GoldQuest Mining Corp.G
GoldQuest Mining Corp. (TSXV: GQC) is a Canadian exploration and development company with a 2005-vintage exploration concession over the Romero gold-copper project in San Juan province, Dominican Republic. A 2016 Pre-Feasibility Study outlined a 2,800 tonne-per-day underground mine with an 8-year operation, average gold-equivalent production of ~109,000 oz/year, and an after-tax NPV (5% discount rate) of US$203M (a separate, larger-scale 3,800 tpd/15-year PEA scenario was also studied, but the PFS is the more advanced study). Geotechnical and hydrogeological drilling was advancing through early 2026 to support Feasibility Study engineering design. In May 2026, Dominican President Luis Abinader ordered a suspension of all work related to Romero following large-scale protests over water-resource concerns tied to the nearby Sabaneta Dam. The project has never received an exploitation permit and remains in the environmental evaluation and permitting stage. The highest completed economic study is the PFS, not a feasibility study -- the FS engineering work referenced in early-2026 news updates was in progress, not completed, before the May 2026 suspension halted 'all related work.'
Notable vs. Peers
- Jurisdiction risk score of 2/10 is meaningfully riskier than the peer average of 7.8/10.
Lifecycle Milestones
Not in place: mill, tailings facility, road access, grid power.
Jurisdiction (40%)2/10
SEVERE, well-documented political risk, not a generic developing-country discount: the Romero concession was first granted in 2005 and has remained stalled for over a decade because successive Dominican presidential administrations have withheld the discretionary endorsement legally required to advance to the exploitation-permit stage, over sustained local opposition centered on the nearby Sabaneta Dam water source. In May 2026, President Luis Abinader ordered an explicit suspension of 'all related work' on Romero after protests (thousands marched ~20km through San Juan province) -- described by the company as a 'temporary halt' but the government's own framing was an act of political governance, not a failed environmental review (Romero was suspended while still in, not after failing, its environmental assessment phase). No exploitation permit has ever been granted.
Infrastructure (40%)0/10
No confirmed mill, no confirmed road access, no confirmed grid power, and no confirmed tailings facility at Romero Gold-Copper Project, San Juan Province, Dominican Republic.
Nearby producing mine (20%)Not yet researched
No producing mine within 50 km in our reference list (nearest listed: Cerro Matoso (CoreX Holding), 1329 km). That list doesn't cover every mining district yet, so a longer distance isn't scored as remote.
Acquisition Susceptibility
A relative ranking of how closely this company matches the profile of juniors that have actually been acquired — not a probability, and not a reason to buy. Acquisitions are rare: only a few dozen significant deals happen a year across a universe of thousands of juniors, so even a high score here describes a long shot. The strongest signal in the research, a producer that already owns part of the company, is scored from its disclosed strategic shareholders. A producer that is a joint-venture or earn-in partner on the project, rather than a shareholder, isn't captured yet.
How this score is built
- Disclosed pending dealSub-score: Not scored
No pending acquisition or merger disclosed (checked)
Not scored: having no deal in flight isn't held against a company.
Weight 26.25% - Producer's strategic stakeSub-score: Not scored
No producer holds a disclosed stake on file (holder register researched) See holders
Not scored: most juniors that do get bought had no prior toehold, so a missing stake says little either way.
Weight 25% - Distance to a producing mineSub-score:0/10
Nearest producing mine: Cerro Matoso (CoreX Holding), 1329 km
10 next to a producing mine, 8 at 20 km, 5 at 50 km, 0 beyond 200 km.
Weight 22.5% · 46% here - Lifecycle stageSub-score:8/10
Stage: Pre-Feasibility Study
Feasibility and permitting score 10, where deals cluster, and production 5.5; earlier stages score less, down to 1 at grassroots.
Weight 15% · 31% here - JurisdictionSub-score:2/10
Dominican Republic: jurisdiction score 2/10
Our jurisdiction score, used as is: higher means lower political and permitting risk.
Weight 6.75% · 14% here - CommoditySub-score:10/10
Primary commodity: Gold
Gold 10, copper 8, silver 5, nickel and uranium 4, others 2: most majors' deals are for gold.
Weight 4.5% · 9% here
Weight is each input's share of the full score. “Here” is its share of this company's score: inputs that aren't scored are left out and the rest re-weighted, never counted as zero.
Your Rankings
Management Team
CEO and Director of GoldQuest Mining Corp., appointed CEO Sep 2022. Dominican Republic citizen and qualified engineer, 25+ years in mining; senior roles at Glencore-Falcondo, BHP Billiton, Barrick, and most recently CEO at Shandong Gold.
Chairman of GoldQuest Mining Corp. 45+ years' broad mining-industry experience; nearly 20 years in a senior role at Inmet; licensed professional geologist in Ontario. Also chairs GoldQuest's Technical Committee.
Director of GoldQuest Mining Corp., appointed 26 Feb 2026. Metals & Mining Portfolio Manager at Equinox Partners; previously senior analyst at Tocqueville Asset Management. MBA, Ivey School of Business; CFA.
Director of GoldQuest Mining Corp., appointed 26 Feb 2026. Investor with significant Dominican Republic and South American experience since 1996; co-founded a Dominican financial platform. MBA, MIT.
Director of GoldQuest Mining Corp. Executive Chairman of Zuri-Invest AG and Chairman of Asty Capital AG (Switzerland); mining-finance specialist with extensive European fund-management experience. Also member, GoldQuest's Audit Committee.
Director of GoldQuest Mining Corp. Expertise in asset recovery and project development in the Dominican Republic; led corporate restructuring and feasibility studies. Degrees from Bentley University and Boston University.
Director of GoldQuest Mining Corp. and Audit Committee Chair. CEO and Managing Partner of SSI Asset Management Ltd. (Liechtenstein); previously CEO of Precious Capital AG, a mining-focused fund manager.
CFO of GoldQuest Mining Corp. 20+ years in mining finance; previously CFO at Florida Canyon Gold and held executive positions at Centerra Gold (2008-2023), including managing the US$1.1 billion acquisition of Thompson Creek Metals. CPA, CFA; MBA, University of Toronto.
VP Exploration of GoldQuest Mining Corp. Geologist with 23 years' international experience across Latin America and Asia-Pacific; formerly VP Exploration at Barrick Gold.
General Manager (Dominican Republic) of GoldQuest Mining Corp. Dominican geologist, 20+ years' local sector experience; former Caribbean representative for Energold International Drilling; director of the Mining and Petroleum Chamber of the Dominican Republic.
Insiders, Investors & Smart Money
Notable shareholders and insiders whose involvement is worth knowing about, plus what we're seeing from institutional/large-investor activity.
No smart-money tracking (institutional/large-investor activity) for this miner yet — this is a planned feature, not live data.
No notable insiders tracked for this miner yet.
Reports, Presentations & Documents
GoldQuest Mining is developing the Romero gold-copper project in San Juan province, Dominican Republic, held under an exploration concession since 2005. In May 2026 the Dominican President ordered a suspension of all work related to Romero after large protests over water concerns linked to the nearby Sabaneta Dam; the project has never received an exploitation permit. Romero holds 1,738,000 oz of gold in indicated resources (20,230,000 t at 2.67 g/t), with no measured category, plus 197,000 oz inferred, in an estimate effective 27 September 2016, and a resource update is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. The September 2016 pre-feasibility study for a 2,800 tpd underground mine shows an NPV of US$203M, with initial capital of US$158.6M, an 8-year mine life and an all-in sustaining cost of US$595/oz net of copper and silver credits.