Adrian O’Brien, VP of Business Development and Communications at Midnight Sun Mining (TSX.V:MMA - OTC:MDNGF), provides an update on the company’s progress at the Slowezi Project in Zambia, where active exploration is underway across three key targets: Dumbwa, Kazhiba, and Mitu.

Dumbwa - Flagship Target Now 100% Owned

Kazhiba - High-Grade Oxide and Sulfide Targets

Mitu - Advancing to Drill Stage

Budget and Funding

Click here to visit the Midnight Sun Mining website to read over the recent news. 

Arturo Préstamo Elizondo, Executive Chairman and CEO of Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. (TSXV: SCZ) (OTCQB: SCZMF), joins me to recap key financial and operational updates for the company from newsflow during the first quarter.  Santacruz Silver operates 1 mine in Mexico, and 5 mines, 3 mills, and an ore feed-sourcing and metals trading business in Bolivia, as an emerging mid-tier silver and base metals producer.

We start off on the financial side of the business, reviewing the news out on February 27th where its wholly owned subsidiary in Bolivia, San Lucas S.A., successfully completed the first offering of promissory notes, named “Pagarés Bursátiles San Lucas – Emisión 1,” under its San Lucas Promissory Notes Issuance Program. The offering was oversubscribed and sold out in a matter of 15 minutes, for gross proceeds of 70 million Bolivian Boliviano. The notes have a 6.25% interest rate, a maturity date of February 15th, 2026 and are unsecured.  It was encouraging to Arturo to see the support from in-country stakeholders in Bolivia.

Next, we reviewed the news out on March 20, that the Company has structured and implemented a plan to exercise its Acceleration Option to satisfy the Base Purchase Price owed to Glencore, by making payments on a schedule that aligns the accelerated timing whilst meeting the Company’s commitment to financial discipline and a strong balance sheet. The plan’s primary objective is to save the Company US$40 million.The Company successfully completed the first component of this plan, an initial payment to Glencore of USD$10 million, on March 20, 2025. Moving forward under the plan, Santacruz will make bi-monthly payments of USD$7.5 million commencing in May 2025 until reaching a total of USD$40 million, with all payments scheduled to be completed by October 31, 2025. This structured plan reflects the Company’s commitment to fulfilling its obligations and achieving cost savings while maintaining financial discipline and strong cash reserves over time.

Then Arturo takes us through the Q4 2024 operational results where 4,710,013 silver equivalent ounces were produced from its Bolivar mine, Porco mine, Caballo Blanco Group of mines and the San Lucas ore sourcing business all located in Bolivia, and the Zimapan mine located in Mexico. Silver production rose by 3% compared to the previous quarter, reaching 1,761,686 ounces.

Q4 2024 Production Highlights:

If you have any follow up questions for Arturo regarding Santacruz Silver,  then please email them in to me [email protected].

In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Santacruz Silver at the time of this recording.

Click here to follow the latest news from Santacruz Silver Mining

Martin Turenne, President and CEO of FPX Nickel (TSX-V: FPX - OTCQB: FPOCF), joins me to discuss the company’s latest developments, including a scoping study for North America’s first large-scale nickel sulfate refinery, and the 2025 roadmap for the Baptiste Nickel Project, in central BC, one of the world’s largest undeveloped nickel deposits.

Key Interview Highlights:

Visit FPX Nickel’s website for full technical details and recent news releases.

Chris Temple, Editor and Publisher of the National Investor, joins us to delve into the renewed interest in base metals, gold, uranium, and other critical minerals and the implications and potential benefits to the US as a mining jurisdiction on the back of the new executive order from Trump issued on March 20th titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.”

This executive order will utilize the Defense Production Act (DPA) to focus on sourcing more domestically mined, processed, or refined critical minerals and strategic mineral as a matter of national security.  There appears to be a joint effort between the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Department of Defense to provide investment support, loans, and possibly grant for mining projects.  There is also an expedited priority on reviewing the permitting on projects seeking development from usual base metals like nickel aluminum and copper, but also includes rare earths, gold, and uranium.

