Titan drills deep as gold climbs high and Hancock backs big copper bets in Ecuador's rising mining frontier

At the RIU Sydney Resources Round-up 2025, Titan Minerals Ltd revealed a resource growth story that's hard to ignore — a gold developer with copper upside, strong institutional backing, and a serious drilling campaign underway across multiple fronts in Ecuador. For mining professionals tracking Tier 1 potential in frontier jurisdictions, this one’s worth a closer look.

Dynasty: from 3Moz to 5Moz and beyond

“We have a 3 million ounce gold resource in Ecuador, and we're looking to build that to 5 million ounces,” said Titan CEO Melanie Leighton, opening her presentation with a statement that set the tone for the session.

The Dynasty Gold Project — Titan’s flagship — currently boasts a resource of 43.5Mt @ 2.23g/t Au and 15.7g/t Ag, equating to 3.1Moz of gold and 22Moz of silver, mostly within the top 200 metres of surface. The current campaign includes 10,000 metres of resource definition drilling, complemented by deep diamond holes extending exploration potential to 1 kilometre depth.

Highlight intercepts from the Cerro Verde zone (hole CVDD24-122) include:

• 13.0m @ 4.5g/t Au, 22.1g/t Ag

• 5.0m @ 5.5g/t Au, 10.7g/t Ag

• 2.0m @ 6.1g/t Au, 62.6g/t Ag

Titan is targeting a mid-2025 resource update and advancing toward a scoping study — a clear progression toward development.

Metallurgy: simple, conventional, and scalable

Metallurgical testing has confirmed strong recoveries using conventional methods:

• Oxide ore returns 87% gold recovery at 106µm grind via cyanide leach.

• Sulphide ore delivers >90% recovery through flotation with 10% mass pull, and >91% recovery when followed by oxidation and leaching.

These results de-risk the project considerably, with Leighton noting that further testwork will aim to lift those numbers even higher.

Linderos: Hancock-backed copper porphyry play

Beyond gold, Titan’s Linderos Copper Project is quietly shaping into a serious Tier 1 porphyry prospect. Partnered with Hancock Prospecting’s subsidiary Hanrine, the JV deal allows Hanrine to earn up to 80% interest by spending US$120 million. Titan is free-carried to decision-to-mine.

Drilling results from the initial 10,000m campaign have extended porphyry mineralisation to over 1km vertically and along strike, with mineralisation open in all directions. A second 15,000m phase kicks off in Q3 2025.

“The footprint’s closer to 2km by 2km,” Leighton said. “Clearly, a lot more to test, a lot more work to be done, but very encouraging results to date”.

Copper Duke and Porphyry Pipeline

Adding further spice to the portfolio, the Copper Duke Project — a 7km-wide alteration zone with multiple porphyry, skarn, and epithermal targets — is scheduled for drilling in Q3. According to Titan, the project shares magmatic and mineralisation characteristics with mega-porphyry systems in Peru.

Early intercepts include:

• 28m @ 0.4% Cu, 0.3g/t Au

• 14m @ 0.6% Cu, 0.45g/t Au

Strategic outlook: timing is everything

Backed by $17.2 million cash (as at 31 March 2025) and major shareholders like Tribeca, Titan is well-capitalised to deliver across multiple exploration fronts. Leighton emphasised the strategic value disconnect: “You sort of might say to me, 3 million ounces of gold and porphyries — that’s a pretty big disconnect. And I would agree with you”.

Adding to that disconnect: the market has yet to price in the Hancock JV value (~A$180M for 80% of Linderos), which alone implies significant upside.

Ecuador’s moment?

With recent M&A activity — including China’s acquisition of Lumina Gold for C$580 million — Ecuador is emerging as a hotbed of strategic resource plays. “We’re starting to see a real resurgence in M&A … things are certainly starting to heat up in Ecuador,” said Leighton.

Bottom line:
For mining professionals eyeing growth plays in copper-gold jurisdictions, Titan offers exposure to a high-grade, near-surface gold resource with scalability, upside through deep drilling, and a copper pipeline now backed by Hancock’s dollars and drills. As Leighton put it: “Drop the mic.”