The Conversation (0)
Jun. 09, 2015 03:10PM PST
There’s been much talk of consolidation in the gold space in 2015, but Tuesday’s announcement from Oban Mining took things to another level. Oban will merge with four other gold companies to create a new miner with an estimated market cap of $122 million. Sean Roosen and Ned Goodman will be at the helm.
The other companies included in the merger are Eagle Hill Exploration (TSXV:EAG), Temex Resources (TSXV:TME), Mark Goodman’s Ryan Gold (TSXV:RYG) and the recently CSE-listed Corona Gold (CSE:CRG). Additionally, Oban will acquire 19.9 percent of BonTerra Resources (TSXV:BTR) by way of a private placement.
Osisko Gold Royalties (TSX:OR) is also in on the action via a $20-million investment with Oban for first rights to participate in royalties and streams, pro rata financing participating rights and the right to nominate three directors to the board of the new company. Furthermore, Osisko CEO Sean Roosen will co-chair the new company along with mining industry heavyweight Ned Goodman.
By the numbers
In terms of how ownership will look for the other four companies (prior to Osisko’s private placement), Eagle Hill will own 28 percent of Oban, Temex will own 16 percent, Ryan Gold will own 24 percent and Corona Gold will get 19 percent. Osisko and Dundee Capital Markets will own 18 and 15 percent of the company, respectively.
“This is an exciting new chapter in Canadian mining,” said John Burzynski, current chairman of Oban, in a statement. “Post-consolidation, New Oban brings together major exploration assets in Ontario and Quebec under experienced management in a well-capitalized vehicle, with over $65M in cash and a significant global gold resource.” Executives at Eagle Hill, Temex, Ryan Gold and Corona Gold had similarly positive things to say about the transaction, and the deal appears to have been well received for most companies involved.
At close of day on Tuesday, shares of Oban were up 31 percent, at $0.105, on 27 times the average daily trading volume, while Ryan Gold gained 20 percent, to $0.145, with roughly 60 times the average trading volume. Temex Resources ended the day flat at $0.07, but Eagle Hill was up a whopping 138 percent, or 47 cents, at $0.81.
An interesting situation
Jose Vizquerra, Oban’s current CEO and future COO, said that the last time he remembers something similar happening was with LAC Minerals in the 1980s — that company was subsequently taken over by Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:ABX).
“The concept was simple,” he said. “[M]erge companies with cash with companies with high-quality projects in distress.” Vizquerra added that timing was important, and that Oban had started looking into the idea a year ago after it made the decision to leave South America and focus exploration efforts in Quebec’s Abitibi region.
One might expect that it would have been difficult to get all five companies on board with the merger, but Vizquerra said that things went more smoothly than expected. “We prepared the plan expecting to have some push back,” he said. “[H]owever, the concept was well understood and that was the key to move this forward.”
Reactions
For his part, Temex Resources President and CEO Ian Campbell admitted that he’s seen a mixed reaction from shareholders. “Those in the financial community understand that it’s the right thing to do and are very supportive and congratulatory,” he said, “and then I think there’s some individual shareholders that would have preferred us to … hang on a bit longer and see what was going to happen with it.”
Still, Campbell said Temex still believes the merger was the “right thing to do at the right time.” To be sure, it’s still tough out there for juniors trying to get financing, and Campbell argued that while there’s been plenty of talk about consolidation in the junior mining space, there hasn’t been a lot of action.
Campbell said that Temex got on board with the deal because of the opportunity to get involved with some of the the elite of the business and with a new company with ~$65 million in working capital for a premium on Temex’s share price. “It’s always, to me, all about the people,” he said. “We’ve attracted, obviously, the who’s who of the Canadian mining industry, and we’re happy to be involved.”
For Vizquerra, the upshot of the merger is a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy market. ”It just shows that there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you are creative enough,” he said.
Certainly, investors will be watching for the deal to close going forward.
Securities Disclosure: I, Teresa Matich, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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GoldInxs Mining Corp. (TSXV:INXS, OTCQB: INXGF) provides investors with exposure to early-stage gold-copper exploration in British Columbia, leveraging a portfolio of high-potential projects in Tier 1 jurisdictions, within established gold districts, surrounded by strong regional infrastructure and led by an experienced management team committed to accelerating discovery and delivering shareholder value.
