Tag Archives: Rana Vig

A Less-Trodden Path to Production Meets a Strong Gold Market

Blue Lagoon Resources (CSE:BLLG; OTCQB:BLAGF) goes about its business a little differently than most junior mining companies, and this summer marked the culmination of its unwavering – and decidedly entrepreneurial – effort to develop a high-grade underground gold project in British Columbia. 

The pending start of production at its Dome Mountain Project, where a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on July 9, has been years in the making. Now, first ore as an operating mine is expected to be sent for milling no later than fall of this year.

That the company stands at the cusp of generating its first operating cash flow reflects a strategy that defies many mining conventions, and a management approach that is as much entrepreneurial as geological.

Blue Lagoon Chief Executive Officer Rana Vig founded the company in 2019 with no formal background in mining. “I’m not a geologist or mining engineer,” explains Vig. “I come from a business background and have founded five companies in different industries. I surround myself with smart people in whatever industry I’m in and focus on execution.”

That mindset, plus his first steps in the mining sector as a shareholder and director at Continental Precious Minerals and Musgrove Minerals in the early 2010s, shaped Blue Lagoon’s decisions at almost every stage. From the choice of project to the route to cash flow, Vig has chosen a path that prioritizes capital efficiency and control, even if it came at the expense of speed or mainstream institutional interest.

Securing a mining licence in British Columbia is a big achievement in itself, says Vig. Indeed, Blue Lagoon is one of only nine companies to have received a green light in the past 10 years.

Dome Mountain, located just an hour outside the mining hub of Smithers in northwestern B.C., has exceptional qualities that make up for the relatively small size of its initial scope.

For one, the property is accessible by road year-round. Second, while Blue Lagoon’s current production plan is based on a single high-grade vein system named Boulder, which is comprised of three veins, the total number of high-grade veins identified on the property to date is 15. Despite Blue Lagoon having conducted over 50,000 metres of drilling, just 10% of the 22,000-hectare property has been explored. 

Dome Mountain has 218,000 ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated category. The initial rate of recovery is modelled at 15,000 ounces of gold per year, with Vig noting that plans call for increasing this to 20,000 ounces in the second year and beyond.

Those numbers might not be huge by industry standards, but the average grade certainly is, at approximately 9 grams per tonne gold equivalent. And as everyone in mining knows, grade is king.

By sending ore to a toll mill off-site, the need for a tailings pond is removed, thus reducing environmental risk and many related permitting issues. That decision helped Blue Lagoon build trust with local First Nations communities, which was essential to securing the permit.

This approach also means that Blue Lagoon does not need to publish a feasibility or prefeasibility study, a move that breaks with mining industry convention.

“You can’t publish cost details unless you’ve done a study,” says Vig. “But we didn’t feel we needed one. Two and a half years ago, we extracted 5,000 tonnes and sent it for toll milling. That gave us real-world operating and cost data.”

For some institutional investors, the absence of a feasibility study may have been a stumbling block. But Vig is unbowed. “Most investors understand the risks. The rock is high-grade, gold prices are high, and people have done their due diligence,” he says. “Unless we thought we could be profitable, we wouldn’t do it.” Blue Lagoon has been one of the best-performing stocks on the CSE in 2025, while also enjoying a place in the CSE25 Index.

Blue Lagoon’s focus on capital discipline dates back to the company’s early days. The market was not particularly receptive to exploration stories at the time and Vig resisted pressure from his technical team to raise more funds. “The market was weak and raising at those levels would have been too dilutive,” he says. “The gold wasn’t going anywhere. I said, let’s focus on getting the permit. Once we’ve got cash flowing, we’ll reinvest to expand the resource.”

It was a business decision rooted in experience. “Geologists often fall in love with a project. I focus on profitability and cash flow.”

That reinvestment phase is poised to begin soon. With first production imminent, Blue Lagoon plans to use initial revenues to fund infill and exploration drilling. “Less than 10% of the property is explored and all of that historical drilling plus the 50,000 metres that we drilled has generated many compelling targets we want to follow up on,” Vig explains.

