Company Interviews

Interview with David Wolfin, CEO of Avino Silver & Gold Mines
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/avino-silver-gold-tsxasm-record-revenue-powers-three-mine-expansion-strategy-8753
Recording date: 4th September 2026
Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX:ASM) enters the second half of 2026 in the strongest financial position in its 57-year history, and that strength is now being deployed toward a decision that could reshape the company's production profile. Q2 2026 revenue reached $26.8 million, up 23% year-on-year, driven by higher realised silver prices at $68.90/oz and increased throughput from La Preciosa development material. Net income of $10.9 million and EBITDA of $12.6 million both grew strongly year-on-year, and the company closed the quarter debt-free with $144.2 million in cash and $140.8 million in working capital.
That balance sheet strength underpins the company's most consequential near-term decision: whether to build a standalone processing plant at La Preciosa, its silver development project 19 kilometres from the existing Avino mill. Management estimates a facility comparable to Avino's current 2,500-tonne-per-day mill would cost $200-300 million, roughly half of which the company already holds in cash. A pre-feasibility study now underway with an independent engineering firm is expected within 8-10 months, after which Avino could move directly to a construction decision.
The case for going standalone rests on both economics and optionality. Trucking material 19 kilometres at a much larger scale would strain logistics and community relations at the volumes a full La Preciosa operation would require, and CEO David Wolfin has been explicit that a standalone plant is the better use of capital once the study confirms it. Recent drilling supports that confidence: intercepts including 7.9 metres of 1,600 g/t silver and 2 g/t gold, and a further 6 metres at 550 g/t silver, suggest underground mining grades could exceed the diluted, open-pit-based resource model inherited from the project's previous owner, Coeur Mining.
Underpinning this is Avino's first mineral reserve in company history, published in April 2026 after the company crossed the $90 million trailing-revenue threshold required under NI 43-101 to report reserves. The combined 127 million silver equivalent ounces in proven and probable reserves, alongside 301 million ounces of measured and indicated resources, gives the growth story a formal technical foundation it lacked a year ago. Average reserve mine life across the portfolio comfortably exceeds the roughly 8-year average among primary silver peers, a comparison management uses to argue for a valuation re-rating as the company de-risks.
Risks remain concentrated in execution. Costs rose alongside the cash build, with all-in sustaining costs of $38.75 per silver equivalent ounce in Q2, reflecting the expense of developing a new mine rather than deterioration at Avino itself. Copper production fell 50% year-on-year as the company processed oxidised material from historical open-pit walls, a sequencing decision expected to reverse over the next six to eight months. Investors should also note that much of the grade upside management points to remains in step-out drilling not yet reflected in the reserve model; an updated estimate is expected in Q1 2027.
For investors, Avino offers a rare combination: an operating, cash-generating mine funding a second high-grade asset, a debt-free balance sheet providing genuine optionality, and two concrete near-term catalysts: the La Preciosa pre-feasibility study, and the Q1 2027 resource update against which to track execution.
View Avino Silver & Gold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/avino-silver-gold-mines-ltd
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Interview with Donovan Pollitt, President and Director, White Gold Corp 
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/white-gold-tsxvwgo-largest-drill-program-commencing-on-highest-grade-gold-resource-in-yukon-10043
Recording date: 2nd September 2026
White Gold Corp (TSXV:WGO) has crossed a threshold that had eluded it for years: a Preliminary Economic Assessment that puts formal economics around its Yukon flagship deposit. Released August 10, 2026 and refined in an August 28 update, the PEA delivers an after-tax NPV (5%) of C$1.86 billion and a 41% IRR at a US$3,600/oz gold price, with a 1.5-year payback period. At spot-adjacent US$4,500/oz pricing, those figures rise to a C$2.9 billion NPV and 56% IRR. The proposed operation is a conventional open-pit, carbon-in-leach mine processing 12,000 tonnes per day across the Golden Saddle, Arc, Ryan's Surprise and VG zones, producing approximately 188,000 ounces annually over a 9.4-year life at an all-in sustaining cost of US$1,482/oz. Initial capital is costed at C$1,002 million.
President and Director Donovan Pollitt was explicit that the study was built conservatively: a first-year production rate derated to 85% of nameplate, full costing of infrastructure most PEAs might trim (a new 5,000-foot airstrip, complete camp and tailings facilities), and a mine plan that uses only around 60% of the current 3 million-ounce resource. Notably, underground potential at Golden Saddle where drilling continues to target higher-grade mineralisation below the current pit design was excluded from the study altogether, representing upside not yet reflected in the headline numbers.
