Company Interviews

Interview with John McConnell, President & CEO of Victoria Gold Corp.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/victoria-gold-vgcx-onsite-visit-with-john-mcconnell-2321

Recording date: 20th November 2023

Victoria Gold seeks to hit its stride and regain investor confidence after several years of operational setbacks and missed guidance targets caused its stock to languish. But with its Eagle mine now running smoothly, a focus on optimizing production and controlling costs aims to deliver consistent execution and cash flow going forward.

President and CEO John McConnell acknowledged past struggles in meeting forecasts but emphasized Victoria Gold's focus is now firmly on efficient operations. Guidance of 160,000-180,000 ounces of 2022 production appears achievable, with output tracking just below the midpoint currently. More ambitious expansion plans have been reined in, however, amid inflated capital costs.

Instead, Victoria Gold is concentrating on incremental improvements across its Yukon-based Eagle mine to enhance productivity. New fleet management systems provide additional oversight into trucking, loading and personnel efficiency. Ongoing tweaks to key plant components have already yielded throughput gains as well.

These initiatives aim to lower all-in sustaining costs from around $1,450 per ounce presently. While inflation has driven expenses higher across the mining industry, McConnell stressed that "we can produce gold for the lowest possible cost per ounce. That's our aim."

With gold potentially heading towards $3,000 per ounce by 2024 according to some bullish forecasts, even modest reductions in Eagle's cost profile could deliver significant upside leverage. Victoria Gold has also put in place hedging and other risk management strategies to protect against volatility in the gold price.

The company's financial health appears set to support operational initiatives and improvement plans. Victoria Gold generated $18 million in free cash flow last quarter even after making debt repayments and acquiring new royalty assets. Steady debt reduction remains a priority for excess cash flow allocation after investments to expand output.

Ultimately, McConnell sees investor perception turning positive again if Victoria Gold can demonstrate consistent execution. Renewed confidence in management's operational capabilities could spur a re-rating towards historical valuation multiples. Executing on guidance and generating free cash flow gives weight towards that crucial credibility shift.

In summary, Victoria Gold's pathway towards restoring its credibility seems clearing: optimize and derisk existing production at Eagle while minimizing costs to deliver steady cash flow. Then leverage operatonal gains to fund measured expansions if capital costs normalize.

With assets in a tier-one jurisdiction and institutional backing still apparent, Victoria Gold offers turnaround potential as a fledgling gold producer if execution issues are put to rest. Progress on guidance adherence and cost control point tentatively in that direction for patient value investors.

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View Victoria Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/victoria-gold-corp

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Interview with Simon Clarke, CEO & Director of American Lithium Corp.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/american-lithium-tsxvli-peru-lithium-resource-increase-unlocks-huge-production-potential-4366

Recording date: 20th November 2023

American Lithium recently secured a pivotal court victory upholding its ownership rights over key mining concessions in Peru containing valuable lithium and uranium resources. With this major legal uncertainty now resolved, the company is aggressively moving to capitalize on strengthening lithium markets and rising uranium prices.

The unanimous court ruling affirmed American Lithium's titles to 32 disputed concessions after earlier claims by regulators that concession fees were not properly paid. The decision is a resounding win that removes any doubts over the company's lithium and uranium assets tied to the concessions. Management sees the clear legal endorsement as accelerating development timelines.

American Lithium's prime focus is now rapidly advancing its flagship Falchani lithium project towards initial production in 2025 based on current permitting and development timelines. With the recent court decision in hand, the company can confidently incorporate substantial lithium resources from the disputed concessions as it works to complete an updated preliminary economic assessment of Falchani in coming weeks.

A doubling of the total resource estimate earlier this year provides a world-class foundation for development. CEO Simon Clarke believes strategic partners are likely to provide funding assistance to construct what he calls “one of the best lithium projects globally” amid deepening supply shortfalls, especially in the Americas.

Given favorable treatment of lithium projects under Peru’s mining regulations, Clarke suggests final permitting could be secured within 12 months, supporting final investment decisions by mid-2025. The compressed timeline is a rarity amongst lithium development stories.

