Notes from Indaba 2026 and 121 Mining Conference: Africa is back on the investment radar! And Gamma rays equal Green Days 

The bull market is here, it’s time to make some money and there plenty of companies worth looking at with interesting Africa-based projects

It was hot and the water bottles were filled with warm water.  I despise lukewarm water when it’s hot outside.  As we made our way on the two track road, the dust streamed in from every crack of the truck sticking to sweat as it rolled down my forehead and making me cough.  The truck jostled to and fro as we made our way across the Namibian desert towards uranium country.  As the hours rolled on, I quietly reminded myself, that I had asked to go on this trip.

A week earlier I was in Cape Town for the annual Indaba Mining conference.  Early one morning I had breakfast at a local hotel with one of the founders.  He invited two geologists to the breakfast to pitch an idea: there is more uranium to be discovered in the Namibia desert and it was time to put the team back together and go looking.  The team over breakfast detailed how they had spent the past two years securing a land package of over 600 square kilometers in the heart of Namibia’s uranium fairway. 

The team pitched me on investing in the initial founders’ round of a new large-scale uranium exploration play – Skeleton Coast Uranium Corp. – in Namibia that was backed by the two co-founders of Namibian-based Uramin which they sold for US$2.5 billion.  Early investors made 80X in two years when the company was sold in 2007.  

As you can imagine, I wanted to hear what they had to say, and what really caught my attention was there was “no cheap stock” in the placing. The two Uramin co-founders were coming in at the same level at a pre-money valuation of CDN$1.15 million.

I had to check it out and signed up for the Namibia trip.

The technical team gave me the run down.  Namibia is the world’s third-largest uranium producer, with three operating mines and Bannerman’s Etango project under construction, meaning infrastructure and permitting precedent are well established.  Skeleton’s five EPLs cover more than 60,000 hectares, forming one of the largest uranium exploration portfolios in the country. All licenses host known uranium mineralization. Notably, EPL 8617 contains a historic resource of 35 Mt at 120 g/t U₃O₈ (~9.2M lbs).  The ground is strategically located either adjacent to Paladin’s Langer Heinrich mine or within 10–25 km of Langer Heinrich, Rossing and Husab — prime positioning in a proven uranium district.

Upon arrival from our trip through the desert, the basin was teeming with activity, with neighboring properties having multiple drill rigs turning, and other properties having recently drilled holes.

(four rigs drilling on adjacent property)

(recent drilling)

I had not been to Namibia in years, but the trip confirmed what I already knew: it is a wonderful country to do business in, with the infrastructure to build a mine, and a mining code that helps make the development of new projects easier than many other places I’ve been.  No trail blazing need.  Skelton’s massive land package in the fairway, and in proximity to operating mines, is exciting.  I am taking a punt.  The CEO can be reached here info@skeletoncoasturanium.com 

Idaba was rammed. The 121 Mining Conference had new companies and ideas for the first time in a long time…previously uninvestable jurisdictions are bringing new opportunity for investors  

It’s the first time in years that I have felt the energy and excitement that only a bull market can bring.  Inaba was absolutely packed.  Unlike recent years there were investors as well as bankers and corporates.  In fact, rather ironically, many of the bankers who made the effort to attend during the rough years didn’t attend this year and missed out.  Most surprising was the number of funds that made the journey.

A few thoughts.

DRC —> The Americans are coming… but are they ready for the Congo? For as long as I can recall raising capital for DRC based projects has been a challenge.  The jurisdiction has historically been met with skepticism and reservations, not to mention discounted share prices.  Perception is changing… has the Congo?  

US politics and a changing world order are largely the driver of the narrative change, but the recent announcement of a consortium to back the purchase of a copper mine (Mutanda from Glencore) in the DRC, that included the PE fund Orion Resources, has certainly turned heads.  On the one hand, it was pointed out that this was not necessarily LP money and instead a consortium backed by the US government and, on the other hand, Orion has also been linked to a second deal in reports that they are backing Virtus Minerals to buy Chemef – a mine with a bit of a history.  

Whatever the case may be, investors are flocking to the Congo for gold, copper, cobalt…  Money will be made…lots will be lost.  It is key that people back experienced DRC operators.  

A very important insight from Idaba this year is that the Chinese are leaving the DRC and going everywhere else in Sub-Saharan Africa. Time and time again, people I met with talked about a sea change in countries like Tanzania and others where Chinese investors are locking up large numbers of concessions.

Small scale private mining companies are making money.  

The old adage — its just as difficult to build a small mine as a large mine — remains true.  But I was struck by the apparent large number of Chinese investors who are building small scale operations across the continent.  These operations are almost impossible to finance in Western capital markets, but (as usual!) the Chinese are blazing forward with the model in a big way.  No 43-101 or JORC, instead, just a build-it-and-they-will-come mentality.

An example of the DRC narrative shift has been Avanti Gold (CSE: AGC).  5 million…10 million ounces in the Congo!?!  From 0.03 to 0.98 in six months.  What’s next?

Avanti Gold is advancing the Misisi Project in the DRC, with its the high-grade Akyanga deposit. Akyanga hosts an Inferred Resource of 44.3 Mt at 2.37 g/t for 3.1 million ounces of gold. Avanti holds a 73.5% interest, alongside MMG and the DRC government. The project sits roughly 250 km south of Bukavu in South Kivu.  Misisi comprises three contiguous 30-year mining leases covering 133 km² along the 55 km-long Kibara Gold Belt — a district-scale structure with high-grade mineralization traced across much of its strike length. The belt already hosts operating mines, including Twangiza and Namoya, located approximately 50 km to the north.  

When I sat down with the CEO, Mohamed, all they could talk about was expanding the deposit and the drilling program they are just kicking off.

The company recently raised money C$25 million and plans a large-scale drilling program this year.  I find a few things exciting about Avanti:  with the DRC now investable, the stock has proved that it can trade up to a better valuation based on ounces, but appears to be undervalued compared with its peers.  The team has a massive area to potentially expand their deposit.  

Stocks like these are now interesting again for the first time in what feels like forever.  With a bit of luck on the drill bit, if they are able to expand the size of the deposit, this could be interesting.

The DRC as a jurisdiction is hot, but places like Angola and Guinea will see investment this cycle

I didn’t see any new Angola or Guinea stories of note, but I suspect it’s only a matter of time.

Finally, where have all the mine builders gone!?!  Time and time again the question was asked – who is going to manage and build mines?  A generation of mine builders has retired and almost no one has emerged to replace them. 

Next stop on the junket… PDAC. I’ll be on the look out for new interesting stories.