Episode Details

Interview with Nick Appleyard, CEO, TriStar Gold

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/tristar-gold-tsxvtsg-legal-resolution-could-unlock-100m-in-shareholder-value-8034

Recording date: 13th August 2026

TriStar Gold Inc. (TSXV: TSG) is a Brazil-focused gold developer whose sole asset, the Castelo de Sonhos project in Pará State, presents one of the more striking valuation disconnects among development-stage gold names in the Americas. The May 2025 pre-feasibility study update outlines 1.4 million ounces of probable reserves at 1.1 g/t gold, with total indicated and inferred resources of 2.5 million ounces inclusive of reserves. At the study's $2,200/oz gold base case, the project generates a post-tax internal rate of return of 40% and a post-tax net present value of $603 million against initial capital of approximately $296 million, rising to a 72% IRR and $1.35 billion NPV at $3,200/oz gold. Mining is shallow open pit with 98% recovery and no sulphides, and the deposit remains open along an approximately 19km strike of mineralised conglomerate reef.

Despite those economics, TriStar's market capitalisation stood at just C$63.6 million as of end-July 2026, a valuation that puts the company at roughly $20 per ounce of measured and indicated resource against a peer median near $94/oz, and 0.02x price-to-net-asset-value against a 0.3x peer median, according to company-compiled comparables. Management attributes the gap almost entirely to a federal civil action, initiated by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) and Brazil's National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI), arguing that TriStar's state-level environmental permit should instead have gone through a federal process involving an Indigenous Component Study and formal consultation with Kayapó communities in the region. TriStar and the State of Pará dispute this, arguing the project never triggered the thresholds that would require federal-level permitting. Critically, the underlying Licença Prévia (LP) permit remains valid; courts have rejected every injunction request against it, and the case is currently in an evidentiary phase awaiting a judge's ruling.

CEO Nick Appleyard has stated a target of reaching a negotiated resolution, under which TriStar would retain its permit while voluntarily completing indigenous studies ahead of construction, before the end of 2026, with the market potentially taking a further three to six months to fully reflect that outcome. In the interim, the company is planning a drill programme around the high-grade Esperança South zone, expected to mobilise around October 2026, intended to support an eventual feasibility study.

Beyond a standalone build, TriStar maintains an active data room with what management describes as roughly half a dozen Brazil-based candidates plus international parties, positioning the asset as a plausible acquisition target once the legal overhang clears. The company holds approximately US$10 million in cash against 397.5 million shares issued.

Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/tristar-gold-inc

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