In the latest episode of The Coal Trader Podcast, I sat down with PJ Murphy and Cole McClay from Forge Resources ($FRG.CN, $FRGGF). Forge is one of the last remaining publicly traded micro-cap coal companies in North America, and very quietly one of the sector’s best performers over the past year. They are also a longtime client of mine, so consequently, please do not construe this as investment advice here.
We discussed their Colombian mining project, their approach to small-mine development and consolidation, and how they’re aiming to position themselves in the global coal market.
Forge is developing La Estrella, a fully permitted underground mine set to produce 180,000 tons per year, with plans to scale up to 360,000 tons. They’ve secured an offtake deal with one of Colombia’s largest producers, raised $3.62M in capital, and are on track to commence bulk sampling in the coming months.
But this wasn’t just a conversation about one project. We talked about a number of topics from investor sentiment in coal, to Colombia’s mining advantages, and the potential to apply this model to U.S. expansion—particularly in West Virginia, where distressed assets could provide further growth opportunities in the coming years.
Forge’s strategy — aggregating overlooked operations into a scalable business — is an approach I suspect the market will need to explore as higher quality coal deposits dwindle. And as such, I thought it would be constructive to have that conversation here.
I hope you all enjoy it.
— MW
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