Interview with Barry O'Shea, CEO of Highland Copper

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/highland-copper-tsxv-hi-fully-permitted-us-copper-developer-targets-2026-construction-decision-7322

Recording date: 23rd April 2026

Highland Copper Company is advancing its Copperwood project in Michigan's Upper Peninsula toward a construction decision in the second half of 2026, with copper production targeted for 2029. The company has committed significant capital to engineering work, partnering with DRA Global and other established firms to reach 40% engineering completion by Q4 2026. CEO Barry O'Shea emphasized that the company has restructured very well to make sure full funds are through to a final investment decision.

The financing strategy centers on a Letter of Intent from EXIM representing 60-70% of the $425 million capital requirement. While currently non-binding, management is actively working to convert this into a binding debt facility, supported by White House recognition of Copperwood as strategically important to US critical mineral production. The debt capacity has expanded from an estimated $250 million at $4 per pound copper to potentially $300-325 million at current price levels.

Highland recently sold its remaining one-third stake in the White Pine project for $30 million, providing immediate liquidity while allowing exclusive focus on Copperwood. The decision reflects the strategic advantages of Copperwood's $425 million capex and fully-permitted status compared to White Pine's $1+ billion requirement and unsubmitted permits.

The shift in long-term copper price consensus has fundamentally transformed Copperwood's economics. The project's NPV triples from $170 million at $4 per pound to $507 million at $5 per pound, with current spot prices near $6 delivering an $850 million valuation. Management strengthened its execution team by hiring Trace Arlaud as Project Director, bringing credentials from Rio Tinto's Resolution Copper project, and Peter Hemstead as interim CFO, a founding executive at Capstone Copper.

Highland trades at approximately $110 million market capitalization, supported by strong institutional shareholders including Orion Mines Finance (28%) and Condire (20%), positioning for a potential rerating as the EXIM commitment converts to binding debt.

View Highland Copper's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/highland-copper

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Recording date: 21st April 2026

Agnico Eagle has completed a landmark $4 billion Canadian consolidation of Finland's Ikkari gold project through three simultaneous acquisitions, establishing new valuation benchmarks that signal a fundamental reset in mining sector M&A activity.

The transaction structure involved acquiring Rupert Resources for $2.9 billion Canadian, purchasing B2Gold's 70% interest in the Fingold joint venture for $325 million US, and buying Aurion Resources for $481 million. The complexity arose from overlapping land positions, with Ikkari's development requiring access to joint venture ground and Aurion-controlled areas for optimal infrastructure placement.

For Olive Resource Capital, the Aurion acquisition delivered approximately 300% returns from a 68-cent cost basis established in January 2022. The $2.60 per share all-cash offer represented 60-70% premiums to recent trading levels and valued the combined resource base at roughly $500 US per ounce—double historical M&A ranges of $100-200/oz, though maintaining the traditional relationship of approximately 10% of gold prices.

Samuel Pelaez and Derek Macpherson, leading Olive Resource Capital, emphasized that the transaction removes a "unicorn" asset from an increasingly scarce market. The Ikkari project's 4.2 million ounce high-grade resource can support 200,000-250,000 ounces annually at potentially first-quartile cash costs—exactly what major producers seek but rarely find available.

The managers identified fewer than five tier-one development-stage assets remaining as potential near-term acquisition targets, noting that projects must deliver minimum 250,000 ounces annually to attract serious buyer interest. This scarcity dynamic intensifies competitive pressure as producers with balance sheet capacity—including Kinross, Barrick Gold, and SSR Mining—seek growth opportunities.

Rather than scrambling to redeploy Aurion proceeds, Olive Resource Capital had spent two years building replacement positions in companies including Goldsky Resources (Sweden), Prospector Metals (Yukon), and Omai. The valuation reset suggests projects trading at historical enterprise values may be materially undervalued as $400-500/oz becomes the new normal for quality development assets.

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Interview with Mark Mukhija, Director & CEO of Eagle Nuclear Energy

Recording date: 22nd April 2026

Eagle Nuclear Energy (NASDAQ:NUCL) is developing the Aurora Uranium project in southeastern Oregon, which the company describes as the largest minable measured and indicated uranium deposit in the United States. The resource stands at 32.75 million pounds indicated and approximately five million pounds inferred, established through more than 600 historical drill holes and formalised under both a JORC report and a subsequent SK-1300 technical report completed by Eagle.

The strategic context is unambiguous. The United States operates 94 nuclear reactors consuming approximately 50 million pounds of uranium annually, yet domestic production reached only two million pounds in 2025. That gap of nearly 48 million pounds is filled by imports, primarily from Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia. The US Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act and a series of 2025 executive orders have placed domestic uranium supply at the centre of American energy policy, creating a policy environment that did not exist for uranium developers even three years ago.

Eagle is fully funded to execute its near-term programme. With approximately $30 million in cash, the company prepares $4.7 million drill programme commencing by summer 2026 eyeing 47 holes, 27,000 feet, and a subsequent pre-feasibility study targeted for completion by end of 2027, without requiring additional capital raises. The drill programme is designed to deliver metallurgical data, hydrogeological information, rock mechanics results, and resource expansion potential, with several historical holes having terminated in mineralisation suggesting upside at depth.

The deposit itself presents a technically straightforward profile. Mineralisation is shallow, flat, and tabular, hosted in altered clays and volcanic tuffs within the McDermott Caldera. The high-grade zone at 400–500 ppm uranium sits above the lower-grade halo at a 100 ppm cut-off, which is favourable for early-stage economics and payback modelling. Management's internal estimates, preliminary and subject to PFS confirmation, indicate potential production of one to four million pounds per year over a 14-year mine life.

The company's intention is to process uranium independently, with a potential processing plant on private land in Nevada separate from the Oregon mine site. Eagle has held preliminary discussions with the Department of Energy and other federal agencies, and while no formal support mechanisms have been confirmed, management believes federal engagement will increase as the supply deficit widens.

Two secondary value drivers sit alongside the core uranium story. The deposit's overburden contains lithium at grades above 1,200 ppm though no formal resource has been defined. Eagle also holds early-stage proprietary SMR technology, currently in the concept validation phase, with a nuclear regulatory licensing specialist on staff to guide the R&D process.

For investors, the near-term catalysts are clear: drill results from summer 2026, PFS initiation by year-end, and any developments in federal uranium support mechanisms. The risk profile is that of an early-stage developer with no formal economics yet, permitting in early stages, and production still years away. The asset, however, is genuinely rare in the US context, and the macro backdrop for domestic uranium supply has seldom been more compelling.

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