Earlier this week we published a report on Blue Jay Gold (JAY.V), explaining why the risk/reward ratio looks quite interesting for this advanced stage gold exploration company in the Yukon Territory. We also highlighted the Becker-Cochran antimony prospect as one of the company’s priority projects.

Blue Jay recently announced it has kicked off more advanced metallurgical studies on this area of interest, and a 400 kilogram sample has been shipped to ALS in Kamloops to work on an improved flow sheet. This will build onto the existing processing work that was completed in the Sixties and already resulted in a stibnite concentrate with a grade of 62% antimony. That already is on the higher end of the spectrum to be accepted by smelters, so it will be interesting to see any updated results. The Becker-Cochran prospect could be a nice bonus element to the flagship Steller gold-silver project.

Disclosure: The author has a long position in Blue Jay Gold. Blue Jay is a sponsor of the website. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.

Heliostar Metals (HSTR.V) is taking advantage of the strong gold price to beef up its balance sheet. While the cash flow result in Q2 was a bit lower than anticipated due to the actual timing of the gold sales (the gold has been produced, but not all ounces were sold before the end of the quarter), we anticipate a strong working capital release in Q3 to allow the company to further build its cash position.

The strong financial results will also allow Heliostar to put down deposits for the long-lead items for Ana Paula. While the feasibility study (and formal investment decision) is only expected towards the summer of next year, the company wants to nip any delays in the bud and will already order the key pieces of infrastructure to avoid any supply chain risks.

The full-year guidance for 2026 was reconfirmed, and this implies a H2 production of approximately 25,000 ounces of gold at an AISC of around $2100/oz (and perhaps slightly lower than that if the silver price remains strong). This further implies a healthy margin of in excess of US$2,000/oz and US$50M in H2 pre-tax cash flow on the mine sites level (before taxes, corporate overhead and expensed exploration).

Heliostar’s 2024 bet/strategy to buy older almost-depleted mines for a song is paying off handsomely. And in hindsight, it absolutely was the right decision to pursue fast and immediate cash flow generation to support its ambition to become a 500,000 ounce gold producer by 2030.

A solid production performance in Q2

Heliostar Metals produced just over 14,800 ounces of gold and just under 80,000 ounces of silver during the June quarter. There was a delay in actually selling the ounces and only 11,960 ounces gold and 52,997 ounces of silver were actually sold. That’s not an issue as it merely delays the revenue and cash flow. And as gold and silver prices remained quite steady in July (still exceeding $4000/oz and $55/oz respectively), we don’t expect the company to have incurred any negative pricing risk.

The table above also highlights a direct impact on the AISC per ounce of gold that was effectively sold, but we anticipate the US$2287/oz AISC to just be a temporary road bump due to the timing of the sales. As we’ll explain later in this update, the full-year guidance remains unchanged.

As Heliostar was able to sell its gold at an average price of just over US$4,400 per ounce, the combination of a 40% higher amount of gold sold and a 35% higher realized gold price compared to the same quarter a year before helped to boost the reported revenue to US$56.5M, resulting in mine operating earnings exceeding US$31M.

As the income statement above shows, the operating income came in at US$20.5M, and this already includes US$2M in expensed exploration efforts (including $0.7M at Cerro del Gallo and $0.5M at San Agustin). While the bottom line result was a slightly disappointing US$8M (for an EPS of US$0.03), there are three important factors at play here. First of all, about 3,000 gold-equivalent ounces were produced but not yet sold. This means that the fixed overhead expenses required a higher proportion of the mine operating earnings.

Secondly, one of the operating expenses was the US$3.45M share-based compensation. Not only is this not a recurring item (this expense was predominantly related to a 7.55M option grant with a C$2.26 exercise price), it also is a non-cash item. It has no impact on the cash flows generated by Heliostar and is merely an ‘accounting item’ on paper and it’s not expected to be a factor through H2. The only impact further down the road would be a dilution by 7.55M shares (and a C$17M cash inflow) if those options are exercised.

A third element that’s worth highlighting is the relatively high tax pressure, which came in at approximately 55% of the pre-tax income. This appears to be mainly related to the higher ‘underlying’ mine operating earnings (as for instance share-based compensation on the Canadian level doesn’t create a tax deductible item in Mexico). The average tax rate should also come down in the next few quarters.

