Tim Coughlin

Santana Minerals Ltd just dropped its updated PFS and it might be a good bit better than the headline numbers suggest. Headline numbers are: After-tax NPV: A$1.5B at today’s gold price. Capex: A$277M. Payback: <1.7 years. Market cap: A$440M (after a 20x move since 2022). All looks great, and the real results may be even better because of conservative assumptions and speed. The PFS is based on A$3,500/oz gold. That’s about US$2,300/oz. If the price holds or grinds higher, the NPV could grow fast. The timeline is another bright spot. First pour could be about 18 months out if the schedule sticks, putting early production in 2027. The jurisdiction helps. If it proceeds, this would move from discovery to production in the same decade. That would be a clear signal New Zealand is open for modern mining again, building on its long mining history. Bottom line, this is a strong study, with conservative inputs, and a clear path to cash flow. If permits, financing, and execution land on this schedule, and if gold stays firm, this could be one of the fastest discovery-to-cash-flow stories in the sector. Big step for everyone at Santana Minerals too.

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Big step forward for Power Metallic Mines. We’ve been awarded the Jabal Baudan exploration license in the KSA's Jabal Sayid Belt—a region known for world-class copper, gold, and zinc deposits. Let me explain why this matters: First, this isn’t just another project. Jabal Baudan is over 200 square kilometers, the largest block in the recent KSA licensing round. Strategically positioned 150 km south of Jeddah, this site sits at the heart of the Red Sea’s western mineral corridor. It's known for its VMS (volcanogenic massive sulfide) systems—the same geology hosting the Jabal Sayid Mine. Second, this marks a significant milestone not just for Power Metallic but for international mining. We're now one of the few foreign firms with an exploration license in the KSA, a country that’s been quietly transforming its mining sector as part of its Vision 2030. The KSA's not just opening doors—it’s backing them with capital and infrastructure. The Exploration Enablement Program (EEP), a $182M fund, will directly support our work at Jabal Baudan. This program provides up to $2M per project, de-risking early exploration and accelerating our path to discovery. Third, let’s talk geology. Historical work by BRGM, Riofinex, and USGS identified classic “ironstone” and siliceous volcanic rocks here—the hallmarks of VMS mineralization. Our team will leverage legacy aeromagnetic data, combined with modern exploration techniques, to zero in on high-potential targets. Why the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and why now? Simple: opportunity and timing. Vision 2030 isn’t just about oil diversification. It’s about modernizing every sector, including mining. From world-class infrastructure to policy clarity, the KSA is serious about becoming a major player in global mining. At Power Metallic, we’re not chasing volume. We're building a portfolio of tier-one opportunities. The KSA now joins our flagship Nisk Project in Quebec, where we're expanding one of the rare Ortho-Magmatic systems discovered in the past two decades. (For those unfamiliar, think Voisey’s Bay or Norilsk—world-class polymetallic systems with huge strategic value.) Being awarded the Jabal Baudan license reinforces what I believe is Power Metallic’s core strength: identifying and securing high-value projects in competitive, often overlooked jurisdictions. It’s not just about drilling holes. It’s about building optionality and positioning for the long term. Proud of our team and excited for what’s ahead.

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Book Review: Critical Minerals and the Future of the U.S. Economy Edited by Dr. Gracelin Baskaran & Dr. Duncan Wood (CSIS, Feb 2025) This new CSIS volume is one of the most comprehensive reviews yet of how the U.S. can secure its critical mineral supply chains. With contributions from 15 experts, it examines: How minerals underpin semiconductors, defence, EVs, and renewables. The impact of recent legislation (IRA, CHIPS, DPA) on supply chain resilience. Systemic challenges like permitting reform, midstream gaps, and minerals diplomacy. The need for a holistic U.S. strategy that combines domestic mining, recycling, responsible sourcing, and international cooperation. It’s a policy-ready toolkit that treats critical minerals not as a niche issue, but as central to U.S. economic security, defence, and competitiveness. If you read nothing else, start with Dr. Baskaran’s introduction — it’s excellent. 👉 My only critique: the book doesn’t sufficiently stress the need to prioritise projects based on economic viability. From 20 years in the junior mining industry, I’ve seen too many “critical” projects that are fundamentally uneconomic. China’s edge lies not just in supply, but in relentlessly focusing on cost competitiveness and walking away from what doesn’t work. My recommendation? The U.S. should build a global project ranking based on practical, geopolitical, and economic factors — and prioritise investment accordingly. Gracelin Baskaran, PhD Meredith Schwartz Duncan Wood Dennis Gibson Jeff Townsend This book is available free via CSIS link in the article. If you enjoy please follow and share :)

