After more than 30 years in the mining industry, Tim Warman said he has a hidden gem on his hands.

Last year, the CEO and director of Talamore Mining (formerly Fuerte Metals) led the $205 million acquisition of the Coffee gold project from Newmont and is now focused on getting the Yukon site up and running. “The project has great grade, great recoveries, and it’s got some size to it,” said Warman. “It’s really exciting how close we are to making a construction decision.”

Warman holds a B.Sc in geology from McMaster University and an M.Sc in geology from the University of Manitoba, and worked as a geologist around the world before stepping into leadership roles at companies such as Dalradian Resources and Fiore Gold. “I don’t do a lot of banging on rocks anymore,” he said.

Technically speaking, the Coffee project is not complex; however, it is the first such development in the Yukon in the shadow of the June 2024 heap leach collapse and landslide at Victoria Gold’s Eagle gold mine, which sent cyanide-soaked ore into the environment and is still being cleaned up.

It is Warman’s task to build the project as well as the trust that Talamore is well prepared to manage it. According to Warman, Newmont had already included most of the recommendations from the official independent review board report of the Eagle failure in Coffee’s project design and had already commissioned an independent third-party engineering review of the project. Talamore has also established an independent review board and plans to install real-time monitoring systems for the leach pad. “We don’t expect any issues with it, but we’re not taking any chances,” Warman said.

Warman has experience in this area; as CEO of Fiore Exploration, he oversaw its acquisition of GRP Minerals—owner of the Pan gold mine in Nevada—in 2017 to form Fiore Gold. Under his leadership, the Fiore Gold team successfully turned the previously bankrupt mine around before the company was acquired by Calibre Mining in 2022. Running the Pan mine was a critical experience that has prepared Warman for being at the helm of Talamore, notably as it taught him how to run a heap leach operation, which he said is harder than it looks.

For Warman, a particular point of pride was the Pan mine’s focus on safety and environmental stewardship; that operational experience is now informing Talamore’s approach to the Coffee project.

A core focus is the company’s partnerships with local First Nations, as Warman said their buy-in is essential to the project succeeding. “These have to be long-term relationships; they can’t just be transactional,” he said, highlighting that all of the project management plans were developed in consultation with local First Nations, including the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and White River First Nations. “We want these relationships to be ongoing and positive for all parties because it will make the project better.”

This year, Warman is focused on getting all the preparatory work for the Coffee project done to be ready to start construction in 2027. “[Everything] should be in place by early next year so that we can make a construction decision and then start building the mine,” he said.

For Warman, success at Coffee is not just getting the mine operating safely by 2029, but also making a true difference in the territory. “[We ultimately hope] that this mine becomes an example of how mining can work in the Yukon,” he said. “That it brings real benefits to First Nations and the Yukon government, and is really a net benefit to the Yukon. That is our vision for this project.”