The KE Report

In this KE Report company update, I’m joined by Mike Spreadborough, Executive Co-Chairman, and Kas De Luca, General Manager of Exploration at Novo Resources (TSXV: NVO - OTCQX: NSRPF), to unpack the June 19th news release focused on exploration in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
 
Key themes discussed:
Early-stage aircore drilling at the Balla Balla Project: Kas outlines the targeting strategy across a 15km strike. Although wide-spaced, the drilling revealed low-level gold mineralization and a strong multi-element geochemical signature pointing to a fertile system over 5km of strike.
Emerging gold-antimony prospects: The Sherlock Crossing area has returned high-grade surface samples (up to 146 g/t gold and 3% antimony), with a 1.5km soil anomaly now defined and ready for drilling. The Southeast Wyloo prospect is back on the radar with strong historical results, and fieldwork will resume shortly.
Egina JV with Northern Star Resources: Following the takeover of De Grey Mining, Northern Star is reviewing the project data. With $18M in spending remaining to earn 50%, Mike explains the ongoing collaboration and outlook for future drilling.
Strategic project pipeline: Mike and Kas provide insight into Novo’s broader exploration strategy, balancing advanced targets in New South Wales (Tibooburra and John Bull) with greenfield discoveries in Pilbara. They also remain open to potential JVs or asset sales where appropriate.
Expect further news on follow-up drilling and new target prioritization by the end of Q3.
 
Click here to visit the Novo Resources website to learn more about all the projects and exploration programs. 
 
📩 Send your questions for the Novo team to be addressed in future updates! Email me at Fleck@kereport.com.

In this KE Report company introduction, I welcome Matt Roma, CEO of Golden Cross Resources (TSX.V:AUX - OTC:ZCRMD). The company is advancing the Reedy Creek Gold Project in Victoria, Australia, strategically located next to Southern Cross Gold’s world-class Sunday Creek discovery.
 
Key topics covered in this interview include:
Reedy Creek Project Overview: Golden Cross acquired the property in late 2023 from Great Pacific Gold, with strong geological similarities to the nearby Sunday Creek and Fosterville systems.
Historical and Current Exploration: Highlights from historic drilling include intervals such as 2m @ 320 g/t Au. Golden Cross is currently re-assaying past core to test for halo mineralization and has commenced a fully-funded 6,000m drill program.
“Ladder Theory” and Geologic Upside: Inspired by Southern Cross’s success, Golden Cross is applying the same ladder-style targeting to define continuous zones of high- and low-grade mineralization over multiple veins.
Capital and Corporate Structure: Recently announced a $3M financing, on top of a $4.7M raise in April, with strong insider participation. Insiders, institutions, and Great Pacific Gold hold a significant portion of the ~60M share float.
Leadership Team: CEO Matt Roma brings experience as former CFO of Snowline Gold and Gladiator Metals. Board members include sector veterans with M&A success at Northern Empire, Underworld, and Galaxy Resources.
Catalysts Ahead:
Re-assay results expected shortly
Initial drill results from the current program by year-end
Visit the company’s website to learn more: https://goldencrossresources.com/
Send me your questions for Matt, and we’ll follow up in a future interview - Fleck@kereport.com

On this Weekend’s Show Rick Bensignor breaks down the Fed’s gridlock, bond market uncertainty, and why industrials are quietly outperforming. Then Dan Steffens dives into energy market disruptions - from Middle East conflict to LNG trends - and outlines why Canadian natural gas producers may be the most overlooked contrarian trade of the summer.
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Segment 1 & 2 - Rick Bensignor, President of Bensignor Investment Strategies, shared his outlook on markets, emphasizing that the Fed remains on hold with no clear urgency to cut rates amid geopolitical risks and sticky inflation. He highlighted oil as the key market driver following its rebound due to the Iran-Israel conflict, but noted uncertainty remains with no clear trend. Rick also pointed to a stalled bond market and mixed equity sentiment, suggesting markets are rangebound with rotation into industrials and mega-cap tech, all while the risk of stagflation grows.
Click here to visit the In The Know Trader website.
 
Segment 3 & 4 - Dan Steffens, President of the Energy Prospectus Group, wraps up the show discussing how the escalating Israel-Iran conflict is fueling a $15 risk premium in oil prices, while also highlighting strong fundamentals in both oil and natural gas markets. He emphasizes that despite geopolitical uncertainty, upstream energy companies remain highly profitable with rising cash flow, and sees Canadian gas producers as a contrarian opportunity amid improving LNG demand and storage dynamics.
Click here to visit the Energy Prospectus Group website for more energy market and stock analysis.
 

Luke Norman, Co-Founder and Chairman of US Gold Corp. (NSADAQ:USAU), joins me to reintroduce the value proposition at the Company’s flagship, fully-permitted, and shovel-ready CK Gold-Copper Project in Wyoming, the upcoming catalysts, as well as the significant underappreciated value in their secondary Keystone Gold Project in Nevada.
 
