Daura Gold has two active project areas: its flagship Antonella epithermal gold-silver vein system in the Ancash region of Peru, and the Cerro Bayo / La Flora option earn-in project in the Deseado Massif, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina (optioned from Latin Metals). Secondary Peru holdings include Yanamina, which carries a historical resource, and the early-stage Tayacoto project. This interview with CEO Mark Sumner covered the company’s community access permitting situation at Antonella, Phase 1 drill results from Cerro Bayo and what Phase 2 will look like, financing runway, capital structure, and the near-term catalyst calendar.

TL;DR

Daura is waiting on a community access agreement in Peru to unlock drilling at Antonella, which Sumner described as the thing the market is most focused on given its proximity to Highlander Silver’s Bonita project while also working toward a Phase 2 drilling at Cerro Bayo / La Flora in Argentina regardless of what happens in Peru, with rig mobilization targeted for late August to early September and assay results hoped for by early November. The company will need to raise more capital before the year is out to fund both programs. They raised C$7 million in October 2025 at $0.25 per share with a half-warrant at $0.375, and the treasury has been drawn down since. Sumner said Phase 2 in Argentina will prioritize La Flora, which was not drilled in Phase 1 and features surface sampling up to 82 g/t gold and 1,250 g/t silver across mapped veins of over 2 km strike length. The Antonella community permit process is slow but not hostile, and Sumner said he expects some visibility on an access agreement in the coming weeks. If Antonella permitting comes through in time, the plan is to run a drone magnetic survey first, then drill up to approximately 2,000 to 3,000 metres before the rainy season starts in late November.

What have they done for shareholders lately?

Phase 1 diamond drilling at Cerro Bayo wrapped up in May 2026 with assays returned, confirming an epithermal system across multiple targets. The company also completed systematic infill resampling of the 2011 historic Antonella core, which increased gold-equivalent gram-metres for significant intercepts by 51% and returned highlights including 22.4 m at 4.36 g/t Au and 23 g/t Ag from 36.8 m depth. Additional high-grade surface sampling at Antonella and Antonella North has been reported, and the company staked new Libélulas concessions, expanding the Ancash land package. The team also appointed Stuart Mills as VP of Exploration and Martin Zegarra as Exploration Manager, both with direct Ancash district experience.

How much money do they have and what are they spending it on?

The treasury has been drawn down by drilling at Cerro Bayo and ongoing Peru work, so they will need to raise more money this year to fund Phase 2 drilling at Cerro Bayo / La Flora and any Antonella drill program. Mark described the next raise as a targeted placement in a limited number of hands rather than a broad retail offering, and said he would prefer to avoid doing more than a half-warrant if warrants are required at all. Total spending runs between C$120,000 and C$160,000 per month including G&A and exploration, with a marketing budget of approximately C$400,000 for the full year. G&A is stated at roughly 30% of total spend.

Upcoming catalysts

Technical / Operational: Surface sampling assays from La Flora expected within a few weeks (Sumner said possibly within two weeks at time of recording). Phase 2 drilling mobilization at Cerro Bayo / La Flora targeted for late August, with early September as the fallback. Assays from Phase 2 Argentina drill program hoped for by early November 2026. At Antonella, a project-wide high-resolution drone magnetic survey is the first planned step once access is granted, followed by drill targeting and, if the access agreement comes through soon enough, up to approximately 2,000 to 3,000 m of drilling before the rainy season. La Flora specifically, which carries the highest surface grades in the package, was not drilled in Phase 1 and is now permitted for Phase 2.

Corporate: Community access agreement announcement for Antonella expected in the coming weeks. A capital raise is planned for later in 2026, timing dependent on news flow and market conditions. Daura is scheduled to attend the New Orleans Investment Conference in October.

Risks

Community relations in Peru are the risk Sumner flagged explicitly as the one that keeps him up at night. The Antonella community access process has been slow, with the current round of negotiations running for months. If the agreement does not come through in time, the rainy season starting late November forecloses any meaningful drill program at Antonella this year, pushing it to 2027. On the capital side, the company will need to raise more money so additional dilution is a near-certainty. Phase 2 Argentina assay timelines are also uncertain given lab capacity constraints in the Deseado Massif, as experienced during Phase 1 when Newmont’s sample volumes caused significant delays.

Daura Gold CEO Interview

VERY IMPORTANT WARNING

Please note that this company has not paid Resource Talks for the creation of this content. This website is a business that charges for the creation and publication of content. This means there will always be a potential conflict of interest which means you can never rely on anything said herein.

By consuming this content, you acknowledge that Resource Talks and/or its affiliates and/or their personnel may own, have owned, or will own interests in and/or may have a business relationship with some or all companies/entities mentioned/featured in this publication. You further acknowledge that entities which may be referenced or featured in this publication or their related parties may hold an interest in Resource Talks or its affiliates, which may create further conflict of interest.

The information provided herein is general & impersonal in nature and meant for entertainment purposes only. The reader acknowledges and agrees that the information does not constitute a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security or instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. The author is not a licensed investment advisor. He is just another talking head on the internet. He might own shares of companies mentioned in this publication. Always assume he doesn’t know much more than a potato does. The mining & exploration space is among the riskiest sectors to invest in. The risk of anything mentioned in this publication is 100% loss of capital. If you don’t read the official documents provided by the company on http://www.SedarPlus.ca, you will lose all of your money.