So the bottom line is that the income statement was a bit skewed due to non-recurring and non-cash items.

The company also provided its cash flow statement, and in the first half of the year (21,940 ounces of gold sold at an average realized price of $4609/oz) the reported operating cash flow was US$24.4M. This includes a US$16.1M investment in working capital items, predominantly related to changes in the inventory levels (directly related to gold that was produced but not yet sold. The gold is ‘there’, but has to be booked as an inventory until it actually gets sold).

This means that based on the aforementioned elements, the underlying operating cash flow was approximately US$40.5M, and after deducting the US$14.2M in capital expenditures, the underlying free cash flow exceeded US$26M in H1 2026. Based on the current share count of 279.3M shares outstanding, this represents US$0.093 per share, and close to C$0.13 per share using the current exchange rate.

This also means Heliostar generated plenty of cash to fund the US$10M cash payment in Q2 for its Goldstrike acquisition as well as the $0.35M in transaction costs related to this deal.

And it goes without saying the balance sheet remains very strong as well. At the end of June, Heliostar had approximately US$46M in working capital, including US$43M in cash. We expect the cash balance to increase in the current quarter and semester on the back of additional free cash flow hitting the accounts while a portion of the inventory levels will be converted into cash as well.

The full-year guidance remains valid

As indicated below, the company plans to produce 50-55,000 ounces of gold and 290-320,000 ounces of silver at an anticipated AISC of $2025-2125 per ounce of gold (keep in mind a higher silver price compared to the company’s budget price of $47.50 will have a positive impact on the all-in sustaining cost per ounce of gold as the by-product revenue will come in higher). Heliostar will still be hoarding cash thanks to its operational assets, and that cash will provide the required equity component (or at least a substantial part of the equity component) of its future growth projects.

The anticipated capex to lay back the La Colorado open pit can easily be covered by the current cash position, and future cash flows will only add to that cash pile. The Ana Paula initial capex is estimated at US$300M as per the November 2025 PEA, so assuming a 40/60 equity/debt financing structure would require Heliostar to put up US$120M in equity (read: retained earnings and available cash).

Recent developments at the key projects

As disclosed before, Heliostar received the final approval for the change of use of soils permit at the La Colorada mine, which will allow for the planned pit expansion at Veta Madre to access additional reserves. Waste stripping will start this quarter, confirming the original plan to start producing from this zone from the second quarter of 2027 on. Heliostar will not publish a technical report on the further expansion to the Veta Madre Plus pit targeting an additional 10,000-15,000 ounces into the mine plan, but we expect to see more practical details when it announces its 2027 guidance.

Also keep in mind Heliostar has earmarked US$5.8M for exploration activities in the greater La Colorada district, as there are plenty of exploration targets that are worth following up on. All these exploration targets are located within trucking distance from the production facilities, reducing the hurdle to determine ‘critical mass’.

At San Agustin, mining activities at the Corner Area are ongoing, and initial drill results in that area of the project has confirmed the presence of oxide-hosted gold mineralization more than 200 meters beyond the current reserve boundary, and more gold mineralization was encountered elsewhere on the property. This should extend production at the mine through to at least the end of next year.

This resulted in Heliostar to increase its drill program from 10,000-15,000 meters to 15,000-18,000 meters while adding a second drill rig to speed things up. We obviously cannot object to more drilling, especially as the $4000+ gold price enables Heliostar to generate plenty of cash flow to complete the additional drilling. The sulphide mineralization located below the current San Agustin pit will also be drilled, but the focus will initially remain on oxide-hosted mineralization.

The Ana Paula project in Mexico’s Guerrero state is the next stepping stone in the company’s growth strategy. The company is wrapping up its exploration drilling as we speak, and will now move onto ‘engineering’ drilling. The drill program was pretty substantial with in excess of 30,000 meters drilled, which is about 15% more meterage than initially planned as the initial drill results exceeded expectations. The assay results confirmed the continuity of high-grade mineralization within the high-grade panel, and the exploration drilling confirmed the mineralization may extend beyond what’s currently in the PEA mine plan. Assay results for the last batch of infill and step down holes are still pending, and the infill data will be incorporated in an updated resource (and reserve) calculation that will be used for the Definitive Feasibility Study at Ana Paula (which should be completed in Q2 2027).

