Company Interviews

Interview with Paul Andre Huet, CEO, and Oliver Turner, EVP of Corporate Development,  Americas Gold & Silver Corp.
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/americas-gold-silver-tsxusa-targets-1000-tpd-capacity-aims-for-5moz-annual-silver-10282
Recording date: 22nd Sept 2026
Americas Gold and Silver (TSX:USA | NYSE American:USAS) used a year of investment to remove physical limits at its Galena Complex in Idaho, and management now wants the market to focus on delivery. Chairman and CEO Paul Andre Huet said the Galena shaft could hoist about 650 tons a day when the current team arrived 18 months ago. After two phases of upgrades at about $7 million of capital, it can now hoist safely at more than 1,400 tons a day.
The mining method is changing alongside the hoist. Huet said Galena has completed its 19th long hole stope, each about one metre wide. A stope that would take 14 months with jack legs takes 28 days, without diluting the grade. The target is a mine that is 70% long hole. The main outstanding item is a paste fill plant, because sand fill currently takes 14 to 16 days per stope. The mill, at about 750 tons a day is the next limit, with a 1,200 tons a day target by the end of 2026.
Production is the near-term test. The company produced 1.45 million ounces of silver in the first half, against 2026 guidance of 3.2 million to 3.6 million ounces. Reaching the low end requires about 1.75 million ounces in the second half. First-half all-in sustaining cost was $36.92 per ounce.
Cosalá in Mexico is the second growth leg. Oliver Turner, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, said EC120 has a seven-year mine life and generates strong margins from near-surface mining. He said the company spent $3 million to $5 million on exploration there this year after essentially no spending since 2019. Turner cited recent intercepts of about 650 grams per tonne over more than 20 metres and 14 metres at 400 grams per tonne, roughly 30 metres from resource. A third mill is being tied in to process 2,000 tons a day at about 90% recovery, up from about 80% to 82%.
Crescent and antimony add further options. Management said mining at Crescent is planned for next year, once a second exit is completed and infill drilling firms up the resource. Test lots returned mid-90% recoveries in the Galena mill. The company does not treat the 2015 historical resource as current. Huet said antimony has moved from a penalty metal to a paid by-product, and that the United States needs about 50 million pounds a year. Commercial terms for a processing hub with US Antimony have not been disclosed.
Valuation is where Turner made the case for upside. He put the beta to silver at about 1.51 times and silver at over 90% of revenue. He said the shares trade at about 0.55 to 0.65 times NAV, and pointed to silver deals struck near two times NAV. Huet said funding growth from operating cash flow limits dilution. Investors should weigh these views as those of executives with a stake in the outcome.
View Americas Gold & Silver's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/americas-gold-silver-corporation
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Interview with Michael Murphy, Executive Chairman of South Pacific Metals 
Recording date: 22nd September 2026
South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV:SPMC, OTCQB:SPMEF, FSE:6J00) is a Papua New Guinea-focused gold-copper explorer built around a straightforward thesis: hold ground on the same geological structures that have already produced some of the world's most significant gold-copper mines, and let proximity to proven systems reduce exploration risk relative to greenfield ground.
The company's four projects sit within three established PNG mining districts. Kili Teke, acquired from Harmony Gold in 2023, is located roughly 40 kilometres from Barrick's Porgera mine and carries an NI 43-101 Inferred Resource of 237 million tonnes grading 0.24 g/t Au and 0.34% Cu, containing 1.81 million ounces of gold and 802,000 tonnes of copper (effective November 2022). Management argues this resource significantly understates the system's scale, since it is trimmed to roughly 650 metres from surface and excludes several higher-grade targets identified in historical and recent sampling including skarns returning up to 27.5% Cu at surface and an alkalic gold target with soil anomalies to 9,390 ppb Au. Drill-ready targets at these excluded zones are expected by the end of October 2026.
Osena and Anga sit on the Kainantu Transfer Zone, the same structure hosting K92 Mining's high-margin Kainantu operation. Drilling at Osena's Megabe target has already returned high-grade intercepts, including 8 metres at 8.95 g/t Au (with 5 metres at 12.46 g/t Au inside that), and four step-out holes have extended the mineralised structure to over 300 metres of strike in roughly ten weeks since the first discovery hole, a pace Executive Chairman Michael Murphy pointed to directly. Four additional holes at the nearby Ontenu Central target are complete, with assay results still pending.
