Tudor Gold's Treaty Creek: A 24.9 Million Ounce Deposit Repositioned Around a Higher-Grade Underground Entry Point

• Tudor Gold holds an 80% interest in the Treaty Creek Project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle following the acquisition of American Creek Resources, with the remaining 20% held by Teuton Resources and under active discussion.
• The Goldstorm Deposit hosts an indicated mineral resource of 24.9 million ounces of gold at 0.85 grams per tonne and an inferred mineral resource of 4 million ounces of gold at 1.43 grams per tonne, independently prepared under National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101).
• At a US$175 net smelter return (NSR) cut-off, the higher-grade subset of the resource narrows to 3.4 million indicated ounces at 2.33 grams per tonne and 2.4 million inferred ounces at 4.02 grams per tonne, forming the basis of the planned underground starter mine.
• Tudor Gold is targeting a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for summer 2026, evaluating an underground operation at an independently financeable scale, a materially lower entry point than the partner-dependent bulk-tonnage alternative at a 10 billion capital expenditure (capex).
• Preliminary metallurgical tests show strong recoveries for SC-1 gold and the lower gold-copper zone, with the full programme pending.

The Strategic Shift: From Bulk Tonnage to Underground

Tudor Gold Corp (TSXV: TUD) is a precious and base metals exploration and development company with claims in British Columbia's Golden Triangle, an area that hosts producing and past-producing mines and several large deposits approaching potential development. Its flagship Treaty Creek Project covers 17,913 hectares and borders Seabridge Gold Inc.'s KSM property to the southwest and Newmont Corporation's Brucejack Mine property to the southeast.

The Goldstorm Deposit's 24.9 million indicated ounce resource is not what the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) is being designed around. Tudor Gold has made a deliberate decision to move away from the bulk-tonnage development path, which would require a major partner and a 10 billion capital expenditure (capex), and instead target the higher-grade zones within the deposit that can support a standalone underground operation that the company states it can build and finance without outside help. The summer 2026 preliminary economic assessment (PEA) is the first formal test of that repositioning.

The Resource: Why the Headline Number Is Not the Investment Story

The Goldstorm Deposit's 2026 mineral resource estimate (MRE), independently prepared under National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101), establishes an indicated resource of 24.9 million ounces of gold at 0.85 grams per tonne, 3.048 billion pounds of copper, and 148.7 million ounces of silver across 912.3 million tonnes. The inferred resource adds 4 million ounces of gold at 1.43 grams per tonne across 86.1 million tonnes.

The 24.9 million ounce figure represents the full deposit at a base-case US$50 net smelter return (NSR) cut-off, not the smaller entry point targeted by the PEA. Applying a tighter US$175 NSR cut-off, shifts the focus to a higher-grade subset: 45.1 million indicated tonnes at 2.33 grams per tonne gold, containing 3.4 million ounces, and 18.3 million inferred tonnes at 4.02 grams per tonne gold, containing 2.4 million ounces. This higher-grade portion enables a much lower capex scenario and removes the need for a major joint venture partner to finance development.

The Underground Mine Plan: Capex, Grade, & the Case for Independence

A conventional bulk-tonnage scenario at Treaty Creek would require processing between 150,000 and 175,000 tonnes a day at a 10 billion capex, a scale that requires a major partner. The underground starter mine targets a fraction of that throughput at a fraction of that cost by concentrating on the higher-grade zones that the NSR cut-off analysis has isolated.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Tudor Gold, Joseph Ovsenek, explained the strategic rationale:

“We raised the cut-off and took a look. It is fine that we have this bulk-tonnage resource, but to get into production quicker, we feel a smaller, higher-grade underground mine with a small footprint is really the way to move forward quickly up in the Golden Triangle and get out of the weather. There is a lot of snow up there. You know, the last time we worked up there, there were 22 meters, so you do not want to be shovelling snow constantly any more than you have to at least. So get underground and work underground. It really helps things move quickly.”

Ovsenek further outlined the specific parameters of that underground scenario:

"What we are focused on is this higher-grade underground mine. Say targeting that 3 gram or better material to start with, and coming up with an 8,000 to 10,000 tonne per day underground mine. With a capex of a billion to a billion and a half, that is something we can handle. We can build that mine. We do not need help from anyone else, and that is something we can push ahead to production."

