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This C$1.9B Gold Mine Blueprint is a “Starting Point” for White Gold

CEO.CA Sep 2, 2026 8:29

Summary

A deliberately conservative PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment — a first, early-stage mine study) still yields C$1.9B in after-tax value at $3,600 gold.

The plan outlines a 9.5-year, 12,000-tonne-per-day open pit producing 188,000 ounces of gold per year on average, peaking at 223,000.

Only two-thirds of the current resource is included and no underground mining — management calls the study a starting point, not a ceiling.

Three rigs are drilling 15,000–20,000 metres this year, none of it in the PEA, aiming to expand ounces per share.

A spin-out of W2 Critical Minerals (one share per five WGO shares, copper-silver-molybdenum properties) plus institutional marketing round out 2026 plans.

Key points on White Gold

  • Pollitt says the maiden PEA, released just before the September 2026 interview, shows an after-tax NPV5 of C$1.9 billion with a 38% return at a $3,600/oz base-case gold price, rising to about C$3 billion with a 52% return at $4,500/oz gold.
  • The study outlines a 9.5-year, 12,000 tonne-per-day open pit operation averaging 188,000 oz of gold per year and peaking at 223,000 oz per year over the first five years.
  • Pollitt presents the PEA as deliberately conservative: it uses a two-year-old resource with 2025 and 2026 drilling excluded, covers only two-thirds of the current resource, assumes no underground mining, and starts year one at an 85% throughput rate.
  • The capital estimate covers the full Yukon build-out to what he calls international mining company standards, including on-site diesel power generation, buildings, the mill, a tailings management facility, and a new landing strip for fly-in/fly-out operations.
  • The company is targeting 15,000-20,000 metres of drilling this year with three rigs, versus the roughly 90,000 historical metres behind its about 3 million ounce resource, and is spinning out W2 Critical Minerals at one W2 share for every five White Gold shares.

Mr. Donovan A. Pollitt CFA, P.Eng.'s takeaways

  • Top takeaway Pollitt argues that once institutions update their models, typical 30-40% discounts for PEA-stage projects point to the share price going materially higher from the day-one levels he describes.
  • He frames 2026 around three levers of per-share value creation: drill results as the single biggest lever, institutional digestion of the PEA, and expanded marketing and conference attendance to broaden institutional ownership.
  • He positions the PEA as a conservative starting point rather than an ending point, built from comparable northern operations with deliberately loaded capital costs and an 85% year-one throughput ramp instead of 100% from day one.
  • He identifies growth options excluded from the study, including recent and current drilling, the remaining one-third of the resource, potential underground mining, and deeper Golden Saddle holes plus metallurgical and geotechnical work for a future study.
  • He reports a positive first-day market reaction with the stock up and brokers calling the PEA conservative, and says the W2 Critical Minerals spinout, holding properties with geochemical positives for copper, silver, and molybdenum, goes before the AGM the next day.