Company Interviews

Interview with Christian Easterday, Managing Director and CEO, Hot Chili Limited
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/hot-chili-tsxvhch-water-business-with-1b-npv-to-fund-copper-project-6917
Recording date: 10th August 2026
Hot Chili Limited (ASX/TSXV: HCH, OTCQX: HHLKF) is advancing the Costa Fuego Copper-Gold Project on Chile's Atacama coastline, positioning itself as one of only five independent (non-major-controlled) copper developers globally with a project capable of exceeding 100,000 tonnes of annual copper-equivalent production. Managing Director and CEO Christian Easterday, who has led the company since its 2010 ASX listing, argues the market has not yet caught up with the scale of the opportunity.
The company's March 2025 Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) outlined a 20-year mine life (14 years at primary production rates), average annual production of roughly 116,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent, a post-tax NPV of US$1.2 billion, and a post-tax IRR of 19% at a long-term copper price of US$4.30/lb. Start-up capital was estimated at US$1.27 billion.
The central near-term catalyst is La Verde, a copper-gold porphyry discovery acquired in November 2024 roughly 35km from Costa Fuego's planned processing hub. Extensive drilling (three rigs, with a fourth arriving) has defined a broad, high-grade mineralised footprint, and management expects a maiden resource estimate of approximately 500 million tonnes before the end of 2026. Folding La Verde into a restated Costa Fuego PFS is expected to lift post-tax NPV toward US$2 billion and post-tax IRR toward the mid-30s%, while shortening payback from roughly 4.5 years to 2.5 years and improving the project's position on the industry cost curve.
On valuation, Hot Chili highlights two benchmarking metrics: an EV/lb-of-reserve multiple of roughly 3.8 cents against a peer average near 11 cents (implying a 2.9x re-rating opportunity), and a price-to-net-asset-value gap of roughly 2.3x versus recent comparable copper-sector transactions.
Financing is addressed primarily through the company's Huasco Water asset — the only maritime licence with permitted seawater access in the Huasco Valley. Stage 1 (seawater supply to Costa Fuego, 500 L/s) is already funded within the existing PFS. A second maritime licence, which would unlock a larger multi-user desalination business (Stage 2: 1,300 L/s, ~US$977 million post-tax NPV) serving neighbouring major-miner projects, has been in Chile's approvals process for roughly five years and remains on track according to recent government contact, following an earlier delay tied to a change in administration. Management frames monetising this asset as a way to cover a substantial share of the project's equity requirement without heavy shareholder dilution. Additional untapped levers include uncommitted gold production (48,000-70,000 oz/year with La Verde) and roughly 40% of concentrate offtake left uncommitted outside the company's existing Glencore agreement.
Glencore holds a 7.5% equity stake and an offtake agreement for up to 60% of concentrate for the first eight years of production, on benchmark terms. The company has also strengthened its board, adding Stuart Matthews (formerly EVP at Goldfields, with five major mine builds) as Independent Non-Executive Chair.
Near-term catalysts include the maiden La Verde resource estimate (year-end target), a restated Costa Fuego PFS, EIA submission (targeted Q2 2027), progress on the second Huasco Water maritime licence, and an ongoing strategic partnering process. Final Investment Decision is targeted for 2029, with first production guided for 2031.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/hot-chili-limited
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Interview with James Gurry, Managing Director & Jozef Story, Exploration Manager of Aureka Gold
Recording date: 11th August 2026
Aureka (ASX:AKA) is an ASX-listed gold explorer and near-term developer operating a cluster of projects across Victoria's Stawell Corridor and St Arnaud goldfield, all within a 45-minute to one-hour drive of one another. The company was reconstituted from a distressed tenement package that Managing Director James Gurry acquired for under $1 million in 2023, when gold prices were depressed, and relisted on the ASX at the end of 2024. Since the start of 2025, Aureka has drilled continuously and lifted its JORC resource base by 50%.
