market news

New Type of Royalty Company, But Can They Really Scale the Model?

September 16, 2026

Nations Royalty buys and pools mining royalty and impact benefit agreement (IBA) payments owned by First Nations. Its founding portfolio, contributed by the Nisga’a Nation, covers five interests tied to BC’s Golden Triangle and northern BC mining region: Brucejack (Newmont), KSM (Seabridge Gold), Premier and Red Mountain (Cambria Gold Mines), and Kitsault (New Moly). In this conversation, I asked the CEO how these unusual mineral-tax-linked payments work, the company’s cash position, and progress toward signing new Indigenous partnerships. TL;DR Only one of the five assets, Brucejack, is currently paying: C$2.2 million in royalty revenue last quarter (about C$8.8 million annualized) against roughly C$3.3 million a year in overhead, so the company says it’s profitable and will be free cash flow positive once that gold-silver mine’s payments are received. Nations Royalty has about C$17 million in cash, last raised C$15 million in January 2026 at C$1.60 a share with a half

Cash-Flowing Gold Mine in Ontario, But Can They Get Costs Under Control?

September 15, 2026

Hemlo Mining’s flagship is the Hemlo gold mine near Marathon, northwestern Ontario, bought from Barrick last year. In this interview with CEO Jason Kosec, I asked about the mine’s history under Barrick, the current operational turnaround, the resource and mine plan rebuild, the Franco-Nevada and Wheaton encumbrances, the contingent payment owed back to Barrick, exploration on the wider land package, and the balance sheet.

High-Grade Silver Veins in Mexico, But Are the Widths Mineable?

September 14, 2026

Mercado Minerals’ flagship is Copalito, an optioned low sulphidation epithermal vein system roughly 120 km northeast of Culiacán and about 35 km from McEwen’s El Gallo complex, with a second 100 percent owned project called Zamora about 110 km north of Mazatlán and signed LOIs over San Rafael and La California in the San Dimas district of Durango. In this interview, we went through the usual smell test on incentives and ownership, then spent most of the time on the just-completed maiden drill program, what Phase II looks like, treasury, and the Sinaloa security question.

Titanium-Vanadium Discovery in Labrador, But Will The Metallurgy Work?

September 11, 2026

SAGA Metals’ flagship is the Radar titanium-vanadium-iron project about 10 km south of Cartwright in southeastern Labrador, covering the Dykes River intrusive complex, a layered mafic intrusion hosting vanadiferous titanomagnetite and ilmenite. The second asset is Wolverine, a rare earth project roughly 50 km west of Hopedale and 12 km inland from the coast. In this interview, I asked about the resource drilling just completed at Radar, the metallurgical work with Temas Resources, treasury and spending, insider ownership and royalties, and permitting and port access.

BC Gold Drill Program Starting, But Can They Prove Continuity?

September 10, 2026

Omega Pacific Resources’s flagship Williams property is located in British Columbia’s Toodoggone District, roughly 330 km north of Smithers. The target is gold at West GIC, which they now interpret as an orogenic system, plus an adjacent copper-gold porphyry target called ROI. In this interview, I asked about the delayed 2026 drill program, why nothing happened in 2025, the buyout of the remaining project interest from CopAur Minerals, and how they intend to pay for 2027.

New Gold Zone in Wide Intervals, But is There Enough Size?

September 10, 2026

Kirkland Lake Discoveries’ flagship is the Mirado Gold Project at KL South, a past-producing, structurally controlled gold system about 20 km southeast of Kirkland Lake, with KL West, KL East and Goodfish now sitting behind it. In this interview, I asked the CEO about the summer drilling, how big the system might be, the upcoming financing, permitting, and what it would take to get to a resource estimate.

Historic High-Grade Gold Mine in Canada, But Can it be Permitted?

September 9, 2026

Sixty North Gold’s flagship is the Mon Gold Project, a past-producing high-grade gold mine roughly 45 km north of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. It is an Archean turbidite-hosted quartz vein deposit where the A-Zone was mined intermittently through the 1990s, and the company’s whole plan is to restart it at 100 tonnes per day. In this interview, I got an introduction to the story, and was able to ask more questions about permitting, specifically the water management plan and baseline water sampling that is now holding up the restart, plus insider ownership, royalties, mining method, and how you would even value the thing without a technical study.

High-Grade Copper in Brazil, But is There a Real System?

September 9, 2026

Prospectiva Resources’ flagship is the São Francisco copper-gold project in Pernambuco state, northeastern Brazil, part of a 335 km² package in the Borborema belt that also holds the Tabira, Pico do Jabre and Desterro gold targets in neighbouring Paraíba. In this interview, I asked about the ongoing 2,500 m drill program, the new VMS and fold-hinge geological model that Yamana never applied, how the project was acquired from Pan American Silver, and what it will cost to get to a first resource.

Historic Gold Mine in Nevada, But Can They Really Restart It?

September 8, 2026

CopAur Minerals’ flagship is the past-producing Kinsley Mountain project in Elko and White Pine counties, about 80 km south of West Wendover. The company also holds Troy Canyon in Nye County, now being funded by a private company called Pravda Strategic Minerals under an earn-in, plus a residual share position in Omega Pacific from the old Williams property in BC. In this interview, I asked about the May 2026 resource update, the PEA, where they stand with BLM permitting, and how they intend to pay for all of it.

Big Zinc-Lead-Silver Project in the NWT, But Can They Really Build It?

September 8, 2026

Honey Badger Silver’s flagship is PC Silver, a silver-zinc-lead project in the Mackenzie Mountains of the Northwest Territories sitting in a carve-out inside Nahanni National Park Reserve, about 200 km west of Fort Simpson. Honey Badger picked it up recently and holds seven other silver assets in northern Canada, including Nanisivik. In this interview, I asked about the history of the asset, permitting and the park carve-out, the access road, upcoming study work, treasury, and how they intend to restart a mill that has been sitting since 1982.

Giant Nickel Project in Ontario, But is the Grade Enough for a Mine?

September 8, 2026

Canada Nickel’s flagship asset is the Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project which sits about 40 km north of Timmins, Ontario, in the Abitibi greenstone belt. It also holds a string of satellite nickel properties in the same district. In this interview, CEO Mark Selby talked about the permitting progress Crawford has made this year and the financing puzzle that still has to come together before construction can start.

Growing Copper System in Botswana, But Is the Grade Enough?

September 5, 2026

Eastport Critical Metals’ flagship is the Matsitama copper project in northeast Botswana, held across six contiguous prospecting licences and hosting the Nakalakwana (NAK) deposit, alongside Selebi East (nickel-copper-cobalt), Semarule (rare earths), Foley (uranium), and a couple of smaller targets including a kimberlite. In this interview, I asked the CEO about his background and the corporate smell test, the history of the ground going back to Falconbridge and African Copper, the recent Phase 1 drilling at NAK, the pivot to geophysics before more drilling, treasury, and how he thinks about which projects stay in the company.