The junior mining world
Who's who in mining, from prospectors to majors; how juniors are listed and funded; why most projects fail; why a funding gap opens in the middle; and how majors buy the projects that succeed.
- Junior mining explained in finance termsExploration as an option on a discovery: binary outcomes, power-law returns, dilution and where royalties sit between bonds and equity.5 min read
- Mining companies: from prospectors to majorsWho's who in mining: prospectors and generators, junior explorers, developers, mid-tier producers, major miners, royalty and streaming companies, and state-backed investors. What each does, how it makes money and how it fits with the others.5 min read
- How juniors are listed and tradedWhere junior miners list, how to read a share structure and a cash position, how financings dilute shareholders, and why junior shares trade the way they do.3 min read
- Why most projects fail: odds and the Lassonde curveOnly about 1 in 1,000 prospects becomes a mine. Where projects drop out, why, and how a project's value tends to rise, slump and rise again on the way to production.4 min read
- Why the funding gap existsBetween a first resource and a pre-feasibility study, projects fall between two kinds of capital: speculative money that wants discoveries and development money that wants reserves. Why the gap opens, what it costs, and who fills it.4 min read
- How major miners acquire projectsMajor miners find most new mines by buying them, not discovering them. What they look for, when they step in, the forms a deal takes, and why a buyer can pay more than the market.4 min read