Tesoro Gold Ltd
Tesoro Gold holds an effective ~90.6% interest in the ~570 km2 El Zorro gold project in northern Chile (its 95%-owned subsidiary Tesoro Mining Chile SpA holds 95.4% of the project company). A 2025 Scoping Study on the Ternera deposit outlined a 13-year, 110,000+ oz/year operation (total resource 1.82 million oz, with 1.18 million oz within a US$3,000/oz pit shell), reporting a post-tax NPV of US$663 million and 51% IRR at US$2,750/oz gold. In September 2026 it reported Pre-Feasibility-level work and a maiden Ore Reserve of 42.8 Mt at 0.93 g/t Au for 1.28 Moz (as at 16 September 2026) within a single open pit at Ternera, on an August 2026 resource of 1.47 Moz Measured and Indicated plus 0.36 Moz Inferred; a Definitive Feasibility Study is targeted for CY2026.
Lifecycle Milestones
Not yet determined: mill, tailings facility, grid power.
Jurisdiction (40%)8/10
Chile is a long-established, stable, top-tier mining jurisdiction with predictable permitting and legal recourse, though large-scale project permitting (especially water use) can be slow.
Infrastructure (40%)6.4/10
Confirmed road access at El Zorro Gold Project (Ternera Deposit), Atacama Region, Chile; existing mill, grid power, and tailings facility not yet researched, counted at a neutral 5/10 until established.
Nearby producing mine (20%)8.8/10
Mantoverde (Capstone Copper Corp) is 38 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
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:9.1/10
Gold Fields Limited holds 12.86% (reported 13 Mar 2026) See holders
An operating producer's stake scores 8 at 5%, rising to 10 at 20% (the take-over-bid threshold) and holding there up to 50%.
Weight 25% · 34% here - Distance to a producing mineSub-score:6.2/10
Nearest producing mine: Mantoverde (Capstone Copper Corp), 38 km
10 next to a producing mine, 8 at 20 km, 5 at 50 km, 0 beyond 200 km.
Weight 22.5% · 31% 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% · 20% here - JurisdictionSub-score:8/10
Chile: jurisdiction score 8/10
Our jurisdiction score, used as is: higher means lower political and permitting risk.
Weight 6.75% · 9% 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% · 6% 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
Managing Director of Tesoro Gold Ltd. Geologist with 25+ years from exploration to production; former Managing Director of ASX-listed Metallum Ltd (Chile).
Executive Director – Mining & Development at Tesoro Gold Ltd. 35+ years of mining operations/corporate management experience across Australia, Africa and the Americas; senior roles at IAMGOLD, Aurion Gold, Delta Gold and Pancontinental Mining.
Chief Financial Officer of Tesoro Gold Ltd. Chartered Accountant with 15+ years of financial management experience at ASX/AIM-listed companies (Inca Minerals, Norwest Energy, Paringa Resources, Chariot Oil & Gas).
Chief Development Officer of Tesoro Gold Ltd. Mining engineer with 30+ years of mine development/operations experience globally; senior roles at Rio Alto, Rio2 and Marathon Gold.
Country Manager, Chile for Tesoro Gold Ltd. 14 years in the resources sector including FMG Pilbara operations; previously Commercial Manager at Metallum Chile and General Manager at Acorn Mining Chile.
Company Secretary of Tesoro Gold Ltd.; also Joint Company Secretary of Australian Vanadium Limited. 15+ years of governance/administration experience at ASX-listed resources companies; former Company Secretary of Mader Group and Austin Engineering.
Insiders, Investors & Smart Money
Notable shareholders and insiders whose involvement is worth knowing about, plus what we're seeing from institutional/large-investor activity.
Global gold miner Gold Fields is Tesoro Gold's largest shareholder at nearly 13%, alongside a sizeable stake held by fund manager Collins St Asset Management. In December 2025, one insider-linked holder (Aigle Royal Consolidated) bought AU$377,000 of stock on the market the same month another executive sold shares.
No notable insiders tracked for this miner yet.
Reports, Presentations & Documents
Tesoro Gold holds an effective interest of about 90.6% in the El Zorro gold project, about 570 km2 in the Atacama region of northern Chile, through its 95%-owned subsidiary Tesoro Mining Chile, which holds 95.4% of the project company. The August 2026 resource at the Ternera deposit has 1,466,000 oz of gold in measured and indicated resources (95,000 oz measured and 1,371,000 oz indicated), plus 356,000 oz inferred, within a US$3,500/oz pit shell. In September 2026 Tesoro declared a maiden ore reserve of 42.8 Mt at 0.93 g/t for 1.28 Moz on pre-feasibility mine designs, and the pre-feasibility study released on 18 September 2026 shows a post-tax NPV5% of US$994M and a 57% IRR at US$3,500/oz gold over a 13-year mine life at 3.0 Mtpa, with initial capital of US$276.5M and an all-in sustaining cost of US$1,572/oz. A definitive feasibility study is targeted for 2026.
Tesoro Gold's updated Ternera Phase 1 Scoping Study for the El Zorro Gold Project, Atacama, Chile (ASX announcement, 11 Sep 2025): Ternera deposit pit-constrained Mineral Resource of ~1.82 Moz gold (unconstrained ~2.0 Moz). Base case at US$2,750/oz gold: post-tax NPV of US$663M, 51% IRR, ~US$248M initial capex, 20-month payback, 15-year mine life, ~111,000 oz/yr average production in the first nine years, 1.26 Moz total LOM production. Upside case at US$3,000/oz: pre-tax NPV7.5% of US$1,331M, 79% IRR. Project-level (100%) figures; Tesoro holds a 95.4% interest. NOTE: source ASX PDF is image-scanned and could not be text-extracted directly; figures corroborated via Smallcaps.com.au and Kalkine's contemporaneous, directly-quoted reporting of the same announcement.