This article is a sponsored feature from Mining.com.au partner Cassiar Gold Corp. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
British Columbia’s ‘Golden Triangle’ is a popular spot for making big discoveries and with the majors favouring buying ounces over exploring for them, that makes the juniors in the region prime targets.
Newmont (NYSE:NEM), the world’s largest gold miner, has invested over US$5 billion ($7.7 billion) to buy three projects in the Golden Triangle – all very close to Cassiar Gold (TSX-V:GLDC).
Junior explorer Cassiar Gold has a large presence in two major gold districts in British Columbia.
The company’s flagship asset is the Cassiar Gold Project, which spans a 590km2 district-scale orogenic gold system and has historically produced 350,000 ounces of gold.
Cassiar Gold also controls British Columbia’s third largest past-producing inland orogenic gold district. The Sheep Creek Project is a 42km2 camp that produced 742,000 ounces @ 14.7 grams per tonne from 1899 to 1951.
The Cassiar Gold Project sits in the same region as projects owned by US$76 billion Newmont, US$15.8 billion Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK), US$7.5 billion Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE), C$1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) Snowline Gold (TSX-V:SGD), US$1.7 billion Seabridge Gold (NYSE:SA) and C$2.4 billion Skeena Resources (TSX:SKE).
District-scale footprint puts Cassiar on radar
CEO Marco Roque says at its current stage, Cassiar Gold is already a very “desirable and attractive M&A target”.
“As we continue to de-risk and advance the project, grow the resource inventory and go through metallurgical work and economics studies the project profile, value and attractiveness will continue to grow,” he tells Mining.com.au.
“All of these we are looking to deliver within the next nine months.
“Cassiar Gold owns an entire district, and I see the potential to build a company making tier-one district on our 590km2 land package.
“It holds the potential of providing existing producers with an entire new district or alternatively creating a significant new producer by following the same strategy of Artemis Gold (Blackwater project).”
Artemis Gold, which reached commercial production at Blackwater in May 2025, has adopted a disciplined staged approach to development, managing risks while minimising cost of capital to optimise economics and returns for shareholders.
As part of this strategy, management are the largest shareholders – aligning their interests with the remaining shareholder base.
This is also the case for Cassiar Gold, with seven of the eight members of the leadership team collectively having a 10.5% interest in the company.
Chairman Stephen Letwin is the largest shareholder, owning roughly 5.3%, followed by Roque, who holds just over 4%.
Letwin has over three decades of experience in the resources sector, including as the President and CEO of US$4.67 billion Iamgold (NYSE:IAG) from 2010 to 2020.
Roque, meanwhile, has spent over 18 years in international finance, including banking, capital markets, venture capital and corporate advisory. He also co-founded Reyna Silver (TSX-V:RSLV) and Sendero Resources (TSX-V:SEND).
Director Steve Robertson is very familiar with exploration and mine development in the region, having been involved with Newmont’s Red Chris Mine and Coeur Mining’s Silvertip Project, during his over 35 years in exploration and mine operations in British Columbia.
Director Chris Stewart has over 30 years of experience in new mine development, production and optimisation of existing mines in Canada and abroad. He is currently the General Manager for Barrick Mining’s (NYSE:B) Hemlo Gold Mine in Ontario, Canada.
Resource growth underpins M&A potential
Roque says that since 2020, the Cassiar Gold team has drilled over 66,000m across the project and more than doubled the resource base, with ample opportunity for additional growth.
“Our leadership team brings strong technical expertise and capital markets experience, with a proven track record of delivering successful exploration, development and production outcomes,” he says.
The Cassiar Gold project comprises two main project areas, Cassiar North – which hosts a substantial bulk-tonnage orogenic gold resource with significant expansion potential over a 6km strike length, and Cassiar South – which hosts numerous high-grade quartz gold vein systems, 25km of historical underground workings, and prospects over 9km of strike. These are paved roads accessible and operatable year-round.
The project also has a permitted 300-tonne-per-day mill, tailings facilities, 160km of access roads, a 48-person camp with grid power and water and established mine permits, which Roque says are extremely valuable in British Columbia. It also hosts five historically producing mines.
“Naturally a project with the access, infrastructure, permits, mill and resources endowment that we already have, and the geological potential that has been demonstrated, is a very attractive target for any gold producing company globally,” Roque says.
“British Columbia has seen massive exploration, mine development and M&A in recent years.”
The Taurus Deposit within the Cassiar North area has an indicated resource of 8.8 million tonnes at 1.43g/t gold for 410,000 ounces, with an additional inferred resource of 63.2 million tonnes at 0.95g/t gold for 1.93 million ounces that remains open for expansion laterally and at depth.
Over 90% of the gold ounces at Taurus sit within 150m of surface and the deposit is already permitted.
Permitting advantage
The mine permits cover all past-producing mines on Cassiar South, four tailings facilities, and the mill – which was last in production in 2007, partially refurbished in 2010 and is currently in good condition, according to Cassiar Gold.
Recoveries from the mill averaged 93% and up to 96% at Cassiar South.
Roque says all these factors significantly reduces the potential timelines, capital and operating expenditure associated with mine development in the future and also allows Cassiar Gold to maintain a low cost of expanding and exploring the district.
The company’s top priorities for the rest of 2025 are to complete its current drilling program, release the results, and start metallurgical test work and economic studies.
Roque says Cassiar Gold may also potentially announce other derisking and project advancement activities.
“Cassiar Gold is a project that has the potential to become a tier one district, which is significantly undervalued as is, and benefits from multiple catalysts and value creation milestones in the near future,” he says.
“Insiders are investing significantly as we speak, and it represents a unique opportunity that investors should take note of.”
At the end of July, Cassiar Gold completed its previously announced C$5 million private placement, which closed oversubscribed raising C$6 million.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au & Cassiar Gold
