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Halcones Precious Metals
Investor Insight
Halcones Precious Metals offers investors exposure to a high-grade gold exploration opportunity in mining-friendly Chile, with multiple surface targets showing significant gold values on a large underexplored property that benefits from excellent infrastructure.
Overview
Halcones Precious Metals (TSXV:HPM) is an emerging gold exploration company with a strategic focus on developing high-potential precious metals projects in Chile. The company's flagship Polaris project is located in the prolific mining region of northern Chile, approximately 150 km south of Antofagasta and 70 km north of Taltal.
Chile is one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions, known for its stable regulatory framework, developed infrastructure, and rich mineral endowment. The country is the world's largest copper producer and has a long history of successful mining operations by both major and junior companies. Chile's mining-friendly policies, skilled workforce, and established support services make it an attractive destination for mineral exploration and development.
The gold market is currently experiencing favorable macroeconomic tailwinds. Persistent global inflation concerns, geopolitical uncertainties, and central bank gold purchasing have pushed gold prices to record levels in 2025. As investors seek safe-haven assets amid economic volatility, gold exploration companies with promising early-stage assets like Halcones are well-positioned to capitalize on these market conditions.
Company Highlights
- Strategic Land Position: Controls 5,777.5 hectares in a historically productive gold district with multiple high-grade surface targets
- Proven High-grade Gold at Surface: 30 samples returned assays above 10 g/t gold, with values up to 55 g/t gold
- Large Mineralized Footprint: Recent sampling extended the gold-bearing trend to 3.9 km, with potential for further expansion
- Bulk Tonnage Potential: Gold-bearing stockwork mapped over a 250 m x 500 m area, suggesting potential for a large-scale open-pit operation
- Favorable Project Economics: Low-to-moderate elevation project with year-round access and proximity to established infrastructure
- Experienced Leadership: Management team with extensive experience in geology, mining exploration, and capital markets
- Geological Setting: Mineralization similar to well-known Abitibi gold deposits like Sigma-Lamaque, Goldex and Dome
Key Project: Polaris
The Polaris project is Halcones' flagship asset located in Chile's Coastal Belt, a region known for its significant mining history and mineral potential. The 5,777.5-hectare property is easily accessible via the Pan-American Highway and Route B-710, situated only 4 km from the Pacific Ocean. This strategic location provides exceptional logistical advantages, including proximity to the major mining center of Antofagasta, the ports of Antofagasta and Mejillones, and established power infrastructure.
The project is situated within the metallogenic belt of the Atacama Fault Zone, a major geological structure that hosts numerous significant mineral deposits throughout Chile. Mineralization at Polaris is primarily controlled by major faults, including the Izcuña Fault and Médano Fault, which created open spaces for mineralizing fluids, resulting in vein-hosted and stockwork gold mineralization.
Currently, exploration efforts are focused on two main target areas in the southern part of the property adjacent to the Atacama fault:
- North Zone: A historic mining district with excellent gold assay results at surface
- South Zone: Another area of historic mining activity with high-grade gold values
Historical mining at Polaris dates back to the early 20th century, when artisanal miners extracted high-grade gold from quartz veins and breccias. In the 1970s, smaller operations by local miners extracted approximately 5 tons of material per month over a decade. Despite this history of production, the property has never been systematically explored using modern techniques.
Recent surface sampling programs have significantly expanded the known mineralized footprint, extending the gold-bearing trend to 3.9 km with potential extensions of 2 km north and 1.5 km south. Chip channel samples have returned impressive values including 29.04, 20.05, 13.08, and 10.67 grams per ton (g/t) gold. The gold mineralization is strongly related to diorite rocks and quartz veins, with extensive stockwork veining indicating a well-developed system.
A particularly promising aspect of the Polaris project is the potential for bulk-minable stockwork mineralization. Gold-bearing stockwork has been mapped over a 250 m x 500 m area, with unknown limits. Initial surface sampling returned encouraging results, including an 85-meter channel sample averaging 1.21 g/t gold and a 30-meter sample in an old adit averaging 1.02 g/t gold.
