Mr. Kenneth MacLeod

A $95 Million Company Sitting On a $340 Million Mine

• Top takeaway Argues the SEMARNAT MIA is the gating catalyst and expects approval in months rather than years, with first gold pour about 13 months after approval, citing resumed regulator engagement and feedback under President Sheinbaum.
• Contends the 50,000 m, two-rig drill program (about $5M at roughly $100/m) will show significantly higher grades in the northern Diana/Batamote and rhyolite areas and in Acuñalandia, cutting AISC and drawing new investors to the story.
• Defends the PEA's $83M capex and roughly $1,900/oz AISC, arguing the conveyor system pays back in under 18 months and that converting currently sterile material in and around the pit shells will push both cash cost and AISC down.
• Attributes the company's below-sector in-ground gold valuation (about $50/oz versus an ~$85 sector average, in a panelist's framing) to the Mexico permitting discount and argues it is closing, pointing to at least 120 mining approvals under the new administration and to the Silver Tiger and GoGold permits.
• Stresses insider alignment — roughly 27-28% share ownership, 15-20% of warrants, and past insider loans of up to $7M to keep the company funded through the permitting delay — and says he lobbies warrant holders daily to exercise.

Sonoro Gold's PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment) for Cerro Caliche shows a $360 million after-tax NPV at $3,500 gold, versus a $95 million market value. Management argues the Mexico discount reflects permitting paralysis under the prior administration, with approvals now accelerating under new leadership and stricter standards. A 50,000-meter, two-rig drill program targets higher-grade zones at Batamote, Diana and newly acquired Acuna Landia, aiming to lift grades and resources. PEA economics rest on 72% heap-leach recovery, $83 million initial capex and $1,900 AISC (All-In Sustaining Cost — the full cost per ounce), which panelists questioned. Panel debate weighed warrant overhang, thin institutional ownership and Mexico risk against management's track record, production-first plan and recent $51 million raise.

Sonoro Gold Corp. ($SGO | $SMOFF) CEO on the Cerro Caliche Project's Growth Potential

• Top takeaway His central argument is that the discount to the company's PEA value is a permitting artifact, not a judgement on the asset: he blames it on a long silence after the April 2020 environmental application, when there was "no communication" under the prior administration, and says the sector only woke up after the current administration took office in October 2024.
• He is bullish on the gold price, saying he does not believe gold will come into the $2,000 category again, sees potential for it to go back over $5,000, and expects it to stay above that level for the next two to three years, describing gold as a hedge providing a stable currency unaffected by world events.
• He argues the project is financeable, saying lenders have shown "great appetite" for financing an "$82 million capital open pit heap leach project in Mexico" — his construction-financing figure, close to but not identical to the $83 million PEA capital he quoted — and that construction finance will be achieved quickly.
• His growth thesis rests on exploration upside: he says less than 30% of the known mineralized zones on the property have been drilled, that mineralization continues beyond the concession boundary, and that drilling will continue indefinitely as long as new ounces are produced.
• He reads recent Mexican approvals — El Tigre in November and Frisco in December, both open pits — as precedent that should mean Cerro Caliche is "attended to fairly quickly", and he points to recent Mexico permitting reform as the reason the situation moved at all.

PEA economics — the CEO's NPV (net present value) of $225M after tax — sit against a market cap under C$100M, blamed on permit delay. AISC (all-in sustaining cost — the full cost of keeping a mine running) sits near $1,900 an ounce, with cash costs of $1,800. A 72% heap-leach recovery rate turns just under 800,000 recoverable ounces into roughly 460,000 ounces actually produced. A 1.6 strip ratio — 1.6 tonnes of waste per tonne crushed — is the cost lever, funded by $11M for 50,000 metres of drilling. The CEO expects gold to hold above $5,000 and frames it as a hedge against geopolitical volatility.

Sonoro Gold ($SGO | $SMOFF) CEO on Permitting, Production Plans & Project Value

• Top takeaway His central call is that approval of the MIA environmental permit is the single catalyst that will re-rate Sonoro's shares, remove the main development risk and shift the register from speculators to institutional investors.
• He argues the project's low capital intensity comes from the open-pit heap-leach method — no concentrator or major structures, near-surface mineralization and a 1.6:1 strip ratio — plus Mexico's depth of heap-leach engineering and operating expertise.
• He says the build can now be financed mostly with debt given gold near $5,000/oz at the time, and that Sonoro is already talking to potential financiers about debt and equity.
• On jurisdiction, he argues Sonora is Mexico's top mining state — mining is about 25% of its GDP — and that the federal administration inaugurated in October 2024 has been approving mines again after roughly six years without new concessions, though a backlog of over 100 mines remains.
• He stresses insider alignment, saying insiders control roughly 25-30% of shares, and frames the plan as reaching production on the current resource, then using cash flow and drilling to expand it — with deeper drilling potentially opening an underground opportunity.

Approval of the MIA (Mexico's environmental impact statement) is the single catalyst the CEO says will re-rate Sonoro Gold from speculative to institutional-grade. The PEA (preliminary economic assessment) outlines US$83 million initial capex, under-two-year payback, and $1,800 per ounce cash costs, the CEO says. Management pegs after-tax PEA value at US$224 million versus a roughly C$90 million market cap, a gap the CEO expects to close on permitting. Sonoro has secured surface rights (land access needed to mine, not just explore) and tripled its concession while Mexico issues no new ones. A planned 50,000-metre drill program aims to expand the roughly 800,000-ounce mineable resource and extend mine life beyond 10 years.

Sonoro Gold: Valuation Update and Expansion Potential

• Top takeaway Argues the company is grossly undervalued, citing an updated pre-tax valuation of $850 million US (over $1 billion Canadian) against a market cap near $95 million Canadian as of April 2026.
• Sees no reason not to expect further extension of the mineralization and says the drilling program may be expanded.

Sonoro Gold's updated valuation came in at $850 million US before tax — over $1 billion Canadian — versus a roughly $95 million market cap. Management argues that gap leaves the company grossly undervalued — the speaker's own claim, not an independent appraisal. The speaker sees no reason mineralization (rock holding mineable metal) will not extend and is looking at expanding the drill program.