NGEx Minerals Ltd.
NGEx Minerals (TSX: NGEX) is a Lundin Group copper-gold explorer in the Vicuña District on the Chile-Argentina border. Its focus is the 100%-owned Lunahuasi copper-gold-silver discovery in San Juan Province, Argentina, a high-sulphidation epithermal system found in 2023, where the 27,318 m Phase 4 drill program completed in the second quarter of 2026 extended the high-grade Saturn, Mars and Jupiter zones. Lunahuasi has no mineral resource estimate yet, and NGEx is planning an underground exploration adit there. About 9 km to the northeast, in Chile's Region III, NGEx holds about 69% of the Los Helados copper-gold porphyry and operates it; Lundin Mining holds the other 31%. Los Helados has an Indicated resource of 2.1 billion tonnes at 0.40% copper, 0.15 g/t gold and 1.5 g/t silver (18.4 billion lb copper, 10.2 million oz gold and 97.5 million oz silver), plus 1.1 billion tonnes Inferred, effective 31 Oct 2023. Neither project has an economic study. On 6 Aug 2026 NGEx announced a plan to spin out its Valle Ancho project to shareholders (0.2 new shares per NGEx share), subject to a 66-2/3% shareholder vote at a special meeting in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Notable vs. Peers
- Financials score of 3.3/10 is weaker than the peer average of 5.5/10.
- Jurisdiction risk score of 6/10 is meaningfully riskier than the peer average of 7.7/10.
Lifecycle Milestones
Not in place: mill, tailings facility. Not yet determined: grid power.
Combined view across 2 projects. Figures below are only combined where the underlying basis genuinely matches -- see the notes under each.
Jurisdiction (40%)6/10
San Juan, Argentina: Fraser PPI 2025 is 79.86 of 100 (rank 22 of 68), which maps to 9 on this site's scale, less 3 for Argentina's national currency, capital-control and export-duty risk, so 6. NGEx's focus, the 100%-owned Lunahuasi discovery, is in San Juan Province, Argentina, an established mining province where national currency and policy swings are the main risk. Its Los Helados project (about 69%) lies 9 km away across the border in Chile's Region III.
Infrastructure (40%)4.3/10
No confirmed mill, confirmed road access, and no confirmed tailings facility at Lunahuasi Project, San Juan Province, Argentina; grid power not yet researched, counted at a neutral 5/10 until established.
Nearby producing mine (20%)9.4/10
Caserones (Lundin Mining Corporation) is 29 km away -- within regional-platform range.
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
A disclosed corporate action (not an acquisition or merger)
A corporate action of this kind says nothing about takeover susceptibility, so it isn't scored.
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:7.1/10
Nearest producing mine: Caserones (Lundin Mining Corporation), 29 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:3.5/10
Stage: Resource Definition
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:6/10
Argentina: jurisdiction score 6/10
Our jurisdiction score, used as is: higher means lower political and permitting risk.
Weight 6.75% · 14% here - CommoditySub-score:8/10
Primary commodity: Copper
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
President and CEO of NGEx Minerals Ltd., a Lundin Group company advancing the Los Helados and Lunahuasi copper-gold projects in Chile and Argentina, since 2019; also a director of LunR Royalties Corp. and Fireweed Metals Corp. Geologist (PhD Geosciences, University of Arizona) with 30+ years of experience in international mineral exploration and corporate management. With the Lundin Group since 2007: CEO of Sanu Resources Ltd. (2007-2009), CEO of Josemaria Resources Inc., and concurrently CEO of Filo Corp. (2016-2017, a separate Lundin Group entity, later jointly acquired by Lundin Mining and BHP in 2025 to form Vicuna Corp., years after his tenure there). Before the Lundin Group, with Teck Cominco Ltd, managing exploration offices across South America and finishing as General Manager of Exploration for North America and Europe-Africa.
Chief Financial Officer of NGEx Minerals Ltd. effective 10 Jun 2026. Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) with 20+ years of mining-industry finance experience, most recently CFO for multiple publicly-listed junior mining companies -- senior finance positions at Lucara Diamond Corp., NovaGold Resources Inc. and Energy Metals Corp., driving operational performance, M&A, financing and exit strategies. Started his career at Deloitte. BBA, Simon Fraser University.
