Company Interviews

Interview with Sean Whiteford, CEO of NexMetals Mining
Our Previous Interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/nexmetals-mining-tsxvnexm-higher-copper-pgm-recoveries-set-stage-for-strong-maiden-pea-10208
Recording date: 24th October 2026
NexMetals Mining Corp. (TSXV:NEXM, Nasdaq:NEXM) is redeveloping two past-producing copper-nickel-cobalt mines in Botswana, the Selebi Mines and the Selkirk Mine. In an update with Crux Investor, CEO Sean Whiteford reported that the company has delivered the resource growth it set out in May, while acknowledging that the larger resource has pushed back the Selebi PEA and that funding is the key near-term issue.
At Selebi, the 2026 estimate totals 50.9 Mt, up from roughly 28 Mt in 2024. Selebi North's Indicated resource rose 198% to 8.95 Mt grading 1.03% copper and 1.08% nickel, driven by conversion drilling that also lifted grades. Its Inferred resource rose 63% to 9.48 Mt grading 1.21% copper and 1.13% nickel. Grades improve with depth. Selebi Main's Inferred resource grew 72% to 32.47 Mt grading 1.53% copper and 0.98% nickel, with more than 90% of the increase coming from the Flexure Zone. Between a quarter and a third of the 700-metre by 700-metre BHEM plate hosting that zone remains untested.
The operations closed after the former owner's smelter failed, not because ore ran out. About two years of underground development remains in place at both Selebi deposits, giving the company a potential head start on mining in any restart. A concentrator and tailings facility would still be needed. Whiteford cited a potential rate of 750,000 tonnes per year from Selebi North.
The most notable geological development is evidence that the two Selebi deposits may connect. New drilling shows Selebi North's South Limb flattening at depth and turning toward Selebi Main, with copper grades rising. Consulting geologist Dr Peter Lightfoot identified fresh olivine in magnesium-rich rocks from deep holes in the gap, which is typical of an intrusion's keel where massive sulphide can accumulate. TECT Geological Consulting is on site to identify structural controls on sulphide thickening in the roughly 1.5-kilometre corridor.
That growth has reshaped mine planning. A previously planned shaft at Selebi Main would now sit in the wrong location, so the company is running a trade-off study on mining Selebi Main through existing infrastructure, with options including conveyors, RailVeyor and trucking. The PEA will also look at Selebi North on its own. No revised completion date has been given. Nickel recovery, assumed at 55.6%, is the main metallurgical lever, and the company hopes to reach the 60% range with further flotation testwork.
At Selkirk, the June 2026 estimate raised contained metal by 70%, to 78.2 Mt Indicated at 0.66% CuEq and 15.1 Mt Inferred at 0.60% CuEq, mainly through better metallurgical recoveries. DRA Global is completing a PEA, and management wants to monetise the asset.
Funding is the central risk. Cash of about C$10.5 million at the end of September lasts into the new year, and Whiteford acknowledged that expectations of a raise are weighing on the share price. The company has engaged National Bank of Canada Capital Markets to pursue non-dilutive financing, though no transaction is guaranteed. Investors should watch the funding review, any Selkirk transaction, drilling in the corridor between the Selebi deposits and the revised PEA timeline.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/nexmetals-mining-corp
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Interview with Keith Boyle, Director & CEO of New Found Gold
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/new-found-gold-tsxnfgc-q3-hammerdown-production-results-12342
Recording date: 23rd October 2026
New Found Gold Corp. (TSX / NYSE-A: NFGC) has released a revised Preliminary Economic Assessment and updated Mineral Resource Estimate for its 100%-owned Queensway Gold Project in central Newfoundland. At a base case gold price of US$3,600/oz, the study gives an after-tax NPV5% of C$1.728 billion, an after-tax IRR of 126% and payback in under one year. The mine plan outlines 1.744 million ounces of gold over a 15-year phased open pit and underground operation, with average annual production of 116,000 ounces and a peak of 190,000 ounces in 2032. Life-of-mine AISC is estimated at US$1,375/oz.
The updated resource raises Measured and Indicated ounces by 38% to 1.920 million ounces, while Inferred ounces are unchanged at 606,000 ounces. Phase 1 has an average head grade of 13.41 g/t gold, and 97% of its ounces are in the Measured and Indicated categories. Grade control drilling at Keats and Iceberg reconciled closely with the earlier resource model, which supports confidence in the high-grade core.
