Saying Goodbye to the Gold Bottom — and Hello to Strategic Capital

With gold sitting above $4,200 for the first time in six weeks, we believe the demoralizing but healthy bottoming period for gold and junior mining equities may finally be behind us.

Why does that matter so much for Palisades? Leverage. During the sector’s last bull run, from August 2025 to January 2026, gold rose about 50% — while the intrinsic value of Palisades’ warrant portfolio rose a staggering 25x. That asymmetry is the power of warrants, and of establishing positions early in the cycle, before the crowd arrives.

This week, one of our largest positions showed exactly what that early positioning can deliver.

Strategic Investment and Trafigura Offtake for Copper Giant, Our Second-Largest Warrant Position

On Thursday, August 6, Copper Giant Resources Corp. (TSX-V: CGNT | OTCQB: LBCMF | FRA: 29H0) announced a $31.0 million non-brokered private placement, anchored by a $28.8 million lead order from Denarius Metals Corp. (CBOE: DMET | OTCQX: DNRSF) that will give Denarius a 15.6% strategic equity interest in Copper Giant upon closing. Copper Giant’s largest backer, Frank Giustra, and its CEO, Ian Harris, are both participating alongside.

Behind that lead order stands one of the world’s largest commodity traders. Denarius is funding its investment through a concurrent $28.8 million financing with Trafigura Group Pte. Ltd., which will leave Trafigura holding a 14.9% equity interest in Denarius. And conditional on both financings closing, Copper Giant has signed a definitive agreement granting Trafigura a ten-year offtake right — and obligation — to purchase 20% of the copper and molybdenum concentrates produced at the Mocoa Project in Putumayo, Colombia.

In one set of transactions, Copper Giant has secured the capital to advance Mocoa beyond its ongoing Preliminary Economic Assessment toward a construction decision, a strategic partner with Colombian operating experience, and a committed route to global markets for its future concentrate. These are exactly the kinds of catalysts we look for across our portfolio.

Palisades’ exposure here is substantial. We hold 14,465,000 Copper Giant warrants with a volume-weighted average exercise price of $0.32 — a 5.4% partially-diluted ownership stake following completion of the financing, making Copper Giant a top ten Palisades position by ownership and our second largest by in-the-money value. We also hold 1,450,000 warrants in Denarius at a volume-weighted average exercise price of $0.68, giving us a stake in both sides of this partnership.

One final detail worth noting: Copper Giant’s financing is a straight share issuance — no warrants attached — and every participant has entered a two-year lock-up. When quality juniors can raise thirty million dollars without sweetening the deal, and sophisticated investors are locking themselves up for two years to get in, the bull market isn’t coming — it’s here. The warrants Palisades accumulated near the bottom, when companies had to offer them, are precisely the kind of terms this stage of the cycle no longer gives away.

We will continue to keep you updated as developments unfold across the portfolio.

Sincerely,

The Palisades Team