CruxCasts

Interview with Ken Armstrong, CEO of Westhaven Gold, & Jonathan Goodman, CEO of Dundee CorporationRecording date: 24th September 2026Westhaven Gold Corp. is advancing the Shovelnose gold-silver project in southern British Columbia. It has moved from an exploration-led junior into a funded development company. The turning point was the February 2026 closing of a project-level earn-in agreement with Dundee Corporation (TSX:DC.A). Under the agreement, Dundee can earn up to 60% of Westhaven's four Spences Bridge Gold Belt properties by spending up to C$85 million, with a firm minimum commitment of C$30 million.The core asset is the South Zone deposit at Shovelnose. A March 2025 PEA outlined an 11.1-year underground mine producing an average of 56,000 ounces of gold per year. The study reported an after-tax NPV (6%) of C$454 million, an after-tax IRR of 43.2% and pre-production capital of C$184 million, at a base case gold price of US$2,400 per ounce. All-in sustaining costs were estimated at US$836 per gold-equivalent ounce.Work in 2026 has focused on converting that study into a PFS. A 35,000m resource infill programme, drilled at nominal 25m centres, was nearly complete, with 109 holes drilled and six remaining. Results continue to show wide, high-grade intervals, including 37.89m grading 5.29 g/T gold and 14.00m grading 13.09 g/T gold. CEO Ken Armstrong expects an updated resource very early in 2027, with the aim of placing most ounces in the measured category. The PFS is targeted for the second half of 2027, supported by a C$4 million geotechnical and hydrogeological drilling programme. Metallurgical testing has supported recoveries above 90% with conventional cyanide leaching.The deal's main attraction for shareholders is its effect on the capital structure. Before the agreement, Westhaven's market capitalisation was about C$40 million. Armstrong said a conventional raise might have brought in C$10 million while issuing half the share count or more. Instead, project spending is now covered by Dundee. Westhaven's own cash needs are mainly general and administrative costs, and management expects the next major financing to be its 40% share of pre-production capital. Westhaven retains that 40% with no right of first refusal.Exploration provides a second source of potential value. The Spences Bridge Gold Belt runs roughly 75-80km, and Westhaven controls about 60,263 hectares across four properties. Dundee CEO Jonathan Goodman said the exploration team has about 150 targets, of which roughly 93 are drill-ready. He argued that the funding allows many targets to be tested rather than a handful each year. Four drills are now moving onto a 15,000m exploration programme.Location supports the development case. Shovelnose lies about two and a half hours from Vancouver, with a highway crossing the property and grid power on site. Management sees a best-case realistic FID towards the end of 2029.Key risks include the reduction to a 40% project interest, a possible transfer of operatorship to Dundee at 50%, the eventual funding of Westhaven's share of construction capital, and permitting and study outcomes. Cash was C$3.88 million at 30 June 2026, with around C$6.2 million of potential warrant proceeds over the next ten months.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/westhaven-goldSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Shawn Howarth, President & CEO of Excellon ResourcesOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/excellon-resources-exn-focus-is-silver-with-gold-optionality-795Recording date: 25th September 2026Excellon Resources Inc. (TSXV:EXN) has rebuilt itself around a single near-term producing asset. After exiting its Mexican silver operations in 2022-2023, the company acquired the Mallay silver-lead-zinc mine in central Peru from Buenaventura, closing the deal in 2025. Mallay was built in 2012 and run as a narrow-vein, high-grade underground mine until 2018, when it became non-core to its previous owner.The attraction was infrastructure and permits. Mallay came with state grid power, a 600 tpd ball mill that needed upgrades rather than replacement, and a full permit package. Excellon has raised about $30 million across three financings, which funded reopening the underground, the mill restart and drilling. The concentrator restarted in July 2026 on a pre-commissioning basis. Stockpiled ore was processed in batches at 400 and 600 tpd, and the first concentrate has been sold to Glencore under a commercial offtake agreement.The February 2026 NI 43-101 resource contains 12.0 Moz silver equivalent (AgEq) Indicated at 420 g/t AgEq and 4.0 Moz AgEq Inferred at 344 g/t AgEq. CEO Shawn Howarth argues this understates the system, because Buenaventura drilled only two to three years ahead of mining. The resource extends only about 300 metres below the lowest workings. Excellon's first batch of 2026 underground drilling, released in September, returned 3.4 metres at 495 g/t AgEq and supports grade continuity at depth.The ramp-up hinges on deeper access. Current mill feed comes mostly from narrow remnant stopes. The 400 Ramp has been dewatered, and its rehabilitation, expected later this year, will open about 60 metres of vertical access below the 4090 Level. There Excellon is targeting 3 to 5 metre ore shoot widths, which would support mechanised mining by a contractor sized to the new plan. Howarth expects consistent throughput of 400 to 600 tpd by early-to-mid 2027, equivalent to around 2 Moz AgEq a year at full rate. An updated resource estimate and mine schedule are targeted for year-end or the first quarter of 2027.Silver accounts for about 40% of revenue at current prices, with lead and zinc making up the balance. Howarth expects the mine to be economic at a 200 g/ silver head grade at current silver and zinc prices. The company carries no debt, held about US$10 million in cash at the end of July and has an undrawn US$5 million facility with Glencore.Upside sits beyond the restart. Deep DHEM drilling is testing for the intrusive source of Mallay's veins, which Howarth links to much larger operations on the same formation at Uchucchacua and Iscaycruz. He stresses that this remains a long-term thesis. The Tres Cerros gold-silver project has seven targets, with first drilling anticipated in H1 2027 subject to permits. The Silver City project in Germany is being spun out, with completion expected by year-end, and a partnership is being considered for Kilgore in Idaho.The key risks are execution, historic data in the resource, a modest balance sheet and metal prices. The next two quarters should show whether Mallay can deliver steady throughput from deeper stopes.View Excellon Resources' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/excellon-resources-incSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Chad Peters, President and CEO, Ridgeline Minerals Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/ridgeline-minerals-tsxvrdg-ngm-sale-funds-next-wave-of-nevada-exploration-11410Recording date: 25th September 2026Ridgeline Minerals (TSXV:RDG | OTC:RDGMF) is a Nevada-focused precious and base metals explorer. It has spent the past five years running a hybrid prospect generator model. Under that approach, major partners fund high-risk exploration while Ridgeline keeps interests carried through to production. In August 2026, the model produced its largest result so far. Ridgeline closed an all-cash sale of four early-stage gold projects (Swift, Black Ridge, Bell Creek and Atlas) to Nevada Gold Mines for US$23.15 million, or about C$32.7 million.The sale came from a strategic judgement rather than a discovery. NGM had funded earn-ins at Swift and Black Ridge, and Peters said around US$16 million was spent over roughly four years. Drilling confirmed a large gold system at Swift, but NGM's attention was increasingly focused on Barrick's Fourmile deposit. Peters concluded that Swift could be shelved, so he negotiated a cash exit. The proceeds were non-dilutive and were paid for assets with no defined resource.Ridgeline now trades close to its cash. Peters put cash at roughly C$30 million and market capitalisation at about C$33 million at the time of the interview. On that basis, investors are assigning little value to the Selena project, a carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) discovery made in 2025 and partnered with South32. The company also covers its overheads. Management fees and interest income total about US$200,000 a month, compared with G&A of roughly US$115,000.Management's priority is capital allocation. Peters has ruled out simply scaling up the prospect generator model, which he considers slow and costly. He is instead looking for an acquisition or merger with exposure to copper, gold or silver. The preference is for the western US, with Canada and Mexico also considered. The target must have grade, scale and room for Ridgeline's technical team to add value through drilling. Small, incremental resources are excluded. Deal flow has been strong since the sale, helped by Peters' network after eight years as CEO.Selena is the nearer-term catalyst. A three-to-four-hole programme is testing continuity with 100-metre step-outs, including a directional hole from discovery hole 53 aimed at higher copper and silver grades to the south. South32 plans to release all results together. Peters hopes to show continuity across a large footprint and has cited around 250 metres of strike and 50 metres of thickness as the kind of geometry he aims to demonstrate. Under the earn-in, South32 has spent US$8.5 million of its US$10 million first phase for 60%. It can then elect to spend a further US$10 million for 80%, leaving Ridgeline with a 20% free carry. Peters compares this with South32's Taylor deposit, whose build cost he put at around US$3 billion.The 100%-owned Big Blue project adds further upside after a 2025 maiden intercept of 0.6 metres grading more than 3,200 g/t silver.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/ridgeline-mineralsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Janet Lee Sheriff, Director & CEO of Verdera EnergyOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/verdera-energy-tsxvv-high-grade-resource-in-new-mexico-positioned-for-us-uranium-growth-10515Recording date: 25th September 2026Verdera Energy Corp. (TSXV:V, OTCQB:VUECF) is a New Mexico-focused uranium developer built around in-situ recovery (ISR), the extraction method behind roughly 60% of global uranium output. The company holds private mineral rights over approximately 400 square miles of the Grants Uranium District, historically one of the world's most productive uranium regions and once a leading source of U.S. supply.The portfolio spans four core projects. Crownpoint and Hosta Butte hold a current NI 43-101 estimate of 23.42 million pounds Indicated and 5.36 million pounds Inferred. Nose Rock, West Largo and Ambrosia Lake carry historic estimates that have yet to be verified as current resources. Following the sale of Treeline, the combined portfolio stands at roughly 86.6 million pounds of current and historic uranium.Verdera's most distinctive asset is its data. The company acquired the Uranium Resources Inc. database with its enCore Energy spin-out and separately bought the Kerr-McGee archive. Together these cover about 90% of New Mexico's historic uranium records, including around 250,000 drill hole logs and, according to CEO Janet Lee-Sheriff, historic wellfield plans and designs. Staff in Durango, Colorado, are scanning and consolidating the records.That archive is now being put to work in two ways. At West Largo, where the historic estimate totals 17.2 million pounds with the bulk grading 0.30% eU₃O₈, the team has recovered the original drill logs and is incorporating them into an NI 43-101 technical report. Management believes this may remove the need for validation drilling. Separately, the archive underpinned the sale of the non-core Treeline project to Americas Uranium, which closed on 24 September 2026. Verdera received US$100,000 in cash and C$200,000 in shares, with C$1.8 million more in shares due over 36 months and a retained 1.5% royalty. Management expects further transactions of this kind.The company is well funded for its current stage. Lee-Sheriff cited about C$23 million in the bank, while the presentation shows C$24 million in cash and marketable securities at 31 August 2026. The company's own peer comparison puts Verdera at C$0.36 of enterprise value per pound, well below enCore at C$8.02 and Laramide at C$1.54. Part of that discount reflects the historic status of most of Verdera's resource base.Social licence is the central non-technical challenge. New Mexico's legacy of conventional mining left strong community concerns, and past projects stalled at state level. Lee-Sheriff, who also leads the Clean Energy Association of New Mexico, is pursuing a two-track strategy of state and federal engagement alongside hands-on community work with tribes and residents. The Cibola County commissioners' three-to-two vote in favour of supporting ISR extraction, taken the day before the interview, is an early sign of shifting sentiment.Key watch-items include the West Largo NI 43-101 report, further monetisation of non-core assets, county and state permitting signals, and the quarterly release of restricted enCore-related shares through February 2027. Verdera's stated long-term goal is production, delivered with partners experienced in ISR operations.View Verdera Energy's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/verdera-energySign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Max Porterfield, CEO, Visionary Copper & Gold MinesOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/visionary-copper-gold-tsxvvcg-20000m-drill-program-targets-resource-growth-in-newfoundland-10814Recording date: 25th September 2026Visionary Copper & Gold Mines Inc. (TSXV:VCG, OTCQB:VCGMF) is advancing Pt. Leamington, a 100%-owned gold-copper-zinc-silver VMS deposit in central Newfoundland. The deposit was discovered by Noranda in the 1970s but saw no exploration between 2004 and Visionary's Phase 1 programme in 2026. Its 2021 NI 43-101 resource contains 5.0 Mt of Indicated resources at 1.42% CuEq and 15.4 Mt of Inferred resources at 1.32% CuEq. The pit-constrained portion hosts roughly 500,000 ounces of gold, 170 Mlb of copper and about 680 Mlb of zinc.Phase 1 comprised 10 holes totalling 3,556 metres. It extended the massive sulphide system to more than 1 km of strike and discovered Kraken, a copper stringer zone in the deposit footwall. Discovery hole PL-112 returned 75.8 metres at 0.45% copper, including 12.0 metres at 1.09% copper. Follow-up holes PL-115 and PL-118 also returned wide copper intervals. None of this mineralisation is included in the current resource. CEO Max Porterfield argues that the existing 20 Mt resource represents only the massive sulphide lens, and that the feeder system beneath it has never been systematically tested.The company's next step is a 20,000-metre Phase 2 diamond drilling programme. About 90% of the budget will be spent at Pt. Leamington, with each hole passing through the lens and into Kraken. The programme targets conversion of about half of the 13.7 Mt of pit-constrained Inferred resources to Indicated, extension of the lens, and definition of Kraken for the next resource estimate. Porterfield also expects Kraken to improve the future pit's strip ratio, since material previously classed as waste could become mineralised feed.Two further initiatives add optionality. First, a hyperspectral review of 48 historical holes identified eight with wide stringer intervals that were never fully sampled, and Visionary plans to resample up to 2,000 metres of core. Second, the company has consolidated about 3,575 hectares covering the down-plunge extension of the deposit and a 3 km segment of trend to the south. That ground contains five untested airborne EM conductors on the host horizon, two with historical massive sulphide boulders nearby. Part of the acquisition remains subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.The team includes Vice President of Exploration Jason Flight, who worked at FireFly Metals' nearby Ming deposit during its growth, and Peter Jones, former founding CEO of Hudbay Minerals. Newfoundland offers supportive permitting, a local drilling workforce and a deep-water port at Botwood.The key risks are financing and grade. Phase 2 funding is still being completed, which implies dilution. Kraken's copper grades are moderate, and its value will depend on bulk-tonnage pit economics. The 2021 CuEq figures rely on dated price assumptions, and historical boulder and core observations have not been verified by the company's qualified person. Investors should watch for completion of the Phase 2 financing, assays from resampled historical core, and early Phase 2 holes into Kraken. Together these will indicate whether Pt. Leamington's next resource estimate can show meaningful growth.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/visionary-copper-gold-minesSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Arturo Préstamo Elizondo, Executive Chairman & CEO of Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/santacruz-silver-tsxvscz-bolivar-recovery-and-tsx-uplisting-drive-2026-growth-strategy-10585Recording date: 24th September 2026Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. (TSX:SCZ, NASDAQ:SCZM) is a multi-asset silver and zinc producer with four producing mines in Bolivia and Mexico, an ore feed sourcing business and a development asset. Higher silver prices have transformed its financial profile. The company realised an average of $76.33 per silver ounce sold in the first half of 2026, more than double the prior-year figure. First-half revenue rose 68% to $241.0 million and adjusted EBITDA rose 64% to $89.2 million.The near-term operating story rests on three assets. At Bolivar, recovery from the May 2025 flood is progressing. Q2 2026 silver output rose 32% on the previous quarter, and management expects full dewatering in Q4 2026. A review of historical records identified two blocks grading 400 to 500 g/t silver. These have been drilled and modelled, and production is planned for early 2027. Management estimates they could add 8% to 10% to Bolivar's output.At San Lucas, the company has acquired a dedicated mill in the Potosí district. This removes the conflict between third-party ore processing and the company's own mines. Management said the move frees around 500 tonnes per day of capacity on average, equivalent to roughly 15-20% at Porco.At Zimapan in Mexico, drilling in a previously untested area has found zones grading around 200 g/t silver and 7% zinc. From 2027 this material should raise head grades toward 100 g/t silver and lift throughput from 74,000 to 80,000 tonnes a month. Combined, the three assets are expected to deliver around 10% production growth in 2027.Soracaya is the main development catalyst. It hosts an Inferred Resource of 4.14 million tonnes at 260 g/t silver. Permits are expected within weeks and first production is targeted for December 2026. Management said the mine could produce close to 2.5 million ounces at full capacity. Because the resource is Inferred only, execution risk is higher than at the producing mines.The balance sheet is strengthening quickly. Cash and marketable securities were $72.8 million at 30 June 2026, and the CEO said the figure was close to $120 million near the end of the third quarter. All organic growth is being funded from cash flow.Capital allocation is the key strategic question. Management has ruled out a dividend for now and is seriously reviewing two acquisitions. Its criteria are a producing asset with more than 3 million ounces of silver or gold equivalent output, located in the Americas, preferably underground and narrow-vein. A precious metals acquisition would also reduce the company's reliance on zinc, which contributed 40.3% of first-half revenue.Bolivar and Porco operate under a joint operation with state miner COMIBOL that runs until 2028, under which Santacruz receives 45% of profits. Bolivia carries political and regulatory risk, and earnings remain highly sensitive to the silver price. Near-term milestones include the Q3 production release, the Soracaya permit decision, the Bolivar dewatering and any announcement on the two potential acquisitions.View Santacruz Silver's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/santacruz-silver-miningSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Dan Barnholden, CEO, Luca MiningOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/luca-mining-tsxvluca-three-pillar-growth-plan-targets-200k-ounce-gold-equivalent-production-8374Recording date: 25th September 2026Luca Mining Corp. (TSXV:LUCA, OTCQX:LUCMF) is a Mexico-focused polymetallic producer with two operating mines, Campo Morado in Guerrero and Tahuehueto in Durango. In September 2026, the company announced two acquisitions designed to reshape its scale and commodity mix. The larger of the two is the proposed purchase of the Cozamin underground copper mine in Zacatecas from Capstone Copper Corp. (TSX:CS).Luca has signed a definitive agreement to pay up to US$385 million for Cozamin. The upfront component is US$290 million, split between US$275 million in cash and US$15 million in shares. A US$35 million deferred payment falls due 12 months after closing, payable in cash or shares at Luca's option. Capstone can also receive up to US$60 million in copper-price participation payments if average LME copper prices reach set thresholds in 2027, 2028 and 2029. Closing is expected in Q4 2026, subject to approval from Mexico's Federal Antitrust Commission and the TSXV.CEO Dan Barnholden describes the price as roughly two times cash flow. Capstone recapitalised Cozamin from 2020 using a US$150 million Wheaton stream, investing in new paste backfill and dry-stack tailings infrastructure. The mill has capacity of 4,400 tonnes per day and processes around 3,700 tonnes per day. Barnholden estimates mine-site free cash flow at US$140-150 million a year at current commodity prices. Because the economic effective date is 31 October 2026, cash flow accrues to Luca ahead of closing.The investment case centres on exploration rather than optimisation. Capstone spent only US$2-3 million a year on exploration at Cozamin in recent years. Luca intends to spend US$7-10 million a year to extend a reserve base that currently runs to around 2030. Barnholden expects the programme to add at least five years of mine life, pointing to Cozamin's two-decade record of replacing depleted reserves.Funding comes from a US$300 million package that includes term debt from Taurus and Macquarie, a bought deal led by National Bank of Canada Capital Markets, a private placement with Wheaton and Taurus, a new Wheaton silver stream and an equity backstop from Trafigura. Pro forma debt is about US$126 million, and the facility requires hedging of 25% of Cozamin's copper output from 2027 to 2029.The second acquisition, El Barqueño in Jalisco, comes from Agnico Eagle Mines. Agnico drilled around 225,000 metres there over a decade. Luca has re-engineered the project as an underground mine targeting 50,000-75,000 ounces AuEq a year, funded by Cozamin cash flow. A change in state land-use designation means 12-18 months of legal work before drilling can resume.At the existing mines, Luca is transitioning Tahuehueto from cut-and-fill to longhole mining and expects new technical reports by year-end. Barnholden says the stock trades at under three times next year's operating cash flow.Investors should watch deal completion, the year-end technical reports, early Cozamin drilling results under Luca, debt reduction progress and El Barqueño permitting. Together, these will determine whether the market narrows the valuation gap that management describes.