The Assay Podcast - Where mining meets capital
The Assay Podcast, powered by 121 Group, brings you inside the conversations shaping the mining and investment market. Across the series, you’ll hear from CEOs, investors and sector leaders through company updates, executive interviews and live panel discussions recorded at leading industry events. Often captured in the room, at the centre of the action, the podcast brings you not just what’s being said, but what the market is really thinking. This is where insight, opportunity and capital come together.
Our first episode will go live from 121 Investment London on May 11th.
The Assay Podcast - Where mining meets capital
Inside the Investment Case: Lion Rock
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Lion Rock shares its investment story, portfolio strategy and how it is identifying and capitalising on opportunities across the mining sector.
Featuring: Nav Dhaliwal, Executive Chairman Lion Rock
Guest Host: Anna Proske, Apaton Media.
Recorded live at 121 Mining Investment London, May 2026.
You're listening to the Assay Podcast, where mining meets capital, powered by one-to-one mining investment. Today we are coming live from our event in London. Please note this podcast is for information only and isn't financial advice or recommendation to invest. As always, the views you'll hear are those of the speakers.
SPEAKER_02Welcome to Inside the Investment Case, here at the One-to-One Mining Investment Conference in London. I'm Anna Prosky with Everton Media, and I'm your guest host today. With me is Daliva.
SPEAKER_01Dali Wall, that's right.
SPEAKER_02Executive Chairman of Line Rock Resources. Line Rock is advancing the Volney project in South Dakota's Black Hills, one of the most storied gold districts in North American history, home to the legendary homestead mine, which produces over 40 million ounces of gold. Big number. What makes Lion Rock genuinely unusual is that Volney isn't just a gold story, it's also a critical mineral story. Seven commodities on the US critical minerals list in one project on private land. Nav.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's impressive.
SPEAKER_01It is, it is, it is a lot happening in one company. There is no doubt. Nav. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Give us a little rundown about Lion Rock. Give us the story. What are you doing and where are you at in the project?
SPEAKER_01100%. So let me start from the very beginning. Uh Lion Rock established itself in the Black Hills. Um, we came across this project um called the Volney project. And so it sat within a family for uh three generations. Um, and it's been known for this big Volney pegmatite. Um, so lo and behold, it took us uh a while to kind of hash out a deal where what had attracted me to this as well was its private ground. Um, and the history on this private ground is basically we bought the town of Tintin. And so uh the town of Tinton, um, it was known for its tin production and tantalum production back in the day. Uh lithium not being a very high commodity back in the early 1900s, even into the 40s, um, but now it's so so prevalent. Um, and especially the grade. Yeah. So there's there's you know, there's lithium in this world. There's definitely lithium um in abundance, but it's about the grade, it's about the accessibility. And this property, again, like I said, had its mining history to it, uh, being the town of Tinton. Um, it has all the infrastructure. Um, we don't have to really rehab anything in that sense. It's got power, it's got water. Yeah. Um, you know, back in the day they did they produced tantalite, which is tantalum concentrate. Uh, they did tin concentrate, and that's in the um in the early 1900s to the 1940s that uh they produced that. And lo and behold, the the nature of this volny pegmatite that really kind of caught my attention um was the percent. It's very high grade, anywhere from two and a half to four percent at surface. And um, and you know, there was always this theory of you know, we're in this, as you mentioned in the very beginning with home stake, and there's Dakota gold, and and you got Coor as well out there mining. Um, so we always had this theory. Um, the gentleman that brought us this project, his name is Dr. Jeff Hunzer. Uh, he's done his master's and his PhD in the hills, and he always had a theory about this gold because you know, from our soil sampling, our prospecting that we did, there was a lot of gold occurrences. Um, and just as of recent, we just published our last uh holes that uh out of 15 holes that we drilled, we were successful on all 15.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And we did discover gold. You did we discovered gold. Uh, we've discovered a gold horizon, again, everything from surface, um, a 500 meter strike length by 400 meters with 200 meters at depth. Um, so again, it's a great start on the gold side of things, but really where we're getting the a lot of the attention on is um the concentration of our tantalum or tin as long as uh as well as the um high grade nature of the lithium. So uh we're excited, we're out there um ready to get going on the second phase of work. Um, there's a lot of key elements to this project, and especially being in the state of South Dakota that is so proactive. Uh, I gotta give my hats off to the uh the community out there as well. Um, and especially the community within Spearfish in Lawrence County. Um, you know, they're very proactive in how we're