Christopher Ecclestone with Mike England on Rockland’s Gold Mines Project in the Prolific Red Lake District of Ontario

From the outset of the interview, it was clear this was no ordinary conversation with a junior mining CEO, but a moment staged by Christopher Ecclestone — Principal and mining strategist at Hallgarten & Company in London and host of InvestorNews.com interviews — to spotlight a project that might just redefine a historic gold district. Mike England, CEO and Director of Rockland Resources Ltd. (CSE: RKL | OTCQB: BERLF), didn’t mince words about the mood in the market: “I’m so excited. Yes, it’s so nice to have a market back now. And with Rockland, the right time. Right people, right place, right time,” he said, capturing the sentiment of a sector emerging from dormancy.

England’s excitement wasn’t abstract. The company has secured financing and engagement with Chibougamau Drilling for an imminent ~3,000-metre drill program at its 100%-owned Cole Gold Mines project in the prolific Red Lake district of Ontario — territory that has produced some of Canada’s richest gold deposits and still attracts major and junior explorers alike. The winter program, slated to begin around January 22–23, will test three of five distinct targets identified through extensive digitization and modern modeling of decades-old data.

What drew England to this project wasn’t luck. “This asset came from one of the geologists I work closely with … I showed it to the team … it was unanimous. We should go for it,” he said, noting that Rockland earned its interest via the usual mix of shares, cash, and work expenditures. But timing had been unkind: a soft gold market prompted the company to explore lithium and other ventures before returning full attention to Cole as gold prices regained investor focus.

Cole’s story is steeped in history. The ground was held by the Cole family for over a century, featuring underground development in the 1930s with multiple levels — “they never said they produced gold, but they were developing it,” England explained — and only recently resurfaced on the market when the vendor, Greg Smith, picked up the claims in 2019 and began prospecting with modern rigor and insight. Smith retains a 2.5% NSR but has been instrumental in identifying high-grade veins previously overlooked.

Rockland’s own surface work has already yielded compelling results, including grab samples up to 145 grams per tonne gold — roughly 3.5 ounces per ton — on veins outside the old workings, confirming what historic reports hinted at: pervasive gold mineralization with numerous targets amenable to systematic drilling. England emphasized that these aren’t just anecdotal finds. “We have a lot more information now than we ever had back then, even four years ago,” he told Ecclestone, referring to updated datasets that underpin the current drill plan.

Despite the rugged terrain — dense forest that may require helicopter support in places — the project’s logistics are well organized, with accessible staging areas and year-round potential for exploration. Crucially, engagement with Shared Spirits, the strategic alliance between Wabauskang First Nation and Lac Seul First Nation that collaborates on resource development in their shared traditional territories, has been positive, England stated, reflecting an important aspect of contemporary mineral exploration in Ontario’s Treaty 3 area. While the winter program is fully funded through a recent private placement, England anticipates a second drilling campaign later in the year, with summer efforts to include enhanced mapping, sampling, and geophysics once the snow melts and conditions allow broader fieldwork. The narrative he and Ecclestone wove is one where history, geology, and market momentum intersect — a story of rediscovery in a district that refuses to relinquish its allure.

To access the complete interview, click here

Don’t miss other InvestorNews interviews. Subscribe to the InvestorNews YouTube channel by clicking here