Heliostar is quite confident in the outcome of that study (hardly a surprise, given the very robust PEA results and the current higher gold price could reasonably be expected to compensate for any capex and opex increases) and plans to already order long-lead equipment later this year, before it even makes an official construction decision at Ana Paula. Assuming the feasibility will be published on time and assuming it confirms the economics of the high-grade Ana Paula project, a formal construction decision can be expected in the summer of 2027 with first gold in Q4 2028.

Conclusion

Heliostar’s balance sheet has never been this strong and as the gold price appears to remain comfortably above $4000/oz, it’s safe to assume the net working capital position (and hopefully the cash balance too) will increase again this quarter. While there may be fluctuations based on working capital changes as well as the timing of making deposits for long-lead items at Ana Paula, the underlying operational and financial momentum is strong.

Heliostar has always maintained its ambition is to produce 500,000 ounces of gold per year by 2030. And although this year’s production is expected to be ‘just’ 50,000 ounces, the Ana Paula project and Goldstrike project could drastically change the production profile in the second half of this decade – assuming positive final investment decisions.

The strong gold price provides a nice tailwind, and every day Heliostar can sell the yellow metal it produces at in excess of $4,000 per ounce further derisks the story. Not only because it allows to add more cash to the balance sheet, but also because discussions/negotiations with financiers for Ana Paula will undoubtedly be much easier at $4250 gold than at $3000 gold.

Disclosure: The author has a small long position in Heliostar Metals. Heliostar Metals is a sponsor of the website. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read our full disclosure.

Stavely Minerals (SVY.AX) has released the results of a scoping study on its Thursday’s Gossan project. This is a copper-gold-silver project and the 4 million tonnes per annum scenario that’s currently on the table will cost A$333M to build (including a 30% contingency), but will produce 45M pounds of copper, 6,700 ounces of gold and 325,000 ounces of silver per year in the first three years of the 13 year mine life. The production profile will decline in the subsequent ten years to 25 million pounds of copper, 4,650 ounces of gold and 235,000 ounces of silver per year. The AISC is estimated at US$3.76 per pound of copper-equivalent during the 13 year mine life, while the first three years will be the most important to support the economics as the 53 million pounds of copper-equivalent will be produced at an AISC of US$2.75.

The NPV7% comes in at A$818M pre-tax and A$543M post-tax, but the company used rather high commodity prices (US$6.01 copper, US$4,500 gold) to run its numbers. A 10% lower copper price would reduce the pre-tax NPV7% by A$215M to around A$600M while a 10% lower gold price would have a smaller impact of just about A$27M. So at $5.40 copper and $4050 gold, the pre-tax NPV7% would come in at just under A$600M.

Disclosure: The author has no position in Stavely Minerals. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.

Blue Jay Gold (JAY.V) was initially created to host the Ontario-based exploration assets of Riverside Resources (RRI.V), but the picture (and appeal) changed drastically when the company announced the acquisition of the Skukum gold project (now renamed to the Steller gold project) from Tincorp Metals in the summer of last year.

Not only was the timing of the acquisition excellent, the agreement was also signed before the gold price started its run, and before the exploration potential of the Yukon started to resurface. And this means Blue Jay was able to secure ownership of the project at exceptionally advantageous terms. Sometimes it’s okay to be lucky.

It changed the magnitude of the investment thesis for Blue Jay overnight. Rather than being the umpteenth exploration company with early-stage exploration assets, it acquired a past-producing project with an existing NI43-101 compliant high-grade underground gold-silver resource in the Yukon Territory. A project that had been dormant for a while and has never been explored to the fullest extent.

It’s now up to the Blue Jay management and exploration team to pursue resource growth at Steller and perhaps push the project towards an economic study. But with 120,000 meters of historical drill data, an existing resource and a road that links the project straight to Whitehorse, a lot of important pieces of the puzzle to create value are already in place.

