Q&A with Western Copper and Gold President and CEO, Sandeep Singh (a Company Trading at 10% its Value)

On September 17, we wrote a blog highlighting Western Copper and Gold (“WRN”), a Canada-based company we’re bullish on. Since then, WRN’s stock has gained approximately 33%. With a market capitalization of about US$435 million, the company counts several major players among its shareholders — Rio Tinto, valued at over US$110 billion, holds nearly 10% of WRN’s shares, while Mitsubishi Materials owns about 5%. To provide further insight into Western Copper and Gold, we invited its President and CEO, Sandeep Singh, to join us for a discussion.

[Note: this transcript has been edited from brevity, but its substance accurately reflects the video]

Sunni: Hi everyone, and thanks for joining us today for our webcast. We have a special guest, Sandeep Singh, President and CEO of Western Copper and Gold. Hi Sandeep.

Sandeep: Hi Sunni, how are you?

Sunni: Good, thanks. So, we have a few questions to go through. Jeff, if you want to start.

Jeff: Sure. Sandeep, gold has had quite the year. I certainly wasn’t expecting the run-up. When many people think of Western Copper, they normally focus on the copper side, but you’re quite exposed to gold too. Can you talk about what percentage of it comprises your resource, and what you think about the run-up in gold prices so far this year?

Sandeep: Sure, happy to.  I’ll start off by saying you’ve heard me say how unique our commodity mix is. Most people think of us as a critical minerals story — given our copper and molybdenum — but there’s also a tremendous amount of gold. With the run-up in gold prices over the past 18 months, the project today is almost equal parts gold and base metals, depending on the price assumptions you use.

That mix gives us great balance. Typically, we’re benefiting from one side of the portfolio or the other — and sometimes both. The metals are largely uncorrelated, which helps cushion us through market cycles.

As for gold specifically, the macro backdrop is very supportive. Governments and consumers are carrying record levels of debt — the U.S. alone is over $30 trillion — while inflation remains stubborn, growth is sluggish, and unemployment is rising. That “stagflationary” environment historically supports gold.

You also have the “de-dollarization” trend, with central banks diversifying into gold and even Bitcoin as alternative stores of value. All of that creates, frankly, a perfect storm for gold. For us, every $1,000 move in gold prices has a remarkable impact on our project economics. And as strong as gold has been, I think copper is next — we’re starting to see early signs of that recovery now.

Sunni: Rio Tinto and Mitsubishi have both been involved in your project. Have there been any recent developments there?

Sandeep: Both have been excellent partners. Rio Tinto has been with us since 2021, and Mitsubishi Materials came in during the spring of 2023. They’ve each made multiple investments in Western Copper and Gold and have provided tremendous technical support through our joint committees — particularly in sustainability and engineering.

Recently, we extended our rights agreements with both companies, which made perfect sense. We want to keep them close and engaged. Rio Tinto remains involved as we move through the environmental assessment process, and Mitsubishi has continued to show strong support — in fact, they went into the market in late May to buy two million shares, increasing their ownership from 4% to 5%. That’s not something they do often, especially since this is their first investment in a public company. It’s a real vote of confidence in the project.

Jeff: The project isn’t permitted yet, but you’ve just submitted your Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment (ESE). Can you tell us about that process — and maybe how big that document was?

Sandeep: It’s massive — about 23,000 pages in total. Most of that is appendices, but even the main body is extensive. It represents years of work, and especially the last 18 months of intense effort from our team and our consultants.

It’s probably the most comprehensive environmental submission ever prepared for a Yukon project — and that makes sense, given this is the largest project the territory has contemplated. It has the potential to positively impact the Yukon for generations.

We’re now entering the panel review phase, which will take time as regulators and affected First Nations work through the details. The good news is that we’ve already spent the past year sharing draft chapters and incorporating feedback from First Nations, so we’re ahead of the curve compared to a typical process.

Sunni: How does the current share valuation compare with your project’s net asset value (NAV)?

Sandeep: The stock has had a nice move off the summer lows, but it’s still trading at a fraction of the project’s intrinsic value. If you look at our copper peers, we’re all up about the same this year, but given that half our resource is in gold — and gold’s been on a tear — arguably we should be higher.

Using reasonable long-term commodity assumptions — say, gold above US$3,000 and copper around US$4.50 or higher — you’re looking at a C$7–8 billion project on an NPV basis, with very strong IRRs and a roughly two-year payback. We’re currently trading at under 10% of that value.

As we continue to execute — advancing permitting, strengthening partnerships with First Nations, and de-risking the project — there’s a clear path to narrowing that valuation gap and trading at the NPV.

Sunni: What does the next 12 months look like for the company?

Sandeep: In the near term, regulators will be reviewing our submission to confirm completeness. That’ll take us into Q1, when a formal panel is struck. After that, the process becomes more technical — with back-and-forth questions and responses — which will carry through most of 2026.

In parallel, we’ll continue working closely with our First Nations partners on Impact Benefit Agreements and related commitments. We expect formal panel hearings to begin in earnest in 2027.

That said, we’re not sitting idle — we already have a good sense of where the main questions will come from, and our team is actively preparing responses and technical clarifications.

Jeff: Before we wrap up, we should disclose that both Sunni and I are personal shareholders of Western Copper and Gold, and many of our clients are as well. Thanks for joining us, Sandeep. Keep up the great work — we’ve certainly been happy with the stock performance of late.

Sandeep: I really appreciate your support, Jeff and Sunni. Always a pleasure speaking with you. Thanks again for having me.