Company Interviews

Sunrise Energy Metals Limited is involved in metals recovery and industrial water treatment through their proprietary Clean-iX® continuous ion exchange technology.

Sunrise Energy Metals is an ASX listed company with a long history in mining and mining technology, particularly in hydro-metallurgy. Sunrise has built a number of hydro-metallurgy plants for companies all over the world but in the last 10 years they have decided to focus their efforts on applying their technologies to mineral development. 

The company has built a world class team with a mining background and their key asset is the Sunrise battery materials project in Australia. It is Australia’s largest integrated battery materials project focused on battery grade Nickel and Cobalt and also Scandium.

The Sunrise Project is one of the largest and most cobalt-rich nickel laterite deposits in the world and is development-ready, with all key permits and approvals in place.  The Sunrise Project is also one of the largest and highest grade scandium deposits globally.

The Sunrise Project’s unique mineral resource, when combined with the company’s proprietary ion-exchange extraction and purification processing technology, has the potential to meet a significant portion of global demand for the raw materials needed to help expand the lithium-ion battery industry, as well as providing scandium for production of the next generation of lightweight aluminium alloys for key transportation markets.

A Project Execution Plan was completed in September 2020, which highlighted the Project’s global importance as a sustainable, long-life, low-cost source of high purity cobalt and nickel sulphates for the battery revolution.

Sunrise hopes to be able to talk to the market on financing this year and construction will follow on quickly once finance is in place. The long term mission for the company is to sustainably deliver high quality battery materials to a decarbonising planet and their project has a 50 year mine life with a lot of optionality going forward.

GSilver is a mining development company engaged in reactivating past producing silver and gold mines near the city of Guanajuato, Mexico. The Company is focused on the refurbishment and swift re-commencement of production from its El Cubo mine and mill and its nearby El Pinguico project, as well as the delineation of additional silver and gold resources through underground and surface drilling. Both projects are located within 11km of the city of Guanajuato, which has an established 480-year mining history.

Cabral Gold is a mineral exploration company focused on gold and copper. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Magellan Brazil is a subsidiary of the company. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-V: CBR) and the OTC Markets (OTCQX: CBGZF). The company's key assets include the Cuiú Cuiú Project in Northern Brazil, The Tapajos Region, and the Bom Jardim project. 

Cabral Gold has an advanced gold project in North Brazil with 2 gold deposits that are 43-101 complaint resources. These resources collectively output a supply of 1Moz. The company has identified 43 targets within an 8 km area of the main deposits. They already have 3 drill rigs on-site and have recently signed a contract to add 2 additional drill rigs. These rigs will be carrying out the target exploration for the next 9-12 months.

The company's second objective is 70 holes drilled across a blanket of low-grade material, this site will require 3 months of operation.

Cabral Gold had a strong 2020 and 2021. The company was able to raise $11.5M, the largest financing deal in the company's history. The capital raised was made possible through bought deal financing and these funds are planned towards significantly ramping up the company's drilling program. 

Cabral Gold's bought deal backed by a syndicate of 4 brokers, offering a low-risk, guaranteed financing option. The company recently issued a half warrant set at $0.80 without a price cap, allowing it to be freely tradable. Cabral Gold expects this warrant will bring in an additional cash flow of $7M-$8M.

Cabral Gold currently has $12.5M in liquidity and is focused towards high-grade targets at the Cuiú Cuiú site. The priority is towards drilling high-grade zones that have already been identified by utilising 5 drill rigs.

The company has targeted the low-grade blanket at the surface, where one rig would be operational for 3 months. The grade here ranges between 0.5g/t - 1g/t, while higher-grade samples reach up to 3g/t. Since the main deposit is located below this blanket, mining the surface offers a low-cost, minimal processing option that has the potential to add ounces to the company's overall supply. Additionally, this low-grade material does not require grinding, leading to further optimisation of cost and resources.

The company is looking to start with a small-scale production with a low CapEx as they believe that more value can be generated through discovery. The 43 targets identified by the company have shown promise as 10 have shown high intercepts, and another 12 targets feature high-grade veins.

