A decade ago, few investors talked about mine tailings except when something went wrong. Today, tailings are back in the frame for a very different reason. They are being reimagined as near surface sources of gold, silver and in some cases critical metals, enabled by stronger prices and cleaner extraction technology.
Two London listed juniors, Panther Metals (LON: PALM) and Fulcrum Metals (AIM: FMET), are shaping that story in Ontario where history, infrastructure and regulation now line up in their favour. They are not searching for buried ore so much as revisiting what past operators left behind.
Tailings are the fine material that remains after ore has been processed. Older mills were tuned to the economics and chemistry of their day, which means valuable metals often remained in the waste stream. When gold trades near historic highs and modern chemistry improves recoveries, that waste becomes an opportunity rather than a liability. The appeal is straightforward. The material is already mined, it sits at surface, and the heavy lifting on roads, power and water was done long ago.
Macro backdrop and the policy tailwind
Gold has held firm as investors look for shelter from inflation, geopolitical risk and uneven growth. Silver now has a stronger industrial pull than it did a decade ago, while critical metals like gallium have moved into the conversation as supply chains tighten. This price support, combined with faster and more environmentally considerate processing, gives tailings projects a wind at their back. The financial logic is simple to follow. Higher prices raise the economic floor for sub gram material when paired with better leach kinetics and mproved processing efficiency and cleaner chemistry.
Ontario has added a third tailwind by creating a streamlined pathway for reprocessing waste under its Recovery of Minerals regulation. The province’s guidance recognises that well executed reprocessing can deliver economic and environmental gains at the same time. That clarity reduces permitting uncertainty for credible operators and shortens the distance between test work and commercial recovery. It is a practical framework that allows companies to run technical studies and approvals in parallel rather than in series.
Panther Metals, from storage facility to on surface orebody
Panther’s opportunity centres on the historic Winston Lake Mine in Ontario, where a large tailings storage facility is being reframed as a modern resource. Historic production left behind a mass of material containing valuable metals, and Panther’s work has confirmed the presence of gold, gallium, silver, zinc, copper, cobalt and other recoverable elements. What was once treated as waste is now seen as a potential orebody that can both generate cash flow and contribute to environmental rehabilitation. That shift, liability to asset, is the cornerstone of Panther’s strategy.
The project benefits from infrastructure that is already in place. A 115kv power line with transformer, all-weather road connections directly tied into the Trans-Canada highway and rail sidings, a freshwater dam, surface water management systems, an active treatment plant, as well as offices and security fencing remain from prior operations. For a junior company, avoiding the cost of rebuilding such facilities is a major competitive advantage, significantly reducing both capex requirements and time to execution. Panther’s option over the Winston site was negotiated with First Quantum Minerals, linking the project back to a major global producer and the mine’s legacy operator.
Regulatory progress is also moving forward. Panther has completed its Pre-Submission Meeting with the Ontario Ministry of Energy and Mines, the first step in the Recovery Permit process. A dedicated Ministry contact is being assigned to guide the company through the staged approval system. Alongside this, Panther is preparing to grid-drill the tailings, generating samples that will support metallurgical test work and optimisation studies. This dual path, permitting and drilling, sets up a maiden Mineral Resource estimate and provides the technical base for reprocessing design.
The commercial logic is straightforward. If Winston can deliver early-stage cash flow through reprocessing, that income can support Panther’s broader exploration portfolio rather than relying solely on equity issuance. The company has specifically pointed to Pick Lake as one of the hard-rock targets that could be advanced in parallel. For investors, the appeal lies in a pragmatic model: unlock value from mine waste, channel proceeds into growth, and conserve ownership while geology is progressively de-risked.
Panther’s focus at Winston highlights how juniors are reframing historic waste as a new generation of orebody. It is not alone in this space. Fulcrum Metals has taken the theme further, setting out to specialise in waste-to-metal projects. While Panther is using Winston to power a pivot from exploration to cash flow, Fulcrum is deliberately building a platform where waste is the starting point, not just an adjunct to traditional exploration.
Fulcrum Metals, building a specialist waste to metal platform
Fulcrum’s flagship assets lie in the Kirkland Lake gold camp, one of Canada’s most storied mining districts. Here, the Teck Hughes and Sylvanite tailings piles stand as physical reminders of a century of production. Both mines were prolific contributors to the district’s output, and their tailings still contain meaningful volumes of gold at surface, with silver and selected critical elements under review as potential revenue streams. Together, these assets form the nucleus of Fulcrum’s waste-to-metal vision.
