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Tara Christie, President and CEO of Banyan Gold | Rule Symposium 2026: Rick Rule interviews

Rule Investment Media May 16, 2026

Summary

Yukon gold developer Banyan holds over $70 million after a $46.5 million financing, funding a 70,000-metre drill program well through 2027.

A resource update is due within weeks on 2.2Moz indicated plus 5.4Moz inferred ounces, with a PEA (preliminary economic assessment) following later this year.

Franco-Nevada paid $52.2 million for a 6% royalty, buyable to 1% for $10 million — cited as the best current valuation marker.

The guest argues few projects worldwide hold over five million mineable ounces — the economically extractable portion of a geological resource.

A lithologically constrained geological model makes high-grade hits predictable — strengthening the near-surface starter pits (first ore mined) that anchor early economics.

Key points on Franco-Nevada Corp

  • Tara Christie cites Franco-Nevada's $52.2M royalty purchase on Banyan's project, closed shortly before the May 2026 interview, as the most recent validation of the project's value.
  • She explains the royalty is 6% but can be bought down to 1% through a $10M payment.

Key points on Banyan Gold Corp

  • CEO Tara Christie says Banyan held over $70M in cash after closing a $46.5M financing as of the May 2026 interview, with 20,000 meters of drilling already paid for and funding the company well through 2027.
  • She reports an existing resource of 2.2Moz indicated and 5.4Moz inferred, with an update due within weeks that should add modest ounces but better define high-grade starter-pit zones, ahead of a PEA planned for H2 2026.
  • She argues the project is headed for rare territory of over 5 million mineable ounces, pointing to flat topography, high-grade zones starting at surface, and existing hydropower lines, roads, and a hydro dam beside the property.
  • She points to Franco-Nevada's $52.2M purchase of a 6% royalty on the project, buyable down to 1% for $10M, as the best current valuation marker against the company's roughly C$650M market cap.
  • She says the 2026 drill program was upsized to 70,000 meters to grow the resource, define high-grade zones, and test satellite targets on the 720 sq km property with over 500,000 oz potential each.

Rick Rule's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Rick Rule says he has invested alongside Banyan CEO Tara Christie for a couple of years and thanks her for her efforts on behalf of shareholders, himself included.
  • He says that beyond the size of Banyan's resource, what impressed him is that the lie of the deposit appears mineable.
  • He frames starter pits as what life is all about in a 5Moz deposit and presses Christie on the increasing frequency of high-grade hits.
  • He endorses Ross Beatty's judgment, saying that doing things alongside Ross has served him well since the mid-1980s.
  • He promotes his July 6-10 Boca Raton symposium, noting every exhibitor must be owned in the sponsors' accounts and that he offers a money-back guarantee.

Tara Christie's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Tara Christie argues Banyan's Yukon project will join the rare group of deposits with over 5 million mineable ounces, citing high-grade starter pits that begin at surface on flat topography.
  • She reports over $70M in the bank after a $46.5M financing as of the May 2026 interview, with 20,000 meters drilled and paid for and funding that carries the company well through 2027.
  • She guides that the imminent resource update will bring only a modest ounce increase, with the real news being better-defined high-grade zones and new subdomains in the starter-pit areas.
  • She has upsized the 2026 drill program to 70,000 meters, adding step-outs to test satellite targets on the 720 sq km property that she believes could each hold over 500,000 oz.
  • She credits the run of high-grade hits to a new lithologically constrained geological model with more domains and subdomains, and says the team now drills condemnation holes because it has found no edges to the deposit.

Ross Beatty's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Tara Christie relays that Ross Beatty's assessment, in a conversation the week before the interview, was that very few projects left or currently being built have over 3 million mineable ounces.
  • Rick Rule adds that doing things alongside Beatty has served him well since the mid-1980s.