Cabral Gold is focused on tracing intercepts and eventually step up to identify potential deposits from these targets. The company has planned a 9-12 month exploration program with extensive drilling and tests carried out on the high-grade targets. The company currently has the funding to meet its current exploration goals.

Chesapeake Gold Corp. is a development stage company that focuses on the discovery, exploration, and development of gold and silver deposits in North and South American. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-V: CKG). The company's major projects include the Metates Gold-Silver Project in Mexico and the Talapoosa project in Reno, Nevada.

Chesapeake Gold shared the updates of the Metates Project recently through a series of press releases. The company has carried out 2,500m drilling and was able to recover 10t material. The drill results showed that the grade of the material is 18% higher than the block model predictions. The tests found significant intercepts graded at 1.8g/t gold and silver equivalent at a depth of 432m. This grade is double the average grade previously found at the Metates site.

The company is looking towards infill drilling to uncover even higher-grade material. This will allow the company to significantly improve its profitability as this will provide higher grade ounces at the same operating price. 

Chesapeake Gold has a stockpile of 18Moz Gold and 500Moz silver and is currently focused on adding more ounces to the bottom line through their drill program. Their CapEx project currently stands at $3.5Bn. The company is using the drill program to carry out the test work that would support the project plan. A detailed study is scheduled for release within the next two weeks.

In the past 6 months, extensive technical work is underway and the company is focusing on supplying the drill samples to the Vancouver lab for further testing. They are looking towards acquiring sulphides and oxidizing them into higher-grade material. 

Chesapeake Gold recently acquired Alderly Gold Corp. in a non-exclusive deal. The company intends to publish the details of the agreement after the test work has been concluded.

Chesapeake Gold seeks to scale the project, leading to a significant reduction in capital, optimized operating costs, and a lower environmental impact, which would directly facilitate the permitting process. Currently, the company is focused on the test work, which would support the PEA numbers and eventually carry out a PFS in Q4 2022.

0:00 - Introduction
0:30 - Press Release: Challenges of Scale & Metallurgy, so Why do More Drilling? 
8:04 - Technical Constraints: Progress Made & Expectations for the Near-Term Study
14:52 - Acquisition of Alderley Gold Corp.: Terms of Agreement
16:58 - Cash Position & Burn Rate
17:47 - Starter Project: Scale, Quantum, Infrastructure, & Importance of Study Results
24:18 - Timing of Deliverables: When to Expect a PFS?
26:14 - Can They Set up the Starter Project Without Alderley? 
27:23 - Initial Goals & Long-Term Outlook for Timing & Value Generation
32:50 - Base Recovery Level & Minimum Level to Claim Success
40:48 - What's to Come for Chesapeake Gold in the Next 12mths? 

Kavango Resources is a mineral exploration company focused on Botswana. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange (Standard List) with ticker KAV.L. At Admission, on 31 July 2018, it raised gross proceeds of £1.5m.

Kavango has been set up by an experienced team of geologists and a geophysicist with a history of exploration discoveries in southern Africa. The focus in Botswana is centred on 3 projects, which are prospective for copper, nickel and PGE metals.

ValOre Metals Corp is a Canada-based company that is focused on the exploration and advancement of metals and mining projects. The Company’s assets include Pedra Branca, Angilak, Baffin Gold, Genesis and Hatchet Lake. The Pedra Branca Project is a Platinum Group Metals (PGM) District located in northeastern Brazil that comprises approximately 38 exploration licenses covering a total area of 38,940 hectares.

Amarillo Gold Corp. is a mining and exploration company with major operations in Brazil. The company's flagship project is the Posse Gold Project which is currently in the development stage. The second Brazil project is Lavras do Sul that is currently in the exploration stage. It features 22 prospects centered on historic gold workings. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Toronto Canada. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-V: AGC)

Amarillo Gold's flagship project is the Posse Gold Project in central Brazil which features 1Moz open-pit reserve supply. The company's second project is called Lavras do Sul, 500,000oz resource - very large target - potential for a multi-million dollar district - exploration program is currently underway.

