Transcription
Hello everybody and welcome into Commodity Culture, where our goal is to make you a better investor in the commodities sector. My name is Jesse Day. Today is March 30th, 2026, and before we dive in, a standard disclaimer. Nothing here is investment advice. Do your own due diligence.
My guest today is the CEO of Sasquatch Resources, a mineral exploration company focused on reclamation of waste rock that is easily accessible, occurs in significant volumes, and can contain potentially economic grades of copper, gold, silver, and other valuable minerals. It's Peter Smith. Great to have you on the show.
Yeah, you said it, Jesse. Great intro and thank you for having me on the show. I'm very excited to be here.
Yes, I am excited to have you also. Now, I'm very much looking forward to diving into what you do at Sasquatch Resources, 'cause it's quite unique within the mining sector. But first, I want to go over the macro setup for some of the metals that you are working with. I want to start with gold because we saw gold drop rather dramatically after the war in Iran started. A lot of people saw gold as a safe haven asset. They assumed if global conflict ramps up, intensifies, that we'll see the gold price rise. That hasn't really played out as people expect. Did that surprise you? And and what are your thoughts overall on the gold market for the remainder of 2026 and beyond?
Yeah, great questions. You know, and if I, if I could answer them definitively, of course, I'd be a billionaire, but I, I'd certainly have my thoughts, you know, on the, um, on the bull side of gold, of course, war and some economic uncertainty out there and and, uh, and you're quite right. You would think that we'd be seeing maybe a little more interest than we have been, uh, over the short term. Um, but there are, you know, there's some bearish, uh, stuff going on out there as well, obviously with the price of oil spiking, uh, as a result of of the conflict. Uh, you know, you've, you've got inflation fears, uh, which is which is signaling for potentially higher interest rates and and with that higher Treasury yields and, uh, and then of course, kind of underlying those factors, you've got still a strong US dollar. Uh, so obviously expensive for everyone who's not holding US dollars to to buy gold. Uh, so you've got these, um, these kind of push-pull factors going on and and and maybe again, this is just kind of my view and I'm not a macroeconomist by any stretch, but, uh, you also have some other short-term factors that are potentially lending to a sell-off, um, in particular, you know, markets are struggling and so, uh, you could have a bit of a sell-off related to, um, forced liquidation of of leveraged positions, etc. Um, so, so I think you've got some short-term factors that are that are preventing gold from kind of continuing its climb, uh, and even, you know, having having it step back a bit. But if you look at some of the big, uh, far smarter groups out there than myself, uh, you know, JP Morgan and and Deutsch Bank, etc., uh, a lot of those groups are still holding $6,000 price targets for for 2026 and and for good reason, you know, because there are, uh, a lot of, um, kind of bull factors out there for it. Uh, you know, we still have some unpredictability just given the political climate these days. Um, US is seeing some economic, uh, downturn, you know, which which, uh, you know, is going to I think lead maybe to some rate cuts in the future despite the, you know, short-term inflation worries, uh, and then the dollar itself, you know, should should maybe, um, you know, struggle a little bit again over the short to medium term just because of some of these, uh, poor economic indicators we've seen out of the US. So, so long-term and even medium-term, I think gold's in really, really good shape. Um, and as I mentioned, there's a couple of short-term factors out there that are getting in the way, I think.
Yeah, great summary. Silver has been on an absolute roller coaster, running all the way up to around $120 an ounce at the start of the year before collapsing, famously or infamously, depending how you look at it, dropping 26% in a single trading day. Uh, now we are sitting at around $70, which is still quite impressive when you consider that around the middle of last year, people would call you crazy for saying silver would be at $50. Do you think that $120 level was the top in this bull market, or do you think silver still has legs to run here?
