(Kitco News) Thesis Gold is advancing its Lawyers-Ranch gold-silver project in British Columbia’s Toodoggone Mining District after a pre-feasibility study outlined what the company says is a rare combination of scale, grade, and development simplicity for a Canadian gold asset.
Speaking with Kitco Mining’s Investment Trends, President and CEO Ewan Webster said the company deliberately structured the study using conservative assumptions. “We really wanted to let the project speak for itself, and I think it very much did that,” Webster said.
The pre-feasibility study, released Dec. 1, 2025, outlines a 15-year mine plan averaging 187,000 oz of gold equivalent per year at an all-in sustaining cost of roughly $1,185 per oz, based on base case prices of $2,900 gold and $35 silver. Webster said the study also highlighted development simplicity, calling it a “very simple project.” “The CapEx is relatively light because it’s a brownfield development site. The mining methods, the flow sheet, it’s very straightforward,” he added.
A key driver of the study is the sequencing of higher-grade material early in the mine life, including underground production at the Ranch Project, which Webster said carries a head grade of about three and a half grams gold equivalent. He also said the project was designed to stand on its own at conservative metal price assumptions, with higher prices significantly improving returns and highlighting the scarcity of high-quality development projects globally.
Beyond project-level economics, Webster framed Lawyers-Ranch within a broader district narrative. He said the Toodoggone Mining District has seen far less exploration investment than British Columbia’s Golden Triangle despite hosting similar geology and mineralization styles. “The most exciting exploration district in Canada, if not North America at the moment,” Webster said.
With the PFS complete, Thesis has begun advancing permitting and plans to initiate a feasibility study in 2026. Webster said permitting formally started Dec. 10, 2025, and the company is budgeting a timeline of about three years. He said feasibility work is targeted for the second half of 2027, with a potential construction decision in late 2028.
Exploration remains part of the development strategy as the project advances. On Jan. 21, 2026, Thesis reported results from the Steve Zone at the Ranch Project, including an intercept of 38.00 meters grading 3.62 g/t gold within a broader mineralized interval, confirming the presence of higher-grade gold in an area not currently included in the mineral resource or the PFS.
Webster said the company is now evaluating what additional drilling would be required to potentially advance the Steve Zone toward feasibility-level consideration. “We’re at the moment working up what we need to do, what does the drill pacing need to be to potentially get that Steve Zone into a feasibility study?” he said.
On the corporate side, Webster pointed to Centerra Gold’s 9.9% equity stake as strategic validation of both the project and the district. “We have quarterly technical meetings where we get together, and we discuss the geology, the engineering, and the direction that we’re moving in,” he said.
Webster also highlighted the participation of First Nations as equity investors in Thesis Gold, describing it as an uncommon level of alignment for a project at this stage. He notes that the company has awarded about $50 million in contracts to nation-owned and operated businesses over the past several years.
As Thesis advances permitting, exploration, and feasibility work, Webster said the focus remains on continuing to reduce risk and move the project toward development. “We keep moving it forward, we keep de-risking it,” he said.
Watch the full interview on the Kitco Mining YouTube channel to hear Ewan Webster discuss the Lawyers-Ranch pre-feasibility study, development timelines, exploration upside, and why he believes the Toodoggone Mining District is emerging as a key gold camp in Canada.
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