Amarillo Gold has a team of experts with decades of experience in mining along with extensive construction and operational experience in Brazil. The company recently brought a new General Manager onboard.

The company has a wide variety of institutional investors, which account for 26% of the stakeholders. One-third out of this accounts for retail investors. They have two large shareholders in the US and Canada that collectively have 37% ownership. The company's management and board are in the acquisition of 6% of the stake.

Amarillo Gold currently has liquidity of CAD $40M. They had raised CAD$57M in August 2020 that was utilized towards land purchases, placing equipment orders, and expanding detailed engineering work at their sites.

Amarillo Gold is looking at potential M&A through the acquisition of small producers at the front end and a merger with a larger company in the future. Talks are underway with multiple institutions and the company is looking to ensure the best end result for its shareholders.

The company's feasibility results showed a potential supply of 100,000 ounces per year production over a period of 10 years. The company is also looking to expand the life of the mine further through satellite deposits.

At the Posse Gold Project, the company uncovered a 24km long structural trend, out of which 23km has been identified through a variety of assessments including aerial, IP, and magnetic surveys.

The company is also focusing on the expansion of its Mara Rosa property and getting it ready for development. This site has had limited drilling in the past and the company started stepping out 2 years back, which led to the discovery of a striking length at a depth of 150m.

Amarillo Gold is looking to acquire a Brazilian small producer for its front end. They have been approached by several South American and North American producers for potential collaborations. The main focus of Amarillo Gold lies in advancing the development Posse Gold Project and expanding the exploration at the  Lavras do Sul exploration.

American Eagle Gold is a gold exploration company focused on its flagship Golden Gate project in Nevada. This project covers the entire southern end of the Cortez trend window. The company plans to drill and advance its ongoing projects while focusing on acquiring additional projects in the region. The company is a part of the Ore Group. 

American Eagle Gold completed a purchase agreement for the Garden Gate Pass, also known as the Garden Gate property located in the Cortez mining district in Nevada. This land package is spread over an area of 7,574 hectares and is located south of Barrick and Newmont's joint venture.

This purchase effectively triples the company's overall land package. It combines the Garden Gate and Golden Trend property and is collectively called Gold Rush. It forms a bridge across the Cortez trend, one of the richest jurisdictions for gold mining.

This package was acquired for an upfront cost of $50,000 with owners retaining NSR at the site. The company has an option to lease the property and buy it at a later time once a discovery is made. The terms include a $15,000 payment on a 6 monthly basis for the duration of the property retention. The final part of the deal includes 2 million shares along with $2M cash with the owners retaining a portion of the royalty.

This allows American Eagle Gold to utilize its cash reserves towards exploration and discovery. The company is also looking for land packages with similar deals in pace where small upfront payments are made until a discovery, which helps align the goals of all involved parties.

Mark Bradley is a recent addition to the company's technical team. He is an ex-Barrick employee responsible for the co-discovery of the Gold Rush when the operations first began. He has work experience spanning over 3 decades in this region and was involved in the Gold Rush project in 2007 and later in 2009 where drill operations continued till 2015. 

This area features Carlin-style deposits which are large seminated gold deposits present in carbonate rocks. A unique feature of these deposits is that they are known to be continuous laterally and have the potential to develop very high grades over large areas. This ensures high profitability in both over-pit and under-put operations.

There have been notable improvements in the stratigraphy of the Cortez area in the last 15 years. The increased understanding of carbonated rock deposits was paramount in choosing the Gold Rush property as these rocks feature continuous mineralization. This provides an opportunity to expand the deposit fairly quickly by way of step-out drilling.

American Eagle Gold is currently fully funded to carry out the entire program, drilling, and fieldwork for 2021. The company budgets a minimum of 1-year working capital and reassesses the strategy as they move forward.

American Eagle Gold plans to drill up to 4 holes ranging between 12,000 - 14,000 ft. It features oxides close to the surface and the company is looking for significant discoveries in these Carlin deposits. This area is historically known for featuring large, world-class clusters of gold deposits. The company is aiming for production of 1.4Moz within 5 years.