We start by discussing the 1.6 million gold equivalent ounces of resources, broken down into roughly 1 million ounces of gold and 260 million pounds of copper.  They company is in the process of working  towards their Definitive Feasibility Study where they’ll demonstrate to the market improved metrics over the prior versions of their Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS).
 
We discussed though that based on the existing PFS, using just a $4.30 copper price and $2,500 gold price that the after-tax NPV of the project is $532Million with a 39.4% IRR and a payback period of 1.63 years.  As it stands today there is a10-year mine life, projecting to produce an average of 110,000 gold equivalent ounces per annum, with an All-In Sustaining Cost of $937, an upfront capex of $277Million, and sustaining capital of $13Million per year.   Those metrics will all be getting updated in the DFS due out in Q4.
 
Additionally, Luke highlights how their granite is actually very high spec, and a saleable product with several interested parties interested in off-taking this material, so that is even more considerable value above and beyond the gold and copper resources.   One other unique feature of the project that we discuss, is that after the pit has been mined out, as part of the mine closure process, it will be turned into a large water storage facility for the surrounding area and state park, and keeps them from having to build larger dams to flood that surrounding area.
 
Next we shift over the value potential of their Keystone Gold Project  in Nevada, which is located along the same mineral trend as Nevada Gold Mine’s Cortez Complex.   This property has many similarities to this well-endowed district, with the same kind of pathfinder arsenic mineralization with the gold found in these Carlin-gold type systems, as well as the Wenban rock formations.  Luke was very constructive of their potential to unlock more value in the project.
 
Wrapping up we discussed the key members of the management team and board of directors, the financial health of the company, the tight share structure, solid analyst coverage, plan to work on the capex financing, and other key upcoming catalysts over the balance of the next several months.
 
 
If you have any follow up questions for Luke regarding US Gold Corp, then please email me at Shad@kereport.com.
 
 
Click here to follow the most recent news from US Gold Corp
 

In this KE Report daily editorial, we welcome back Marc Chandler, Managing Partner at Bannockburn Global Forex, for a timely breakdown of the latest Fed meeting, ongoing U.S. economic data deterioration, and key currency market developments.
 
Key points include: 
Federal Reserve Recap: The Fed left rates unchanged, but the dot plot revealed a sharply divided committee, ranging from no cuts to three cuts in 2025. Marc notes the underlying message: elevated uncertainty remains, despite Powell’s claim of improved clarity since April.
Economic Data Trending Lower: Marc outlines a string of disappointing economic reports - retail sales, industrial output, and housing starts - that point to a gradual weakening of the U.S. economy. He notes that data surprise models have cratered, and the Fed’s GDP forecast for 2025 was revised down to 1.4%.
Rate Cut Timing: July vs. September? Despite dovish remarks from Governor Waller, Marc views a July cut as unlikely. Most Fed officials are signaling a wait-and-see approach, with September now the key window, especially if labor market softness persists.
Is It Stagflation? While the term is gaining traction, Marc pushes back, arguing inflation remains moderate and real growth, while slowing, is still above recessionary levels. But he acknowledges the “stagflation psychology” is creeping into markets and sentiment.
Currency Market Focus: The U.S. dollar remains under pressure, despite a short-term rebound above 99 on the DXY. Marc notes positioning is crowded short and highlights the structural shift in asset allocations away from the U.S. as a longer-term drag.
Potential Shocks Ahead: Marc flags two looming risks: • Tariffs - July 9 could bring new U.S. trade actions across pharma, chips, and more. • Middle East Conflict - Oil prices have responded, but broader markets remain cautious unless the conflict escalates.
Click here to visit Marc’s site - Marc To Market.

In this KE Report company update, I'm joined by Tara Christie, President and CEO of Banyan Gold (TSX.V:BYN - OTCQB:BYAGF), and Duncan MacKay, Vice President of Exploration. Banyan is advancing its flagship AurMac Gold Project in the Yukon, where a fully funded 30,000-meter drill program is underway.
 
Key points include:
Drill Progress: Over 16,000 meters completed to date, with three rigs turning since April. Focus is on expanding and upgrading high-grade zones at the Powerline and Airstrip Deposits, which collectively host over 7 million ounces of gold.
Visible Gold Discovery: Duncan details the first-ever visible gold seen at Airstrip, intersected within a high-grade skarn zone. This opens up new geological potential and supports the broader intrusion-related gold system model.
Targeting and Modeling: Banyan has upgraded its logging and data systems, enabling real-time 3D geological modeling. This enhances drill targeting precision, especially in zones that could support a starter pit in the upcoming PEA.
Regional Exploration: The team is allocating ~10% of drilling to test regional targets outside the current resource area, including underexplored zones with strong soil and geophysical signatures.
Catalysts Ahead: Expect drill results from July through November, with a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) planned for Q4 2025.
If you have any follow up questions for Tara please email me at Fleck@kereport.com. 
Click here to visit the Banyan Gold website.

