The KE Report

Brian Leni, Founder and Editor of Junior Stock Review, joins us to share his investment thesis on Hot Chili (ASX:HCH, TSX.V:HCH, OTCQX:HHLKF), a copper-gold developer in Chile with a unique value proposition.
 
While the Costa Fuego project alone justifies a higher valuation, it’s Hot Chili’s water rights that could be the game-changer according to Brian. Brian also discusses why he believes investors are overlooking Hot Chili’s optionality, and what catalysts might force the market to take notice.
 
In this interview, we cover:
The scale and economics of the Costa Fuego project (PFS outlines ~$1.2B NPV at 8%)
Why the company’s rare maritime water concession may be the most valuable asset - especially for nearby major copper assets.
The Huasco Water business, its potential IRR, and how future offtake deals could re-rate the company
Exploration upside at the La Verde Porphyry Target, where near-surface higher-grade mineralization could enhance project economics
Market valuation disconnect, share price weakness, and strategic positioning in the Atacama region of Chile
Click here to visit the Hot Chili website, and please send us your thoughts and any questions you have on the company.
 
Click here to visit the Junior Stock Review website to keep up to date on what Brian is investing in. 
 

Jason Jessup, CEO and Director of Magna Mining (TSX.V: NICU) (OTCQB: MGMNF), joins me for an operations and exploration update at the producing McCreedy West copper mine in Sudbury, Canada.  We also review the ongoing exploration and development work at the Levack Mine, working towards and updated resource estimate in Q3 and mine restart plan by year-end.  There are currently 5 drill rigs turning between the 2 properties.
 
We kick off the conversation with a review of how production and development has been going over the last 2 months at their McCreedy West copper mine, since the company took over the operations.  We also highlight some of the recent high-grade copper – nickel – PGM assays returned from drilling at McCreedy West, announced on April 30th, that focused on the 700 Footwall Cu-PGE zone resource expansion and definition in support of mid-term production planning, and targeted areas near historical mining.
 
Highlights from the new assay results McCreedy West Mine include:
 
FNX33354: 6.8% Cu, 0.2% Ni, 7.1 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 11.1 metres (m), including 19.5% Cu, 0.2% Ni, 16.0 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 2.9 m
FNX33370: 3.9% Cu, 0.9% Ni, 9.4 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 9.1 m And 3.5% Cu, 0.5% Ni, 14.6 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 25.6 m, including 5.9% Cu, 0.7% Ni, 21.4 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 10.2 m
 
Next we transitioned over to all the exploration focus at the past-producing Levack mine. Jason outlines the Company strategy to put out a Mine Restart Plan later this year, that will detail the development pathway for bringing the Levack Mine back into production in 2026. 
 
 Highlights from the new assay results Levack Mine include:
 
MLV-25-01-W1: 5 % Cu, 1.0% Ni, 8.4 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 1.9 metres
MLV-25-04: 0 % Cu, 1.2% Ni, 6.7 g/t Pt + Pd + Au over 2.0 metres
 
 
If you have questions for Jason regarding Magna Mining, then please email me at Shad@kereport.com.
 
In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Magna Mining at the time of this recording.
 
Click here to follow along with the news at Magna Mining

In this episode I introduce a new energy story to the show: Jericho Energy Ventures (TSX.V:JEV - OTC:JROOF - FRA:JLM).
 
I’m joined by Brian Williamson, CEO of JEV, for a comprehensive look at the company’s evolution from conventional energy operations to next-generation infrastructure.
 
Key Themes Discussed:
Oil & Gas Foundations: Jericho’s portfolio includes low-decline, cash-flowing assets in central Oklahoma, developed with a long-term focus on existing infrastructure and equity partnerships.
New Growth Path – Modular Data Centers: Leveraging stranded natural gas and fiber-optic proximity to power modular data centers—offering lower-cost, scalable alternatives to hyperscale builds. This initiative is positioned to address AI-driven demand and grid constraints.
Digital Real Estate Model: Jericho aims to own and operate modular units, while tenants customize the compute side. Future plans include partnerships with nearby gas producers to expand this model across underutilized fields.
Hydrogen Technologies: A secondary business line focused on industrial decarbonization, with near-term deployments including a boiler retrofit at a major university and a high-temperature alkaline electrolyzer solution through its Aetna subsidiary.
Investment Outlook: With a current ~$55M market cap (CAD), Jericho is aiming to re-rate from a traditional microcap energy play to a tech-enabled infrastructure story, potentially attracting new investors and valuation multiples.
 