Within that underground scenario, SC-1 is the highest-grade sequence available. It sits 600 to 900 metres below surface with grades of 8 to 10 grams per tonne gold, materially above the 2.5 to 3 grams per tonne threshold for the wider underground resource. Tudor Gold is targeting SC-1 as the initial mining sequence to fund broader infrastructure before transitioning to the wider resource. Advancing SC-1 requires underground access for infill drilling, which is currently constrained by seasonal surface work. The underground exploration ramp, now in permitting, would enable year-round drilling and remove that limitation.

Metallurgy: What the Recoveries Mean for the Underground Scenario

The metallurgical results matter as inputs to whether the underground starter mine is viable with conventional processing, which directly affects the capex case. For the SC-1 high-grade gold zone, flotation returned gold recoveries of 85.1%, producing a concentrate grading 33.6 grams per tonne gold. For the lower gold-copper zone, a combination of flotation and leaching of flotation tails returned gold recoveries of 80.2%, copper recoveries of 85.8%, and silver recoveries of 58.1%, with a concentrate grading 30.3% copper, 36.5 grams per tonne gold, and 99.8 grams per tonne silver. Both zones responding to standard flotation is a positive input to the $1.5 billion entry point thesis. The final metallurgical programme, covering all three deposit zones, was targeted for completion by the end of March 2026, with a potential extension into April.

On infrastructure, the project sits 40 kilometres from all-weather paved Highway #37, with the Northwest Transmission Line extending alongside the road and deep water ocean port facilities in Stewart for concentrate export. Ovsenek noted that when the team built Brucejack, it required 75 kilometres of road, 12 kilometres over a glacier, and transmission lines supported by a helicopter, compared to Treaty Creek's 40 kilometres by road with no glaciers to cross, a cost and timeline advantage that supports the faster-to-production thesis. Tudor Gold has engaged local First Nations and communities and has good support from the area.

Company Position & 2026 Programme

Tudor Gold increased its interest in Treaty Creek to 80% through the acquisition of American Creek Resources. For a self-funded underground development path, ownership consolidation matters. A cleaner structure reduces governance friction. Ovsenek stated the company would like 100% interest in the project, and discussions with the joint venture partner are ongoing.

Tudor Gold's 2026 programme also includes a target to develop an MRE for an additional deposit at the Treaty Creek Project, alongside completing the exploration drill programme across the CBS, Eureka, and PerfectStorm targets, with an initial resource target of approximately 5 million ounces of gold across those zones. This work runs in parallel with the PEA and represents the resource expansion upside beyond the initial underground case, the longer-term inventory that sits behind the starter mine once the higher-grade entry point is established.

The Investment Thesis for Tudor Gold 

• The decision to re-evaluate the 24.9 million indicated ounce Goldstorm Deposit through higher net smelter return cut-offs rather than pursue bulk-tonnage development removes the dependency on a major mining partner, giving Tudor Gold direct control over the project's development timeline.
• Using a US$175 net smelter return cut-off, the resource comprises 3.4 million indicated ounces at 2.33 grams per tonne gold and 2.4 million inferred ounces at 4.02 grams per tonne gold, a higher-grade portion that lowers capex and eliminates the need for a joint venture partner.
• The SC-1 zone, with grades of 8 to 10 grams per tonne of gold, sits within the underground starter mine sequence as the highest-grade initial production source available, with the potential to fund broader infrastructure development before the wider resource is brought into the mine plan.
• Preliminary metallurgical recoveries of 85.1% gold for SC-1 and 85.8% copper for the lower gold-copper zone using standard flotation processing support the viability of the smaller underground operation, avoiding the higher capex that more complex processing routes would carry.
• Tudor Gold's stated preference to move from 80% to 100% ownership of Treaty Creek reflects management's view that a consolidated ownership structure increases overall value on a self-funded development path where governance speed matters.

The preliminary economic assessment will determine whether the grade concentration, metallurgy, and infrastructure position combine to support a standalone operation at the $1.5 billion entry point, the figure that separates the actionable underground scenario from the partner-dependent bulk-tonnage alternative.

TL;DR

Tudor Gold has repositioned its 24.9 million indicated ounce Treaty Creek deposit away from a partner-dependent 10 billion capex bulk-tonnage scenario and toward a self-funded underground starter mine targeting the higher-grade zones isolated at a US$175 NSR cut-off. The Summer 2026 PEA will be the first formal test of whether that repositioning holds. Key outstanding inputs are the final metallurgical programme, the underground ramp permit, and SC-1 infill drilling.

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