Uranium Spin-Out Unlocks Additional Value
While focused squarely on bringing Falchani into production, American Lithium also controls highly prospective uranium resources in Peru. With uranium prices rising sharply in recent months, the company is now actively evaluating options to spin these assets into a standalone entity.

The strategic rationale is to attract dedicated capital to accelerate resource expansion and systematic development work. Management aims to structure any spin-out to help crystallize the substantial underlying value of its uranium holdings. By pursuing separate paths forward, American Lithium can also concentrate financial and operational resources more intently on lithium production growth.

Given persistent weakness in equity capital markets, timing and valuation will be critical considerations around an eventual uranium spin-out. However, with bullish supply-demand projections for nuclear power supporting multi-year price upside, the company looks to be exploring the concept from a position of strength.

With concession ownership certainty finally attained through a definitive court ruling, American Lithium holds a clear path forward in bringing its impressive Peruvian lithium and uranium assets into production. The company appears poised to aggressively capitalize on deeply undersupplied lithium markets over the next few years, targeting first production from Falchani potentially as early as mid-2025.

Meanwhile, a strategically planned uranium spin-out could help unlock significant embedded value to support longer-term growth initiatives. After multiple years spent overcoming permitting obstacles, American Lithium seems perfectly positioned to create substantial shareholder value as macro tailwinds accelerate development across its asset portfolio.

View American Lithium's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/american-lithium

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Interview with Ewan Webster, President & CEO of Thesis Gold Inc. 

Recording date: 20th November 2023

BC Explorers Join Forces, Establish District-Scale Gold Project with World-Class Potential

Thesis Gold recently merged with Benchmark Metals, combining their respective advanced exploration assets in British Columbia’s mineral-rich Golden Horseshoe mining district. Thesis President and CEO Ewan Webster asserts that uniting the adjacent properties creates a more significant consolidated land package, unlocking operational synergies and enhanced economics. With companies increasingly competing for scarce high-quality gold ounces globally, this union may form an emerging district-play consolidator attractive to majors active nearby.

During a recent interview, Webster detailed several strategic rationales behind the decision to join forces. Primarily, combining the multi-million-ounce Lawyers project’s existing resource with Thesis’ earlier-stage Ranch showing helps achieve improved scale. Additional upside stems from synergies related to shared infrastructure, drilling efficiencies and environmental/permitting streamlining. Furthermore, the proximal projects can leverage centralized operations around a common process plant, declining gold grades industry-wide make large, higher-margin deposits increasingly coveted.

The merger partners envision optimizing their consolidated asset base through a staged production schedule targeting high-grade ounces early. Initial output would source Ranch material via trucking to a centrally located Lawyers facility. The subsequent underground Lawyers mine would follow before incorporating traditional open pit feed later. Furthermore, $9 million in current funding sees the company fully finance upcoming milestones including a 2Q 2023 inaugural global resource estimate and 3Q preliminary economic assessment update.

Significantly expanding the existing resource and enhancing benchmark financial returns rank among key next steps for validating and quantifying the merged assets’ ultimate potential. Management believes the Ranch contribution will prove substantial, with remarkably high optionality remaining through additional drilling. While reluctant to commit prematurely to further studies amid volatile market conditions, the project’s de-risked status enables rapid initiation of more advanced feasibility work when justified.

Beyond prolific regional geology and considerable existing development, the asset benefits from British Columbia’s stable pro-mining regime and excellent surrounding infrastructure. Major gold miners Newmont and Newcrest recently acquired substantial existing operations nearby. This underscores the jurisdiction’s attractiveness along with mineral endowment. Furthermore, a skilled local workforce, roads, power and additional critical support facilities facilitate efficient exploration and development, key considerations for future capital investors.

