Western Copper and Gold Corporation

The thesis

Metrics profile

This profile describes the company's characteristics. It contains no assessment of whether the share is over- or undervalued.

Fundamentals

Business model

One project, one country, no production. Casino sits on Crown land in the western Yukon and covers around 21,300 hectares following the 2026 field programme. There is no second site and there are no revenues.

The feasibility study of 13 June 2022 sets out two parallel operations: a 120,000 t/d mill and a 25,000 t/d heap leach. Over the life of mine it models average annual output of 163 million pounds of copper, 211,000 ounces of gold, 1,277,000 ounces of silver and 15.1 million pounds of molybdenum. Study recoveries: in the mill 86% copper, 67% gold, 53% silver, 71% molybdenum; in the leach 80% gold and 26% silver.

⚠️ **Two figures from the same study that do not say the same thing.** The NPV of CAD 4,059 million is the value at a 5% discount rate; at 8% it is CAD 2,334 million. That is not a technicality: on a project with three years of pre-production and 27 years of operation, the discount rate decides almost half the result. Quoting only the larger figure quotes the study incompletely.

The technical report is signed by eight people from external consultancies — Independent Mining Consultants, M3 Engineering, Knight Piésold, Aurora Geosciences and Hemmera. We have not found an express declaration of independence for each of them in the documents reviewed, so we describe them as external consultants rather than as independent.

The project carries a **2.75% net smelter return royalty in favour of Osisko Gold Royalties**.

Balance sheet

As at 30 June 2026: cash of CAD 58,028,984 and short-term investments of CAD 70,611,243, around CAD 128.6 million in total. Current assets of CAD 129,759,539 against current liabilities of CAD 4,121,509. **No borrowings** — the notes state expressly that the company has no debt.

The half-year loss was CAD 4,213,160, of which CAD 1,672,446 fell in the second quarter; finance income for the half was CAD 1,365,967. The six-month cash outflow comprises CAD 1,736,904 from operating activities, CAD 7,788,332 of capitalised exploration and CAD 497,630 of property and equipment — around CAD 10.0 million in total. Across the whole of 2025, CAD 21.6 million went into exploration and evaluation.

**There is no going-concern statement.** Note 1 says only that additional capital will be required *if* the project proceeds to construction.

And that is where the ratio worth holding in mind sits: **initial capital expenditure of CAD 3,617 million against around CAD 129 million of liquidity.** That is not a criticism — a developer does not fund construction from its treasury — but it measures how far the road from study to mine still runs.

Dilution

The share count rose from 198,391,318 at 31 December 2024 to 225,838,652 at 30 June 2026, an increase of 13.8% over eighteen months. For a developer with no revenue that is modest.

Outstanding are 6,398,927 options at an average of CAD 1.99, of which 4,604,373 are vested, plus 1,651,916 RSUs and 645,163 DSUs. **There are no warrants.** Fully diluted that gives around 234,534,658 shares, about 3.9% above the outstanding count.

The price of the last raise is worth noting. The bought deal was announced on 11 February 2026 at CAD 50 million, increased to CAD 80 million on 12 February 2026, and closed on 26 February 2026 with 22,169,125 shares at **CAD 4.15** — CAD 92,001,869 gross, against CAD 4,587,830 of commission and CAD 1,103,229 of other costs. For comparison, the annual report gives a 2025 trading range on the TSX of CAD 1.53 to CAD 4.03. It was placed at the top of the prior year's range, not the bottom.

Valuation

We currently publish no fair value and no recommendation. The framework that applies to this sector is set out here: Methodology.

Key metrics

Peer group

SWOT

Chart

Catalysts

• ongoing Adequacy determination by the Executive Committee

  Responses to the supplementary information requests were filed on 15 July 2026. Only after adequacy is determined is the panel constituted and its terms of reference set; the technical assessment follows. As at 10 August 2026 this step was not complete.

• open Constitution of the review panel and its terms of reference

  The most demanding route under YESAA. ⚠️ A figure of around three years circulates for its duration; we have no verifiable primary source for it, so we give no number.

• open Mining licence and water licence

  After the environmental assessment come a Mining Licence and Lease from the Yukon government and a Type A water licence from the Yukon Water Board. Neither process has opened.

• 30 Nov 2026 Expiry of the Rio Tinto investor rights agreement

  The agreement ends on that date, or earlier if the holding falls below 5%. Mitsubishi Materials has extended its own to 30 November 2028.

• open Update of the feasibility study

  Not announced. Until it comes, the NPV and IRR are computed on June 2022 prices and cost assumptions.

Risks

• Permitting is the determining factor and it has no end date. Casino is going through a panel review under YESAA, the most demanding level. The submission was filed in October 2025 — the company's own sources give two different days for it, the 3rd and the 6th — the Executive Committee issued supplementary information requests, and the responses went in on 15 July 2026. As at 10 August 2026 adequacy had not been determined. Only after that is the panel constituted at all.
• The feasibility study is four years old. Effective 13 June 2022, assuming USD 3.60 per pound of copper and USD 1,700 per ounce of gold, and no update has been announced. NPV, IRR and capital cost all refer to 2022 costs — over a period in which mining construction costs have moved considerably. The resources likewise date from April 2022 and rest on a December 2021 block model.
• Reserves and resources carry two different effective dates and two different price decks. The resources (29 April 2022) assume USD 3.50/lb copper, the reserves (13 June 2022) USD 3.25/lb. The resources are moreover reported **inclusive** of the reserves. Anyone adding the two figures counts the same copper twice.
• The project sits on Crown land, principally within the traditional territory of the Selkirk First Nation; the access road runs through the territory of the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, and the annual report also names Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in, White River and Kluane as potentially affected. ⚠️ We have been able to verify **neither public support nor public opposition** from any First Nation regarding Casino, and therefore assert neither.
• Initial capital expenditure of CAD 3,617 million stands against around CAD 128.6 million of liquidity. The company acknowledges the funding requirement in its own notes. On a project of this size, financing is not a formality but a hurdle of its own, after permitting.
• The project carries a 2.75% net smelter return royalty in favour of Osisko Gold Royalties. That royalty comes off gross revenue, whether or not the mine earns a profit.
• The Rio Tinto investor rights agreement expires on 30 November 2026, or earlier if the holding falls below 5%. What happens to the 19,004,925 shares after that is open. Mitsubishi Materials, by contrast, has extended its agreement to 30 November 2028 and bought the 1.2 million shares agreed for it in the open market, so without dilution.
• The published C1 cash cost of CAD −1.00 per pound of copper is negative because gold, silver and molybdenum are deducted as revenue credits. It therefore depends directly on the prices of those three metals and is not comparable with an AISC — which for Casino is not published at all.

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