The geological setting at Polaris is analogous to certain well-known Abitibi gold deposits such as Sigma-Lamaque, Dome and Goldex. Like these deposits, Polaris is:
- Adjacent to a large, long-lived and active continental-scale crustal break
- Host to historic high-grade mining focused on larger quartz veins at surface
- Characterized by a large surface expression of highly anomalous gold mineralization
- Potentially amenable to both high-grade selective mining and bulk tonnage approaches
With most of the large property remaining unexplored, Halcones is committed to an aggressive exploration program, including plans to complete 2,000 meters of drilling within 12 months as part of its acquisition commitments. The near-surface nature of the mineralization suggests potential for cost-effective open-pit mining if sufficient resources are delineated.
Management Team
Ian Parkinson - CEO and Director
Ian Parkinson brings a unique combination of industry and capital markets experience to Halcones. He spent 16 years as a sell-side mining analyst for several leading brokerage firms including Stifel GMP, GMP Securities, and CIBC World Markets. Prior to his analyst career, he worked for 10 years with Falconbridge and Noranda in various roles spanning exploration, development, metals trading, marketing, and business development. Parkinson holds an earth science degree from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario.
Vern Arseneau - COO and Director
Vern Arseneau has over 40 years of experience in exploration, project management and development, with the last 25 focused in South America, particularly Peru, Chile and Argentina. He spent 20 years working as exploration manager and senior geologist for Noranda and served as general manager of Noranda's Peru office. As vice-president exploration for Zincore Metals, he oversaw exploration and feasibility studies of two zinc deposits and discovered the Dolores copper-molybdenum porphyry in Peru. Arseneau holds a Bachelor of Science in geology.
Greg Duras - CFO
Greg Duras is a senior executive with over 20 years of experience in the resource sector, specializing in corporate development, financial management, and cost control. He has held CFO positions at several publicly traded companies, including Savary Gold, Nordic Gold and Avion Gold. Currently, he also serves as CFO of Red Pine Exploration. Duras is a certified general accountant and a certified professional accountant with a Bachelor of Administration from Lakehead University.
Larry Guy - Chairman
Larry Guy is a managing director with Next Edge Capital focused on strategic partnerships, initiatives, and new product development. His previous roles include vice-president with Purpose Investments and portfolio manager with Aston Hill Financial. He also co-founded Navina Asset Management, where he served as chief financial officer and director before the company was acquired by Aston Hill Financial. Guy holds a BA in Economics from the Western University and is a chartered financial analyst.
Patrizia Ferrarese - Director
Patrizia Ferrarese brings over 20 years of experience in capital markets, entrepreneurship and strategy consulting to the board. Currently VP of business design and innovation at Investment Planning Counsel, she oversees strategic growth initiatives in wealth management. Her career includes equity and options market making and trading in North America and co-founding an investment management company. Ferrarese is pursuing her Doctorate in Business Administration at SDA Bocconi and holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Economics from York University.
Michael Shuh - Director
Michael Shuh is a managing director of investment banking at Canaccord Genuity with over 20 years of experience. He leads the Financial Institutions Group at Canaccord Genuity, Canada's largest independent investment bank, and has deep expertise in structured finance and special purpose acquisition corporations. He serves as CEO and chairman of Canaccord Genuity Growth II, a publicly-listed SPAC that raised $100 million to pursue acquisitions. Shuh holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration from the Lazaridis School of Business & Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University.
Ben Bowen - Director
Ben Bowen has 20 years of experience building businesses across multiple sectors. After beginning his career with Xerox Canada, he acquired Seaway Document Solutions in 2002, which was subsequently sold in 2013. He later co-founded and served as CEO of a software company serving the global shared workspace industry. Bowen currently operates Open Door Media, a full-stack marketing firm focused on the lifestyle industry, and is a founder of Innovate Kingston.
Damian Lopez - Corporate Secretary
Damian Lopez is a corporate securities lawyer who works as a legal consultant to various TSX and TSX Venture Exchange listed companies. He previously worked as a securities and merger & acquisitions lawyer at a large Toronto corporate legal firm, where he worked on a variety of corporate and commercial transactions. Lopez obtained a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall and received a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Economics from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto.
