Gold surges ~4% overnight. TTM announces brand new, shear hosted gold discovery - 33.5m at 6.6g/t gold drill hit.

Disclosure: S3 Consortium Pty Ltd (the Company) and Associated Entities own 902,943 TTM Shares at the time of publishing this article. The Company has been engaged by TTM to share our commentary on the progress of our Investment in TTM over time. This information is general in nature about a speculative investment and does not constitute personal advice. It does not consider your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Any forward-looking statements are uncertain and not a guaranteed outcome.

We were already excited for today after waking up to gold up ~4% overnight.

That is a massive single session move by gold’s standard.

Silver was also up by ~5% overnight.

(of course, one day’s excitement can be cancelled by a daily move down in a similar way - commodity markets can be rollercoasters of emotions for example the last 7 months of sadness and self loathing for gold and silver investors)

Our Investment Titan Minerals (ASX:TTM) already has a 3.9M ounce gold and 26.1M ounce silver (JORC resource estimates) asset in Ecuador.

This morning TTM announced a brand new discovery with a monster 33.5m at 6.6g/t gold hit.

A “shear hosted gold” discovery - different to the style of mineralisation across the rest of TTM’s multi million ounce resource - something that was previously missed by all of the old drilling on TTM’s project.

More drilling is now planned to chase down and define repetitions and lateral extensions to the newly found mineralisation in the coming 2 weeks.

More on what this means for TTM in a second.

First, why did gold go up so much last night? And why might it keep going?

~10 hours ago the US Treasury announced it is DOUBLING buybacks of long term US debt:

What the hell does that mean?

10 second summary:

Because this move is the US Treasury signalling to the market it won't accept free-market set interest rates in the long term bond market.

Instead it will control its own destiny and buy debt from itself if it has to - to prevent interest rates from skyrocketing or worse... default.

Not technically money printing... but pretty close.

Of course the market will always see it as printing, because more paper currency is being pumped into the system.

Gold loves fiat currency being pumped into the system - so it makes sense it started running right after the treasury news.

And looking at the gold price over the last three years, it caps off a VERY good few weeks for gold after 7 months of pain and self doubt (since “black January”)

(source)

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

When gold and silver prices have positive momentum, the market cares about and rewards announcements from gold and silver companies.

So it's a good day for a small cap company to lob in a high grade gold drill result - or better yet, make a new gold discovery...

Which is precisely what TTM just did from its 3.9M ounce gold, 26.1M ounce silver project in Ecuador this morning.

TTM just discovered a new style of mineralisation outside of the existing resource at its project.

With a monster hit OUTSIDE of its existing resource footprint - here is the hit - you don't see those grades over that thickness every day.

(source)

BUT the even bigger takeaway is how this is the first time TTM has hit “shear hosted gold” to the north west of its defined JORC resource - something that was previously missed by all of the old drilling on TTM’s project.

(source)

“Shear hosted” matters because it's a different style of gold to the high grade veins TTM has spent years drilling.

Veins are narrow and high grade.

Shear zones can carry gold over much WIDER intervals - and they usually form in clusters - so the next few drillholes in this part of TTM’s project will be interesting to watch.

And it's all pointing in a direction where TTM’s project has NO DRILLING on:

(source)

We also like that TTM said it would redirect its drill rigs to this new area - a good signal of intent - IF it's good enough for TTM to pivot its plans and focus on this new zone, then it's got our attention too.

TTM has three diamond rigs on site, with an RC rig incoming.

So the four rigs in total will be able to drill out this new area pretty quickly too.

Over the next few months we will know if today’s hits change the size/scale of TTM’s already giant 3.9M ounce gold, 26.1M ounce silver deposit (JORC Mineral Resource Estimates).

Which leads into two major catalysts for this project:

1. Another resource estimate upgrade (expected in early 2027), and
   
2. A scoping study - the first time we get to see some numbers wrapped around the big resources (expected late 2026).

All of that is without even thinking about the copper potential on this asset.

TTM’s 3.9m oz gold, 26.1m oz silver project also has big copper porphyry potential

~76% of TTM’s current JORC resource estimate starts from surface and sits within depths of 200m.

So far, the bulk of TTM’s resource has been defined across just ~2km x 1.7km of a ~9km long vein corridor - so large areas of TTM's ground remain completely untested with the drill bit:

(source)

TTM’s current resource estimate is hosted in parallel sets of high grade veins.

Geologically it is a similar structure to Ecuador's Fruta del Norte - the largest gold mine in the country, owned by $24BN Lundin Gold.

Fruta del Norte weighs in at 8.5M oz gold and 12.4M oz silver.

Fruta del Norte was discovered by a junior company in 2005-2006 and ended up an almost 100 bagger for the pre-discovery investors.

