Juniors must deliver resource growth, production gains and technological edge to capture capital, according to participants at this month’s Mining Investment Event of the North in Quebec City.
The Northern Miner set up a video studio in the Centre des congrès de Québec from June 2 – 4 and conducted 16 interviews.
Cupel Advisory director Nikki Adshead-Bell said a wave of mergers and acquisitions is set to reshape capital flows.
“We are starting to see M&A heat up and that race towards acquiring will just continue,” she said. “Single-asset juniors will face buyouts over the next 18 months but undervalued developers will attract renewed interest from risk capital.”
Ed Humphries, a vice president at AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC-Lavalin), shared plans to add artificial intelligence to engineering platforms. This will help spot schedule slips and cost overruns in real time, he said. The goal it to move decision-making from weeks to just hours.
Quebec’s special adviser, Jonathan Lafontaine, shared a support package that aims to use AI to digitize over 90,000 assessment reports while connecting juniors to financial backer Investissement Québec and a northern infrastructure agency. He said early engagement with First Nations and Inuit will streamline approvals as projects advance.
Adrian Day of Adrian Day Asset Management noted that gold miners lead all U.S. sectors in cash-flow growth yet face retail investor apathy. He said a pullback in tech stocks or a Federal Reserve policy shift would draw capital into gold equities.
Asset updates
New Gold (TSX: NGD; NYSE: NGD) CEO Patrick Godin said full ownership of the New Afton mine and a rapid C-Zone ramp-up will anchor almost 500 000 oz. of annual gold output by 2027. After buying Ontario Teachers’ 19.9% free-cash-flow interest for $300 million (US$218.3 million) on May 1, Godin told The Northern Miner that the best of the asset is still ahead.
“No one knows the asset more than we do. It was a good transaction for Teachers’ and it was a good transaction for us.” He expects New Afton and Rainy River to generate US$2.2 billion in free cash flow through 2027 and to double gold production to 490,000 oz. by then.
Yukon Metals (CSE: YMC; US-OTC: YMMCF) president Rory Quinn shared a 9,000-metre diamond drilling plan. This plan will cover Star River, the Chair Mountain trend and Birch. “The catalysts are now from the drill,” he said.
Maple Gold Mines (TSXV: MGM) CEO Kiran Patankar described a restructured Agnico joint venture and a 12,000-metre drill program at Douay and Joutel in Quebec. He highlighted recent drill hole DO-25-338, which cut 169.5 metres at 1.43 grams gold per tonne, including 108.6 metres at 2.05 grams gold.
Canada first
Iamgold (TSX: IMG; NYSE: IAG) president and CEO Renaud Adams said a ‘Canada-first’ strategy will drive both production and exploration. He pointed to Franco-Nevada’s (TSX, NYSE: FNV) 7.5% net profit interest on the Côté project in Ontario as a way to unlock cash and buy back half the royalty within three years.
Iamgold is aiming for 735,000 to 820,000 oz. this year at all-in sustaining costs of $1,625–1,800 per ounce. “The refocus of the company is to really grow and develop in Canada,” Adams said.
Amex Exploration (TSXV: AMX; US-OTC: AMXEF) CEO Victor Cantore said Perron’s preliminary economic assessment will set the stage for a feasibility study and bulk-sample permit. The 197-sq. km project at Normétal hosts 2.3 million oz. gold in all categories.
“The grade is really king,” Cantore said, pointing to a 2024 update showing 1.6 million oz. at 6.14 grams gold per tonne.
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