I, you know, I think it has legs. Um, it's, it's funny. You know, it's a, it's a precious metal. So, all of the stuff that we were just talking about related to gold still applies to a lesser extent, uh, to silver. So, so certainly some some bullish signals there. Uh, there's also a supply-demand deficit with silver that's that's kind of well-documented. Um, but there's also an X-factor, uh, with silver, and that's that it has a whole bunch of industrial applications that just go beyond, you know, holding silver as a as a precious metal. Uh, you know, for example, as a, as a conductor for solar and and, uh, EVs and of course, the whole AI buildout. Um, silver's needed for all all those things. Um, it's also a chemical catalyst, which is used to make plastic, polyester, formaldehyde. Um, it's used in optics. It's, it's a great reflector. So they use it for for, uh, high-end telescopes, uh, and a lot of other optical, um, uh, apparatus and and also, um, and the list kind of goes on and on with silver, uh, for medical applications because it's got these great antibacterial, uh, properties. And so there's all kinds of different things that that silver actually can be used for in the industrial world on top of, you know, its allure as a, as a precious metal, uh, as well. So, uh, again, you've got the supply-demand deficit. So, so silver should still have legs going forward for sure. Unfortunately, it's, it's a smaller market than gold, of course, and so it's, it's going to be, um, uh, vulnerable to these bigger swings, which of course we've seen.
Absolutely. Now, copper is a metal that also hit all-time highs not too long ago, continuing to show strength at around $5.50 a pound as of the time of this recording. A lot of analysts are projecting massive demand in the face of supply constraints worldwide. What is your current take on the copper market?
Yeah, much, much more dramatic than silver in this way. There's, there's a big kind of supply-demand deficit with copper that's also kind of well-known. And, uh, contemporary, uh, copper projects, they're lower grade, you know, they're more expensive, uh, these days and they take a lot longer to permit than they did even 10 or 20 years ago. Um, so this, the supply is actually going to struggle, uh, mightily to keep up with massive demand because of course, we use copper and lots of it for almost everything from small-scale projects to large-scale industrial projects and development. Um, and I'll just tell you a quick story. Uh, one of the, uh, smartest guys that I ever had the privilege of speaking with kind of in person is a guy named Wum Pilot. Uh, used to be with and and now I, I believe he still runs Halos. Um, and he, he was very bullish on on copper and and, uh, he, he said something that really stuck with me. He said, you know, I've really looked at these these numbers and and studied them and and he's a very smart guy, uh, and he said, this supply-demand deficit is is scary and, um, he said, you know, I would not be surprised to see suddenly we're going to wake up one day and this is going to happen over the space of days, not months, and and you might see the price of copper doubling it, uh, and that's going to be when essentially, uh, we see a a major, uh, essentially run on supply, uh, and that and that's coming. Um, it's, it's some would say inevitable. So copper is a very exciting, uh, and also, you know, concerning and scary space, uh, related to supply and demand and and of course, our need to to, uh, to build.
Well, with gold and silver taking quite a hit in the face of the Iran war, we also saw mining stocks tumble as well, um, in the gold and silver space. Do you think the sector is presenting a buying opportunity at present? And counter to that, could there be headwinds by this inflated energy price at present? If these above $100, around $100 WTI crude prices, Brent, of course, in the same category continue, could that perhaps put a damper on the mining sector as a whole?
Yeah, it's a good question. You know, there's, um, some of these kind of macro trends. Um, uh, there's, there tends to be a knee-jerk reaction that has a a dramatic impact on on the junior mining sector, of course, as the the kind of point of first entry, so to speak. Um, and when I'm looking at junior mining opportunities and kind of evaluating them, there's, there's really two things that I think you just always have to look at. Um, first of all, you know, the base asset, you know, how substantial is it? What kind of grades are you talking about? Volumes, what jurisdiction is it in? And and and, you know, these, the base asset and those characteristics, I mean, obviously very important. And then the second big factor I always look at is is management and and in particular, uh, the track record of management, both in the past with previous enterprises and with the current, uh, asset. What have they done with the money that they've had, uh, that's already been invested? How have they advanced the asset? Have they done it efficiently? Have they hit their milestones? Um, and I think you look at those two things and if you like what you see in terms of the base asset and the management team, uh, you, you almost have to just kind of form your hypothesis based on that and stick with it because these larger cycles, they're going to come and go. And I'm, I'm, uh, old enough to to have experienced three or four of these big cycles. And and, um, the the key thing I think to remember is these quality assets with good management teams are going to do well in the long run, uh, so long as they can survive for downturns.