The company's flagship asset is the 100%-owned Irvine Gold Project, which sits 16km from the Stawell Gold Mine, a roughly 5-million-ounce historical producer. Irvine currently hosts an inferred resource of 398,300 ounces at 2.59 g/t gold, following a 94,000-ounce, 36% increase to the Resolution lode announced on 18 June 2026. That increase was driven by a reinterpreted structural and geological model, led by Exploration Manager Jozef Story, that defined 11 new geological domains around the deposit. Beyond the current resource, Aureka carries Advanced and Conceptual Exploration Targets that, combined with the unchanged Adventure lode target, exceed 600,000 ounces. Recent drilling identified a high-grade structure the company calls the Tenacity Fault, which returned the project's best assay to date: 10m at 12.1 g/t gold from 413m, including 0.3m at 183 g/t gold.
Rather than pursue Irvine's larger development in isolation, Aureka's near-term strategy centres on the brownfield Comstock project near St Arnaud, roughly 70km from Irvine, within a historic goldfield that produced approximately 400,000 ounces at 15 g/t. Comstock hosts a 56,500-ounce inferred resource at 1.21 g/t gold and 2.14 g/t silver, plus a 112,000 to 116,000-ounce exploration target. The company has signed a toll milling agreement with the nearby Wedderburn mill, described by management as project-agnostic and therefore usable for Irvine ore in future, and has submitted a production licence application for Comstock, targeting first ore movement within roughly 12 months. Management is guiding to first-year Comstock production of 3,000 to 7,000 ounces, an estimated A$30 million to A$50 million in revenue at current gold prices, and a targeted margin of around 50%.
The stated strategy is to use Comstock's free cash flow to fund ongoing exploration at Irvine without relying primarily on dilutive capital raises, while pursuing Irvine toward a longer-term development decision that management estimates is roughly three years from a first mining licence. Aureka currently has no debt and two diamond rigs active, one on each project. Management points to valuation support from the tenement package's prior history: the same assets, under a previous owner, traded up to approximately $150 million in market capitalisation in 2020, at roughly half today's gold price, against Aureka's current market capitalisation of under $20 million. Key near-term catalysts include Comstock's production licence approval and further assay results from the Tenacity Fault and Walker zone drilling programmes.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/navarre-minerals
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Interview with Blake Hylands, CEO of Lithium Ionic Corp.
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/lithium-ionic-tsxvlth-low-cost-developer-targets-construction-start-h2-2026-8741
Recording date: 6th August 2026
Lithium Ionic Corp has agreed to sell its non-core Baixa Grande lithium deposit in Brazil to PLS Group for up to US$70 million, a move that accelerates funding for the company's flagship Bandeira Lithium Project toward a construction decision.
The transaction delivers US$37.5 million in cash consideration, split between US$30 million payable at closing (expected within months) and US$7.5 million due at the buyer's final investment decision or an earlier agreed date. Additionally, Lithium Ionic retains a 2% royalty on Baixa Grande, estimated at US$20-30 million in value. The sale caps a three-year hold on an asset Lithium Ionic always viewed as secondary to Bandeira, generating roughly eight times the company's original acquisition cost.
Baixa Grande sits adjacent to ground PLS acquired through its 2025 purchase of Latin Resources, with geology representing a natural extension of the same lithium system. The deposit holds approximately 20 million tonnes of identified resource, work that helped drive the eventual sale price.
Proceeds from the sale provide immediate flexibility to order long-lead items, including the processing mill, and fund early operational costs at Bandeira ahead of construction financing closure. This sequencing allows the company to advance procurement without waiting for separate debt or equity raises.
Engineering work is nearly complete, and the underground portal contractor shortlist has been narrowed following a tender process.
Lithium Ionic has secured binding five-year offtake terms with Chinese converter Yahua, covering 170,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate annually at a US$1,000 per tonne floor price with no ceiling. This structure provides lenders visibility that the project generates cash on every tonne sold, supporting debt serviceability discussions.
With projected all-in sustaining costs near US$600 per tonne and spodumene pricing above US$2,000 per tonne, the project offers substantial margins. Brazil's open global trading position provides additional flexibility compared to projects tied to regional buyers.
Management highlights a significant valuation disconnect, with Lithium Ionic trading below 0.1x P/NAV compared to producing peer Sigma Lithium's 1–1.1x multiple. CEO Blake Hylands frames this as a potential tenfold re-rating opportunity as the company progresses through permitting, financing, and construction milestones toward production targeted for late 2027 into 2028.
