Recorded November 19, 2025, from the Benchmark Conference in Los Angeles.
In this critical episode of The Compass, Sam Pelaez (President, CEO & CIO of Olive Resource Capital) and Derek Macpherson (Executive Chairman of Olive) dissect a fundamental shift occurring in mining project finance as traditional debt-equity structures replace the exotic capital arrangements that dominated recent years.
KEY TOPICS COVERED:
Troilus Gold's Financing Breakthrough
The expanded debt facility announcement signals developers can now credibly finance construction independently rather than depending entirely on takeovers. At $4,100 gold, project profitability has driven down the cost of capital materially, enabling traditional banking structures instead of 20%+ private equity arrangements.
"The Generalists Are Coming"
Nine-figure equity financings now occur weekly, with non-resource institutions like Fidelity regularly participating. This marks a dramatic expansion of available capital pools beyond traditional mining investors and validates the sector's investment thesis to Wall Street.
Year-End Market Dynamics
No tax loss selling pressure this year as most mining equities are substantially higher than purchase points. However, seasonal liquidity constraints from holiday spending may create temporary dislocations and attractive entry points ahead of typically strong Q1 performance.
Flow-Through Financing Rush
Canadian flow-through funds must deploy 2025 capital before December 31st, creating a year-end rush of placements working down the capitalisation spectrum from larger companies to progressively smaller explorers.
Building as Negotiating Leverage
Developers who can credibly "threaten to build" maintain stronger negotiating positions with potential acquirers. Clean capital structures without permanent streaming impairments make projects more valuable takeover targets post-construction.
Why This Matters:
Traditional banking institutions have long been willing to finance mining projects but were constrained by developers' inability to assemble the equity component without destroying capital structures. With both debt and equity now accessible at reasonable rates, a select group of well-positioned developers may advance independently, populating the mid-tier producer pipeline essential for an industry facing depletion of existing assets.
ABOUT OLIVE RESOURCE CAPITAL:
Olive Resource Capital is a specialist mining investment fund focused on precious metals, base metals, and battery metals across the development and production spectrum.