Interview with Jim Paterson, Principal and Co-Founder of Discovery Group
Recording date: 24th September 2026
Discovery Group co-founder Jim Paterson used his conversation with Crux Investor at the Beaver Creek conference to make a clear case. Capital has returned to the junior mining sector, and for experienced teams it is changing how exploration is done.
Paterson has worked in the business since 1997. For most of that time, he said, neither the companies he was associated with nor those of his peers had enough money to move quickly. Companies raised funds for single drill holes, waited for results and then raised again. This created two problems for shareholders. Costs were higher because nothing could be planned in advance. Good results also tended to become liquidity events, with existing investors selling into strength rather than the company re-rating.
The current market, in Paterson's view, allows a different model. Funded companies can build two- and three-year programmes. They can negotiate with drilling contractors, geophysical contractors and camp providers on longer terms. They can offer their best people secure employment for two years. Paterson argued that this planning lowers costs and reduces the cost of capital, which ultimately benefits shareholders on a per-share basis.
He named three Discovery Group members as examples. Prospector Metals and K2 Gold previously lacked the capital to answer key questions but are now doing so and have funding to continue into next year. Kodiak Copper is fully funded and drilling at its MPD copper-gold project in British Columbia, a district-scale porphyry system with seven confirmed zones and an initial resource estimate. Paterson credited Chairman Chris Taylor, whose Great Bear discovery was acquired by Kinross Gold for $1.8 billion in 2022, with helping CEO Claudia Tornquist execute.
Europe is a new front for the group. Aquitaine Metals, led by Taylor, holds exclusivity over 330 km² in France's Limousin district, an area that includes 23 past-producing gold mines. Paterson said the jurisdiction has become highly supportive, a change he would not have expected a decade ago. The company is private and hopes to list by the end of the year.
Paterson also warned against complacency. Capital is not yet in excess, but when it arrives in size, generalists and private equity investors who do not understand the business can fund projects that should not advance. Some niche metals rarely attract investment because of difficult metallurgy or locations, and political will does not fix a project that does not work.
His advice to investors is to focus on people. He believes management teams should own significant stock they paid for, and he pointed investors to SEDI to check insider buying. He values clear communication and has worked with an advisor to improve his own. He will not do a deal with anyone he has only met over video, and he looks at how people behave under stress and over time.
For investors, the message is that the current environment rewards funded, experienced teams with scalable projects. The watch-items are whether funded members deliver results, whether Aquitaine lists as hoped and whether the market stays disciplined as more capital arrives.
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