The company has advanced systematically from sampling through to drilling. At Teck Hughes, an auger drill programme delivered consistent gold values across wide intervals, typically in the sub-gram range. While modest in grade terms, the continuity across the pile is critical, confirming that the tonnage has sufficient metal distribution to underpin a reprocessing case. This foundation allows Fulcrum to move from exploration into engineering, a step that many juniors struggle to reach.
Processing is where Fulcrum has distinguished itself. Rather than defaulting to cyanide leaching, the company partnered with Extrakt Process Solutions, a US-based group developing cyanide-free leaching and advanced dewatering systems. Composite samples from Teck Hughes sent through this process achieved recoveries of around 60% within hours, demonstrating rapid kinetics and efficient gold release. These results are not only promising in terms of yield, but also suggest improvements in water balance and waste handling, both of which matter at scale.
Fulcrum has secured exclusive rights to deploy Extrakt’s technology on historic mine waste in Kirkland Lake and Timmins, an unusual lock-in for an AIM company at this stage. Trade press has reported on the adoption, noting shorter leach times and superior solid-liquid separation. For Fulcrum, the partnership offers more than technical upside: it positions the company as a first mover in applying disruptive metallurgy to Canada’s legacy tailings. Moving from bench-scale trials to a conceptual economic evaluation, the company is signalling a pathway to commercialisation that hinges on technology as much as geology. Extrakt itself has a commercialisation alliance with Bechtel, one of the world’s largest engineering and construction groups, giving Fulcrum indirect access to big-company expertise as it looks to scale the process.
For investors, Fulcrum’s proposition is both niche and scalable. By carving out a role as a waste-to-metal specialist, it is aiming to stand apart from the traditional junior explorer. If Panther’s Winston project represents a tactical pivot into cash flow, Fulcrum is trying to make that pivot its defining identity. In a sector where access to fresh capital is always constrained, the ability to reprocess what is already on the surface offers a differentiated route to value creation.
Two roads to the same destination, and what to watch next
Put Panther and Fulcrum side by side and the differences are as instructive as the similarities. Panther is using the Winston Tailings to anchor a broader exploration story, with polymetallic upside that could add margin once metallurgical studies define a processing route. Fulcrum, by contrast, is building a dedicated waste-to-metal platform centred on Teck Hughes and Sylvanite, leaning on its exclusive agreement with Extrakt Process Solutions to de-risk metallurgy and pursue cleaner, faster processing at scale. Both companies are advancing under Ontario’s Recovery of Minerals framework, and both are working through practical, testable milestones that investors can monitor.
Timelines will hinge on the pace of metallurgical results and disciplined project management. For Panther, the sequence is grid drilling across Winston, metallurgical optimisation studies, and the definition of a compliant Mineral Resource under the province’s recovery regime. For Fulcrum, the sequence begins with auger drilling and a compliant resource at Teck Hughes, followed by staged test work with Extrakt to confirm recoveries and water handling, before progressing into conceptual and then economic evaluation of a plant design. Each step offers the potential for tangible news flow that can either validate or challenge the investment case.
The financial logic is consistent across both names. By extracting value from tailings, juniors can reduce reliance on dilutive equity and create a potential path to early cash flow. That shift enforces operational discipline, with management focused on near-term deliverables rather than only long-cycle exploration. Fulcrum has already reported recovery rates close to 60% from composite samples at Teck Hughes and is advancing through a phased programme that leads toward economic assessment. Panther’s economics will crystallise once drilling and metallurgy confirm tonnage and recoveries at Winston, with the project’s inherited infrastructure providing a quiet but material advantage in cost and timeline.
Investor takeaway in a market that rewards speed and stewardship
The reason these two names deserve attention is not only that gold is strong. It is that the route to revenue is shorter, the capital intensity is lower, and the environmental narrative is better when you turn waste into product. Panther Metals brings an infrastructure rich site and a clear permit pathway at Winston, with polymetallic upside that could widen margins if the flowsheet captures more than gold alone. Fulcrum Metals offers a focused platform at Teck Hughes and Sylvanite, powered by exclusive access to Extrakt and supported by a staged programme that moves toward economic assessment that outlines a practical path to feasibility.
This moment feels different because price, process and policy are finally aligned. Investors want lower impact ounces, regulators want legacy sites improved, and communities want the assurance that modern practice is being applied to old problems. Tailings reprocessing, done well, can tick each box without the long lead times of a new pit. If the next set of results confirms what early work suggests, yesterday’s tailings could become tomorrow’s cash engines in one of the world’s best known gold camps, with PALM and FMET as two of the more visible UK listed names at the front of that shift.
Disclaimer: The information presented in this article represents the views and analysis of the author and is provided for informational purposes only. It should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or legal advice. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and consult a qualified adviser before making investment decisions. Investing in AIM-listed companies involves risk, and past performance is not indicative of future results.
