Sophy Cesar

Upside Gold ($UG | $UGODF): 3.31 Moz Historical Gold Resource and 5,180 Metres Drilled in BC

• Top takeaway Sophy Cesar argues the 3.31-million-ounce historical resource at 0.54 g/t gold, verified by an independent qualified person in 2021, is far more compelling with gold near $4,000 an ounce, and says the company is internally targeting 4 to 5 million ounces or more for the Q1 2027 update.
• She says the company will not entertain any sale before proving out what it believes is a path to 5 million ounces, noting about 70% of shares are in friendly hands and that suitors were already circling before the company even listed.
• She reports the 2026 drill program beat plan at 5,180 metres versus 4,000 planned, finished early and under budget, and that the team used the spare time to sample two past-producing mines along the 11-kilometre trend, including the newly acquired Venus-Juno (historical grades around 19 g/t gold and 17 g/t silver).
• On permitting risk, she argues sentiment toward mining in Canada is shifting positive, citing a nearby underground mine advancing approvals, indigenous communities that have so far approved drill plans, and generational mining families on her workforce.

Upside Gold's Kena project in southern British Columbia holds a historical 3.31 million ounce gold resource, with an updated 43-101 estimate expected in Q1 2027. The 2026 drill program reached 5,180 metres, beating its 4,000 metre plan and finishing ahead of schedule, with assay results still pending. Management is targeting 4 to 5 million ounces by adding recent drilling, the Kena copper gold zone, and previously excluded copper and silver values. The host sees the company valued near $850 an ounce in the ground against a $34 million market cap, framing shares as cheap optionality. Flow-through dollars (tax-incentive financing for Canadian exploration) make up $3.7 million of the June raise, already covering the 2027 drill program.

Upside Gold ($UG | $UGODF): District-Scale Gold-Copper Project | Don Durrett & John Feneck Interview

• Top takeaway She argues Upside Gold is an execution story rather than a discovery story: an optioned, previously drilled gold-copper system she says they bought partly de-risked, with permits to drill 5,000 metres already in hand, mining claims good to 2027-2028 and an independent team that verified the historical data on site in April of last year.
• She stresses the scale and continuity case for open-pit mining, citing broad zones of one gram per tonne or better over 50 to 100 metres in the historic drilling, with higher-grade sections inside them.
• She sets an internal target of 30% to 40% resource growth, to be reached by combining 5,000 metres drilled by the previous owner, 5,000 metres of the company's own drilling and copper and silver values never included in the 2021 estimate.
• She points to a permitting precedent next door: an underground high-grade gold project that took a little less than five years to obtain a small-mines permit, which she reads as encouraging for timing in the district.
• She describes the asset as district-scale, over 10,000 hectares with a 20-kilometre property and a mineralized trend she believes runs about 11 kilometres, against roughly four kilometres of defined resource today.

Gold, silver and mining equities fell 25-50% during war-driven liquidation; both analysts call the sell-off a buying zone inside a bull market. Tungsten stands apart: prices rose from $1,977 to $2,600 in three weeks as munitions demand tightens a market with no ETF access. Upside Gold's CEO frames the Kena project as execution rather than discovery, growing a 3.31 million ounce historical gold-copper resource. An updated 43-101 is targeted for Q1 2027, adding 5,000 metres of legacy drilling plus copper and silver omitted from the 2021 estimate. Fenwick values the company near $15 per ounce in the ground and expects a re-rating while the gold bull market holds.

The Power of Women in Mining | March 31, 2026

• Top takeaway The Upside Gold CEO's central argument: in mining, 'the technical case rarely kills the project — the relationship case does,' so trust must be earned through consistency with teams, regulators, investors, and local stakeholders.
• She says the 2025 drill program weathered water shortages and a snowstorm without blowing the budget because of daily communication, closeness to the team, and fast, constant adjustment.
• She recounts reading failed social cues in a meeting in Denmark that a male counterpart judged a success — the counterpart pulled out of Canada within two months — as evidence of women's stronger read on rooms.
• She argues leadership in junior mining extends beyond the project site into advocacy — engaging federal agencies on grants, infrastructure investment, and flow-through financing policy.
• She says putting ego aside — something women have had to do repeatedly to advance — lets her make decisions focused on what is best for the company and shareholders.

Panelists argue mining performance now depends on leadership — trust, communication, and stakeholder alignment — as much as geology and capital. Paramount Gold's CEO describes how resolving ranchers' cattle concerns around its Oregon mine turned locals into permitting supporters. Upside Gold's CEO learned on a drill program that daily communication and fast decisions keep fieldwork on budget when conditions turn. Panelists urge investors to judge management on delivery versus promises, and to favor teams that have succeeded together before. Women remain a small share of mining's workforce, and panelists argue their collaborative, trust-building leadership style is a competitive advantage.