The Steller Project: clearly the company’s flagship asset

The Steller project consists of a 170 square kilometer land package (including the past-producing Mt Skukum gold mine), located within just 84 kilometers from Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon Territory. The project comes with the data from in excess of 120,000 meters of drilling.

The past-producing portion project was first staked in the early 1980s and brought in production later that decade, producing almost 80,000 ounces of gold in just two years using mining and processing methods that likely were not as efficient as today’s methods and approach. The greater Skukum Creek area has been subject of exploration activities for over 100 years as initial prospectors discovered anomalous gold and antimony.

The most recent drilling activities were performed by Whitehorse Gold (the subsidiary of Tincorp, which sold the asset to Blue Jay Gold), with a 2,091 meter drill program in 2020 followed by 16,554 meters of drilling in 44 holes in 2021. No drilling has taken place since 2021, and the current resource estimate is based on all available drill data to date.

The access to the historical drill data is a real asset. A program of this scope, more than 120,000 metres drilled intermittently over four decades, would take most companies years and tens of millions of dollars to replicate from scratch, but also because the technical team was able to methodologically go through the data with a fresh set of eyes and formulate the best approach to thoroughly and efficiently explore the land package, using a district-focused approach.

So let it be clear: this is a brownfields project, and it even comes with an existing resource estimate that was published in 2025 (so it is fully up to date to today’s standards). As you can see below, the project hosts 1.37 million tonnes in the indicated resource category at 7.57 g/t gold and 127 g/t silver for 334,000 ounces of gold and 5.6 million ounces of silver. An additional 2.17 million tonnes can be found in the inferred resource category at a slightly lower grade of 5.6 g/t gold and 70 g/t silver for 392,000 ounces and 4.9 million ounces respectively.

On a gold-equivalent basis (using a silver:gold ratio of almost 86:1), this results in 400,000 ounces gold-equivalent in the indicated resource category and 449,000 ounces gold-equivalent in the inferred resources. Note: this resource is solely based on the gold and silver values and does not take any base metals or antimony values into account. The entire technical report can of course be found on the SEDAR+ website under Blue Jay’s profile.

This resource of course provides an excellent starting point to pursue additional resource growth. Blue Jay Gold is planning to complete up to 16,000 meters of drilling (at an estimated cost of approximately C$400/meter – a very reasonable number for Yukon exploration thanks to the project’s vicinity to Whitehorse) and has plenty of drill targets to choose from.

The image below shows the resource at Skukum Creek, which hosts the bulk of the total resource. As you can see, the mineralization remains open in multiple directions, as the limits have not yet been found.

But as mentioned before, we should consider the Steller project to be a ‘District Play.’ The existing resource already spans three separate deposits, Mt. Skukum, Skukum Creek and Goddell Gully, and that’s before accounting for the largely untested ground across the rest of the property. The pyramid below clearly shows the dozen exploration targets, ranked in order of their importance.

You may have noticed the Becker-Cochran exploration target is highlighted in green instead of gold. That’s mainly because this target hosts an antimony anomaly.

While two adits were driven into the Becker-Cochran showing in the 1900s, this area only got more recognition in the Sixties when an antimony-bearing zone of approximately 350 meters long, 1.5-7 meters wide and a depth of 120 meters was identified, as per the technical report. A subsequent trenching program encountered antimony values between 2.5% and 27.5%.

As China became the world’s leading low-cost producer of antimony in the 90s, this area of the project ended up a bit on the backburner but given the recent geopolitical turmoil, Western nations are rushing to reduce their reliance on China-supplied antimony. As per the US Geological Survey, approximately 85% of the worldwide antimony production in 2025 was supplied by China, Russia and Tajikistan. The Pentagon recently deployed cash to push North American antimony projects forward (with the Perpetua Resources owned Stibnite project in Idaho as best known asset), so the interest in North American antimony assets is real, and we hope to see more details on the Becker-Cochran antimony target.

The acquisition terms

As mentioned in the introduction, sometimes it’s okay to get lucky. The negotiations to acquire the Steller project were started quite early in 2025 and this resulted in a rather advantageous purchase price for Blue Jay Gold.

At closing, Blue Jay issued 500,000 common shares (and 250,000 warrants with an exercise price of C$0.90) to Tincorp, the seller. A final payment of C$275,000 payable in either cash or stock (at the discretion of Blue Jay) will be payable on the first anniversary of the closing date.

