Lab Report | Sep 2 Deep Dive on Radisson, Pirate Gold, KLDC, Amex Gold Mining, Contango

CEO.CA Sep 2, 2026 54:27

Summary

Laboucan's filter is grade plus continuity: a high-grade hit only matters when the system keeps returning it as drilling advances.

Radisson's 52.34 grams-per-ton gold hit over 3 meters in Quebec, and he plots it only 30% up the Lassonde curve.

Pirate Gold's 299 meters of copper-equivalent mineralization after fewer than 15 holes points to a large, still-unresolved porphyry.

Kirkland Lake Discoveries held the same gold system 700 meters west, which Laboucan values as more meaningful than the headline grade.

With gold above $4,500 an ounce, cut-off grades and open-pit economics reset, and Laboucan argues old rules of thumb undervalue every project here.

Top takeaway: the host calls Contango a 'unicorn' — a junior gold producer he thinks can grow into a mid-tier worth $10–20 billion at gold prices around $4,500/oz.
The September 2 release cites 2.45 m grading 86 g/t at the advanced Lucky Shot project in Alaska, with other intercepts in the news reaching 244 g/t, 81 g/t and 49 g/t.
He describes a mixed portfolio: current production where Contango is a 30% partner generating roughly $100 million of free cash flow a year at one mine, plus a near-surface development pipeline.
In the same release, CEO Rick Van Nuenhuis says initial surface results validate the systematic approach to the Coleman vein geometry and add high-priority underground drill targets on KMSL and KAM style veins.
At a roughly $911 million valuation he places Contango between phase four and phase five on the Lassonde curve, with the most upside on the right-hand side as the pipeline matures.

Top takeaway: the host says Amex completing the Perron portal and starting a production-sized underground ramp is a rare 'unicorn' setup, because that same ramp is the one planned for phase one mining.
The ramp is being driven to pull a 40,000-ton bulk sample from a zone where drilling suggests about half an ounce per ton, which he argues gives a far more representative grade than small drill holes in a high-grade system.
Capex is already being sunk: of a roughly $198 million phase one budget, he estimates about $50 million is already spent, and the company is funded to complete the sample.
He praises the Champagne zone as an orogenic gold system with some of the best continuity he has seen, staying high grade from about 100 m below surface to more than 1,000 m depth without patchiness.
At a roughly $681 million valuation on the show date he argues the market does not reflect the quality of the asset, and that Amex is only now stepping into the development phase of the Lassonde curve.

Top takeaway: the host says Radisson's 100%-owned O'Brien gold project in Quebec's Abitibi keeps intersecting high-grade gold in the trend one / trend two gap, and argues this combination of grade plus continuity could make the project a company-maker.
The September 2 release covered six new holes, including 52.34 g/t over 3 m in hole W4 (with 154.95 g/t over 1 m) and 10.62 g/t over 4.7 m in hole W7.
The host highlights that 13 of the 15 holes intersected mineralization at grades and thicknesses consistent with the project's mineral resources, which he reads as genuine continuity rather than isolated high-grade hits.
He notes the gap drilling came from only two pilot holes with 13 directional wedge branches using two rigs — a cheaper way to chase a deep orogenic system — and says the shares were up about 6% on the news that day.
On valuation he puts Radisson near $500 million, about 30% up the left side of the Lassonde curve, and sees a takeover case of $1–3 billion, or several times that if the project reaches production.

Top takeaway Top takeaway: reading the Pirate Gold release, the host attributes to Greg Matheson the view that Moby Dick has real size and continuity, citing copper-gold from bedrock surface to nearly 500 m downhole and a broad mineralized envelope about 100 m from the higher-grade core in hole 068.
Matheson also points to further geophysical work to help vector drilling and to stepping west onto a geophysical target associated with Moby Dick.

Top takeaway Top takeaway: as Kirkland Lake Discoveries' CEO, Skelpowitsch calls the Mirado discovery a transformative milestone, saying intercepting broad near-surface mineralization validates the company's regional targeting and significantly scales up the project.
The host says he agrees 100% and adds that the high-grade feeder-vein component may matter even more, since the 1,300 m-plus footprint makes Mirado part of a much larger contiguous gold system with great continuity.

Top takeaway Top takeaway: Radisson CEO Manson says 13 of 15 holes in the wedge program intersected mineralization with grades and thickness consistent with the project's mineral resources — the continuity the host calls the real prize in mining.
He says the drilling has hit multiple parallel zones of very high grade, extending the steeply plunging mineralization previously defined at O'Brien.
He argues that filling the trend one / trend two gap from just two rigs has important implications for mineral resource growth and should positively influence future development scenarios.

Top takeaway Top takeaway: the host dropped his usual market overview to run five deep dives — Radisson, Pirate Gold, Kirkland Lake Discoveries, Amex and Contango — and argues all five are undervalued relative to what the drilling shows.
On Radisson he says high grade with continuity could build a $10-billion-plus company, and on Pirate Gold, where he discloses he is a shareholder, that the project is on the doorstep of being an overnight success story like Vicuña.
He frames Amex and Contango as 'unicorns' whose valuations do not reflect asset quality, and calls the high-grade vein potential at Kirkland Lake Discoveries a company changer.
His macro anchor for this show is gold, silver and copper ready for their next rallies, and he warns that many cut-off and grade rules of thumb date from $1,500 gold and no longer hold at $4,500-plus.
He closes by stating he is an idea generator rather than a source of buy or sell recommendations, and that viewers should do their own homework.