What Katoro Gold PLC does

Focus Xplore PLC (AIM:FOX), which was renamed from Katoro Gold PLC in 2025, is a London-headquartered, AIM-listed critical minerals exploration company. The company operates a portfolio of seven early-stage exploration projects in Ontario, Canada, targeting uranium (White Pine), lithium (Pearl, Iva, Burrows, Ellie, Oba) and rare earth elements / magnet metals (Bay Road). Its stated strategic shift in 2025 was a deliberate pivot away from its legacy Tanzanian gold exploration business toward energy-transition commodities in one of the world's most stable mining jurisdictions.

The underlying technology is conventional mineral exploration rather than a software or platform offering. Focus Xplore applies lake-sediment geochemical sampling, airborne radiometric surveys, LiDAR remote sensing and geological mapping to identify intrusive-style uranium targets, LCT (lithium-caesium-tantalum) pegmatite systems and REE-bearing felsic intrusions. The company leverages a large inherited dataset — approximately 15,000 km² of historical Ontario Geological Survey lake-sediment data, including 4,000+ Operation Treasure Hunt samples — to generate drill-ready prospects without bearing the cost of primary data acquisition.

The business model is a pre-revenue, capital-intensive junior exploration model. The company raises equity on the AIM market to fund staged exploration programmes (claim staking, geophysics, mapping, drilling); it does not generate product revenue, offtake income or royalties, and there are no named customers. End demand for the underlying commodities is expected to come from nuclear utilities, battery/EV manufacturers and permanent-magnet / electronics OEMs, but those customers do not transact with Focus Xplore today. Its current "customers" in a financial sense are AIM investors and significant shareholders including Castle International Holdings (14.01%), Armstrong Investments (6.97%), Woodland Capital (6.5%), Kibo Energy (3.86%) and Yakoub Yakoubov (3.19%); 27.48% of securities are not in public hands. The company has 1-10 employees and is operated by a three-person board (Antony Legge, David Russell, Neil Slade).

Name

Katoro Gold PLC

Legal name

Focus Xplore PLC

Website

https://focusxplore.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Focus Xplore PLC (AIM:FOX), formerly Katoro Gold PLC, is a London-listed, pre-revenue exploration company developing seven Ontario, Canada projects targeting uranium, lithium and rare earth elements for the energy-transition supply chain.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mineral Exploration Services

SIC

Metal Mining (1000)

akta.pro primary industry

Exploration & Resource Development (Critical Minerals) (IMAKAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Mineral Exploration & Geoscience Services (Geology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Resource Modeling) (IMAKAKAA)

Keywords

• Critical minerals exploration
• Uranium exploration
• Lithium pegmatite exploration
• Rare earth elements exploration
• Mineral resource development

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Katoro Gold PLC (now trading as Focus Xplore PLC, AIM:FOX) is a strategic energy and critical minerals exploration company focused on identifying and developing uranium, lithium, and rare earth elements (magnet metals) deposits in Ontario, Canada. The company holds a portfolio of seven exploration projects and conducts systematic geological surveys, lake sediment geochemical sampling, and airborne radiometric analyses to generate and advance mineral resource targets. The company is pre-revenue and raises capital through equity issuance to fund exploration activities.