The plan relies on the company’s own Pine Cove mill, acquired with Hammerdown, which is being converted to a gravity-CIL circuit and expanded to 1,400 tonnes per day. Phase 1 initial capital of C$149.8 million is in line with the previous estimate, and the company reports it is fully funded. It holds about C$167 million in cash, a C$35 million debt facility and expected warrant proceeds, alongside cash flow from Hammerdown.
Later phases add a new on-site mill with dual processing circuits and 86% more underground ounces. The changes improve payability but bring C$832.1 million in growth capital and C$970.8 million in sustaining capital. These costs are intended to be funded from operating cash flow.
The Environmental Preview Report is targeted for submission in Q4 2026. Subject to permits, first Queensway material is expected at Pine Cove in Q4 2027.
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Interview with Rudi Deysel, Managing Director & CEO of West Wits Mining
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/west-wits-mining-asxwwi-qala-shallows-breakthrough-drives-70000-oz-target-gold-production-10547
Recording date: 22nd October 2026
West Wits Mining (ASX:WWI) has moved from developer to producer at its Qala Shallows gold project on Johannesburg's Witwatersrand Goldfield. First gold was poured in March 2026, and the company is now ramping towards a steady state of 70,000 ounces per annum. CEO and Managing Director Rudi Deysel argues that the market has not caught up with this progress, and that the share price reflects a valuation gap rather than any shortfall in the asset.
The valuation case is straightforward on management's numbers. West Wits has a market capitalisation of about A$165 million and held A$36 million in cash on 7 October 2026. Against a 7.24-million-ounce JORC resource at 4.0 g/T gold, Deysel puts the enterprise value at around A$21 per resource ounce. He compares this with ASX-listed gold peers in Australia, Mali and South Africa trading between A$44 and A$118 per ounce. The company's own presentation, using the 7 October share price, gives A$25/oz.
Funding is the second pillar. A package of about A$97 million from Absa and Nedbank covers construction and the ramp-up. It includes an A$8 million cost overrun facility that the company's current models do not use. Two senior debt drawdowns totalling about A$50 million have been completed. Each required a cost-to-complete test signed off by the banks' independent technical adviser, which Deysel presents as external validation that the project is on track. The facility includes an 18-month holiday on interest and principal.
Operationally, the ramp-up is accelerating. Underground development reached a record 200 metres in September 2026, and surface infrastructure is 61% complete. Ore is toll treated at Sibanye-Stillwater's Ezulwini plant, which removes plant construction risk. Deysel says AISC below US$1,300/oz reflects executed contracts. The updated DFS set life-of-mine AISC at US$1,289/oz using a US$2,850/oz gold price. At around US$4,100/oz gold, management estimates roughly US$200 million of annual margin at steady state, before corporate costs, finance and tax.
The milestone sequence is defined. Primary stoping begins in February 2027, grid power connects in early 2027 and surface infrastructure completes in the third quarter of 2027. Commercial production is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027, followed by 42,500 ounces in 2028 and steady state in the first quarter of 2029.
Geological confidence rests on the Witwatersrand Basin's history of more than 1.5 billion ounces produced. Deysel cites high resource-to-reserve conversion and positive reconciliations to date. A new decline into virgin ground gives the mine twin access points to the orebody.
Growth sits outside the current valuation. About 6.2 million resource ounces lie beyond the mine plan. The Project 200 scoping study examines 200,000 ounces per annum and is being optimised before release. Bird Reef Central offers uranium-gold optionality, with funded exploration targeting a maiden uranium resource.
View West Wits Mining's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/west-wits-mining
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Interview with Charles C. Downie, President & CEO of Eagle Plains Resources
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/eagle-plains-resources-tsxvepl-five-revenue-streams-29-projects-advancing-in-2026-9412
Recording date: 22nd October 2026
Eagle Plains Resources (TSXV:EPL) is a project generator based in Cranbrook, British Columbia, with more than 30 years of listing history and no share consolidations. Its model is to stake or acquire projects, complete early work with its own cash and then option projects to partners who fund drilling. Under a typical deal, the partner earns 80% and Eagle Plains keeps 20%, plus a royalty.
What separates Eagle Plains from many project generators is recurring revenue. TerraLogic Exploration, its wholly owned geological contractor, works for third parties and on Eagle Plains projects. President and CEO Chuck Downie said TerraLogic typically returns $1 million to $2 million a year to the parent, and that first-half 2026 revenue was around $12.5 million against about $3.6 million a year earlier. Eagle Plains holds about $7.5 million in cash, just over $4 million in securities and about $2.2 million in hard assets, which Downie said allows it to go years without a financing.