Well, let's discuss how Sasquatch Resources fits into the picture. Could you start by giving us an overview of the company?
Yeah. Um, it's, it's kind of an interesting story. You know, when we started looking at, uh, our first asset, which is Mount Sicker, about, uh, 10 minutes drive from Duncan on Vancouver Island, um, it, it's a former mine. It was a, it was a mine back in 1900. And, um, we were looking at just kind of reopening the mine initially. We, uh, like most junior mining companies, we're looking at old mines because they're interesting. And, um, uh, we were up there looking at old drill logs and sampling, uh, veins, etc. Um, but every time we went up there, of course, uh, we're looking at the surrounding legacy mine site and and we saw massive piles of waste rock. Um, and of course, we're seeing these things every day and they're and they're large and they're just kind of sitting there and very accessible. Uh, so we started sampling the waste pile systematically and and, uh, you know, small amounts at first, but eventually, we sampled, sampled it pretty extensively and, um, uh, we found that the the waste pile had amazing grades and then then of course, we learned that, uh, these waste piles actually, and in the case of Mount Sicker especially, uh, can have a lot of sulfides, which, uh, sitting on the surface can do damage to the environment. They they leach acid and other contaminants, uh, kind of within the pile, um, into the environment. So, um, suddenly for us, the penny dropped. We just thought, okay, what, you know, here we are, we're trying to to do a, essentially a vanilla exploration project, but but really we've got all this high-grade waste piled at surface. Why shouldn't we address be addressing it and maybe, um, making some improvements to the environment while we're at it? Um, so we turned our focus essentially to become a reclamation company at that point. Uh, developing Mount Sicker, of course, but also looking at, uh, other potential projects for the pipeline as we've been adding other legacy mine sites and and areas where we're experiencing a lot of mine waste. Um, you know, the, the great thing about that approach is costs are very low. Uh, we know we're not, we're not exploring underground. We're dealing with stuff that's piled at surface. Uh, our approach is essentially to crush and or sort the material and then sell the high-grade at at at a nearby port. We're about 15 minutes away from a deep water port called Crofton. Um, so, uh, in terms of our kind of mining infrastructure, there, there really is none. We're using a, a mobile process. We're not creating any new waste at all. And as I mentioned earlier, at the end of the day, we're actually meeting these sites in a far better state in which we found them.
So, are you strictly looking at reclamation operations here? Are there any plans to do perhaps a conventional mining approach, whether it's on Vancouver Island or any any other projects that you have? And what do the economics really look like compared to actually going through and doing a conventional mining operation?
So, of course, as we're looking at these old legacy mine sites and and, uh, and looking at kind of waste rock in general, uh, they are always associated with mineralization, of course. Um, so, it's kind of a, a side bonus, so to speak, of what we do. We, we're, we're in places that are bound to have, uh, some decent, uh, hard rock opportunities. So we have been looking at that and we, we've been doing, um, geophysics and further investigations, kind of at at the hard rock opportunities all around. Um, it's, our our intention to probably JV those opportunities to more, uh, uh, companies that are more focused on the exploration side. Um, we want to stay focused and and kind of stay the course, so to speak, on the on the reclamation part of this. Um, and the reclamation part, again, is, it's, uh, it's substantial and, we think the margins are going to be incredible. And again, I mentioned earlier, uh, we're not extracting ore from the ground and we're not creating a lot of mining infrastructure at all. We're dealing with stuff that is piled at surface and we're using a mobile and simple process which has a low cost. Um, at the end of the day, at the other thing I'll mention is, um, from a permitting perspective, uh, things become a lot more simple. Uh, again, the the pitch that we're making to to these permitting groups is, hey, you have a liability, you have a legacy mine site that's dangerous and environmentally hazardous. We would like to go and clean up the the high sulfides, essentially remove them and address some of these hazards. Um, and, uh, and we're not creating new waste or mining infrastructure while we're doing that. So, so the permitting perspective gets gets a lot simpler and and also from the perimeter's perspective, they, they want to see us succeed because they want these liabilities off their books, so to speak.