approaching this project. It's a mining district. We're not recreating the wheel here. We're not going plowing through. It's been around. We're not plowing through people's backyards, right? So um, so it's definitely been encouraging for us and and just the attention now that we're getting with all these results, because this is the first time this property's ever seen modern gray day drill holes. So it's um it's definitely uh it's definitely something that we're gonna carry forward. And uh we've got a few key pieces that uh soon uh we will be kind of dropping uh and building out the foundation of the story. I see a transition happening here in the next four months with Lion Rock. Um, this this property was at one point in time uh mined for a 20,000 ton bulk sample uh that we inherited. Um so that being a key thing to note, it had a mining license on it. And now in the state of South Dakota, lithium is looked at as aggregate. It's not looked at, you know, you can't take that same application of how they look at the aggregate to gold as two separate things. So what we're we're looking into is reactivating that. Um, but more importantly, before we reactivate even a kind of a uh uh gravel style um uh you know mining scenario with the lithium, we're about to do our metallurgy. People need to know how clean our product is, and historically we can kind of point to it was done before where they were separating it very cleanly. Uh, but today we need to validate that with a full report. So that's kind of where we're at so far.
SPEAKER_02So you coming back to you talked about the grade that you have within your project. What would you say that's what makes you so special out there looking at all the other projects? What makes you different? What does the multiproject different?
SPEAKER_01That is definitely the standout of this whole project. Um, it's great. Grade's always gonna be king anywhere you are in the world. That's good. So uh the just the uh grade of the lithium and you know, the lithium or the tin in the tantalum is found within the the pegmatite. And to note as well, when we say we discovered gold, the two separate systems. You're not gonna find that they're all intertwined and uh and and put together here, they're two separate um distinct uh zones. Um, a fault kind of runs uh between the two. So we see the two commodities. So that's another encouraging aspect to us. Uh a lot more work has to be done. Uh, but right now I think what we're gonna do is slow down the temple on the drilling aspects of things. Um, we're looking to partner up with the South Dakota School of Mines to get some students out there to kind of teach them alongside with what we're doing. Yeah. Um, but really get out there and spend the time and effort now that we've put these holes down to understand what the structure is all about, is to do a lot of surface work. And when I say surface work, this pegmatite does come to surface. Uh, we've got machines out there now uh employing people within the communities as well um to start um removing uh the overburden and exposing the pegmatite at surface and getting out there and doing a very aggressive um exploration or well, I'd say field work, not exploration. Well, it is exploration, uh field work that it uh exposes more of the pegmatite in in a very cost-effective way so that we can map it properly. And really this time around, when we do the second round of drilling, um, you know, I'm known for getting out there and pre being aggressive when it comes to drilling, and and one or two rigs is not gonna cut it. You know, I'm always pushing the envelope with my team. I need more out there. Um, so we intend on really getting because the critical side to us is really what people have um really sparked the attention, and especially with you, you've got this political environment that a lot of you know, world trades are are um, you know, scales are off now. The US really has to start paying attention to what's inside America.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And again, grade, uh, accessibility. And I believe Line Rock fits the bill in the sense of all of the above. Uh, it could be something that this commodity could move off uh this property into the system uh fairly quickly. Um, you know, another key aspect in in mining in general, when you're looking at these commodities, the refining aspects of things. Sure, you can pull this material out of the ground. That's anybody can really do that. Yeah, it's downstream. Where does it usually end up? So, and I can see the US being more proactive in the sense of starting to establish these refining points that you can take these commodities, refine them within America, and then put them back into the American system. Um, I just think that it's a very proactive approach that um I can see them getting a lot more traction that way. It's very encouraging for companies like ourselves. Uh, gives us optionalities on partners out there as well. Um, so yeah, I I just see a lot of great things happening for ourselves in the Black Hills. Um, it's um it's something that I'm very excited for the next four months on a transitional um uh phase of line rock.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Coming back to the phases. So phase one stun, we hit that box, 100% of hit rate on gold. Yeah, also uh critical minerals confirmed. And now phase two, you mentioned already a few points. Give us again like a few of the key points or milestones you want to reach in that phase two.
