Perpetua advances Stibnite construction and drilling while EXIM funding remains unsigned

Perpetua is an execution-stage mining developer advancing the permitted Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho, designed to produce gold alongside a domestic antimony supply. The company is now moving from permitting and early works toward full construction, while still relying on the planned U.S. EXIM financing to fund the build.

The project is visibly moving from plans into field execution. Burntlog Route roadwork has progressed into pioneer-road construction, worker-housing civil works are complete with foundations being installed, and long-lead power equipment has been ordered or delivered. Those are real execution milestones, but they are progress within the previously established construction path rather than a new financing or permitting breakthrough.

Exploration momentum is better than the prior plan. Drilling surpassed the previously defined 10,000-meter program in August and was expanded after early results, with additional gold, antimony and tungsten targets being tested. That improves the potential resource-growth story, but the results remain exploration-stage and do not yet change the permitted mine plan or establish additional reserves.

The central funding dependency is unchanged. The presentation still shows $574 million of unrestricted cash and a $2.9 billion U.S. EXIM loan approved in principle, but explicitly says the loan remains subject to execution of definitive documentation and funding conditions. In other words, construction activity is advancing before the project’s full financing package is legally closed.

This is a modest operational positive, not a major change in project risk. The direction was already expected: construction, exploration and a 2026 final investment decision were established milestones. The new information is the pace and detail of field progress, while the biggest value-bearing milestone—closing and funding the EXIM loan—remains outstanding.

Bottom line: Perpetua is demonstrating tangible progress toward building Stibnite and is expanding the exploration upside. The update advances the execution story, but it does not remove the project’s key financing gate.