Why ValOre Metals Could Be the Smartest PGE Bet in Brazil Right Now

• ValOre Metals holds a 100% owned NI 43-101 inferred resource of 2,198,000 ounces of 2PGE+Au at its Pedra Branca project in Ceará State, Brazil, grading 1.08 g/t, as established in the March 8, 2022 technical report.
• The global platinum market recorded a deficit of 692,000 ounces in 2025, its third consecutive year of significant annual shortfall, with above-ground stocks falling to their lowest level since 2020 at approximately five months of demand cover.
• At a C$26 million market capitalization, ValOre's resource is valued at approximately C$12 per inferred ounce, a significant discount relative to where comparable PGE development projects have historically traded.
• A Preliminary Economic Assessment is targeted for Q4 2026, and a Brazilian gold acquisition announcement is targeted for Q1 2026, giving investors two time-bound catalysts to track.
• ValOre is backed by Discovery Group, whose member companies have collectively been involved in more than C$2.6 billion in M&A activity and raised over $1 billion in equity since the group's founding in 2002.

The Commodity Setup: Platinum's Deficit Is Verified, Not Projected

Platinum entered 2026 carrying the weight of three consecutive years of structural undersupply. The 2025 market deficit is confirmed at 692,000 ounces. Total supply declined 2% year-on-year to 7,129,000 ounces, its lowest level in five years, while mine supply fell 5% to 5,510,000 ounces, running 10% below the pre-COVID five-year average. Total demand reached 7,821,000 ounces. The cumulative effect of three deficit years has pulled above-ground stocks down to 3,187,000 ounces, their lowest level since 2020 and the equivalent of only five months of demand cover. Market research projects deficits resuming from 2027 through to the end of the decade, as supply constraints persist and demand across automotive, industrial, and investment channels remains resilient.

Automotive demand for platinum in 2025 is forecast to be 10% above the prior five-year average. Jewelry demand grew 7% year-on-year to 2,157,000 ounces, the strongest reading since 2018. Total bar and coin investment in platinum recorded 47% year-on-year growth in 2025, led by physical demand in China, where investor interest in platinum has grown materially over the past five years. These demand dynamics, set against a supply picture constrained by deep-level underground mining economics and aging South African infrastructure, create a structurally supportive price environment for new PGE projects.

Palladium's New Chapter: A Decade of Deficits & a Market Finding Its Floor

Palladium recorded structural supply deficits in every single year from 2012 through 2024. Shortfalls reached 910,000 ounces in 2023 and 500,000 ounces in 2024, requiring ongoing drawdowns of above-ground stockpiles to balance the market. For 2025, the market moved toward near-balance as stronger recycling volumes partially offset reduced primary output from the major producing regions. The outlook for 2026 and beyond remains cautious, with analysts projecting that any potential surplus is contingent entirely on recycling supply growth materializing as expected. Should recycling recovery underperform, palladium could remain in deficit for the foreseeable future.

For a project like Pedra Branca, which carries platinum, palladium, and gold in a combined resource, the demand picture across both metals provides a natural hedge. Automotive demand accounts for over 80% of total palladium consumption, and hybrid vehicles, which use 10 to 20% more PGEs per vehicle than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, are now the fastest-growing global vehicle category. The expected growth in reverse substitution of palladium for platinum in autocatalysts over the coming years adds further incremental demand support for both metals, reinforcing the strategic value of a diversified PGE resource like Pedra Branca.

"Pedra Branca hosts a combined platinum, palladium and gold resource. This multi-metal profile provides natural exposure to the full PGE demand complex, including the growing role of both metals in automotive emissions control."

Why New PGE Supply Is So Hard to Find: The Geographic Problem

Approximately 90% of the world's platinum group element reserves are concentrated in South Africa, with Russia holding most of the remainder. Primary PGM output from these regions in 2025 was constrained by operational restructuring, severe weather, and process plant maintenance across multiple major operations. Since 2016, a number of significant South African platinum operations have been closed or suspended, contributing to mine supply that is structurally lower despite stable underlying demand. Even substantially higher platinum prices have so far only marginally stimulated new mine capacity, given the capital-intensive and long lead-time nature of deep-level underground platinum mining.

Only a handful of major greenfield PGE projects are currently in active development globally, and virtually all of them sit within the traditional Southern African or Russian supply corridor. This creates a structurally narrow universe of investable PGE development opportunities in politically stable, accessible jurisdictions. ValOre's Pedra Branca sits in that narrow universe as one of very few projects with a defined, NI 43-101 compliant resource outside the traditional PGE belt, in a jurisdiction with established mining law, paved road access, and proximity to international port infrastructure.

"Pedra Branca is one of the few significant PGE projects in development outside of South Africa and Russia, in a jurisdiction with excellent infrastructure access and a well-established mining regulatory framework."

What ValOre Actually Owns: The Pedra Branca Numbers in Full

The Pedra Branca NI 43-101 inferred mineral resource, as established in the March 8, 2022 technical report by qualified persons Fabio Valerio (P.Geo.) and Porfirio Cabaleiro (P.Eng.), stands at 2,198,000 ounces of 2PGE+Au in 63.3 million tonnes grading 1.08 g/t. The resource spans seven near-surface zones across a 51,096-hectare property 100% owned by ValOre in Ceará State, northeastern Brazil. Previous operators invested USD$30 million and drilled 30,000 metres, while ValOre has since invested an additional CAD$10 million and drilled 23,534 metres, doubling the inferred resource from 1.1 million ounces to 2.2 million ounces. The four core deposits, Esbarro, Curiu, Cedro, and Cana Brava, together exceed one million ounces of 2PGE+Au. The two southern zones, Trapia and Massape, contribute a further one million-plus ounces.