More questions for Brian. Please email me (Fleck@kereport.com) or comment below. 
 
Click here to visit the Jericho Energy Ventures website to learn more about the company.

Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT, MFTA, Editor of The Daily Gold, joins us to for a wide-ranging discussion on the technical outlook in gold and silver, the ongoing divergence between the rally in the gold versus the US general equity markets and 60/40 portfolio, gold vs CPI, GDX versus US equities, and the value still to be found in precious metals equities for the longer-term, after this pullback is completed. 
 
Key topics covered include:
 
Why technically we are seeing more of a bear flag developing in this recent gold pullback, versus a bull flag, and what may happen longer term after this corrective move.
 
Silver and gold stocks didn’t lead this move higher in the sector, but after this consolidation period, they will likely outperform the moves higher in gold on the next leg of this bull market.
 
What we could see a true golden age in both the gold and silver stocks over the next 18 months.
 
We’re in a market where you aren’t going to see big 20-30% corrections in the quality PM stocks, and why pullbacks of 15-17% should be bought.
 
The gold producer margins are so much higher that they simply won’t correct too much while they are generating such significant revenues and cash flows.  Look for the quality gold producers generating profits and value.
 
Pullbacks will be more shallow because there is a large pool of capital on the sidelines waiting to get into position in the precious metals complex on any weakness, as more money rotates out of general equities.
 
There are some compelling opportunities in gold developers that will build a mine and go into production in the next 3 years.  You get some of the best upside when a company goes from a construction decision into production.
 
There are also development projects with flaws that will not get built or will not be able to raise capital. These developers will become orphaned, and value traps, so investors need to be selective.
 
Jordan believes there is huge value in silver stocks right, maybe even more than in gold stocks, but he has specific thresholds he wants to see for the size of resources, average grade profile, and indications that it will become a mine.
 
When silver gets back above $35 and breaks out above $37, then money will pour into the silver stocks, starting to discount in advance the move to $50 in silver.
 
 
Click here to visit Jordan’s site – The Daily Gold

Roger Rosmus, Founder, CEO, & Director of Goliath Resources (TSX.V: GOT) (OTCQB: GOTRF) and Randall Karcher PHD student at the Colorado School of Mines, both join me to review the recent detailed geological study that was recently completed by the Colorado School of Mines, utilizing a compilation of drill holes and geological data. Conclusions of the geological study confirm a new interpretation of the ore forming process of high-grade gold mineralization at Surebet and confirms common causative Reduced Intrusion Related Gold (RIRG) source with tremendous untapped discovery potential at the Golddigger Project in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia. 
 
Randall outlines the two stages of gold mineralization clearly associated with a RIRG system as well as the areas where there is an overlap in mineralization and alteration ages for shear hosted veins and dykes, and paragenetic relationships of minerals consistent with alteration occurring from a cooling hydrothermal system.  These strongly indicate a common RIRG feeder source at Surebet, and this new understanding will considering in the coming 2025 drill program.
 
Next we got into the details of the initiative last year to relog many drill core intercepts showing these RIRG dyke mineralization, from prior year’s exploration programs in 2021-2023. Results confirmed multiple intercepts of an intrusion related feeder dyke system that remains open, strongly indicating close proximity to a large gold-rich intrusive source.  This reduced intrusion mineralization will continue to be a focus of follow-up relogging and new drill targets for this year’s program, with the plans to get more prioritized core sent back off to the assay labs in May, once the team gets mobilized at camp.
 
Roger shares the financial health of the Company treasury and that warrants have been getting exercised bringing in more funds, and other warrants that are in the money will likely also get exercised over the course of the year.   This allows the team to hit the ground running funded to get this year’s exploration program underway once the snows have melted.
 
 
If you have any questions for Roger about Goliath Resources, then please email me at Shad@kereport.com and then we’ll get those answered or covered in a future interviews.
 
In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Goliath Resources at the time of this recording.
 