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/luca-mining-corpSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with enCore Energy Executive Chair William Sheriff Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/encore-energy-nasdaqeu-founder-transition-isr-growth-verdera-upside-9413Recording date: 25th September 2026enCore Energy Corp. (NASDAQ:EU, TSXV:EU) is a US in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium producer with two operating central processing plants in South Texas: Alta Mesa, a 70/30 joint venture with Boss Energy, and Rosita. It also has development projects in South Dakota and Wyoming. In an interview with Crux Investor, founder and Executive Chair William Sheriff set out where the company stands after a difficult 2026 and what investors should watch next.The central issue is permitting. Two new sources of feed are built and ready: Wellfield 3 Extension at Alta Mesa, and the Upper Spring Creek satellite ion exchange plant and wellfield that feed Rosita. A third, Wellfield 8 at Alta Mesa, was days from completion. Final permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) are guided for Q4 2026 for the first two and by the end of Q1 2027 for Wellfield 8. Sheriff blames the delay on an impasse between previous management and the regulator, which he describes as self-induced. New Chief Executive Richard Little has since rebuilt the relationship, and Sheriff says any surprise on timing is more likely to be positive. The company intends to announce when the first permit clears public comment without opposition.Until then, extraction will be minimal. Wellfield 7 reached the end of its economic life in Q3, leaving a gap of three to four months. First-half 2026 figures already showed the slowdown, with 131,274 pounds of U3O8 extracted against 317,613 pounds a year earlier. The company met contract deliveries of 485,000 pounds partly with 360,000 purchased pounds. That lifted the weighted average cost of delivered uranium to $75.54 per pound, against an average sales price of $70.10.Management has responded with cost discipline. Little has more than 30 years in production-focused roles, and Sheriff says he agreed to join only if Sheriff returned. Staff numbers were cut by around 24% after an early-year hiring surge. Because drilling had run well ahead of permitting, Sheriff says the rig count was cut from 32 to 10. Total liquidity was $88.4 million at June 30, or $73.5 million excluding Verdera shares. The company has not drawn on its US$250 million ATM facility, and Sheriff says he has no interest in doing so.The share price was hit in September by heavy ETF-related selling, which briefly pushed the stock below US$0.70 on record volume. Sheriff and his wife bought about $250,000 of shares. The price recovered to the $1.20 to $1.25 range within two trading sessions of the September 18 low.Longer-term growth centres on Dewey Burdock in South Dakota. The project obtained all federal permits in under a year through the FAST-41 programme and entered state permitting in June 2026. Its preliminary economic assessment outlines 750,000 pounds a year, total life-of-mine capital of $264.2 million and a 39% pre-tax IRR at $86.34 per pound.Shareholders are also due to receive about 0.18 of a Verdera Energy share per enCore share on September 30. enCore received the Verdera shares when it sold its New Mexico assets to the company in 2025. The distribution gives holders exposure to about 88 million pounds across six New Mexico properties, a mix of current NI 43-101 resources and historical estimates. enCore keeps about 13.5% of Verdera.Sheriff continues to argue for consolidation among US ISR producers, now through agreed deals rather than tender offers. For investors, the near-term test is simple: whether permits arrive on schedule and turn built infrastructure into steady production.

Interview with Tara Christie, President & CEO of Banyan Gold Corp.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/banyan-gold-tsxvbyn-undervalued-investment-series-with-tara-christie-9788Recording date: 24th September 2026Banyan Gold Corp. (TSXV:BYN) is moving from exploration into development at its AurMac gold project in the Yukon. The project hosts a pit-constrained resource of 3.64 million ounces Indicated at 0.68 g/t and 4.98 million ounces Inferred at 0.58 g/t. It benefits from an unusual level of existing infrastructure for a northern Canadian project, including all-season road access, a grid-connected power line and cell phone coverage. A maiden PEA is due in the fourth quarter of 2026.CEO Tara Christie describes the PEA as a conservative waypoint rather than an end point. It is built on drilling to the end of 2025 and is expected to assume a large-scale operation of 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes per day using a CIL circuit with gravity recovery. It will also assume on-site power from LNG and diesel. Christie argues that publishing now allows Banyan to begin substantive conversations with the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, local communities and the territorial and federal governments about the project's footprint, power needs and roads ahead of permitting.The 2026 drill programme, at 70,000 metres, was designed around the PEA's pit phases. About 60,000 metres at AurMac target high-grade conversion to improve grade, strip ratio and the early-year production profile. Hole AX-26-874, drilled in the previously untested gap between the Airstrip and Powerline deposits, returned 13.03 g/T gold over 14.2 metres. Christie believes it could reshape pit sequencing and potentially form a new starter pit. Deeper drilling is also testing mineralisation below the roughly 200 metre depth limit of historical holes. Banyan plans eight drills from mid-January and a 2027 programme of 100,000 metres at AurMac and 20,000 metres at Nitra.Funding is the other pillar. Banyan announced a C$50 million LIFE offering and a concurrent C$8 million placement at C$2.00 per share on 20 September 2026. Franco-Nevada, which bought a legacy NSR royalty over AurMac for C$52.2 million earlier in the year, is subscribing for 10 million shares. Christie said the treasury should reach around C$100 million, funding the company through 2027 and into 2028. She is investing C$500,000 personally, and she said all but one of the largest shareholders took up their pro rata share. Banyan also joined the GDXJ ETF on 21 September 2026.The company is building its development capabilities, adding a Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development and recruiting a Vice President of Engineering. Baseline environmental work has run since 2021. At the Nitra project, 25 kilometres to the west, the first two of 11 targets drilled in 2026 produced discoveries, including 5.70 g/T gold and 544 g/T silver over 0.5 metres at Seattle Creek.Risks include the Inferred share of the resource, dependence on future grid power, permitting timelines, winter logistics and single-asset concentration. Christie is clear that her goal is for AurMac to become a mine, whether Banyan builds it or a larger company pays a premium for a de-risked asset. Near-term catalysts are the financing close, the Q4 2026 PEA, winter drilling between the pits, further Nitra assays and a resource update that management expects to exceed 10 million ounces.View Banyan Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/banyan-gold-incSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Colin Joudrie, CEO, Selkirk CopperOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/selkirk-copper-tsxvscmi-doubles-mineral-resource-estimate-minto-to-restart-by-2028-11683Recording date: 24th September 2026Selkirk Copper Mines Inc. (TSXV:SCMI) is advancing the restart of Minto, a copper-gold-silver mine in central Yukon that produced concentrate from 2007 until May 2023. After the previous operator's receivership, the Selkirk First Nation acquired the asset and vended it into Selkirk Copper through a reverse takeover. The First Nation is now the largest shareholder, with around 18% and two board seats.The September 2026 Preliminary Economic Assessment outlines a 13-year mine life at 4,100 tpd, combining underground mining first with two open pits later in the life of mine. At planning prices of US$5.00/lb copper, US$3,600/oz gold and US$50/oz silver, the after-tax NPV7% is C$494 million, the IRR is 47.8% and payback is 1.9 years. At spot prices, the NPV rises to C$1,023 million and the IRR to 78.2%. Initial capital is C$186 million, which CEO Colin Joudrie said came in below earlier guidance. Sustaining capital totals C$409 million and operating costs average C$95.77 per tonne milled.The low capital intensity stems from more than $330 million of existing infrastructure, including the mill, a 400-person camp, a water treatment plant, an airstrip and grid power. The mine would produce a clean concentrate grading around 38% copper with gold and silver credits and negligible penalty elements. That product is well suited to a concentrate market where benchmark treatment charges have fallen from an average of US$78 per tonne over 2016-2023 to US$33.8 over 2024-2026. The historical offtake and precious metals stream were removed in bankruptcy, giving the company full precious metals exposure and an unencumbered offtake position.Resource growth is a second lever. The 2026 MRE contains 47.8 million tonnes of M&I resources holding 940 million pounds of copper, 530,000 ounces of gold and 4.97 million ounces of silver. The PEA mine plan uses only around 18.4 million tonnes of mineable inventory. A roughly 50,000-metre Phase 2 programme, not included in the PEA, will feed an updated MRE in Q1 2027. The Feasibility Study is expected to start within weeks and complete in mid-2027, with an execution plan built in to shorten the path to a restart decision.The main risks are timing and water. The underground is flooded, and the government must authorise a five-month dewatering programme before rehabilitation can begin. Joudrie described this as the gating item and aims to start pumping before the end of 2026. He also acknowledged that the site's historical water management was poor and said the restart plan adds capital, systems and monitoring to address it. Amended permit applications are due in Q4 2026, with a restart decision targeted for the second half of 2027. The capital estimate carries a Class 5 accuracy range of -50% to +100%.For investors, Minto offers leveraged exposure to copper and gold prices through a near-term restart. The key milestones are dewatering approval, the Q1 2027 resource update and the mid-2027 Feasibility Study, ahead of first concentrate targeted for the second half of 2028.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/selkirk-copperSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Stephen Soock, VP Investor Relations & Development of Heliostar MetalsOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/heliostar-metals-tsxvhstr-emerging-gold-producer-targets-300k-oz-by-2030-with-strong-cash-flow-10415Recording date: 24th September 2026Heliostar Metals (TSXV:HSTR, OTCQX:HSTXF) is a Mexico-focused gold producer attempting to move from roughly 50,000 ounces a year towards 300,000 ounces by the end of the decade without issuing new equity. The strategy rests on sequencing. Two producing heap leach mines, La Colorada in Sonora and San Agustin in Durango, generate cash that is being directed into the Ana Paula underground project in Guerrero. Ana Paula's cash flow is then expected to fund Cerro del Gallo in Guanajuato.Operationally, the company produced 14,803 ounces of gold in Q2 2026 at a year-to-date AISC of $2,155 per ounce. La Colorada has moved from stockpile processing to injection leaching, which Stephen Soock, VP Investor Relations & Development, said is producing about 1,000 ounces a month. Waste stripping on the Veta Madre Plus cutback runs to around Q2 2027, followed by nine to 12 months of production from fresher ore. Soock expects about 20,000 additional ounces beyond the existing Veta Madre reserve, although a technical report has not yet been issued.Ana Paula is the core of the investment case. The feasibility study is 34% complete and due in Q2 2027. Drilling of about 25,000 metres focused on converting inferred material, and the company is targeting 100,000 ounces a year over a 10-year mine life. Optimisations include raising throughput to 2,000 tonnes per day, sizing equipment for 2,500 tonnes per day, and a twin-decline design with an underground crusher and conveyor that could cut operating costs. Bio-oxidation remains the preferred processing route, and Soock noted it is not yet used in North America. Initial capital is expected to rise from the PEA's $300 million to around $330 million. The study gold price is likely to move from $2,400 to around $3,500 per ounce based on a three-year trailing average.The funding plan allocates about $150 million of operating cash flow to Ana Paula construction over roughly two years, net of overheads and exploration. Project debt is intended to cover the rest. Cash is expected to hold near US$43 million through year-end, and just under $15 million is budgeted for deposits on long-lead items. A construction decision is expected around June or July 2027, with first gold targeted before the end of 2028.Beyond Ana Paula, Cerro del Gallo offers about 85,000 ounces a year over 15 years on current study numbers, with Soock suggesting an updated PFS could show a larger staged project. Exploration is picking up at La Colorada and Ana Paula, where down-dip drilling returned 101.0 metres at 5.34 g/T gold. Goldstrike in Utah adds an antimony zone with drill results pending.On valuation, Soock argues Heliostar trades at about 0.2 times P/NAV against 0.4 to 0.8 times for junior producers, and at around two times estimated 2029 cash flow. The main risks are gold price sensitivity of the self-funding model, permitting in Mexico, and execution across several concurrent transitions. Near-term catalysts include BIOX test results, the Ana Paula permit submission, long-lead orders in Q4 2026 and the feasibility study itself.View Heliostar Metals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/heliostar-metalsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Victor Cantore, President & CEO of Amex Gold MiningOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/amex-exploration-tsxvamx-quebec-gold-project-posts-standout-feasibility-results-9879Recording date: 24th Sept 2026Amex Gold Mining (TSXV:AMX) is pursuing an unusual development model at its Perron Gold Project, located about 8 kilometres from Normétal in Quebec's Abitibi region. Instead of waiting for full Phase 1 permitting and a traditional construction financing, the company has begun a fully permitted 40,000-tonne bulk sample and is building it to the specification of the eventual mine.Underground, the ramp has passed roughly 100 metres and is advancing at around 5-6 metres per day. It will run approximately 1.5 kilometres to the 235-metre level, providing access to the high-grade Champagne Zone. Contractor CMAC is carrying out the work, and Amex has been hiring experienced miners.On surface, CEO Victor Cantore estimates the bulk sample will cost about C$60 million, with around C$40 million going into infrastructure that Phase 1 will reuse. That includes a C$7.7 million grid connection supplying hydro power at 5.5 cents per kilowatt hour, expected by January, and a water treatment plant already sized for Phase 1.The Phase 1 FS supports the case. It outlines 774,000 ounces of proven and probable reserves at 12.10 g/T, and a five-year operation averaging 147,000 ounces per year at US$910/oz AISC. At a US$3,500/oz base case, the FS shows a post-tax NPV5 of C$1.127 billion, a 114.6% IRR and a 0.5-year payback. Initial capital of C$193.9 million falls to C$125.8 million net after C$68.1 million of pre-production revenue.Cantore's own scenario goes further. Assuming 25,000 ounces from the bulk sample at US$4,000 gold, he estimates roughly C$135 million of revenue. Combined with the infrastructure overlap and pre-production revenue, he believes Phase 1 capital could be covered before commercial production is declared. If a gap remained, he would prefer a forward sale of about 10,000 ounces over new equity. This is a management scenario, not an FS outcome, and it depends on grade reconciliation, gold prices and execution.Two dependencies stand out. First, processing is covered by an LOI with Eldorado Gold, the company's 27% shareholder, but no definitive agreement has been signed. Several other mills in the region need feed, which provides a fallback. Second, the Phase 1 permit is targeted for Q3 or Q4 2027, ahead of the FS assumption of mid-2028. The Project Notice has been filed.Valuation offers context. Amex had a market capitalisation of about C$715 million in late August 2026, around 0.63 times its Phase 1 post-tax NPV. Cantore argues the stock should trade at a multiple of annual free cash flow once production is in view.Exploration remains the second engine. About C$24 million is allocated for 2027, with six drills active across a 570 square kilometre package spanning Quebec and Ontario. Targets include the new Rosé Zone, VMS-to-gold vectoring in Ontario and depth extensions at Champagne, which has returned high-grade intercepts at 1.6 kilometres. A Phase 2 concept envisages a 2,000 tonne-per-day on-site mill around 2033.View Amex Mining's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/amex-explorationSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Patrick Cruickshank, Director & CEO of Nine Mile MetalsOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/nine-mile-metals-csenine-234m-of-visual-copper-and-a-horizon-never-seen-in-historic-records-10758Recording date: 24th September 2026Nine Mile Metals Ltd. (CSE:NINE) is a Canadian junior explorer focused on copper-rich volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits in the Bathurst Mining Camp of New Brunswick. Its lead asset is the Wedge, a deposit that Cominco mined in the 1960s. According to the company's presentation, historic production was approximately 1.5 million tonnes at 2.88% copper.The company is midway through a 10,000-metre Phase 3 programme, its largest to date. CEO and Director Patrick J. Cruickshank said 22 holes and roughly 5,500 metres had been completed at the time of the interview, with only five holes reported. Assay turnaround of about a month, and the need to rebuild each hole from anonymously numbered samples, explains the gap. Certified results to date includes 24.55 metres of 3.49% copper equivalent over true width and another 14.15 metres at 5.09% copper equivalent.The geological picture has become more complex and potentially more valuable. Drilling has identified three lenses rather than one. One is a polymetallic lens with lead, zinc, silver, copper and gold. Another, to