In 2025, ValOre completed an 87-hole Trado auger drilling campaign at Esbarro, confirming a high-grade extension beyond the current resource footprint into the Esbarro East Extension zone. Intercepts included 10 metres at 12.95 g/t 2PGE+Au and 9.5 metres at 5.62 g/t 2PGE+Au, both from surface. The Brazilian National Mining Agency simultaneously approved Final Exploration Reports for Esbarro, Cedro, Curiu, and Cana Brava, advancing all four core deposits to the Mining Concession Application Phase, a meaningful regulatory de-risking milestone that positions the project for future economic studies and permitting.

"2.2 Moz 2PGE+Au at 1.08 g/t in 7 near surface inferred resource zones. 51,096 hectares 100% owned in Ceara State, Brazil. Excellent access and regional infrastructure."

Brazil's Mining Edge: Why the Jurisdiction Is Part of the Thesis

Brazil ranks among the top 10 gold producers globally, with a well-established mining regulatory environment and a track record of attracting international mining capital. The country's framework has stabilized significantly in recent years, with streamlined approvals and a stable environment for foreign mining investment. Brazil also graduates more mining engineers per year than the United States and Canada combined, creating a deep pool of domestic technical and operational talent that reduces the cost and risk of building and staffing mining operations at scale.

Pedra Branca's logistics are a meaningful differentiator at this stage of development. The project sits approximately four hours from Fortaleza by paved highway, with direct access to Fortaleza International Airport and the Pecem International Deep Water Port, infrastructure that would reduce future capital requirements for concentrate transport and personnel access relative to remote greenfield projects in frontier jurisdictions. ValOre's in-country team is led by VP of Exploration Thiago Diniz, a P.Geo. with an M.Sc. in Economic Geology from Queen's University and direct exploration and development experience across precious and base metals projects in both Brazil and Canada.

"Strong pipeline of domestic technical and operational talent. Brazil now graduates more mining engineers than both USA and Canada combined. Ceará State has a well-established and supportive mining regulatory environment."

The Team Behind the Story: Why Management Track Record Matters Here

ValOre is a member of Discovery Group, an alliance of publicly listed exploration and development companies founded in 2002. Member companies have collectively participated in more than C$2.6 billion in M&A transactions and raised over $1 billion in equity. The group's exits include four completed institutional acquisitions: Great Bear Resources sold for C$1.8 billion in 2022, Kaminak Gold sold for $520 million in 2016, Northern Empire Resources sold for $117 million in 2018, and Great Bear Royalties sold for $200 million in 2022. Each transaction followed a consistent pattern of systematic resource discovery, de-risking, and eventual institutional acquisition, a playbook that ValOre's management team has executed multiple times and is now applying to Pedra Branca.

Chairman Jim Paterson is a co-founder and principal of Discovery Group with 27 years of executive leadership experience across the resource sector. CEO Nick Smart brings 21 years of operational experience across platinum, zinc, nickel, and diamond projects in South Africa, Brazil, and Canada. The pairing of capital markets execution experience and in-the-ground operational expertise at the C-suite level is rare in a company capitalized at C$26 million, and represents a meaningful quality premium over comparably sized junior miners targeting the same commodity space.

"Part of Discovery Group ($1BN raised, $2.6BN M&A activity). World Class team on the ground in Brazil. Track record of geological resource expansion, exploration success and operational execution. Strong community support."

The Investment Thesis for ValOre Metals

• At approximately C$12 per inferred resource ounce, ValOre is valued well below comparable PGE development projects, making it a re-rating candidate if the PEA confirms economic viability.
• A gold acquisition announcement in Brazil is targeted for Q1 2026, which could immediately broaden the asset base and attract a new category of investor to the register.
• Resource and mining funds currently hold 25% of shares outstanding; growing institutional ownership alongside a C$26M cap is a historically reliable indicator of re-rating potential.
• The macro thesis rests on platinum deficits resuming from 2027 through 2029; each quarterly update to global supply and demand forecasts is a direct checkpoint for that thesis.
• The first economic study on Pedra Branca will define the unit economics of the project and is the single most important near-term catalyst for a fundamental re-rating of the stock.
• A sustained price move at that level would meaningfully improve the project's economic outlook and could accelerate strategic interest from larger producers seeking supply outside South Africa and Russia.

What Investors Should Take Away

ValOre Metals carries all the risk that comes with an early-stage junior miner: limited cash, an inferred-only resource not yet supported by an economic study, and a development timeline that runs deep into 2027 and beyond. That acknowledged, the risk-reward construction here is unusually clean for a company at this stage. The commodity case is supported by verified global supply and demand data showing three consecutive years of platinum market shortfall and a structurally constrained supply pipeline. The asset has real discovery history behind it, with over USD$40 million invested by ValOre and prior operators and a resource that has already doubled under ValOre's stewardship. The management team has a track record of converting exactly this kind of asset into institutional exits. The Q4 2026 PEA is the defining moment: favorable economics would transform Pedra Branca from a resource story into a development story, and from a development story into a potential acquisition target for a major producer seeking geographically diversified PGE supply.

TL;DR

ValOre Metals is a C$26 million junior miner with a NI 43-101 inferred resource of 2,198,000 ounces of platinum, palladium, and gold in Ceará, Brazil. The global platinum market recorded a 692,000-ounce deficit in 2025, the third consecutive significant annual shortfall, with above-ground stocks at their lowest level since 2020. Palladium recorded structural deficits every year from 2012 through 2024. Backed by Discovery Group and led by executives with deep operational experience across platinum, nickel, and diamond projects in South Africa and Brazil, ValOre is targeting a gold acquisition announcement in Q1 2026 and a PEA publication in Q4 2026 as its two primary near-term catalysts.

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