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Richard Osmond

President & CEO | Element 29 Resources (TSX-V: ECU) | Peru Cu-Mo-Ag porphyry explorer

"CEO and Qualified Person driving the Elida Cu-Mo-Ag porphyry drill-out at Element 29 Resources in Peru."

Mining Executive

Biography

Richard Osmond is President and CEO of Element 29 Resources (TSX-V: ECU), the company advancing the Elida copper-molybdenum-silver porphyry project in west-central Peru. For a resource investor, the reason to track his commentary is concrete: Elida is one of the more actively drilled Tier-1-scale porphyry copper targets on the TSX-Venture right now, and Osmond speaks for the operator as the company's Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 — the Canadian rule that governs how exploration results get disclosed to investors.

Osmond holds the P.Geo. (Professional Geologist) and ICD.D (Institute of Corporate Directors) designations and brings more than 20 years of mining and exploration experience. He serves as an Independent Director of Forte Minerals Corp, where he also acts as Qualified Person on the Alto Ruri and Pucarini gold projects in Peru, and earlier in his career was an inaugural member of the advisory board of San Marco Resources. Under his leadership Element 29 closed a C$12.0 million private placement with continued participation from strategic investors and laid out an internal target of growing Elida toward a 500-million-ton-plus copper resource.

His method is conventional porphyry exploration — drill, log, model, then expand. Phase 3 drilling at Elida has pushed copper mineralization beyond the limits of the existing resource shell, and the team has secured permits for up to 40 drill platforms and renewed a five-year surface-access agreement — the kind of groundwork that lets a junior actually convert intercepts into resource growth rather than leaving them as news-flow headlines. He frames Elida as one of the first Eocene-age (roughly 35–55 million-year-old) mineralized porphyry systems discovered in Peru, a geological distinction he leans on when talking about the project's pedigree.

For investors today, following Osmond is effectively subscribing to a single-asset copper growth story tied to a Qualified Person who is also the CEO — an alignment that is unusual in the junior mining sector. Element 29 has engaged Synectiq to advance resource modelling and metallurgical test work at Elida, and Osmond has presented the project at the Precious Metals Summit in Zurich, the London International Metals Symposium covered by The Northern Miner, and on the Mining Stock Daily podcast. The public record is thinner than for a long-time producing-miner CEO, and his commentary is best read as that of a working operator running one specific drill campaign, not a market commentator.

Videos (1)

Element 29 Chases a Billion-Tonne Copper Porphyry in Peru with a $60M Budget: CEO Richard Osmond

Element 29 Chases a Billion-Tonne Copper Porphyry in Peru with a $60M Budget: CEO Richard Osmond

guest Oct 8, 2026
  • Top takeaway Osmond argues Elida can become a tier-one deposit — doubling the pit toward roughly a billion tonnes at about 0.5% copper equivalent (~5 million tonnes of contained copper) — funded by a budget approaching $60 million.
  • He believes the system's best zone is still unhit: rising chalcopyrite-to-pyrite ratios with depth (hole 37's final 93.8 m ran 0.74% copper) vector toward the core of what he sees as a cluster of at least three porphyry centers.
  • He argues Elida may be the first mineralized Eocene porphyry discovered in Peru, and the first-ever permitted hole at Zone 4 is about to test a second mineralized center about a kilometer west of Zone 1.
  • He sees copper in a supply-driven bull market: Chilean output reportedly down from about 9 to 7 million tonnes a year, 15-20 year mine-build timelines, and electrification demand he says would require roughly a new Escondida every year.
  • He stresses the social and infrastructure case: a five-year host-community access agreement signed in April 2025, about 40 local hires on rotation, a hydroelectric plant with a power line within 15 km of site, and no expected arsenic penalty in the concentrate.

Element 29 is testing whether Elida is a cluster of porphyries big enough to double its 321-million-tonne pit toward a tier-one target. About $47 million raised in 2026 plus $11 million in warrants gives Element 29 close to a $60 million budget for years of drilling. Deep drilling at Zone 1 shows more chalcopyrite and less pyrite with depth, a vector suggesting the deposit's best part is still untested. The guest argues copper faces a supply gap: new mines take 15 to 20 years while demand grows by roughly a million tonnes a year. Metallurgical testing and an upgraded resource estimate, run by a Quebec engineering firm, are the next de-risking steps toward a preliminary economic study.

Showing 1–1 of 1 videos

Key Quotes

"Phase 3 drilling at Elida has extended copper mineralization beyond the limits of the previous resource."

— Press release announcing engagement of Synectiq for resource modelling and metallurgical test work at Elida

"Alpayana has a long history of mining in Peru."

— Element 29 press release on strategic investment by Alpayana

Key Works

Interview-style video update on the status of Phase 3 drilling at the Elida Cu-Mo-Ag project.

Northern Miner / mining.com coverage of Osmond's presentation at the London International Metals Symposium on resource expansion targets at Elida.

Project overview video covering the Elida porphyry system and Element 29's broader Peru copper portfolio.

Crux Investor feature outlining the funded drill program and the half-billion-ton copper resource target at Elida.

Disclaimer: Richard Osmond has NOT endorsed this platform and is not affiliated with Pixys in any way.