That’s it. The total purchase price was just C$575,000 (based on the C$0.60 valuation of the units issued to Tincorp). Tincorp didn’t even request to be assigned a royalty as part of the agreement, and the entire project remains completely royalty-free right now. Needless to say this is an additional advantage, unlocking further less-dilutive financing possibilities further down the road.

The exploration plans for this year

Blue Jay Gold is currently operating under a Class 4 exploration permit, which remains valid until the end of this year. The company has obviously been proactive, and has filed a Class 3 permit request with the relevant authorities. This will allow it to expand the scope of its activities and keep the project in good standing for the next decade. We expect to hear more on this in the near future.

Blue Jay Gold has kicked off an up to 16,000 meter drill program in June, and initial drilling is focusing on the Skukum Creek structural corridor, where historical drill programs have encountered the highest grade gold-silver mineralization. These holes are drill-testing the continuity of the mineralization between the different zones, while the Raca Zone, located approximately 300 meters to the north of the Skukum Creek resource, will also see some holes being drilled. At Raca, Blue Jay will be following up on historical drill results – which were silver-weighted – like 3.23 meters of 581 g/t silver and 0.76 g/t gold.

A second rig has arrived on site and drilling will continue throughout the exploration season with an anticipated wrap-up in date October. We hope to see initial assay results in the next few weeks, and we expect the news flow to be pretty consistent from then on (subject to lab turnaround times), into 2027.

The metallurgy at Steller isn’t an open question, it’s already been answered once. The Mt. Skukum mill ran for two and a half years processing this exact mineralized material, proving the flowsheet works at scale. Building on that foundation, historical test work points to strong recovery potential: gold and silver recoveries anticipated to reach 95% in a high-grade bulk concentrate. Further test work is part of the roadmap to refine concentrate quality ahead of a feasibility study. As processing techniques have improved drastically in the past few decades, we expect the Blue Jay-led test work further down the road to at least confirm the historical data, and hopefully there will be some small improvements as even a 1% bump in the recovery rate could have a meaningful impact.

The Ontario projects

While this year’s focus will of course be on the Steller gold-silver project, Blue Jay Gold of course still has the Ontario-based exploration assets. The Pichette, Oakes and Duc projects will remain in the asset portfolio, but understandably have been put on the backburner. The company ran a small geophysics program at Pichette this summer, but we anticipate the attention to shift towards the Yukon-based Steller project.

Oakes and Pichette are located on the Beardmore-Geraldton gold belt, with a history of mining and prospecting spanning for over 100 years, sparking a real gold rush in the 1920s. Rising gold prices during the Great Depression made this area more attractive than ever, and as per the historical documents, there were over a dozen active gold mines before the second world war started. But after the war, as gold prices were fixed and the low-hanging fruit of the shallow deposits had been mined out, the district got ‘forgotten’, until the Greenstone Gold Mine was drilled out and opened in 2024.

The Duc project is located in the Wawa greenstone belt, close to the Island Gold mine (operated by Alamos Gold) and a past-producing phosphate mine.

While these exploration projects could be interesting further down the road, it is clear the current valuation of the company is underpinned by the Steller gold project in the Yukon Territory and the Ontario projects will have to take a back seat.

Blue Jay struck the iron while it was hot and raised C$14M

One of the most important things in junior mining is to tap the market at the right time for funding. That’s especially the case for non-revenue exploration companies, and a financing at the wrong time could be disastrous when the dilution cannot be overcome.

Blue Jay Gold took advantage of a financing window in the market, and in April 2026, it completed a C$14.7M financing (C$14.2M in net cash proceeds) which will allow the company to fund its activities in the foreseeable future.

Subsequent to that financing, there are currently 47.6M shares outstanding, while the fully diluted share count comes in at 66.7M shares. All 13.7M warrants are currently out of the money (4.5M at C$0.90 and 9.2M at C$1.20), and could bring in an additional C$16M should they end up in the money.

The Management team

Geordie Mark – CEO & Director

Geordie Mark contributes valuable dual expertise to Blue Jay Gold through his extensive mining industry background. With over 20 years of experience, he has successfully operated as both an exploration geologist and a top-rated North American mining equity analyst.

