The KE Report

Erik Wetterling, Founder and Editor of The Hedgeless Horseman website, joins me for a bigger-picture and candid conversation around investor sentiment, disconnects in valuations that we are seeing  across the sector in most of the gold and silver stocks, but especially in the junior PM stocks. 
 
We dive into how price assumptions used in economic studies and their associated Net Present Values (NPV) are so low and conservative that it is likely doing the industry overall a disservice and not reflecting anywhere close to the modern day reality in the metals prices or current project values. As a result most companies are trading at tiny fractional metrics of where they should be, and much of this stems from a shell-shocked sector trying to use very low 3-year trailing averages in underlying precious metals price assumptions, but it is almost to the point of absurdity when compared to today’s spot prices.
 
On many corporate presentations, when looking at stale-dated economic studies, or even newer ones that have sensitivities tables, they have base cases still using $1,800 gold and $22 silver, and upside cases that only go up to $2,400 or $2,600 gold… or $24 -$28 silver.  If one is lucky enough to find sensitivity tables that go up to $3,000 gold or $30+ silver, it still doesn’t even present investors with numbers on where the actual spot prices are in either metal at much higher prices. Erik makes the point that most of these presentations “upside cases” should really be their “downside cases.”  
 
Metals prices have been at $3,200-$3,500 gold and solidly above $30 silver in the $32-$35+ range for many months now, but there are hardly any economic studies that even incorporate prices where they have been for some time, much less legitimate upside cases from here.   We point out that the mining industry doesn’t really need to be optimistic, we just need companies to start being more realistic in where their intrinsic values are at present.  There is no other sector of the market that so deeply discounts its present value, or is stuck looking backwards at prices from 3 years ago, and the mining sector is not playing to it’s strengths today.   If the sector wants to attract generalist investors, then it needs to at least show valuations of projects at the current metals prices in its sensitivity tables and use metals assumptions values that are not so far divorced from todays prices.
 
When you combine the recovering sector sentiment that is still not believing current metals prices are going stick, with ounces in the ground valuations still often in the $20-$60 range, and takeover premiums that barely move those metrics to over $100 per ounce, when the current producers margins are $1,500-$2,000 per ounce of gold, then it is an environment where we could still see big reratings higher if the metals prices just channeled sideways.  Erik highlighted that even if gold went down to $2,800, the good gold junior developers should probably still go higher just to catch up to valuations that even factor in those prices.
 
Click here to follow Erik’s analysis over at The Hedgeless Horseman website

John Rubino, [Substack https://rubino.substack.com/ ], joins us for a wide-ranging discussion on the macroeconomic factors driving the larger commodities sector higher, but then we vector in specifically on opportunities in the gold, silver, and royalties stocks.
 
We start off discussing how the higher underlying metals environment is not just limited to golds bull run higher, but now has widened out into silver, platinum, copper, and uranium.  This wider breadth of the metals and their related resource stocks is pulling in a larger audience of investors including generalists and momentum traders.  While different commodities have different fundamental factors at work, John points out that in the past when we’ve seen these broader commodities bull markets they’ve tended to last many years and be longer lasting and more durable rallies.
 
These higher sustained prices like gold above $3,000, or silver above $35, or copper above $5 leading to more investor confidence in the producers maintaining healthy margins and valuations, which then in turn attracts even more generalist investor capital flows in as sentiment slowly changes and turns into momentum.  Shifting over to precious metals stocks specifically, these higher underlying metals prices  still leave many producers and  development projects with economics that are better at current spot prices than is actually being factored into their current valuations.  As a result, John believes we’ll see the mining stocks improve their businesses with their growing revenues and cash flows by paying down more debt, buying back shares of their stock, increasing dividends, or making accretive acquisitions.
 
This leads into a larger discussion on the coming Q2 earnings, which are anticipated to be a record levels, and the optionality it gives these producers as potentially being another catalyst to bring a larger audience of investors into the gold and silver stocks. Specifically with silver stocks, after seeing one of the higher average silver prices in Q2 John outlines how this really could get more investors moving down the risk curve of silver stocks from the highest quality companies down to companies that just have silver in their names.  We also separate the signal from the noise as it relates to the political statements out of the largest silver producing country, Mexico.
 
Wrapping up we pivot over to the advantages in risk mitigation and margin expansion found in the precious metals royalty companies in this current environment.   John highlights why it is very likely that we’ll continue to see more consolidation in the royalties space, and disconnect in valuations seen in the junior and mid-tier companies, when contrasted against the senior royalty and streaming companies.
 
