Interview with Darcy Marud, President and CEO of Western Exploration
Recording date: 23rd September 2026
Western Exploration Inc. (TSXV:WEX, OTCQX:WEXPF) is a Nevada-focused gold and silver developer whose 100%-owned Aura project lies in north-east Nevada near the Idaho border. The project contains two assets about 8 km apart. Doby George is a near-surface oxide gold deposit being permitted for heap leach development. Gravel Creek is a high-grade epithermal gold-silver discovery that the company made in 2013. Together they hold about 1.5 million gold-equivalent ounces in indicated and inferred categories.
President and CEO Darcy Marud has spent about 40 years in the industry, including roles at Homestake, Meridian Gold and Yamana Gold, and was part of the team behind the El Peñón mine in Chile. Several of his senior colleagues have worked with him for 20 years or more, including CFO Curtis Turner and Aura Project General Manager Mark Hawksworth.
Doby George has a long history. Homestake discovered it in the 1980s, and it carried over 800 drill holes when Western acquired it in the late 1990s. The company validated the historical data through confirmation drilling, an independent 2021 technical report and a further drilling programme in 2022. The 2025 PEA outlines a five-year open-pit, heap leach operation producing about 58,700 ounces of gold per year at a grade of 1.01 g/t. At US$3,000/oz gold, the study shows an after-tax NPV of US$211.2 million, a 62.2% IRR and AISC of US$1,197/oz. Initial capital is US$115.2 million, which is broadly equal to one year of operating cash flow. Marud said the company can see additional oxide ounces that could extend mine life to seven to ten years.
Western chose to start permitting early because it is the longest-lead item. Its Mine Plan of Operations is with the US Forest Service, and the company wants regulator feedback before completing a Pre-Feasibility Study in early to mid-2027. It is targeting a record of decision at the end of 2027, followed by state permits and a possible EIS. That points to a construction decision in 2028 or 2029 and production in 2030.
Gravel Creek provides the growth angle. Last year's resource update raised gold ounces by more than 50% and silver ounces by 83%, driven by the high-grade Jarbidge discovery. The deposit shares its age, mineralogy and style with historic northern Nevada mines such as Midas and Sleeper. Recent metallurgical work showed that concentrate can be ultra-fine ground and cyanide-leached to produce doré on site, with 73.3% gold and 74% silver recovery reported so far. Further test work is due by the end of 2026.
The company is tightly held, with 63.4 million shares outstanding, and Agnico Eagle owns 10%. Its market capitalisation of about C$40 million is small next to Doby George's capital needs, so financing structure and dilution are key considerations. Marud described Glamis Gold's start-small, grow-around-a-central-plant model as the template.
Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/western-exploration
Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com/subscribe