His global experience evaluating both early-stage projects and advanced operations gives him a comprehensive understanding of the mining lifecycle. This unique blend of technical geological knowledge and financial market insight enables him to effectively connect scientific discovery with investor value.

Geordie’s leadership approach centers on transparency and fiscal responsibility, creating value through methodical, evidence-based exploration strategies.

Freeman Smith – Vice President Exploration

Freeman Smith is a highly experienced exploration geologist with over 18 years dedicated to identifying and advancing mineral assets across North and South America. His work has spanned grassroots discovery, resource delineation, and project development, giving him a comprehensive understanding of the exploration lifecycle. Freeman’s expertise lies in interpreting complex geological systems, integrating modern exploration technologies, and leading field programs that efficiently convert targets into drill-ready prospects, maximizing the potential for discovery and resource expansion.

Freeman’s hands-on approach and deep technical knowledge ensure Blue Jay’s exploration programs are executed to the highest industry standards, with each exploration dollar allocated strategically to maximize discovery potential.

Scott Hicks – Chairman

Mr. Hicks is currently an Independent Director for Fuerte Metals. He served as VP Corporate Development and Communications of Lumina Gold, Luminex Resources and Anfield Gold. He played a key role in the sale of all three companies to CMOC, Adventus Mining and Equinox Gold respectively. He also served as CEO and Director of Strategic Resources. Prior to his executive roles, he was an investment banker working with RBC Capital Markets and BMO Capital Markets on their respective mining teams. Over the last 15+ years, he has worked on numerous equity and debt financings and mergers and acquisitions in Canada and Australia. Mr. Hicks holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours from the University of British Columbia.

Conclusion

Blue Jay’s ability to acquire the Steller gold project was quite a coup. It would be too easy to just attribute it to ‘luck’ as the Blue Jay management of course had to identify the opportunity and negotiate an agreement with the seller. But the bottom line is that a total acquisition cost of C$575,000 is an absolute bargain.

We don’t attach much value to a valuation based on ounces in the ground but on a gold-equivalent basis across both resource categories, the Steller purchase was completed at roughly US$0.65 per ounce of gold-equivalent. And even if you would only take the 330,000 ounces of gold in the indicated resource category into consideration (ignoring the silver and all inferred resources), the purchase price is still less than US$2 per ounce of gold in the ground.

Now, ounces in the ground are a useless metric if you cannot mine those ounces at a profit. That’s now the main task at hand for Blue Jay’s management team: drill the high-priority targets at Steller, expand the resource, and – if warranted – work towards a first economic study on the project. Blue Jay’s near-term opportunity comes down to a very simple element: grow the resource.

Despite more than four decades of exploration at Steller, modern exploration techniques have never been applied to the project as one connected system, and CEO Geordie Mark sees that as the low-hanging fruit ahead of the company. As the resource grows, it naturally lends itself to a larger potential production profile. Geordie has pointed to 1.5 million ounces as the kind of resource base that would support a 7-10 year mine life at roughly 100,000 ounces per year. While this isn’t an official exploration target, the logic holds: a mine life that’s too short or a production rate that’s too low won’t draw the attention of the right crowd.

With close to C$12M in cash on the balance sheet, Blue Jay is in an excellent position to hit the ground running and methodologically work towards increasing the resource. But at the current valuation of C$38M (and an enterprise value of less than C$26M), we like the risk/reward ratio Blue Jay offers its investors.

Disclosure: The author has a long position in Blue Jay Gold. Blue Jay Gold is a sponsor of the website. This report is for educational purposes only; be mindful that investing in junior mining stocks is risky, and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read our disclaimer.

Element 29 Resources (ECU.V) has closed its previously announced C$12M placement with net proceeds of approximately C$11.5M. This no-warrant placement was conducted at C$1.65 per share, and 7.27M new shares were issued as part of the capital raise. Alpayana maintained its 9.9% stake in the company while Randy Smallwood increased his stake in the company as well.

The proceeds from this financing will push the company’s total cash balance towards C$40M.

Disclosure: The author has a long position in Element 29 Resources. Element 29 is a sponsor of the website. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.

