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Kitco Mining on-site coverage of Explore 2026 is presented by Radisson Mining.
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You're watching Kitco Mining's ongoing coverage from Explore 2026 in Montreal.
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Joining us now is Alex Rodriguez, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Maplegold Mines.
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Alex, welcome.
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Thank you, Ernest, for having me here.
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Thank you for having for uh for joining us.
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So your Maplegold is very focused on advancing the Due Jutel uh gold mine project in the uh Abitibi Greenstone belt, and you've had plenty of uh news on this front.
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So I guess uh we have two things to talk about, I guess, in in mainly is you have the uh the uh Jutel winter drill uh results, and you've also started your fall drilling program.
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So I guess let's start with the with the winter results.
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What's the latest you have for us there?
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So we announced, I would say this in the last quarter, the results from the DUA project, uh last batch for the winter program that has been already released.
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It's kind of showing that really the DUA has the scale over like supporting the resource that we have right now.
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But again, around 32,000 years that hasn't been yet included in the resource update that we would expect to have next year.
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So a lot of work there for Dwayne's keeps showing a lot of scale, as I mentioned, and uh again, always focused on the open piece side of sizeable Dwayne.
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And still haven't been able to publish the results from the UTL portion of the winter campaign.
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So right now we have that information pending.
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We also have pending information from our current drilling campaign on UTL of 25,000 meters.
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We're doing drilling right now.
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We have five weeks turning.
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Uh so it's, I would say a lot of news are still haven't been able to also disclose.
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Uh uh has been a lot of bit uh delays on the assays, laughs, stuff like that.
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But it's guess we're we're expect to have end of the year with a good number of uh news, news on that particular stream.
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All right, and then how's how are you expecting that to be contributing to the outlook for this project, the the longer term?
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Like where are we in the process?
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So, right now, the the companies right now, as you know, we well last year we explored 2025, the company was kind of uh shifting its direction
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from uh, as you know, the the gold price was a different environment, and the company was working towards drilling campaign to support a new resource estimate, which was launched this year.
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So it's just for last 2025 to 2026, but we have this basically a new investor base, longer, a large investor base now, more capital that came to the company.
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We have the data resource that came in April this year that shows you not only one mine, possibly two mines, with not the util made a resource as well.
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That really that is happening today this year is basically to expand and enhance those ounces that we already have in the books.
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So that would what is the reason for that?
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Because we had a resource in April and we said, okay, are these ounces are economic or not?
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Why do you do that?
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You have to do a scoping study.
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So we run in an internal scoping study to help us see what will be the path.
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If there's a path for development here for these ounces, and there is one.
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So for that gotta be the path for 2027, we expect to do a PEA to be launched in the second quarter of 2027.
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For that, we need a new resource, right?
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And for that new resource, we'll include all the drilling that we haven't put yet on the resources, so the 57,000 years of drilling will be incorporated into this new new updated resource for next year that will support the PEA.
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Alright.
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So there's a lot, uh a lot's been done, but a lot to a lot to come ahead of that uh Q2, you say.
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100%.
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Right.
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And and uh you've also just launched the expanded drilling program for the fall.
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So what are uh what is that what are the goals of that?
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Is that also feeding into potentially this uh Q2, or is that something the results of that would be would show up later?
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Result will come in I it will say December and January as well for the this current uh Utah drilling campaign.
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And the reason of this campaign is to enhance those ounces that we were able to find in this major resource uh estimate that we did.
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So what happened is that as you know, it's an underground mine.
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There's been historic work in there, so it's a lot of a lot of history of this uh Utah deposits.
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So we're trying to do this drilling campaign to find more ounces in our in the vicinities or the deposits.
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But because if
you would imagine from an economic standpoint of view, those ounces, the underground ounces that we have are gonna be higher rate, will obviously support um much, I guess, economics of a potential PEA on the first year of production.
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So with that mindset is well trained to again, every dollar we put into the ground is to accelerate and get the maximum return for our share folders.
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Right.
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So it is it has been a bit of an interesting year, obviously.
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Uh that's a probably an understatement.
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So we had we had this we had this uh this uh meteoric rise of gold, silver, the metals in the new year.
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And then we've had uh we've had it pull back, and obviously that's been reflected in the industry as well.
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So where would you say we're at in the in the mining cycle for investment right now?
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What are uh what are what are we uh what are we looking at and what how are you positioning yourself in this environment?
