Rua Gold: New Zealand Fast-Tracks Old Creek to Permitting; Adds Globe Progress to a Reefton Hub-and-Spoke Plan

The New Zealand government has cleared Rua Gold's Reefton Old Creek project for fast-track permitting, calling it the country's largest critical mineral project, the company's CEO told Investor TV's Fenwick Commodities Report. The episode's first half was a wide-ranging commodities discussion, but Old Creek, Globe Progress, and the broader Reefton land package were the main event.

## Permitting, then construction

Rua Gold is on track to file its permit application in "about three weeks" — early October — and expects every permit in hand by Q2 next year. The starter mine is sized at 25,000 ounces a year, drawn from a 200-metre-deep, 800-metre-long strike (the horizontal length of the mineralised body) defined in the PFS (Prefeasibility Study — an early technical and economic look at mine viability). Capex (capital expenditure — the upfront cost to build the mine) is trending around US$130 million.

Don Duret pressed on what the fast-track designation actually buys. The CEO said once Old Creek's plant and tailings (the crushed waste left over from milling ore) are permitted, "we've done 90% of the heavy lifting" — additional deposits like Alexander River or the newly optioned Globe Progress only need a mining permit from NZP&M (New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals), which generally takes six to nine months rather than multi-year environmental reviews.

## High grades — and an antimony kicker

Recent drill results out of Old Creek returned 80 grams of gold per tonne alongside 25% antimony (a critical mineral used in flame retardants and defense applications). For comparison, the CEO cited Perpetua Resources' Stibnite mine in Idaho at roughly 0.05% antimony. "We're talking 25% antimony and 80 grams of gold on top of that," he said. The high grades translate into a small footprint and short construction cycle, which is why metal trader Mercuria wrote a US$5 million cheque into Rua Gold's January raise.

The CEO added that antimony concentrate production is targeted "as early as mid-2028."

## Hub-and-spoke model

The biggest news outside Old Creek is Globe Progress, a past-producing open-pit mine right next to Old Creek that Oceana Gold had put on care-and-maintenance and then handed back to the government as a fully reclaimed site. Rua Gold picked up the exploration permit last month for roughly C$4,000. Oceana's 2014 43-101 (a Canadian technical report standard) shows a measured and indicated resource (the higher-confidence categories under that standard) of 350,000 ounces at the bottom of the existing pit. The team is updating that report for underground cut-off (the minimum grade at which material is worth mining) and is sending archived core for antimony assays (laboratory tests of drill samples).

By combining Old Creek and Globe Progress into a "hub-and-spoke" structure — a central mill fed by multiple ore sources — Rua Gold expects to roughly double throughput. The starter mill is sized at 750 tonnes a day (about 250,000 tonnes a year), built with expansion room in the crusher circuit and tailings already designed for higher capacity. The CEO said doubling the mill would run US$40–50 million with no new tailings footprint and no further plant permitting required.

He pointed to the neighbouring mine — set to pour its first gold bar in December — where mineralised systems extend to 1,500 metres, well below Old Creek's starter 200 metres. Holes at 500 metres down and 400 metres along strike have confirmed the system continues.

## North Island upside and regional targets

On the North Island, Rua Gold has just secured a five-year drilling permit at Glamorgan, an epithermal zone (a deposit type formed near the surface by volcanic activity) next to mines run by US$14 billion-cap Oceana Gold. Drilling begins in Q4. The CEO said the company's COO, Simon Henderson, "actually found the neighbouring mine" less than four kilometres away.

The team is also drilling Alexander River, an inferred 130,000-ounce target (the lowest-confidence resource category) about eight kilometres south of the planned mill, where visible gold has been logged. Across Reefton, Rua Gold controls roughly 250,000 acres and counts nine historic mines that have never been drilled at depth, generating "fifty or sixty" drill targets.

## Capital structure and the listing question

The CEO said the January raise at C$10 went out for C$25 million, ended at C$33 million, and was oversubscribed to roughly C$75 million in orders. The company still holds about C$25 million after drilling and study spend — enough, he said, to cover everything "through to Q3 next year" without going back to the market. The last three raises — at C$0.60, C$0.70, and C$10 — were all straight shares with no warrants (options that let investors buy more stock later at a set price, which can dilute existing shareholders).

Asked about a US listing upgrade to NYSE or NASDAQ in the first half of next year — Fenwick flagged Scorpio Gold's recent run-up on a similar move — the CEO said "H1 next year is definitely the right time to start contemplating" once antimony offtake (a buyer's commitment to take the future production) discussions with US buyers heat up.

## Political risk

On the election risk some investors have flagged, the CEO pointed to New Zealand's two large Oceana-run open pits (Macrae's and Waihi), which have operated for more than 40 years "through various governments that are pro and not pro mining" without licensing problems.

## Hosts' view

In their wrap-up, the hosts argued the project "looks really solid." Fenwick expects Old Creek to "double fairly quickly" to a 50,000-ounce producer; Duret said he "wouldn't be surprised" if Rua made a larger acquisition down the road. Both flagged the oversubscribed raise with no warrants as a sign of institutional comfort. Rua Gold currently trades at roughly C$1.10, with a market cap the CEO put near US$100 million.