Chris outlines what impact these initiatives may have on permitting timelines and regulations around developing new mines, as well as how this could affect opening up more funds, loans, and grants to bring in the necessary capital for moving these projects forward.  However, while there are many positives, Chris points to how many hurtles are still in place at various levels of government and from legal actions from NGOs; in addition to how much more real work is needed to earnestly impact the extractive industries in the United States.  We also layer on how this executive order squares with other policy initiatives like tariffs on many metals and countries, and a reduction in government workers and cost cutting measures.

This leads into a nuanced discussion of the spotlight and investor interest back on many of the large advanced projects that have been stalled for decades like Northern Dynasty’s Pebble, Trilogy’s Rambler road access to the Upper Kobuk mineral project, Rio Tinto’s Resolution Mine in Arizona, and the Teck-Glencore JV at NorthMet in Minnesota.  Chris reminds listeners that with all those projects, if they do ever get approved, they would still be many years from producing more of these critical minerals. 

He also highlights examples of how the government and manufacturers have a poor track record of acting in on these kinds of initiatives in a timely manner. Chris points to the disconnect in the long permitting process where the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finally approved Lithium Americas Thacker Pass Lithium Project, and then automotive giant General Motors announced it would invest $650M in the mine project, giving GM exclusive access to the first phase of production.  When everything did finally start lining up for project development, the lithium prices which had been high for years reversed course and cratered in price, with an oversupply of lithium flooding the market and expectations being lowered for EV adoption rates and future demand.

We wrap up with Chris sharing why his top 3 commodities areas for this year are still gold, uranium, and traditional energy with oil and gas companies.   He is encouraged by the record all-time high prices in gold during the first quarter of 2025, but feels the biggest opportunity for resource investors at present is in the deeply discounted uranium equities, which he stated “are a gift at these levels.”

Click here to follow along with Chris at the National Investor website.

Sean Kingsley, President and CEO of Gold Hunter Resources (CSE:HUNT - OTCQB:HNTRF - FRA:6RH), joins me for a corporate update and outlook on upcoming exploration work at the Great Northern Gold Project in Newfoundland.

Since our last conversation in October, Gold Hunter has made progress, including completing an oversubscribed private placement of C$1.7 million, setting the stage to start fieldwork for this year.

Key Topics Covered:

To learn more, visit Gold Hunter Resources’ website

Dr. Thomas Mumford, Vice President of Exploration at Scottie Resources (TSX.V:SCOT – OTCQB:SCTSF), joins me to review some results from the recent study on utilizing ore sorting, their research into pursuing a Direct-Shipping Ore (DSO) development strategy, the upcoming Maiden Resource Estimate, and an overall exploration review from 2024 and look ahead to the 2025 season at the Scottie Gold Mine Project, located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia.

Thomas reviewed the advancements in ore sorting and how it paired well with their mineralization, with both XRF and XRT. This correlates well with the proposed DSO strategy, because of the ability to substantially increase grade while reducing the volume of material to be shipped and the resulting positive economic implications. Using XRF ore sorting technology, the operation will eliminate the need for a gold processing plant and tailings facility, thereby significantly reducing the capital required and resulting in a minimal environmental footprint.

When reviewing their direct-ship ore strategy, Thomas highlighted that Scottie has one of the closest gold projects to a deep-sea shipping terminal, which based on its location is positioned in one of North America's cheapest commercial shipping lanes to Asia. In addition to the ease of a proposed open-pit mine, which already has an existing mine permit, there is also key external infrastructure in place, such as power lines and hauling roads right to site.

Thomas then provides a solid recap of last year’s exploration program and key drill targets and milestones at the Blueberry Contact Zone and Scottie Gold Mine area. This year’s program will be working on doing some infill drilling to convert categories from inferred to measured and indicated, but also following up on the discovery of the new Wolf discovery, the C&D veins, and some other new targets.  All the prior years drill results are being compiled at present building towards a Maiden Resource Estimate that is targeted to be out to the market in a few weeks as the next key company milestone.