IDEX Metals (IDEX.V) has announced the results of the 91.45 line-kilometer IP survey that was completed on its 12,000+ hectare Freeze project in Idaho’s Copper Belt. The data from IDEX’s own survey was combined with the historical IP data allowing it to completed a 3D resistivity and chargeability model extending to a depth of approximately 600 meters.

This resulted in identifying four broad anomalous corridors, spatially associated with the Shiver, Kismet, North Breccia and CM targets. All corridors remain open in all directions. According to the interpretation of the company’s technical team, the chargeability and resistivity zonation are consistent with a porphyry system that could be larger in nature than previously anticipated. As per CEO Clayton Fisher’s statement ‘the IP survey has connected the dots across the project and shown that IDEX isn’t looking at one isolated target but at a much larger system’.

The current focus is on Target A, which is the closest to both Kismet and North Breccia zones where drilling has already identified the presence of copper, molybdenum and tungsten. This target is currently being drilled as part of IDEX’s 2026 summer drill program, and drill rigs will test for mineralization on both flanks of the anomaly.

Targets B and C are currently being permitted for drilling, and IDEX expects to receive these permits within the next few weeks.  Target D is fully permitted for drilling.

Drill results will hopefully start to flow soon, as having more data points will further validate the exploration targets and the potential of the Freeze project in Idaho’s Copper Belt.

Disclosure: The author has a long position in IDEX Metals. IDEX is a sponsor of the website. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.

West Point Gold (WPG.V) has announced the assay results from six Reverse Circulation drill holes that were completed on the Black Dyke prospect, part of the Gold Chain project. All five shallow holes (a total of 603 meters of drilling was completed in those five holes) encountered anomalous gold mineralization with 16.8 meters of 0.9 g/t gold and 7.6 meters containing 2.22 g/t gold as eyecatchers. As the table below shows, two holes did not encounter anything significant, but still contained anomalous values.

Although the attention of course deservedly goes towards Tyro and Tyro NE, where the upcoming maiden resource estimate should underpin the current valuation of the company, Black Dyke is shaping up to potentially become an interesting satellite deposit. Should West Point Gold go ahead and develop Tyro (assuming a positive economic study), the hurdle to reach critical mass at Black Dyke should be relatively low as the mineralized rock could just be shipped to a central processing facility.

Drilling at Gold Chain has now been completed (and will likely restart next month), and the upcoming maiden resource calculation will be the next catalyst. As a reminder, the company has an official exploration target of 19.5-31.2 million tonnes grading 2 to 3 g/t gold, translating to an overall range of 1.25 to 3 million ounces of gold.

Disclosure: The author has a long position in West Point Gold. West Point Gold is a sponsor of the website. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.

Eclipse Metals (EPM.AX) has released a maiden inferred resource calculation for the past-producing Ivigtut mine in South Greenland, a former cryolite mine providing raw material used in the process to extract aluminum from bauxite. This new resource is located just a short hike west of the existing 208 million tonnes REE deposit, and the key differentiator for Ivigtut is that it adds an interesting hafnium and gallium portion.

The initial resource is small with just under 4.9 milllion tonnes with an average grade of 188 ppm HfO2, 61 ppm Ga2O3 with some yttrium and zirconium values as well. This results in an in-situ resource of 917 tonnes of hafniumdioxide, just under 300 tonnes of Ga2O3 and 714 tonnes of Yttrium. The next phase at Ivigtut will now focus on metallurgical test work to ensure the metals can be extracted economically.

Hafnium is used for alloys with applications in the aerospace industry and nuclear energy sector.

Disclosure: The author has no position in Eclipse Metals. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.

Sage Potash (SAGE.V) has completed its drilling operations at the Peterson 1 well, the only hole it planned to drill in the current campaign. The well reached a total depth of almost 2,250 meters and successfully intersected the Cycle 18 Upper and Lower potash bearing beds. Core has been recovered and will be sent to Saskatchewan for lab analysis.

Once the assay results are received, the data will be used for an updated resource calculation on the Sage Plain Potash project. And given the location of the holes, there are high expectations to see a substantial resource upgrade.

