Fresh financing is returning to junior miners, but cost blowouts, climate shocks and supply-chain failures can destroy value before first production, according to Raul Munoz, mining leader at risk advisor Marsh.
The first money after a raise should not go only into drilling, he argued. Developers need stronger engineering, site access and power plans, firmer community agreements and enough room in budgets for long-lead equipment such as mills and transformers, which can take 18 to 24 months to secure.
“We’ve seen horror stories over the last 15 years of cost overruns,” Munoz told The Northern Miner’s Western Editor, Henry Lazenby, during the recent PDAC event in Toronto. “A lot of that is a result of not doing enough advanced engineering going into a project.”
While capital flows back to juniors on a wave of AI infrastructure and data centres-driven demand, the window may not last in a cyclical business, Munoz said.
Watch the full interview below:
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