Magna Mining Delivering Growth with Cash Flow, High-Grade Discovery & Strategic M&A

• Magna Mining transformed from explorer to producer in 2025, acquiring McCreedy West from KGHM, growing from 25 to +200 employees while establishing cash flow positive operations
• McCreedy West turned operational corner in Q4 2025 with three active stopes enabling consistent production; company considering nickel zone restart if prices sustain above $7.75/lb
• Levack mine's R2 zone discovery showed spectacular high-grade copper and precious metals results; PEA expected Q3 2026 with potential dual-access strategy (ramp and shaft)
• Crean Hill advancing to PFS in 2026 with grid power connection and permanent dewatering infrastructure; bulk sample completed with definitive offtake terms from Vale and Glencore
• Non-negotiable 2026 deliverables include McCreedy West execution, Levack PEA, and Crean Hill PFS, while pursuing opportunistic M&A for non-core Sudbury assets with infrastructure synergies

Magna Mining has executed a remarkable transformation throughout 2025, evolving from a junior exploration company into a diversified base and precious metals producer focused exclusively on Ontario's prolific Sudbury mining camp. CEO Jason Jessup outlined the company's strategic evolution and 2026 priorities in a comprehensive interview, detailing how Magna has positioned itself as a consolidator of non-core assets within one of the world's most enduring mining districts.

The company's journey reflects a deliberate strategy built on three pillars: production growth, exploration success, and value-accretive M&A all underpinned by deep institutional knowledge of Sudbury's geology and infrastructure. With metal prices providing favorable tailwinds and operational momentum building across multiple assets, Magna has established a foundation for sustained growth within a single, well-understood mining jurisdiction.

Strategic Repositioning: Beyond the Nickel Label

Magna has successfully shed its narrow characterization as a nickel-focused company, embracing the polymetallic nature of Sudbury deposits. 

"We're always going to describe ourselves as a Sudbury company and Sudbury is very polymetallic. There's a lot of nickel, there's a lot of copper, a tremendous amount of precious metals. That's platinum, palladium, gold, and silver. So we mine all these metals."

This strategic repositioning proved prescient as nickel markets weakened in recent years, allowing Magna to pivot toward higher-value copper and precious metal production while maintaining optionality to reactivate nickel zones when prices justify it. The company now controls over 500 square kilometers of prospective ground across producing mines, development projects, and exploration properties all within a single mining camp where the team possesses extensive operational experience.

Transformational Acquisition: The KGHM Deal

The pivotal moment in Magna's evolution came in February 2025 with the acquisition of the McCreedy West copper mine, along with the past-producing LEVACK and Podolsky mines under care and maintenance, plus five exploration properties from KGHM International. This transaction immediately transformed Magna from an explorer-developer into a producer, though it also presented significant integration challenges.

"We recognised that these assets were non-core to KGHM and we really focused hard, especially in the first nine months of the year, on being prepared, having the cash in the bank and being able to recapitalise and I'd say 'right the ship' at McCreedy West.”

The acquisition brought approximately 125-130 employees into the Magna fold, expanding the total workforce from just 25 people at the start of 2025 to over 200 by year-end, an eight-fold increase requiring careful cultural integration and systems implementation.

McCreedy West: Turning the Operational Corner

McCreedy West has emerged as Magna's cash flow engine and proof of operational capability. After nine months of intensive development work, drilling, and team building, the mine reached an operational inflection point in Q4 2025.

"For the first time we've had three stopes on the ground at the same time and our mining method is long hole bulk mining."

Having multiple stops across different levels provides production flexibility and consistency, a critical factor that was absent when Magna took over the operation. The company has added a third diamond drill underground, advanced development footage month-over-month, and established a robust planning team. This operational foundation positions McCreedy West for cash flow positive operations in 2026, with life-of-mine plan and guidance expected before month-end.

Currently focused on the 700 copper zone, a copper-rich, PGM-rich deposit Magna is now evaluating the potential restart of the Intermediate nickel zone. 

"With the move in nickel, now is the time for us to start considering the restart, adding that nickel prices north of $7.75/lb make the zone “pretty interesting." 

