(Kitco News) - Snowline Gold CEO Scott Berdahl says the company is just "on our way" despite a successful 2024 that saw continued drilling success at its Valley Gold deposit in Yukon, Canada, and the release of an initial resource estimate that helped propel the company to a 1 billion Canadian dollar market capitalization.
Speaking at the 2025 BMO Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference, Berdahl told Kitco Mining that while the market recognition is nice, he believes "we've arguably discovered more than the market has at this point."
The company's maiden resource estimate announced last year totaled more than 7 million ounces of gold across all resource categories, with grades exceeding one gram per ton. Berdahl emphasized the significance of this initial resource, achieved after just two years of drilling and 28,000 meters. "It's very important," he said. "That's based on just two years of drilling…and so I think that itself speaks to the quality of the deposit. It's near surface and because it's so continuous in three dimensions, it requires a lot less drilling to define the resource."
Snowline is keen to demonstrate the unique qualities of the deposit, noting that "there are a lot of deposits out there that have nice numbers tied to them. Not all of those will become mines," but the company is "pretty convinced that ours will and, uh, that it will make a very nice mine."
While the initial 7 million ounces is a significant milestone, Berdahl believes there is substantial potential for expansion. The company has another 25,000 meters of drilling to incorporate into an updated resource estimate expected before the next drilling season in May. Exploration efforts are also revealing the broader potential of the district.
Looking ahead, Snowline has commenced work on a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) to showcase the project's strong economics. Berdahl highlighted the deposit's favorable characteristics, noting a potential starter pit with approximately 2 million ounces indicated and 0.9 million ounces inferred, boasting an average grade of around 2.35 grams per ton and an "effectively zero" stripping ratio. "You know, there are no other starter pits on the planet that I'm aware of like that," he stated.
Regarding the potential for mergers and acquisitions in the gold sector, Berdahl acknowledged the current "arbitrage opportunity" between the valuations of producing companies and juniors. When asked if Snowline could be a takeover target, he responded, "We'll see. I think that absolutely it does create an arbitrage opportunity." However, he also emphasized that Snowline is focused on advancing the project independently.
"M& A is not a foregone conclusion for us," Berdahl said, but the company is sitting on "something pretty special here" with a clear path toward development.
Berdahl believes that Snowline's success is helping to draw more attention to the Yukon and this type of gold system, though he noted the "beam of light" hasn't yet reached a broad retail audience. He sees the upcoming resource update and the results of the PEA as key catalysts for further increasing the company's value. "That'll be a big de-risking event," he concluded.
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