In summary, Thesis Gold’s merger with Benchmark Metals positions the company to establish one leading next generation gold project in a Tier I mining destination. Investors weighing exposure to British Columbia’s prolific Golden Triangle zone or consolidation opportunities more broadly may find the current valuation and high-impact upcoming catalysts presenting an appealing opportunity. Management makes a compelling case that the fused assets and dedicated leadership team offer scale, margins and exploration upside that mining majors may find hard to ignore.

View Thesis Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/thesis-gold

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Interview with Randy Reichart, President and CEO of Skeena Resources Ltd.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/skeena-resources-ske-293m-annual-after-tax-free-cash-flow-2588

Recording date: 20th November 2023

High-Grade Past Producer Reimagined as Major Gold Operation with Robust Economics

Skeena Resources has uncovered the rich potential of reinventing the formerly high-grade Eskay Creek mine in Canada into a prominently larger open pit operation. The company recently completed an enhanced Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), optimized by its experienced leadership team, to develop a technically straightforward project producing over 450,000 low-cost gold-equivalent ounces per year.

With an initial capital expenditure of C$592 million, Skeena emphasizes the attractiveness of Eskay Creek’s rapid 1.2-year payback period. The after-tax economics are stellar, boasting a C$2 billion NPV at a 5% discount rate alongside a 43% internal rate of return over a 14-year mine life. Benchmarked against comparable development projects, these figures place Eskay Creek as an extremely lucrative asset. Its current valuation at just 0.2 times NPV represents a substantial underpricing.

Skeena is led by a proven mine building team who have addressed prior concerns by simplifying the process plant design and mining methods. By enhancing metallurgical performance, they’ve also managed to achieve significantly higher concentrate grades while requiring far lower shipment volumes. Real optimizations like these increase operational efficiency as well as investor confidence.

With the DFS results now released, Skeena is focused on securing financing over the next 6 to 12 months. The company is pursuing a funding package across various alternatives like equity, stream financing, and debt. Concurrent permitting activities are also underway on key items such as the Environmental Assessment, targeting receipt by mid-2025.

If everything progresses smoothly, construction would commence in 2025 for an 18-month build period. This supports Skeena’s goal of achieving first gold production in mid-2026. During the 3-4 month ramp-up phase to full capacity, the output is still anticipated to reach an impressive 230,000 ounces in the first year.

Looking longer term, over the first 5 years of operation, Skeena is projecting a head-turning annual average production of 465,000 low-cost gold-equivalent ounces. This would immediately propel it into an intermediate producer tier amongst global gold miners.

Eskay Creek’s established infrastructure from past mining, extensive existing permits, and located in a top-tier mining jurisdiction in Canada check all the right boxes for investors. With gold prices forecasted to rise amidst inflationary pressures, the market conditions align strongly as well.

For risk tolerant investors with a 3-5 year time horizon, getting in early on a world-class project like this, managed by a capable team and on the cusp of critical de-risking milestones, holds exciting asymmetrical upside potential. The market appears slow to currently price in the prospectively substantial value add if Skeena executes successfully on bringing this revived gold asset through development into production.

View Skeena Resources company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/skeena-resources

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Interview with Brendan Yurik, CEO of Electric Royalties Ltd.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/electric-royalties-elec-diversified-royalties-in-clean-energy-metals-for-a-sustainable-future-3195

Recording date: 17th November 2023

Electric Royalties (TSXV:ELEC) is a royalty company focused exclusively on clean energy metals. The company currently has 22 royalties in its portfolio targeting projects in North America, Europe, and Australia that could be a domestic source of supply. CEO Brendan Yurik highlights a recently announced deal where Electric Royalties is acquiring a lithium prospect generation business that has staked over 1 million acres and 126 lithium properties in Ontario, around existing lithium projects. 105 of these properties are already being sold off to third parties, with revenue forecast at $1.7 million in 2024 and ramping up to $2 million per year after.

The acquisition provides cash flow to cover Electric Royalties' G&A costs and requires only $3 million upfront, with no ongoing holding costs. The company sees Ontario's growth potential for lithium to be comparable to Saudi Arabia for oil fields as they're forecasting 30% growth annually in Ontario. The company is focused entirely on the upside potential in clean energy metals like lithium, graphite, and tin rather than looking at gold royalties. 