the east, carries high-grade copper and gold over roughly 40 metres. The lenses dip steeply, so reported intercept widths reflect drill angle rather than true lens size.The next step is methodical rather than aggressive. Because the upper third of the deposit has collapsed and historic plans of the workings are unavailable, Nine Mile is running a borehole electromagnetic survey across eight holes. The survey should produce a 3D map of old workings and remaining conductors. The company will then complete the programme by drilling to depth on the northwest side of a fault that cuts the deposit. Historic mining did not test below about 150 to 300 metres.Apex Geoscience is consolidating historic and modern data into a live model. An updated NI 43-101 technical report is expected in the first quarter, followed by a maiden mineral resource estimate. Management's stated mandate is to demonstrate a footprint of up to 10 million tonnes. That target remains untested until the resource estimate is published.Beyond the Wedge, a new rig is heading to Tribag, four kilometres west along the same trend, to test six targets at 350 to 400 metres depth over about 3,000 metres. At Nine Mile Brook, where the company drilled 10.12% copper over 15.10 metres, a second rhyolite cap found this summer will be drilled next spring.Financially, the company is in its strongest position in several years. It holds about C$5 million in cash and says it is funded for two to almost three years without needing to raise. Management reports inbound interest from companies about joint ventures and acquisitions, although no agreement has been announced.The principal risks are typical of pre-resource exploration. These include laboratory delays, unverified historic data, copper equivalent figures that differ in methodology between holes and the absence of any defined resource. Investors should watch pending Phase 3 assays, the borehole survey results, the Tribag programme and the first-quarter technical report as the key near-term markers.View Nine Mile Metals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/nine-mile-metalsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Keith Boyle, Director & CEO of New Found GoldOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/new-found-gold-tsx-nfgc-commercial-production-at-hammerdown-11907Recording date: 23rd Sept 2026New Found Gold Corp. (TSX / NYSE American: NFGC) has declared commercial production at its Hammerdown Gold Mine in Newfoundland. The milestone was achieved on August 19, 2026, after 60 consecutive days in which throughput, recovery and feed grade all cleared pre-set thresholds. Average throughput was about 748 tonnes per day, recovery was 87.7% and feed grade was 2.92 grams of gold per tonne. Hammerdown produced 9,140 ounces in the first eight months of 2026.Chief Executive Officer Keith Boyle said the declaration has changed how investors engage with the company. Management had guided to 20,000 to 25,000 ounces a year at an all-in sustaining cost of about US$2,500 per ounce. Boyle said Hammerdown is now delivering against that guidance and expects annualised cash flow of about C$40 million.The next focus is Queensway, the company's flagship project. Boyle said Queensway needs little mine development because the high-grade material is at surface. The critical path runs through the Pine Cove Mill. The company is first converting the circuit from flotation and Merrill-Crowe to Gravity-CIL, which should lift recovery on Hammerdown ore, and targets completion in the fourth quarter of 2027. Once Queensway is permitted, the company plans to seek an amendment to double the mill so it can take an extra 700 tonnes per day. Boyle targeted the fourth quarter of next year for that expansion.Queensway's environmental assessment certificate is expected early in the new year. Boyle said Phase 1 material will be trucked to Pine Cove and that this phase carries production to 2031. A mill at Queensway is then planned to process the current deposit.Exploration is the second theme. Boyle wants ounces available to fill the Pine Cove capacity after 2031. An exploration manager started in June and is assembling historical data on Hammerdown and Pine Cove. The Hammerdown ore profile is about 270,000 ounces at roughly 3 g/t Au. Boyle acknowledged it is not a large high-grade deposit but pointed to untested targets along strike, at depth and on parallel structures. A 10,000 to 20,000 metre programme is planned for next year, separate from grade control and infill drilling. At Queensway, exploration is being made more systematic after 18 months in which about 75% of drilling was deposit-focused.Funding shapes all of this. Boyle said the company raised C$220 million in April and wants to reach Queensway production with the cash it has. That is why exploration spending is being paced.For investors, the key items are the Queensway environmental decision, the updated Queensway resource estimate and PEA, commissioning of the Hammerdown crusher and sorter in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the first annual Hammerdown guidance. Risks include the permit to double the mill, which has not yet been applied for, the modest size of the Hammerdown ore profile, and the unproven nature of the new exploration programme. This commentary reflects the views of company management.View New Found Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/new-found-goldSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Craig Hallworth, President & CEO of Gunnison CopperOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/gunnison-copper-tsxgcu-advances-2b-arizona-project-toward-2028-construction-decision-10985Recording date: 24th September 2026Gunnison Copper Corp. (TSX:GCU, OTCQB:GCUMF) enters the final quarter of 2026 as one of the few junior copper companies with a producing US mine. On 22 September, the company declared commercial production at the Johnson Camp Mine in Cochise County, Arizona, following record August output of 1,304,448 lbs of copper cathode. CEO Craig Hallworth said this represents about 60% of the mine's nameplate capacity of 25 million lbs a year. The remaining ramp-up requires no further permits or construction and depends on leach recovery curves building over time.Johnson Camp is the first full-scale commercial application of Nuton, Rio Tinto's sulfide leaching technology, which turns sulfide copper into cathode on site instead of shipping it to Asian smelters. The trade-off for shareholders is timing. Nuton has invested more than $200 million, and Johnson Camp's profits go towards repaying that sum until it is recovered or until mid-2030, whichever comes first. Hallworth advised investors to assume the deadline is reached first, at which point any remaining balance falls away. Until then, Gunnison is extracting value in other ways. These include an $8 million payment from Nuton for adding ore tonnage, around $3 million a year of overhead allocated to the mine budget, and an expected refundable Arizona jobs tax credit of up to about $2 million. The company has also chosen to forgo its $13.9 million Section 48C credit so that it keeps access to incentives that may be worth more.Hallworth estimates Johnson Camp accounts for about 5% of company value. The rest lies in the Gunnison Project. The March 2026 PEA shows an after-tax NPV of $1.96 billion at $4.60/lb copper, a 22.5% IRR and around 174 million lbs of annual cathode output. Initial capital is about $1.6 billion, including a $300 million acid plant. Around 2 billion lbs of Measured and Indicated copper sits outside the current mine plan. Higher price assumptions or design changes could bring some of it in.The de-risking programme has two strands. Up to 405 column leach tests, against roughly 25 in the PEA, aim to confirm recovery and acid consumption assumptions. Preliminary results are expected in Q4 2026, with most results due by mid-2027. On permitting, the amended Mined Land Reclamation Plan has been submitted, and approval is expected by the end of 2026. The Aquifer Protection Permit and Air Quality Permit amendments follow in 2027. The company is targeting full permitting and a potential final investment decision by mid-2028.Funding the build requires a partner. Hallworth's base case is a toehold investment of around 5% from a mine builder valued at $10-20 billion. He believes this would validate the project without heavy dilution at an estimated 0.25 times NAV. A US government debt partnership is the alternative. No agreement has been signed. The company expects to be debt-free by the end of September and has about $25 million available. That is enough for roughly 12 months at current spending, before the drilling programme expands.View Gunnison Copper's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/gunnison-copperSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Jim Paterson, Principal and Co-Founder of Discovery GroupRecording date: 24th September 2026Discovery Group co-founder Jim Paterson used his conversation with Crux Investor at the Beaver Creek conference to make a clear case. Capital has returned to the junior mining sector, and for experienced teams it is changing how exploration is done.Paterson has worked in the business since 1997. For most of that time, he said, neither the companies he was associated with nor those of his peers had enough money to move quickly. Companies raised funds for single drill holes, waited for results and then raised again. This created two problems for shareholders. Costs were higher because nothing could be planned in advance. Good results also tended to become liquidity events, with existing investors selling into strength rather than the company re-rating.The current market, in Paterson's view, allows a different model. Funded companies can build two- and three-year programmes. They can negotiate with drilling contractors, geophysical contractors and camp providers on longer terms. They can offer their best people secure employment for two years. Paterson argued that this planning lowers costs and reduces the cost of capital, which ultimately benefits shareholders on a per-share basis.He named three Discovery Group members as examples. Prospector Metals and K2 Gold previously lacked the capital to answer key questions but are now doing so and have funding to continue into next year. Kodiak Copper is fully funded and drilling at its MPD copper-gold project in British Columbia, a district-scale porphyry system with seven confirmed zones and an initial resource estimate. Paterson credited Chairman Chris Taylor, whose Great Bear discovery was acquired by Kinross Gold for $1.8 billion in 2022, with helping CEO Claudia Tornquist execute.Europe is a new front for the group. Aquitaine Metals, led by Taylor, holds exclusivity over 330 km² in France's Limousin district, an area that includes 23 past-producing gold mines. Paterson said the jurisdiction has become highly supportive, a change he would not have expected a decade ago. The company is private and hopes to list by the end of the year.Paterson also warned against complacency. Capital is not yet in excess, but when it arrives in size, generalists and private equity investors who do not understand the business can fund projects that should not advance. Some niche metals rarely attract investment because of difficult metallurgy or locations, and political will does not fix a project that does not work.His advice to investors is to focus on people. He believes management teams should own significant stock they paid for, and he pointed investors to SEDI to check insider buying. He values clear communication and has worked with an advisor to improve his own. He will not do a deal with anyone he has only met over video, and he looks at how people behave under stress and over time.For investors, the message is that the current environment rewards funded, experienced teams with scalable projects. The watch-items are whether funded members deliver results, whether Aquitaine lists as hoped and whether the market stays disciplined as more capital arrives.Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Nolan Peterson, CEO of Atlas SaltOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/atlas-salt-tsxvsalt-streamlines-permitting-as-financing-process-accelerates-10969Recording date: 23rd September 2026Atlas Salt Inc. (TSXV:SALT) is developing the Great Atlantic Salt Project in western Newfoundland, a planned 4 Mtpa underground rock salt mine aimed at de-icing markets in Eastern Canada and the US Northeast. CEO Nolan Peterson outlined how changes in the road salt market, a proprietary distribution model and a growing base of lender interest are shaping the project's next phase.The most striking change is in pricing. Road salt has historically been sold to municipalities and governments through annual tenders, with prices rising 2% to 3% a year. In 2026 that pattern broke. The company's presentation cites US tenders clearing at US$155-175 per ton against roughly $88 per ton a year earlier, with some jurisdictions receiving no bids in initial rounds. Peterson attributes the shift to depleted inventories after two hard winters, existing mines operating at capacity with limited expansion scope, and higher costs for diesel and ocean freight that affect both domestic producers and importers.Atlas Salt intends to compete through proximity and analytics. The site sits near a deep-water port, and the company states that shipping to Boston takes about three days compared with more than 14 days from Egypt or Chile. Its in-house Meridian model maps demand across North American jurisdictions and calculates the least-cost supply route for each, allowing the company to target markets where its delivered cost gives it the widest margin. Peterson said back-testing has matched historical tender prices closely. He also noted that an unconstrained run shows profitable demand of up to 6.5 million tons, although this figure has not been studied at feasibility level.On financing, the 2025 Feasibility Study sets initial capex at C$589 million. Atlas Salt is targeting approximately C$350 million to C$400 million of senior secured debt and holds non-binding LOIs above C$300 million. These include up to C$150 million from EDC, up to C$75 million from a second export credit agency and approximately C$79 million of equipment financing from Sandvik. Peterson sees these LOIs as anchors that make it easier for commercial banks to join with smaller tickets. The equity component has yet to be determined.On site, early construction is under way, focused on low-cost site preparation during the summer season. The team is expanding, with new site, permitting and safety roles and a new COO. Peterson identified drift development as the main cost and schedule risk, estimating that a 10% slower advance rate could add $10 million to $20 million.The study outlines a C$920 million after-tax NPV8, a 21.3% IRR and approximately C$188 million in average annual free cash flow. Against an enterprise value of C$174.7 million, the market is pricing in substantial financing and execution risk. The key watch-items are conversion of LOIs into binding terms, the size of any equity raise and early underground ground conditions. Positive progress on those fronts would test whether the current valuation gap begins to close.View Atlas Salt's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/atlas-saltSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Eric Zaunscherb, President & CEO of GR Silver Mining Ltd.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/gr-silver-mining-tsxvgrsl-drilling-and-pilot-plant-strategy-support-growth-10136Recording date: 23rd September 2026GR Silver Mining Ltd. (TSXV:GRSL, OTCQX:GRSLF) is a Mexico-focused silver explorer that owns 100% of the Plomosas Project on the Sinaloa-Durango border. The project combines two assets with different roles. San Marcial is a silver discovery that hosts 46 Moz of indicated and 14 Moz of inferred silver under the 2023 resource estimate. The Plomosas Mine is a past producer that operated from 1986 to 2000 and now serves as a potential bulk sampling site. President and CEO Eric Zaunscherb has taken on direct responsibility for the Mexican business following the death of founder Marcio Fonseca.The central development in 2026 is hole SMS26-04, which returned 45.1 m true width at 1,623 g/t silver, including 8.25 m at 8,579 g/t silver. Zaunscherb said the result matters most because it confirms the company's geological model. Mineralising fluids from an intrusive body broke up an overlying breccia. Metal was deposited in dilation zones where cross-cutting structures intersect it. The hole was 99.8% silver by value, compared with roughly 90% for the 2023 resource.Rather than rushing out an early resource to showcase the hole, the company is tightening drill spacing around it from 100 m to 45 m. That aims to bring the zone into the indicated category for the resource update targeted for the first half of 2027. The 20,000 m programme is behind plan, with about 7,000 m completed after security issues and a difficult rainy season. GR Silver is spending about $1 million upgrading road access from Durango and plans to add rigs.At Plomosas, SEMARNAT has ruled that no new environmental impact authorisation is required. Zaunscherb prefers toll milling or selling material at the mine gate over building a pilot plant, citing lower capital, a shorter timeline and lower execution risk. Pilot plant engineering nonetheless remains among the company's listed catalysts. Output would be limited to 60 to 100 tonnes per day by available power. The strategic value is social licence. Restoring local employment in a very poor area could build goodwill that carries over to San Marcial, 5 kilometres to the south. Management believes this could shorten San Marcial's five-to-seven-year path to potential cash flow by one or two years.The company held C$26 million in cash and expects further proceeds from in-the-money warrants averaging C$0.26. Zaunscherb noted that the stock trades as a silver proxy. Longer term, GR Silver plans to permit an access tunnel at San Marcial, which could enable underground drilling from later 2028. Plomosas would produce lead and zinc concentrates, while San Marcial points to a Merrill-Crowe circuit producing doré.On corporate strategy, parties are in the data room, and management is also reviewing acquisitions that could diversify risk within Mexico. Key risks are security, access, development capital and silver price sensitivity. Key watch-items are pending assays, drilling pace and the H1 2027 resource update.View GR Silver Mining's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/gr-silver-miningSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Julien Davy, CEO of Silver AcadiaRecording date: 23rd September 2026Silver Acadia Exploration Inc. (CSE:SLA) is an early-stage explorer focused on high-grade silver in New Brunswick's Bathurst Mining Camp. The district has a long production history, but it was explored mainly for zinc. CEO Julien Davy believes that left the silver potential of the company's Nicholas-Denys project under-examined.The core of the investment case is the historical dataset. About 125,000 m of drilling has been completed on the project area over roughly 50 years, and about half of it was never assayed for silver. Around 50,000 m of core is still available. After hyperspectral scanning last year, the company is now re-assaying 20 to 22 selected holes, about 6,000 to 7,000 m in total. Results are expected around November. This work costs much less than redrilling and is intended to guide new targeting.Geologically, the company describes the system as hydrothermal with remobilised mineralisation rather than pure VMS. Mapping and structural studies indicate that the highest grades sit at intersections between the regional Rocky Brook-Millstream corridor and secondary structures. The company controls about 20 km of the corridor but is concentrating on a 3 km priority area. Phase 1 drilling of roughly 3,600 m tested the model where reported results include 328.9 g/t silver and 1.0 g/t gold over 24.8 m.Management's objective is to show continuity across a broad envelope grading 70 to 80 g/t silver, with higher-grade ore shoots inside it. Davy argues that an envelope of that grade near surface could be economic in a safe jurisdiction. The company is working toward a Mineral Resource Estimate targeted for 2027.The shareholder base is a notable strength. About 30 holders own roughly 70% of the stock, including Michael Gentile and Victor Cantore. The company raised $4.7 million in two private placements in 2025. It now has about $2 million in cash, around 74.6 million shares outstanding and about 109 million fully diluted.Funding is the key near-term issue. Drilling begins in November at an all-in cost of about $320 per metre and is expected to run until March or April 2027. The planned Phase 2 programme of about 15,000 m would cost roughly $4.8 million at that rate, well above current cash. Investors should expect a financing. Warrant exercises at $0.18 to $0.24 could contribute some of the capital.Beyond the flagship, Silver Acadia holds four other projects. Goldstrike, on the same trend to the west, has returned a 455 g/t gold grab sample and 1.19 g/t gold over 10.2 m in drilling. SEDEX combines an untested gravity anomaly with an antimony