The company’s recent financing of nearly $5 million, all from existing shareholders and strategic investors, will help smooth the ramp-up in exploration work. The strategic investors include Crescat Capital, a U.S. precious metals fund, and Nicola Mining, the company’s toll milling partner, which also extended a $2 million unsecured line of credit. “Nicola’s president has personally invested in our last three financings. That gives me confidence that we have something special,” Vig says.

A new technical team is also in place, with simple site access making hiring easier. Michael McCardal, a senior underground geologist with experience at Pure Gold Mining and Kirkland Lake Gold, recently joined the company. Earlier this year, Vig also formed a mining committee to guide the transition to production, chaired by former BHP executive Yannis Tsitos and including a local underground mining contractor who has been working on and off on the project since the 1990s.

With the ribbon-cutting ceremony now complete and commissioning underway, the focus shifts to ramp-up. The first 60 to 90 days will be devoted to underground pre-development work to establish multiple mining faces. Steady production is expected by November, focused on the 15,000-ounce target for recovery in the first full year.

Still, risks remain. While operating without a feasibility study adds uncertainty, Blue Lagoon’s agile approach positions it to move quickly toward production and cash flow in a strong gold market. The company is transparent about the risks, and its ability to scale output and grow its resource base will be key to capturing long-term interest and value.

Vig is certainly confident. For him, the fundamentals are sound, the infrastructure is in place, and the timing is right.

“At these high gold prices and our grade, it’s kind of a no-brainer,” says Vig. “This year, we are really just beginning to lay the foundation to the start of something really special.”

This story was featured in Canadian Securities Exchange Magazine.

Learn more about Blue Lagoon Resources at https://bluelagoonresources.com/.

Blue Lagoon Resources: One of 2019’s hottest exploration stocks has quite the entrepreneur at its helm

What is the profile of a “typical CEO” in the mineral exploration industry?  There isn’t one really, though you often find a mix of geology and public markets experience that covers most of the bases.  Rana Vig, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Lagoon Resources (CSE:BLLG), is cut from a somewhat different cloth, though. He’s listed some of the biggest names in cannabis and runs a highly successful magazine, and that’s just scratching the surface of a very impressive entrepreneurial resumé.

Mining exploration is the outlier in Vig’s career. It’s the one and only sector where commitment and hard work has not resulted in major business success. He plans to do something about that with Blue Lagoon and is off to a good start, with shares in the company gaining 573 percent in 2019, following a July 4th trading debut. Public Entrepreneur shared lunch with Vig in Vancouver recently to learn about the company’s progress so far and what lies ahead.

Let’s begin with a little bit about your background. What brought you into the mining business? And what are some of the career experiences that led to the creation of Blue Lagoon?

Basically, I am an entrepreneur.  I have been in business for almost 35 years, and in those years I had five start-ups in different verticals – all private businesses and all family businesses. Around 2010, I connected with a very successful businessman who had made most of his money in mining. He recommended I try something different from the private business world and work with him in capital markets.

I was looking for a change. That 2008/2009 period had just happened when everything was collapsing. It was a dismal time in the business world. So, I got involved with him, invested well over $1 million, and in about six months, it was worth around $10,000, because the mining industry imploded.

Long story short, I don’t know all there is to know about mining, but my goal in every business I enter is to be the dumbest guy in the room, so to speak. I want to surround myself with very, very bright people.

I have a couple of strengths and one of them is executing plans.  When everything was collapsing in the public companies I’d become involved with, I took over as CEO and spent several years rebuilding them. Business doesn’t change. Business is business, whether you’re running a restaurant or a magazine, or whatever you are running. The fundamentals are the same. It’s a matter of assembling very smart people who are good at what they do.

I’ve been a CEO, a chairman; I’ve been on boards. To be honest, I’ve met some not so great people in the public company realm, which is something I wasn’t used to in my private business life, but I’ve also met some very good people and developed some meaningful relationships, and they are who I work with.

We will get into your projects in a moment, but first, take us through the concept behind Blue Lagoon. What is the strategy for building the company and creating value for shareholders? What makes Blue Lagoon different?