May River, the company's fourth project, sits approximately 15 kilometres from PanAust's Frieda River deposit, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-gold projects, and hosts historical drill intercepts including 19 metres at 11.47% Cu and 2.17 g/t Au.
Management brings relevant credibility to this positioning. Murphy previously spent 12 years on the board of Torex Gold, which he built from a small shell company into a producer now valued at more than $4 billion. The board also includes Alex Davidson, formerly EVP of Exploration and Corporate Development at Barrick Gold, and CEO Timo Jauristo, a 40-year mining executive with senior roles at Goldcorp and Placer Dome.
On the financial side, Murphy told Crux Investor that a financing of roughly $20 million backed by several established mining-sector institutional funds was in its final stages at the time of the interview, intended to fund the current work programme through year-end 2026. As at August 31, 2026, the company carried a market capitalisation of approximately C$65 million and a share price of C$0.93, with insiders holding roughly 45% of the register.
For investors, the appeal lies in the combination of a defined resource with clear expansion potential, active drilling already producing high-grade results, a funded programme, and an experienced technical and capital-markets team set against the standard risks of early-stage exploration in a jurisdiction still working to shed its reputation for operational difficulty, regardless of the recent evidence to the contrary.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/kainantu-resources
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Interview with Luke Norman, Executive Chairman, U.S. Gold Corp 
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/us-gold-corp-nasdaqusau-undervalued-investment-series-with-luke-norman-10848
Recording date: 23rd September 2026
U.S. Gold Corp (NASDAQ:USAU) is a gold and copper developer whose CK Gold Project sits on Wyoming state land about 20 minutes west of Cheyenne. Executive Chairman Luke Norman said the company intends to build the mine rather than sell it, unless a bidder offers something egregiously beneficial to shareholders.
The project has moved a long way in five years. The company documents state approvals, including the mine operating permit in April 2024. The March 2026 feasibility study, issued by Halyard Micon International, shows an after-tax NPV5% of $632 million, a 27% after-tax IRR and a 2.5-year payback at base-case prices of $3,250 gold, $4.50 copper and $40 silver. Initial capital is $394 million. Reserves are 1.015 million ounces of gold, 260 million pounds of copper and 3 million ounces of silver.
At $4,000 the after-tax NPV5% is $946 million and payback is 1.8 years. At $2,000 the NPV5% is $98 million, and at $1,500 it is negative. Norman said payback remains well within two years at $3,750. The central open item is financing. The company had $30.7 million of cash as of April 2026. Norman stated final advanced engineering remains and will continue through development. The project suits debt because of its quick payback. Norman also mentioned a silver stream and the forward sale of some first-year gold. He put first-year output at 130,000 ounces of gold and 24 million pounds of copper. He gave no date for a financing announcement.
Norman argued that the 11-year mine life in the study understates the asset. The deposit extends at depth and along strike and could support 15 to 20 years. The company outlines 590,000 AuEq ounces of resources that could convert to reserves, with drilling anticipated for the second half of 2027. None of this is in the feasibility study.
The second strategic event is the Keystone spin-out. Keystone is a 20-square-mile exploration project on Nevada's Cortez Trend, 11 miles south of the Cortez Complex according to the presentation. Norman said US Gold will pay a dividend of Keystone shares to its shareholders, let Keystone raise its own capital and give it a separate management team. He expects this within six to eight weeks. He also argued that the dividend structure could force short sellers to cover, citing a short position of about 12-13%.
For investors, the case rests on execution. A permitted asset with study economics is in place. The market must now see how a $394 million build gets funded, whether a takeover approach emerges, and how the Keystone spin-out is structured. The main risks are financing terms, dilution from warrants and options, gold price sensitivity and timing slippage. Norman's comments are management's views, and several figures in the interview need checking against filings before they are relied upon.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/us-gold-corp
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Interview with Louis-Pierre Gignac, CEO of G Mining Ventures
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/g-mining-tsxgmin-major-acquisition-builds-tier-1-gold-hub-with-500koz-pa-potential-9868
Recording date: 23rd September 2026
G Mining Ventures Corp. (TSX:GMIN; OTCQX:GMINF) is executing a three-asset growth strategy anchored by cash flow from its Tocantinzinho (TZ) gold mine in Brazil, construction of the Oko West project in Guyana, and renewed exploration at Brazil’s Gurupi project. CEO Louis-Pierre Gignac says TZ’s stronger second half will help fund the company’s next phase of expansion.