occurrence that returned 4.2% antimony over 0.6 m. These projects receive about 20% of spending.The main risks are non-compliant historical data, unproven continuity, narrow high-grade intervals, dilution, untested metallurgy and silver price volatility. For investors comfortable with early-stage exploration risk, the re-assay and winter drill results are the milestones to watch.View Silver Acadia's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/silver-acadia-explorationSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Darcy Marud, President and CEO of Western Exploration Recording date: 23rd September 2026Western Exploration Inc. (TSXV:WEX, OTCQX:WEXPF) is a Nevada-focused gold and silver developer whose 100%-owned Aura project lies in north-east Nevada near the Idaho border. The project contains two assets about 8 km apart. Doby George is a near-surface oxide gold deposit being permitted for heap leach development. Gravel Creek is a high-grade epithermal gold-silver discovery that the company made in 2013. Together they hold about 1.5 million gold-equivalent ounces in indicated and inferred categories.President and CEO Darcy Marud has spent about 40 years in the industry, including roles at Homestake, Meridian Gold and Yamana Gold, and was part of the team behind the El Peñón mine in Chile. Several of his senior colleagues have worked with him for 20 years or more, including CFO Curtis Turner and Aura Project General Manager Mark Hawksworth.Doby George has a long history. Homestake discovered it in the 1980s, and it carried over 800 drill holes when Western acquired it in the late 1990s. The company validated the historical data through confirmation drilling, an independent 2021 technical report and a further drilling programme in 2022. The 2025 PEA outlines a five-year open-pit, heap leach operation producing about 58,700 ounces of gold per year at a grade of 1.01 g/t. At US$3,000/oz gold, the study shows an after-tax NPV of US$211.2 million, a 62.2% IRR and AISC of US$1,197/oz. Initial capital is US$115.2 million, which is broadly equal to one year of operating cash flow. Marud said the company can see additional oxide ounces that could extend mine life to seven to ten years.Western chose to start permitting early because it is the longest-lead item. Its Mine Plan of Operations is with the US Forest Service, and the company wants regulator feedback before completing a Pre-Feasibility Study in early to mid-2027. It is targeting a record of decision at the end of 2027, followed by state permits and a possible EIS. That points to a construction decision in 2028 or 2029 and production in 2030.Gravel Creek provides the growth angle. Last year's resource update raised gold ounces by more than 50% and silver ounces by 83%, driven by the high-grade Jarbidge discovery. The deposit shares its age, mineralogy and style with historic northern Nevada mines such as Midas and Sleeper. Recent metallurgical work showed that concentrate can be ultra-fine ground and cyanide-leached to produce doré on site, with 73.3% gold and 74% silver recovery reported so far. Further test work is due by the end of 2026.The company is tightly held, with 63.4 million shares outstanding, and Agnico Eagle owns 10%. Its market capitalisation of about C$40 million is small next to Doby George's capital needs, so financing structure and dilution are key considerations. Marud described Glamis Gold's start-small, grow-around-a-central-plant model as the template.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/western-explorationSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Hugh Agro, President and CEO of Revival Gold IncOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/revival-gold-tsxvrvg-high-gold-intercepts-in-idaho-continues-mercur-nears-build-decision-11384Recording date: 23rd September 2026Revival Gold Inc. (TSXV:RVG, OTCQX:RVLGF) is positioning the Mercur Gold Project in Utah as a near-term US heap leach development, with a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) targeted for Q1 2027 and a construction decision planned for early 2028. The company states it has sufficient cash to reach that decision without further financing.The starting point is Mercur's 2025 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) outlining an open-pit heap leach operation producing an average of 95,600 ounces of gold per year over a 10-year mine life, requiring $208 million in pre-production and working capital. At $3,000 gold, the PEA delivered an after-tax NPV of $752 million and an after-tax IRR of 57%. CEO Hugh Agro describes capital intensity of just over $200 per ounce and a capital requirement of about one-third of net asset value, with all-in sustaining costs expected to sit in the bottom quartile in North America.Management expects the PFS to land close to the PEA. Engineering refinements to leach pad placement, truck fleet size and haulage cycle times should offer some gains, while higher energy prices will add cost. Agro has been clear that Revival Gold will keep a healthy grade and a conservative cut-off rather than lowering grades to add ounces, since recoveries in heap leach operations deteriorate at very low grades.Technical work is converging on the PFS. Approximately 11,600 metres of the 2026 Mercur programme had been completed by late September, and the company reports that infill results continue to support PEA grade and leachability assumptions. Recent intercepts include 0.92 g/t gold over 33.5 metres and 1.82 g/t gold over 29.0 metres. Eighteen metallurgical columns are under leach with constructive early results. Environmental baseline fieldwork is complete with no red flags identified, and the company is now working with Utah's Division of Oil, Gas and Mining on its notice of intent.The most significant development is organisational. Revival Gold has around 20 employees and 20 contractors and consultants. It has appointed a Mercur General Manager with 14 commissionings behind him, a new Exploration Manager from Kinross Gold and a Utah-based permitting and environmental manager. Around six further hires in mining, processing and human resources are planned over the next five to six months. The consultant team includes Kappes, Cassidy & Associates, WSP, RESPEC and Stantec.The financing plan follows a defined sequence. Lender engagement begins in March or April 2027, with an eight-month review period and an independent engineer appointed well before the feasibility study is complete. The company will also evaluate streams, royalties, convertibles, private equity, offtakes and equity, likely with the support of an adviser.At Beartrack-Arnett in Idaho, 2026 drilling expanded the vertical extent of the Joss zone by 70%, and the zone remains open to the south. An internal resource update, metallurgical testing and a concentrate market study are under way, with the next drill phase being planned.For investors, the key catalysts are the remaining infill assays, the DOGM notice of intent and the Q1 2027 PFS. The main risks are cost inflation, permitting timing and potential dilution if Beartrack-Arnett is advanced faster than Mercur cash flow allows.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/revival-gold-incSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Paul Andre Huet, CEO, and Oliver Turner, EVP of Corporate Development,  Americas Gold & Silver Corp.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/americas-gold-silver-tsxusa-targets-1000-tpd-capacity-aims-for-5moz-annual-silver-10282Recording date: 22nd Sept 2026Americas Gold and Silver (TSX:USA | NYSE American:USAS) used a year of investment to remove physical limits at its Galena Complex in Idaho, and management now wants the market to focus on delivery. Chairman and CEO Paul Andre Huet said the Galena shaft could hoist about 650 tons a day when the current team arrived 18 months ago. After two phases of upgrades at about $7 million of capital, it can now hoist safely at more than 1,400 tons a day.The mining method is changing alongside the hoist. Huet said Galena has completed its 19th long hole stope, each about one metre wide. A stope that would take 14 months with jack legs takes 28 days, without diluting the grade. The target is a mine that is 70% long hole. The main outstanding item is a paste fill plant, because sand fill currently takes 14 to 16 days per stope. The mill, at about 750 tons a day is the next limit, with a 1,200 tons a day target by the end of 2026.Production is the near-term test. The company produced 1.45 million ounces of silver in the first half, against 2026 guidance of 3.2 million to 3.6 million ounces. Reaching the low end requires about 1.75 million ounces in the second half. First-half all-in sustaining cost was $36.92 per ounce.Cosalá in Mexico is the second growth leg. Oliver Turner, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, said EC120 has a seven-year mine life and generates strong margins from near-surface mining. He said the company spent $3 million to $5 million on exploration there this year after essentially no spending since 2019. Turner cited recent intercepts of about 650 grams per tonne over more than 20 metres and 14 metres at 400 grams per tonne, roughly 30 metres from resource. A third mill is being tied in to process 2,000 tons a day at about 90% recovery, up from about 80% to 82%.Crescent and antimony add further options. Management said mining at Crescent is planned for next year, once a second exit is completed and infill drilling firms up the resource. Test lots returned mid-90% recoveries in the Galena mill. The company does not treat the 2015 historical resource as current. Huet said antimony has moved from a penalty metal to a paid by-product, and that the United States needs about 50 million pounds a year. Commercial terms for a processing hub with US Antimony have not been disclosed.Valuation is where Turner made the case for upside. He put the beta to silver at about 1.51 times and silver at over 90% of revenue. He said the shares trade at about 0.55 to 0.65 times NAV, and pointed to silver deals struck near two times NAV. Huet said funding growth from operating cash flow limits dilution. Investors should weigh these views as those of executives with a stake in the outcome.View Americas Gold & Silver's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/americas-gold-silver-corporationSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Michael Murphy, Executive Chairman of South Pacific Metals Recording date: 22nd September 2026South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV:SPMC, OTCQB:SPMEF, FSE:6J00) is a Papua New Guinea-focused gold-copper explorer built around a straightforward thesis: hold ground on the same geological structures that have already produced some of the world's most significant gold-copper mines, and let proximity to proven systems reduce exploration risk relative to greenfield ground.The company's four projects sit within three established PNG mining districts. Kili Teke, acquired from Harmony Gold in 2023, is located roughly 40 kilometres from Barrick's Porgera mine and carries an NI 43-101 Inferred Resource of 237 million tonnes grading 0.24 g/t Au and 0.34% Cu, containing 1.81 million ounces of gold and 802,000 tonnes of copper (effective November 2022). Management argues this resource significantly understates the system's scale, since it is trimmed to roughly 650 metres from surface and excludes several higher-grade targets identified in historical and recent sampling including skarns returning up to 27.5% Cu at surface and an alkalic gold target with soil anomalies to 9,390 ppb Au. Drill-ready targets at these excluded zones are expected by the end of October 2026.Osena and Anga sit on the Kainantu Transfer Zone, the same structure hosting K92 Mining's high-margin Kainantu operation. Drilling at Osena's Megabe target has already returned high-grade intercepts, including 8 metres at 8.95 g/t Au (with 5 metres at 12.46 g/t Au inside that), and four step-out holes have extended the mineralised structure to over 300 metres of strike in roughly ten weeks since the first discovery hole, a pace Executive Chairman Michael Murphy pointed to directly. Four additional holes at the nearby Ontenu Central target are complete, with assay results still pending.May River, the company's fourth project, sits approximately 15 kilometres from PanAust's Frieda River deposit, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-gold projects, and hosts historical drill intercepts including 19 metres at 11.47% Cu and 2.17 g/t Au.Management brings relevant credibility to this positioning. Murphy previously spent 12 years on the board of Torex Gold, which he built from a small shell company into a producer now valued at more than $4 billion. The board also includes Alex Davidson, formerly EVP of Exploration and Corporate Development at Barrick Gold, and CEO Timo Jauristo, a 40-year mining executive with senior roles at Goldcorp and Placer Dome.On the financial side, Murphy told Crux Investor that a financing of roughly $20 million backed by several established mining-sector institutional funds was in its final stages at the time of the interview, intended to fund the current work programme through year-end 2026. As at August 31, 2026, the company carried a market capitalisation of approximately C$65 million and a share price of C$0.93, with insiders holding roughly 45% of the register.For investors, the appeal lies in the combination of a defined resource with clear expansion potential, active drilling already producing high-grade results, a funded programme, and an experienced technical and capital-markets team set against the standard risks of early-stage exploration in a jurisdiction still working to shed its reputation for operational difficulty, regardless of the recent evidence to the contrary.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/kainantu-resourcesSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Luke Norman, Executive Chairman, U.S. Gold Corp Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/us-gold-corp-nasdaqusau-undervalued-investment-series-with-luke-norman-10848Recording date: 23rd September 2026U.S. Gold Corp (NASDAQ:USAU) is a gold and copper developer whose CK Gold Project sits on Wyoming state land about 20 minutes west of Cheyenne. Executive Chairman Luke Norman said the company intends to build the mine rather than sell it, unless a bidder offers something egregiously beneficial to shareholders.The project has moved a long way in five years. The company documents state approvals, including the mine operating permit in April 2024. The March 2026 feasibility study, issued by Halyard Micon International, shows an after-tax NPV5% of $632 million, a 27% after-tax IRR and a 2.5-year payback at base-case prices of $3,250 gold, $4.50 copper and $40 silver. Initial capital is $394 million. Reserves are 1.015 million ounces of gold, 260 million pounds of copper and 3 million ounces of silver.At $4,000 the after-tax NPV5% is $946 million and payback is 1.8 years. At $2,000 the NPV5% is $98 million, and at $1,500 it is negative. Norman said payback remains well within two years at $3,750. The central open item is financing. The company had $30.7 million of cash as of April 2026. Norman stated final advanced engineering remains and will continue through development. The project suits debt because of its quick payback. Norman also mentioned a silver stream and the forward sale of some first-year gold. He put first-year output at 130,000 ounces of gold and 24 million pounds of copper. He gave no date for a financing announcement.Norman argued that the 11-year mine life in the study understates the asset. The deposit extends at depth and along strike and could support 15 to 20 years. The company outlines 590,000 AuEq ounces of resources that could convert to reserves, with drilling anticipated for the second half of 2027. None of this is in the feasibility study.The second strategic event is the Keystone spin-out. Keystone is a 20-square-mile exploration project on Nevada's Cortez Trend, 11 miles south of the Cortez Complex according to the presentation. Norman said US Gold will pay a dividend of Keystone shares to its shareholders, let Keystone raise its own capital and give it a separate management team. He expects this within six to eight weeks. He also argued that the dividend structure could force short sellers to cover, citing a short position of about 12-13%.For investors, the case rests on execution. A permitted asset with study economics is in place. The market must now see how a $394 million build gets funded, whether a takeover approach emerges, and how the Keystone spin-out is structured. The main risks are financing terms, dilution from warrants and options, gold price sensitivity and timing slippage. Norman's comments are management's views, and several figures in the interview need checking against filings before they are relied upon.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/us-gold-corpSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Louis-Pierre Gignac, CEO of G Mining VenturesOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/g-mining-tsxgmin-major-acquisition-builds-tier-1-gold-hub-with-500koz-pa-potential-9868Recording date: 23rd September 2026G Mining Ventures Corp. (TSX:GMIN; OTCQX:GMINF) is executing a three-asset growth strategy anchored by cash flow from its Tocantinzinho (TZ) gold mine in Brazil, construction of the Oko West project in Guyana, and renewed exploration at Brazil's Gurupi project. CEO Louis-Pierre Gignac says TZ's stronger second half will help fund the company's next phase of expansion.TZ produced 68,691 ounces in the first half of 2026, leaving the bulk of annual output to the second half against guidance of 160,000 to 190,000 ounces. Higher grades and improved throughput are expected as mining reaches richer zones, while an expansion of tailings-pumping capacity should support 2027 guidance of 200,000 to 235,000 ounces. Revised 2026 all-in sustaining cost guidance is $1,330 to $1,544 per ounce, reflecting a stronger Brazilian real and higher fuel prices.Oko West is the company's principal construction project. By June 30, 44% of capital expenditure had been spent, with $423 million incurred, $628 million committed and first gold targeted in the second half of 2027. Commercial production is planned for January 2028. G Mining reports $1.288 billion of funding sources, including cash, projected TZ free cash flow and an undrawn $350 million revolver, compared with $550 million of remaining Oko capital and $88 million of corporate and exploration spending.Following its acquisition of G2 Goldfields, G Mining aims to combine Oko West with the Ghanie and Oko Main deposits. The proposed expansion would add roughly 2 million tonnes of processing capacity and target annual production of about 500,000 ounces. An updated feasibility study, supported by 55,000 metres of infill drilling, is expected in mid-2027; historical G2 resource estimates still require upgrading.At Gurupi, drilling has resumed after a long hiatus. An updated resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment are due before year-end, with management envisioning a mine producing roughly 200,000 ounces annually for at least a decade. The investment case rests on execution at TZ and Oko, gold-price assumptions of $4,000 per ounce, and successful conversion of exploration potential into reserves.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/g-mining-venturesSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Claudia Tornquist, President & CEO, and Christopher Taylor, Chairman, of Kodiak Copper Corp.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/kodiak-copper-tsxvkdk-proposed-alliance-with-teck-to-launch-new-us-copper-explorer-10100Recording date: 23rd September 2026Kodiak Copper Corp. (TSXV:KDK) is an exploration company built around the MPD copper-gold porphyry project in southern British Columbia. The property covers 357 square kilometres in an established mining district where Copper Mountain lies about 20 kilometres to the south, and Highland Valley sits 30 to 40 kilometres to the north. Kodiak's chairman, Chris Taylor, founded the company and CEO Claudia Tornquist joined Taylor for this interview at Beaver Creek.The investment question is whether a large, lower-grade porphyry can grow into a project with economics. Tornquist said the maiden resource is already sizeable and that its grades align with regional mines and North American porphyry peers. She said Kodiak's task is to grow the resource and then show economic potential.The December 2025 maiden resource holds about 439 million tonnes across seven deposits. Indicated resources are 82.9 million tonnes at 0.39% CuEq. Inferred resources are 356.3 million tonnes at 0.32% CuEq. Copper content is 519 million pounds indicated and 1,889 million pounds inferred. Gold content is 0.39 million ounces indicated and 1.28 million ounces inferred.This year's 16,500-metre programme is the main lever. It is entirely shallow. More than 7,000 metres have gone into Ketchan, where Kodiak reported its best hole to date. Hole AG-26-019 returned 283.5 metres at 0.70% CuEq from 37.5 metres downhole. Management says each deposit contains higher-grade zones and that all remain open. It has also identified a new anomaly beside the South zone.Management expects each round of drill results to build market confidence, and it links near-surface drilling to economics. A starter pit needs enough higher-grade material close to surface to repay initial capital. West and Adit fit that description today. Management did not commit to a date for an economic study.Management said the market should understand the project far better once this year's results are incorporated. Valuation is the central argument. Kodiak is valuated at C$84 million as at 31 August 2026. NorthIsle Copper and Gold, Faraday Copper and Osisko Metals are each above C$1.5 billion. Tornquist described NorthIsle's path from a modest valuation to a PEA as the model. Cash was C$18 million. Management says 2026 is fully funded.Kay Copper is a separate source of potential value. Kodiak is combining its Mohave project with Teck Resources' Copper Hill project in Arizona. Kodiak expects to hold 26.4%. Initial funding is just over $5 million, and the pro forma valuation is C$18 million. The deal has not closed.The catalysts are a steady flow of drill results, Kay Copper completion and the first-quarter 2027 resource update. Investors should also weigh the risks. About 81% of tonnes are inferred. No economic study is scheduled. Drilling may not deliver the growth management expects. Kay Copper may not close on the expected terms.View Kodiak Copper's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/kodiak-copper-corpSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Matt Manson, President & CEO of Radisson Mining Resources Inc.