Sun Summit Minerals eyes Q1 2027 maiden resource after 99% gold recovery results

We've done 16,000 meters of drilling at JD this year across 55 drill holes. We've reported only 13 of those holes, so another 42 holes to report.

All right, welcome back inside our Proactive Newsroom and joining me now is Neil Murata. He is the CEO of Sun Summit Minerals. And Neil, it's good to see you. How are you?

I'm well, thanks. Thanks for inviting me.

Yeah, good to have you alongside and learn a bit more about the company. Uh so tell me a little background on Sun Summit.

Sure, well Sun Summit, we're primarily involved in gold exploration, although we do have exposure as well to silver and copper. All of our projects are in British Columbia, uh in a neighborhood called the Toodoggone. And this is an emerging 20 million ounce district. We're right in the heart of the district, immediately east of Thesis Gold and Silver and west of TDG, north of A-Mark, uh and then of course Centara's Kemess project anchors the district.

Yeah, tell me a bit about the projects. Is there is there a lead project that you have that that you're really focused on?

There is. The JD project is our flagship. That's right in the heart of the Toodoggone. That's where more than 90% of our capital is going. Although we do have other projects in in BC, that is our focus. Uh we've done 16,000 meters of drilling at JD this year across 55 drill holes. We've reported only 13 of those holes, so another 42 holes to report. Uh and then in Q1, we expect to have our maiden resource estimate on this property. So we're very excited about the next six months.

Uh on the JD project, are you looking at a specific area that you're you're focused on for drilling or is it is it very widespread? How big is the project?

It's a 15,000 hectare project. uh it's characterized by two major systems. a depth, you've got gold-rich copper porphyry systems. uh and then those drive near surface epithermal gold and silver systems. That is what we're focused on. So we've got a a corridor that's 4 and a half kilometers long called the Creek to Finn corridor. Uh and Creeks on the on the west side, Finn on the east side, we've done the majority of of the drilling on those two areas. So there's it's it's very exciting that there's scale potential here. and over time we'll go back and drill some of the remaining areas. So the the initial resource really will be a first pass and then there's some good upside from there.

Uh I know that you just had news out recently about uh gold recovery and and and the importance of that obviously as you de-risk a project and uh it shows very positive numbers at at one point I thought up to 100% gold recovery.

Yeah, that's right. We've have up to 99% recoveries of gold. We're very, very pleased with those results. and importantly almost half of that recovery comes through the gravity circuit. And so that's a function of the free gold or coarse nuggety gold that we have in the system. Uh and that's very beneficial to operating costs going forward you know once we get to that stage where we're at PEA, pre-fees, etc. and we're not quite there yet, but um those results are very encouraging.

Yeah. Talk to me about ahead. So obviously you've done a lot of drilling and you're waiting for a lot of results coming out. So will those results and obviously that report really dictate where the company heads from here?

Yeah, largely. I mean, I think we're arguably undervalued relative to our neighbors and I don't think the resource itself or any let's say upside from that potential resource is priced in. Our market cap today is uh below 50 million Canadian. So I think between the news flow coming from the remaining 42 drill holes to be reported and the resource that, you know, we expect could be north of a million ounces. Uh we don't think that any of this is really priced in yet and I think that's the opportunity for investors here.

Yeah. Um, gold, talk to me a bit about that. You're obviously in a in a in a good market right now as far as gold is concerned. Uh and just you know, there's no real sign of it dropping in the in the near future. So, talk to me a little bit about what you're seeing in the gold market itself and really how that relates to you and the project and the team.

Sure. Well the Toodoggone itself has seen a huge amount of capital invested for the last 18 months or so, upwards of 200 million from the likes of uh Freeport and Anglo Gold Ashanti. Uh so big tier one names investing in the area. And I think the reason is that the the gold grades in the area have gone from interesting to very good. If you look at the economics uh of whether it's the PEA that Centara put out for Kemess or Thesis uh pre-fees they put out earlier this year. Uh the economics in the area are very good at $4,000 plus gold. And the industry at large has really not seen these levels of profitability ever. Uh, you know, the average cost in the industry is somewhere around $2,000 an ounce. Uh the gold price wasn't above $2,000 an ounce three years ago. Uh so this is a very good time to be in an area like the Toodoggone, one of the safest uh jurisdictions on the planet in British Columbia, Canada, uh with majors investing in the area. So the the gold price is absolutely a wind at our back.

Absolutely. Uh Neil, thanks so much. Really great to catch up with you and see what you're doing. Look forward to following your story with the drill holes and obviously then the big report coming up in 2027. So, uh thanks very much for your time.

My pleasure.

All right, there's Neil Murata, he is the CEO of Sun Summit Minerals.