I’m joined by Simon Dyakowski, President and CEO of Aztec Minerals (TSX.V:AZT - OTCQB:AZZTF), to discuss the company’s newly launched 5,000-meter drill program at the Tombstone Gold-Silver Project in Arizona.
This is the largest single drill program ever undertaken at Tombstone, targeting both shallow oxide gold-silver mineralization and deeper CRD (carbonate replacement deposit) style polymetallic mineralization.
Key topics covered in this interview:
Drill Plan Breakdown: 3,200 meters of RC drilling (16 holes) + 1,800 meters of core drilling (3 holes)
Deeper Exploration: First tests of CRD mineralization below the Bisbee Group into Paleozoic limestones
Targeted Areas: Resource-oriented step-outs to the west and pure exploration drilling to the south and east
Discovery Potential: Following up on a 2023 bonanza-grade hit of 569 g/t AgEq over 25.9 meters
Funding Secured: $3.6M recently raised, fully funding this program without near-term dilution risk
Simon also provides insight into expected assay timelines and how this program could position Aztec for a re-rating, especially with silver prices on the rise.
For follow-up questions, contact me directly and I’ll get Simon to respond in a future update. My email address is Fleck@kereport.com.
 
Click here to visit the Aztec Minerals website. 

Justin Huhn, Founder and Publisher of the Uranium Insider, joins me for yet another very comprehensive macro update on the supply and demand fundamentals for uranium and the nuclear fuel sector, how the longer-term contracting cycle is setting up with utility companies, and what he is watching and how he is positioning in the uranium equities as we’ve started to see a bounce across the sector the last 2 months. This is a longer-format discussion building upon our prior conversations in 2024, because even more key news and developments have been announced in the nuclear and uranium sector.
 
We start off reviewing the 4 executive orders out of the Trump Administration in May that deal with the nuclear and uranium industries, and what this means for the sector and public perception.   We spend some time discussing both the tailwinds from the broader generalist interest in Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) and nuclear stocks, but also make the larger point about the attractive supply/demand fundamentals that already existed and still exist, even without AI datacenter electricity demand or even modeling in the SMRS.  The global reactor fleet is only continuing to grow,  with more new reactor builds in the East, plus mine restarts and mine extensions.  There are growing initiatives globally,  coming out of the COP29 conference for many nations to triple their nuclear power capacity by 2050.
 
Transitioning over the supply environment from the uranium mining companies, we’ve seen a flurry of news all year out of US and African producers struggling to ramp up production, noting the slower than anticipated restart of the Langer Heinrich Mine operated in Namibia by Paladin Energy (ASX: PDN) (OTCQX: PALAF). Additionally, with Kazakhstan being the largest uranium swing producer via Kazatomprom, we’ve seen guidance lowered the last couple years due to a shortfall of sulphuric acid, and increased taxes on production, with both expected to crimp output.  Then, there were even more surprises when Kazatomprom announced a big decrease in their JV production for Canada with Cameco (CCO.V) (CCJ).   
 
Next we point out that large development projects in the Athabasca Basin of Canada, like the Phoenix Project held by Denison Mines (TSX: DML) (NYSE: DNN), and in specific the Arrow Project from NexGen Energy (TSX: NXE) (NYSE: NXE), initially anticipated to start bringing on production by 2028 are also seeing timelines get pushed back to 2030 or later. There is very little new supply coming online globally, with the exception of some smaller production out of the US and Australian producers. All of this points to a much more constrained output from global uranium producers, even in face of growing demand.
 
Wrapping up, Justin weighs in on which types and what stage of uranium mining stocks have his interest, and why he remains bullish on US producers and developers, and select Canadian developers and explorers.
 
Click here to visit the Uranium Insider website.

Mark Brennan,  Founder, CEO, and Director of Cerrado Gold Inc (TSX.V: CERT) (OTCQX: CRDOF), joins me to review their Q1 2025 operations and financials at Minera Don Nicolas in Argentina, the transformative recent acquisition of Ascendant Resources and the value proposition at the Lagoa Salgada VMS Project in Portugal, along with the further value and optionality at the Mont Sorcier Iron-Vanadium project in Quebec.
 
