Western Copper and Gold (TSX, NYSE-A: WRN) said CEO Sandeep Singh will leave the company this week, handing leadership to chairman Mark E. Smith as the developer advances its Casino copper-gold project through Yukon’s highest level of environmental assessment.
Singh will step down as president, CEO and director on Saturday, Western said late Monday without providing a reason. Smith will become interim CEO on Sunday while chief financial officer Michael Psihogios adds the president’s role. The board plans to search for a permanent CEO.
The move puts an engineer with extensive Yukon experience in charge of one of Canada’s largest undeveloped copper-gold projects. Casino, about 300 km northwest of Whitehorse, would require $3.62 billion (US$2.6 billion) in initial capital under Western’s 2022 feasibility study, which forecast 27 years of operations.
“Singh’s departure will be a surprise to the market, given that the company has been on steady course to begin a major ‘Panel Review’ phase of permitting, which in our view, is a core value driver aligned with our thesis for Casino to be de-risked towards an eventual M&A exit to a global mining company and mine builder,” National Bank Financial mining analyst Rabi Nizami said in a note.
Under Smith, Western’s interim leadership team will probably “maintain a steady hand on Panel Review and leverage his Yukon government and industry relationships, although additional work streams to orient the company’s capital allocation towards additional engineering and exploration spending may be under consideration to advance the project on multiple fronts in parallel with the core permitting track,” Nizami added.
Stock climbs
Western shares rose 2.1% to $2.45 in Tuesday morning in Toronto, boosting the company’s market capitalization to about $554 million. The stock has traded between $2.34 and $5.74 in the past year.
Smith joined Western’s board last November and became chairman in August. He has more than 45 years of mining experience, including nearly 25 years leading Vector Engineering, which he co-founded.
His Yukon work includes advising on mine waste and heap-leach management and chairing the independent review board investigating the Eagle mine failure. Over the past year, he worked with Boroo on its recommissioning plans for the mine, which the Singapore-based investor agreed last week to buy for $140 million.
“Casino is one of the most significant undeveloped copper -gold projects I have worked on in my career, and the board and I are fully committed to advancing it,” Smith said in Monday’s statement. “The Panel Review, the engineering work and our engagement with First Nations and the Government of Yukon continue without interruption.”
Open-pit mine
Casino, a proposed open-pit operation, would produce an average of 164 million lb. copper and 259,000 oz. gold annually, alongside molybdenum and silver, according to the feasibility study. Its processing plan combines a 120,000-tonne-per-day concentrator with a smaller heap-leach facility for oxide material.
Using an 8% discount rate, Casino is projected to have an after-tax net present value of C$2.3 billion with an 18% internal rate of return and 3.3-year payback. The estimates use $3.60-per-lb. copper and $1,700-per-oz. gold. They remain study assumptions from 2022, rather than an updated construction budget or forecast based on today’s prices.
Although Western acquired Casino in 2006, exploration in the area dates to 1917. The project remains under panel review by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board, a process that involves technical scrutiny, public hearings and consideration of effects on land, water, wildlife and communities. Government and First Nations decision bodies would consider the panel’s recommendations before decisions on the project.
Drill program
Engineering and design work is continuing. Western’s 2026 program includes geotechnical drilling, permafrost investigations and metallurgical sampling.
Vancouver-based Western reported more than C$120.6 million in cash and investments as of Sept. 30, supporting the work ahead while the leadership search proceeds.
Singh joined Western in February 2024 after serving as president and CEO of Osisko Gold Royalties, now OR Royalties (TSX, NYSE: OR). His appointment brought investment banking and transaction experience to a company seeking to advance a large, capital-intensive development. He previously co-founded mining advisory firm Maxit Capital.
Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) owns about 8.5% of Western, while Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials owns a 5% stake.
Source: https://www.mining.com/western-copper-ceo-exits-as-casino-review-advances/