A couple of years ago, once I’d cleaned up the companies I was involved with, I decided to start fresh. I was very fortunate the last couple of years and brought two of the largest cannabis deals to market. I did a company called Curaleaf, taking them public, and it was the largest cannabis raise in history, at $520 million. I also did Harvest Health & Recreation, which at $300 million was the third largest.

I then had to consider what to do next, and cannabis was retracting.  I’ve had nothing but bad experiences in mining since I started in this business. But it has to come back at some point. I concluded that gold has to be the one, the safest place to start. And I launched an exploration company, and that’s Blue Lagoon.

I’m not a geologist or a mining engineer. First and foremost, always bring together real experts in their fields. Then, go out and find undervalued assets, something where I have the opportunity to add value, because that’s how you build value for your shareholders.

We listed Blue Lagoon on July 4th of 2019 at a little over $1 million in market cap, and here we are, seven months later, trading at over $50 million in market cap.

You have a deal with Mag One Products, whereby Blue Lagoon can earn as much as 70 percent in a joint venture by investing $5.25 million in stages. It is an interesting business and an interesting deal structure. Tell us more about how it benefits Blue Lagoon’s value creation effort.

Mag One has great technology that they can rapidly advance. All they need is the money. It is an attractive value proposition for me and my shareholders.

Why magnesium? People have pointed out that we are a gold company, so what are we doing in magnesium?  Well, that is the entrepreneur in me. I’m not necessarily trying to build a gold company. I am trying to build a mining exploration company and advance shareholder value. My first and foremost job as a CEO is to create value and make my shareholders happy, because they are coming along for the ride with me.

Magnesium is a great metal. It’s 35 percent lighter than aluminum and over 70 percent lighter than steel. With Tesla and all these electric cars, they want to get lighter. Same thing with planes.

The issue is that magnesium can’t compete with aluminum on price.  Enter Mag One. Their technology will compete with aluminum, and even more important is the environmental side. Right now, over 90 percent of the magnesium in the world is produced in China from something called the “Pidgeon process,” which is highly pollutive.  But Mag One is zero-emission. All that’s missing is the capital, and $5 million is not a lot of money. If we can supply them with that, it will advance the project.

I believe gold is going to do really well this year, but if it isn’t quite ready to break out yet, then I have this incredible technology that we can help advance. This company has access to 110 million tons of tailings with 23 percent magnesium, so there is no drilling involved. All we need to do is help them advance the science, and we could potentially change the world.

Gordon Lake is a property you optioned in the Northwest Territories. High-grade gold was found over significant widths by previous owners, and you recently announced steps toward conducting your own drilling. Tell us more about the plans and the timeline.

The reason we like the Gordon Lake property so much is that it is in an area known for gold production. The Discovery Mine did over 1 million ounces, the Con Mine did about 5 million ounces, and the Giant Mine did about 7 million ounces.

Being an entrepreneur, the deal is great. It made sense to acquire that to balance our portfolio for summer as well as winter. As for when we are going to start, we have already engaged local experts in the area, Aurora Geosciences. When it freezes, it gives you access to ice roads, which makes it very economical, as you don’t need helicopters. We hope to get started there later in February or early March.

A 43-101 report was released on your Pellaire project in December. There is no resource yet, but there was historical production in the area. Why do you like this one so much and what is the game plan?

Pellaire is a beautiful property a couple of hours southwest of Williams Lake, also in an area known for gold. It has 10 high-grade veins identified. The owners have been at it for years and circumstances brought it available for sale.

We took JDS Engineering, one of the best in what they do, and had them fly up with us and do some analysis.

One of the things that really attracted me to Pellaire is that there is 25,000 tons of crushed rock sitting right by the Number 3 vein. I had JDS help me with a back-of-the-envelope estimation and we believe there is significant value to be had from that, just by trucking it out. That, along with drilling, presents a great upside opportunity.

The precious metals sector has made a measured but undeniable comeback in the last few quarters. What is your outlook for the metals, and what are you hearing that those outside the business don’t know?

I don’t know if there is anything I hear other than what everyone is talking about. Many of these countries are in trouble and there’s currency problems. We know that, at some stage, gold is always the safe haven that people turn to.