Click here to follow the latest news from Goliath Resources

Justin Reid, President and CEO of Troilus Gold Corp. (TSX: TLG) (OTCQX: CHXMF), joins me for a comprehensive update on a key project financing milestone building up the capital stack, additions to personnel with ongoing derisking initiatives, detailed engineering underway, permitting progress, political tailwinds, and more drilling success at the Gold-Copper Troilus Project located in northcentral Quebec, Canada.
 
Troilus announced on March 13th, that they have secured a US$700MM ( CDN$1BB) project financing syndicate underwritten by Societe Generale ( Paris), KfW Ipex-bank ( Frankfurt) and Export Development Canada.  These lead arrangers will act as the agent via direct lending to the ECA’s for which we have an LOI ( Finnvera, EKN, Euler Hermes and EIFO).”
 
We review the expanded 80-person Troilus team at present working full steam ahead, including the addition of 4 new members of the management team, and complimented by 50 employees of a 3rd-party contractor that are working on the detailed engineering studies.  Justin paints the picture of how significant the Troilus Project will be for jobs in Quebec, with ~1400 jobs over the 2-year construction process, and then 680 jobs over the 22-year life of mine. 
 
This leads into a discussion on the recent bipartisan consensus on the need to streamline permitting and enable the timely advancement of strategic projects that support Canada’s energy transition, economic growth, and global competitiveness. Notably, the Copper-Gold Troilus Project was recently identified as one of ten key natural resource developments of interest in a CPC proposal to simplify and accelerate permitting and development. This recognition follows similar indications of support for a more efficient regulatory framework from the LPC who has publicly endorsed a “one project, one review” permitting system.
 
Wrapping up we touched up on the importance of the recent high-grade infill drill results that were just released from the SouthWest Zone, in terms of gaining higher confidence ounces in the resource and for the higher-grade near-surface intercepts having a positive impact on the early years in the mining sequence.
 
Southwest Drill Intercept Highlights:
 
Hole SW-25-688 intersected 2.44 g/t gold equivalent (“AuEq”) (2.03 g/t Au, 2.55 g/t Ag, 0.23 % Cu) over 56 meters (m), including 3.28 g/t AuEq (2.74 g/t Au, 3.38 g/t Ag, 0.29 % Cu) over 34 m. This is the best drill intercept in the history of the Southwest in terms of linear grade.
 
Hole SW-25-679 intersected 1.22 g/t AuEq (1.13 g/t Au, 0.81 g/t Ag, 0.04 % Cu) over 51 m including 15.39 g/t AuEq (15.25 g/t Au, 0.60 g/t Ag, 0.08 % Cu) over 1 m, and 8.18 g/t AuEq (7.33 g/t Au, 8.50 g/t Ag, 0.44 % Cu) over 1 m starting at 9 metres downhole.
 
 
If you have any questions for Justin regarding Troilus Gold, then please email them over to me at Shad@kereport.com.
 
In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Troilus Gold at the time of this recording, and may choose to buy or sell shares at any time.
 
Click here to follow along with the latest news from Troilus Gold

In this KE Report Daily Editorial, I welcome back Darrell Fletcher, Managing Director of Commodities at Bannockburn Capital Markets, for an in-depth discussion on the broad selloff across commodity markets and what’s driving the recent shift in sentiment.
 
Key Theme: Uncertainty is dominating commodity markets and driving capital outflows, even in the face of a weaker U.S. dollar.
 
Discussion Highlights:
Commodities under pressure: Despite a weaker USD, commodity indexes are down sharply - S&P GSCI down ~7%, LMEX metals down ~3-4%, and energy down ~15% over the past month.
Gold stands out: Amid the selloff, gold has held up well, up ~26% YTD, with growing ETF inflows, particularly from Western investors.
Open interest and liquidity: Major declines in open interest across crude oil (-22%), copper (-42%), and natural gas (-40%) point to reduced market conviction and tightening liquidity.
Energy sector health check: Fletcher sees crude in a bearish pattern, while natural gas appears more constructive with disciplined production and balanced inventories.
Copper’s volatility: While short-term price action is volatile, the long-term forward curve remains strong, signaling confidence in future demand despite short-term macro drag.
Darrell ties all these moves together with fund flows, futures positioning, and global macro signals, including the impact of falling factory activity in China and declining U.S. data. This episode offers a clear snapshot of how traders are navigating one of the most uncertain environments in recent years.
 
