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Don Durrett & John Feneck Interview Rua Gold ($RUA | $NZAUF) CEO on Exploration Strategy

Investor TV Apr 16, 2026

Summary

Rua Gold is fast-tracking a small, high-grade gold-antimony starter mine in New Zealand's Reefton district, targeting a fully permitted mine by April 2027.

New Zealand's six-month permitting and a PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment, an early study of mine economics) due within a month anchor the path to production.

Grades above 1% antimony, roughly 20 times what the CEO cites at Perpetua's Utah project, would make Reefton New Zealand's biggest critical mineral deposit.

About $63 million raised since October leaves a strong treasury and sticky institutional shareholders, including metals traders seeking future antimony offtake.

Analysts see contained political risk: the pro-mining South Island and fast-track approval shield the project even if government changes, with $4,000-plus gold underpinning economics.

Key points on Oceanagold

  • Serves as the permitting benchmark for Rua's story: CEO Robert Eckford notes Oceana Gold's New Zealand mine was fully permitted at the end of 2025 under the fast-track regime and went into construction after just 114 business days.
  • Has operated the Waihi open pit in the North Island since 1980 and it has produced 10 million ounces; Eckford says a newly permitted Oceana mine 10 km north of Waihi is now under construction with an expected 30-year mine life.
  • Owned the historic Globe Progress mine in the Reefton district, one of only two operations there since the 1920s, which produced about 1 million ounces.

Key points on Perpetua Resources

  • Rua Gold's CEO uses Perpetua as his grade benchmark, pegging Perpetua's antimony mine at about 0.05% antimony versus over 1% at Reefton, roughly 20 times the grade.
  • Don Durrett says he was early to critical minerals, looking at Perpetua (PPTA) at $3-4 in 2023, and argues Rua having 20 times PPTA's antimony grade matters more because China controls about 80% of the antimony market as of April 2026.

Key points on Rua Gold

  • CEO Robert Eckford laid out a fast pathway to cashflow: a PEA on a small high-grade starter mine at Reefton is due around May 2026, a mine permit application is planned by the end of 2026, and the company aims to be fully permitted and ready for construction by April 2027.
  • The starter mine is designed on roughly 200,000 oz in the top 200 metres of a ~500,000 oz resource declared in February 2026, with CapEx of circa US$90-110 million; drilling announced shortly before the interview shows mineralization at least 500 metres deep and still open, and a PFS folding in 20,000 new metres is targeted for October 31, 2026.
  • Mineralization is gold-antimony averaging over 1% antimony, about 20 times the grade the CEO cites at Perpetua's US mine, which he calls New Zealand's biggest known critical mineral deposit, with Mercuria and Korean and Japanese strategics eyeing antimony offtake and New Zealand newly signed to the Mineral Securities Partnership (MSP).
  • Funding looks set: $33 million raised at $1.10 a share since October 2025 plus an oversubscribed C$25 million raise (book built to about C$70 million) with Franklin, Conway of Zurich and Mercuria (C$5 million) as cornerstones, and the CEO expects $15-20 million in the treasury around Q1 2027.
  • Beyond the starter mine, Rua controls about 95% of tenements across the historic nine-mine Reefton district (roughly 300,000 acres) with seven untouched mines, plus a planned 5,000-metre program on an undrilled North Island epithermal it sizes at up to 5 million ounces, a find the CEO would JV with a major rather than build.

Don Durrett's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Reveals he bought Rua Gold after the October 2025 interview, rates it highly on GoldStockData, and says that after this update he likes the stock even more and is weighing adding to his position before the PEA due around May 2026.
  • Argues the US economy is fragile after 25 years of Fed-driven manipulation: consumer confidence just hit a record low near 55, GDP is running around 1.5% (he believes recession has already begun), and the Iran conflict, gated private-credit funds, AI layoffs and boomer retirements are pushing markets toward a 'panic button' selloff he thinks is close.
  • Contends investors do not have to worry about Rua's PEA: with gold around $4,500/oz in April 2026 (he does not see it below $4,000) and CapEx he puts at $100-120 million, NPV should comfortably exceed twice CapEx, so IRR and free cashflow should be fine.
  • Calls New Zealand politics the story's only red flag, a small country where a left-leaning government could curb mining, but is comfortable because Rua is already in the fast-track process and the South Island is, per the CEO, about 99% pro-mining.
  • Sees big growth potential: the first mine looks set to exceed 1 million ounces with five or six high-grade past-producing mines to drill deeper, backed by a team that has built eight mines, sold $11 billion worth of companies and raised over $2 billion, plus a strong balance sheet and tight share structure.

Robert Eckford's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Argues Rua's defining feature is a fast pathway to cashflow, with a PEA around May 2026, a mine permit application by end of 2026 and full permitting by April 2027, enabled by New Zealand's six-month fast-track permitting and a board and management team that has built mines eight times over.
  • Frames the roughly 200,000 oz high-grade starter mine (circa US$90-110 million CapEx, about 200 jobs) as the piece that pays for the plant and covers costs, with every additional ounce, including depth below 200 metres, treated as upside.
  • Positions Reefton's gold-antimony grades (over 1% antimony) as New Zealand's biggest known critical mineral deposit and a Western-supply story, pointing to New Zealand's new MSP membership and interest from Mercuria and Asian strategics.
  • On political risk, argues a Labour-led government would slow permitting (perhaps 2.5 years versus six months) rather than stop the project, since the sub-hectare underground mine sits outside conservation land and the plant and tailings are being permitted with expansion capacity built in.
  • Describes himself as a builder of right-sized mines, saying $90-110 million CapEx is his wheelhouse rather than a billion-dollar build, and calls a big North Island epithermal discovery 'elephant hunting country' that Rua would JV with a major rather than develop itself.