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/radisson-mining-tsxvrds-obrien-82-gold-resource-growth-drilling-continues-high-success-rate-10919Recording date: 22nd Sept 2026Radisson Mining Resources Inc. (TSXV:RDS) has secured a strategic anchor shareholder while keeping its exploration programme funded. Agnico Eagle Mines Limited bought 53,420,000 units at C$1.07, raising C$57,159,400 and taking about 10.45% of the common shares. Half a warrant per unit would lift its stake to about 14.90% on a partially diluted basis if exercised. The placement remains subject to final TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.The company will use the proceeds to begin an underground exploration programme at its 100%-owned O'Brien Gold Project in the Abitibi region of Quebec. The centrepiece is an access ramp to about 300 metres vertical depth. Ore drives through mineralised zones will bring material to surface, but Radisson will not develop stopes or mining panels and does not call the work a bulk sample. Manson said the programme is meant to test continuity of mineralisation, ground conditions, dilution and the tonnes per day the orebody can support. Those variables determine whether a high-grade narrow vein deposit can be mined at a steady rate.Timing matters for investors tracking catalysts. Permitting and preliminary engineering have started. Manson expects to break ground on the portal around the middle of 2027, with about 18 months of work to reach depth. The objective is to have the ramp in place for 2029. In parallel, the 140,000-metre surface programme runs on eight rigs, with a ninth planned for a hole to 2.5 km depth. A resource update is likely by the end of 2026, followed by another in 2027.The current resource stands at 2.3 million ounces, made up of 0.63 million ounces indicated and 1.69 million ounces inferred, according to the company's release. Manson said similar mineralisation continuing to a 2 km floor points to 3 to 4 million ounces in total, and he sees upwards of 4 million ounces. Manson cites an 83% success rate for deep step-out holes from shows 98 hits from 120 holes.Valuation is where Manson sees a gap. He put the shares at US$191 per ounce on 2.3 million ounces after a C$1.17 close, against takeouts at US$500 to US$600 per ounce over the past six months. Precedent transactions are imperfect comparisons, since prices reflect stage, grade and infrastructure access. Manson also said Agnico Eagle's stake is a level Radisson is comfortable with and that the stand-alone path remains the default. Any use of the LaRonde infrastructure is a future step to be considered.Risks remain as narrow vein deposits depend on continuity, and underground development has to keep pace with any future mill feed. O'Brien is a 1920s mine site with an old tailings facility, and Manson said legacy issues must be addressed. The exploration target is unproven, and the commentary comes from a company executive with an interest in the outcome. Investors should watch the year-end resource update, exchange acceptance and the 2027 portal start.View Radisson Mining's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/radisson-resourcesSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Brian Miller, CEO of Astra ExplorationOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/astra-exploration-tsxvastr-15m-raise-supports-high-grade-gold-silver-target-in-argentina-10209Recording date: 22nd September 2026Astra Exploration (TSXV:ASTR) is a precious metals explorer focused on gold and silver in Argentina and Chile. Its flagship is the La Manchuria project in Santa Cruz, Argentina, where the company holds 80% with an option to acquire 90% from Patagonia Gold Corp.The final Phase III assays, released on 17 September 2026, covered eight holes from a 16-hole, 5,176-metre programme. Highlights were 3 metres at 4.34 g/t gold and 363.7 g/t silver at the Basalto Zone, and 8 metres at 3.12 g/t gold and 10.3 g/t silver in the Eastern Zone. Both remain open.CEO Brian Miller states Phase III showed expansion in two systems. One is a disseminated bulk-tonnage system at surface. The other is a high-grade vein system. He also acknowledged that one target did not work. Holes drilled at 300 to 350 metres beneath apparently converging veins found narrow, low-grade veins in andesite. Miller called the result local. Astra will now concentrate on rhyolites and pyroclastics, which he said have been more predictable.Miller also addressed how the market may value the two systems. He said an analyst who knows geology and mining favours the growing bulk system, while the wider market tends to prefer headline vein grades such as 80 g/t gold. He said little has changed at the project, and that some investors who held for a single target sold after the miss. He did not identify a direct peer, saying the two-system setting is somewhat unique.The next phase is built around scale. Geological and geophysical data define five undrilled regional targets over a 4 by 4 kilometre footprint. Miller's favourite is Breccia, to the southeast, on strike with the Manchuria Hill vein structures. Astra has also expanded its La Manchuria claims from about 5,600 to about 39,000 hectares.Astra plans 10,000 to 20,000 metres of drilling with two drills. Miller described 10,000 metres as the minimum. Drilling at La Manchuria is due to begin in November, with roughly 5,000 metres by year-end and a further 5,000 metres in the first quarter of 2027. The split between Manchuria Hill and the regional targets will follow results. The company reports C$12.5 million in treasury and describes its programmes as fully funded.Don Mario sits in Chile's Maricunga belt, about 20 kilometres from the Refugio Mine. First-pass drilling is planned for January and February. A news release on the targeting work is expected in the next couple of weeks.Investors should weigh several risks. Host-rock variability has already produced one miss. Winter reduces drilling productivity and raises cost per metre in Argentina. Assay turnaround has been slow, which can delay news flow. Miller also said the shares traded near their 52-week low in the week of the interview, and sentiment has reacted to individual drill results.Near-term watch-items include the Don Mario release, the first assays from the Q4 2026 campaign, and how Astra allocates its early metres. Any conclusion will rest on assay results rather than on the plan alone.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/astra-explorationSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Nick Smart, CEO, ValOre Metals Corp.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/valore-metals-tsxvvo-undervalued-investment-series-with-nick-smart-9774Recording date: 22nd September 2026ValOre Metals Corp. (TSXV: VO, OTCQB: KVLQF, FSE: KEQ0) is a Brazil-focused precious metals developer advancing the Pedra Branca project, a 100%-owned, near-surface platinum-palladium-gold deposit in Ceará State. The project's appeal begins with jurisdiction: roughly 90% of global PGE supply is concentrated in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Russia, each facing distinct operational or geopolitical constraints, while Pedra Branca sits outside that concentration entirely, benefiting from a four-hour paved highway link to Fortaleza's international port and airport.The current resource base - a 2022 NI 43-101 inferred estimate of 2,198 koz 2PGE+Au across seven near-surface zones - has already doubled since ValOre acquired the project at roughly 1.1 Moz, following an additional US$10 million and 23,534 metres of company-funded drilling layered onto a legacy dataset from prior owners Anglo American and Anglo Platinum. A further 5,000-6,000 metres drilled since the 2022 estimate, including five new exploration zones, has not yet been incorporated into a public resource figure, leaving a visible near-term catalyst in an updated estimate.Metallurgical testwork is the other major workstream ahead of the PEA. The company is scaling up leach testing from shake-flask to column and stirred-tank vessel trials to assess heap-leach amenability on weathered, oxidised material (roughly 40% of tonnage), while advancing conventional flotation on the fresh material that contributes the bulk of contained ounces. Recovery testwork is currently tracking in the high 70% range, with management indicating room for improvement as the flowsheet is optimised - a genuine trade-off exists between lower-capex heap leaching and higher-recovery vessel processing that the PEA will need to resolve.Management has signalled a preference for staged development over a single maximum-scale build: securing licensing for an initial phase, proving the process, and adding capacity in subsequent phases as cash flow supports it, rather than raising capital repeatedly to reach full scale before any production decision. That approach, combined with Brazil's expanding domestic PGE processing capacity - illustrated by neighbouring Bravo Mining's proposed smelter complex at the port of Barcarena, which ValOre has flagged as a potential logistically attractive buyer for future concentrate - points toward a capital-efficient path to first production rather than a single binary de-risking event.On valuation, ValOre's roughly $20M market capitalisation compares to a peer set - Bravo Mining, Platinum Group Metals, Generation Mining and Stillwater Critical Minerals - carrying market caps from ~$126M to ~$440M at broadly comparable or more advanced project stages. Insider and close-associate ownership stands at 30% combined, with resource and mining funds holding a further 25%. Cash on hand was under $0.8M as of September 1, 2026, against 255M shares outstanding (304.2M fully diluted), underscoring that near-term financing will likely be required to fund the PEA and subsequent development studies. The company's key near-term catalysts are the updated resource estimate, the Q4 2026 PEA, and subsequent licensing steps into Q1 2027.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/valore-metalsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Barry O'Shea, CEO of Highland CopperOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/coppers-new-era-from-cyclical-commodity-to-strategic-lifeline-10769Recording date: 22nd September 2026Highland Copper Company Inc. (TSXV:HI) has reached a significant financing milestone for its Copperwood copper project in Michigan's Upper Peninsula: final approval for a US$50 million grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund under the state's Strategic Site Readiness Program. No further state approvals are required, and the reimbursable structure returns funds to the company dollar-for-dollar as it spends on eligible regional infrastructure - power upgrades, telecommunications, and road improvements outside the mine gate.The grant lands alongside a revised project timeline. CEO Barry O'Shea confirmed that the construction decision previously targeted for the second half of 2026 has shifted into 2027, with production now expected in the second half of 2030 rather than 2029. He attributed this to continued mine-plan optimisation work including cut-off grade and pillar-size adjustments identified in a June 2026 announcement, and the additional time needed to secure the Michigan grant, rather than to any fundamental setback. An updated feasibility study incorporating these changes is due in the first half of 2027.Copperwood's economics carry substantial leverage to the copper price. The 2023 feasibility study produced a $168 million after-tax NPV and 18% IRR at a $4 per pound copper price which were insufficient at the time to attract meaningful capital. With long-term consensus pricing now closer to $5 per pound, company materials put the updated NPV at $507 million (33% IRR), rising to $855 million (48% IRR) at $6 per pound, a level copper is already approaching, with futures trading near $6.90/lb. The updated study will also incorporate the Michigan grant, a 1.6-percentage-point copper recovery improvement from newly adopted Jameson cell flotation technology, and potential mine-life extensions from the project's 79 million tonnes of inferred resource, partially offset by three years of cost escalation.On financing, the Michigan grant is one piece of a broader non-dilutive stack. A separate US$50 million application is pending with the U.S. Department of Defense, though management expects to receive closer to $20-25 million based on precedent. The largest component remains a $250 million Letter of Interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which remains non-binding; Highland Copper is running a competitive process to convert it into binding debt terms, potentially bringing in additional partners alongside existing 28% shareholder Orion Mine Finance. Together, non-dilutive sources could cover an estimated 70-80% of the roughly $400 million capital requirement, leaving $100-125 million to be raised as equity - which O'Shea expects to draw from a mix of Canadian, U.S. and other institutional investors once binding debt terms and the updated feasibility study are secured.The company has also strengthened its leadership bench ahead of a potential build decision, adding Peter Hemstead (ex-Capstone Copper) as interim CFO and Trace Arlaud (ex-Rio Tinto Resolution Copper) as Project Director within the past six months. For investors, the key milestones to track are the H1 2027 feasibility study, the Q3 2027 conclusion of the debt financing process, and progress converting the EXIM letter to binding terms.View Highland Copper's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/highland-copperSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with George Salamis, President & CEO, Integra Resources Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/made-in-america-integra-resources-tsxvitr-visiting-the-florida-canyon-mine-11309Recording date: 22nd September 2026Integra Resources (TSXV: ITR | NYSE: ITRG) is a Great Basin-focused gold-silver company built around one producing asset and two advanced development projects. Florida Canyon, an open-pit heap leach mine in Nevada acquired for $68 million in 2024, is the company's cash engine. Early 2026 was rocky: two consecutive quarters missed internal guidance, driven by ore-haulage bottlenecks and difficulty blending low-grade stockpile material with in-situ ore. Both issues are now described as resolved or substantially improved. A July 2026 technical report and updated mine plan lifted Florida Canyon's reserve by 74% to 1.19 million ounces, extended mine life three years to 2033, and raised average annual production guidance 17% to 82,000 ounces, with $0.8 billion in projected life-of-mine after-tax free cash flow.That cash flow is earmarked to fund Integra's two growth projects. DeLamar, in southwestern Idaho, is the flagship: a 2025 feasibility study shows a base-case after-tax NPV5% of $774 million (rising to $1.9 billion at spot gold prices), a 46% base-case IRR (97% at spot), and payback of under two years at base case, compressing to roughly one year at current prices. Permitting has accelerated meaningfully - DeLamar's Notice of Intent was published in May 2026, and the project was added to the federal FAST-41 Transparency Projects Program in January 2026. A Record of Decision is targeted for H2 2027, with construction-start permits targeted for spring 2028. Integra has also signed a relationship agreement with the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes covering the project's development, and raised US$61 million in a February 2026 bought-deal financing to fund early works and land acquisition.Nevada North, the third asset, comprises the Wildcat and Mountain View deposits roughly 30 miles from Florida Canyon. A 2023 PEA outlined a 13-year, 80,000 ounce-per-year operation with a $310 million after-tax NPV5% at a conservative $1,700/oz gold price assumption; an updated technical report is underway.A distinct, lower-capital growth avenue also exists within Florida Canyon itself: reclassifying historical inter-pit "saddle" ground and decades-old waste dumps as ore now that gold prices make previously sub-economic material viable. Conceptual estimates for two dump targets alone range up to 56 million tonnes combined, though none of this is yet a defined mineral resource.Management, led by CEO George Salamis alongside a leadership team with prior roles at SilverCrest Metals, Kinross and Perpetua Resources, has stated an explicit long-term ambition to build toward a 250,000-300,000 ounce gold-equivalent multi-asset production platform and is actively evaluating acquisitions to accelerate that path, while emphasising organic funding capacity from Florida Canyon's cash flow. Combined resource inventory across the three assets stands at 7.7 million ounces gold-equivalent measured and indicated plus 4.3 million ounces inferred. With roughly US$111 million in treasury as of mid-2026 and no near-term dilutive financing need flagged, the key catalysts for investors to track are Q3/Q4 2026 production against guidance, further resource updates from the 2026 drilling programme, and progress toward DeLamar's H2 2027 Record of Decision.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/integra-resourcesSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Kiran Patankar, President & CEO of Maple Gold MinesOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/maple-gold-mines-tsxvmgm-52moz-gold-system-with-major-drill-growth-ahead-10207Recording date: 22nd September 2026Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV:MGM) is advancing the 100%-owned Douay/Joutel Gold Project, a 481 km² land package on the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone in Québec's Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The project hosts a combined resource of 905,000 ounces Indicated and 4.3 million ounces Inferred, for about 5.2 million ounces in total. Douay contributes large-scale, lower-grade open-pit and underground mineralisation, with 779,000 ounces Indicated at 1.33 g/t and 3.3 million ounces Inferred at 0.84 g/t. Joutel adds a maiden underground resource of 126,000 ounces Indicated at 4.53 g/t and 992,000 ounces Inferred at 4.11 g/t.The main development over the past year is a change in the company's focus. According to President and CEO Kiran Patankar, Maple Gold's market value has risen roughly tenfold in twelve months. The company has since completed an internal scoping study that compared processing flowsheets, throughput rates of 5,000 to 40,000 tonnes per day, and whether the deposits justify a standalone mill. Patankar says the study concluded the project could support two mines. The emerging concept is a central mill near Douay, with high-grade Joutel material trucked roughly 25-30 kilometres to lift the overall head grade. Tender processes for PEA engineering firms are under way, and an updated resource and PEA are targeted around mid-2027.Joutel is the near-term driver. Agnico Eagle mined 1.1 million ounces there at 6.5 g/t between 1974 and 1993, using a 6 g/t cut-off. Patankar says material below that grade was never drill tested. Maple Gold's winter programme hit the target horizon in 19 of 22 holes, including 8.6 g/t over 4.2 metres between the Eagle and Telbel shafts, and extended high-grade mineralisation 450 metres beyond the old workings. None of this drilling is in the current resource. The fully funded C$9 million, 25,000 metre fall programme targets resource conversion, infill and expansion, with a stated goal of doubling the Joutel resource at similar grades.Management says it has built conservatism into its assumptions. The Joutel resource excludes a 100 metre crown pillar and 10 metre buffers around old stopes. The internal study assumed new shafts rather than reuse of existing ones, and a 77% recovery rate compared with the 90%-plus Patankar says Agnico Eagle achieved. A new metallurgical programme should provide current recovery data.On valuation, Maple Gold trades near $30 per ounce of resource. Patankar argues that most comparable Canadian projects already have PEAs and trade on NPV multiples, so publishing an economic study is the main route to a re-rating. The company held about C$20 million in cash at the time of the interview and says it is funded through 2027. Agnico Eagle is the largest shareholder at approximately 12.5%.The key risks are the high proportion of Inferred ounces, the unpublished status of the internal study, reliance on historical metallurgical data and Agnico Eagle's back-in right to a 50% interest. Near-term catalysts include Joutel fall drill results, pending Douay assays, an expansion to four to six rigs this winter, and the mid-2027 resource update and PEA.View Maple Gold Mines' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/maple-gold-mines-ltdSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Drew Clark, President & CEO of Summit RoyaltiesOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/summit-royalties-tsxvsum-secures-us50m-credit-facility-to-fund-cash-flowing-deals-push-11308Recording date: 22nd September 2026Summit Royalties (TSXV:SUM, OTCQX:SUMMF) is a precious metals royalty and streaming company that began trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in November 2025. In under a year it has assembled a portfolio of around 46 royalties and streams, completed the Star Royalties acquisition, bought a royalty on Newmont's Saddle North deposit and arranged its first credit facility. President and CEO Drew Clark says Summit has not raised any money since going public.The investment case rests on a visible production step-up. Four assets currently generate revenue: a 1% NSR on West Red Lake Gold Mines' Madsen mine in Ontario, a 50% silver stream on Orezone Gold's Bomboré mine in Burkina Faso, a 2% royalty on Iwatani's Keysbrook mineral sands operation in Western Australia, and a 0.5% NSR on Denarius Metals' Zancudo mine in Colombia. Bomboré dominates for now, at an estimated 68% of 2026 revenue.Two development assets are scheduled to enter production in 2027. Copperstone in Arizona, operated by Mining Americas, is permitted, funded and under construction, with first gold targeted for mid-2027. Summit holds a 4% gold stream there, paying 25% of spot per ounce delivered, and a maiden open pit resource is expected in H2 2026. Pitangui in Brazil, operated by Jaguar Mining, pays Summit $80 per ounce on the first 250,000 ounces before converting to a 1.5% NSR. Development is expected to start in H2 2026, subject to an installation licence.Consensus estimates cited by Clark have revenue doubling in 2027 and again in 2028, with output above 4,000 gold equivalent ounces by 2028. Summit has not issued formal guidance but intends to. Because general and administrative costs run at $1.5 million to $2 million a year and are expected to stay broadly flat, most of that incremental revenue should reach the bottom line.The funding model is shifting. Summit's $25 million revolving facility from National Bank of Canada, with a $25 million accordion, is undrawn and costs between 6% and 7% when drawn, depending on leverage. Clark's argument is simple. When an acquired asset's revenue exceeds its interest cost, cash flow per share rises immediately and no shares are issued. That matters for a company trading at roughly 0.7 times P/NAV, where equity is an expensive currency.Valuation is the core of the opportunity. At a market capitalisation of US$109 million, Summit trades at the lowest P/NAV and price-to-2027 cash flow multiples in its presented peer group. Clark believes the market begins treating royalty companies as established players once revenue passes a threshold he now places near $20 million.Longer-dated optionality comes from AurMac, Banyan Gold's 8.6 million ounce Yukon project where Summit holds 0.5% to 2.0% royalties ahead of a PEA, and from Saddle North, which Clark expects to repay its C$5 million cost within a year of production.The risks are clear. Revenue is concentrated in Bomboré until 2027, both development assets are pre-production and could face delays, and the portfolio lacks a single cornerstone stream. Investors should track Copperstone construction, the Pitangui installation licence, the first facility drawdown and Summit's maiden guidance.View Summit Royalties' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/summit-royalties Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Allen Sabet, CEO, Mogotes Metals Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/mogotes-metals-tsxvmog-district-scale-explorer-triples-drilling-to-20000m-through-2027-11919Recording date: 21st September 2026Mogotes Metals Inc. (TSXV:MOG, FSE:OY4, OTCQB:MOGMF) has spent 2026 assembling a three-project copper-gold portfolio spanning three continents, and CEO Allen Sabet's pitch to investors rests on a single screening discipline applied consistently across all of them: only advance ground that already carries drilled intercepts of at least 100 metres at 1% copper-equivalent, in a jurisdiction the company can realistically permit and finance.The flagship remains Filo Sur, in Argentina and Chile's Vicuña district, immediately south of Lundin Mining's Filo del Sol discovery. A 2025–2026 season of 6,208 metres delivered two discoveries on the Macho Muerto Fault Zone — the high-grade Albor breccia and the Cruz del Sur gold-copper porphyry — alongside expanded targets at Cuenca and Luz del Sol. Rio Tinto closed a US$15 million strategic placement in August, taking roughly 5% of the company and 15 months of project-level exclusivity on Filo Sur, ahead of a 2026–2027 season planned at up to 20,000 metres.Beyond Filo Sur, two option-stage assets add geographic and seasonal diversification. In Montana, Mogotes holds an earn-in over Rio Tinto's Copper Cliffs porphyry: US$16 million of exploration spend buys 51% of the project, with Rio Tinto entitled to pay US$32 million within 90 days of that stage completing to buy back a 2% controlling interest. Drilling of 8,000–9,000 metres is planned pending permits, potentially starting before winter. In Kazakhstan, a three-year option over the Beskauga deposit gives Mogotes access to a historical, unverified resource of several million gold-equivalent ounces at drilling costs the company describes as among the lowest available anywhere — supported by its own on-site sample-preparation lab. Up to 50,000 metres of drilling is planned this year, targeting a preliminary economic assessment within six months.Sabet frames the three-project structure as intentional rather than opportunistic: Filo Sur drills in the Southern Hemisphere summer, Copper Cliffs and Beskauga in the Northern Hemisphere season, spreading news flow and reducing the single-season, single-catalyst risk that typically affects one-asset explorers. The company reports a treasury of approximately C$75 million, which it says funds the coming year's combined ~80,000-metre programme.The risks scale with the structure's ambition. Two of the three projects remain contractually contingent — Mogotes must keep meeting staged spending commitments to retain or grow its interest, and Rio Tinto's Copper Cliffs buy-back right could cap Mogotes' ultimate ownership at a minority stake. The Beskauga resource has not been verified under current NI 43-101 standards. And running three permitting and drilling programmes concurrently across Argentina/Chile, the United States and Kazakhstan introduces jurisdictional and currency exposure that a single-asset peer would not carry.For investors, the near-term catalyst set is unusually dense for a company of this size: Kazakhstan assays within months, a possible Montana drill start in October, and Filo Sur's own season running inside Rio Tinto's 15-month exclusivity clock. Whether that translates into a re-rating depends on whether Mogotes can execute all three simultaneously without diluting shareholders or ceding control of the projects it has spent the past year assembling.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/mogotes-metalsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Recording date: 16th September 2026Olive Resource Capital's Samuel Pelaez and Derek Macpherson used this Compass episode, recorded the day after the Federal Reserve's September rate decision, to address two distinct but connected investor questions: what the Fed's move means for the resource complex, and what the fund is watching for as it heads into the year's two most important precious metals conferences.The headline takeaway is that neither guest sees the unanimous 25 basis point hike to 3.75-4.00% as a meaningful threat to their long-term commodity thesis. The muted reaction in gold and the US Dollar Index, alongside a US two-year Treasury yield already signalling further hikes, supports their view that the move was fully priced in rather than a genuine surprise to markets, even if it surprised the guests personally. More importantly for positioning, Pelaez's framing of gold's correlation with real rather than nominal interest rates offers a specific, testable lens for investors trying to judge how much further tightening the metal can absorb before its monetary debasement thesis is genuinely challenged. Investors should note the tail risk both guests raised without dwelling on: a hiking cycle aggressive enough to tip the US into recession remains a historical possibility that could force a more disruptive repricing than a single 25 basis point move.On timing, the pair's read that the Fed is unlikely to hike again at its 27-28 October meeting, a week ahead of the US midterm elections, is a near-term calendar marker worth tracking against actual Fed communication over the coming weeks, rather than treating it as settled.The conference-season discussion carries the more actionable content for stock-pickers. The core shift the pair identify from a market where companies needed to prove they could raise capital to one where most already have it and now need to prove they can deploy it, this reframes what investors should listen for in company presentations this autumn: tangible project milestones and catalysts, not just balance sheet strength. Olive's specific focus on finding a copper name to replace Arizona Sonoran Copper following its acquisition signals where the fund sees the next wave of M&A activity concentrating, and its continued but qualified conviction in Gladiator Metals offers a concrete example of a name investors may want to benchmark against whatever emerges from Beaver Creek and Colorado Springs.The Bravo Mining anecdote is worth flagging as a broader behavioural point rather than a stock-specific one: both guests explicitly warn against anchoring too heavily on a name's history, whether that's a story once dismissed as overvalued or one an investor has simply stopped tracking. For a fund with Olive's track record of identifying re-rating candidates before broader market recognition, that openness to revisiting prior "no"s is itself a signal of where they expect this cycle's opportunities to concentrate: not necessarily in new discoveries, but in familiar names whose valuations or fundamentals have shifted enough to warrant a second look.Learn more: https://cruxinvestor.comSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Stephen Mullowney, Director & CEO of TRX Gold Corp.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/trx-gold-tsxtnx-doubling-gold-production-through-expansion-and-re-investment-allocations-4208Recording date: 16th September 2026TRX Gold Corporation (TSX:TRX) (NYSE American:TRX) has spent five years turning the Buckreef Gold Project in Tanzania from a stalled exploration asset into a self-funding gold producer, and its preliminary fiscal 2026 results are the clearest evidence yet that the model is working. Full-year gold production reached a record 29,650 ounces, a 57% increase on 2025 and the top end of the company's own guidance range, while Q4 alone delivered 8,173 ounces, up 28% year-on-year. Realised gold prices which rose 46% for the full year to approximately $4,386 per ounce compounded the production gains into a run-rate EBITDA CEO Stephen Mullowney puts at approximately $80 million today, with a stated target of $200-250 million within two to three years.What differentiates TRX Gold from many junior producers pursuing similar growth is how that growth is being financed. The company is mid-build on a new 3,500 tonnes-per-day (tpd) SAG/ball mill circuit, running alongside its existing, recently upgraded 2,000 tpd plant, for a theoretical combined capacity of 5,500 tpd which is comfortably above the 3,000 tpd envisioned in the company's May 2025 PEA. The roughly $50 million cost is being funded entirely from operating cash flow, with the company carrying zero debt and $30 million of cash on the balance sheet, plus undrawn credit facilities. Management's stated fallback, should more capital be required, is debt rather than equity which is a meaningful distinction in a sector where dilution is often the default financing tool.The operating jurisdiction adds a further layer to the case. Buckreef sits in Tanzania's Geita Region alongside established operations run by Barrick, AngloGold Ashanti, Perseus and Shanta, giving TRX Gold access to local contractors, supply chains and banking relationships that reduce build risk relative to more frontier settings. The project itself is held through a 55/45 joint venture with Tanzania's state mining company, Stamico, with TRX Gold holding board control and capital recovery preference on its approximately $30 million project loan; management is in discussions to move toward a more standard national resource framework, which would address the currently dilutable nature of the government's 45% interest.Near-term catalysts include continued ramp-up of the mill upgrades already boosting throughput and recovery, tangible construction progress on the new SAG/ball mill circuit, and an updated PEA expected by early 2027 that should formalise a revised, open-pit-first mine sequence. Exploration capacity is also scaling quickly, from two drill rigs currently to five within four to six months, targeting both resource growth at the existing 1.5-million-ounce-plus resource base and new discoveries across ten geophysical targets and the Stamford Bridge and Anfield zones. Recent addition to the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index adds a structural liquidity catalyst on top of the operational story. The principal risks are the model's sensitivity to a sustained gold-price pullback and the still-unresolved Stamico framework renegotiation which are both worth monitoring though neither appears to threaten the current growth trajectory.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/trx-goldSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Rob Bruggeman, Director & CEO of Outcrop SilverOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/outcrop-silver-gold-tsxvocg-12m-drilling-to-expand-high-grade-silver-resource-7129Recording date: 16th September 2026Outcrop Silver & Gold Corporation (TSX:OCG) has repositioned its investment case around a more rigorously classified, and larger, mineral resource at its 100%-owned Santa Ana project in Tolima, Colombia. The September 14, 2026 Updated Mineral Resource Estimate reports 29.9 million ounces silver-equivalent (AgEq) Indicated at 518.7 g/t, plus 27.9 million ounces AgEq Inferred at 368.5 g/t - a combined 57.8 million ounces across 13 vein systems, built on 130,006 metres of drilling. Despite total drilling nearly tripling since the 2023 maiden estimate, Indicated ounces grew a comparatively modest 23.5%, because the company applied a stricter classification standard requiring minimum drill-hole support - evidence, management argues, of a more defensible resource rather than a diluted one.The update comes under new leadership. Rob Bruggeman, an equities analyst by background who previously chaired Aberra Silver through its growth from under $10 million to over $2 billion in market capitalisation, became President and CEO roughly five months ago. He has been explicit that he prioritised a realistic resource over headline size, and has brought in Colombia-based geologist Carlos Torres as Vice President of Exploration.Grade remains Santa Ana's standout feature: at 518.7 g/t AgEq Indicated, it compares favourably to publicly disclosed primary silver peers, with individual veins - Las Maras, El Dorado, Paraiso and Guadual - running from roughly 590 to 855 g/t AgEq. Metallurgical recoveries of 96.3% silver and 98.5% gold, from a simple gravity-plus-flotation flowsheet, support management's view that initial capital costs can stay low, aided by existing highway, power and water infrastructure at the site.The next catalyst is a Preliminary Economic Assessment, starting end of September 2026 and expected in early 2027. Management has sized a preliminary target of roughly 800-1,000 tonnes per day, built from combined Indicated and Inferred resources, with a minimum mining width of one metre reflecting Colombia's cost-effective, labour-intensive cut-and-fill mining methods. A pilot plant, estimated at approximately C$5 million, is planned as an execution proof point ahead of any larger build decision.Exploration upside remains material: twelve known vein systems are not yet included in the resource, and the 17-kilometre mineralized corridor remains open at both ends. At the company's historical drilling productivity of roughly 445 ounces AgEq added per metre, reaching a stated 100 million ounce target would require an estimated 95,000 further metres of drilling - about two-and-a-half years at the current 35,000 metre annual pace.Ownership and financing support the story: Eric Sprott holds approximately 20% and Jupiter Asset Management approximately 9%, with C$15 million cash and C$8 million in in-the-money warrants as of August 2026. Colombia's government has also repealed ten restrictive mining resolutions as of September 2026 and targeted $4 billion in mining investment through 2030. Management's explicit near-term goal is to shift the market's valuation approach from a rough in-situ ounce metric toward a discounted cash flow basis - a shift the PEA is designed to enable.