Company Interviews

Interview with Janet Lee Sheriff, Director & CEO of Verdera Energy
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/verdera-energy-listing-high-grade-usa-focused-isr-projects-9038
Recording date: 24th February 2026
Verdera Energy has completed its listing on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'V', raising $20 million at $1 per subscription receipt to fund uranium development across New Mexico. The company controls 400 square miles of patented private mineral rights hosting approximately 88 million pounds of known and historic uranium resources, positioning itself at the intersection of U.S. energy security priorities and the nuclear energy renaissance.
The company's asset portfolio comprises three primary in-situ recovery projects at varying development stages. Crownpoint represents the most advanced asset with a completed 43-101 technical report, while West Largo contains 16 million pounds of historic resources and is characterized as the highest-grade ISR project in the portfolio. Ambrosia Lake rounds out the primary holdings. Management plans to launch Phase 1 at Crownpoint, apply for drill permits at West Largo, and initiate baseline water sampling at Ambrosia Lake.
Beyond its mineral resources, Verdera possesses a strategic differentiator in its proprietary database containing 120,000 drill hole logs from Kerr McGee and comprehensive URI data from enCore. This historical information represents millions of dollars in previous exploration work and significantly reduces the cost of modernizing technical reports while creating potential data licensing opportunities as other companies enter New Mexico's uranium sector.
CEO Janet Lee Sheriff provides realistic development guidance, estimating five years from the current stage to production—a timeline reflecting the comprehensive environmental review requirements of U.S. uranium permitting. The company has initiated scoping work on a central processing plant that could serve multiple projects, generating operational efficiencies across the portfolio.
With approximately two years of operational runway from its capital raise, Verdera combines advanced-stage projects, unique data assets, and a partnership-focused strategy in New Mexico's historically seventh-largest uranium-producing district. The company's approach balances near-term development catalysts with the patient capital requirements inherent in uranium sector participation.
View Verdera Energy's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/verdera-energy
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Interview with Alex Walcott, President & CEO of Evergold Corp.
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/evergold-ever-technical-analysis-due-diligence-2083
Recording date: 24th February 2026
Evergold Corp. (TSXV:EVER) is entering 2026 as a leaner, more focused company than it has been in years. Under new President and CEO Alex Walcott — a practising geophysicist who has spent his career working across northern British Columbia's most active exploration corridors — the company has narrowed its attention to a single asset: the Golden Lion gold-silver project in the Toodoggone district. It is a deliberate reset, and the setup that has emerged from it is arguably the most investable configuration Evergold has presented to the market in some time.
The Toodoggone context is important. This is a district in active re-rating mode. TDG Gold's Aurora discovery anchored the district's geological credibility. Thesis Gold followed with a positive preliminary economic assessment. And most recently, Anglo American acquired a 5% stake in Thesis Gold — a development announced just days before this interview — confirming that the region has moved onto the radar of the global mining majors. Evergold's Golden Lion property sits directly adjacent to Thesis Gold's ground. That proximity is not incidental; it reflects the same Toodoggone Formation geology that is drawing institutional attention across the district.
Golden Lion itself has a meaningful drill history. The 2021 campaign — the most recent work on the property — returned down-dip continuity of approximately 175 metres and demonstrated hole-to-hole consistency for the first time. Historical intercepts include 66 metres at 1.36 g/t gold equivalent, and silver hits of up to approximately 900 g/t. Under current silver prices, the gold-equivalent economics of these intercepts are considerably stronger than they appeared when the work was done. That is a straightforward recalculation that many investors have not yet made.
Previous drilling work also revealed a systematic problem with prior drilling: holes had been oriented roughly parallel to the steeply dipping mineralised fault structure, meaning the drill was tracking the body rather than intersecting it cleanly. The team has now corrected this through a 3D geological model, and the 2026 programme is designed around fan-pattern drilling from consolidated pads — an approach that maximises data return per dollar spent and suits the structural geometry of the deposit.
The corporate structure is tight. Approximately 13 million shares are outstanding following a consolidation completed in 2025. The market capitalisation is approximately C$8 million — a meaningful discount to comparable-stage district peers Finlay Minerals and Sun Summit Minerals, which trade at approximately C$20 million and C$25 million respectively. A C$5 million financing is expected within approximately one month, which will fund approximately 4,000 metres of drilling alongside property-wide geophysics, including magnetic and passive EM surveys conducted in-house by Walcott's team.
The board has been reinforced with Alvin Jackson of EuroZinc and FreeGold Ventures, Brian Butterworth of Hy-Tech Drilling, and Charlie Greg, a respected BC geologist who holds approximately 15% of the company. Taylor Quinn, whose master's thesis focuses specifically on Golden Lion's geology, joins as exploration manager — providing an unusual depth of project-specific technical knowledge.
Evergold is a speculative, pre-resource junior explorer. The risks are real and investors should size positions accordingly. But the combination of a district re-rating, a data-informed drill programme, experienced in-terrain management, underappreciated silver credits, and a compressed valuation relative to peers makes this a story worth following closely as 2026 unfolds.
View Evergold's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/evergold-corp
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Interview with George Salamis, President & CEO of Integra Resources Corp.
