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Compass Gold’s flagship is the Massala project in southern Mali. Compass wants to take Massala straight from exploration into a small, shallow, gravity-only open pit under Mali’s new Small Mine Permit category, without doing a PEA or feasibility study first. In this interview, we asked the CEO about that plan, as well as the time and money he expects it to take.
TL;DR
The whole story right now depends on one permit. CEO Larry said the technical review of the application is complete and the file is waiting for the interministerial council. He told us he’d be “very surprised” if the permit isn’t granted within about three months. After that, first gold could come within 8 months. He said a plant partnership deal is close and could get the mine running with no new capital, and that Compass would receive cash from month one. The structure hasn’t been disclosed yet. If Massala works, they want three of these small mines running within two years.
What have they done for shareholders lately?
The 2026 program was 42 shallow diamond holes over 340 m of the roughly 3 km Tarabala fault inside the permit area. 35 holes hit gold, including 18 m at about 5 g/t and 8 m at nearly 3 g/t. On recovery, he said they’re comfortable with about 60% from gravity alone. One sample reached 95%+ after cyanide leach, but they won’t use cyanide at Massala. He also said bulk sample material that assayed 0.7 to 0.8 g/t came out of a fine-grind test plant at over 1.4 g/t. His view is that the gold is nuggety and standard assays understate the grade. The environmental permit took about six months and included a 30-point agreement negotiated with the local community. Water comes from a nearby reservoir and is covered under that permit.
I asked about skin in the game. Larry personally holds about 3M shares, and with his family it’s closer to 6M, at an average cost of about 18 to 19 cents. Reporting insiders hold about 13%, institutions about 14%, and Endeavour holds about 4%. He estimates the top 25 holders own about 55% of the company. There are no change-of-control payouts. An original vendor group, which includes director Madani Diallo and director James Henderson, holds a 2% production royalty on the original permits, and Massala is one of them. Moribala is not covered by it.
How much money do they have and what are they spending it on?
They have roughly C$3M in cash. The last raise was in February: about C$5.5M at 19 cents with a full warrant at 25 cents, done through Canaccord at an all-in cost of around C$400K. G&A runs at about C$500K a year. Larry’s pay was C$180K in 2025, and he has deferred fees from a period when he took no pay or half pay. The new IR firm costs C$8,000 a month. On costs, he expects all-in costs at or below US$1,000/oz. Mining quotes came in at US$1.50 to 2.50/t, but those exclude fuel, which Compass carries. He said they’d still make money at US$2,500 gold even if energy costs doubled, and the Malian royalty drops as the gold price falls. That royalty is about 13 to 14% at US$4,000 gold. The internal four-year case shows about US$62.5M in revenue and US$32M after tax at US$4,000 gold.
Catalysts
Larry gave us this sequence:
- Details of the plant arrangement within 4 to 6 weeks.
- The permit, which he hopes for within 3 months.
- Updates every two weeks through fabrication and commissioning.
- First production up to 8 months after the permit, possibly sooner if they spend money before the permit arrives.
After that, they plan to truck ore from elsewhere on the roughly 14 km trend to the Massala plant, followed by a second small mine at Moribala. Target IR started this month and will handle social media and outreach.
Risks
The permit is the main risk. Larry said he doesn’t know of any company that has been granted a small mine permit under the new code, and the ministry is working through a backlog of about 500 exploration permit renewals. Shareholders’ most common criticism, he said, is that he can’t give them a firm date. He admitted the process has taken much longer than expected. Mining would start without a resource estimate or economic study, so grade and recovery are only proven by the bulk tests. The typical risks as migh be expected in this kind of a venture apply as well: all assets are in Mali. Unrest in Bamako forced assays to go by barge, and later to Burkina Faso.
Compass Gold CEO Interview
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