David Lotan

David Lotan is a strategic resource investor and non-executive chairman of Aurion Resources (TSX-V: AU) and Fox River Resources. He is known among junior mining investors for his disciplined approach to identifying undervalued small-cap mining stocks and his willingness to explain, in practical terms, how capital actually flows through the sector.

Lotan's background is institutional. He served as a portfolio manager at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, one of Canada's largest institutional investors, and as a risk management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers focused on commodities and interest rates. He founded and led the structured finance operations at Polar Capital, a Canadian merchant bank and alternative asset manager. He is a Chartered Accountant and CPA, which gives him a numbers-first lens when evaluating mining companies. His current roles as non-executive chairman at both Aurion Resources (a gold exploration company focused on Finland) and Fox River Resources give him direct board-level exposure to project generation, financing, and deal structuring in the junior sector.

His investment philosophy centers on understanding capital flows — who is buying, who is selling, and why — rather than chasing discovery stories blindly. Lotan looks for junior miners where management teams hold meaningful equity stakes, where share structures are clean (meaning minimal dilution risk from excessive outstanding warrants or options), and where a clear path to a liquidity event exists, whether through a buyout, merger, or project advancement. He emphasizes cycle management: allocating capital when the sector is out of favor and harvesting gains when retail interest returns. Gold and precious metals exploration are his primary focus areas, particularly in geopolitically stable jurisdictions.

Investors looking to understand how to navigate the boom-and-bust cycles of junior mining stocks can learn from Lotan's public commentary. His 2023 CEO.ca interview and his appearance on the Mining Stock Education podcast lay out his framework in detail, including how he evaluates management quality, assesses the potential for company buyouts, and manages risk in a sector notorious for capital destruction.