Company Interviews

Crux Investor
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An insight into junior mining and opportunities to invest. Company Interviews, a Crux Investor show, exists to cut through the jargon, bias and bluster. Matthew Gordon, and guest host Merlin Marr-Johnson hone in on the important factors that indicate a company's strong footing for growth and success.

  1. 6 hr ago

    The Royalty Sprint of 2026: Scarcity, Structure, and the Supply Gap

    Recording date: 3rd August 2026 The royalty and streaming sector rarely moves this fast, yet seven structurally distinct transactions closed or were announced in barely two months—ranging from a US$1.9 billion uranium-and-land merger to a $132.5 million iron ore royalty tied to America's critical minerals push. The pace signals a sector adapting to a new reality: capital is increasingly pricing time-to-production risk, not just geological risk. Uranium Royalty Corp's combination with Sweetwater Royalties dominates by headline value, implying a US$1.9 billion enterprise value for the Orion- and Ontario Teachers'-backed platform. Unlike conventional single-commodity deals, Sweetwater bundles uranium royalties with substantial land and trona-royalty positions in Wyoming. At the opposite end of the risk spectrum sits LunR Royalties' all-equity silver stream on Lundin Gold's Fruta del Norte mine in Ecuador—a deal with a payback period stretching into decades, reflecting how buyers must reach to compete with Silver Wheaton for scarce, high-quality silver assets. Between these extremes lie diverse structures: Triple Flag Precious Metals' US$440 million gold stream on Queensland's newly restarted Ravenswood mine; Elemental Royalty Corp's C$327 million acquisition of Vizsla Royalties' district-scale Panuco NSR in Mexico; a zero-cost reserve expansion on Elemental's Karlawinda royalty expected to lift annual payments toward $12.3 million; The Metals Royalty Company's $132.5 million Mesabi iron ore royalty in Minnesota; and Canadian Copper Inc's $44 million project-finance package with OR Royalties. Electric Royalties CEO Brendan Yurik warns that headline percentages mask critical buried terms. Automatic thresholds can halve or zero out payments once milestones are hit; net profits interests (NPIs) pay nothing if operators aren't profitable; and buyback clauses create asymmetric risks. Yurik's own firm holds 43 royalties across eight or nine metals in safe jurisdictions—a diversification strategy deliberately avoiding the single-asset concentration of $300 million-plus deals. Underpinning the activity is a demand picture investors are only beginning to model. Five years ago, copper forecasts assumed linear EV adoption; today, AI-driven demand alone could add roughly 50% to consumption over coming decades, with robotics poised to rival that impact. Supply remains equally constrained: ore deposits take millions of years to form, permitting runs a decade or more, and many producing mines are in their final years. The royalty surge reflects capital positioning for a structural gap between demand nobody has fully modelled and supply that cannot expand on anything but a multi-decade timeline. Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

  2. 1 day ago

    Scotia Metals (CSE:SMET) - Nova Scotia’s Largest Lithium Holder Preps Q3 2026 Drill

    Interview with Rodrigo Roso, Director & CEO of Scotia Metals Recording date: 30th July 2026 Scotia Metals Corp has emerged as a significant new player in Canada’s lithium sector, positioning itself as the largest lithium landholder in Nova Scotia with 37,268 hectares across 43 licences. Formed through a July 2026 business combination, the company controls a land package extending more than 80 kilometres along a प्रमुख geological corridor, directly adjacent to the Brazil Lake spodumene deposit, which hosts an estimated 10 million tonnes grading 1.20% Li₂O. Early exploration at Scotia’s flagship Green Wolf target has produced encouraging results, including more than 30 spodumene-bearing boulder samples grading between 1% and 3.40% Li₂O. The size, distribution, and angular nature of these boulders suggest multiple nearby pegmatite sources, indicating strong potential for bedrock mineralisation within the company’s claims. Scotia Metals is led by CEO Rodrigo Roso and a management team with experience in building and exiting resource companies, including roles at Galaxy Resources, Allkem, and K92 Mining. The company raised approximately $5.8 million alongside its listing and maintains a tightly held share structure, with about 50% owned by insiders and 40% by long-term backers, aligning interests toward sustained project development. The company plans to begin scout drilling in the third quarter of 2026, followed by more extensive resource-definition drilling aimed at supporting a maiden resource estimate. However, timelines for this milestone remain unclear, with guidance ranging from late 2026 to 2027. Scotia benefits from strong infrastructure, including proximity to ports, highways, and power, as well as supportive provincial policies for critical minerals. With lithium prices rebounding sharply after a recent downturn and long-term demand driven by electric vehicles and energy storage, Scotia Metals is positioning itself to capitalize on a strengthening market while advancing one of Atlantic Canada’s most prospective new lithium districts. Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

  3. 2 days ago

    Resolute Mining (LSE:RSG) - Targets 500,000oz Gold Output

    Interview with Chris Eger, CEO & Managing Director of Resolute Mining. Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/resolute-mining-lsersg-gold-turnaround-reaches-inflection-point-5324 Recording date: 30th July 2026 Resolute Mining is executing a multi-year transformation from a single-jurisdiction Mali gold producer into a diversified, four-country West African miner, and CEO Chris Eger's message to investors is that the market hasn't yet caught up with the progress made in 2026. The near-term production base remains Syama (Mali) and Mako (Senegal), guided to a combined 250,000-275,000oz in 2026 at an AISC of $2,000-2,200/oz. Syama is completing a sulphide conversion project this year that lifts processing capacity to 4.0Mtpa, while Mako is bridging toward its next production phase via satellite deposits at Tomboronkoto and Bantaco, expected to extend that operation's life to 2033. The growth story sits in Côte d'Ivoire. Doropo, acquired from AngloGold Ashanti in 2025, is now under construction and tracking toward first gold in H2 2028. At a US$4,000/oz gold price, the project's post-tax NPV is US$2,543 million with a 72% IRR and a 1.1-year payback — economics that look, on paper, difficult to ignore. Construction is well underway: 74 hectares cleared, 20km of access roads built, and key long-lead equipment packages awarded. Reserves of 2.5 million ounces sit within a 4.4 million ounce resource base that Eger expects to grow toward 3.5-4 million ounces of reserves over time. A second Côte d'Ivoire asset, the ABC project, saw its inferred resource expanded to over 3.0 million ounces in July 2026, up from 2.2 million ounces, following an aggressive 31,000m drill programme. Management is positioning ABC as Resolute's potential fourth mine, targeting feasibility study completion by the end of 2027. Financially, the company is in a strong position to fund this pipeline without near-term equity dilution: $317 million in net cash, $426 million in available liquidity, and freshly secured local bank facilities of $155 million (with $105 million more expected) to supplement Doropo's construction financing. The key risk factor, and the one Eger addressed most directly, is Mali's evolving fiscal and security environment. Royalty rates have risen materially since 2024, shifting the government-operator cash split from roughly 50/50 toward 60-65% in the government's favour, a trend Eger frames as a broader African pattern rather than Mali-specific resource nationalism. Security incidents in late 2025 and April 2026 disrupted operations temporarily, though Eger describes the situation as improving as of his most recent site visit. Valuation-wise, Resolute trades at the bottom of its West African peer group: 0.4x P/NAV, US$172/oz on reserves and US$63/oz on resources, all below the peer averages and, in several cases, the lowest in the comparable set. Management's thesis is straightforward: as Doropo comes online and the portfolio's geographic concentration in Mali falls from its current ~60% share of value, the valuation discount should narrow. For investors, the catalysts to watch over the next 12-18 months are Doropo construction milestones, ABC's feasibility progression, and any further developments in Mali's fiscal or security environment. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/resolute-mining Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

  4. 2 days ago

    Summit Royalties (TSXV:SUM) - Secures US$50M Credit Facility to Fund Cash-Flowing Deals Push

    Interview with Drew Clark, President and CEO, Summit Royalties Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/summit-royalties-tsxvsum-targets-15m-revenue-run-rate-with-new-gold-streams-by-2028-10897 Recording date: 28th July 2026 Summit Royalties has added a new financing tool to a growth strategy that, until now, has relied almost entirely on equity. On July 27, the company announced a credit agreement with National Bank of Canada for a revolving facility with an initial US$25 million commitment, alongside an accordion feature providing for an additional US$25 million on the same terms — for total potential availability of US$50 million. The facility carries a three-year initial tenor, interest priced off SOFR or CORRA plus a leverage-dependent spread of 2.50% to 4.00%, and standard covenants including net leverage, interest coverage, and minimum liquidity requirements. Speaking to Crux Investor's Matt Gordon the day after the announcement, President and CEO Drew Clark was direct about what the debt is for and, just as importantly, what it isn't for. Summit's stated discipline is to use debt only against assets that will generate cash flow within three to five years — a narrower standard than the one that has applied to some of Summit's equity-funded acquisitions, including its recently closed purchase of Star Royalties, which added the Copperstone gold stream in Arizona to Summit's portfolio. Clark also used the interview to correct an earlier public framing of Summit's acquisition discipline. He clarified that roughly $250 million worth of transactions were rejected because Summit's own bids came in below sellers' clearing prices — for example, bidding $65 million on an asset that ultimately cleared at $80 million — rather than Summit walking away from opportunities that met its criteria. It's a useful clarification for investors trying to gauge how aggressively management is actually competing for assets versus how selectively it is declining them. On current market conditions, Clark described deal-making as comparatively easier than during the recent gold price peak, since the gap between long-term and spot pricing has narrowed. He flagged tungsten streams as a specific area of emerging opportunity alongside Summit's core precious metals focus, and noted that Summit is evaluating opportunities as both an acquirer and a potential acquisition target within the sector's ongoing consolidation. The most concrete disclosure for investors may be management's own valuation framework. Clark said the internal belief is that once Summit's revenue reaches somewhere between $20 million and $30 million annually, the company should re-rate toward 1 to 1.2 times NAV — in line with royalty peers — and toward 15-20 times revenue, versus a current multiple he characterised as below 10 times and a NAV multiple around 0.6 times. Management continues to target a production run rate of roughly 4,000 gold-equivalent ounces by the end of 2028 as the operational catalyst behind that thesis. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/summit-royalties Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

  5. 2 days ago

    Axo Metals (TSXV:AXO) - Permit Win Accelerates Path to Production at San Antonio

    Interview with Jonathan Egilo, CEO, Axo Metals Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/axo-metals-tsxvaxo-brownfield-gold-restart-in-mexico-gains-momentum-ahead-of-september-pea-10759 Recording date: 28th July 2026 Axo Metals Corp. (TSXV:AXO) has removed the largest single risk on its San Antonio gold project's development timeline. On 27 July, Mexico's SEMARNAT approved the project's Environmental Impact Statement (MIA) - the primary permit required to build and operate the mine - roughly six months after Axo filed the application in January. That is well inside the one-year timeline management had originally guided investors to expect, and covers all of San Antonio's deposits (Sapuchi, Golfo de Oro and California) and existing infrastructure in a single approval. One administrative step remains: the Change of Use of Soils (CUS), a tree-clearing authorisation submitted earlier this year and expected to clear by year-end. It only affects mining at the three pits themselves - the project's existing carbon-in-column plant, crusher, stockpiles and camp are already fully permitted, meaning Axo can move toward stockpile reprocessing without waiting on it. With the MIA in hand, management has reallocated its drilling programme. Two of Axo's three active rigs - running a combined 3,000 metres a month - are now testing ground roughly 500 metres outside the current resource boundary, up from a programme previously weighted toward infill. That infill work is itself producing encouraging results: several holes have converted material previously modelled as waste into ore-grade intercepts, including 27.9 metres at 0.43 g/t gold roughly 100 metres from the nearest modelled ore domain. The company is also pushing back its Preliminary Economic Assessment by roughly two months from its original September target. Rather than publish a study anchored to San Antonio's pre-acquisition 2021 resource, management wants to fold in an updated estimate built on a full year of new drilling - meaning the PEA that eventually lands should reflect a materially different resource than the one the company inherited. A dedicated step-out and expansion drilling update is planned for September, separate from ongoing Sapuchi infill news flow, and will include first results from the high-grade El Tigre target, where channel sampling has already returned intercepts including 68.6 metres at 1.11 g/t gold. On capital allocation, Axo's $40 million February financing was earmarked specifically for San Antonio, and management has confirmed it is deliberately deprioritising near-term spending at La Huerta, its copper discovery in Jalisco, in favour of pushing San Antonio toward a construction decision. The company is also beginning to add Mexican open-pit, heap-leach construction personnel ahead of an expected full build phase at Sapuchi next year - a staffing transition modelled on sister company Silver Tiger's own shift from exploration to construction. As of the company's most recent investor materials (June 2026, pre-dating the permit approval), Axo carried roughly C$36.6 million in cash against a C$183.8 million market capitalisation and C$147.5 million enterprise value. For investors, the two nearest-term catalysts are the September drilling update and the revised PEA - both of which should offer the clearest test yet of whether San Antonio's resource is as substantially larger than its current 1.1 million ounces as management believes. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/axo-metals-corp Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