Can you shed some light on the team behind Sasquatch Resources? And maybe let's start with yourself and your own background and why you're the right CEO to be taking the helm.
Well, you know, I'm part of a team, of course. Um, the core team, I would say, is is myself, uh, Mike Raven, um, uh, who I worked with as a, as a lawyer, uh, early days, uh, and Tom Lamb, who I went to law school with, uh, back, uh, last last century. Uh, hate to admit, but, uh, myself, Mike, and Tom, we, we've actually started a few companies together. Um, uh, we, uh, uh, I co-founded a company called Lesm Storage, uh, which is a storage company based in in Poland, of all places. Uh, this is back in 2013 and and it was the, the same team that did that. Uh, we ended up, uh, there was an initial investment of about 20 million Canadian. Um, it ended up actually going private and, um, uh, it is still run by my co-founder, Guy Pincent, and, uh, that company's worth about a half a billion now. Uh, very successful with, uh, self-storage locations throughout throughout Poland. Um, same team again, Mike, Tom, and myself. We started Myriad Uranium together. Uh, Copper Mountain is the asset in Wyoming, um, that was, we're going back about four or five years when we started that company and it's, um, it's been a pretty big success, market cap in the $50 million range and, uh, an incredible asset which we've, uh, which we've found with some hard work and a little bit of luck, uh, in Wyoming. And so the track record for the team is is great and I, you know, I would encourage anyone interested in Sasquatch to just look at our past and and and what we've done. But, uh, as well, we've got some like wonderful new people involved in Sasquatch. Uh, Andy Holloway is our engineer and and metallurgist and and has just joined the board. Um, this is a guy who's been, uh, essentially in the processing side for 30 years and he's worked with the likes of, uh, uh, Glencore and Ocean Partners and and he's going to be the guy that, uh, essentially finds us end buyers and and creates this this, uh, high-grade, um, product that we're going to be selling from the waste. Uh, Justin Dvau is, uh, is our, uh, really our main prospector and and a guy who knows Vancouver Island very, very well. He's he's lived here his whole life and, uh, actually is based in Duncan. Um, he knows Mount Sicker better than any other human being, which is obviously a massive help. Um, but also, uh, he's very familiar with a lot of legacy mine sites, uh, nearby and he's helped us secure, uh, a lot of our pipeline, uh, which we have. Um, Lou Webster is on our board. Uh, he's been a lawyer in Victoria for 30 years and he kind of knows everybody and has some great connections, uh, you know, when it comes to the the permitting side and and, uh, you know, securing the port, for example. Um, also Julian Ducet, uh, from, uh, who founded Synergy Enterprises, uh, essentially is kind of represents the environmental side of things and she's been an environmental expert, uh, really for her whole professional life. Um, and she essentially is keeping us on task, uh, on the on the cleanup side and and, uh, ensuring that everything we're doing is actually, uh, going to be, uh, both perceived as and actually, uh, environmentally, uh, sound.
How about catalyst and news flow that's going to be upcoming for the company? What, what should shareholders and potential investors in the company be, uh, looking out for?