The largest active programme is at Black Bay Project in Uranium City, northern Saskatchewan. Six projects covering five past-producing mines and about 50 mineral occurrences are optioned to Xcite Uranium (TSXV:XRI). Downie put total commitments at just over $19 million in exploration, $330,000 in cash and roughly 2.5 million Xcite shares. About $6 million was spent in 2026, and about $12 million would be needed next year to complete the earn-in. Three projects have been drilled. At Don Lake, downhole probes returned strong radiometric results from all three zones tested, but assays are pending. Eagle Plains operates the programme, earns a management fee and keeps a 20% interest carried to a bankable feasibility study.
George Lake, a 100%-owned zinc deposit in Saskatchewan, carries a historical resource of about 7 million tonnes at around 4% zinc. Three holes drilled in 2026 extended mineralisation up to 260 metres down dip. Only about 400 metres of a projected 20-kilometre horizon has been tested. Downie said the route to a partner is to show the deposit can reach 60 million to 80 million tonnes at a similar grade.
Earlier-stage copper-gold exposure comes from Theory, optioned to Sun Summit Minerals (TSXV:SMN), and the adjacent Orbit joint venture in the Toodoggone district, both with assays pending. At Iron Range, partner Earthwise Minerals drilled three holes and identified an upper mineralised horizon that aligns with geochemical and IP anomalies. American Eagle Gold has optioned Hearne Hill South near its NAK project.
Spin-outs remain an important source of shareholder value. Taiga Gold was sold to SSR Mining for cash and Eagle Royalties was acquired through a transaction with Summit Royalties. Eagle Plains states that spin-outs have delivered more than $115 million in value to shareholders.
View Eagle Plains Resources' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/eagle-plains-resources-ltd
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Recording date: 21st October 2026
Olive Resource Capital (TSXV:OC) used this Compass episode to share how its leadership assesses mining projects on the ground. Executive Chairman Derek Macpherson spoke from Georgetown after visiting Omai Gold Mines (TSXV:OMG) in Guyana, while President, CEO and Chief Investment Officer Samuel Pelaez spoke from central Uruguay near the projects of Sun Valley Minerals. Both companies are among Olive's largest investments, and both executives are directors of the company they visited.
The framework starts with access. Investors should ask how a site is reached, whether existing roads and power could support an industrial operation and what would need upgrading before production. The arrival experience itself can signal whether mining matters in a country. In Guyana, mining suppliers advertise in the airport and a large Caterpillar dealership sits on the road into the capital. In Uruguay, the route to site uses paved highways with a high-voltage line alongside, and passes large quarries and cement plants.
The second layer is process quality. Clean drill sites, an organised core shack and a disciplined safety induction indicate how a company will operate as it grows. Omai now runs six drill rigs, and Macpherson said core handling has become close to an industrial process. Sun Valley, ahead of its drilling, has set up protocols for 3,000 soil samples a month and an in-house laboratory, with samples also sent to independent laboratories.
The third layer is geological reasoning. Macpherson's test is whether the geology team can explain to a non-geologist why it is drilling where it is, and whether it adapts as data arrives. Rigid models risk missing mineralisation.
The fourth layer is footprint and line of sight. Visitors should find a high point and look for nearby towns or sensitive sites. Omai is a previously disturbed brownfield site in a country that is mostly rainforest. Sun Valley sits on former eucalyptus plantation land that is unsuitable for food crops, with regrowth screening noise and dust.
The final layer is community and workforce. Sun Valley is training local junior hires under experienced specialists, buying locally and securing housing ahead of growth. A future Omai mine is expected to be camp-based, served by a new paved highway, with a historic workforce base in Linden and lasting goodwill from the former operation.
For Sun Valley, the near-term catalysts are its expected TSXV listing under SUNV, following the filing of its final prospectus and conditional approval, and first drill results that will test its geological model. Kinross Gold holds a 14.9% interest. The company has no defined resource yet, and Uruguay lacks recent precedent for permitting modern metal mines. For Omai, the steady flow of assays from six rigs is the key item to watch. Macpherson also highlighted strong government support in Guyana, where he expects five large-scale gold operations by around 2030.
Investors should weigh all of these observations against the guests' declared positions as directors and shareholders, and verify them against company disclosures.
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