ESGold is advancing the past-producing Montauban project in Quebec, located about three hours from Montreal and one hour from Quebec City. The company plans to generate near-term cash flow by reprocessing historical tailings for gold and silver, while using internally generated revenue to fund exploration of what management describes as a clustered VMS-style system in the Grenville. CEO Gordon Robb walked through the Montauban build-out, recent financing, the offtake with Ocean Partners, the upcoming maiden drill program, and a recently completed ambient noise tomography (ANT) survey.
TL;DR
The story is now production-first, exploration-second, with all major mill equipment ordered and a timeline targeting late summer or early fall 2026 equipment arrivals and first pour during 2026. The company raised C$7.2 million in a brokered LIFE deal at C$0.68 with a half three-year warrant at C$0.80 to upsize the build directly to 1,000 tpd rather than starting at 500 tpd, and Robb said they hold roughly C$19.5 million against an C$18 to C$19 million capex with a C$9 million Ocean Partners credit facility as a backstop. The 2025 PEA on tailings showed 7,800 oz indicated and 4,200 oz inferred gold, plus close to 1 Moz silver, with after-tax NPV5 of C$24.3 million, 60% IRR, and a roughly two-year payback at US$2,900 gold and US$31 silver. Mine life on tailings alone is about 3.3 years at 1,000 tpd, so the bridge to a longer life depends on converting a historic surface crown pillar resource and testing district-scale geophysical targets.
What have they done for shareholders lately?
Robb said the management team and CFO have been replaced, the corporate secretary changed, the compliance refreshed, and a new VP of Operations has been brought in, alongside a new compensation committee. Equipment procurement is well advanced with the Falcon concentrator and concentrator table on site, the splitter arrived, and the two 500 tpd ball mills custom-fabricated in China and expected in August, with the company sending its French-Canadian engineer to oversee final fabrication. They closed the C$7.2 million LIFE financing to fully fund the 1,000 tpd build, signed an offtake with Ocean Partners that includes a C$9 million credit facility and minimum deliveries of 50,000 oz gold and 1 Moz silver over the life of the relationship, and just completed a 70 sq km ANT survey that follows last year’s 10 sq km study, which mapped to roughly 900 m depth.
How much money do they have, and what are they spending it on?
Robb said ESGold has about C$19.5 million in the bank against a C$18 to C$19 million capex, with the C$9 million Ocean Partners facility available on opex if needed. The most recent raise was C$7.2 million at C$0.68 with a half three-year warrant at C$0.80, and a smaller flow-through round was closed in late 2025 to fund 2026 exploration. Spending priorities are the remaining mill equipment payments tied to letters of credit and shipping milestones, installation and commissioning at Montauban, the 2026 drill campaign of roughly 5,000 m, split between defining the surface crown pillar to bring it to a 43-101 resource and testing geophysical step-out targets, plus marketing through a newly hired West Coast IR and marketing firm. G&A has been cut from prior levels and is expected to rise modestly as operational and exploration hires come in.
Upcoming catalysts
Technical: results from the 70 sq km ANT survey expected in the coming weeks. Maiden drill program of roughly 5,000 m targeted to start in May pending final permit, with results from the surface crown pillar drilling expected by late summer and step-out hole results from previously untested geophysical targets later in the year, with top-to-bottom assays for copper, zinc, gold, and silver. Operational: arrival of the two 500 tpd ball mills in August, ongoing equipment installation through summer, and first doré pour targeted within 2026, with Robb saying he had hoped for first bar by Beaver Creek but is prioritizing doing it properly over speed. Corporate: ramp from initial production toward the full 1,000 tpd run rate, and conversion of the historic surface crown pillar mineralization into a 43-101 compliant resource to feed the mill after tailings are exhausted.
Risks in the next months
The biggest near-term risk is execution on the build. Shipping delays on equipment still in transit or fabrication in China, installation sequencing since some equipment is sitting in cans on site or at the Port of Montreal awaiting upstream pieces, and commissioning recoveries during the first month of operations, particularly given variable mica content across the Anacon, Tetro and railroad bed piles and the chemistry complications typical of VMS tailings. Mine life on tailings alone is roughly 3.3 years at 1,000 tpd, which puts pressure on the surface crown pillar drilling and permitting amendment process to deliver a hard rock resource on time. There is an identifiable overhang from legacy holders, including the DNA Precious Metals shareholders rolled back at around C$4 per share, and ongoing small sales by founder and COO Paul Mastantuono tied to CRA tax bills on share-based compensation. CEO Robb also flagged general jurisdictional, environmental remediation, and capital markets risks, and noted that without further drilling success, the company will need either a hard rock resource or another asset to extend the runway beyond the tailings phase.
ESGold CEO Interview
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