Advancing exploration at the Alotta Project in Yukon.
Disseminated on Behalf of: Forge Resources Corp.
- Metallurgical coal was added to the US Critical Minerals List in November 2025, and Forge Resources is advancing the fully permitted La Estrella Coal Project in Colombia, which is permitted for up to 180,000 tonnes of coal annually, as the company works toward potential near-term revenue generation.
- The largest drill program in Forge's history at the Alotta gold-copper project in Yukon is set for summer 2026, building on a 2025 intercept of 78 metres grading 2.01 grams per tonne gold (ALT-25-012).
- Atrium Research initiated coverage with a BUY rating and a C$1.00 target price, with the firm's model placing the stock at roughly 2.6 times 2027 estimated EBITDA at initiation.
Metallurgical coal, the irreplaceable raw material behind roughly 70 per cent of the world's steel, has spent the last year quietly moving from afterthought to strategic priority. In November 2025, the US Geological Survey added it to the federal Critical Minerals List, citing supply chain risk and the metal's essential role in domestic steel production.
Prices have followed. Demand from steelmakers feeding defence, infrastructure, and industrial buildouts has outrun supply, and several of the world's largest legacy mines are reaching the end of their economic lives.
That is where Forge Resources Corp. (CSE: FRG | OTCQB: FRGGF | FSE: 5YZ) now finds itself.
The Vancouver-based junior is pursuing a dual-asset strategy that few peers can credibly claim: a fully permitted Colombian coal project where the company is working toward potential near-term revenue generation, paired with a district-scale gold-copper exploration project in Canada's Yukon. The flagship La Estrella Coal Project in Santander is fully permitted, with underground development advancing toward the seams. The Alotta Project in the Dawson Range sits 50 kilometres from one of the largest undeveloped gold-copper deposits in the world.
“The coal being designated a critical mineral has really helped us,” says Forge’s CEO, PJ Murphy. “It's enabled us to reach a broader audience and be far better received.”
“Once we’re generating revenue in Colombia, our ability to self-fund exploration becomes a real differentiator. As a junior mining company actively drilling in the Yukon, being able to advance that work in a non-dilutive way is what truly sets us apart.” — PJ Murphy, CEO of Forge Resources Corp. |
The case for coal, again
Forge's senior advisor on coal is Matt Warder, founder of Seawolf Research and a former principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie. He called the current upcycle before it arrived. He thinks it has further to run.
“Matt predicted this rise and he still sees another 25 to 40 per cent increase over the next 12–24 months,” Murphy says.
The macro setup is straightforward. Metallurgical coal has no industrial-scale substitute in primary steelmaking, which still relies on coke to reduce iron ore. Roughly one billion tonnes of metallurgical coal are consumed by the global steel industry each year. As legacy producers retire mines, new permitted supply is scarce, particularly in jurisdictions outside the trade-tariff crosshairs.
That matters for La Estrella's customer base. Forge’s current commercial strategy contemplates exporting thermal coal primarily into Southeast Asia and metallurgical coal into Europe and Southeast Asia, which may reduce exposure to US tariff-related risks.
La Estrella: fully permitted, with underground development underway
La Estrella sits in Colombia's Santander department, one of the country's established coal regions, with road access, water, power, and proximity to the Caribbean coast for export logistics. The project carries an environmental licence, a mining concession with more than 43 years of remaining life, and approval to produce up to 180,000 tonnes of coal annually, with the potential to grow.
Aerial view of surface operations and infrastructure at La Estrella.
The coal itself is a blend, roughly 50 per cent high-volatile metallurgical and 50 per cent thermal, with gross calorific values reported between 11,800 and 13,900 BTU per pound on a dry basis, per historical technical work completed for the project. That dual exposure could position Forge to serve both metallurgical coal and thermal coal markets, including potential steelmaking and Southeast Asian electricity-market customers.
Underground development is the current focus. Portal construction was completed in March 2025, and the decline is advancing toward the project's eight coal seams. Coal has already been intersected during underground development, with development material stockpiled as work progresses.
“We're already well underground,” Murphy says. “So we're very close to getting to our eight coal seams. Once we get there, we plan to start extracting and continuing to stockpile. We're very excited and working toward generating revenue in 2026.”
Forge has received offtake interest and has entered into letters of intent related to potential future coal sales, according to management. The LOIs contemplate volumes that could cover the project’s initial planned output, should La Estrella advance to extraction and shipment. Contractual terms prevent the company from naming the parties publicly until shipment-related milestones are reached, but management describes the potential partner as one of the largest coal buyers globally.
Alotta: a Yukon porphyry next door to Casino
The second leg of Forge's strategy is the Alotta Project, a 4,723-hectare exploration play in the Yukon's Dawson Range Gold Belt. The belt currently hosts more than 41 million ounces of gold, 285 million ounces of silver, and 16 billion pounds of copper across defined resources and reserves. Forge's ground sits 50 kilometres southeast of Western Copper and Gold's (TSX: WRN) Casino deposit, one of the world's largest undeveloped gold-copper porphyry systems.
The geological case is what drew Forge to the project. The Alotta mineralization has been confirmed as the same age as Casino's, and both deposits share the porphyry-style signature that defines the Dawson Range. Porphyries are the world's most prolific source of copper and a significant source of gold. The geological setting is the foundation of every major mine in the district.