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/integra-resources-tsxvitr-55m-financing-explained-9184
Recording date: 23rd February 2026
Integra Resources Corp. (TSXV: ITR) has unveiled its 2026 guidance and three-year production outlook, signaling a transformative period for its Florida Canyon gold mine in Nevada. The company expects to produce 70,000-75,000 ounces in 2026 at elevated all-in sustaining costs of $2,750-$2,950 per ounce, representing a deliberate investment phase designed to unlock substantially higher production in subsequent years.
President and CEO George Salamis positioned 2026 as a "setup year" focused on building capacity for future growth. The company is deploying $62-68 million in sustaining capital, primarily for intensive waste stripping campaigns to access the higher-grade Central Pit ore body and fleet renewal programs. This strategic investment is expected to deliver 80,000-90,000 ounces annually in both 2027 and 2028 at significantly reduced costs as stripping intensity declines.
The production outlook surprised analysts who had modeled Florida Canyon at 70,000-75,000 ounces in perpetuity. Management emphasized that the capital program carries minimal execution risk, with ore-waste boundaries well-defined through extensive geological modeling. An updated feasibility study expected in coming months will extend Florida Canyon's mine life beyond the current five-year estimate to seven-plus years, incorporating approximately 50 million tons of low-grade stockpiled material being reclassified as ore.
Beyond Florida Canyon, Integra is advancing its DeLamar project in Idaho through a recent $60 million equity raise that added 12 new institutional investors. The proceeds will fund early works programs and long-lead equipment purchases ahead of planned 2028 development. A strategic $12.5 million ranch acquisition provides critical water rights and environmental mitigation opportunities, de-risking the $1.8 billion NPV project.
With over $110 million in treasury and strong projected cash flow generation from 2027-2028, management expects to self-fund DeLamar's equity portion without major dilution, offering investors a clear pathway to multi-asset value creation in a favorable gold price environment.
View Integra Resources' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/integra-resources
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Interview with Charlie Greig, CEO of Metal Energy Corp.
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/metal-energy-tsxvmerg-unlocking-ontarios-massive-lithium-potential-drilling-dec-2023-4221
Recording date: 19th February 2026
Metal Energy Corp (TSXV: MERG) is preparing to drill its first holes on the NIV copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry project in British Columbia's Toodoggone district, one of the province's more active mineral exploration corridors. The company is led by Charlie Greig, a veteran exploration geologist whose prior work contributed to the assembly of the GT Gold Saddle discovery — a porphyry deposit sold for approximately $450 million in 2021. Greig and his technical partner, geophysicist Alex Walcott, have been building a dataset on the NIV property since 2010, funding much of the early work themselves before bringing in outside capital.
The NIV property covers roughly 5 kilometres of strike length and sits in the same volcanic and intrusive rock package that hosts established porphyry deposits elsewhere in the Toodoggone. Soil geochemistry shows elevated copper, gold, and molybdenum values running continuously along the trend, while induced polarisation surveys have identified chargeability anomalies at depth consistent with a sulphide-bearing system. Porphyry-style sheeted veining visible at surface adds further geological weight to the target. Critically, all three datasets — geochemistry, geology, and geophysics -align spatially, giving the team a well-defined set of drill targets ahead of its first program.
The project has drawn strategic investment from two significant industry names. Centerra Gold, which operates a mine approximately 40 kilometres to the north, and Teck Resources have each taken a 9.9% equity stake following independent technical review. Their involvement provides both financial support and meaningful third-party validation of the project's geological merits.
The 2026 drill program is expected to total between 5,000 and 6,000 metres across 10 to 12 holes. Nearby, Amarc Resources' AuRORA copper-gold discovery in the same district serves as a direct geological analogue, while an adjacent Northwest Copper drill intercept confirms porphyry-style mineralisation within 1–2 kilometres of NIV ground.
View Metal Energy's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/metal-energy
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Recording date: 16th February 2026
Gold mining companies are generating unprecedented levels of free cash flow, with major producers like Agnico Eagle reporting more than $11 million per day in Q4 2024 at an average realized gold price near $4,200 per ounce. With gold prices running approximately $800 per ounce higher in the current quarter, that figure is tracking toward $15 million or more per day - a level that is fundamentally reshaping how companies think about capital allocation.
Speaking on the Compass podcast, Samuel Pelaez and Derek Macpherson of Olive Resource Capital argued that this cash flow environment gives producers the rare ability to pursue multiple priorities simultaneously: debt reduction, dividend increases, share buybacks, and acquisitions. That flexibility, they noted, sets the current cycle apart from previous periods in the sector.
The discussion comes as the mining industry enters its most active conference season of the year. An institutional-focused gathering in Miami is followed shortly by PDAC in Toronto - the world's largest mining conference - beginning around March 1st. Both events are expected to accelerate M&A discussions, as corporate development teams from major miners hold direct meetings with junior company management. Pelaez and Macpherson suggested that transaction announcements could coincide with or immediately follow PDAC.
In the near term, Chinese New Year - which began February 17th - introduces a period of thin liquidity across commodity markets as Chinese exchanges close for the week. The hosts characterized any resulting price volatility as mechanical rather than fundamental, and suggested investors treat sell-offs in stocks they already favor as potential entry points.
On the macro side, four factors continue to underpin the commodity bull market: expanding US manufacturing PMIs, resilient employment data, continued global liquidity growth, and a US fiscal deficit of approximately $800 billion - the third largest on record - reinforcing the case for hard assets even as the economy grows.
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