If you have any questions for Thomas regarding Scottie Resources, then please email them in to me at  [email protected].

Click here to follow the latest news from Scottie Resources

Scott Berdahl, CEO of Snowline Gold (TSX.V:SGD - OTCQB:SNWGF) joins me to recap key developments from Q1 and outline what’s ahead for this Yukon-focused gold explorer.

The company drilled 35,000 meters in 2024, including 25,000 meters at the Valley deposit, on the Rogue Project, which already hosts a 7.3 million ounces of gold resource. Recent results include 617 meters of 1.7 g/t gold from surface, with 202 meters at over 3 g/t. All the drilling from last year will factor into an updated resource estimate coming in the near term. 

Scott also discusses Valley’s high-grade starter zone, the potential for additional high-grade pockets within the system, and progress on the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). With over $63 million in the treasury following a $20M financing, Snowline is fully funded through 2026.

Looking ahead, five rigs will return in May for a similarly sized drill program focused on advancing Valley and testing regional targets. Scott shares how early discoveries and consistent geology continue to support the district-scale opportunity Snowline is targeting.

If you have any follow up questions for Scott please email me at [email protected].

Click here to visit the Snowline Gold website to read over the recent news and learn more about the Company.

Andrew Pollard, President and CEO of Blackrock Silver (TSX.V:BRC – OTCQX:BKRRF), joins me to discuss some of the recent high-grade silver and gold assays returned from the reverse circulation Scout Drilling Program completed on the southeastern side of the DPB M&I Conversion area on its 100% owned Tonopah West project located in Nye and Esmeralda Counties, Nevada, United States.

We start off reviewing all the exploration work completed in last year’s phase of the program with the 20,000 meters of M&I conversion drilling, and then focused on the additional 15,000 meters of drilling that has been added to this phase of the program.  In tandem with improving the continuity of mineralization, and converting resources from inferred to measured and indicated, there is also a fair amount of expansion drilling underway.

Andrew outlined that the assays from their reverse circulation scout drill program have returned significant gold & silver values in 7 drillholes that have successfully expanded the footprint of mineralization up to 1,200 meters to the east of the existing DPB resource toward the historic Ohio mine. These intercepts cover a new zone of mineralization not included in the 2024 resource that may impact the upcoming DPB South resource update (Q3, 2025);

Next we reviewed the rising grade profile and shallow nature of some of the new mineralized zones that have been tested in the Measured and Indicated portion of the drill program from late last year and slated to complete next month.  Results continue to exceed expectations at the Merten-Bermuda vein group in the DPB South area, confirming high-grade silver and gold connects across significant length at higher-than-average grades. These results should positively impact the front end of the mine plan by adding higher confidence, higher grade mineralization at more shallow depths, and will be featured in the M&I resource update due out in September of Q3. The expansion drill results will keep being released through this year to be able to update that portion with a second resource update slated for Q1 2026, and then an updated PEA incorporating all that data is planned for Q2 of 2026.

We wrap up discussing the permitting progress underway on this patented land in Nevada, and how the new executive order from the Trump administration could positively affect the funding and development process for the Tonopah West Project.

If you have any follow up questions for Andrew regarding Blackrock Silver, then please email them into me at [email protected].

 * In full disclosure, Shad is shareholder of Blackrock Silver at the time of this recording.

Click here to visit the Blackrock Silver website to read over the recent news we discussed.

George Ogilvie, President and CEO of Arizona Sonoran Copper (TSX:ASCU – OTCQX:ASCUF), joins us to outline all the ongoing derisking work building towards a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) on the Cactus Project in Arizona, as the next key company milestone. The overall Cactus Project now contains over 11 billion pounds (“lbs”)  of copper in all categories – 7.3 billion lbs of copper in measured and indicated, and 3.8 billion lbs in the inferred category.

