Golconda Gold targets a 4x ramp at Galaxy and first Summit output in Q4

Ravi Sood, chairman and CEO of Golconda Gold, describes the company as a producer first and a growth story second — and the next two quarters carry both parts of that pitch. In a September 23, 2026 interview with CEO.ca, issued on behalf of the company, Sood laid out a plan to quadruple output at the Galaxy mine in South Africa while restarting the Summit mine and mill in New Mexico, with first US gold and silver production due early in the fourth quarter of 2026.

## A producer, with growth already in hand

Sood's core pitch is that Golconda already produces gold 365 days a year, so investors hold direct exposure to gold and silver prices today rather than a promise of future output. The growth, he argues, does not depend on a new permit, new financing, a new mill, or new discoveries. "It's just us developing underground and getting to that steady-state production," he said. Galaxy produced just over 10,000 ounces last year. Sood expects roughly 40,000 ounces a year by 2030 — the fourfold increase he describes as internal growth.

## Galaxy: a large, old resource and a stepped ramp

Galaxy is the company's core operation, and its history is unusually long: Sood says production at the site dates to the 1870s, making it one of the oldest gold mines in the world, worked more or less continuously since. He cites a resource of 2.3 million ounces of gold across all categories. A mineral resource is an estimate of in-ground metal stated at differing levels of geological confidence. Sood says the resource has room to grow, but expanding it is not a near-term priority — the existing base already supports what he calls a multi-decade mine life. The ramp is incremental: production steps up year by year over another four to five years, then holds at the steady-state level. He also sees margins improving from two directions: higher output lowers unit costs, and exposure to the gold price widens them further.

## Summit: first output this quarter, exploration next year

The Summit mine and mill in New Mexico is the company's second leg, with first gold and silver production expected early in the fourth quarter of 2026. The asset is another historic operation: Sood describes production in the 1880s and 1890s as prolific, high-grade, and very profitable, with detailed records from the era. Mining across the region stopped during World War II and largely never restarted, so very little modern exploration has been done — in his telling, a small program in the early 2000s was enough to justify building the current Summit mine. Golconda plans to resume exploration in earnest in 2027, and Sood sees significant potential across the region given the grades seen to date. On timing, he draws a contrast with typical development projects: Summit reaches steady-state production in its current phase right away, and the company believes it will be a profitable gold and silver producer in 2027.

## One playbook across two continents

Sood argues the two operations are more similar than their distance suggests. Both are underground narrow-vein mines — a method that follows thin, high-grade ore bodies — and both produce a concentrate, the semi-processed product sold for further treatment, under the same off-taker, the contract buyer of the mine's output. That shared method and skill set simplifies how the company runs, though he concedes the geography is a real challenge. Golconda is building a standalone team in New Mexico while its South Africa management group supports the transition.

## Alignment through ownership

The interviewer noted that roughly 40% of the company is held by insiders, and Sood embraced the point. In his view that ownership aligns management with other shareholders, though he concedes it does not make the team immune to management or execution mistakes. He traces the level of ownership to how the company was rebuilt: two past-producing mines were restarted with very little capital and essentially no outside financing, which left the management team holding far more of the company than is typical for a producer.

## What to watch into year-end

Sood names two near-term markers. First, Galaxy's third-quarter production results, due shortly into October, with the ramp continuing into the fourth quarter — on a percentage basis, he calls this the biggest increase in the operation's history. Second, and in his view more important, the first gold and silver production from Summit, expected early in the fourth quarter. Further out, Sood said the base-case plan for the US assets justifies spinning them out as a standalone, US-only gold and silver producer — a possibility investors may hear more about once Summit is running.

## The context that matters

This interview was issued on behalf of Golconda Gold, so the claims and targets above are the company's own. The 40,000-ounce steady state, the 2027 profitability expectation, and the spin-out idea are forward-looking statements from the CEO, not delivered results.