Skip to main content

Rua Gold ($RUA | $NZAUF) Investor Webinar: Gold, Antimony, and New Zealand's Mining Renaissance

Investor TV May 15, 2026

Summary

A preliminary economic assessment (an early-stage mine study) shows Rua Gold's first 200 meters at Old Creek already generate a profitable starter mine.

CEO Robert Eckford plans a pre-feasibility study by October, backed by a 20,000-meter drill program that is adding ounces and grade.

New Zealand's six-month fast-track permitting drives the rush: the mine application is due 31 October, ahead of a 7 November election.

Antimony (a critical metal China restricts) is about 35% of expected revenue and draws Japanese, Korean, and US offtake interest.

Eckford warns the deposit stops paying if antimony falls to $15,000 per ton, and Glamorgan's epithermal upside remains undrilled with permits expected in Q2.

Key points on Newmont

  • Cited in the host's recap of the Rua Gold team's track record: the team sold Frontier Gold to Newmont as part of the more than $11 billion in value creation he says it has overseen.
  • The guest describes Simon Henderson as having left Newmont during his Hauraki district career, after 14 years delineating the Waihi deposit as a senior resource geologist.

Key points on Oceanagold

  • The CEO says Oceanagold's Fari Kiraponga (WKP) project next to Rua's Glamorgan ground holds about 1.5 million ounces at 18 g/t, is open in every direction, and is now under construction, with fresh drill results released about three weeks before the webinar showing the high grade continues.
  • The project was permitted in 114 days through New Zealand's fast-track process — the CEO's evidence that fast-track permitting is real and mines are actually being built under it.
  • The CEO also describes Oceanagold as a roughly $14 billion company that has long dominated New Zealand gold mining, with the Waihi mine at 10 million ounces produced, 2 million ounces still in reserves, and operating today.

Key points on Aris Mining Corp

  • Robert Eckford says he co-founded Aris Mining in 2020 and left as CFO in 2024 at a $1.5 billion market cap; he credits the current management with taking it to about $4.5 billion and cites it as a case where a management handover was the right answer rather than a takeout.
  • Aris CEO Richard Thomas is joining the Rua Gold board in May 2026 after its AGM, which Eckford presents as validation of Reefton's district-scale potential.

Key points on Fortuna Mining

  • Named as the acquirer of Roxgold in the host's recap of the Rua Gold team's track record, which he puts at more than $11 billion in value created.

Key points on Rua Gold

  • The CEO says the new PEA shows the first 200 meters of Old Creek — about 200,000 ounces at roughly 4 g/t gold-equivalent — already support a profitable starter mine, generating a US$42 million profit after payback at $3,300 gold (5% discounted), though he says Rua will not build that mine as designed.
  • About 20,000 meters of drilling with five rigs is under way: the CEO says mineralization has been hit 300 meters below the current resource, the strike zone has been extended from 800 to 1,200 meters, and a PFS plus mine-permit application are targeted for October 2026.
  • The October deadline is set by New Zealand's November 7 election: the CEO wants the project locked into the six-month fast-track permitting regime in case a less pro-mining government wins, with mine permitting targeted for H1 2027.
  • Antimony is about 35% of planned mine revenue at the $27,000/t base case; the CEO warns the current plan would lose money at $15,000/t antimony, and says early offtake and floor-price discussions are open with Japanese, Korean and US parties.
  • The company reports about C$33 million in cash as of the May 2026 webinar after an oversubscribed January raise, and plans a project-financing decision around Q1 2027 for roughly $130 million of capex including contingency, at all-in sustaining costs under $2,000/oz.

Simon Henderson's takeaways

  • Top takeaway The CEO credits Henderson with making the discovery next door: after more than 30 years in the Hauraki district and 14 years delineating Waihi as a senior resource geologist, he staked the Glamorgan ground himself and identified the Fari Kiraponga anomaly.
  • Henderson's current read is that Glamorgan shows the same lattice-bladed quartz rock chips as the neighboring project, matching WKP core from less than 3 kilometers away and trending in the same direction — the basis for Rua's North Island blue-sky case.
  • The CEO says Henderson is not retiring and will drive exploration across Reefton, including the search for a second underground mine to feed the planned plant.

Robert Eckford's takeaways

  • Top takeaway His central argument is that the PEA is a floor, not the plan: he insists Rua Gold will not build the 200,000-ounce Old Creek starter mine as designed, and that the October 2026 PFS plus deeper drilling will show a much larger, multi-generational Reefton mine.
  • He frames New Zealand's November 7 election as the driving deadline — the mine application must be in by October 31 so the project is locked into the six-month fast-track regime even if a less pro-mining government wins.
  • He is personally working the critical-minerals channel: early-stage dialogues with Japanese, Korean and US offtakers on antimony offtake and possible floor pricing, with trips to New Zealand and Washington planned in the weeks after the webinar.
  • He casts himself as a company builder rather than a long-term operator: he left Aris at $1.5 billion to join a $20 million company and argues a mining engineer should run Rua once it is a steady-state producer.
  • He is candid about antimony price risk — at $15,000/t versus the $27,000/t base case the current Old Creek plan would not make money — and argues the answer is more ounces and throughput before any build decision.

Mounir Barazi's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Sets the macro stage for the webinar: gold set 53 all-time highs in 2025 and rose more than 65% over two years, while antimony ran from about $13,000/t in early 2024 to over $57,000/t by mid-2025 after China imposed export controls.
  • Argues Rua Gold is an explorer positioned to capture that value rather than just ride the sentiment, stressing that it controls New Zealand's largest known antimony inventory and was publicly named by the resources minister in the country's critical minerals strategy.
  • Frames the team-conviction case — more than $11 billion in value creation across the team, insiders buying with zero selling — and presses the CEO on financing runway, non-dilutive options, and fast-track permitting risk ahead of the election.