Beyond the PEA, two lower-cost avenues to resource growth are underway in parallel with continued step-out drilling: a systematic resampling of roughly 7,350 metres of historic core (about 12% of all metres drilled on the property since 2008) that was never assayed, concentrated in a hanging-wall zone now interpreted as continuously mineralised, and a new target, Golden Saddle 2.0, on the far side of a fault offset from the main deposit. The 2026 drilling programme totals 15,000-20,000 metres, with over 10,000 metres completed at the time of the interview and 11,500 metres confirmed in a subsequent company update; assay results are expected through the autumn as regional lab capacity, strained by a busy Yukon drill season, catches up.
A second and distinct value lever sits outside the gold story: White Gold's non-gold critical mineral targets - copper, tungsten, silver and molybdenum anomalies identified through years of soil geochemistry but never drilled - are being spun into a separately listed vehicle, W2 Critical Minerals Corp, at a ratio of one W2 share per five WGO shares held. The Ontario Superior Court granted final approval for the arrangement on August 28, 2026, with W2's associated financing upsized from $5 million to $10 million to fund a maiden drill programme.
Valuation-wise, White Gold trades at approximately US$116 per contained ounce as of early August 2026 company filings - the lowest in its Yukon peer group despite carrying that group's highest weighted-average grade (1.38 g/T). Management has signalled no rush toward a production decision or an accelerated pre-feasibility study, prioritising further drilling and optionality on mine-plan design over speed. For investors, the near-term catalyst calendar includes autumn assay results, progress at Golden Saddle 2.0 and the VG East extension, and the pending completion of the W2 spin-out.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/white-gold-corp
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Interview with Jonathan Fisher, CEO of Cauldron Energy
Recording date: 2nd September 2026
Cauldron Energy (ASX:CXU) holds 55 million pounds of JORC-compliant uranium resource at its Yanrey Project in Western Australia, with an exploration target of up to 269 million additional pounds. The company’s near-perfect drilling record and strategic positioning make it a compelling uranium story—provided Western Australia lifts its longstanding mining ban.
The Yanrey Project spans three deposits: Bennett Well, Manyingee South, and Manyingee North are all situated in a region considered highly prospective for in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium mining. Cauldron’s exploration has been remarkably successful wherein the first 24 drill holes at Manyingee North intersected mineralisation, defining a maiden 10-million-pound resource with a 100% hit rate. Subsequent drilling of 40 to 50 additional holes has maintained that near-perfect success rate.
The company uses passive seismic surveying to identify buried palaeochannels, ancient river systems, that concentrated uranium as they flowed eastward from granitic sources. Three channels have been drilled to date, yielding the three known deposits, with 20-30 more channels still untested. A formal resource update is expected later in 2026 following the completion of the current drilling campaign.
Western Australia’s state-level uranium mining ban remains the single biggest obstacle to production. Despite this, Cauldron received two government exploration grants in April 2026, a signal CEO Jonathan Fisher interprets as contradictory but encouraging. Additional indicators of potential policy shift include a parliamentary inquiry where over 60% of submissions favoured uranium mining, and a recent by-election swing toward the pro-uranium One Nation party.
While the ban persists, Cauldron is maximising its resource base to become either a ready-to-develop asset or an attractive takeover target once policy changes. The company has partnered with Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company to de-risk ISR process design and hired an experienced environmental manager to navigate regulatory approvals. Groundwater testing by ANSTO found low salinity across all three deposits—a favourable factor for ISR recovery economics.
Cauldron’s investment case hinges entirely on Western Australia lifting its mining ban. While management cites multiple signals of policy change, none are confirmed. Technical risks remain, as demonstrated by peer Boss Energy’s setbacks at its Honeymoon ISR operation, though Cauldron’s Navoi partnership aims to mitigate such risks. Shareholder concentration is high, with a family office holding ~30% and ETFs ~15–16%, providing stability but limiting free float.
View Cauldron Energy's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/cauldron-energy-limited
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Interview with Alex Walker, CEO of East Star Resources
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/east-star-resources-lseest-partner-funded-copper-production-and-25m-gold-search-in-kazakhstan-10606
Recording date: 2nd September 2026
East Star Resources (LSE:EST) has added a second free-carried development structure to its Kazakhstan copper and gold portfolio, signing a binding Heads of Agreement for a joint venture over its Rulikha copper project. The deal follows the same non-dilutive logic that underpins East Star's existing Verkhuba joint venture with Chinese mine-builder Xinhai Mining: rather than raising capital from shareholders to fund permitting, drilling and construction, East Star brings in a partner with deeper development expertise and lets that partner carry the cost, in exchange for a minority economic interest once the project reaches production.
At Rulikha, that partner group consists of two entities: Nova, a financing vehicle, and Orion, an operating team that has previously built two copper mines in Kazakhstan and exited its most recent project to a Chinese buyer for approximately $125 million within the past four years. CEO Alex Walker cited that track record, along with the personal involvement of a well-connected Kazakh lawyer who structured the deal, as central to his confidence in the partnership.