Drilling has been encouraging. Across three seasons and just 15 holes, totalling 5,345 metres, every hole has intersected mineralization.
The 2025 program delivered the project's strongest gold result to date at the Payoff Zone, where hole ALT-25-012 returned 78 metres grading 2.01 grams per tonne gold from 223 metres downhole, including 44.77 metres at 3.40 grams per tonne and a narrow, exceptionally high-grade interval of 1.25 metres at 105 grams per tonne, per Forge's January 15, 2026, news release. Coarse visible gold was observed in core from the same hole.
A second 2025 hole, ALT-25-013, was drilled approximately 800 metres west of Payoff at a new target called the Alimony Zone and returned 112.23 metres at 0.66 grams per tonne gold from near surface, including 55.53 metres at 1.04 grams per tonne. The width of those intercepts matters as much as the grade. They point to a system with scale potential, rather than a narrow-vein target.
“We have a 4-kilometre by 1.5-kilometre footprint, and we keep hitting,” Murphy says. “We hit mineralization on every single hole, with really high gold grades.”
The biggest drill program in company history
The 2026 program at Alotta is set to be the largest in Forge's history, by a wide margin.
“We'll be drilling more this drill season than all the previous years combined,” Murphy says.
The roughly 5,000-metre campaign has a different character than the previous three. Past seasons were dominated by step-out exploration. The 2026 program adds significant infill drilling, designed to connect the high-grade gold zones already identified and begin establishing continuity, the foundation of any future resource estimate.
A separate priority is testing the untested core of the system. Several magnetic highs — what porphyry geologists call bullseye features — sit adjacent to holes that have already returned the project's strongest copper grades. They have never been drilled. Management believes they could represent the higher-temperature centre of a porphyry, where the highest copper grades typically concentrate.
Funding for the program is in place. On May 7, 2026, Forge closed the second and final tranche of a brokered private placement with Ventum Financial Corp., bringing total gross proceeds of the Offering to $6 million. That final tranche was a flow-through financing, with the flow-through proceeds earmarked for Canadian exploration expenses that the company intends to incur at Alotta. The earlier first tranche, which closed in March 2026, was a non-flow-through unit financing.
“All the money that we just raised today, those are all flow-through dollars,” Murphy says. “Those will only be spent on the exploration in the Yukon.”
Why analysts are paying attention
Atrium Research initiated coverage of Forge Resources with a BUY rating and a C$1.00 target price, with the firm's analysis arguing the stock trades at roughly 2.6 times 2027 estimated EBITDA, a discounted multiple for a company with a permitted Colombian coal asset that is being advanced toward potential revenue generation, alongside exploration upside on a district-scale porphyry.
The thesis is the dual asset itself. Most junior miners are forced to choose between near-term cash-flow potential and high-leverage exploration. Forge is positioning its Colombian coal asset and Yukon exploration project as a dual-track strategy, with the goal of using future cash flow to fund exploration.
“Once we’re generating revenue in Colombia, our ability to self-fund exploration becomes a real differentiator. As a junior mining company actively drilling in the Yukon, being able to advance that work in a non-dilutive way is what truly sets us apart.”
For a sector where most exploration stories come back to the equity market every 12–18 months, that argument carries weight.
The investor watchlist
For Forge, the next 12 months can be summarized in three milestones. First, advancing the underground decline at La Estrella toward the targeted seams, with the intent of progressing from development work toward potential mineralized material extraction. Second, executing the largest drill program in company history at Alotta, focused on infill drilling at known zones and testing undrilled porphyry targets. Third, advancing existing letters of intent toward formal offtake agreements in connection with potential future shipments from Colombia.
Advancing underground development at La Estrella.
The macro is supportive on both sides of the portfolio. Metallurgical coal pricing has structural tailwinds, supply is constrained, and the regulatory wind has shifted. Gold remains near record levels heading into the back half of 2026, and copper's demand profile continues to steepen against a tightening supply base.
For investors looking for exposure to both coal development and gold-copper exploration, Forge is positioning itself around a permitted Colombian coal asset and a Yukon exploration program with several catalysts ahead.
The technical information in this article has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects). The technical information relating to the La Estrella Project has been reviewed and approved by Emilio Gene, P.Eng., and the technical information relating to the Alotta Project has been reviewed and approved by Kelson Willms, P.Geo., of Archer, Cathro & Associates (1981) Limited. Mr. Gene and Mr. Willms are each Qualified Persons for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.
About Forge Resources Corp.
Forge Resources Corp. (CSE: FRG | OTCQB: FRGGF | FSE: 5YZ) is a Canadian junior mining company advancing a dual-asset strategy across two jurisdictions. The company holds an 80 per cent interest in the fully permitted La Estrella Coal Project in Santander, Colombia, a metallurgical and thermal coal asset moving toward near-term revenue. Forge also holds an option on the Alotta gold-copper exploration project in Canada's Yukon Territory, located in the Dawson Range Gold Belt approximately 50 kilometres southeast of Western Copper and Gold's Casino deposit.
To learn more about Forge Resources, visit their website or follow them on social media:
Website: forgeresourcescorp.com
X: @Forge_Resources
LinkedIn: Forge Resources Corp.
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