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/outcrop-silver-goldSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Robert Eckford, CEO of Rua GoldRecording date: 16th September 2026Rua Gold (TSX:RUA, NZX:RGI) is a New Zealand-focused gold explorer attempting one of the fastest explorer-to-developer transitions in the junior sector. Its strategy is built around New Zealand's Fast-Track Approvals regime, which sets a six-month decision window for listed projects. OceanaGold's Wharekirauponga project has already been approved through this process in under four months.The company controls more than 120,000 hectares in the Reefton Goldfield, around 95% of a district that historically produced over 2 million ounces of gold at 9-50 g/t. Its focus is Auld Creek, a gold-antimony deposit that early miners avoided because of its antimony content. Mineralisation begins at surface. The February 2026 MRE outlined about 200,000 AuEq ounces, split between 54,000 ounces Indicated at 5.7 g/t AuEq and 148,000 ounces Inferred at 3.7 g/t AuEq.Rather than drill for years to build scale, management has taken this starter resource straight into permitting. Auld Creek was accepted as a Fast-Track listed project in July 2026. The substantive application is due in October 2026. CEO Robert Eckford expects the six-month clock to start in November, with a decision targeted for Q2 2027.The April 2026 PEA supports a compact underground operation. It models 5.5 years of production at about 26,665 AuEq ounces a year, with initial capital of $132.6 million and AISC of $1,850/oz. At $3,300/oz gold, the after-tax NPV5% is $42.4 million, with a 17% IRR and 3.3-year payback. At $4,700/oz, the NPV rises to US$113.0 million and the IRR to 36%. Eckford is clear that this starter case exists to secure a permit. The plant is being designed to expand from 250,000 to 500,000 tonnes a year under a hub-and-spoke model, with a second Reefton deposit expected to emerge by Q1 2027.Drilling continues to strengthen the resource. Rua Gold has completed 19,600 metres at Auld Creek. Recent results include 0.6 metres at 82.9 g/t gold and 24.8% antimony, and the company has reported its first visible gold at the project. The deposit extends over 1,000 metres along strike and more than 500 metres down dip, and remains open in all directions. An updated MRE and PFS are due in Q4 2026.Antimony is central to the financing plan rather than the valuation. Eckford said metal traders are drawn to the by-product in a way they would not be to a gold-only project. The company is in offtake discussions with around four groups and expects traders to take part in project financing from mid-2027.The balance sheet is in good shape. A C$33 million raise in January 2026 was heavily oversubscribed. Cash stood at about C$25 million at the time of the interview. That funds the PFS, permitting and a 9,000-metre maiden drill programme at the Glamorgan epithermal project on the North Island, which begins in Q4 2026. Key risks are permitting timing, modest starter-case economics at long-term prices, project financing terms and antimony price volatility.Learn more: https://cruxinvestor.comSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Caitlin Jeffs, President & CEO of Red Metal ResourcesRecording date: 16th September 2026Red Metal Resources Ltd. (CSE:RMES) is a Vancouver-based explorer focused on the Carrizal copper-gold-silver-cobalt property in the coastal cordillera of Chile's Atacama region, near Vallenar. President and CEO Caitlin Jeffs is a geologist who began her career with Placer Dome and later co-founded Fladgate Exploration Consulting. With fellow Red Metal director Michael Thompson, she took Kesselrun Resources from its 2012 founding to a sale to Gold X2 in December 2025.The company's distinguishing feature is its funding model. Chile allows small operators to mine up to 5,000 tonnes per month on individual concessions and sell ore to state-run ENAMI processing plants. Red Metal rents selected claims to experienced artisanal miners and takes a 10% net sales royalty paid directly by the plant. At the Farellon 1/8 concession, a 1.5% vendor royalty reduces Red Metal's net share to 8.5% until the vendor has received $600,000. The arrangement also gives Red Metal underground access to observe the mineralisation. It has the option to buy bulk samples at the plant price and keeps its exploration rights.The first operator, Minera KMT SpA, signed in May 2026 with a seven-month development period and a minimum rate of 2,500 tonnes per month thereafter. It delivered about 592 tonnes of copper sulphide ore to ENAMI last August, roughly four months early. Red Metal can cancel the lease if the minimum is missed for three consecutive months. Earlier small-scale mining on the ground averaged 1.87% copper. Jeffs expects similar grades that could produce a royalty of $35,000 to $50,000 a month. Final ENAMI assays and settlement for the first deliveries are pending. A second lease over the Irene and Margarita claims, with operator Catalina, targets the same monthly rate within about six months.The larger prize is exploration. About 9,000 metres of drilling has tested roughly 1.5 km of a 5 km vein system. It showed continuous mineralisation with better grades and widths towards 200 metres depth. Mapping has traced about 15 km of veining towards the historic Carrizal Alto mine, which flooded in 1891 at around 500 metres depth. A LiDAR survey and a 3D IP survey have followed. The southern IP block produced chargeability anomalies over the drilled zone and over veins mapped at surface. Northern-block results are still to be released. Jeffs is targeting an underground operation grading 1% copper or better across three parallel veins, with a long-term goal of 50 to 100 million tonnes. Drilling is planned for late 2026 at about US$350 per metre. The full path could require 50,000 to 100,000 metres.Red Metal has 61 million shares outstanding and about 80 million fully diluted, with options and warrants priced between 6 and 15 cents. Cash was about $300,000 at the time of the interview, so new funding is needed before drilling. The key watch items are the first ENAMI settlement, KMT's progress towards 2,500 tonnes per month, northern-block IP results and the first holes of the late 2026 programme.Learn more: https://cruxinvestor.comSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Thomas Lamb, CEO of Myriad Uranium Corp.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/made-in-america-myriad-uranium-csem-americas-uranium-gap-the-wyoming-project-closing-it-10614Recording date: 16th September 2026Myriad Uranium Corp. (CSE:M) is a US-focused uranium exploration company whose flagship asset, the Copper Mountain Uranium Project in Fremont County, Wyoming, carries one of the largest historical uranium resource bases in the country. The project was extensively drilled in the 1970s by Union Pacific which delineated seven deposits and designed a conventional six-pit mine plan before uranium prices collapsed following the Three Mile Island incident in 1979. Those historical efforts left behind a resource estimate of 26.63 Mlbs eU₃O₈ in 48.95 Mt at 269 ppm, and a separate 1982 U.S. Department of Energy-commissioned study (Bendix Field Engineering) identified an exploration target of up to 655 Mlbs across a wider assessment area. Neither figure is a current, NI 43-101-compliant mineral resource, and Myriad is careful to flag both as historical and, in the case of the exploration target, conceptual.Myriad has spent the past two years re-testing that legacy. A 34-hole Phase I programme at the Canning deposit, completed in November 2025, found that modern laboratory assays consistently outperformed the historical gamma-probe grades - by 20% at a 200 ppm cut-off, rising to 60% at 1,000 ppm - a pattern the company attributes to radiometric disequilibrium not captured by 1970s-era probe technology alone. That result underpins the current Phase II programme, a roughly 5,000-metre, two-stage effort launched in July 2026 and funded from the company's own cash position (approximately $10 million against a budgeted $6 million spend). Stage 1 is retesting the historic deposits - Gem, Hesitation, Arrowhead, Mint and continued work at Canning - while Stage 2 is testing new ground identified through district-wide radiometric and magnetic surveying, including the Lucky Cliff prospect, where four holes returned 50 mineralised intervals above 100 ppm eU₃O₈ entirely outside the historic resource footprint.Corporately, Myriad consolidated 100% ownership of Copper Mountain in August 2026 via merger with Rush Rare Metals Corp - the first time the district has had a single owner in nearly 50 years - and is preparing a NASDAQ or NYSE American listing application, described as roughly 80% complete. The company also holds a 23-target breccia pipe exploration portfolio on the Arizona Strip near Energy Fuels' high-grade Pinyon Plain Mine, optioned to Wedgemount Resources on a partner-funded earn-in structure, and retains a 10% free carried interest plus a strategic alliance in the Red Basin Project in New Mexico, sold in May 2026 to technology-investor-backed Subatomic for a better-than-6x cash-on-cash return.As of September 2026, Myriad had approximately 140.1 million shares outstanding (195.0 million fully diluted) and a market capitalisation near C$67.3 million, with no reported short interest. CEO Thomas Lamb has framed the company's capital approach around avoiding the fate of peers that funded large resource-confirmation drilling programmes without a corresponding re-rating, positioning Copper Mountain's next drill results due through the remainder of Phase II as the key near-term catalyst for the stock.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/myriad-uraniumSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Ron Heeks, Managing Director of Larvotto ResourcesOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/larvotto-resources-asxlrv-australias-largest-antimony-mine-enters-construction-phase-8209Recording date: 3rd September 2026Larvotto Resources has officially transitioned from developer to producer, commissioning the processing plant at its Hillgrove Antimony-Gold Project in New South Wales on August 31st 2026. The milestone met management's targeted timeline, positioning the operation to ramp toward full production of 500,000 tonnes of ore annually. Once steady-state operations are reached, Hillgrove is projected to deliver 40,500 ounces of gold and 4,900 tonnes of antimony per year, the latter representing roughly 7% of global antimony supply.Operational efficiency has exceeded initial projections, with plant operating hours tracking ahead of schedule. By establishing a residential workforce in nearby Armidale instead of a fly-in, fly-out model, Larvotto reduced required personnel from 250 to approximately 180. The project also benefits from locked-in offtake agreements exceeding 12 months, sending gold concentrate to Glencore and antimony concentrate to Wogen Resources.Substantial exploration and metallurgical upside have further bolstered the asset. Larvotto recently identified the Midas zone, a new gold lode located just 50 metres from current underground workings. Midas holds a conceptual exploration target of 223,000 to 2.95 million ounces of gold equivalent, offering low-capital near-term integration into the mine plan. Concurrently, metallurgical testing has demonstrated 90% recovery of tungsten into the rougher float. With global tungsten prices climbing sharply, Larvotto plans to commercialize the metal as an unmodeled third revenue stream.Despite delivering the project on time, fully funded, and amid surging commodity prices with gold doubling price and antimony roughly tripled since acquisition, Larvotto's share price has posted a comparatively modest 25% gain. Backed by $87.9 million in cash as of mid-2026, management remains focused on securing "Modification 5" regulatory approvals for full-scale capacity, advancing its Mt Isa copper tenure, and proving up the Midas discovery as Western demand for critical minerals intensifies.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/larvotto-resources-limitedSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Bart Jaworski, CEO of Group Eleven ResourcesOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/group-eleven-resources-tsxvzng-new-high-grade-lead-zinc-discovery-at-stonepark-11079Recording date: 17th September 2026Group Eleven Resources (TSXV:ZNG) has added a fresh dimension to its Ballywire discovery in Ireland: materially higher germanium grades, confirmed through a more accurate assay method. The company re-analysed 220 previously submitted samples from five drill holes, switching from lithium borate fusion to sodium peroxide fusion - a technique that better retains germanium during sample digestion. The result was a 68% average increase in reported germanium grades across the re-tested samples, with the strongest individual interval reaching 94 g/t Ge, well above typical grades of 20-40 g/t seen across the batch.This matters because germanium is not an incidental addition. CEO Bart Jaworski explained that the metal tracks closely with sphalerite, the zinc-bearing mineral already central to Ballywire's zinc-lead-silver-copper discovery: "Whenever we see high zinc numbers, we tend to have the highest germanium numbers along with it." In practice, this means Group Eleven is capturing a scarce, high-value byproduct metal within intervals it would already be reporting for zinc, lead, silver and copper - without additional exploration cost.The timing is notable. Germanium, used in AI infrastructure and fibre optics, trades at roughly US$200 per ounce outside China, up about 25% over the past year, as Chinese export restrictions imposed in 2023 continue to limit Western supply. Very little of the world's germanium comes from dedicated mines; it is recovered almost entirely as a byproduct of a small number of zinc smelters, making new supply additions structurally scarce. Jaworski described the dynamic bluntly: "There's not enough in the Western world coming that we need to backfill for China."Operationally, Group Eleven remains well-funded. A C$12 million financing closed in March 2026 is supporting a 67,000-metre drill campaign for 2026, with four rigs currently active at Ballywire and roughly 15 additional holes in the pipeline. A further 110 samples from those 15 holes are still to be reassayed for germanium, suggesting more grade revisions could follow. Ballywire itself remains substantially untested: of four gravity anomalies spanning a 6-kilometre trend, drilling to date has concentrated almost entirely on one.Investors should treat today's news as an enhancement to an existing thesis rather than a new one. The core investment case at Group Eleven still rests on the scale and grade of the underlying zinc-lead-silver-copper system at Ballywire, and on the path toward a maiden resource estimate. Germanium adds a genuine, if still unquantified, economic sweetener - genuine because the metal is present in meaningful, high-grade concentrations; unquantified because metallurgical test work establishing recoveries and payability has not yet been carried out for any metal at Ballywire, germanium included. With a small, tightly balanced global germanium market, a discovery of this scale could carry a strategic premium once those metallurgical questions are answered - but that remains a forward catalyst rather than a settled fact today.

Interview with Allen Sabet, CEO of Mogotes Metals Inc.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/mogotes-metals-tsxvmog-major-copper-gold-discovery-at-filo-sur-10342Recording date: 16th September 2026Mogotes Metals closed out its first full drilling season at the Filo Sur project with two discoveries in hand and a validating investment from one of the world's largest mining companies. The Vicuña district straddling Argentina and Chile has drawn intense attention since Lundin Mining and BHP's Filo del Sol discovery redefined the region's prospectivity, and Mogotes' ground sits immediately along strike from that deposit and its structural corridor.The season's headline result came from Albor, where a drill hole eturned 180 metres at 0.98% copper equivalent from 108 metres depth, including a higher-grade core of 58 metres at 1.77% CuEq,  the strongest single intercept drilled at Filo Sur to date. A second discovery at Cruz del Sur, roughly four kilometres to the south, returned two broad intervals exceeding 300 metres each at lower but still meaningful grades, with mineralisation open in every direction. Both discoveries sit on the Macho Muerto Fault Zone, a 10-kilometre structure that CEO Allen Sabet describes as the project's primary control on mineralisation, and one that remains mostly untested.Two further targets, Luz del Sol and Cuenca, were advanced this season through shallow drilling and channel sampling rather than full discovery-grade intercepts. Both returned encouraging but sub-economic results directly above geophysical anomalies interpreted as porphyry vectors, positioning them as first-pass drill targets in the coming season. A fifth target, Meseta, remains entirely untested after difficult ground conditions forced its deferral.The more significant near-term development for investors may be corporate rather than geological. On August 2026, Mogotes closed a US$15 million strategic investment from Rio Tinto Canada Inc., pricing the placement at a 50–70% premium to where shares had been trading. The deal establishes a Strategic & Technical Alliance giving Mogotes access to Rio Tinto's geoscience capability, while granting Rio Tinto a 15-month exclusivity period over any project-level transaction at Filo Sur, a right to match competing proposals, and a top-up right to 9.99% ownership. Sabet was careful to note that Mogotes retains full discretion over its own technical and drilling decisions, and remains free to pursue corporate-level transactions, bringing in new investors or fielding a takeover approach, despite the project-level exclusivity.That exclusivity period effectively sets the clock on a defined catalyst window: Rio Tinto will be watching the outcome of the 2026–2027 drill season, planned at up to 20,000 metres and more than triple this season's total, to decide whether to pursue a larger transaction. The company's roughly C$75 million treasury funds that programme, along with parallel option projects: Montana's Copper Cliff (a Rio Tinto-optioned porphyry system, earn-in to 51% for US$16 million) and Kazakhstan's Beskauga deposit (a multi-million-ounce gold-copper deposit with drill results due within weeks). For investors, the combination of an expanded, better-funded exploration programme and a defined major-investor decision point makes the next 12 to 15 months a genuine inflection period for the stock with the usual caveat that porphyry-district promise still has to be converted into defined, continuous tonnage.View Mogotes Metals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/mogotes-metalsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Adam Kiley, CEO, Frontier EnergyOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/frontier-energy-asxfhe-federal-backing-transforms-outlook-for-wa-renewables-developer-6941Recording date: 15th September 2026Frontier Energy Limited (ASX:FHE) has reached the stage that most renewable energy developers never do: fully funded, fully contracted, and building. Stage One of its Waroona Renewable Energy Project in Western Australia comprises 132MW of solar generation and an 81.5MW, 6.9-hour battery storage system, at a total capital cost of A$310 million plus A$22 million contingency. A A$110 million equity raise has lifted institutional ownership on the register to around 30%, while Natixis CIB and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation have signed an underwriting letter for up to A$280 million in credit-approved debt facilities. Financial close is targeted for October or November 2026, with first debt drawdown in the first quarter of 2027.The project's risk profile is unusually contained for its stage. Frontier used a free-issue contracting model, buying equipment directly from tier-one suppliers - LONGi, Trina, SMA, Nextracker - on fixed-price terms and supplying it to EPC contractor Monford, insulating the budget from input cost inflation. Long-lead items were ordered up to 12 months in advance, and a structured early-works process with the EPC surfaced scope gaps before financial close rather than during construction. Site mobilisation began in mid-September 2026, with peak construction workforce (around 200 people) expected from January 2027 and first revenue generation targeted for 2028.Revenue certainty is the other pillar of the investment case. Independent forecaster Aurora, engaged by the project's lenders, models average annual revenue of A$72.5 million over the first five years, of which A$32 million comes from fixed-price Reserve Capacity payments locked until 2032. The project has also been selected for the federal Capacity Investment Scheme, which - alongside Reserve Capacity - extends a revenue floor through to 2042, sharing 50% of any upside above an agreed ceiling with government. Against $10 million of forecast opex, that produces average EBITDA of A$62.5 million (an 86% margin), a post-tax IRR of approximately 20%, and average free cash flow of roughly A$35 million annually after debt servicing and tax in the first five years.Beyond Stage One, Frontier holds 830 hectares of freehold land in total and has development approval already in place for a similarly sized Stage Two (~130MW solar / ~80MW BESS), connected to Western Australia's largest 330kV transmission corridor. The state faces a structural supply gap - the market operator forecasts an additional 11.5 TWh of generation needed by 2031, rising to 18.3 TWh by 2036, as coal and gas capacity retires - compounded by fast-growing data centre demand, for which Frontier's uncommitted Stage One output and expandable substation design offer optionality.The key near-term catalysts are financial close on the debt package and execution of the CIS contract, both expected within weeks of the September 2026 interview. Longer term, the size of the opportunity depends on how quickly management can replicate Stage One's fixed-price, government-backed model for Stage Two and beyond.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/frontier-energySign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Shaun Heinrichs, President and CEO of 1911 GoldRecording date: 11th September 20261911 Gold Corporation (TSXV:AUMB) is working to restart the fully permitted True North Gold Project in Manitoba's Rice Lake Greenstone Belt, a mine and mill complex that has produced roughly 2.0 million ounces since the 1930s but has sat idle since 2015. President and CEO Shaun Heinrichs took over in mid-2022 and rebuilt both the technical team and the underlying resource before committing to a restart plan, bringing in Vice President of Exploration Michele Della Libera and Lions Gate Geological Consulting to independently re-estimate the deposit. The result, a 2024 Mineral Resource Estimate of 499,000 ounces indicated and 644,000 ounces inferred, underpins a 2026 Preliminary Economic Assessment that models a post-tax NPV5% of $391 million, an IRR of 105% and a 2.2 year payback at a base case gold price of US$3,000/oz.Rather than restart at full scale immediately, the company is running test mining across two zones, the Level 16 shaft mine and the Hinge ramp mine, using smaller equipment and narrower development than the project's previous operators, targeting 15% dilution against a history that saw dilution as high as 25% up to 80-100% under an earlier operators. Management frames this as the key operational lesson from True North's difficult past: equipment sizing, delineation drilling and mining method discipline, not resource quality, were what previously constrained the project.On the PEA's schedule, production ramps from roughly 26,000 ounces in the first partial year to a steady-state run rate near 58,000 ounces annually by 2029, at all-in sustaining costs of $1,897/oz. The remaining capital need, largely a new crushing circuit due for delivery through October 2026, is being funded through a $30 million credit facility with Auramet International, of which the first $15 million tranche was drawn in March 2026. Management's near-term financial priority is refinancing that facility ahead of its April 2027 amortisation start, which would otherwise coincide with the early stages of the production ramp.Beyond True North itself, 1911 Gold controls the entire 90 km Rice Lake Greenstone Belt land package, positioning the company for a hub-and-spoke growth model built around the existing, expandable mill. September 2026 drilling confirmed a high-grade structural link between the L10 zone and the larger 710-711 zone, and the company's 2026 inferred resource update for the Ogama-Rockland deposit, 45 km away, now stands at 712,000 ounces at 6.68 g/t Au. Both feed into a global resource update due in the fourth quarter of 2026. Importantly, a formal decision to commit to full-scale production has not yet been made; that decision is targeted for 2027, pending the results of 2026 trial mining and bulk sample processing. Investors should treat the current activity as a proof-of-concept phase for the operating model management intends to scale, rather than confirmation that production is already underway at design capacity.