The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast

The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast is a product of Resources Rising Stars, hosted by Paul Armstrong, a seasoned expert in the world of finance and resources. With more than 30 years of experience as a finance journalist under his belt, Paul brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to his conversations with some of the most prominent figures in the industry. Each episode of The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast is a deep dive into the inner workings of those resources companies which are making things happen, quizzing those in charge about their projects, their prospects, the challenges they face and the opportunities they offer to investors. Whether you’re an investor, industry professional, or simply interested in the latest developments in mining, energy, and resources, The Hole Truth is the podcast for you. Join Paul and his guests to hear about the latest investment opportunities in the resources sector. Produced by Resource Media ———— The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast is a product of Read Corporate. Please note that Read Corporate does not provide investment advice and investors should seek personalised advice before making any investment decisions.

The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 100 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast, a business show with 100 episodes published.

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  Episode #134

  Powerhaus Uranium to Hit the ASX Boards Running - Siobahn Lancaster (ASX: POW)

  Aug 17, 202626 min

  Powerhaus has just raised $9 million in an IPO. The company has two exploration projects in Argentina and one in Canada. It’s looking for big uranium deposits with a potential to generate strong returns with low costs, and capitalise on the fantastic outlook for the uranium price. Guest Bio Siobhan Lancaster is Managing Director and CEO of Powerhaus Uranium (ASX: POW), a uranium exploration company targeting regional-scale, roll-front and calcrete-hosted uranium systems in Argentina, together with a basement-hosted uranium project on the eastern edge of Canada’s Athabasca Basin. She was previously Managing Director and CEO of 92 Energy Limited (ASX: 92E), which delivered a high-grade uranium discovery at its Gemini project in the Athabasca Basin before the company was absorbed into ATHA Energy Corp. Before that, Lancaster held a senior corporate role at Extract Resources, where she played a key part in the company’s Husab uranium discovery in Namibia and its subsequent circa A$2.2 billion takeover by China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN). Produced by Resource Media The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast is a product of Read Corporate. Please note that Read Corporate does not provide investment advice and investors should seek personalised advice before making any investment decisions. Links The Hole Truth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/the-hole-truth-podcast The Hole Truth YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI4sZkSfEpPi_u7OrD7lQ-tZHbdy6EhCC The Hole Truth Website: https://resourcesrisingstars.com.au/the-hole-truth-podcast/ The Hole Truth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theholetruthpodcast/ Company Website: https://powerhausuranium.com/ Key Insights A high-conviction analogy to the world’s lowest-cost uranium deposits Powerhaus’s flagship Malbec Project covers roughly 2,000 square kilometres along the Andes in Argentina’s Chubut province, and Lancaster believes the geology mirrors Kazakhstan’s roll-front, in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium systems. Kazakhstan-style roll-front deposits account for around 40% of the world’s mined uranium and are among the lowest-cost to produce, giving Powerhaus a clear analogy for what success at Malbec could look like. Early fieldwork has already turned up mineralisation Reconnaissance at Malbec has confirmed uranium within the Salamanca Formation and identified a calcrete-hosted discovery on site, with grab sampling returning grades up to 771ppm U3O8. For Lancaster, that’s proof the system isn’t barren ahead of the company’s maiden drill program. Drilling starts within weeks of listing With environmental approvals and drilling permits well advanced, Powerhaus expects to mobilise a 5,000-metre drill program at Malbec around September or October — inside the first fortnight of trading. Lancaster is chasing a repeat of 92 Energy’s Gemini discovery, where the company intersected uranium on just its fourth drill hole. A second uranium address alongside a past Athabasca Basin success Powerhaus also holds ground on the eastern edge of Canada’s Athabasca Basin, on trend with the historic Rabbit Lake deposit — the basin’s first uranium mine, which produced roughly 200 million pounds of U3O8. Previous drilling on the ground returned encouraging uranium and graphite indicators, and Powerhaus plans follow-up geophysics to sharpen its drill targets. A reunited discovery team backing a tightly held register Powerhaus’s board reunites veterans of two of the ASX uranium sector’s biggest wins: Extract Resources, whose Husab discovery led to a roughly A$2.2 billion takeover by China General Nuclear Power Corporation, and 92 Energy’s Athabasca Basin success. Chair Richard Pearce and technical director Philippe Portella (35 years with Areva) are joined by Steve Blower — who led the team behind IsoEnergy’s high-grade Hurricane discovery — along with Andrew Penkethman and uranium marketer Sashi Davies, underpinning a $9 million IPO that leaves Powerhaus tightly held heading into its maiden drill campaigns.