  6. 3 days ago

    Nickel’s Next Chapter: Tight Supply, Steady Demand, and Higher Price Floors

    With Mark Selby, CEO of Canada NickelIngo Hofmaier, CFO of LIfezone Metals Recording date: 30th July 2026 Indonesia has fundamentally shifted its nickel strategy—from flooding global markets to actively managing supply through royalties, quotas, and pricing formulas since late 2025. Executives from Canada Nickel and Lifezone Metals describe this as a structural change, not a temporary adjustment. They argue that the era of nickel priced under $15,000 per tonne is over, with $18,000–$19,000 now representing Indonesia’s break-even and preferred operating range. Physical supply constraints are compounding policy-driven discipline. Indonesian ore grades fell about 8% last year and are expected to drop another 4–5% this year. Meanwhile, mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) production has slumped roughly 37% from its September 2025 peak, largely due to sulphur import bottlenecks tied to geopolitical tensions around the Strait of Hormuz. On the demand side, the market continues to overemphasize electric vehicle batteries while underestimating stainless steel, which accounts for the bulk of nickel consumption and is growing steadily at 4.6–4.8% annually. Both executives contend that consensus forecasts around 3% annual demand growth lag real trends, which have averaged nearly 7% since 2019. Canada Nickel’s Crawford project in Ontario recently secured a federal Decision Statement, clearing its final major regulatory hurdle. The company now focuses on closing the last 10–20% of its financing package, with a construction decision targeted for 2027. Strategic investors include Anglo American, Agnico Eagle, Samsung SDI, and the Taykwa Tagamou Nation. Lifezone Metals is advancing its high-grade Kabanga project in Tanzania, where nickel grades exceed 2%, supported by copper, cobalt, and silver byproducts. With over $800 million of its $930 million capex already tendered and $37 million in cash on hand, Lifezone seeks to finalize equity financing ahead of a Final Investment Decision. Construction could begin within two to three years thereafter. Together, these developments signal a tighter, more disciplined nickel market—one where Western sulphide projects may finally find viable economic footing. Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

  7. 3 days ago

    Getchell Gold (CSE:GTCH) - Fondaway Canyon Gold Project PEA Delivers Billion-Dollar Valuation

    Interview with Mike Sieb, President & Director of Getchell Gold Corp. Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/getchell-gold-csegtch-low-cost-117000-oz-pa-with-105-year-life-of-mine-7731 Recording date: 30th July 2026 Getchell Gold Corp (CSE:GTCH) released a 2026 Preliminary Economic Assessment on its flagship Fondaway Canyon Gold Project in Nevada, marking the company's advancement toward a prefeasibility study. The PEA, prepared by SLR Consulting, is limited to the open-pit mineral resources in the project's Central Area. The updated 2026 Mineral Resource Estimate shows 999,000 ounces indicated (22.1 million tonnes at 1.40 g/t Au) and 1.812 million ounces inferred (45.6 million tonnes at 1.24 g/t Au) - a 21% global increase over the 2024 estimate, driven by a targeted ten-hole 2025 drill programme. Indicated resources grew 54% and inferred resources grew 8%. Mineralisation remains open for expansion along strike and dip across multiple sections of the roughly four-kilometre-long Fondaway Canyon gold corridor. The PEA contemplates a conventional open-pit mine feeding a 12,000 tonne-per-day mill - up from an earlier 8,000 tpd concept - over an initial 10.1-year mine life, producing 1.52 million ounces of gold (150,000 oz/year average) via a flotation concentrate sold to a third-party refinery. At a base-case gold price of $3,200/oz, which management describes as conservative relative to current spot, the project shows a pre-tax NPV8% of $1,004 million and after-tax NPV8% of $905 million, a pre-tax IRR of 58.8% (53.1% after-tax), and payback of 1.5 years pre-tax (2.0 years after-tax). Total initial capital cost is $265.3 million including a 20% contingency and life-of-mine cash costs are estimated at $1,740/oz. Despite these economics, Getchell's market capitalisation sits at roughly CA$46 million on 202.6 million shares outstanding. President Mike Sieb attributed a significant portion of that gap to an unresolved third-party claims dispute, in which an outside party has challenged Getchell's title to certain claims despite the company's position that its core claims have been valid and in good standing for 70-75 years, making it the senior claim holder. Management declined to discuss case specifics given ongoing litigation. To fund continued drilling and prefeasibility work - which will focus on converting inferred resources to indicated, along with metallurgical, hydrogeological, and geotechnical studies - management pointed to roughly 50.9 million in-the-money warrants (weighted average exercise price $0.19) that could deliver $2.5-10 million over the next 12 months, alongside 20% insider ownership on a partially diluted basis. Near-term catalysts include a Plan of Operations filing with the Bureau of Land Management targeted for year-end 2026, continued drill results, and progress toward a prefeasibility study expected within approximately two years. The company's low relative capital intensity gives it flexibility to either self-fund toward development or entertain a strategic partner. Learn more: https://cruxinvestor.com/companies/getchell-gold-corp Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