Vice President Exploration of NGEx Minerals Ltd. A professional geological engineer (registered P.Eng, British Columbia; BASc, University of British Columbia) with 29 years of experience in public-company management and international mineral exploration; he has held the VP Exploration role across the NGEx entities since being appointed 2 Sep 2011. Joined Josemaria Resources Inc. (formerly NGEx Resources Inc., NGEx's own direct predecessor) from Lundin Mining Corporation's UK office, where he was GM, Resource Exploration. Also formerly VP Exploration for Filo Corp., a separate Lundin Group entity later jointly acquired by Lundin Mining and BHP in 2025 to form Vicuna Corp. Before Lundin Mining, VP Exploration at EuroZinc Mining Corporation and executive/director roles at several other Canadian exploration companies. Former Director and 1st Vice President, Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC); sat on Geoscience BC's technical committee (board/association roles, not scored).
Vice President Operations & Projects of NGEx Minerals Ltd. 30 years of international mining, project-development and consulting experience, including 6 years working on development of the Vicuna district, 10 years leading large multinational teams delivering engineering studies/consulting services worldwide, and 13 years in on-site project-development and operations roles at gold and copper operations in Australia and Peru. Earlier, VP Mining & Asset Performance Consulting at Ausenco, and within Amec's consulting arm: VP Global Mining Consulting Group, VP Mining and Geology, GM Mining Consulting, and Principal Consultant. Also an Independent Director of Faraday Copper Corp. (board role, not scored) -- the issuer his SEC Form 3/4/5 insider filings are made against. BSc (Hons), University of Queensland; MBA, Queen's University.
Vice President Geology & Resources of NGEx Minerals Ltd. (joined the Lundin Group in 2022 as Principal Resource Geologist, responsible for data management, geological modeling and resource estimation for both NGEx Minerals and Filo Corp. -- modeling and estimating the Filo del Sol and Los Helados deposits). 15 years of technical-leadership experience, including 7 years in management with Goldcorp Inc. and 5 years at operating mines with Teck Resources Limited. Registered Professional Geologist, British Columbia; honours degree in Geology and MBA, Saint Mary's University (Halifax); Citation in Geostatistics, University of Alberta.
Insiders, Investors & Smart Money
Notable shareholders and insiders whose involvement is worth knowing about, plus what we're seeing from institutional/large-investor activity.
The Lundin family trusts own 33.97% through Nemesia (73,671,714 shares, 7 May 2026 circular), and topped up with C$25M at C$11.00 in October 2024 and again on-market at $28.33 in January 2026. Adam Lundin, a member of the family that settled the Nemesia trust, became NGEx's Chair on 17 Sep 2026; whether he personally controls Nemesia's stake is not confirmed either way in the company's own filings. In March 2026 Lundin Mining agreed to pay JX Advanced Metals US$215M for the 30.9% of the Los Helados joint venture it did not own, buying into the project alongside NGEx, which stays operator with the casting vote. Read those together rather than separately -- the Lundin family is the common thread, so this is one camp adding, not two independent votes. Four insiders bought on-market in the last year, though a larger amount of stock was sold by others.
No notable insiders tracked for this miner yet.
Reports, Presentations & Documents
NGEx Minerals is a Lundin Group company advancing copper-gold porphyry projects in the Vicuña district on the Chile-Argentina border: the 100%-owned, high-grade Lunahuasi discovery in Argentina and the Los Helados project in Chile, where NGEx holds about 69.1% and Lundin Mining joined as a minority joint-venture partner in 2026. Neither project has a published economic study. Phase 4 drilling at Lunahuasi extended the high-grade Saturn, Mars and Jupiter zones; hole DPDH064 returned 1,540.10 m at 1.17% CuEq, including 88.00 m at 8.65% CuEq. At Lunahuasi, NGEx is planning an underground exploration adit to allow year-round drilling. On 6 August 2026 NGEx announced a plan to spin out its Valle Ancho project into a new exploration company, with shareholders to receive 0.2 new shares per NGEx share, subject to a 66-2/3% shareholder vote at a special meeting expected in Q4 2026 and to court and exchange approval.