If you look at the Indian community, it is a big consumer of gold.  I am Indian, and I can tell you that in India, a village will pool its money to buy a gram of gold – not an ounce but a gram. My point is that even the poorest of the poor must somehow acquire gold. That tells me something. It gives me insight about a very large country and its desire to own the metal. That has to come into play at some point, as these deposits are becoming harder and harder to find.

Blue Lagoon closed a financing last year at $1.00, and you just completed another at $1.50 in January.  A lot of CEOs would like to be in your shoes. What is the financing environment like for exploration companies? And have you had any feedback from existing or new shareholders that stands out in your mind?

The financing environment is still very tough. I was fortunate to be coming off of two big deals with a solid following of people who believe in me. People believe I have the ability to find the right projects and the right professionals to advance those projects.

We announced $1 million at $1.00 per share and closed $1.1 million – $300,000 of it from me, to show that I am right alongside everyone. The January financing was for $1 million as well, at $1.50.

I never want to be in a position where I am waiting to look for money. I wanted to make sure we had the money secured to advance our projects. We are sitting around $1.5 million in cash.

I also never want to be in a position where my geologist is looking at me and asking if I am going to advance the money to the drillers or not. Being an entrepreneur, one of my principles is that you must always pay your bills. My word is my bond. You can take it to the bank. If I don’t have the money in the bank, I am not going to contract you. I think that is one reason, actually, that I have a good following. Even if things are bad, it is not going to get better if I lie to you.

Let’s close with one of the indispensable lessons you’ve learned in your business career.

It is extremely important to look at who you are investing with.  You must believe that person has the ability to take your hard-earned money and grow it. I think you significantly reduce your risk if you sit with the person you are banking on. There are lots of people around the world with great ideas, but we never hear about them because they don’t have the ability to execute. I have the ability to listen, understand, and use my business skills to advance any project. If you are looking at a company to invest in, Blue Lagoon was one of the best performing companies in 2019 and we should at least be on your radar. I believe we have a lot of runway to execute what we are working on now, and what we may acquire in the future.

This story was featured in the Public Entrepreneur magazine.

Learn more about Blue Lagoon Resources at https://www.bluelagoonresources.com/.

Rana Vig on How to Maintain Investor Interest 365 Days a Year in Mining

CSE’s James Black and Barrington Miller (!) both recently sat down with Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. CEO Rana Vig to discuss the company’s new listing (CSE:BLLG) on the CSE and the lessons he’s learned through the first 10 years of his capital markets career.

In this discussion, Rana shares the origin of the company’s name and offers the “best” advice ever shared on #HashtagFinance (2:58), the importance of keeping investor attention year-round (4:27), and why he insists on being the “dumbest” person in the room (10:45).

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Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. Opens the Market at the CSE Media Centre

The CSE proudly welcomed Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. (CSE:BLLG) for a Market Open at the CSE Media Centre on January 15th, 2020.

Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of properties for the mining of gold and other minerals. The company is based in Canada with ties to gold properties in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. Currently, Blue Lagoon Resources is on track to own 100 percent of the Pellaire gold property in south central British Columbia and has the option to acquire an 80 percent interest in the Gordon Lake gold property in the Northwest Territories. In addition, the company owns 100 percent of the Golden Wonder Project located in west central British Columbia.

“I got started in this business about ten years ago, almost to the day. And CSE was one of the first organizations that I was introduced to and I fell in love with the people instantly, because of their attitude, because of their friendliness, [and] because of their willingness to help,” remarked Rana Vig, CEO at Blue Lagoon Resources Inc.

“Perhaps most important to me was their attitude towards solving problems. They were very solution-oriented, and as an entrepreneur, that’s extremely important to me,” he added. “So, to be invited back here – to come back here – to open the markets by ringing the bell is an incredible privilege and I thank you for that.”

Along with Vig, other key members of the Blue Lagoon Resources Inc. team were also in attendance at the Market Open.

View the podcast on this Market Open featuring Rana Vig here.

For more details about the CSE Media Centre, including information on upcoming Market Opens, please visit the CSE website, or follow us on social media.