US Gold Corp's CK Gold: Wyoming's Only Construction-Ready Gold-Copper Project

• CK Gold is fully permitted on Wyoming state ground with no federal NEPA trigger, a permitting outcome that takes 10 to 15 years in comparable jurisdictions, achieved in approximately five years. This is Wyoming's first hard rock mining permit in roughly 100 years.
• The updated PFS shows a $459 million pre-tax NPV and 36% IRR at $2,100 gold and $4.10 copper. With gold now above $5,100 per ounce, the margin spread exceeds $4,100 per ounce against a $937 AISC, and the DFS in final review is expected to optimize economics further.
• Mineral reserves total 1.672 million AuEq ounces, comprising 1.022 million ounces of gold, 259.7 million pounds of copper, and 3.008 million ounces of silver, supporting 111,250 AuEq ounces per year of production over a 10-year mine life, with the first three years averaging 143,278 AuEq ounces annually.
• Infrastructure-advantaged: 20 miles from Cheyenne, grid power at 7.2 cents per kWh, rail within three miles, I-80 interstate access, and no man camp required. Simple crushing and flotation processing with no cyanide and no tailings dam.
• 31.2 million raised in December 2025, multiple project financing term sheets received, with copper and silver byproducts carrying a critical mineral designation and opening federal financing channels.

The Scarcity That Matters Now

Gold is above $5,000 per ounce. JP Morgan raised its year-end 2026 target to $6,300. Capital is abundant. Every fund allocator with a resource mandate is looking for gold exposure. But the constraint is not price or capital availability. The constraint is permitted for construction-ready projects.

Federal permitting timelines through NEPA routinely stretch beyond a decade. Environmental reviews, public comment periods, agency consultations, and legal challenges create a bottleneck that no amount of capital can accelerate.

US Gold Corp (NASDAQ: USAU) cleared that bottleneck. The CK Gold Project in southeast Wyoming holds full permits and is targeting a construction start in 2026, with first production of gold-copper concentrate in late 2027 to 2028. In a market where money is chasing very few places to go, this company holds one of the only open doors.

Permitting & Jurisdiction

CK Gold sits on state-owned land in Wyoming. The mineral leases are held on state sections and private land. No federal land nexus. No rivers or creeks crossed. This means no NEPA trigger, no Army Corps of Engineers involvement, and no entry into the federal permitting queue that has stalled timelines across Nevada, Alaska, and other major mining jurisdictions.

Permitting is handled by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which has primacy over federal environmental standards. The DEQ office sits in Cheyenne, 20 miles from the project.

Jason Beggar, Government Affairs and Community Relations Manager for US Gold Corp, describes the regulatory environment: 

"They really do have a get-the-yes mentality. They say, “Here are our standards, and by no means are they easy or not well regulated,” but they say, these are the types of things that we can do."

The major mine permit took approximately two years from submission to final decision. Community engagement reinforced the outcome: over 400 meetings with more than 200 stakeholders, and effectively no organised opposition during the public comment periods. Beggar explains: "Instead of avoiding those conversations because we didn't have the answers, we took that completely the other side and sat down with people and said, We don't know those answers yet. But here are the things that we're doing."

Executive Chairman Luke Norman frames the advantage in competitive terms: 

"We are one of the only permitted shovel ready fully ready to go projects in North America and sitting within a junior. If we had been sitting somewhere in Nevada or Alaska, we would be years behind where we're at right now."

Project Economics & the Gold Price Lever

The updated PFS, released in February 2025, established the economic framework under conservative assumptions. At $2,100 gold and $4.10 copper: pre-tax NPV of $459 million, 36% IRR, 1.7-year payback, and $937 AISC per AuEq ounce. Initial capex of $277 million. At $3,000 gold and $4.50 copper, NPV rises to $952 million with 60.8% IRR.

Gold is currently above $5,100. The margin spread against AISC exceeds $4,100 per ounce. The economics at current prices are multiples above even the upside sensitivity case. Annual production of 111,250 AuEq ounces, front-loaded at 143,278 ounces in the first three years, translates into substantial free cash flow from the moment concentrate begins shipping.

The DFS is in final review, running approximately two months behind the original January 2026 release target. Norman is straightforward: 

"We're just closing out on a full definitive feasibility study right now, which is a couple of months late. But look, you want these things to be done right."

The DFS incorporates Glencore Technology's Jameson Cell for improved recovery, along with the JORD Viper tailings system. For institutional capital, its release is the most important near-term catalyst.

