The Perfect Timing – for Precious Metals..
Timing is a ‘personal’ issue, related to short and long-term investor goals, but generally speaking (for long-term investors), the timing right now to build a precious metals model portfolio, in our opinion – is simply just perfect.
In fact, we’ve never seen a better setup for the long term. We’ve bounced from industry to industry over the past 50 years (going where the wind is blowing the strongest), and there are times when an entire sector goes cold. Which is more often than not, is a time to start shopping for bargains in the carnage, which is exactly what we are doing. For the record, we define dropping 50% as carnage and not a mere ‘profit-taking pullback.’ Hecla Mining (HL) for example has lost nearly $12 billion in market value.
We know there have been a lot of people waiting for a pull-back in the metals (like when Silver was at $120), which sometimes, unfortunately, never comes. Well, here it is. No excuses now. This is our chance. The fat lady has sung. If not now, when? We are on it. No beach parties this weekend, that just passed.
The whole group looks better now than when we first got excited about the prospects in 2019, as it first crossed $1,400, and we were mildly bullish. And better than when it first crossed $3,500, where we became wildly bullish.
Make no doubt about it, for us and our goals, we view this correction is a gift from the Gold & Silver Gods.
Despite our having a longer-term target (3-5 years) of $10,000 for Gold itself (we’ll adjust higher, if and when we get there) and similar percentage gains for Silver, Copper, and many Rare Earth and Critical Metals stocks, we recognize there will be volatility continuing ahead.
To be honest, we were having a bit of anxiety about launching the 2026 Precious Metals Watch List with Gold at $5,500, so we’re thankful we procrastinated. With everything going on and going on all at once, we feared Gold hitting $6,000 or even $6,500 before we issued the new Watch List. But then, as luck would have it, boom, it plunges to $4,500. And in a month!
So, it’s time to break out the printing presses. Create your own Watch List, and start the first step towards building your model portfolio. If you’re in the bearish Gold to $3,500 camp, like Chief Market Strategist & Technician Gared Soloway (see video Market Commentary below), the strategy would be to nibble here and add more on the way down to that level. If you’re in the super ‘Perma’ bull camp like Peter Schiff (also below), back up the truck.
In either scenario, we think, what incredible luck that this happened at this moment in time. Are we calling a bottom in Gold? Of course not, but we’re happy many stocks are 50% lower than they were just a couple of months ago. Very happy.
Our mission is to have 25 names within the next month. Our 2025 Watch List (6 names) was up 147% as of our last letter, way outperforming the actual metals. We hope we can repeat. And of course, no guarantee that past performance will be similar .. blah, blah, you know the drill.
We are also coming out with the Rare Earth & Precious Metals Investor Guide, which will be chock-full of unknown and interesting names. Copper is our favorite sub-sector for the long-term. Just saying.
THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL THING..
LAST JANUARY…IT WAS A DIFFERENT THING.
Of course, THE most beautiful thing (assuming you’re not a leveraged trader), while Gold itself is down big from the peak (16%), some of the stocks we just added to our 2026 Watch List were decimated before we added them, with some down 40 or 50% or even more. Again, a gift from the Precious Metals Gods. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.
For the week, the GDX index of Miners was down 15%, and the GDXJ index of Junior Miners was down 18%.
From the Peak: GDX -31% & GDXJ -33%.
GDX vs. GDXJ
Now let’s take a look at the downdraft that just occurred (and potential opportunity) with our new Watch List names! Only time will tell, but pretty much bargains galore!
Important mathematical note: when a company’s share price drops 50%, from $34 to $17, as in the case of Hecla Mining (HL), if it goes back to $34, the gain would be 100%. That’s just how the math works, like we said, a gift.
Alamos Gold (AGI) $75 to $52 | 27% loss.
Americore Resources (AMCOF) $0.67 to $0.34 | 49% loss.
Avino Silver & Gold (ASM) $16 to $7.32 | 54% loss.
Copper X Miners (COPX) $99.99 to $69 | 30% loss.
Empress Royalty (EMPR) $1.32 to $0.84 | 36% loss.
Fairchild Gold (FAIR) $0.12 to $0.08 | 36% loss.