SPEAKER_01Phase two is gonna be again, like I was mentioning before, I think we're gonna take it a different approach. We'd love to get the drills out there, but let's get a better understanding. Let's make those drills more cost effective in the sense of the structure. We learned a lot from our first phase on how this was laying and how we went about drilling it. Um, you know, where instead of uh typically what we were using was a 45 degree angle with our drill rigs on the first phase, they actually should have been 30 because we weren't really getting into the guts of it. So things like that, that we need to slow down the tempo a bit, get a bunch more surface work done. What is it? How big is this? You know, do you have two months of apply? Do you have 20 years or 200 years? Those are questions that we need to get out and and expose the size of this uh pegmatite, uh, the critical side to us, as well as the gold. We don't want to forget about our gold. You know, I kind of say that we came for the lithium. Yeah, I do say that we came for the lithium and the critical, but we're staying for the gold. Um, you know, historically, a lot of people, people that worked in the the home stake mine have said now getting to knowing the communities as well, they've always said up in 10, there's some gold up there. Well, and they're very encouraged now that I can say, well, I can confirm that we do. Um, but I think we're still scratching the surface at the gold. Because there's some hot uh well, let's see, yeah. I don't want to maybe, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Soon, soon, soon to be uh soon to be discovered or uh soon to be unfolded as we continue kind of our progressive approach, right? Uh as much as everybody wants to see big, you know, big drill holes going down, I think for the company and for management is to look at this in a holistic way of taking the time now to do the work that with this drill campaign that we just finished, we got a better understanding how things are lying. Uh and continuing to grow in the area, to consolidate the area is also part of the program.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, you know, we've got 142 hectares. Uh, we want to grow in size. And that's also, you know, in this area, uh, like I was mentioning, is they get to know everybody. So um, you know, adjacent neighbors that have been out there, we've developed relationships for the over the past year. They've seen how we work. Um, we're we're not going anywhere. We're staying here. We're gonna continue, we're gonna continue to raise that flag of Lion Rock in the area, and um yeah, we're we're encouraged by every aspect of what we've seen so far today.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So you keep the Lion Rock um flag up.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02A lot of people are following gold. It's an interesting journey. People know Black Hill, but if someone doesn't know Lion Rock, what would be the main thing you would want to put out there? What should an investor, potential investor, know?
SPEAKER_01Well, you they should know that uh I believe well, I don't believe I see Line Rock being severely undervalued as of right now with the $20 million market cap. Yeah, I think again, as I mentioned earlier in our conversation, Line Rock's gonna go through a transitional phase here in the next four months. There's a lot of key catalysts that are gonna be uh put forward. Um, you know, for new investors looking at it, you're taking a shot in a company or looking at becoming a shareholder in a company that's just not commodity focused. Um, we're we're blessed by the fact that we have a multi-commodity uh property that, you know, if you look at how South Dakota operates on the hard rock lithium and how we could eventually extract that hard rock uh again with the critical metals, how that in turn may be a way to generate revenue to continue the exploration on the gold. So just read between the lines there. This could be something that could be a model because majority of companies out there are one single commodity focus. Yeah. And if they're not single commodity, they do find others like the antimonies and this, but yet what they typically as a junior will get into the cycle of raising money, dilution, work, bringing those results, and hopefully those results are good to get a bit more of a lift in your market cap. So the dilution side of things um isn't so vast and great. And um, here's something for for us is that we may be able to tighten up on that whole dilution or that whole model. If everything clicks properly, and and again, I it sounds like this can happen overnight, but it's not, it's gonna take us some time. Um, and again, I keep pointing over the next four to six months where this could be a very transitional period for Lion Rock uh to kind of be a leader in in this model of exploration.
