Interview with Kiran Patankar, President & CEO of Maple Gold Mines
Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/maple-gold-mines-tsxvmgm-52moz-gold-system-with-major-drill-growth-ahead-10207
Recording date: 22nd September 2026
Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV:MGM) is advancing the 100%-owned Douay/Joutel Gold Project, a 481 km² land package on the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone in Québec's Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The project hosts a combined resource of 905,000 ounces Indicated and 4.3 million ounces Inferred, for about 5.2 million ounces in total. Douay contributes large-scale, lower-grade open-pit and underground mineralisation, with 779,000 ounces Indicated at 1.33 g/t and 3.3 million ounces Inferred at 0.84 g/t. Joutel adds a maiden underground resource of 126,000 ounces Indicated at 4.53 g/t and 992,000 ounces Inferred at 4.11 g/t.
The main development over the past year is a change in the company's focus. According to President and CEO Kiran Patankar, Maple Gold's market value has risen roughly tenfold in twelve months. The company has since completed an internal scoping study that compared processing flowsheets, throughput rates of 5,000 to 40,000 tonnes per day, and whether the deposits justify a standalone mill. Patankar says the study concluded the project could support two mines. The emerging concept is a central mill near Douay, with high-grade Joutel material trucked roughly 25-30 kilometres to lift the overall head grade. Tender processes for PEA engineering firms are under way, and an updated resource and PEA are targeted around mid-2027.
Joutel is the near-term driver. Agnico Eagle mined 1.1 million ounces there at 6.5 g/t between 1974 and 1993, using a 6 g/t cut-off. Patankar says material below that grade was never drill tested. Maple Gold's winter programme hit the target horizon in 19 of 22 holes, including 8.6 g/t over 4.2 metres between the Eagle and Telbel shafts, and extended high-grade mineralisation 450 metres beyond the old workings. None of this drilling is in the current resource. The fully funded C$9 million, 25,000 metre fall programme targets resource conversion, infill and expansion, with a stated goal of doubling the Joutel resource at similar grades.
Management says it has built conservatism into its assumptions. The Joutel resource excludes a 100 metre crown pillar and 10 metre buffers around old stopes. The internal study assumed new shafts rather than reuse of existing ones, and a 77% recovery rate compared with the 90%-plus Patankar says Agnico Eagle achieved. A new metallurgical programme should provide current recovery data.
On valuation, Maple Gold trades near $30 per ounce of resource. Patankar argues that most comparable Canadian projects already have PEAs and trade on NPV multiples, so publishing an economic study is the main route to a re-rating. The company held about C$20 million in cash at the time of the interview and says it is funded through 2027. Agnico Eagle is the largest shareholder at approximately 12.5%.
The key risks are the high proportion of Inferred ounces, the unpublished status of the internal study, reliance on historical metallurgical data and Agnico Eagle's back-in right to a 50% interest. Near-term catalysts include Joutel fall drill results, pending Douay assays, an expansion to four to six rigs this winter, and the mid-2027 resource update and PEA.
View Maple Gold Mines' company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/maple-gold-mines-ltd
Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