The company has engineering capacity analysing quick-win scenarios that could materially boost overall production, leveraging existing development and blasting in nickel zones from the KGHM era.

Interview with Jason Jessup, CEO of Magna Mining Inc.

Levack Mine: High-Grade Discovery Drives Restart Planning

The Levack mine represents perhaps Magna's most exciting near-term opportunity, combining an 11-million-ton resource with a significant new discovery and existing infrastructure. In November 2025, Magna released its first resource estimate for LEVACK: approximately 11 million tons split nearly 50/50 between indicated and inferred categories, drawing from contact nickel-copper zones, the Morrison high-grade copper-PGM deposit, and several footwall zones.

The standout development has been the R2 zone discovery announced in August 2025.

"We hit some spectacular copper grades, very high precious metals with many intersections being multiple ounces of precious metals with some really high-grade copper and lots of silver.”

While thicknesses are typically less than one meter, the zone exhibits impressive vertical and strike extent roughly 200 meters vertically and 80-90 meters on strike with varying vein orientations.

The geological team describes R2 as "like a big oak tree where now we're just up near the leaves in the small branches. Now it's about following the system and leading us to the trunk." Three to four drills continue delineating the zone, with development work underway to access deeper drilling platforms at the 3900 level, targeting unexplored footwall areas down-dip of R2.

Magna is conducting engineering studies evaluating a dual-access strategy: a ramp from surface to access upper contact nickel zones, the Keel zone, and Number Three footwall zones, while using the existing shaft for hoisting ore from deeper deposits like Morrison. 

"We want to have an upper part of LEVACK that is primarily serviced from a ramp... and then have a deeper part of the mine which we would hoist ore from underground via the shaft." 

A PEA expected in Q3 2026 will clarify the restart strategy and sequencing.

Crean Hill: Advanced-Stage Development Asset

Crean Hill represents a unique opportunity, essentially an undeveloped FNX-style deposit that hasn't undergone the extensive mining that transformed Levack and McCreedy West over the past two decades. “It is basically the same deposit that was left when Inco closed it back in 2002.” The project advanced through a PEA and bulk sample in 2024, establishing the technical and economic foundation for development.

Throughout 2025, while operational focus centered on McCreedy West, Magna advanced critical long-lead items for Crean Hill. Grid power connection engineering is well underway, along with permanent dewatering infrastructure design and equipment procurement. 

"In 2026, we expect to be in a position where we can hook up to grid power, which will be fantastic and a big improvement over the PEA. We'll be able to have our permanent dewatering infrastructure all in place, which basically allows us at the flip of a switch when the timing is right, we can start dewatering the mine."

The development strategy calls for ramp access from the surface, consistent with the PEA. Critically, Magna has secured definitive offtake terms with Vale and favorable indications from Glencore based on bulk sample metallurgical testing. Unlike typical PFS studies relying on theoretical laboratory recoveries, Magna has commercial terms based on delivered grades providing unusual certainty for a development project." These terms are regardless of what actually gets recovered in the mill, "they're based on the grades that we'd be sending the mill." The PFS update expected around Q2-Q3 2026 will refine the economic case with grid power and permanent dewatering incorporated.

Portfolio Management Through Vision & Capital Discipline

Jessup's approach to managing Magna's growing portfolio centers on vision rather than data obsession. 

"I visualise where we want to go as a company and what that growth looks like and what it means." 

This high-level strategic thinking pairs with COO Jeff Huffman's analytics-driven approach using operational data to inform decisions. "I am not totally driven by numbers. I like to see the very big picture. Where can we go? Where will we be in 5, 10 years from now." Quality and grade optimization drive operational philosophy. 

"We've said it in our industry over and over again, grade is king. Focusing on quality and how we can improve quality and continually be optimising, again that really sits at the core of our company and our core values." 

This approach resists short-term production pressures in favor of sustainable, high-margin mining. The M&A strategy focuses on proximity and infrastructure synergies. 

"One of the things we're looking at as we look at non-core assets is we're looking for proximity to our existing infrastructure. What are the synergies with Magna and these other projects and deposits?" 

