick's Lumwana mine (6.6 billion pounds). Then
just across the border in the DRC we've got Ivanhoe's Kamoa-Kakula mine (96
billion pounds) coming online which is another world class deposit in our area.
So we know this region hosts some truly impressive orebodies.

SH: Back in April 2020, Midnight Sun Mining Corp. made a major
announcement, reporting it had entered into an earn-in and joint venture
agreement with mining giant Rio Tinto Mining PLC in which Rio Tinto can

earn up to a 75% interest in Midnight Sun's Solwezi Licences. That's big
news! Any updates?

AF: As stated earlier, Rio has spent the initial $3 million US to kick off the earn-
in agreement. They have started the initial earn-in phase of exploration which
will allow them to earn 51% of the project by spending $16 million US over 4
years. We expect initial results from the work this summer.

SH: Since then, you've increased ownership in the project to 80%. How
so and why?

AF: The Solwezi Project was a 60-40 joint ownership of the holding company
(Zambian Highlight) between Midnight Sun and Kam Chuen (Chinese owned
company). Kam Chuen has declined to participate in the cash calls related to
the past few programs run by Midnight Sun and more recently by Rio. This has

allowed Midnight Sun to be issued more shares of Zambian Highlight (Rio's
expenditures are on Midnight Sun's behalf) and we now own in excess of 80%
of the share capital of Zambian Highlight.

SH: Clearly investors have taken note of Midnight Sun. You've seen a
nearly 300% increase in shareholder value since late June and a steadily
increasing market cap. Now, institutional and retail investors are getting
on board. How so?

AF: We are almost entirely a retail investor held company. We've always been
a little too early for the institutions but we are hoping the results from the next
programs, along with the validation of Rio Tinto's involvement, will show the
potential of our Zambian assets and attract an influx of professional investors.
The timing of things is always important and right now we have a fast rising
copper market, a major work program in place, a very committed senior
partner to explore and develop these assets, and geology which can produce
generational mines.

SH: And finally, Al, what can you tell our investor audience regarding the
current valuation of your stock and why you think it's still such a good
value buy right now?

AF: Valuation is difficult for junior explorers before any resource delineation.
What I look for is an acceptable risk/reward ratio. Great geology which hosts
great mines, a great partner, a great commodity, and great infrastructure in a
very favorable jurisdiction makes the chances of success reasonably high. The
world is hungry for copper and large copper deposits and is willing to pay for
them. We believe that Midnight Sun is on the cusp of a big discovery and that
this is the perfect time to bring a big copper discovery to the world.

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