Check out this X post for a good summary of the Fruta del Norte story.

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

These types of vein systems can be very profitable because they are usually very high grade.

Sometimes these high grade deposits sit above a “porphyry” source - the way we visualise it is by looking at the image below.

Here you can visualise where the high grade silver-gold typically sits above a porphyry source:

TTM first started talking about the potential for a deep copper-gold porphyry source for the existing 3.1M ounce gold, 22M ounce silver Dynasty resource estimate in a presentation in May last year:

(Source)

Then in July, TTM completed a round of geophysics to define the “source” structure ahead of a drill campaign.

Then, late last year/early this year, TTM started drilling the target area for the first time.

Results from that drilling came in only a few months ago, with TTM hitting intercepts up to 159.9m and grades up to 0.8g/t gold equivalent. (source)

(source)

So we know TTM has confirmed a mineralised porphyry over ~500m of strike, 350m width and down to depths of 600m.

Most importantly though, everything still remains open in all directions.

So there is clearly a reason to go in and continue drilling the “source structure” theory at Dynasty.

AND so far, TTM has only tested one of the multiple porphyry targets at Dynasty:

(source)

So far only one of the copper porphyry targets (at Kaliman in the image above) has been included in TTM’s project wide resources estimates.

The reason this matters is that Dynasty already has a resource of 3.9M ounces gold and 26.1M ounces of silver - these are the high-grade veins of the project.

So adding bulk porphyry zones on top of that existing resource could meaningfully change the way a development plan gets built around the project - basically increasing scale and mine life.

Defining a big copper/gold porphyry source could also be what tempts a third party that's been watching from the sidelines to look at the asset with a whole different perspective on the type of development asset it could be.

With M&A deals, it's important for some blue sky upside to be left on the table for a party willing to commit the capital to testing that potential.

So we think the porphyry source story could play a big role in the future of TTM’s Dynasty asset over the coming months/years.

Oh and... it doesn't hurt that the porphyry would add copper to TTM’s giant gold and silver resources.

Especially with copper trading at all time highs:

(source)

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

Speaking of copper - TTM has three copper projects with one in a JV with billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting

In addition to the 3.9M ounce gold, 26.1M ounce silver asset, TTM also has three copper assets in Ecuador:

• The Linderos copper project - A subsidiary of Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is earning in up to an 80% stake of this asset in exchange for US$2M in cash + US$120M in exploration spend, and;
  
• Two earlier stage copper assets (with large scale potential) where we think TTM could do a similar farm out deal as the one done with Hancock Prospecting.

(source)

The most advanced project is TTM’s Linderos asset - the project Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting (via its subsidiary Hanrine) currently owns 51% as part of an earn-in for 80% of the project.

Based on the earn-in deal, the look through valuation for TTM’s 20% (after the earn-in is complete) would be ~US$30M (A$42M).

That's just on one of TTM’s assets - and TTM’s market cap is ~$167M right now.

So far, Hanrine have spent ~US$20M on the asset, completing Milestone 3 of the earn-in deal, and did it much quicker than the Earn in Period time of 7 years (to us, this indicates they like what they are seeing)

(source)

TTM now has a 49% interest and is free-carried until Milestone 4, where Hanrine can go to 80% via a decision to mine or US$120M in total spend.

So what has Gina’s team achieved with the US$20M+ in spend?

Hits like 700.4m at 0.36% CuEq (copper equivalent, which includes gold, silver and molybdenum):

(source)

Now, defining a system that is ~1km long and ~1km deep PLUS open to the southeast and northwest and at depth:

(source)

With holes planned to test for further extensions after a pause on drilling activities.

(source)

We think the market isn’t really ascribing any value to TTM’s Linderos ownership.

(possibly because TTM doesn’t really talk about it that much with Hanrine the operator of the asset)

But those are some seriously solid hits.

We still remember when another ASX listed explorer (AusQuest) announced a 348m at 0.26% copper equivalent discovery intercept back in Jan-2025 and re-rated by almost 700%. (source)

At its peak AusQuest was capped at ~$130M.

(source)

The past performance is not and should not be taken as an indication of future performance. Caution should be exercised in assessing past performance. This product, like all other financial products, is subject to market forces and unpredictable events that may adversely affect future performance.

TTM and Hanrine’s holes are ~2x longer and ~40% higher grade.

Here are those AusQuest holes and the holes from TTM’s project side by side:

(source)(source)

We think that right now the market is ascribing very little value to TTM’s Linderos ownership stake.

And almost nothing on its two other copper assets (where TTM could replicate a Linderos style farm-out deal).

Right now a big part of why we like TTM is because we get the copper exposure in stealth, while the market focuses on trying to work out what the 3.9M ounce gold, 26.1M ounce silver asset is worth.

Ultimately, we think that for TTM to achieve our Big Bet the market will need to get its head around all of its projects (gold-silver and copper included), as follows:

Our TTM Big Bet:

“We want to see TTM prove up a $1BN plus copper or gold discovery in Ecuador which is so attractive that a mining major acquires the company”

NOTE: our “Big Bet” is what we HOPE the ultimate success scenario looks like for this particular Investment over the long term (3+ years). There is no guarantee that our Big Bet will ever come true. There is a lot of work to be done, many risks involved, including financing risk, regulatory risk, and market adoption risk - just some of which we list in our TTM Investment Memo.

Success will require a significant amount of luck and good management. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance.

What’s next for TTM?

🔄 Drilling to restart at gold-silver project & a scoping study

TTM is currently drilling its 3.9M ounce gold, 26.1M ounce silver asset with three diamond rigs (and a fourth RC rig on the way).

We are now especially interested in seeing TTM follow up today’s gold hit.

At the same time we are looking forward to the scoping study TTM has coming later this year.

(source)

🔄 Update on a potential transaction with Lingbao

TTM had Hong Kong listed Lingbao Gold invest US$10M for a 9.9% stake in TTM in October last year.

That was done at ~59c per share back in October 2025.

That deal also came with a 90 day exclusivity period (which appears to be over now as we haven’t seen any extensions) for Lingbao and TTM to negotiate a potential M&A deal between each other.

Initially based on TTM announcements, discussions were around a deal on TTM’s Dynasty asset alone, then later TTM said:

“The companies continue to advance discussions for a potential corporate transaction that could see Lingbao as the owner of Titan’s gold and copper projects in Ecuador.”

(source)

TTM has been fairly quiet on any M&A for the last few months, but this is something else we are looking forward to hearing more about.

Lingbao still owns 9% of TTM so they are likely reading today’s announcement and modelling what it means for TTM... (source)

🔄 More drilling at the Linderos Copper project (Gina JV)

At the JV with Gina Rinehart’s Hanrine, we want to see drilling follow up areas that have already been identified - to the southeast and northwest of the current drilling.

We want to see the next round of holes chase those extensions - the system Hanrine has outlined is already ~1km long, ~1km deep and open.

(source)

What could go wrong?

The two main risks now are “exploration risk” and “financing risk”.

Exploration risk because there is no guarantee TTM will hit anything of economic value with its latest drill program.

And financing because TTM ended the June quarter with A$8.5M in cash (US$5.9M) (source) - with three diamond rigs actively drilling (and an RC rig to come) TTM may need to top up that bank balance at some point over the next few months - which could be via a placement or attracting a JV/corporate partner to one of its assets.

Exploration / Drilling risk

There is no guarantee that TTM’s extensional drilling programs will be successful and TTM may fail to uncover enough economic mineralisation to justify the expense.

Source: “What could go wrong” - TTM Investment Memo 29 May 2024

Funding risk/dilution risk

As a small cap company, TTM is reliant on capital markets to advance its projects if it cannot do strategic deals with partners. If something negative happens at a macro or company level, TTM could struggle to access capital on favourable terms. These capital raises may take place at a discount, and result in the issuance of new shares which incur dilution to existing shareholders.

Source: “What could go wrong” - TTM Investment Memo 29 May 2024

Other risks

Like any early-stage exploration company, TTM carries significant risk, here we aim to identify a few more risks.

Operating in Ecuador exposes TTM to sovereign and regulatory risks, where potential changes in government policies, permitting delays, or community relations could disrupt project timelines.

Shifting focus towards bulk copper-gold porphyry targets introduces metallurgical and processing risks. Complex porphyry systems may yield lower recovery rates or prove cost-prohibitive to process compared to high-grade vein mineralisation.

TTM’s future valuation remains tightly linked to macroeconomic cycles and underlying commodity prices for gold, silver, and copper. A sustained decline in broader metal markets would negatively impact project economics and investor sentiment.

Managing multiple exploration sites alongside various joint ventures and potential corporate transactions places significant demands on executive bandwidth. Operational resources could become stretched across these competing priorities.

Investors should consider these risks carefully and seek professional advice tailored to their personal circumstances before investing.

Our TTM Investment Memo

Our Investment Memo provides a short, high-level summary of our reasons for Investing.

We use this memo to track the progress of all our Investments over time.

Click here to read our TTM Investment Memo where you will find:

• What does TTM do?
• The macro theme for TTM
• Our TTM Big Bet
• What we want to see TTM achieve
• Why we are Invested in TTM
• The key risks to our Investment Thesis
• Our Investment Plan