TZ produced 68,691 ounces in the first half of 2026, leaving the bulk of annual output to the second half against guidance of 160,000 to 190,000 ounces. Higher grades and improved throughput are expected as mining reaches richer zones, while an expansion of tailings-pumping capacity should support 2027 guidance of 200,000 to 235,000 ounces. Revised 2026 all-in sustaining cost guidance is $1,330 to $1,544 per ounce, reflecting a stronger Brazilian real and higher fuel prices.
Oko West is the company’s principal construction project. By June 30, 44% of capital expenditure had been spent, with $423 million incurred, $628 million committed and first gold targeted in the second half of 2027. Commercial production is planned for January 2028. G Mining reports $1.288 billion of funding sources, including cash, projected TZ free cash flow and an undrawn $350 million revolver, compared with $550 million of remaining Oko capital and $88 million of corporate and exploration spending.
Following its acquisition of G2 Goldfields, G Mining aims to combine Oko West with the Ghanie and Oko Main deposits. The proposed expansion would add roughly 2 million tonnes of processing capacity and target annual production of about 500,000 ounces. An updated feasibility study, supported by 55,000 metres of infill drilling, is expected in mid-2027; historical G2 resource estimates still require upgrading.
At Gurupi, drilling has resumed after a long hiatus. An updated resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment are due before year-end, with management envisioning a mine producing roughly 200,000 ounces annually for at least a decade. The investment case rests on execution at TZ and Oko, gold-price assumptions of $4,000 per ounce, and successful conversion of exploration potential into reserves.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/g-mining-ventures
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Interview with Claudia Tornquist, President & CEO, and Christopher Taylor, Chairman, of Kodiak Copper Corp.
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/kodiak-copper-tsxvkdk-proposed-alliance-with-teck-to-launch-new-us-copper-explorer-10100
Recording date: 23rd September 2026
Kodiak Copper Corp. (TSXV:KDK) is an exploration company built around the MPD copper-gold porphyry project in southern British Columbia. The property covers 357 square kilometres in an established mining district where Copper Mountain lies about 20 kilometres to the south, and Highland Valley sits 30 to 40 kilometres to the north. Kodiak's chairman, Chris Taylor, founded the company and CEO Claudia Tornquist joined Taylor for this interview at Beaver Creek.
The investment question is whether a large, lower-grade porphyry can grow into a project with economics. Tornquist said the maiden resource is already sizeable and that its grades align with regional mines and North American porphyry peers. She said Kodiak's task is to grow the resource and then show economic potential.
The December 2025 maiden resource holds about 439 million tonnes across seven deposits. Indicated resources are 82.9 million tonnes at 0.39% CuEq. Inferred resources are 356.3 million tonnes at 0.32% CuEq. Copper content is 519 million pounds indicated and 1,889 million pounds inferred. Gold content is 0.39 million ounces indicated and 1.28 million ounces inferred.
This year's 16,500-metre programme is the main lever. It is entirely shallow. More than 7,000 metres have gone into Ketchan, where Kodiak reported its best hole to date. Hole AG-26-019 returned 283.5 metres at 0.70% CuEq from 37.5 metres downhole. Management says each deposit contains higher-grade zones and that all remain open. It has also identified a new anomaly beside the South zone.
Management expects each round of drill results to build market confidence, and it links near-surface drilling to economics. A starter pit needs enough higher-grade material close to surface to repay initial capital. West and Adit fit that description today. Management did not commit to a date for an economic study.
Management said the market should understand the project far better once this year's results are incorporated. Valuation is the central argument. Kodiak is valuated at C$84 million as at 31 August 2026. NorthIsle Copper and Gold, Faraday Copper and Osisko Metals are each above C$1.5 billion. Tornquist described NorthIsle's path from a modest valuation to a PEA as the model. Cash was C$18 million. Management says 2026 is fully funded.
Kay Copper is a separate source of potential value. Kodiak is combining its Mohave project with Teck Resources' Copper Hill project in Arizona. Kodiak expects to hold 26.4%. Initial funding is just over $5 million, and the pro forma valuation is C$18 million. The deal has not closed.
The catalysts are a steady flow of drill results, Kay Copper completion and the first-quarter 2027 resource update. Investors should also weigh the risks. About 81% of tonnes are inferred. No economic study is scheduled. Drilling may not deliver the growth management expects. Kay Copper may not close on the expected terms.
View Kodiak Copper's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/kodiak-copper-corp
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