The September 2025 acquisition of multiple exploration properties from Northex Nickel demonstrated this strategy, expanding the land package to over 500 square kilometers. Additional acquisitions remain possible in 2026, targeting assets that would be capital-intensive for current owners but could leverage Magna's existing shafts, permits, and infrastructure.

2026: Non-Negotiables and Aspirational Goals

Jessup clearly delineated mandatory deliverables from aspirational upside for 2026. The non-negotiables include: executing McCreedy West's life-of-mine plan with consistent cash flow generation; completing the Levack PEA in Q3; and delivering the Crean Hill PFS around Q3. 

"We have to deliver on McCreedy West and that is non-negotiable and I'm confident we're going to do that."

Aspirational elements include potential simultaneous development of Levack and Crean Hill in 2026, an early-start scenario at Podolsky’s North zone via bulk sample (30,000-40,000 tons), and value-accretive M&A of additional non-core Sudbury assets. The $50 million raised in September-October 2025 provides capital to advance Levack toward restart while maintaining McCreedy West operations.

Podolsky represents a smaller-scale opportunity with modest capital requirements given existing infrastructure. The North zone, exposed at surface with a historic resource and a ramp stopped just 150 meters from the deposit, could support a bulk sample operation mining 30,000-40,000 tons. 

"It's relatively small but it's also very small in the amount of capital that would be needed just because it is already a site of care and maintenance that has basically all the infrastructure and just needs a little bit of development."

The Investment Thesis for Magna Mining

• Cash Flow Foundation: McCreedy West provides immediate cash generation with Q4 2025 operational inflection point (three active stopes), positioning for self-funded growth and validating operational capabilities
• High-Grade Discovery Upside: Levack's R2 zone discovery delivers exploration blue sky with multi-ounce precious metals and high-grade copper intersections across 200+ meter vertical system in underexplored footwall
• Low-Risk Development Pipeline: Crean Hill and Levack offer near-term production growth with existing infrastructure (shafts, permits, grid power access) and definitive offtake terms reducing typical development risks
• Single-Jurisdiction Focus: Concentrated 500+ square kilometer Sudbury land position leverages team's decades of local expertise, established relationships, and intimate knowledge of geological trends and infrastructure
• M&A Optionality: Proven ability to acquire and integrate non-core assets from major producers (KGHM, Northex) with infrastructure synergies creating competitive acquisition advantages
• Polymetallic Flexibility: Diversified revenue across copper, nickel, PGMs, gold, and silver provides commodity price optionality (e.g., nickel zone restart flexibility at McCreedy West above $7.75/lb)
• Capital Efficiency: $50 million treasury combined with McCreedy West cash flow funds Levack advancement and Crean Hill PFS without near-term dilution requirements
• De-Risked Metallurgy: Bulk sample programs and existing offtake agreements with Vale/Glencore eliminate typical processing uncertainty, with payment based on delivered grades regardless of mill recoveries

Magna Mining represents a compelling consolidation opportunity within the Sudbury Basin, one of the world's most prolific and longest-producing mining camps. As major producers like KGHM rationalise portfolios, smaller high-quality deposits become available that require significant capital as standalone projects but offer compelling economics when integrated with existing infrastructure. Magna's strategy of acquiring non-core assets with proximity synergies positions the company as the natural acquirer for Sudbury properties too small for majors but value-accretive when production, hoisting, and processing infrastructure already exists. 

The polymetallic nature of Sudbury deposits provides commodity diversification rare among single-jurisdiction plays, while the camp's 130-year mining history offers exceptional geological understanding and infrastructure density. With copper market fundamentals strengthening amid electrification trends and nickel markets potentially stabilising, Sudbury's copper-nickel-PGM endowment aligns with energy transition metal demand.

TL;DR

Magna Mining transformed from explorer to cash-flowing producer in 2025 through KGHM acquisition, now operating McCreedy West while advancing Levack (PEA Q3 2026) and Crean Hill (PFS Q2-Q3 2026) toward production. The Levack R2 discovery provides high-grade copper-PGM exploration upside, while 500+ square kilometer Sudbury land position and proven M&A capability position Magna as the natural consolidator of non-core basin assets with infrastructure synergies.

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