View Lithium Ionic's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/lithium-ionic-corp
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Interview with Alex Underwood, Managing Director, Beetaloo Energy
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/empire-energy-asxeeg-racing-to-unlock-vast-australian-shale-gas-resource-4901
Recording date: 7th August 2026
Beetaloo Energy Australia, formerly Empire Energy Group, is moving toward a crucial milestone in the development of the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin, with first gas from its Carpentaria pilot now targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. The updated schedule is later than the company’s previously indicated 2025 timeframe, reflecting construction and commissioning realities rather than a change in the project’s resource base or contracted sales position.
Three wells have been connected to a pilot pad located approximately five kilometres from the Carpentaria gas plant, whose construction and flowline installation are largely complete. The project is supported by a binding 10-year gas sales agreement with the Northern Territory Government. The contract provides fixed-price revenue with a consumer price index-linked escalator, giving Beetaloo visibility over near-term cash flows. Initial supply is expected to reach 10 terajoules per day, potentially increasing by another 15 terajoules per day once pipeline-flow infrastructure is upgraded.
The company reports approximately A$125 million in available liquidity, divided roughly between cash and undrawn facilities, including Macquarie Bank funding for the gas plant. Management says this provides sufficient funding through first gas without an immediate need for further equity.
However, well economics remain dependent on substantial cost reductions. Recent wells cost more than A$50 million each, partly because of Australia’s remote logistics and high transport costs. Beetaloo expects year-round drilling and stimulation to eventually halve well costs, supporting targeted internal rates of return of 30% to 50%.
A separate growth opportunity comes from a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Halliburton for Beetaloo Digital, a proposed AI data centre near Darwin. Halliburton would contribute power-generation expertise, while Beetaloo’s role would remain focused on supplying gas rather than owning or operating the facility.
Longer term, demand could come from Northern Territory industry, east-coast gas shortages and LNG exports. Nevertheless, the investment case remains exposed to first-gas delays, high initial well costs, third-party pipeline investment and the uncommitted status of the data-centre proposal.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/empire-energy-group
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Interview with Chad Peters, President & CEO of Ridgeline Minerals Corp.
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/ridgeline-minerals-tsxvrdg-600m-free-carry-potential-on-partner-funded-crd-discovery-8609
Recording date: 7th August 2026
Ridgeline Minerals has completed the sale of four early-stage Nevada gold exploration projects to Nevada Gold Mines (NGM), generating US$23.15 million in cash and a return of more than 350% on its invested capital. The transaction, which closed on August 3, involved Ridgeline’s interests in the Swift and Black Ridge earn-in agreements, as well as its Bell Creek and Atlas projects.
The sale gives Ridgeline approximately C$33 million in cash and C$3 million in marketable securities. Together, those assets exceed the company’s market capitalisation of about C$24.5 million, substantially reducing its near-term financing and dilution risk. Management says the strengthened treasury will support new project staking, exploration, potential acquisitions and, possibly, shareholder returns.
Ridgeline retained its flagship Selena project, a 39-square-kilometre carbonate replacement deposit target being advanced through a US$20 million earn-in agreement with South32. South32 has committed US$4 million for drilling in 2026, fully funding the programme. The project gained importance after the 2025 discovery of high-grade massive sulphide mineralisation at the Chinchilla Sulphide zone. South32 has compared the early-stage discovery with its Taylor deposit in Arizona, although Selena does not yet have a formal mineral resource estimate.
The company also continues to own Big Blue and Coyote outright. Big Blue is a copper-silver-tungsten exploration project with encouraging historical and recent drill and trench results. Coyote is an undrilled Carlin-type gold target located near NGM’s Black Ridge project and approximately four kilometres from the Fallon gold resource, making it a potential partnership or transaction candidate.
Ridgeline additionally holds a 17.3% stake in Spartan Metals and a 1% royalty on metals from Spartan’s Eagle tungsten project. The company’s next challenge is converting its financial strength and exploration portfolio into further discoveries, particularly through Selena’s 2026 drilling and future work at its 100%-owned Nevada properties.
View Ridgeline Minerals' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/ridgeline-minerals
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