 Q1 2025 M.D.N. Operating Highlights:
 
Q1/25 production of 11,163 Gold Equivalent Ounces (GEOs)
Full year guidance of 55,000-60,000 GEOs maintained
Adjusted EBITDA of $4.8 million for Q1, 2025 and Cash balance over US$20m
AISC of $1,932/oz; Unit costs set to decline as production increases (target AISC US$1,500-1,700/oz )
Record heap leach production of 6,897 GEO During the Quarter
Secondary crusher operational and underground development started
 
Mark and I review their Minera Don Nicolas producing gold project in Argentina, and the record heap leach gold equivalent ounce production for the quarter. We discuss the positive impact that the newly installed secondary crusher will bring to production starting at the tail-end of Q2, but then on a move-forward basis in Q3 and beyond, with the quantity of ore being placed on the pad having increased.
 
The production profile will start growing in Q3 with the underground mining having now commenced.  With higher gold prices, the CIL plant continued to process lower-grade stockpiles and is planned to continue processing low grade stockpiles through Q2/25, after which it will be blended with new high-grade material from the underground mining operations, and this will increase the average grade throughput at the mill.
 
Another area of future growth will be the 20,000 meter drill program to start exploring the open pit resources, as well as identifying for more satellite open-pits at surface.   Having gone underground, there is also now the potential for underground exploration work to begin targeting new areas of mineralization or further defining existing areas of mineralization.
 
 
Next we unpacked the recent Ascendant Resources Inc. (TSX: ASND) for their 80% interest in the robust Lagoa Salgada VMS Project with a Post-tax NPV of US$147 million and a 39% IRR in the current Feasibility Study. This Project adds both substantial precious metals resources along with critical minerals exposure (42 % Gold & Silver, 24% zinc, 14% copper, and 5% tin) to the future production profile. The Environmental Impact Assessment approval expected imminently, and there will be an optimized Feasibility Study released in Q3, a construction decision in Q4 of 2025.  Construction is targeted for early 2016, with first production slated for H2 2027.
 
We wrap up discussing the underappreciated value and ongoing derisking work that is moving towards a Bankable Feasibility Study in Q1 of 2026 at the Mont Sorcier Iron-Vanadium in Quebec. Recent metallurgical test work, has reaffirmed the potential to produce high-grade and high-purity iron concentrate grading in excess of 67% iron with silica and alumina content below 2.3%.
 
 
If you have questions for Mark regarding Cerrado Gold, then please email those to me at Shad@kereport.com.
 
In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Cerrado Gold at the time of this recording, and may choose to buy or sell shares at any time.
 
Click here to see the latest news from Cerrado Gold.

Andrew Pollard, President and CEO of Blackrock Silver (TSX.V:BRC – OTCQX:BKRRF), joins me to discuss the final batch of high-grade silver and gold assays returned from the M&I Conversion drill program on its 100% owned Tonopah West project in Nevada, United States.   Importantly, the company has also released tables with all the M&I drilling data that will be feeding into the updated resource estimate due out at the end of Q3 in September.
 
HIGHLIGHTS:
 
TXC25-139 cut 9.05 metres grading 367 grams per tonne (g/t) silver equivalent (AgEq) (182.8 g/t silver (Ag) & 2.04 g/t gold (Au)) from 187.5 metres, including 0.82 metres grading 2,886 g/t AgEq (1,411 g/t Ag & 16.13 g/t Au), Ag/Au ratio 90:1;
TXC25-150 drilled 2.84 metres grading 671.5 AgEq (367 g/t Ag & 3.41 g/t Au) from 162.3 metres, including 0.76 metres grading 1,554 g/t AgEq ( 819 g/t Ag & 8.14 g/t Au);
TXC25-146 intercepted 1.16 metres of 1,111 g/t AgEq (615 g/t Ag & 5.50 g/t Au) from 189.5 metres;
Results from the entirety of the M&I Conversion Program have validated the geologic model, successfully establishing continuity of the high-grade shoots bearing robust geometry over 350 metres. The shoots remain open to the Northwest and downdip;
Significant new zones of near-surface mineralization were encountered during the M&I Conversion Program at higher-than-average grades up-dip from the existing resource shell;
Modelling of the M&I Conversion Program drillholes is now underway with an updated mineral resource estimate on Tonopah West on track for Q3, 2025; and
Assay results for 7 drillholes from the Company's Northwest step out resource expansion area are currently pending.
 
We review that in addition to higher confidence ounces, where there is now tighter drill spacing and ounces are going to be moving into the measured and indicated categories from inferred, that the resources will be growing in size, raising the overall high-grade deposit to even higher average grades, and there is more up-dip mineralization that will be factoring into the early year economics of the Project.   These various data points will be incorporated into the upcoming updated resource estimate due out by September, and will be answering some of the unanswered questions, with a high probability of facilitating a rerating in the valuation of the Tonopah West Project.
 
 
If you have any follow up questions for Andrew regarding Blackrock Silver, then please email them into me at Shad@kereport.com.
 
In full disclosure, Shad is shareholder of Blackrock Silver at the time of this recording.
 
Click here to visit the Blackrock Silver website to read over the recent news we discussed.