Click here to learn more about Bannockburn Capital Markets. 

Francois Motte, CFO of Aclara Resources (TSX: ARA), joins me to provide an update on the company’ work plans in Brazil, Chile and the US. 
 
Aclara is advancing its Carina Module in Brazil and Penco Module in Chile, while also moving forward with a U.S. based rare earth separation facility. This is all during a critical shift in global trade dynamics and rare earth supply chains.
 
Francois also discusses how recent U.S.-China trade tensions and new tariffs are accelerating opportunities for Aclara to become a major non-Chinese rare earths supplier.
 
Key Topics Covered:
Brazil Progress: Strategic investors invested $25M into Aclara, in February, to help fund 2025 work; pilot plant for heavy rare earths inaugurated with strong government and community support; roadmap toward EIA approval, pre-feasibility (Q3 2025), feasibility (Q1 2026), and construction.
Chile Progress: Penco Module advancing through permitting with final EIA expected by year-end; feasibility study resuming in May, investment decision anticipated by mid-2026.
U.S. Separation Strategy: Building a pilot plant in partnership with Virginia Tech; aligning with U.S. government support for critical minerals; targeting production of separated rare earth oxides to supply U.S. and allied markets.
Capital Position: ~$50M in cash; fully funded for 2025 milestones in Chile and Brazil; strategic focus on securing low-cost capital and offtake agreements for 2026 construction.
 
Please email me any follow up questions you have for Francois. My email address is Fleck@kereport.com. 
 
Click here to visit the Aclara website to learn more about the Company.
 

I’m joined by Garrett Ainsworth, President and CEO of District Metals (TSX.V:DMX - OTCQB:DMXCF - Nasdaq First North: DMXSE SDB), to break down the newly announced resource estimate at the Viken Deposit in Sweden. With 1.5 billion pounds of U₃O₈ at 161 ppm, Viken now ranks as the second-largest uranium deposit in the world.
Key topics covered:
Major upgrade from the 2014 historical estimate with 44% growth in Inferred and 900%+ in Indicated categories.
Garrett explains how the company advanced the resource without drilling, leveraging historical data.
Comparison to other global uranium projects, including Olympic Dam and legacy M&A deals in Southern Africa.
Strategic value of the deposit’s polymetallic makeup, which includes vanadium, nickel, molybdenum, copper, zinc, and potentially rare earth elements.
Plans for upcoming field work, geophysics, and preparation for a PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment) pending Sweden’s uranium moratorium vote in September.
Why this resource could have far-reaching strategic and permitting benefits for Sweden and the EU.
 
If you have any follow up questions for Garrett please email me at Fleck@kereport.com. 
 
Click here to visit the District Metals website to learn more about the Company.

Gwen Preston, VP of Communication at West Red Lake Gold Mines (TSX.V:WRLG – OTCQB:WRLGF), joins us to review the achievements to date, including the completion of the Connection Drift and the final processing of the Bulk Sample this week at the Madsen Mine and Mill, in the Red Lake district of Ontario, Canada.
 
We start off reviewing that the test mining bulk sample has finished running through the mill this week, as the initial first step in the process of restarting production at the Madsen mine and processing center. The mill was started up on Monday March 10th after 28 months of maintained dry shutdown and finished this week.  The Company will now review the reconciliation of what the production grade and recovery assumptions were, versus what the recovered gold and revenues end up being and be releasing a report to the market next week.
 
Next we got into all the other mine restart activities well underway with the 185 employees and over 50 contractors busy with so many different initiatives and the camp being built and now housing workers. In addition to further underground definition drilling, another big milestone was the recent completion of the  underground connection drift which opens up an “underground highway” for the mining vehicles to easily access both portals without having to drive up on surface.
 
Gwen wraps us up with more information about how the company will use the funds from gold sold during this bulk sample to further ramp up the amount of ore that will be fed into the Madsen Mill starting later in Q2 and through the second half of the year, as operations ramp up to full commercial production later this year and moving into next year.
 
 
If you have any follow up questions for the team over at West Red Lake Gold please email us at Fleck@kereport.com  or  Shad@kereport.com.
 
In full disclosure, Shad is shareholder of West Red Lake Gold Mines at the time of this recording.
 
Click here to follow the latest news from West Red Lake Gold