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/1911-goldSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Recording date: 11th September 2026Olive Resource Capital Inc. (TSXV:OC), represented on this Compass episode by Executive Chairman Derek Macpherson and President, CEO & CIO Samuel Pelaez, used the post-CPI window to lay out both its near-term macro read and its underlying investment process.On the macro side, the September CPI print came in at 3.4%, above the Fed's target band but in line with consensus, prompting a muted market reaction. With the Federal Reserve's next meeting imminent and roughly 60% odds of a hike priced in, both executives argued that current inflation, driven substantially by diesel prices tied to disruption around the conflict in Iran, is largely a supply-side phenomenon the Fed has limited tools to address directly. They are watching the US Dollar Index closely, currently at a key support level, as their preferred read on where commodity prices head next: a breakdown lower would support the bullish commodities case, while a technical bounce, potentially reinforced by a rate hike, would be a near-term headwind.The approaching US midterm elections add a second layer of expected volatility. Macpherson described a "midterm election vortex" of conflicting political headlines, citing a proposed household payment tied to Congressional control and a same-week reversal on copper tariff policy that briefly moved copper prices roughly 5%, as the kind of noise investors should expect through November without necessarily reflecting a change in underlying fundamentals.Despite the noise, both executives stressed their long-term thesis is unchanged: persistent fiscal deficits are debasing fiat currency over time, a dynamic reinforced by comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, layered on top of two decades of underinvestment in resource discovery that has left supply structurally short of demand. They frame Olive's closed-end structure, free of redemption pressure, as a structural advantage that lets the firm buy into weakness rather than being forced to sell.On process, Pelaez detailed the firm's portfolio construction discipline: every one to two months, the pair review every position in the portfolio, testing whether each investment thesis still holds and whether capital would be better deployed elsewhere. Position sizing scales with conviction and risk, from roughly 1-2% in binary, early-stage exploration bets up to 5-10% in high-conviction names, with the top ten holdings collectively targeted at more than half of total portfolio assets.The clearest working example offered was CANEX Metals Inc. (TSXV:CANX), where Olive built its position from an initial 6-to-9-cent entry around the early-stage consolidation of the Gold Basin district into CANEX's Gold Range project, adding in the open market as the story progressed and continuing to participate in financings, most recently at 35 cents, even after a five- to six-times return on the original stake. Recent portfolio exits have freed capital that management is now redeploying into new positions.Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Dr. Mike Jones, MD of Impact Minerals Ltd.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/impact-minerals-asxipt-advancing-scoping-study-with-10x-throughput-breakthrough-in-hand-10564Recording date: 11th September 2026Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) has spent the past three years repositioning from a conventional Australian exploration company into a twin-pathway high-purity alumina (HPA) developer, and the scoping study for Alluminous, the company's 50%-owned chemical-process technology in which it holds its stake alongside two US-based institutional co-investors, is the first independent test of the economics behind that pivot.The study, prepared by NewPro Consulting & Engineering Services, compared four development cases across Perth and the Houston area. Impact's preferred pathway stages a US Gulf Coast plant from 2,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) up to 4,000 tpa as customer qualification, offtake and funding mature, rather than committing to full capacity immediately. The case models a post-tax NPV at an 8% discount rate of A$518 million ($362.4 million), a 42.3% IRR, and a capital payback of roughly 3.8 years, on total installed capital of $74 million. Net operating costs, after crediting a saleable ammonium sulphate by-product, come in just under $9,000 per tonne. Management's central claim is capital efficiency: it puts listed peers Alpha HPA and Advanced Energy Minerals at roughly four to five times Alluminous's capital intensity per tonne of installed capacity, while operating costs remain broadly comparable.Alluminous sits alongside Lake Hope, Impact's 80%-owned flagship Western Australian project, which uses a different, natural lake-sediment feedstock and completed its own Pre-Feasibility Study in June 2025 - a standalone A$1.2 billion NPV case at a 10% discount rate with a 47.5% IRR. The two projects are run and owned independently, use different feedstocks and produce different by-products (Lake Hope yields sulphate of potash; Alluminous yields ammonium sulphate), but both compete for the same downstream battery, semiconductor and sapphire-glass markets. Lake Hope's naturally low uranium and thorium content - independently confirmed below 1 part per billion without a dedicated removal step - is pitched as a specific advantage for semiconductor-grade qualification, a hurdle competitors have typically had to engineer around.Both projects remain genuinely early-stage. The Alluminous scoping study carries a wide +50%/-30% cost accuracy band typical of FEL-0 order-of-magnitude estimates, and the study's authors note they relied on Alluminous-supplied data without independently verifying the underlying technology. The integrated process has not been demonstrated continuously at scale, batch testing has produced filtration challenges, and no binding customer offtake or project debt exists for either pathway - the model assumes 100% equity funding throughout. Near-term catalysts include converting the Perth pilot plant to continuous operation, further validation work with battery-technology partner C4V, a formal Texas Gulf Coast site-selection study, and the start of Lake Hope's own Definitive Feasibility Study in 2027. Impact closed a A$4.13 million entitlement offer on September 9th 2026, underscoring that further capital will likely be required as both projects advance toward construction decisions.View Impact Minerals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/impact-mineralsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with John Florek, President & CEO of Emperor MetalsRecording date: 11th September 2026Emperor Metals is a Canadian gold exploration company advancing two projects in Quebec's Abitibi Greenstone Belt, one of the world's most prolific gold-producing districts with roughly 200 million ounces produced historically. The company's flagship asset, Duquesne West, sits on the Porcupine-Destor Fault Zone, a structure credited with over 110 million ounces of historical production, and neighbours active and past-producing mines operated by Agnico Eagle, IAMGOLD and others.In July 2025, Duquesne West received a maiden inferred mineral resource estimate of 26.9 million tonnes at 1.69 grams per tonne gold, for 1.46 million ounces, based on a $2,300 per ounce gold price assumption. That resource is roughly double the 727,000 ounce historical estimate that predated Emperor's 2022 takeover as operator. Management, led by President and CEO John Florek, a geologist with 35 years of experience including senior roles at BHP, Placer Dome, Barrick, Teck and Detour Lake Gold attributes the growth partly to an AI-assisted geological modelling process that identified a large-scale, lower-grade open-pit envelope surrounding higher-grade underground lenses that earlier operators had not recognised since the deposit was first discovered in the 1940s.The company describes the resource as substantially under-drilled: approximately 140,000 metres of drilling have been completed to date, which management estimates at 15-20% of what comparable projects required to reach similar ounce totals. A 15,000 metre drill program and an 8,000 metre historical core re-sampling campaign - aimed at converting inferred ounces to indicated via duplicate drilling of older holes - are currently under way, funded through the end of 2026. Management has signalled an intent to pursue a further 30,000-50,000 metre program from around October 2026, subject to financing, ahead of an eventual preliminary economic assessment once the resource passes roughly 2 million ounces.Emperor's secondary asset, Lac Pelletier, sits approximately 30 kilometres south and offers a different risk profile: a historical resource of 227,000 ounces at 3.9 grams per tonne gold, permits valid for production until 2030, and roughly C$70 million of prior infrastructure investment including more than 3.3 kilometres of underground development. Two historical bulk samples averaged 96.3% gold recovery. Management's near-term plan is to update the historical feasibility study and evaluate a production decision, rather than to advance immediately to construction.As of June 2026, Emperor had 194,850,005 shares outstanding (242,289,794 fully diluted) and an estimated C$5.4 million in working capital. Strategic investors Rob McEwen (7%) and Rick Rule are on the share register. On a company comparable basis, Emperor traded at approximately C$39 million market capitalisation, or C$25.28 per ounce of resource.Both the Duquesne West and Lac Pelletier resource figures carry standard caveats: inferred resources and historical estimates do not have demonstrated economic viability and are not current mineral reserves. Neither project has reached a construction or production decision.Learn more: https://cruxinvestor.comSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Alan Carter, President & CEO of Cabral Gold Inc.Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/cabral-gold-tsxvcbr-operating-licence-secured-first-gold-targeted-by-september-11515Recording date: 11th September 2026Cabral Gold has crossed the line from developer to producer, confirming the first gold pour at its Phase 1 Cuiú Cuiú heap leach operation in Pará state, Brazil. The pour, approximately 1,130 ounces of doré assaying 93-94% gold, came in well above management's internal expectations, and arrives with construction running roughly two months ahead of schedule. For a company that only secured project financing twelve months ago, the milestone represents a rapid and largely self-executed build.The near-term operational story is about ramp-up discipline. The dry circuit is fully commissioned; the wet circuit, covering leaching and gold recovery, is expected to follow within days. Stacking rates are being increased in stages toward a 3,000 tonne-per-day design target, monitored through a control room tracking belt speeds and throughput. Management has been explicit that no 2026 production guidance will be issued while ramp-up variables remain unresolved, but formal 2027 guidance is expected, potentially as early as January, giving investors a concrete date to watch.The cash flow case, while based on a study CEO Alan Carter himself flagged as roughly eighteen months old, is notable: first-year production of 20,000 to 25,000 ounces at an estimated margin near $3,300 an ounce implies pre-tax cash flow in the order of $80 million before any expansion. Carter framed this against typical gold producer valuation multiples of six to twelve times cash flow, arguing the operation could support meaningful re-rating once production stabilises.Strategically, the more interesting thread is how Cabral intends to fund its next phase of growth. A recent $45 million strategic investment from Alpayana, described as Peru's largest private mining company, gave Cabral a 9.99% shareholder and, combined with Phase 1 cash flow, is intended to reduce the company's reliance on annual dilutive equity raises, a pattern Carter was candid about wanting to avoid.The larger opportunity sits underground. Approximately 75% of the district's known gold ounces are hosted in hard rock beneath the oxide material Cabral is currently mining. A district-wide resource update due by year-end will model six gold deposits, up from three in the last global estimate from September 2022, incorporating roughly 50,000 metres of drilling completed since. Management is also sitting on some 50 untested peripheral targets, including boulder fields averaging 90 grams per tonne gold across ten to twelve targets. A meaningful increase in the resource base would support a formal Preliminary Economic Assessment on the hard rock opportunity, positioning 2027 as a pivotal year for both production guidance and district-scale resource definition.For investors, the near-term watch list is straightforward: confirmation of the refinery assay on the first doré bars, completion of wet-circuit commissioning, and progression of stacking rates toward design capacity. Further out, the year-end resource update and the timing of a Phase 2 PEA decision will determine whether Cuiú Cuiú's story broadens from a single oxide starter operation into a genuine two-stage gold district.View Cabral Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/cabral-goldSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Tiago Cunha, Director & CEO of South Star Battery MetalsRecording date: 11th September 2026South Star Battery Metals Corp (TSXV:STS) is a rare example in the junior mining space of a genuine operational turnaround delivering measurable results within a single year. The company's Santa Cruz graphite operation in Bahia, Brazil came close to bankruptcy in October 2025, with insufficient funds to meet payroll. CEO Tiago Cunha, then a board member and investor, stepped in, personally funding two payroll cycles before a capital raise closed in December 2025. He describes replacing effectively the entire workforce and management team, citing prior contracting misconduct and kickbacks, and crediting the new operational team led by COO Rogério Barcellos with proving the underlying asset was never the constraint.Since the turnaround began, management reports a 60% reduction in cash operating costs, driven by straightforward fixes: renegotiating electricity from retail to wholesale rates (a 35% cut in power costs within 30 days) and changing filter-press mesh size to eliminate near-daily equipment failures. Current operating costs are reported below $800 per tonne of concentrate. Production restarted in 2026, reportedly around three months ahead of an original July target, with the company targeting 5,000 tonnes per year of capacity by year-end and cumulative 2026 throughput of roughly 1,847 tonnes.Two distinct expansion paths are on the table. The first to 10,000 tonnes per year is described as low-capex (under $1 million) and fully financed, since the plant's off-the-shelf equipment already has spare capacity and the only bottleneck is a second filter press. The second, a larger expansion toward 25,000, to potentially 50,000 tonnes per year, is being discussed with the Brazilian Development Bank and the US International Development Finance Corporation, but rests on a 2022-vintage feasibility study that Cunha himself says is no longer reliable, given subsequent changes to the processing flowsheet.Commercially, South Star reports a flake-to-fines split of roughly 70/30, ahead of original design, with flotation grades of 93-97% Cg and 99.95% Cg purity validated downstream. Sales are spread across multiple US buyers, with additional niche markets - such as agricultural graphite at a substantial premium to commodity pricing - cited as a way to avoid dependence on any single customer. Cunha frames the sector's core risk as Chinese pricing behaviour rather than product-specific competition, noting the absence, so far, of any floor-pricing mechanism for graphite comparable to those emerging in rare earths.With CEO ownership of roughly 40%, funded through the company's near-collapse, and graphite's growing framing as a supply-chain security issue for Western defence and industrial policy, South Star presents a relatively de-risked near-term production story layered with a larger, currently unquantified expansion option.View South Stat Battery Metals company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/south-star-battery-metalsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe

Interview with Troy Boisjoli, CEO of ATHA EnergyOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/atha-energy-tsxvsask-district-scale-uranium-play-builds-momentum-with-dual-discoveries-11012Recording date: 8th September 2026ATHA Energy Corp. (TSXV:SASK) is a Canadian uranium explorer built around a strategy of maximising exposure to the country's best uranium jurisdictions before committing capital to resource definition. Founded three years ago, the company grew from an initial 3.5-million-acre position in the Athabasca Basin to a seven-million-acre portfolio spanning the Athabasca Basin (Saskatchewan), the Angikuni Basin (Nunavut) and the Central Mineral Belt (Labrador), while retaining a 10% carried interest in Athabasca Basin projects operated by NexGen Energy and IsoEnergy.The company's flagship is the 100%-owned Angilak Uranium Project in Nunavut, which hosts two parallel value drivers: the Lac 50 Deposit Corridor, carrying an existing exploration target of 61 to 98 million pounds U3O8, and the Mineralized RIB Corridor, where 2025 drilling produced four new discoveries including RIB North.ATHA reported results from seven additional RIB North drillholes, extending confirmed mineralisation continuity from 300 metres to 1.45 kilometres along the corridor's eastern limb. The standout intersection returned 20.0 metres of composite uranium mineralisation across fifteen zones, including 1.3 metres of high-grade material defined by the company as exceeding 10,000 counts per second on its downhole gamma probe. A separate horizon on the western limb was extended to approximately 220 metres of strike via follow-up drilling. None of this work has yet been converted into a formal resource estimate, and the corridor remains open in every direction.CEO Troy Boisjoli, a former Cameco chief geologist who led the Rook I project through to feasibility, framed the results as evidence of a deliberate, staged strategy: address discovery risk first through widely spaced regional drilling, then prove continuity, then move into delineation. He argues this sequencing, rather than rushing toward a resource statement, is what reduces execution risk for a company at ATHA's stage. VP Exploration Cliff Revering, previously a senior resource geologist at Cameco and chief geologist at Cigar Lake during its production ramp-up, leads the technical program alongside him.Management's emerging geological thesis is one of the more distinctive elements of the story. Rather than a conventional Athabasca Basin-style unconformity system, ATHA believes Angilak's basement-hosted, structurally controlled mineralisation behaves more like an orogenic gold system, with graphitic and sulphide-bearing structures making conductive geology itself prospective, rather than a background feature unrelated to mineralisation. If the model holds up against 3D geophysical inversion results due across the full Angikuni Basin in Q4 2026, management believes it could support drill targets across a structural trend extending tens of kilometres, well beyond the roughly 1.45 kilometres tested to date.The company enters that catalyst window well capitalised, having raised $63 million in Q1 2026, including a $25 million US investment from Queen's Road Capital, funding a three-rig, roughly 20,000-metre program running through the end of September 2026. Investors could weigh the scale of the opportunity management describes against the fact that no resource has yet been defined at either RIB North or the broader corridor, and that the company itself says it cannot currently quantify the eventual size of the system.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/atha-energySign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe