Summary of "Why Isn't This 29M Oz Gold Deposit Being Mined Yet? | Tudor Gold CEO Interview"
Company & Project Overview (Tudor Gold / Treaty Creek)
- Company focus: Move the Treaty Creek / Goldstorm deposit to production, with the possibility of acquisition or partial partnership later.
- Ownership structure / key overhangs:
- Tudor Gold holds ~80% of Treaty Creek.
- Teton Resources holds ~20%.
- Tudor also faces a royalty/NSR (<1%) on key claims, reportedly held by Teton Resources (not Tudor insiders).
- Project scope: ~180 km property area in BC’s Golden Triangle.
- Resource highlights (Goldstorm deposit):
- Indicated: 22.6M oz gold (~1 g/t)
- Inferred: ~5M oz gold (additional)
- Copper: ~3 billion lb at ~0.2% Cu
- Silver: ~128M oz silver
- Combined indicated + inferred: ~28.9M oz gold (noted as a practical total; the speaker cautions against “combining” categories too literally).
- Strategic location context:
- Nearby major assets:
- Newmont Bruce Jack (SE)
- Seabridge KSM (SW)
- Seabridge KSM dispute: centers on a planned ~22 km tunnel that could pass through Tudor’s deposit and potentially sterilize ~5M oz.
- Nearby major assets:
Strategy & Execution Playbook (What Tudor Says It Will Do)
Build-first approach (not “wait for M&A”)
- Goal: “Drive the project forward to production.”
- M&A / takeover: acceptable only if price works; otherwise Tudor intends to build itself.
Mining concept / scale target
- Mining concept: underground “long hole stope” style approach.
- Throughput target: ~8,000–10,000 tons/day
- Gold production target: ~250k–300k oz gold/year
- Speaker preference: 250k–300k, targeting “tier-one scale.”
- Mine life framing: 20+ years at that output range.
CAPEX guidance (benchmarking vs Bruce Jack)
- Bruce Jack example: ~US$841M for a ~4,000 t/day underground operation.
- Tudor intent: target Goldstorm capex around US$1B–1.5B for a “bigger operation,” with confidence in financing feasibility based on prior experience.
Frameworks / Processes Mentioned (Business Terms)
PA gating decision process
- Use the PDA / “PA” (Preliminary Assessment) as a go/no-go economic gate:
- Start with a higher-grade cutoff for faster capex payback.
- Then progressively lower cutoff after cash payback to “clean up debt” and improve economics.
- If PA economics don’t work under plausible gold prices, Tudor would adjust the plan / alternative scenario.
Negotiation-first approach (with timeline pressure)
- Prefer negotiation over “court,” because courts:
- create long uncertainty
- reduce control over outcomes.
Drill program logic (phased discovery → resource development)
- Don’t “hammer” Goldstorm immediately.
- Instead:
- Drill around Goldstorm to identify/advance other zones on the same structural trend.
- Use underground transition later to reduce drilling costs and support more year-round drilling feasibility.
Financing packaging process
- Build a “construction financing levers” playbook:
- Equity vs debt vs offtake vs royalty/stream
- Royalties are disliked, but may be considered selectively depending on market conditions.
Key Business Metrics / KPIs / Targets (Execution-Oriented)
Production & life-of-mine
- Underground rate: 8k–10k tons/day
- Gold output: 250k–300k oz/year
- Mine life: 20+ years
Grades & economic cutoff targets (explicit PA-style KPIs)
- NSR cutoffs (valuation thresholds):
- $125 NSR cutoff → ~8.4M oz averaging ~2.5 g/t (speaker notes it’s “from memory” and not to over-literalize)
- $175 NSR cutoff → ~5.4M oz averaging ~2.8–2.9 g/t
- Mining cutoff strategy:
- Start mining north of ~3 g/t
- Drop cutoff later after capex is repaid
- Speaker compares to Hemlo operating-style cutoffs described as potentially sub-1.5 g/t-type while profitable (also described from memory).
- SC1 success criterion (depth ~600–900m):
- North of ~2.5–3 g/t = “success” (depends on gold price).
Permitting / engineering timelines (process KPIs)
- Ramp / portal permit:
- Applied Aug (previous year)
- Resubmitted before Christmas
- Waiting for response
- Speaker expectation: not optimistic about starting portal construction immediately
- Best case could be “this summer”
- More likely: focus on getting permit this year, mine next spring
- PDA/PA timing: expected “this summer” (with some later contradiction, but still referenced as “this summer”)
- Idealized overall timeline (modeled from Bruce Jack):
- ~7 years discovery → production (Bruce Jack example)
- Tudor expectation (idealized framing): ~3 years feasibility + ~3–4 years permitting, then production ~5–6 years from now, depending on alignment.
Cash / funding runway
- Claims they have cash for:
- PA
- drilling program
- possibly portal if permit timing comes quickly
- Mentions ~15M flow-through from prior financing intended for drilling “this summer.”
Concrete Examples & Case Studies Used
Predium / Silver Standard track record
- Claims about scaling and execution:
- Silver Standard scaled from ~$50M market cap to $2B+
- Silver resources grew from 0 to 2B+ oz
- Mine from discovery (Aug 2009) to production (June 2017) in <8 years
Bruce Jack as the primary benchmark
Used to justify feasibility of:
- underground mining approach
- permitting speed (“reasonably quickly”)
- water/tailings approach
Bruce Jack permitting:
- Provincial approval: March ’15
- Federal approval: early Aug ’15 (speaker described language/translation delay)
Water/tailings:
- Claims Bruce Jack used Bruce Jack Lake as part of water management.
- Speaker states they achieved drinking-water quality outputs.
- Notes strict Canadian requirements and involvement of Alaskan environmental/public bodies due to water flow.
Key Risks & Blockers (and How Tudor Proposes to Manage Them)
-
Major risk: Seabridge KSM tunnel legal conflict
- Government (Major Mines Office) stance: no decision on full 22 km tunnel permitting until:
- Seabridge and Tudor reach an agreement, or
- court resolves who can block/permit the tunnel through the deposit
- Tudor views this as a pressure point to force “win-win” negotiations.
- Speaker estimate: ~5M oz could be impacted.
- Government (Major Mines Office) stance: no decision on full 22 km tunnel permitting until:
-
Major risk: fragmented ownership
- Split ownership between Tudor (80%) and Teton (20%) can complicate deals and market valuation.
-
Financing / dilution risk
- As a pre-revenue company, continued public-market funding may cause dilution.
- Tudor claims enough cash for 2026-ish work, but interviewer frames questions around whether it’s sufficient.
-
Permitting uncertainty
- Ramp permit timing subject to government review cycles; speaker cautious about starting in Sept due to snow.
Actionable Recommendations / Negotiation Options Discussed
Seabridge tunnel resolution options
- Relocate the tunnel: starting proposal (from Oct 2017) to move tunnels ~1 km north of Goldstorm.
- Value-based compensation: idea of payment/royalty for sterilized ounces (speaker mentions “transit royalty” as brainstorming).
- Win-win framing: negotiate schedule/cost impacts, acknowledging tunnel length is critical path for Seabridge construction and production timing.
- Potential operational integration JV (limited):
- Seabridge could accept a JV partner, but speaker suggests Tudor’s deposit may not allow full access to tunnel infrastructure “at heart.”
Teton 20% acquisition plan
- Objective: buy remaining 20% from Teton this year.
- Financing preference: use equity (not cash-heavy), on the basis that:
- Teton shareholders should participate in upside from assembling the project to improve market cap and negotiations.
Financing construction playbook
-
Debt possible if paired with offtake (example cited: Bruce Jack—private equity + stream + buyback right).
-
Royalties/streams: Tudor dislikes them but may use tactically depending on market conditions.
- Preference for mechanisms enabling buyback after fast startup cash flow.
Marketing / Investor Relations Posture
- Marketing described as secondary to execution deliverables.
- Events planned:
- Beaver Creek: September
- Swiss Mining: November
- Potential additional outreach in spring tied to PA progress + legal resolution updates.
Key Timelines Mentioned (Consolidated)
- This summer: expect PA/PDA
- This year (objectives):
- Resolve Teton 20% acquisition (described as a second “deal with Tutin” objective)
- Reach resolution with Seabridge on land/tunnel dispute
- Advance key permitting pathway for ramp/portal (or at least move it forward)
- Drilling program:
- Mobilize mid-May (two rigs)
- ~10,000 m planned + 5,000 m+ reserve
- Portal/ramp permitting & start:
- Speaker not optimistic about starting immediately “this summer”
- More likely aim: next spring
Presenters / Sources (as Mentioned)
-
Presenter / interviewee: Joe (Tudor Gold CEO) (full name not clearly stated in the provided subtitles)
-
Host / interviewer: Resource Talks host (Joe at Resource Talks)
- Project/market references: Seabridge, KSM, Newmont (Bruce Jack)
- Other referenced entities: Teton Resources, Treaty Creek / Goldstorm, Major Mines Office
- Platform/sponsor mentioned: Terra Hutton; resource talks.com; setterplus.ca
Category
Business
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