Product overview

Katoro Gold PLC (now trading as Focus Xplore PLC, AIM:FOX) is a strategic energy and critical minerals exploration company. The company focuses on identifying and exploring opportunities in uranium, lithium, and rare earth elements (magnet metals) in Ontario, Canada. The portfolio consists of multiple exploration projects including White Pine (uranium), Pearl (lithium), Iva (lithium), Burrows Projects (lithium), Bay Road (magnet metals/REE), Ellie (lithium), and Oba (lithium). The company operates as a project exploration entity rather than a technology product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• White Pine Uranium Project An intrusive-type uranium exploration target located in Ontario, Canada, staked directly by Focus Xplore PLC in late 2024. The project is supported by sustained highly anomalous uranium in lake sediments, an intense geophysical airborne radiometric signature, and a prospective geological setting analogous to Rössing in Namibia. White Pine is the company's flagship uranium project and is targeted at investors and potential offtake partners.
• Pearl Lithium Project A lithium exploration project located directly south of the Alison Lake Batholith in Ontario, Canada. The project targets LCT (Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum) pegmatite systems where lake sediment sampling has recorded highly anomalous lithium results, with numerous additional pegmatites interpreted by Focus Xplore from recent geological work.
• Iva Lithium Project A lithium exploration project centred on anomalous lithium, caesium, and beryllium lake sediment assays in Ontario, Canada. The project is located 170 km west of Thunder Bay and adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway, with access to a major railroad and electrical grid.
• Oba Lithium Project A lithium exploration project staked around multiple mapped but never tested occurrences of pegmatites in Ontario, Canada. The project is in the vicinity of highly anomalous lithium, caesium, and beryllium lake sediments collected by the Ontario Geological Survey as part of Operation Treasure Hunt.
• Burrows Lithium Projects A set of three lithium exploration properties located in an area outlined by the Ontario Geological Survey as a prospective target area for grassroots lithium exploration. The projects are accessed from a nearby paved highway in Ontario, Canada.
• Bay Road Magnet Metals (REE) Project A rare earth elements exploration project in Ontario, Canada, centred on a 6 km long felsic intrusive rock mapped by the Ontario Geological Survey with an apparent relationship to highly anomalous REEs in lake sediment samples, targeting dysprosium and neodymium magnet metals.
• Ellie Lithium Project A lithium exploration project located adjacent to paved highway 125 km northeast of International Falls, just across the US Border in Ontario, Canada. The project is along trend from a mapped felsic dyke with highly anomalous lithium in lake sediment results.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Frontier Lithium: TSX-V-listed lithium-pegmatite explorer advancing the PAK and Spark projects in northwestern Ontario — directly comparable jurisdiction and commodity (lithium LCT-pegmatites) to Focus Xplore's Pearl, Iva, Burrows, Ellie and Oba projects.
• Patriot Battery Metals: ASX/AIM-listed explorer with the Corvette lithium-pegmatite project in the James Bay region of Quebec — same critical-mineral thesis, nearby Canadian Shield, and similar early-to-advanced drill stage targeting LCT pegmatites as Focus Xplore's Ontario lithium portfolio.
• NexGen Energy: TSX-listed uranium developer with the Arrow deposit in Saskatchewan — directly comparable commodity (uranium) and Canadian-jurisdiction thesis to Focus Xplore's White Pine intrusive-uranium target in Ontario.
• Premier African Minerals: AIM-listed critical-minerals developer focused on the Zulu lithium and tantalum project in Zimbabwe — comparable as an AIM-listed micro-cap single-commodity critical-minerals explorer raising equity to fund exploration, mirroring Focus Xplore's funding model.
• Andrada Mining: AIM-listed producer-explorer of lithium, tin and tantalum in Namibia with a micro-cap profile — directly comparable as an AIM-listed critical-minerals junior at a similar market-cap tier to Focus Xplore, with a portfolio of African critical-mineral assets.
• Mkango Resources: AIM/TSX-V-listed rare-earth-element explorer-developer with the Songwe Hill project in Malawi — directly comparable as a Western-listed micro-cap REE-focused explorer raising exploration capital, mirroring Focus Xplore's Bay Road REE play.

Broad incumbents

• Denison Mines: TSX/American-listed uranium developer with the Wheeler River project in Saskatchewan — broader-incumbent analogue as an established, well-funded Canadian uranium exploration/development company pursuing the same Athabasca-style uranium thesis as Focus Xplore's White Pine target.
• Standard Lithium: NYSE/American-listed lithium brine developer with projects in Arkansas and Texas — broader-incumbent lithium comparator, illustrating the scale and capital depth Focus Xplore would need to evolve into as its Ontario lithium portfolio advances.
• Rock Tech Lithium: Frankfurt/Canadian-listed lithium developer with the Georgia Lake project in Ontario and a planned German refinery — broader-incumbent Ontario lithium analogue at a more advanced stage, providing a reference point for Focus Xplore's lithium assets.
• Sigma Lithium: NASDAQ-listed hard-rock lithium producer operating the Grota do Cirilo mine in Brazil — broader-incumbent comparator demonstrating the scale-up pathway from lithium exploration through to production that Focus Xplore's Ontario portfolio could eventually pursue.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Katoro Gold PLC