The earn-in mechanics are designed to protect East Star's downside. The partners' initial percentage only crystallises once they complete the first of either 3,000 metres of drilling or $1.5 million of spend, and even that threshold represents only a fraction of the total committed spend, not a cap. East Star's final economic interest lands between 25% and 35% depending on whether the partners fund with equity or debt and importantly, majority ownership does not pass to the partners until they reach the construction stage, well beyond the current commitment.
Operationally, drilling approval for Rulikha is already secured, land access was obtained before the joint venture was even discussed, and management expects drilling to begin in the third or fourth quarter of 2026, targeting both the main Rulikha deposit areas and two satellite targets, Taloskoy and Rulikha North, the latter having already returned a 120-metre interval of disseminated sulphide mineralisation last year.
Meanwhile, at the more advanced Verkhuba copper deposit, drilling continues under the existing Xinhai-funded joint venture, with a second rig now on site and the first assay results due at the lab within one to two weeks. East Star's separate gold exploration joint venture with Endeavour Mining, covering two large land packages in northern and central Kazakhstan under a $25 million funding commitment, remains unchanged and continues to offer a third free-carried catalyst.
For investors, the Rulikha announcement effectively doubles East Star's exposure to potential copper production funded entirely by third parties, without adding dilution risk. The near-term catalysts to watch are execution of the definitive Rulikha joint venture agreement (currently only a Heads of Agreement), the start of Rulikha drilling later this year, and Verkhuba's forthcoming assay results, which together will begin to clarify the pace at which East Star's project pipeline converts into cash flow.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/east-star-resources
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Interview with Peter Akerley, CEO & Kelly Clure, Advisor of Erdene Resource Development
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/erdene-resource-developments-tsxerd-undervalued-investment-series-with-peter-akerley-10566
Recording date: 1st September 2026
Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD; MSE:ERDN; OTCQX:ERDCF) has moved from mine-builder to self-funded explorer. The company's Bayan Khundii Gold Mine, operated as a 50/50 joint venture with Mongolian Mining Corporation, delivered 11,709 ounces of gold in Q2 2026, a 37% increase quarter-on-quarter, generating $53 million in gross revenue. Feed grade rose 25% to 2.4 g/t gold, with recoveries of 96%, ahead of plan.
That cash flow is now being redeployed into a materially more aggressive exploration program across the company's broader Khundii Minerals District, discovered by Erdene in Mongolia's southwest. Management has committed 12,000 metres of drilling to Bayan Khundii's western expansion, targeting the corridor between the current pit and the newly resource-defined Ulaan deposit. In parallel, the company is testing porphyry copper potential beneath all three of its main hydrothermal systems, Bayan Khundii, Altan Nar and Zuun Mod, none of which has been drill-tested below roughly 700 metres, despite kilometre-scale surface alteration footprints comparable to major regional discoveries like Oyu Tolgoi.
Zuun Mod, a wholly-owned molybdenum-copper porphyry, is the standout near-term catalyst: the deposit ranks in the upper 15th percentile globally on grade-tonnage terms, and a preliminary economic assessment is on track for mid-H2 2026, backed by a newly contracted deep geophysics (IP/MT) program aimed at both Zuun Mod itself and the adjacent Khuvyn Khar copper target.
Altan Nar, holding roughly 500,000 ounces of gold along a 5-kilometre trend, is next in line for 2027 capital, with management weighing a CIP tie-in to the existing Bayan Khundii plant against a standalone flotation-concentrate build. Early metallurgical work favours the CIP route, potentially adding five years of mine life for a fraction of the estimated $140 million standalone capex. A complementary heap leach study, covering oxide material at both Dark Horse and Altan Nar, could add a further ~100,000 ounces of lower-cost production.
A smaller, earlier-stage option property, Tereg Uul, sits roughly 10km south of Oyu Tolgoi; a maiden drill program confirmed anomalous gold, silver and native copper along a 1.5-kilometre structure, and the option was extended in July 2026 with a $400,000 payment.
Underpinning the exploration push is a policy tailwind: Mongolia's mining ministry announced in June 2026 that it would reopen exploration licensing after roughly a decade of restricted issuance, a development management believes favours first movers with existing geological databases, including Erdene.
Financially, the company holds $26 million in corporate cash earmarked for its wholly-owned project pipeline through 2027, and is running an active share buyback (up to 4.9 million shares, ~10% of public float, with 94,400 shares already repurchased at an average $5.21). Key near-term catalysts for investors to track include the Zuun Mod PEA, deep geophysics results expected later in Q3 2026, and progress on Mongolia's licensing reopening.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/erdene-resource-development
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