Infrastructure & Execution Advantage

CK Gold sits 20 miles from Cheyenne (population 65,000), 45 minutes from Fort Collins, and 90 minutes from Denver. Grid power at 7.2 cents per kWh with a signed engineering and procurement contract. Rail within three miles. Interstate 80 is four miles south. No man camp required for construction or operations.

Beggar emphasises what proximity means operationally: 

"Something breaks down, you can make a call, and within hours, a vendor can probably deliver it on site."

Processing is simple by design: crushing and flotation producing a copper-gold-silver concentrate. No cyanide. No tailings dam. Norman has described the operation as "a glorified quarry." This simplicity reduces capex, lowers environmental risk, and contributes directly to the speed of permitting.

Financial Position

The company raised $31.2 million through a private placement in December 2025, funding initial development costs while the project-level financing package takes shape. Strategic land acquisitions have secured roughly 120 acres across four parcels for operational staging.

The $277 million capex requires project financing. Multiple term sheets have been received. Norman is direct about the interest: 

"There's a lot of money out there right now chasing opportunities like this. We're attracting a lot of attention from offtakers. It's all culminating into a bull cycle with a lot of money chasing opportunities like ours, and we're one of the very few opportunities out there."

Financing channels include offtake agreements for concentrate (globally in shortage), streaming, project debt, and potentially federal capital through critical mineral designation. A February 2026 filing to sell 2.88 million shares for existing holders is worth noting as potential near-term selling pressure.

Management & Execution Credibility

Chief Executive Officer, George Bee has built some of the largest gold mines, including Barrick's Goldstrike. His operational track record is the foundation for institutional confidence that CK Gold can transition from a permitted project to a producing mine on schedule. Norman co-founded Gold Standard Ventures and brings two decades of capital markets and corporate development experience across multiple commodity cycles. His role sits at the intersection of financing, governance, and public market communication. Norman is clear about the accountability structure: 

"At the end of the day, you're the skipper. You're responsible for the ship. If something's going wrong, I can't point downstream and blame someone else."

That accountability extends beyond the current project. Norman views execution at CK Gold as the benchmark for future credibility: 

"How well you do in this company decides how well you'll do on the next, from an investor perspective, and who will follow you to the next opportunity."

Construction will use contract labour sourced from Cheyenne's industrial base rather than building an internal construction workforce, keeping overhead lean and execution flexible.

What to Watch

The DFS release is the primary catalyst, converting the case from PFS-grade to bankable status and triggering financing negotiations. The financing close determines how much per-share economics survive the transition. Construction commencement in 2026 confirms the production timeline. And track the scarcity premium: at current gold prices, the binding constraint on capital deployment is not price but the availability of permitted, buildable projects.

The Investment Thesis for US Gold Corp

• Fully permitted on Wyoming state ground with no NEPA trigger. A permitting outcome achieved in approximately five years, where comparable jurisdictions require 10 to 15 years. The permit is not replicable.
• AISC of $937 per AuEq ounce against gold above $5,100, producing a margin spread that exceeds $4,100 per ounce. Reserves of 1.672 million AuEq ounces supporting 111,250 ounces per year over a 10-year mine life.
• Infrastructure within reach of a state capital, grid power, rail, and interstate highways. The infrastructure advantage is not relocatable.
• 16.46 million shares on NASDAQ. Market capitalisation of approximately $243 million against a PFS NPV of $459 million, calculated at a gold price that the metal surpassed more than two years ago. Any institutional re-rating carries disproportionate per-share torque.
• The DFS release triggers the financing phase. The financing close confirms the construction timeline. The construction decision itself is the re-rating event that transitions this from a development narrative into a production story.

The question for investors is not whether the economics work. At $5,100 gold, they work overwhelmingly. The question is execution: can the team close financing, begin construction in 2026, and deliver first production in late 2027 to 2028 without material dilution or delay? The management team, led by a CEO who has built tier-one gold mines and a chairman who has financed and built junior mining companies across multiple cycles, is constructed specifically for this transition. Norman captures the moment directly:

"It's going to be an interesting 2026 for us."

TL;DR

US Gold Corp (NASDAQ: USAU) holds one of the only fully permitted, construction-ready gold-copper projects in North America, sitting on Wyoming state ground with no federal NEPA trigger, $937 AISC against gold above $5,100 per ounce, reserves of 1.672 million AuEq ounces, and a market cap of approximately $243 million against a PFS NPV of $459 million at a gold price the metal passed through years ago. The DFS in final review is the near-term catalyst that triggers project financing and sets the 2026 construction timeline in motion.

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