Overview
GoldInxs Mining Corp. is a discovery-focused mineral exploration company dedicated to identifying and advancing high-potential copper-gold assets in proven geological belts. The Company's strategy centers on acquiring overlooked and underexplored projects with large-scale potential, applying modern exploration techniques to rapidly evaluate targets and unlock shareholder value through discovery.
The Company’s. common shares started trading on the TSX Venture Exchange in July 2026 under the symbol INXS, positioning itself to capitalize on favorable copper and gold market fundamentals.
Copper demand is forecasted to grow steadily through 2030, with the global copper market expected to expand to over US$340 billion by 2030, driven by electric vehicles, renewable energy and infrastructure growth.
On the other hand, gold continues to provide a safe-haven hedge against policy risks and market volatility, making GoldInxs’ dual focus on copper and gold particularly compelling for investors.
The Company’s portfolio is anchored by two priority projects: the Fishpot Project in central British Columbia, interpreted as an emerging, large epithermal system with strong infrastructure access and jurisdiction quality as well as early indications of blackwater-style mineralization, and the non-core Millar Project in the prolific B.C Golden Triangle, a district renowned for world-class discoveries. While surrounding deposits attracted billions of dollars in investment, Fishpot received only sporadic historical exploration despite widespread hydrothermal alteration and numerous anomalous gold, silver and copper results. Artemis Gold’s Blackwater Mine has announced tripling production with an intended $1.56B investment, which sits only 65 km from the Fishpot property.
Backed by a management team with expertise in exploration, project development and capital markets, GoldInxs is positioned to rapidly advance its assets, deliver near-term exploration catalysts and create shareholder value through discovery and strategic growth.
Company Highlights
- Mining-friendly jurisdiction: Projects are in British Columbia, which ranked second in Canada and 20th globally in the 2025 Fraser Institute investment attractiveness rankings.
- Flagship and district-scale assets: Portfolio is anchored by the flagship Fishpot Project (“Fishpot”) in central B.C., showing strong geological indicators of mineralization, blackwater-style mineralization potential and immense exploration upside potential with only 378 meters of historical drilling. Fishpot is strategically located in the same region as Artemis Gold’s Blackwater Mine and Evolution Mining’s optioned Clisbako property.
- Clear path to 2026 catalysts: GoldInxs secured a drill permit for an upcoming maiden 2,000-metre drill program at Fishpot, near-term exploration programs are designed to define mineralized systems, outline blackwater-style potential and create shareholder value following the completion of a 3D IP survey and drill targeting.
Key Projects
Fishpot Project
The Fishpot Project represents the cornerstone asset within the GoldInxs portfolio. Covering up to 5,500 hectares in Central British Columbia, and located ~95 km north of Quesnel, Fishpot hosts a large hydrothermal alteration system that exhibits many of the geological characteristics observed in major epithermal and intrusion-related gold systems throughout the region. Fishpot encompasses five claim blocks, held under an option to acquire 100 percent subject to a 2 percent NSR, representing a significant exploration opportunity in a highly prospective region.
Fishpot represents a largely untested hydrothermal mineral system where multiple independent exploration datasets, including gold-silver-copper surface geochemistry, alteration and geology, airborne magnetics, 3D IP chargeability/resistivity and identified epithermal-to-potential-porphyry target environments, are converging to define drill targets, despite only 378 metres of historical drilling across two holes.
Fishpot is situated within the highly prospective Stikine Terrane and is underlain by Hazelton Group volcanic rocks and intrusive units comparable to those associated with several significant deposits in British Columbia. Extensive quartz-sericite alteration, hydrothermal brecciation, pyrite mineralization and multi-element geochemical anomalies support the interpretation of a robust mineralizing system. Fishpot is strategically positioned near active and historical mining operations, including Artemis Gold’s Blackwater Deposit, Newton Gold Project, Capoose and 3Ts Project, underscoring its large-scale discovery potential. Importantly, based on early-exploration results, Fishpot shares several regional geological characteristics commonly associated with Blackwater-style gold systems, including felsic volcanics, strong alteration, pyrite-rich mineralization and gold-silver geochemical associations. Despite the similarities the Company cannot yet make any formal connections to the surrounding properties, nor can they guarantee that such deposits exist on their ground.