We start off having George share how the incorporation of the MainSpring area into the larger Parks-Salyer deposit, has allowed for a shift from underground mining over to an open-pit mining method.  They are reviewing moving the center of the open pit more towards the high-grade portion of the  Park-Salyer deposit, and infill drilling is showing it expanding towards that direction, which should present better economics and a faster payback period in the upcoming PFS.

We discuss that there was no royalty on the Mainspring property area, and that in January the Company has bought back 1% of the of the Bronco Creek Exploration net smelter royalty (“NSR”) for a cash payment of US$500,000, reducing the NSR from 1.5% to a remaining 0.5% NSR near the high-grade area of the Parks-Salyer deposit.  This gives investors more upside to the project at present, but also presents an area that can be renegotiated with companies when assembling the capital stack down the road. In February a subsidiary of Royal Gold Inc. (RLGD:NASDAQ) has purchased an existing 2.5% NSR on a portion of the Cactus Project for cash consideration of US$55 million from Tembo Capital. ASCU has the right to buy back 0.5% of Royal Gold’s aggregate 2.5% NSR for US$7 million, by July 10, 2025.  This demonstrates the value that Royal Gold sees in the project.

Additionally, on January 31st Arizona Sonoran announced that it closed its private placement with Hudbay Minerals Inc. of 11,955,270 common shares at a price of C$1.68 for gross proceeds to the Company of C$20,084,853 million. Additionally, Nuton LLC, a Rio Tinto Venture, exercised its pre-emptive rights in respect of the Hudbay Placement, pursuant to the terms of its investor rights agreement, to maintain its 7.2% equity interest in the Company for gross proceeds of C$1,562,210.   Seeing strategic shareholders like Royal Gold, Hudbay Minerals, and Rio Tinto involved demonstrates a strong vetting process and validation of the importance of the Cactus Project.

The Cactus PEA released last year envisages an average 86k short ton (172 million pound) per annum open pit copper heap leaching operation over a 31-year mine life (“LOM”). In total, 5.3 billion lbs or 2.7 million short tons of LME Grade A copper cathodes is detailed for production directly onsite via solvent extraction and electrowinning hydrometallurgical processing. We discuss how the plan to produce high-purity copper cathodes domestically, presents distinct advantages in light of the new US copper tariffs.  There will be more challenging effects on other companies that need to send copper concentrates over to Asian smelters and then will be subject to those tariffs.

George outlines how 40,000 meters of drilling will mainly be infilling areas in the MainSpring property from inferred to measured and indicated, as well as further defining and expanding the resources at the Park-Salyer main area.  There is also more metallurgical work to prepare for incorporating these areas into the upcoming PFS, projected to come out in the Fall of 2025.  

The company is also looking at acquiring more adjacent private land that will assist with optimizing the site layout for development. George highlights the strength of the infrastructure in place, the access to power, and the

George also provides some updates on permitting for the project, and the importance of it being on private land to help expedite the process, and that they should be submitting their applications later this year for administrative acceptance by early 2026, and then approval 6 months later.  This will time out well with their Bankable Feasibility Study and the capital stack coming together for a construction decision late next year.

If you have any follow up questions for George about Arizona Sonoran, then please email us at [email protected] or  [email protected] and we’ll get those reviewed by the company.

Click here to visit the Arizona Sonoran website to read over all the recent news.

Dave Erfle, Editor of the Junior Miner Junky joins us to break down a remarkable Q1 for the precious metals sector - and what it could signal for the quarters ahead.

Key discussion highlights:

Silver’s critical level and broader sector leverage: Silver needs to break and hold above $35/oz to ignite the next leg up, particularly for silver equities and high-beta junior miners. Until then, performance will likely remain selective and stock-specific.

Click here to visit the Junior Miner Junky website to learn more about Dave’s investment letter.