Strategic Resources is a growth platform for the emerging vanadium space. The company is based out of Vancouver, BC, and is a part of the Lumina Gold Corp. which primarily focuses on gold and copper assets. 

Strategic Resources is primarily working in tier 1 jurisdictions. Its main asset is a Brownfield project called the Mustavaara Vanadium-Iron Mine in Finland.

The Mustavaara Mine is a historic resource that was under production in the 70s and 80s. The company is looking to restart the production at this site. The company looks at it as an exciting opportunity for the Vanadium market from the junior developers' side.

Strategic Resources is looking to build its Vanadium assets as it's a growing market. The Mustavaara Mine is the company's first advanced stage project. They also have the Silasselkä Project in Finland, where economic studies are being carried out.

Strategic Resources is looking for M&A opportunities while simultaneously gaining entry into the Vanadium market. 

Vanadium is primarily used in the construction sector, primary steel to increase its overall strength. There's significant growth potential in the energy storage and the battery market as Vanadium Redox batteries have been in production for a long time.

Strategic Resources is looking to scale up the production of these batteries over the long term. Currently, Vanadium has a 100,000t/ year supply market and the company is looking to gain a 2% market share in the space.

Finland offers several benefits such as carbon-free power, cheap electricity, and port access which further improves the ease of doing business.

Strategic Resources put of a base case for the brownfield asset in 2020 and worked on production through a smelter case. The company is looking into leaching as an alternative to the smelting process as it will drastically reduce the CapEx while offering the recovery for higher-grade vanadium, iron and also add titanium recovery to the mix. 

The leaching program is being carried out in a JV with Vanadium Corp., based out of Vancouver. The leaching program will allow the extraction of Vanadium Pentoxide, which is ideal for use in batteries. 

Strategic Resources has a 15 years claim on the asset, a 150 million ton resource with a 43-101 in place. It features lots of historic data, along with 60 tons of concentrate in storage from past production.

Strategic Resources raised $2.5M in capital so far. The company plans to supply the iron in Europe and North America and the vanadium in Europe, Russia, and China. 

Troilus Gold Corp. is a Toronto-based development-stage mining company focused on the systematic advancement and de-risking of the Troilus Project towards the production of gold and copper. This project has been going through ongoing exploration since 2017. The company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-V: TLG).

Troilus Gold is a $200M gold development company operating in northern Quebec. The Troilus mine is a historical site with a resource of 1.8Moz. The company has already concluded the PEA at this property, indicating a production spanning over 20 years with a yearly supply of 220,000oz - 250,000 oz gold. 

Troilus Gold is set to publish its inaugural reserves after carrying out 250,000m of drilling with a pre-feasibility planned towards the end of 2021.

The company was able to raise $45M in the last round of funding closed in June with a price averaging at $1.45 per share with a flow-through premium. This round comprised 80% institutional investors and 20% retail investors amounting to $100M.

Troilus Gold also announced an $11M strategic investment from the Government of Quebec at a 20% premium on the current pricing. This investment has helped the company de-risk the asset while establishing a framework for project financing in the future. 

Shortly after the deal, there was a dip in the company's share price owing to the most significant drop in the gold market in the past 13 years.

Quebec has been historically known for being pro-development and a permitting jurisdiction. The company is a past producer at this site, looking to restart operations, and has a strong working relationship with the Quebec government.
strong working relationship with the Quebec govt

Troilus Gold is looking for project financing through major shareholders and plans to bring additional investors on board. A PFS is planned for the end of 2021. The Troilus Project offers a substantially low technical risk as it has historically produced 2Moz gold and 70,000t copper over 14 years. 

Troilus Gold has been able to add a huge resource fairly quickly with an expert ground team. Currently, they are carrying out 10,000m drilling on a monthly basis. The company also spend $10M in 2020 towards regional exploration and identified 6 potential targets. The geophysics and geochemistry at this site have already been concluded.