Interview with Michael Murphy, Executive Chairman of South Pacific Metals
Recording date: 22nd September 2026
South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV:SPMC, OTCQB:SPMEF, FSE:6J00) is a Papua New Guinea-focused gold-copper explorer built around a straightforward thesis: hold ground on the same geological structures that have already produced some of the world's most significant gold-copper mines, and let proximity to proven systems reduce exploration risk relative to greenfield ground.
The company's four projects sit within three established PNG mining districts. Kili Teke, acquired from Harmony Gold in 2023, is located roughly 40 kilometres from Barrick's Porgera mine and carries an NI 43-101 Inferred Resource of 237 million tonnes grading 0.24 g/t Au and 0.34% Cu, containing 1.81 million ounces of gold and 802,000 tonnes of copper (effective November 2022). Management argues this resource significantly understates the system's scale, since it is trimmed to roughly 650 metres from surface and excludes several higher-grade targets identified in historical and recent sampling including skarns returning up to 27.5% Cu at surface and an alkalic gold target with soil anomalies to 9,390 ppb Au. Drill-ready targets at these excluded zones are expected by the end of October 2026.
Osena and Anga sit on the Kainantu Transfer Zone, the same structure hosting K92 Mining's high-margin Kainantu operation. Drilling at Osena's Megabe target has already returned high-grade intercepts, including 8 metres at 8.95 g/t Au (with 5 metres at 12.46 g/t Au inside that), and four step-out holes have extended the mineralised structure to over 300 metres of strike in roughly ten weeks since the first discovery hole, a pace Executive Chairman Michael Murphy pointed to directly. Four additional holes at the nearby Ontenu Central target are complete, with assay results still pending.
May River, the company's fourth project, sits approximately 15 kilometres from PanAust's Frieda River deposit, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-gold projects, and hosts historical drill intercepts including 19 metres at 11.47% Cu and 2.17 g/t Au.
Management brings relevant credibility to this positioning. Murphy previously spent 12 years on the board of Torex Gold, which he built from a small shell company into a producer now valued at more than $4 billion. The board also includes Alex Davidson, formerly EVP of Exploration and Corporate Development at Barrick Gold, and CEO Timo Jauristo, a 40-year mining executive with senior roles at Goldcorp and Placer Dome.
On the financial side, Murphy told Crux Investor that a financing of roughly $20 million backed by several established mining-sector institutional funds was in its final stages at the time of the interview, intended to fund the current work programme through year-end 2026. As at August 31, 2026, the company carried a market capitalisation of approximately C$65 million and a share price of C$0.93, with insiders holding roughly 45% of the register.
For investors, the appeal lies in the combination of a defined resource with clear expansion potential, active drilling already producing high-grade results, a funded programme, and an experienced technical and capital-markets team set against the standard risks of early-stage exploration in a jurisdiction still working to shed its reputation for operational difficulty, regardless of the recent evidence to the contrary.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/kainantu-resources
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