Click here to follow John’s analysis and articles over at Substack

Craig Hemke, founder and editor of TFMetalsReport.com, joins us for a timely macro and metals discussion on this shortened holiday trading week. With Canadian and U.S. markets seeing light volume due to national holidays, Craig outlines why this week could still bring significant volatility driven by data releases and algorithmic trading.
 
Key Themes Discussed:
Gold’s Sideways Action: Craig explains why gold’s recent price consolidation mirrors the late 2023 breakout setup and how many investors may be misreading this quiet strength.
Silver’s Quiet Strength: Silver has posted a strong quarterly close and may soon generate its own upside momentum, similar to the sharp moves seen in 2011.
Dollar Weakness and Fed Policy: Despite a lack of immediate Fed rate cuts, the U.S. dollar is falling - Craig explains how markets may be front-running a policy shift under a possible Trump-nominated Fed chair.
Commodity Supertrend?: From copper and platinum to silver and aluminum, industrial metals are rallying on physical supply constraints and broader reflation themes.
Data-Driven Volatility Ahead: With the JOLTS report, manufacturing and services PMIs, and a U.S. jobs report all dropping this week, Craig warns these releases could trigger fast, algo-driven moves in the metals.
🔗 Stay connected with us at KERreport.com and follow Craig at TFMetalsReport.com

Vizsla Silver (TSX:VZLA - NYSE:VZLA) continues to deliver key milestones at its flagship Panuco Project in Mexico. In this company update, Mike Konnert, President and CEO, joins me to discuss two major developments: the progress at the Copala Test Mine and the recent $100 million bought-deal financing.
 
Key topics discussed:
Test Mining Progress: Mike provides an update on the underground development now reaching 140 meters, the upcoming 10,000-tonne bulk sample from the 460 level, and how this early work is designed to de-risk the full mine build ahead of mill construction.
Purpose of the Test Mine: The goal is to validate mining rates, grade control, and block model reconciliation while stockpiling ore and training the team. This phased approach sets Vizsla up for a smoother transition into full-scale production.
Exploration & Resource Expansion: Underground drilling will support resource category conversion (indicated to measured) and eventual reserve definition. Additional drilling is ongoing with plans to grow the broader Panuco district resource base.
$100M Financing and Funding Strategy: With ~$200M USD now in the treasury and total CapEx of ~$224M USD, Vizsla is well-positioned to complete mine construction and negotiate project financing from a position of strength - without further equity dilution.
Takeover Potential & Valuation Gap: Mike addresses M&A questions and emphasizes that Vizsla is currently trading at ~0.5x NAV, with a clear path toward full value and beyond - citing peers like SilverCrest and MAG Silver reaching 1.5–2x NAV.
If you have any follow up questions for Mike please email me at Fleck@kereport.com. 
Click here to visit the Vizsla website to learn more about the Company.

Fred Bell, CEO of Elemental Altus Royalties (TSX.V:ELE) (OTCQX:ELEMF), joins me to unpack the transformative news announced on June 12th, where Tether Investments has just positioned as their largest strategic shareholder and cornerstone investor.  We discuss what this deal means for the precious metals and royalty sector where a crypto company can deploy such large sums of capital, and more importantly what it means for future deal flow and acquisitions for Elemental Altus Royalties.
 
Tether completed the acquisition of 78,421,780 common shares of Elemental Altus from La Mancha Investments S.a.r.l. at a price of C$1.55 per share, representing approximately 31.9% of the issued and outstanding common shares. When combined with the 4,360,511 shares already owned by Tether, Tether will now own an aggregate of 82,782,291 common shares, representing approximately 33.7% of the issued and outstanding shares in the Company.
 
Tether has further announced that it has entered into an option agreement with AlphaStream Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary Alpha 1 SPV Limited pursuant to which Alpha 1 granted Tether the option to acquire, subject to certain conditions, an aggregate of 34,444,580 common shares owned by Alpha 1. On exercise of this option, Tether would own 117,226,871 common shares, representing approximately 47.7% of the issued and outstanding common shares.
 
We also touched on the news out on June 24th where Gleason & Sons LLC announced it had acquired nearly one million common shares of Elemental Altus Royalties via ongoing open market purchases. The rationale from Stefan Gleason was that the Company has paid off all debt, booked its most profitable quarter ever in Q1, and streamlined its governance structure.
 
