Lion Copper and Gold progressing copper project in Nevada to realize production by 2029 Proactive Fri, February 27, 2026 at 2:10 AM GMT+8 6 min read In this article: - LEO.CN +4.55% LCGMF +2.08% QR20.F +3.23% HG=F +0.93% RIO +0.25%
Lion Copper and Gold progressing copper project in Nevada to realize production by 2029 Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock Lion Copper and Gold Corp (TSX-V:LEO, OTCQB:LCGMF, FRA:QR20) is right where a junior mining company wants to be in the metals market of early 2026, with its brownfield Yerington Copper Project, situated in the famously mining-friendly jurisdiction of Nevada, set for both further exploration and a push for production before the decade is out.
Adding to the company’s strengths is that Yerington aligns well with the growing U.S. demand for domestically supplied critical minerals.
While all of this held true before, it does even more so now that Lion Copper and Gold has secured an agreement with Rio Tinto’s Nuton venture, which in November 2025 committed up to US$31 million to advance the project. Nuton will also make cutting-edge bioleach technology available to support production.
Lion Copper and Gold Chief Executive Officer John Banning explained to Proactive that Nuton’s decision followed a year of significant technical and regulatory progress at Yerington.
“We had a huge year last year,” Banning says. “We completed our pre-feasibility study (PFS), demonstrating economic viability to the appropriate public and technical reporting standards in North America, and we regained our critical water rights for the project.”
Unlike the more traditional staged approach to feasibility and permitting, Banning explains that Nuton has sufficient confidence in Yerington to advance both simultaneously.
“We aren’t doing what some companies do, which is a staggered definitive feasibility study (DFS) and then permitting,” he notes. “Nuton has the confidence in the project to do them in parallel. Their US$31 million commitment is an endorsement for the project to move toward construction-ready status as quickly as possible.”
The funding structure is designed to carry the project through to full permitting. Crucially, Nuton’s option structure avoids dilution at the parent company level during what Banning describes as the highest-risk stage of development.
“Typically, the DFS and permitting stage carries the highest risk,” he says. “Our shareholders are not going to pay for any of that. It’s an asymmetrical risk-upside position for investors and shareholders.”
At a base-case copper price of US$4.30 per pound, the PFS outlines a post-tax net present value (NPV) at a 7% discount rate of US$694 million, with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 14.6% and a payback period of 6.7 years.
Story ContinuesYerington is modelled to achieve average annual production of approximately 120 million pounds of refined copper cathode over a 12-year mine life, with peak production of 151 million pounds per year during years five through seven.
Proven and probable reserves total 506.5 million tons grading 0.21% copper, which works out to 2.14 billion pounds of copper.
In addition to reserves, Yerington hosts a measured and indicated resource of 293.3 million tons grading 0.18% copper, containing 989 million pounds of copper, as well as an inferred resource of 158.1 million tons grading 0.14% copper, containing 443.4 million pounds of copper.
Metallurgical testing highlighted strong copper recoveries using low-cost heap leaching. Life-of-mine copper recovery averages 67.4%, including recoveries of 73.2% from sulfide material using Nuton’s leach technology and approximately 60% from oxide material processed through conventional heap leaching.
Beyond favourable economics, Yerington benefits from its location in Nevada, a jurisdiction Banning characterizes as predictable and well-versed in the ins and outs of the mining industry.
“We’re in Nevada, an extremely mining-friendly and stable jurisdiction with very clear, well-understood permitting pathways,” Banning says. “That’s always a key perception of risk to manage with investors and stakeholders.”
Yerington also sits within a broader copper district that Banning believes is often overlooked. “A lot of people don’t realize the massive copper porphyries in this district. There are more than 30 billion pounds of copper resources within a seven mile radius of our project. We hold the strategic ground right in the middle with existing infrastructure.”
The project’s brownfield nature further reduces execution risk. “There are two open pits. One was mined in the 1990s, one was mined in the 1960s and 1970s, and we simply want to restart those mines,” Banning explains.
The company’s partnership with Nuton represents a core element of Lion Copper and Gold’s development strategy, bringing Rio Tinto-backed sulfide leaching technology into play. Banning describes the technology with a single word: “incredible.”
Nuton’s bioleaching process offers potential economic and environmental advantages over conventional copper processing, including a lower carbon footprint and reduced water consumption.
The process eliminates the requirement for a tailings storage facility and avoids the capital intensity associated with building and operating a mill. It also expands the range of copper resources that can be economically evaluated, particularly lower-grade sulfide material, which represents a significant portion of Yerington’s mineralization.
“For decades, copper has been processed through conventional milling and concentrating with large tailings storage facilities,” Banning says. “What Nuton brings is bioleaching technology that removes the need for all of that.”
From an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) perspective, Banning notes that Nuton’s process materially reduces resource intensity. “They do it with a much lower carbon footprint and significantly lower water consumption, less than half of conventional methods.”
Water security has already been addressed as part of the project’s de-risking strategy. In 2025, Lion Copper and Gold regained more than 6,000 acre-feet of critical water rights for the project, providing operational certainty.
With funding in place, Lion Copper and Gold is preparing to shift into a more execution-focused phase in 2026. “Shortly, we’re going to be confirming the monies coming in,” Banning says. “With that comes appointing our feasibility study and permitting consultancy partners.”
The company also plans to advance permitting under the U.S. federal FAST-41 program. “That’s going to give the public a very clear and transparent, milestone-driven timeline for certainty.”
Banning frames Yerington’s development timeline against longer-term copper fundamentals rather than near-term price volatility. “Fundamentally, copper is very cyclical,” he says, adding that recent price strength reflects short-term dynamics.
However, he sees strong alignment between Yerington’s timeline and future demand. “From 2030 to 2040, structurally, the market gap is forecast to be widening significantly,” he says, citing demand from AI data centres and their supporting grid infrastructure.
Lion Copper and Gold plans to produce finished copper cathode for the U.S. market. “Our project will produce a final product of LME-grade copper cathode,” Banning says. “That cathode will go directly into U.S. supply chains.”
Production at Yerington is targeted for the end of the decade, with initial output planned for the second half of 2029. “Those billions and billions of dollars of investments in AI infrastructure are being committed now and will manifest in the next several years, right when we plan on beginning our production. Ideal timing,” Banning says.
As the company advances, Banning highlights execution over promotion. “We’re not about headline grabbing. We’re about creating value by delivering milestones and doing what we say.”
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