Advancing a significant high-grade gold project in Northern Chile
Navigating Uncertainty: How Trump's Tariffs Are Affecting the Gold Market
Read on to learn how tariffs have affected the gold market and price so far.
How have tariffs affected the gold price?
The gold price has been on the rise since the beginning of the year. After briefly touching the US$3,500 per ounce level in May, it has pulled back and was trading just under US$3,400 as of Tuesday (August 26).
Gold price, January 1 to August 26, 2025.
Chart via TradingEconomics.
Although some of its increase is attributable to the points mentioned above, a significant portion is owed to a lack of information surrounding US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Initially there was no clarity on what or who was being tariffed, or when the levies would ultimately be implemented, and investors started to move into gold for greater stability and portfolio diversification.
Uncertainty about whether gold would be tariffed also had an effect, prompting traders in the US to import physical gold; this created a price differential between New York futures and the London spot price.
Concerns dissipated as the Trump administration began to nail down tariffs, but were reignited once again when US Customs and Border Patrol posted a ruling on July 31 indicating that the 39 percent tariffs against imports from Switzerland would include 1 kilogram and 100 ounce gold bars.
The news caused spot gold to spike more than 3 percent, from US$3,290 to US$3,398, and sent December futures to an all-time high of US$3,549. Meanwhile, traders halted imports of Swiss bars.
After several days of turmoil, Trump said the ruling was incorrect, and the bars would not be included in the tariff measures being applied to other Swiss imports; the gold price then retreated.
How would gold tariffs have impacted the market?
Gold functions as both a commodity and an essential part of the world’s financial system.
One kilogram and 100 ounce gold bars are used to back futures trading, and regular shipments of the metal are needed to settle contracts once they come due. A 39 percent tariff on gold from Switzerland would have been particularly disruptive, as Swiss refineries account for approximately 70 percent of the world’s gold.
According to the UN Comtrade database, in 2024, Switzerland exported more than 1,400 metric tons of unwrought gold worth more than US$106 billion, representing nearly 30 percent of the country’s total exports. Tariffs would have forced US buyers to pay a significant premium for the precious metal versus buyers in London or Shanghai.
Because gold is often used as a store of value in times of uncertainty, any kind of disruption could have had broader implications for investors looking to add stability to their portfolios.
In an email to the Investing News Network (INN), Lauren Saidel-Baker, CFA, an economist with ITR Economics, explained that gold stands out as a unique investment mechanism:
“There are psychological nuances to gold, which is commonly viewed as a safe store of value during uncertain times and an inflation hedge. Overall, the tariff would have added another facet to the already elevated policy uncertainty."
If the tariffs had remained in place, the US gold price would have had to rise to around US$4,700 per ounce to cover levies, while international prices would have remained closer to the US$3,500 mark.
“Tariffs have already complicated supply chains across industries, and this gold tariff would have been another example of added cost and complexity — but in this case, one with the potential to more directly impact investment activities,” Saidel-Baker went on to explain, emphasizing that US investors would have felt the pinch.
Could gold tariffs happen in the future?
Given Trump's unpredictability, especially when it comes to tariffs, it's possible that gold levies could enter the conversation again. However, by and large experts agree that the matter is closed.
“I think it’s pretty clear at this point that there’s no intention to put tariffs on physical gold imports, and I think that would be very damaging and destructive if they did,” Stefan Gleason, CEO of Money Metals, told INN.
Keith Weiner, founder and CEO of Monetary Metals, offered another perspective, saying that although the gold tariff threat is over, the tumult could have long-term effects on the market.
"Once you've put the scare into everybody, you can't just say, 'Oh, sorry, just kidding.' You can't really do that. And so now we've done damage, and we'll see what happens to that spread over time. We'll see how users of the futures market adapt. There are other markets in the world that would be competing for," he explained.
"This hedging business, you know, maybe it moves to Singapore, maybe it moves to Dubai, maybe it moves to London, and the US loses not only a little more trust, but also a little bit of volume on what had been the biggest — or what is currently the biggest — futures market," Weiner added to INN.
Market participants will be watching closely for future impacts on the yellow metal.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
Halcones Precious Metals Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects