Western Exploration’s flagship is the Aura gold-silver project about 120 km north of Elko, Nevada. Aura is three deposits rather than one: Doby George, a near-surface oxide body they want to run as a 7,500 tonne per day open pit heap leach; Gravel Creek, a higher-grade sulphide system they see as an underground mine; and Wood Gulch, a small historic Homestake pit. In this interview, I asked about the October 2025 PEA numbers, the mine plan of operations just filed with the US Forest Service, permitting timelines, Gravel Creek metallurgy and concentrate marketing, the treasury, and how they intend to fund roughly US$150 million of work.
TL;DR
Simply put, Doby George is the permitting and development track, Gravel Creek is the exploration track, and for now Doby George gets all the money. They filed the mine plan of operations with the Forest Service on July 30 and expect a response within weeks, with Stantec’s schedule showing environmental studies delivered by end of Q1 2027 and a federal permit decision targeted for end of Q3 2027, then a construction decision in late 2028. CEO Darcy Marud did not give a gantt chart because he does not yet know whether the Forest Service will require an EA or an EIS. Gravel Creek gets no drilling in 2026. The 20,000 metres needed to double it to a target of 1.5 Moz gold and 30 Moz silver is pushed to 2027 and 2028, with a PEA aimed at 2029. Capital is the binding constraint and he named it as the thing that keeps him up at night. On the share price falling from over C$1 to around C$0.60 in a bull market, his own explanation was that the market sees the company as a slow executor, and he agreed that has to change.
What have they done for shareholders lately?
The concrete items are the October 2025 PEA and the mine plan of operations filed July 30. The PEA has Doby George at 394,000 oz indicated at 0.9 g/t gold plus 71,000 oz inferred at 0.7 g/t, Gravel Creek at 254,000 oz indicated gold equivalent at about 6 g/t plus 682,000 oz inferred at 5.5 g/t, and Wood Gulch at 73,000 oz inferred, which he acknowledged you are not supposed to add but which totals roughly 610,000 oz indicated and 710,000 oz inferred. He said Doby George breaks even at US$1,700/oz gold and carries an NPV over US$200 million at US$3,000 gold. A diamond drill started at the end of July and runs to the end of October doing infill, hydrogeology, geotech and metallurgical holes, the infill aimed at converting roughly 47,000 inferred ounces inside the pit design to indicated so it can go into the PFS. A power supply feasibility study started in June is due at the end of October, sized to eventually carry Gravel Creek as well. They also held a July 7 site visit with the Forest Service, Nevada Department of Wildlife and water regulators, and he said around 27 agency people will ultimately touch the project. On ownership, the largest holder at about 30% is a New York private equity group that recapitalised the company in 2013. Agnico Eagle holds close to 7 million shares, around 10%, sits on a technical committee, and did not take the last raise because it was oversubscribed. Management and directors hold 6.5% to 7%, and Marud said his own roughly 600,000 to 700,000 shares were bought at an average around C$1.25 to C$1.50, so he is underwater. There are no insider royalties; the property carries a 3% royalty to IL Ranch and 1% to Agnico Eagle.
How much money do they have and what are they spending it on?
They are funded through everything at Doby George up to and including the PFS, and that they will need to finance beyond that. The last raise was in February at C$0.92 in a LIFE offering for close to C$9 million with a half warrant at C$1.35 for two years, and that money was earmarked for Doby George permitting and prefeasibility. Share structure is 62.5 million out, about 87.5 million fully diluted with 3 million options and 21 million warrants, roughly a C$41 million market cap at C$0.66. G&A runs about US$1.6 million a year, of which US$350,000 to US$400,000 is IR, marketing, conferences and newsletter writers. Looking forward, construction at Doby George is budgeted at about US$115 million including the power line and water supply, and roughly US$150 million all in once you add the Gravel Creek drilling, where deep core costs US$600 to US$700 per metre against a historic run rate of only 3,000 to 4,000 metres a year. His stated approach is to unlock the permitting milestones first, then raise, and he said royalties, streams, joint ventures and selling a piece of Doby George have all been pitched to them but nothing has been taken.
Upcoming catalysts
Technical: Gravel Creek metallurgical results in roughly one to two months on ultrafine grind and cyanide leaching of the concentrate, which he thinks could let them process on site rather than truck concentrate, with bottle rolls already showing 50% to 60% recovery before concentration; Doby George drill results through the end of October covering hydrogeology, metallurgy at finer crush sizes, and infill holes that could add grade and ounces; the power supply feasibility study at the end of October.
Operational: the Forest Service response to the mine plan of operations expected within weeks of the interview, followed by an outline of the plan for the next 18 months; completion of baseline studies; start of the PFS; environmental study delivery targeted end of Q1 2027 and a federal permit decision targeted end of Q3 2027; three drills on Gravel Creek in 2027.
Corporate: hiring to lead environmental and permitting work; a financing at some point after the permitting milestones are hit.
Risks
The one the CEO named himself is access to capital and its cost, because both assets want money at the same time and the company is trading well below where it financed last year. Permitting is the external risk. They do not yet know whether the Forest Service will require an EA or an EIS, so the 2027 permit decision date is a consultant’s schedule rather than a regulator’s commitment, though he points to small disturbance of under 700 acres with 51% on private land as helping. Gravel Creek carries execution risk, since doubling the resource depends on funding 20,000 metres of expensive deep drilling that does not start until 2027, and until that happens the PEA does not come. Furthermore, metallurgy is unresolved. The deposit is refractory, and the base case assumes trucking concentrate 25 miles to Jerritt Canyon, with which he confirmed they have had no conversations. There is also the four-year mine life at Doby George, which he intends to extend later with oxide from Blizzard Point, Wood Gulch and the old heap, none of which is in the current mine plan, plus the smaller items of water balance at 7,000 feet elevation, a Nevada Gold Mines lease covering 69 acre feet when they will need about double, a mineral lease that requires a construction decision before the end of 2031, and sage grouse mitigation fieldwork that does not happen until next year.
Western Exploration CEO Interview
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