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  Episode #133

  Solstice Minerals' Major Copper Discover in WA - Nick Castleden (ASX: SLS)

  Aug 3, 202617 min

  Solstice Minerals has a major copper discovery in Western Australia and appears set to develop a super pit of copper 100 kilometres south of Meekatharra. Guest Bio Nick Castleden is Managing Director and CEO of Solstice Minerals Limited (ASX: SLS). He is a geologist with more than 25 years' experience in mineral exploration and development, holding a BSc (Hons) in Geology from the University of Western Australia. He has worked with Mt Isa Mines, Perilya Mines, MPI Mines and LionOre across exploration, project generation and management roles in Africa, North and South America and Australia, with particular expertise in Western Australian gold, nickel and base metal exploration. Prior to joining Solstice, he was Managing Director of Apollo Consolidated Ltd until its acquisition by Ramelius Resources in late 2021. He commenced as CEO and Managing Director of Solstice Minerals in January 2023. Produced by Resource Media The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast is a product of Read Corporate. Please note that Read Corporate does not provide investment advice and investors should seek personalised advice before making any investment decisions. Links The Hole Truth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/the-hole-truth-podcast The Hole Truth YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI4sZkSfEpPi_u7OrD7lQ- tZHbdy6EhCC The Hole Truth Website: https://resourcesrisingstars.com.au/the-hole-truth-podcast/ The Hole Truth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theholetruthpodcast/ Company Website: https://solsticeminerals.com.au/ Key Insights The Nanadie discovery is open in every direction. Solstice's Nanadie Copper-Gold Project, roughly 100km south-east of Meekatharra in WA's Murchison district, is currently traced along 1.2km of strike with a mineralised host gabbro 100-200 metres wide. Recent deep diamond drilling shows the system remains wide open at depth, while RC drilling is extending it further north and south, giving Solstice multiple avenues for near-term resource growth. Deep drilling is confirming scale, not just a surface story. A 629-metre hole returned multiple long runs of over 1% copper, and a follow-up hole drilled to roughly 800 metres hit similar high-grade material in the same host rock before running out of drill rods. Castleden points to these paired deep intercepts as evidence of a genuinely large volume of mineralised rock, with potential for a second, underground stage of the deposit beneath the open pit. The resource is expected to grow materially from its starting point. Solstice acquired an existing Inferred Mineral Resource of roughly 40 million tonnes, compiled from several previous owners' drilling with no clearly defined margins. Castleden says the company's own drilling has already shown the deposit extends well beyond that footprint in every direction, and expects the next resource update to be materially larger than the one it started with. A strong balance sheet is funding an aggressive, dilution-free drill campaign. With around $45 million in cash and no debt, Solstice can keep multiple rigs turning without needing to raise capital in the near term. The stock now has three broker analysts covering it, and six analysts are visiting the site the following week, reflecting growing institutional interest in a rare tier-one scale copper discovery in Western Australia. Solstice remains firmly in exploration mode, with a separate gold asset as a bonus. The board and management, all geologists with meaningful equity in the company, are focused squarely on drilling out Nanadie rather than mine planning at this stage, with early metallurgical, water and flora-fauna studies just getting underway. Solstice also holds a separate gold package near Cue that it has flagged publicly it may look to monetise or spin out into a new company.

