Nov. 25 at 12:11 PM
$RIO $LEO.CSE – Rio Tintos Nuton’s US copper optionality is deeply underpriced by the market. Nevada district backed by Rio trades at ~0.12× equity NAV despite PFS-scale economics.
Today Lion Copper and Gold Corp. Secures US
$31M Milestone Funding from Rio Tinto.
Project fundamentals from the PFS:
• 120M lbs/year Cu, peak 151M lbs
• NPV7 =
$694M, rising to
$976M–
$1.39B at moderate Cu price increases
• 3.13B lbs M+I + adjacent district upside (MacArthur + Bear)
• Nuton bio-heap-leach shows strong sulfide recoveries (~73%)
• Stage 3: DFS + permitting fully funded by Rio Tinto
Valuation:
• District SOTP NAV ≈
$1.6B (100%)
• Lion’s equity NAV:
$480–560M
• Market cap ≈
$60M → P/NAV = 0.12×
This is arguably Rio’s most underpriced strategic optionality in North America: a multi-deposit copper district, in Nevada, with water rights, Sulfide-leach unlock, and multi-decade scalability.