Artemis Gold has lifted the cost of its first Blackwater mill expansion in central British Columbia to C$120 million, about 20% above the original C$100–C$110 million budget, to add spares and raise nameplate capacity by one‑third to 8 million tonnes per year. The revised spend equates to roughly C$60 per tonne of added annual capacity, with civil works for a new vertical mill complete, structural steel advancing, pre‑aeration tank erected and oxygen equipment foundations poured as mechanical tie‑ins to the live plant now dictate schedule. A much larger C$1.44‑billion second expansion would add a separate 13‑million‑tonne‑per‑year plant, targeting total 21‑million‑tonne capacity and more than 500,000 oz. of gold annually from 2029, positioning Blackwater among Canada’s largest gold operations.

Stormlands Mining’s decision-intelligence case study on Lode Gold Resources’ Fremont project in Mariposa County, California, doubles the modelled NPV to US$511.5 million by applying a gold price of US$4,245.22/oz to the project’s 2026 technical report. The revised scenario lifts projected life-of-mine revenue from US$3.45 billion to US$4.17 billion, increases IRR from 11.16% to 16.66%, and shortens payback from 8.5 years to 5 years 11 months at a 5% discount rate. Fremont, a 13.56 km² property with historical grades of 10.7 g/t Au, is being drilled ahead of a 2027 pre-feasibility study.

Lion Copper & Gold’s Bear deposit at the Rio Tinto-backed Yerington project in Nevada has an initial resource of about 1.0 billion indicated tonnes at 0.29% copper (6.7 billion lb) and 1.7 billion inferred tonnes at 0.22% copper (8.7 billion lb), making it one of the state’s largest undeveloped copper resources. Combined with Yerington’s 506.6 million tons of proven and probable reserves at 0.21% copper (2.1 billion lb), Lion’s Nevada portfolio now totals roughly 19 billion lb of contained copper, surpassing Hudbay’s Mason and Pumpkin Hollow. A 2025 PFS outlined 120 million lb/year cathode output over 12 years, with a post-tax NPV7 of US$694 million, 14.6% IRR and US$724 million initial capex, while Rio Tinto’s Nuton continues heap-leach testing under its 65% earn-in option.