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  Episode #132

  Noronex: On the Tin Trail in the US | James Thompson (ASX: NRX)

  Jul 27, 202617 min

  Noronex has put its foot on a substantial tin project in Alaska. It has a historical resource, and the emphasis will be on establishing a JORC resource and then growing this to capitalise on booming global demand for tin. Tin is on the US Critical Minerals list, but there are no tin producers in America. Guest Bio James Thompson is Chief Executive Officer of Noronex Limited (ASX: NRX), an ASX-listed mineral explorer advancing the newly optioned Sleitat tin-tungsten-silver project in Alaska alongside its Kalahari Copper Belt interests in Namibia and Botswana. He was appointed CEO in July 2026, coinciding with Noronex securing an exclusive option over Sleitat. Thompson has been involved with Noronex since 2018, when he became a director of the company's founding copper subsidiaries, before being appointed an executive director of the company in May 2021. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws, and began his career as a chartered accountant with KPMG. Over a 25-year career he has built investment experience with firms including Macquarie Bank, Quadrant Private Equity and Viburnum Funds, where he has served as Investment Director since 2014. He has also been a founder and director of numerous other ASX-listed and private resource companies over the past decade, spanning the base, precious and battery metals sectors. Produced by Resource Media The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast is a product of Read Corporate . Please note that Read Corporate does not provide investment advice and investors should seek personalised advice before making any investment decisions. Links The Hole Truth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/the-hole-truth-podcast The Hole Truth YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI4sZkSfEpPi_u7OrD7lQ-tZHbdy6EhCC The Hole Truth Website: https://resourcesrisingstars.com.au/the-hole-truth-podcast/ The Hole Truth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theholetruthpodcast/ Company Website: https://www.noronexlimited.com.au/ Key Insights Sleitat gives Noronex a rare, near-term entry into US tin supply. Noronex has secured a 60-day option to acquire 100% of the Sleitat tin-tungsten-silver project in Alaska, targeting a historical (non-JORC) estimate of 25.9 million tonnes at up to 0.37% tin, representing an estimated 58,000 to 96,000 tonnes of contained tin. With the US holding no domestic tin production and tin formally designated a critical mineral by the US government, the deal places Noronex in a category with almost no ASX-listed peers targeting US tin supply. The project is genuine brownfields, not a speculative punt. Sleitat was discovered and drilled by Cominco in the 1980s, including a standout historical intercept of 30 metres at 1.5% tin, with the US Bureau of Mines later compiling the historical resource estimate from that work. Thompson notes Noronex has since re-examined the preserved drill core using XRF technology and confirmed high-grade tin exactly where expected, giving the company confidence to move straight toward a JORC-compliant exploration target rather than starting from scratch. Deal terms are structured to avoid dilution before drilling begins. The acquisition is weighted toward deferred and milestone-based payments tied to future resource growth, requiring only around $1.5 million upfront in cash and scrip, funded from Noronex's existing treasury. Thompson says the company can complete due diligence, exercise the option and define an exploration target without raising capital, only tapping equity markets once it is ready to fund drilling. Tin's supply-demand fundamentals underpin the investment case. Thompson points to International Tin Association forecasts of continued deficits and roughly 25% demand growth by the mid-2030s, driven by solder use in semiconductors, AI data centres, electric vehicles and solar panels. With Indonesian producers shifting to costlier offshore dredging and no US tin production since the 1990s, he argues the timing is right for new, low-cost, shallow open-pit style supply to enter the market. Kalahari copper exposure is now fully funded by South32. Noronex's roughly one-million-hectare copper package across Namibia and Botswana is being advanced under an earn-in with South32, which is funding up to $20 million of exploration over five years to earn a 60% interest, with a further drilling program planned for around October. Thompson frames this as free-carried upside sitting alongside the new tin flagship, while Noronex retains a tight share register, with more than 50% held by its top 20 shareholders.

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  Episode #131

  Lac Gold, Taking a Big Canadian Resource and Making It Even Bigger - Andrew Stocks & Matthew Keegan (ASX: LAC)

  Jul 20, 202619 min

  Lac Gold has 1.66 million ounces of resources at the Rouyn Gold Project in Canada. Two rigs now drilling, with the potential to add a third or even a fourth. The name of the game is to grow the resource in what is a highly desirable address for gold deposits. Guest Bios Andrew Stocks — Managing Director, Lac Gold Limited (ASX: LAC) Andrew Stocks is Managing Director of Lac Gold Limited (ASX: LAC). He is a mining engineer with more than 35 years' experience in corporate leadership across the resources sector, including project development, capital allocation and strategy. Prior to Lac Gold, he was Managing Director and CEO of ASX-listed Iron Road Limited, where he led the company through feasibility work on the Central Eyre Iron Project in South Australia. Earlier in his career he was Managing Director and CEO of Siberia Mining Corporation through its merger with Monarch Gold, and served as Vice President of Operations at London-based Crew Gold Corporation. Matthew Keegan — Executive Director, Lac Gold Limited (ASX: LAC) Matthew Keegan is Executive Director of Lac Gold Limited (ASX: LAC) and the geologist who originally identified and secured the Rouyn Gold Project. He brings more than 25 years' operational, corporate and investment experience across gold, nickel, iron ore and coking coal, including mine geology roles with Rio Tinto, BHP's Nickel West and Barrick, and a period as an investment analyst with resource-focused private equity firm Sentient Equity Partners. He is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Produced by Resource Media The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast is a product of Read Corporate . Please note that Read Corporate does not provide investment advice and investors should seek personalised advice before making any investment decisions. Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/the-hole-truth-podcast YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI4sZkSfEpPi_u7OrD7lQ-tZHbdy6EhCC Website: https://resourcesrisingstars.com.au/the-hole-truth-podcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theholetruthpodcast/ Company website: https://lacgold.com/ Key Insights A rare “no-minnow” story: 1.66 million ounces from day one Unlike the early-stage exploration stories the podcast usually profiles, Lac Gold arrived on the ASX already holding a JORC resource of 1.66 million ounces of gold (15.8Mt at 3.28g/t) at its Rouyn Gold Project in Québec's Abitibi gold belt. Managing Director Andrew Stocks and Executive Director Matthew Keegan acquired the project privately for around C$25 million (C$5 million cash plus a C$20 million vendor finance facility at 5% straight-line interest, with no warrants or options attached), before listing via a reverse merger with Ardiden Limited that completed in late 2025. A fragmented gold system that's only been drilled to 400 metres Rouyn sits on the Piché Group trend within the Cadillac–Larder Lake fault zone, in the same neighbourhood as Abitibi giants such as Canadian Malartic, LaRonde, Lapa and Kerr-Addison, which together account for roughly 200 million ounces mined over the past century. Keegan says the project's shallow drill depth reflects a century of disjointed ownership rather than poor geology: 73 separate mining claims were only consolidated under one owner in recent years, and the ground was mined intermittently in the 1950s and 1980s during periods of low gold prices rather than being systematically explored. Two rigs turning around the clock, with a third and fourth under consideration Lac Gold currently has two diamond rigs running 24/7 at Rouyn, advancing roughly 200 metres a day combined, with a third rig being brought on and a fourth available if the economics stack up. Cold Québec winters don't interrupt the program — the frozen ground makes drilling easier. Results to date show continuity, width and grade in known zones, while step-out holes are revealing broad mineralised halos that vector toward high-grade shoots, across at least 150 targets identified along the deposit's six-kilometre strike. Valuation sits well below peers, with two paths to a re-rate At a market capitalisation of roughly A$70 million against 1.66 million ounces, Lac Gold is trading at about A$42 an ounce in the ground, versus a peer average Stocks puts at two to three times that level. Management frames the opportunity in two parts: closing that valuation gap on the existing resource, and applying the same (or a better) per-ounce multiple to new ounces added through the drill bit. A second growth option at Golden Patricia, near Pickle Lake Alongside Rouyn, Lac Gold holds the Pickle Lake Gold Project in Ontario, inherited through the Ardiden merger. The company has since acquired the historic, high-grade Golden Patricia deposit from Barrick, a past producer that yielded gold at an average grade of around 16.5 grams per tonne. Historical data from the site is being digitised, with a modest ground program of roughly 5,000 metres of drilling planned once that work is complete.