Electric Royalties provides a diversified way to invest in the sector without individual project risks. The company has a strong shareholder base that sees the potential. It's noted that the company's valuation does not reflect its portfolio and sees lithium prices having 10x potential like in recent years. Upcoming catalysts include PFS for the manganese project in Battery Hill, a feasibility study, and permitting progress on graphite and lithium projects.

View Electric Royalties company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/electric-royalties

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Interview with Thomas Lamb, CEO of Myriad Uranium Corp.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/myriad-uranium-m-neighbourly-values-encouraging-for-new-team-3070

Recording date: 16th November 2023

Myriad Uranium Pivots to Wyoming, Fast-Tracks Historic Project Towards Production

Myriad Uranium Corp has acquired a major stake in the historically productive Copper Mountain uranium project in Wyoming. This positions the company to rapidly advance the project towards production based on an expansive database of technical information.

The Copper Mountain asset gives Myriad a foothold in the pro-mining jurisdiction of Wyoming amid a push for increased US uranium output. The project was previously explored and developed by subsidiary Rocky Mountain Energy, which spent $74 million delineating resources and planning for mine development.

Notably, Copper Mountain has an estimated historic resource of 15 to 30 million pounds U3O8 across multiple deposits. One historic estimate points to 63.8 million pounds U3O8 in just two deposits. With uranium prices now rising amid security of supply concerns, Myriad is perfectly positioned to capitalize on Copper Mountain's resource potential.

A key advantage is the project's extensive historical database, which Myriad inherited through its acquisition. According to CEO Thomas Lamb, this is a "real treasure trove" of information. It includes over 2,000 drill holes, feasibility studies, mine plans, metallurgical studies, and substantial indications the deposit could be amenable to low-cost ISR mining.

Myriad is now focused on re-analyzing this data to validate and expand the historic resources. The aim is to rapidly delineate an up-to-date resource estimate in the millions of pounds. Myriad has already begun digitizing data and sees strong potential for impactful updates over the coming months.

The advanced status of Copper Mountain means Myriad could also move relatively quickly towards production if ISR potential is confirmed. The project was essentially production-ready before being mothballed in 1979.

With historic high-grade intercepts up to 8,000 ppm U3O8, Myriad also sees strong exploration upside across the 1,900-acre land package. Significant value inflection points lie ahead as the company unlocks the potential of this historic Wyoming uranium district.

View Myriad Uranium's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/myriad-uranium

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Interview with Chris Reed, CEO/MD of Neometals Ltd.

Recording date: 15th November 2023

With lithium prices down roughly 70% from last year's peak, Australian firm Neometals is adapting its strategy to weather difficult market conditions in the lithium industry. Despite the tough environment, Neometals still sees significant long-term potential in lithium, projecting surging demand from the electric vehicle revolution. The company is working to position itself to ultimately capitalize on a rebound in prices.

Neometals' recent initiatives demonstrate a prudent, opportunistic approach aimed at enhancing shareholder returns while limiting risk exposure. This includes making a promising new lithium discovery from historical mining records, continuing to advance its core battery recycling business, and pivoting to emphasize a capital-light technology licensing model over traditional mine development.

Importantly for investors, Neometals aims to focus on generating recurring royalty revenue streams rather than relying solely on lithium price appreciation. By maintaining ownership of its proprietary technologies while outsourcing plant operating costs, Neometals seeks to create high-margin income from percentage-based royalties tied to production. This licensing model aligns with the company's goal of rewarding shareholders while avoiding excessive dilution from large capital expenditures.

Neometals' new lithium discovery in Western Australia provides significant optionality for investors. Through simple review of historical drill cores and assays at one of its nickel exploration sites, the company confirmed intersections of spodumene, a lithium-bearing mineral. While still early stage, this finding opens the door for Neometals to potentially delineate a substantial maiden lithium resource at minimal cost. Exploration upside could boost Neometals' portfolio without near-term financial commitments.