SPEAKER_02Amazing. Thank you for that insight. Um, one topic that has been very big on the news is risks. Yeah, with what's happening in the world. 100% risk management is a big one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02What is Lion Rock doing there? How do you uh how do you approach the risk side?
SPEAKER_01The risk management, you know, that's always you always got to keep that, especially with what we do as exploration. Anywhere in the world, you got to look at that. So, first and foremost is is again getting into an area. Uh, we were again very privileged that this is a mining jurisdiction, but getting to know the communities, getting that support of getting to know who we are and how we go about doing business. Um, in the state of South Dakota, I can see it say this is one of the more proactive states uh in my mind and is becoming even more so as time goes on. So the risk tolerance there is very minimal. Uh, there's always risk in anything you do, and especially in in this style of mining. Um, you know, uh relatively in the in the critical space, I think there's a lot of momentum building where um people want us to be more aggressive. Um, you know, we're not any style of commodity that is more controversial as to say, you know, the energy space with uranium and stuff like that. Um, but again, that's gonna be a commodity that's in demand. It's gonna be needed. Um, so on the risk factor side of things, I think we've slowly mitigated our risk in in the Black Hills here with um a lot of the pioneers out there that have broken trail for us. You know, I gotta always give credit where credit's deserved. It's just not us doing it. Uh others uh in the area that have shown uh disciplined um in and well-managed projects has only um been in favor for us as we have taken that same approach to manage ourselves, uh act accordingly, and uh work within uh the system that's already been laid out and show that we go above and beyond.
SPEAKER_02Amazing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02One last question. So in your career, you raised around about 500 million already for exploration companies.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02When you looked at Volney, what did you see there that you have not seen before? Or why did you see so much potential?
SPEAKER_01Well, exactly. You know, again, it draw it it drew us in was that Pegmate. The the history of the area, the potential of the gold. So now that we know that we have the gold, yeah, and this the the the tin, the tantalum, just look at tin around the world, look at the production of tin. Uh tantalum being such high regards, uh, just seeing how um you know, world trade with tantalum and where a lot of the tantalum sits in the world. Um America needs it. Right. So that's a good, you know, America definitely needs it, and we're here to uh be a part of the fabric of America. I think this could be a definitely a big story in America, if not a national story, to the for the fact is the presence of the grade of what we're pulling through, um, and again, the accessibility, how quick we can get that to market um to be real, to kind of set a model up. Um, what a way, what a perfect way to have an American commodity that can either travel on American roads or rail to an American refinery to be put back into the American system for consumption.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Or use, sorry, you know. So it's something that uh I'm excited that uh yeah, I've raised an abundance of money, probably well north of what you just mentioned. Uh, I see that a lot of good capital uh can be brought into uh a story that we're developing right now.
SPEAKER_02Amazing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. I love that as a finish. Thank you, Nav. Line rock resources is one of those rare stories that sits at the intersection of two of the most important investment themes right now: record gold prices and the US push for domestic critical mineral supply chains. Thank you, Nav.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_02And that was me, Anna Prosky, your guest host at the One to One Mining Investment Conference in London.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for listening to the Assay podcast, where mining meets capital, powered by one to one mining investment. Subscribe for new episodes and visit theassay.com to stay close to the conversations shaping global mining and investment.