Hecla Mining (HL) $34 to $17 | 50% loss.
NovaGold (NG) $14.40 to $7.75 | 46% loss.
Palisades Goldcorp (PLGDF) $3.00 to $1.53 | 49% loss.
Royal Gold (RGLD) $3.06 to $2.15 | 29% loss.
Sprott Jr Copper Miners (COPJ) $53 to $35 | 24% loss.
Silver Trust (iShares) SLV $109 to 61 | 44% loss
Average Loss: a whopping 39.5%.
Largest Market Cap Loss, $11.7 Billion | Alamos Gold (ouch, that’s a lot of money)
2026 Watch List
Alamos Gold is a Canadian-based intermediate gold producer with diversified production from three operations in North America, including the Island Gold District and Young-Davidson mine in northern Ontario, Canada, and the Mulatos District in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company maintains a strong portfolio of growth projects, including the Phase 3+ Expansion at Island Gold and the Lynn Lake project in Manitoba, Canada, and employs more than 2,400 people committed to the highest standards of sustainable development. In 2025, Alamos achieved record free cash flow of $130 million in a single quarter, driven by gold sales at an average realized price exceeding $3,300 per ounce, underscoring its position as one of North America’s premier mid-tier gold producers.
Americore Resources Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in North America. The Company’s primary asset is the Trinity Silver Project in Pershing County, Nevada, which covers approximately 14,523 acres of owned and leased land and hosts a historic open-pit, heap-leach silver operation. In addition to silver, the Company explores for gold, vanadium, lithium, and uranium deposits across Canada and the United States, positioning itself as a multi-commodity explorer with a strategic focus on resource independence in the American West. Formerly known as K9 Gold Corp., the Company adopted its current name in November 2025 to better reflect its Nevada-centric, America-first mineral development mandate.
Avino Silver and Gold Mines Ltd. is a silver, gold, and copper mining company propelling growth through its 100% owned properties — the Avino Mine, the La Preciosa Mine, and the Oxide Tailings Project — all located in Durango, Mexico. The Company controls mineral resources, as per NI 43-101, with a total mineral content of 371 million silver equivalent ounces within its district-scale land package, and its silver, gold, and copper production remains unhedged. A debt-free, cash-flow-positive producer, Avino reported record quarterly revenues of $30.5 million in Q4 2025 — a 25% year-over-year increase — and has set its strategic sights on achieving intermediate producer status within five years through disciplined, organic growth.
The Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX) provides investors access to a broad range of copper mining companies, seeking to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive Global Copper Miners Total Return Index. Global X ETFs COPX is the first ETF option for pure-play copper exposure in the equity space, delivering broad equity exposure to the global copper mining industry through a market-cap-weighted index, rebalanced semi-annually. TradingView Launched in April 2010 and managed by Mirae Asset Global Investments, COPX has emerged as a go-to vehicle for investors seeking leveraged participation in copper’s structural bull market, driven by accelerating demand from electrification, AI infrastructure, and the global energy transition.
Empress Royalty Corp. is a global royalty and streaming creation company providing investors with a diversified portfolio of gold and silver investments. Empress has built a portfolio of precious metal investments and is actively investing in mining companies with development and production stage projects who require additional non-dilutive capital. The Company has strategic partnerships with Endeavour Financial and Terra Capital, which allow Empress to not only access global investment opportunities but also bring unique mining finance expertise, deal structuring, and access to capital markets. Empress reported a record year in 2025, doubling revenue and delivering US$17.2 million in royalty and streaming income, US$12.1 million in gross profit, and US$7.4 million in net income. The Globe and Mail
Fairchild Gold Corp. is a public company engaged in the business of mineral exploration and development of copper, gold, and silver assets in mining-friendly jurisdictions across North America. The Company is committed to identifying and developing high-quality resource properties in Nevada with strong geological resource potential, and its strategy focuses on creating long-term shareholder value through disciplined exploration, strategic partnerships, and responsible development practices. The Company’s flagship Nevada Titan Project is situated in the historic Goodsprings mining district in Nevada, USA, and the Company is also the 100% owner of the Fairchild Lake Property, consisting of 108 mining claims covering an area of 2,224 hectares located approximately 250 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay in the Patricia Mining Division, Ontario.