Importantly, CEO Chris Reed emphasized battery recycling remains Neometals' core strategic focus despite the new discovery. The company's proprietary recycling technology is on track for first revenues by 2025, starting with a demonstration plant under construction for Mercedes-Benz. After solving key chemical purity challenges, Neometals aims to supply larger 200,000 tonne per year facilities to capitalize on surging battery waste volumes. Success with Mercedes validates Neometals' recycling capabilities, providing a springboard to sign additional partners.

While Neometals has slowed spending on other mining projects amid weak lithium pricing, it continues advancing initiatives with strategic potential. This prudent approach maintains optionality without overextending the company's balance sheet. Neometals continues to pilot a proprietary lithium extraction process with partner Bondalti in Portugal, eyeing attractive European EV battery production. The company also retains exploration rights to Barrambie, one of the world's largest undeveloped titanium resources.

Crucially for investors, Neometals has tailored its strategies to avoid excessive risk during the lithium downturn while ensuring leveraged exposure to an eventual rebound. The company's capital-light licensing model means minimized equity dilution even as its technologies scale commercially. By building a portfolio of 5-10% gross royalty streams across lithium, nickel, cobalt, and other battery metals, Neometals aims to realize higher earnings multiples than typical mining projects.

With analysts projecting lithium prices to recover by mid-decade as demand surges, Neometals' royalties could provide substantial upside. The company's technology licensing approach allows it to maintain strategic focus despite market volatility. For investors with patience and belief in the secular lithium growth story, Neometals presents an intriguing specialized play.

View Neometals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/neometals

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Interview with John Jentz, CEO of Latitude Uranium

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/latitude-uranium-cselur-phase-2-drilling-results-showing-great-potential-below-300-meters-4033

Recording date: 13th November 2023

Canadian uranium explorer Latitude Uranium is focused on systematically expanding resources at its flagship Angilak project, located in Nunavut, Canada. Angilak already hosts a substantial 43 million pound inferred uranium resource open along strike and at depth. However, Latitude Uranium believes growing the resource above 100 million pounds is key to positioning Angilak as one of the most attractive global uranium assets and appealing to potential acquirers.

With uranium prices having risen over 50% in the past year to $70 and future supply shortages looming, the company’s strategy aims to take advantage of increasingly favorable market dynamics. Latitude is implementing a focused exploration program to substantially expand Angilak’s resource base within a compressed timeframe of 3-5 years.

Infill and step-out drilling at Angilak in 2023 intersected high-grade uranium mineralization outside current resource boundaries. Results included 7.54% U3O8 over 1.9m in one hole. While not all holes hit significant mineralization, this program successfully expanded the footprint for future resource upgrades.

Latitude Uranium plans to raise $5-6 million before year-end to support an aggressive 2024 drill campaign targeting a 100+ million pound uranium resource at Angilak. The company believes major resource expansion is needed to attract acquirers and clearly demonstrate Angilak’s world-class potential.

Growing Angilak’s resources will also advance the project towards preliminary economic assessments and feasibility studies required for production decisions.Latitude sees Angilak on a 3-5 year timeframe to production depending on pace of advancement.

Rather than stick to a predefined development path, Latitude is monitoring changing uranium market sentiments to determine the optimal strategies. The company aims to maximize investor returns by customizing plans for Angilak to match what market conditions reward.

View Latitude Uranium's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/latitude-uranium

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Interview with CEO Trey Wasser & President Maura Kolb of Dryden Gold Corp.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/dryden-gold-pre-ipo-contact-company-to-take-part-in-listing-3881

Recording date: 13th November 2023

Dryden Gold, a private company focused on gold exploration in Ontario, Canada, is currently raising capital ahead of going public on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker symbol DRY. Funds raised will support maiden drilling at their district-scale Gold Rock Project located in the heart of the prolific Red Lake Gold Camp.