Fred and I discussed the rationale behind Tether positioning both dollars and gold in their 2 stablecoins, and that Elemental Altus was them positioning using their Teather Investments vehicle for longer-term appreciation, and that they were very keen on the lower risks and high revenue per employee ratio of royalty companies for acquiring more exposure to future gold equivalent ounces of production.  The mandate that they reiterated to the management team of Element Altus Royalties was to keep growing the business in a responsible and efficient manner.
 
We spent the balance of the discussion talking about what this means for future deal flow and acquisitions.  Fred highlighted the size and scale of potential future deals with their already strong balance sheet, cash on hand and free cashflow generation on tap for this year, and their revolving credit facility, giving them upwards of $80 million in funding for deals moving forward; before Tether even got involved.
 
 
If you have any follow up questions for Fred regarding Elemental Altus Royalties, then please email them to me at Shad@kereport.com.
 
In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Elemental Altus Royalties at the time of this recording, and may choose to buy or sell shares at any time.
 
Click here to view recent news on the Elemental Altus Royalties website

The commodity bull market is alive across multiple fronts—from explosive moves in silver and platinum to broad-based strength in equities. Dana Lyons shares what his trading models are flashing now, while Brien Lundin makes the case that we’re still early in this precious metals bull market.
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Segment 1 & 2 - Dana Lyons, fund manager and editor of The Lyons Share Pro, returns to share why his models remain bullish on U.S. equities, with the S&P and Nasdaq approaching all-time highs and strong market breadth supporting the rally. He also dives into key commodity setups, noting oil remains weak below its multi-year range, while silver’s breakout above $35 appears constructive. Dana is positioned in silver ETFs (SLV, SIL, and SILJ) and sees potential in copper equities like COPX and COPJ, though he remains cautious on platinum after its sharp surge. He highlights growing strength in international and emerging markets as the U.S. dollar breaks down, and favors Bitcoin over Ethereum for further gains in the crypto space.
Click here to visit the Lyons Share Pro website and learn more about Dana’s investment services. 
 
Segment 3 & 4 - Brien Lundin, editor of the Gold Newsletter and host of the New Orleans Investment Conference, joins us to explain why the current gold bull market is the most powerful and unique in over two decades. He attributes the strength to unprecedented central bank buying, which has led to shallow corrections and delayed but now accelerating interest in silver, mining stocks, and junior explorers. Brien also discusses how the broader commodity reflation trade, driven by global demand for raw materials, is lifting copper and platinum, and highlights compelling investment opportunities in undervalued developers and copper explorers amid a tightening M&A and financing environment.
Click here to learn more about the New Orleans Investment Conference on November 2-5.

Trey Wasser, CEO and Director of Dryden Gold Corp (TSX.V: DRY) (OTCQB: DRYGF), joins me for a special video overview of the 4 key focus areas for this year’s exploration program, across their Dryden Gold District land package in Northwestern Ontario.  We start off with a big-picture geological framework for the property, then vector in on the 3 key deformation events in the Gold Rock Camp, but then also discuss the different geological settings found in the Sherridon and Hyndman areas.
 
After outlining the D1, D2, and D3 structural trends in the Gold Rock Camp, Trey takes us through what has been learned from combining this new understanding with a number of past and more recent drill holes along both the Big Master and Elora Gold trends.  Some of the most recent drill core has been seen carrying visible gold and returned high-grade assays from around the Elora-Jubilee target, as well as news announced earlier this month from the historical Laurentian Mine Target and the Pearl Target (formerly known as the Intersection Target). This drilling all along the Elora Gold System has shown an improving understanding of the multiple stacked shear zones and veins structures along this trend, and is part of the on-going 15,000 meter drill program underway, but there are other regional targets that will be tested
 
Next we shifted up to the Mud Lake target area, and how these same 3 geological deformation faults and folds are present here as well, further along the Gold Rock Camp trend.  Trey goes on to highlight that there is a periodicity to this system where there are even more targets to the Northeast and Southwest along this 20km strike length that demonstrate similar geological properties that are being mapped, sampled, and advanced towards targeting for future drill programs.
 