Fishpot Exploration Technology: GoldInxs advanced its Fishpot targeting program by combining a conventional 3D IP survey with emerging Virtual DRILL™ remote-sensing technology as an additional targeting layer, using multiple geological, geochemical and geophysical datasets to refine and prioritize targets ahead of a planned ~2,000-metre drill program.
Fishpot Drill Permit & Expansion: GoldInxs has received the required drilling permits and expanded Fishpot to 5,509 hectares, positioning the Company to proceed with its inaugural ~2,000-metre modern drill program on a property that has seen very limited historical drilling, while refining targets through integrated geological, geochemical and geophysical data.
Despite multiple encouraging exploration indicators, Fishpot has been subjected to only two historic drill holes totaling 378 metres, leaving the broader mineral system largely untested and providing significant leverage to future exploration success.
Recent exploration completed by GoldInxs generated the highest reported gold value on Fishpot to date, returning up to 5.65 g/t Au from surface sampling, while airborne geophysical surveys identified multiple coincident magnetic and geochemical anomalies that have strengthened the Company's exploration model and target pipeline.
The 2025 program returned rock samples of up to 5.65 g/t Au, 11.35 g/t Ag and 0.42% Cu, while historical work reportedly returned up to 4.36 g/t Au and 3.2% Cu.
The property exhibits the potential low-sulphidation epithermal targets at Fishpot North, intermediate-sulphidation signatures at Fishpot East, and a large central magnetic high being evaluated for potential porphyry mineralization at depth. The Company is focused on finalizing drill targeting and preparing for the inaugural diamond drill campaign at Fishpot in the coming months following completion of the IP survey. GoldInxs is preparing to drill-test a 5,509-hectare, largely undrilled hydrothermal system in central British Columbia where high-grade surface gold-silver-copper results, Blackwater-style geological characteristics and multiple coincident geophysical targets have converged to define a portfolio of high-priority exploration targets.
Management Team
Nick Michael – President and CEO
Mr. Michael is a veteran mining executive and technical director with over 37 years of global experience spanning mine development, engineering and operational leadership. His expertise covers the full project lifecycle, including design, construction, technical due diligence and Independent Engineer assignments for institutional investors and project financiers. He also leads CJK Milling, a company focused on reprocessing historical mine waste to recover discarded gold decades ago, when it was less valuable.
Carlo Rigillo, CPA, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Rigillo is an experienced Chartered Professional Accountant with over two decades of experience. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto.
Barry Miller – Executive Chairman and Director
Mr. Miller brings over 30 years of experience in public markets, including roles as a broker, consultant and financier. He is the founder of GoldInxs and has been actively involved in the resource sector through leadership positions, including as director of Tinova Resources Corp., an exploration company focused on tin and rare earth elements in British Columbia and Alaska.
Tara Asfour - Vice President, Corporate Development and Communications
An executive consultant with over 13 years of experience, Tara Asfour holds expertise in corporate development, capital markets, investor relations and strategic communications. She has led strategic financings, partnerships and offtake initiatives within the resource sector through previous corporate development and investor relations roles with multiple publicly listed companies.
Al Fabbro – Director
With over three decades of experience spanning both the mining and finance sectors, Mr. Fabbro previously led Yorkton Securities’ retail trading department and was part of its Natural Resources Group. He later served as Lead Director of Roxgold Inc. and currently holds executive leadership roles in the mining industry.
Darcy Vis, P.Geo. – VP Exploration and Director
Mr. Vis is an economic geologist with over 17 years of experience in mineral exploration. He has held senior technical roles across multiple exploration companies and is the President of Tripoint Geological Services Ltd. His expertise includes target generation, project evaluation and exploration program execution.
Stephen Soock, P.Eng., CFA – Director
Mr. Soock is a mining professional with nearly 20 years of experience spanning both technical operations and capital markets. He currently serves as Vice President, Investor Relations and Development at Heliostar Metals.
Christopher Kelly, PQS, FCIArb – Director
Mr. Kelly has over 15 years of experience in construction and natural resources. He holds a BSc in Construction Economics and Management and an MSc in Construction Law and Dispute Resolution, and runs Trachtala Consulting Ltd.