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  Episode #130

  Tetragon hunting for oil and gas elephants in the Philippines - Conrad Todd (ASX: TET)

  Jul 14, 202620 min

  Tetragon Energy has just listed on the ASX. It holds some highly prospective acreage off the Philippines coast. It aims to bring in a big multinational partner to help fund the exploration program, in the hope of making a major oil and gas discovery. Guest Bio Conrad Todd is Managing Director of Tetragon Energy (ASX: TET), a newly listed Southeast Asian-focused oil and gas explorer targeting large-scale gas discoveries offshore and onshore the Philippines. He brings more than 44 years' experience in oil and gas exploration and development, having held senior technical and management roles including Exploration and Development Manager for Cooper Energy in Australia and for Lundin in Malaysia, Chief Geophysicist and New Business Manager for LASMO in Indonesia, and Chief Geophysicist for Occidental in Oman. At Lundin, he led the subsurface team behind a complex mixed oil and gas field producing 20,000 barrels of oil per day, while at Cooper Energy he ran the geoscience department through a period in which the company's market capitalisation grew from $20 million to $200 million. Conrad was Managing Director of Triangle Energy (ASX: TEG) from 2022 to 2026, and led the spin-out of its Philippines assets to form Tetragon Energy. He has also worked in mergers and acquisitions and reserve auditing for RISC, co-founded Vizier Energy Consulting, and served as a Non-Executive Director of Pilot Energy. Produced by Resource Media The Hole Truth: Mining Investment Podcast is a product of Read Corporate . Please note that Read Corporate does not provide investment advice and investors should seek personalised advice before making any investment decisions. Links The Hole Truth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/the-hole-truth-podcast The Hole Truth YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI4sZkSfEpPi_u7OrD7lQ-tZHbdy6EhCC The Hole Truth Website: https://resourcesrisingstars.com.au/the-hole-truth-podcast/ The Hole Truth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theholetruthpodcast/ Company Website: https://www.tetragonenergy.com.au/ Key Insights Tetragon's Sulu Sea permits sit inside a proven, underexplored Borneo-style petroleum province Tetragon holds a 37.5% operated interest in SC-80 and SC-81, two deepwater blocks in the southern Sulu Sea directly adjacent to Borneo, a basin that has already yielded billions of barrels of oil and hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of gas. The blocks already contain two undeveloped discoveries totalling roughly 470 billion cubic feet of gross 2C gas resources, drilled by ExxonMobil between 2008 and 2010 before Asian gas prices collapsed in 2014-15. With regional gas prices now roughly three times higher, Todd says the economics of these existing discoveries have changed substantially. The Halcon prospect anchors a potentially company-making exploration target The largest prospect on the permits, a basin floor fan named Halcon, carries a conservatively estimated most-likely recoverable resource of 2.7 trillion cubic feet of gas. Around 4,000 square kilometres of existing 3D seismic data is being reprocessed using modern techniques, a process expected to take about a year and materially sharpen the company's confidence in both the discovered gas and the exploration upside. Todd expects an updated, likely larger, resource estimate for Halcon within the next few months. A farm-out to a major, not drilling success, is the first re-rating catalyst Because the blocks sit in 1,500-2,500 metres of water, Tetragon cannot fund a well on its own and is instead targeting a farm-out to a major or supermajor such as Petronas, Eni or Shell. Todd points to comparable ASX-listed companies with 3D-seismic-defined exploration plays that have re-rated by up to ten times their market capitalisation simply on securing a partner prepared to fund drilling, well before any well is spudded. The onshore Cagayan Basin project offers a faster, lower-risk path to cash flow Tetragon's 100%-owned onshore permit, SC-82 on Luzon, 250km north of Manila, hosts the Nassiping-2 gas discovery, first drilled in 1984 and later flow-tested by another operator. With Manila's power grid short of gas and a high-voltage line just 700 metres from the well site, Tetragon plans to firm up the resource with seismic or airborne gravity and magnetics work and a single follow-up well costing about $8-9 million, then generate and sell electricity on site rather than build a 250km pipeline to Manila. First-pass economics put the value of this project at $90-150 million. A clean spin-out structure and a strong ASX debut give investors direct leverage to the Philippines story Tetragon was spun out of Triangle Energy (ASX:TEG) via an in-specie distribution, with Triangle shareholders holding half of the new company alongside $4 million raised in an IPO priced at 20 cents a share. The stock listed this week and closed its first day at 25 cents. Todd notes the Philippines government is actively courting international explorers, offering domestic gas producers LNG-equivalent pricing, a starkly different regulatory stance to Australia's east coast gas reservation debate.

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