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#SaudiArabia’s mining sector records big wins, with top-tier mining companies competing for the Kingdom's largest exploration sites ever. The ninth licensing round saw 41 companies participate; of these, 8 formed consortia, while the remaining 23 submitted individual bids. In total, 31 qualified bidders will compete to explore #SaudiArabia’s largest mineral sites, covering 24,000 km² of high-potential terrain — that's a 410% increase from previous rounds. These global players will explore mineral-rich zones across the Arabian Shield: 📍 Al Nuqrah 📍 Sukhaybara-As Safra 📍Ad Duwayhi-Nabitah This process incentivizes broader regional exploration, deepening geological understanding, and accelerating the path to major mineral discoveries. With potential of gold, copper, silver, zinc, and nickel, we are unlocking the next phase of growth for mineral processing and downstream opportunities. We are only just getting started. By the end of 2025, we plan to offer a total of 50,000 km² for exploration. 📢 For strategic investors, this is the moment to secure a foothold and shape the future of mining in one of the most promising jurisdictions in the world. Invest in Saudi Mining Today! #MIM #SaudiMining #MineralExploration #InvestSaudiiii

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This is the second of a series of posts that I will present on a common theme. As many people will be aware, I am the editor for geology content for the world's largest virtual drilling publication, Coring Magazine. Each issue, I procure an interview with a high-profile contributor to the mining +/- exploration +/- geology research industry. One question that I ask each time is the following: The question: If you had abundant financial funding, is there a fundamentally annoying geology question you’d like to solve or a topic you’d like to work on? I've listed below the responses from Nick Oliver and Francois Robert, two widely published colleagues with extensive exploration and mining industry experience. These responses are diverse and vary from general to relatively local. However, the commonality in these is that they highlight fundamental geological puzzles that have yet to be solved. It would be interesting to hear if any of the readers of this post have comments in general that either 1) add information to the solution of these puzzles or, 2) provide new fundamentally annoying geology questions that they think have yet to be resolved. Nick Oliver 1) The origin of cement-supported hydrothermal breccias (Ernest Henry that I referred to), there’s something we are really missing, and it gets back to the decline in people working on phase separation in geological fluids, 2) it would need a huge effort and is probably not worth it, so lets call it a dream - inserting a full hydrothermal speciation dataset into ioGAS, plus capacity to recognize and map chaotic behaviour, to kick the geoscience world back into geochemical-geomechanical prediction space that finds mineralization (needs about 5 life times and a few more Cooperative Research Centres) – but this is too hard, and 3) which I try and do anyway, to provide the data and logical reasoning to consider that reworking of older metal accumulations is part of the normal budget of many or most mineral systems. This won’t win Nobel Prizes but over-polarization of ore deposit models doesn’t necessarily drive the science forward, either. This is probably the Old Nick speaking, not the Young Nick. Nick’s interview can be found at https://lnkd.in/gzVQpD_6 Francois Robert In greenstone belts, we commonly invoke regional faults as a key control of the spatial distribution of gold deposits, although most deposit occur adjacent to these faults rather than within them. We don’t really know what these faults are, how they formed, and how they really influence the formation of deposits. This is a topic that Howard Poulsen and I are slowly investigating in the field, by revisiting historical and new exposures of the infamous Larder Lake-Cadillac Break in Southern Abitibi. It doesn’t cost much and it’s fun. Francois’ interview can be found at https://lnkd.in/gPDyG9JZ

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𝗨𝗦 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁: 𝟬 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴. The U.S. is shifting from mineral dependency to strategic control. 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀: • 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 in federal funding for processing and refining • 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 approvals for projects that close supply gaps • 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 from trusted partners 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 is a weak link. It is essential for battery anodes, yet U.S. output last year was 𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗼. 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗟𝗟𝗖, the US subsidiary of Volt Resources Limited (𝗔𝗦𝗫:𝗩𝗥𝗖), is developing a high-purity graphite refinery in 𝗧𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗮, 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗺𝗮, backed by: • 𝗨𝗦$𝟭𝟯𝟲𝗠 pre-tax NPV (Scoping Study) • 𝗨𝗦$𝟮𝟭𝗠 Phase 1 capital estimate • 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 in Airport Industrial Park • 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 agency support • 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 and offtake discussions underway Feedstock will come from an 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝗸𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲, with future supply from a 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝗻𝘇𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮. 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜.𝘚. 𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆-𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀.

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Catalyst Metals (inclusive of depletion due to production) has grown their Reserve base by ~600K ounces in the last financial year. Their plan is to spend A$90M to repeat that effort in the coming year, equating to a cost of A$180/Oz of exploration. It is also instructive that they quote a cost of A$70/Oz for Indicated Resources (Trident); the remaining costs would be more expensive underground drilling of their Reserves at Plutonic. At >A$5,500/Oz gold prices A$180 isn't bad...but I did note the very broad FY26 AISC guidance envelope from A$2,200-2600/Oz. I found their slide on page 28 of today's presentation instructive of mature brownfields exploration around mines like Plutonic; chronic under-investment for years, and now the price is up to record highs, Catalyst is reaping the rewards of ten hard years of exploration and development investment. Record gold prices help make that investment and persistence seem uncharacteristically wise, of course; without today's gold prices, the story would not be so compelling.

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