  8. 29 Jul

    ICG Silver & Gold (CSE:ICG) - Drilling Programme Expands Tuscarora Resource Estimate by 60% More

    Interview with Steven Sirbovan, CEO, ICG Silver & Gold Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/icg-silver-gold-cseicg-newly-listed-district-scale-play-fully-funded-for-drilling-9778 Recording date: 27th July 2026 ICG Silver & Gold Ltd. is a Nevada-focused precious metals explorer advancing the Tuscarora District, a roughly 10,000-acre, 100%-owned land package sitting at the intersection of the Carlin and Independence Trends in Elko County. Since listing on the CSE on 31 March 2026, the company's central task has been converting a large but fragmented historical dataset into a coherent, drill-ready district-scale thesis - and the latest update from CEO Steven Sirbovan suggests meaningful progress on that front. The headline development is data, not drilling: ICG's historical drilling database has grown from 25,000 to 40,000 metres, pulled from lab archives and physical records dating back to the 1960s. Critically, a third-party mineral resource geologist has assessed that database - combined with the company's current 3,000-metre Phase 1 RC programme - as sufficient to support a maiden inferred resource without any additional core drilling. That's a meaningful capital-efficiency win for a company with a tight, roughly 43-million-share basic capitalisation (54.5 million fully diluted). The Phase 1 programme itself, which commenced 2 July 2026 with Major Drilling International, budgeted at approximately $1.5 million, is sequencing six priority targets: Silica, Battle Mountain, and King's Vein in the Central Zone (roughly 80% of metres), followed by Grand Prize and East Pediment in the more silver-prospective East Zone, before returning to Modoc. Notably, South Navajo - the target with the deepest historical drilling and the district's best-known intercept (4.57m at 127.08 g/t gold, including 1.52m at 368.31 g/t gold, drilled by Novo Resources in 2016) - is being held back from Phase 1 entirely, with management confident in roughly 80% of the historical data there without further verification. Sirbovan has framed the programme's real objective as testing continuity rather than chasing standalone high-grade hits: understanding whether a lower-grade halo exists between known veins, and whether targets like Modoc, Silica, and Battle Mountain - previously treated as one system - are structurally connected at depth. QA/QC on both historical and current drilling is being led by VP Exploration Korbon McCall, who has been re-verifying historical assay certificates directly against lab records. Assay results are expected between August and October 2026, with a first mineral resource estimate targeted for Q1 2027 - management has cited an internal ambition of at least 500,000 gold-equivalent ounces as an initial baseline. Management, insiders, and significant shareholders hold over 25% of the tight capital structure. At an approximate C$18 million market capitalisation, ICG trades at a discount to profiled Nevada peers (C$24-160 million), several of which remain pre-resource themselves - leaving the upcoming assay and resource news flow as the key catalysts that could close that valuation gap, assuming results confirm the continuity thesis management has laid out. Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/icg-silver-gold Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

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About

An insight into junior mining and opportunities to invest. Company Interviews, a Crux Investor show, exists to cut through the jargon, bias and bluster. Matthew Gordon, and guest host Merlin Marr-Johnson hone in on the important factors that indicate a company's strong footing for growth and success.

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  • Creator
    Crux Investor
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    2k
  • Rating
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