Well, we're in permitting at Mount Sicker. Uh, so, so that's is this our project number one. Uh, it's about 300,000 tons or so of of, uh, pretty high-grade waste. I, I forgot to mention, you know, uh, back when that mine was open, kind of 1895 to about 1915, um, their cut-off grades for copper were 8%. If you can believe that. So, as they're pulling stuff out of the mountain, if it's not obviously at least 8% copper, they were discarding it onto these waste piles, um, of course, which is which has become our focus. Um, so we're in permitting there. Um, and that project, um, will take about a year once we actually get going. So, assuming we get our permit and operations start, we'll get through that entire waste pile within a year. Uh, right after that is going to be Blue Gross, which is our essentially our project number two. Uh, we have another one called Copper Road. We have another one after that called Santana. Um, and there's another one and so on and so forth. So, we've been able to line up, uh, a number of these great waste dump projects and they all have pretty good economics at the end of the day. So, um, but permitting Mount Sicker is going to be first. We, we've been sampling a bunch of the other ones. We've got results for for a number of them and we're waiting on results for a number of them. So, you're going to be seeing, uh, news releases related to pipeline projects and, uh, what grades are we getting in these waste piles and assessments for volume, etc. Um, the other thing you're going to be seeing news about are, uh, uh, potentially with local First Nations and, uh, generally just community support. And and I'll mention that it's been great, uh, as you would expect with a project like this. Again, we're, uh, we're going to, uh, the local city and the local First Nations and the permitters and the government and we're saying, "Hey, we'd love to clean up this big, dangerous, environmentally hazardous mess, uh, which happens to have lots of gold, copper, silver, and zinc." Um, we're not getting a lot of resistance. Again, uh, people now people are holding us to task and and, uh, First Nations in particular have a lot of questions about what is, what is the state of the land going to be when you guys are done? What steps are you going to take to to properly rehabilitate this land and how exactly are you going to make it safe? Um, we've been using, um, experts like O'Kane, uh, for example, uh, who are experts when it comes to mine closure and and, uh, uh, reclamation. Uh, we've been using them and they've, they've been, uh, delivering to us reports and recommendations, etc.
Well, before we wrap up here, is there anything we haven't yet covered? Is there anything you think is particularly important to emphasize to potential shareholders of SCA Sasquatch Resources? What should they be focused on here?
Um, you know, what the thing that I love about this project, you know, we, um, uh, been involved in lots of different mining projects and of course, self-storage over the years, but but this one's different for me in that, uh, it, we are addressing a real environmental issue as well as, uh, you know, these legacy mine sites have real physical hazards that are are dangerous. Um, one of the things that that really, uh, gets me out of bed with enthusiasm each day is the thought that we can make a positive change and address some of these sites. And so we're, we're mining, of course, and I love, I love mining, but, um, we're, we're, we're doing it in a very particular way that I think, um, you know, has to be done more and it and potentially is the wave of the future. You know, there's 2,000 legacy mine sites in BC alone. Many of them are going to have dangers and and and, uh, present, uh, environmental hazards and and so addressing all of these sites, it's important at the end of the day, you know. Um, so, uh, from an investment perspective, you know, that's something you can you can certainly feel good about. I, I like our prospects for recovering a lot of gold, silver, copper, and zinc, but I also like our project, our prospects for just making the world, uh, a better place at the end of the day. And just lastly, I'll mention, you know, there's, in my opinion, there's no, there's not a more efficient way to get critical minerals and other needed elements into the supply chain. Uh, at the end of the day, like this stuff is piled at surface and we are not creating new mining infrastructure to access it. We're, we're hydrating it essentially by or sorting and then sending it to a facility that's already permitted and already there. So, um, you know, we're, once we get operational, we're delivering copper to the supply chain in months and we're doing it without building out a new mine, which is to me amazing.
Fantastic. Well, I'm going to put links in the description below to Sasquatch Resources' website as well as social media for people who want to dive deeper into the company. Peter, fantastic conversation. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Oh, thank you, Jesse. It's been a real pleasure. Appreciate it.
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