Wrapping up we discuss the 3rd area of focus at Sherridon; where detailed mapping from 2024 has exposed multiple drill ready targets and it’s unique geological setting that is different than the Gold rock Camp.  Then we pivoted over to the 4th area of focus at the Hyndman regional target, and how its geological setting is different than the other areas, but also presents compelling drill targets from all the early field exploration campaigns.  These areas will all see more exploration testing through the balance of this year.
 
 
If you have any questions for Trey regarding Dryden Gold, then please email me at Shad@kereport.com.
 
In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Dryden Gold at the time of this recording.
 
Click here to follow the latest news from Dryden Gold

In this company update, I’m joined by Tara Christie, President and CEO of Banyan Gold (TSX.V:BY - OTCQB:BYAGF), to discuss the June 25th drill results from the Airstrip Deposit at the AurMac Gold Project in Yukon.
After focusing much of the recent drill work at the Powerline Deposit, Banyan is revisiting Airstrip - the original discovery zone - with near-surface, high-grade results. Highlights include:
38 meters of 3.8 g/t gold,
16 meters of 9.32 g/t gold, and
28 meters of 1.3 g/t gold starting just 10 meters from surface.
Tara explains how recent metallurgical testing (90–93% recoveries) supports a future mill-based operation, making Airstrip more economically viable than initially assessed. The company is now actively stepping out to the north, east, and west, tracing a felsic dyke contact zone believed to be linked to higher grades.
 
Key topics covered:
The evolving role of the Airstrip Deposit in the overall resource model.
How real-time data modeling is optimizing drill targeting.
Drilling strategy adjustments with over 18,000 meters completed out of a planned 30,000+ meter program.
Exploration potential at depth and between Powerline and Airstrip, including follow-up of geophysical targets.
Timeline and approach to news flow as results from Powerline and other areas continue to come in.
Read the full news release (June 25th): https://banyangold.com/
If you have any follow up questions for Tara please email me at Fleck@kereport.com.

Mike Burke, Director and VP of Corporate Development, returns to provide an exploration update from the ongoing 30,000-meter drill program at the RC Gold Project in the Yukon’s Tombstone Gold Belt.
Key Theme: Sitka hits 211m of 1.13 g/t Au, including 73m of 2.04 g/t Au, at the Blackjack Deposit – the first hole of its summer drill program.
 
Discussion Highlights:
Summer Drill Results Begin: Hole 77 delivers strong results from the Blackjack Zone, validating expansion potential with broad and higher-grade intercepts.
3-Zone Strategy: Sitka is advancing drilling across Blackjack, Saddle, and Eiger zones - 15,000m allocated - plus targeting Rhosgobel with 10,000m.
Deep Expansion Potential: Winter Hole 76 extended deeper into mineralization; Sitka is building out an underground model to complement near-surface ounces.
Early Assay Progress: Over 10,000m drilled across 23 holes - completed ahead of schedule and under budget. Company has the flexibility and cash to expand beyond 30,000m.
Rhosgobel Discovery: First three holes in this year’s program show visible gold, following last year’s 119m of 1.05 g/t Au in first-ever diamond drilling at this target.
Lab Turnaround & Yukon Activity: Assay delays are building as multiple companies ramp up big programs, but Sitka uses visible gold to guide ongoing drilling.
 
If you have any follow up questions for Mike please email me at Fleck@kereport.com. 
Click here visit the Sitka Gold website to learn more about the Company.

Markets continue to defy expectations, and even war headlines, as the S&P 500 flirts with all-time highs and commodity prices climb. In this interview, Joel Elconin, Co-Host of the PreMarket Prep Show and Co-Founder of the Stock Trader Network, returns to share his insights into what’s driving this resilient "Goldilocks" market.
 
Key topics discussed include:
Why Joel calls this a “crazy” market: S&P rallies despite US missile strikes, geopolitical tensions, and mixed economic data.
The Fed’s indecision and macro ‘nothing-burger’: Markets appear unbothered by mild inflation, slightly higher unemployment, and a divided Fed.
Commodity breakout: Copper above $5, surging platinum, silver, and industrial metals hint at underlying growth and demand strength.
US Dollar weakness: Down over 10% YTD, fueling both equity and commodity rallies while helping exports.
Upcoming catalysts - or threats?: China, Iran, and Middle East escalation loom as the main wildcard risks.
Joel’s technical take: What the S&P cash index is telling him heading into quarter-end and what levels matter most now.
 
Click here to visit Joel’s PreMarket Prep website.
Click here to visit the Stock Trader Network.