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So it goes tapes and just thinking about the market right now, like it's if you see the gold price this same time last year, we're almost the same.
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So it's just the sentiment has shifted a little bit.
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The numbers remain the same.
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But I think it's just uh that's what I feel is gonna be the the the the I guess the outlook for this year is just the company that has the assets, has quality answers, has the real plan, and know how to execute, those will still benefit on a market that perhaps is not showing the the same uh uh speed or spike that they have at the beginning of the year.
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So for us, we're well founded.
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We have a plan to execute.
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And as you know, I guess from the previous discussion you could have with Kieran, our CEO, he's always on point on objectives, deliver on what we are saying.
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And that's what we're trying to do here now.
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But again, there's not much we can do with the market.
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Right now, you have the what happened on the on the US election, right now, the the whole shift there, you have oil, dollar strength.
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So it's a lot of things that will keep happening.
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And I think for us, we have to keep doing the work, we have to head down, keep executing the work, and that's kind of what we're gonna keep doing.
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Yeah, but you make a good point that um we're measuring down from say 5,600 in gold.
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And if we were measuring up from 3,000, then we'd still be looking great.
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So it really depends on it really depends.
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We're we're these are historically high prices for the metals.
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And uh, but because we're off from that that that meteoric peak, it's uh it it doesn't uh the sentiment is different.
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But as far as as far as the the prices and and whether that supports these types of whether that supports very healthy margins for mining, obviously they still do.
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In fact, they're they they very much do.
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Uh but um but the market sentiment is its own market sentiment is looking just back over its shoulder and uh looking back at those those those highs.
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So that's I guess uh we need to adjust our perspective a little bit there.
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It it is part, you know, it's part of the industry as well.
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Like we're in the industry where uh prices are volatile for nature, so we have to be focused on what we have control and um and who knows what's gonna be next uh next year the gold price, where it's gonna be is we but it's still the projects and the answers will still there, and we have to keep doing the work to to really showcase those answers are economic.
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So what are some of the uh key milestones for maple gold?
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I guess heading into Q4, we have the drilling program.
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You mentioned the uh for in Q2, uh you have the uh the study.
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But what are what are some of the other um potential things that we should be we should be uh looking forward to?
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So I would say with Maple, you have a I would say a steady news flow coming from the drilling campaign that we're running right now.
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Again, we are right now dealing with some delays because of the last result that we're we're waiting for that to come, but that should be coming soon.
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After that, you will have a new maiden resource estimate that will include all the drilling that has happened this year, this 57,000 years, including a new updated MRE.
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And then you will have um again a PE, the first PEA for what we believe might be a two mines uh do a UTL on a mining complex.
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So if you ask me, uh that's I would say a major catalyst for people fast behind the story of Maple, looking then from this from a resource stage to a development stage.
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And I think that's where we're trying to get the message around, get people to know the story and what's gonna happen and what is coming.
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And besides that, we always talk about two paths.
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Like one is the development path, which throws the PEA, but we have to find more outs as well.
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So as you know, the the our property package is quite extensive.
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We have only used around 10% of the property so far.
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So there's a lot of things to do more.
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There is a plan to drill this winter, I guess more step-out drilling, going a little bit outside our current deposits and trying to find these new satellite deposits.
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So it's it's uh sometimes when you think about the LaSonne curve, you think okay, the development stage is gonna be a little bit steady, but it's not like this.
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We're trying to keep finding more routes to increase that that potential mining complex that we have there.
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So I guess that's the that's the exciting time for Maple next year.
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Right.
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Yeah, I mean well on a on a at that scale, it's very much still a uh it's still discovery as well.
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As well as development.
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There is a chance for a discovery remains there.
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We keep still deploying capital to keep uh showing more ounces in the camp.
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I believe our shareholders is also something that we have received the feedback from them.
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They want to see us kind of trying to tackle those two different bats, different, but at the same time quite connected, and all of them trying to uh showcase that this is a project that has it has legs to become something quite important in the Quebec camp.
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All right, well, thank you so much for the update.
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I guess we'll have to stay in touch because all all of this is happening between now and uh Q2 of 2027.
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Yes.
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All right.
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Thank you for your time, Ernest.
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Stay tuned for more coverage from Explore 2026 here in Montreal.
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I'm Ernest Hoffman for Kitco Mining.
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Make sure that you're subscribed to receive all of our updates.
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Kitco Mining on site coverage of Explore 2026 is presented by Radisson Mining.