Previous explorers have conducted around 20,000 meters of drilling on the property, returning exceptionally high-grade intercepts including 8.5 meters at 3,497 g/t gold. However, this represents only a fraction of the overall potential. Dryden's experienced leadership team believes they have cracked the geological code, unlocking the opportunity for systematic delineation of a cluster of high-grade gold deposits.

Dryden’s exploration thesis focuses on targeting high-grade gold mineralization at the intersections between the primary Gold Rock Shear Zone and secondary cross-cutting structures. This presents geological similarities to the world-class deposits of Red Lake, where high-grade "shoots" plunge along structural intersections.

Initial drilling by Dryden will test this geological model, with a focus on expanding the footprint of known high-grade mineralization. Step-out drilling is also planned along 1.5 kilometers of defined strike length hosting surface gold occurrences and geophysical anomalies.

Fully funded with an anticipated raise of $3-5 million, Dryden plans to complete between 2,500 to 5,000 meters of diamond drilling. The program will be led by former Red Lake Gold Mines Exploration Manager, Dr. Maura Kolb, who sees strong analogies to Red Lake based on her review of historical data.

The first phase of drilling will consist of relatively shallow holes, allowing cost-effective testing of multiple targets. Deeper holes down to 200-400 meters will also be drilled on confirmed high-grade zones. This systematic approach will facilitate efficient validation of Dryden’s exploration thesis.

Dryden’s CEO, Trey Wasser, highlights the potential, stating that “Bonanza grades over 3,000 g/t are extremely rare, underscoring the blue-sky upside if we can consistently hit high-grade plunging shoots.”

The Gold Rock Shear Zone has a strike length exceeding 50 kilometers, providing substantial upside beyond current focus areas. Surface sampling has already defined additional drill targets across one km south of previous drilling.

Dryden is anticipating an active news flow schedule as drill results are received, which could drive significant re-rating of the stock if early outcomes validate their geological modelling. Wasser notes that despite challenging markets, the story has resonated with investors to date, with strong support for the current raise.

The company expects to list on the TSX Venture Exchange in late 2023, offering enhanced liquidity over current private placement offerings. Dryden Gold presents an intriguing speculative opportunity for risk tolerant resource investors seeking leveraged upside from potential discovery of an extensive new gold system.

The Red Lake region hosts dozens of past and present gold mines with historical production exceeding 25 million ounces. Dryden’s systematic exploration guided by technical expertise could ultimately delineate the next major deposit in this prolific gold camp. Success would attract substantial investor interest, enhancing Dryden’s valuation and financing capacity.

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Interview with Ian M Berzins, President & CEO of Canadian Critical Minerals Inc.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/braveheart-resources-bht-stepping-stones-to-success-1338

Recording date: 13th November 2023

Canadian Critical Minerals (TSXV:CCMI) is a Calgary-based mining company focused on copper and battery metals projects in Canada. The company has two main projects - the past-producing Bull River copper mine near Cranbrook, BC, and the Thierry copper project in Ontario. 

Bull River is Canadian Critical Minerals' flagship project, with existing usable infrastructure of about $100 million. Canadian Critical Minerals has completed dewatering and rehabilitation work to prepare for a restart of mining. The company is awaiting final permits and plans to begin processing material from an on-site 180,000-tonne stockpile in 2024 under an ore purchase agreement with New Gold. This is expected to generate $4-5 million in revenue over 15-18 months to fund ongoing permitting and development. Longer-term plans are to refurbish the underground mine and mill to resume commercial production. 

The Thierry project is an earlier-stage copper asset with an estimated 1.3 billion pounds of copper. Canadian Critical Minerals recently sold a 61% interest to Orecap Invest Corp. to advance exploration and development, and retains a 39% interest as the company will benefit from milestone payments as resources grow. 

Canadian Critical Minerals continues to have a tight capital structure and is focused on generating near-term cash flow to fund corporate overhead and advance its projects without further dilution. Upcoming potential catalysts are final permits at Bull River and exploration results from Thierry.

View Canadian Critical Minerals company profile here: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/canadian-critical-minerals-inc

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