Founded in 1891, Hecla Mining Company is the largest silver producer in the United States and Canada. In addition to operating mines in Alaska, Idaho, and Quebec, Canada, the Company is developing a mine in the Yukon, Canada, and owns a number of exploration and pre-development projects in world-class silver and gold mining districts throughout North America. Business Wire Hecla achieved record revenue of over $1.4 billion in 2025, representing a 53% increase over the prior year, alongside record net income of $321 million — or $0.49 per share — and record Adjusted EBITDA of $670 million, nearly doubling the prior year, cementing its standing as North America’s premier primary silver producer.
NOVAGOLD is a well-financed precious metals company focused on the development of the Donlin Gold project in Alaska, one of the safest mining jurisdictions in the world. With approximately 40 million ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource categories (560 million tonnes at an average grade of approximately 2.22 grams per tonne on a 100% basis), inclusive of Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves, the Donlin Gold project is regarded to be one of the largest, highest-grade, and most prospective known open-pit gold deposits in the world. The Donlin Gold project is expected to produce an average of more than one million ounces per year over a 27-year mine life on a 100% basis once in production.
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Palisades Goldcorp Ltd. is a resource investment company focused on junior companies in the resource and mining sector. Palisades seeks to acquire equity participation in pre-initial public offering and early-stage public resource companies with undeveloped or undervalued high-quality projects, focusing on companies in need of financial resources to realize their full potential, undervalued in capital markets, and/or operating in jurisdictions with low to moderate political risk. The Company’s portfolio includes a significant equity stake in New Found Gold Corp. and its Nevada subsidiary Made in America Gold Corp., which holds one of the largest junior land positions in the United States along the prolific Battle Mountain trend — a district recognized for world-class gold endowment.
Royal Gold is a high-margin, mid-capitalization company that generates strong cash flows from a large and well-diversified portfolio of precious metal streams, royalties, and similar production-based interests located in mining-friendly jurisdictions. The Company increased its annual dividend for the 25th consecutive year in 2025 and achieved record revenue of $375.3 million in the fourth quarter alone, with a revenue split of 78% gold, 11% silver, and 8% copper, reflecting the breadth and resilience of its asset base. sec Royal Gold’s landmark 2025 acquisition of Sandstorm Gold Ltd. and Horizon Copper Corp. meaningfully expanded the scale and diversification of its royalty portfolio, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s premier precious metals royalty and streaming companies.
The Sprott Junior Copper Miners ETF (COPJ) seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the total return performance of the Nasdaq Sprott Junior Copper Miners™ Index (NSCOPJ™), which is designed to track the performance of mid-, small-, and micro-cap companies in copper-mining related businesses. Sprott ETFs The index is designed to track the performance of companies that derive at least 50% of their revenue and/or assets from mining, exploration, development, and production of copper, and generally consists of 25 to 45 constituents. Launched in February 2023 and managed by Sprott Asset Management USA, Inc., COPJ offers high-beta, pure-play exposure to the junior tier of the copper mining sector — a segment increasingly viewed as a critical beneficiary of surging demand from AI data centers, electric vehicles, grid modernization, and the global energy transition.
MARKET COMMENTARY
Gold and Silver: “Sharp Selloff Tests Critical Support Zones,” Gareth Soloway
Gold: $4,300–$4,400 Is the Line in the Sand
Gold has experienced a sharp two-day decline and is now approaching what is considered major support in the $4,300–$4,400 range. This is a technically significant zone, and a hold here would likely produce a meaningful short-term bounce.
However, should this support give way, the technical picture deteriorates considerably, with the next substantial downside target in the $3,500 area. The current posture on gold is neutral at these levels — waiting for confirmation of either a hold or a breakdown before forming a directional bias.
(Note: when asked where he sees Gold in 2-3 years – our time frame-, his target is $7,500 and in 5 years $10,000. His short-term target for Silver is $50, and longer-term, North of $250 an ounce.)
In the Bearish Camp
Gold & Silver at 42 Minute Mark