Disclosure: The author has a long position in Sage Potash. Sage currently is not a sponsor of the website but could become one in the near future. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.

West Point Gold (WPG.V) has released the assay results from an additional 18 holes that were drilled at the Tyro Main and Decimal Hill zones at Gold Chain, its flagship project. This means that in excess of 20,400 meters of the 21,079 meters drilled has now been reported on and the remaining 603 meters where assay results are pending are the Black Dyke target, which is not very relevant for the upcoming resource calculation.

The next drill program that’s being designed for the Tyro Main Zone will include deeper drilling to expand the gold-bearing zone to a similar depth like Northeast Tyro. The entire 1.2 kilometer strike length will be subject to deeper drilling. Drilling will resume mid-September, and we can expect a maiden resource calculation to be published at the end of Q3 or early Q4. That will be an important catalyst for the share price and the company’s valuation as a resource should underpin the company’s market cap and make it easier to compare the Gold Chain resource to similar projects.

Another interesting interpretation based on the data received to date is that although some of the deeper holes did not intersect significant mineralization, the widespread presence of anomalous gold values and ‘upper level’ textures and alteration seems to suggest the potential to have stacked horizons of gold deposition, which indicates the deposit may remain open at depth.

Disclosure: The author has a long position in West Point Gold. West Point is a sponsor of the website. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.

Tocvan Ventures (TOC.C) announced a significant near-surface discovery after hole JES-26-155 returned 215 meters at an average grade of 0.6 g/t gold, starting at a depth of less than 40 meters down-hole. The location of the hole is less than 2 kilometers from the planned pilot production facility and in the close vicinity of other infrastructure.

The entire 215 meter interval can be divided up into a zone of 87 meters at 0.64 g/t gold followed by an additional zone of 70 meters at 0.86 g/t gold further down hole. Both zones are separated by a layer of approximately 50 meters of anomalous mineralization. And as the table below shows, there are several higher grade intervals within the upper layer of 87 meters. 1.5 meters of 9.28 g/t gold and an additional 1.5 meters containing 16 g/t gold are quite remarkable, but filtering these two intervals out of the 86.9 meter interval results in a residual value of just 0.21g/t gold, so the higher grade intervals are really ‘carrying’ the wider interval. And that’s fine, as the cutoff grade of this type of open pit oxide-hosted gold deposit tends to have a cutoff grade well below that number. And as mining efficiency and continuity are key, a low-grade heap leach operation like Pilar will per definition be a larger earthmoving exercise once it is in full operation. And continuity definitely is a key element.

In any case, drilling at the El Mezquite trend confirms the prospectivity of the greater Gran Pilar project. Drilling is still ongoing and the assay results from an additional 5,500 meters are still pending.

Disclosure: The author has a long position in Tocvan Ventures. Tocvan is a sponsor of the website. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.

Aztec Minerals (AZT.V) has released the assay results from an additional nine holes that were completed at its Tombstone gold-silver project in Arizona. Two of those holes were drilled in the North Extension area with one hole returning 13.7 meters of 1.5 g/t gold and 23.6 g/t silver (for a 1.93 g/t gold-equivalent), but hole TR26-39 drew more attention thanks to its 88.4 meter thick mineralized interval, starting at just under 11 meters down-hole. The average grade over the entire 88 meters was 1.42 g/t gold and 14.6 g/t silver for a 1.69 g/t AuEq grade, including higher-grade intervals like 6.1 meters of 12.23 g/t gold and 56.3 g/t silver.

Needless to say these first two holes from the Northern Extension are sparking more interest in the project as the location of these holes indicates it confirms the extension and continuity of the Contention Pit mineralization towards the north. Assay results from 11 more holes at the Northern Extension are still pending, and it will be very interesting to see if the company can replicate the recently reported thick layer of mineralization further towards the north.

Aztec Minerals is still planning to complete a maiden resource calculation and extending the mineralization further north should definitely help to increase the tonnage. This will hopefully put the past-producing Tombstone project back on the map again.

Disclosure: The author has a long position in Aztec Minerals. Aztec is a sponsor of the website. This post is for educational purposes only; be mindful investing in junior mining stocks is risky and you may lose your entire investment if things go wrong. Please read the disclaimer.