Equinox Gold After the Orla Deal: ~1.1 Million Ounces Today, a Path Toward Two Million, and Why the Host Says the Market Is Still Catching Up

Equinox Gold has changed shape. With the Orla combination completed, the company now runs three long-life Canadian mines and sits on a production path that CEO.CA host Allan Laboucan puts at roughly 1.1 million ounces of gold a year, heading toward two million. In his October 13 Lab Report segment on the Q3 print, his argument was not that the numbers are exciting. It was that the market is still pricing the integration period while the asset base has already moved on.

## The Q3 numbers and 2026 guidance

Equinox reported Q3 gold production of 237,000 ounces and sold roughly 250,000 ounces. Consolidated production year to date stands at 611,000 ounces. Management said it remains on track for the updated 2026 guidance of 870,000–920,000 ounces, or approximately 1.1 million ounces once Orla's full twelve-month production contribution is included.

Laboucan offered the practical reason sell-side models lag: a takeover takes time to work fully into the filings, so analysts need a stretch of quarters before the combined production profile is properly reflected.

## A balance sheet in a different place

The quarter-end position was a marked improvement. Equinox ended the quarter with $527 million in cash and a net cash position of $163 million, after paying $190 million of debt and leaving $365 million drawn and outstanding on its revolving credit facility. Cumulative debt repayments now stand at $1.2 billion. In Laboucan's words, the balance sheet is "really clean" — a meaningful move from where it sat before that repayment campaign.

Capital returns are the next step. The company is buying back shares, and Laboucan expects a dividend to be introduced "in the not too distant future" — his expectation for the company, not guidance from the release.

## Three Canadian mines, a Nevada build, a Mexican restart

Jason Simpson, the new President of Equinox, described the combined company as an emerging senior gold producer anchored by three high-quality, long-life Canadian mines: Valentine in Newfoundland, and Greenstone and Mosquito White in Ontario. That is the base. Around it sit three separate growth levers.

- **South Railroad, Nevada.** The advanced next growth project the company is bringing into production. Permitting progress was flagged as a live item on the path toward a new mine. - **Los Feliz, Mexico.** The one the host keeps returning to. Los Feliz had an undetermined future for Equinox for a long time; the company now has things in order, and access and community agreements were the specific catalysts cited. Laboucan believes a restart will happen, and suggests part of the reason is practical: Mexico needs jobs, and Los Feliz is a large one. - **Canadian ramp-ups and exploration.** Valentine Lake and Greenstone are being brought into full commercial production. Exploration results at Mosquito White and Valentine were highlighted, and the company drilled roughly two kilometres along strike from Mosquito White and found the system continuing.

Laboucan's summary of the pipeline: new mines being built, current production, growing production, and Los Feliz on top of it.

## Valuation, sentiment and the share price

Equinox carries a roughly $17 billion valuation. Against its free cash flow and production profile, Laboucan argues there is still "a significant amount of blue sky" in the shares. Trading is liquid for a mid-tier — about 3.5 million shares a day on average, with 2.34 million traded on the day of the segment.

His read of market sentiment, drawn partly from AI-generated commentary on the company, was more positive than negative: broadly optimistic on the long-term case, and on the short and medium term too, because the growth is not a single event. Many investors describe the shares as undervalued relative to peers, and Laboucan puts himself in that camp, adding to positions including after the pullbacks. He is explicit that he does not trade on insider buying. He focuses on project quality, the price paid relative to production and valuation, and where production goes next.

## The bear case, as the host frames it

Three sets of concerns show up repeatedly: cost dilution and execution, the leadership transition, and the stock's volatility and underperformance against gold and some mining peers. Laboucan's answers are specific rather than dismissive.

On execution, much of the underperformance is attributed to bringing Valentine Lake and Greenstone to full commercial production at the same time. That is growing pains rather than a broken asset base. The comparison he draws is Agnico Eagle building five mines simultaneously and turning that into the platform that made it an exceptional performer.

On leadership, some investors question the merger's value for existing Equinox shareholders — dilution, capital allocation, and the timing of Darren Hall's departure. Laboucan calls Hall a very talented builder and mine operator, notes the board and management picked Simpson as the best fit for the role, and reads Hall's departure as a personal career choice rather than a verdict on the company.

On the market itself, Laboucan is cautious about the near-term tape. Gold hit an all-time high above $5,000 earlier this year and has consolidated since, which he reads as normal behaviour for a long-term bull market. He notes that Wall Street and tech stocks carry handsome valuations, that bond-market pressure has pushed money toward equities, and that a sector correction is possible — though not one he expects to last, given his expectation of Federal Reserve quantitative easing fairly soon. For a company that mostly needs time to be understood, that is a headwind worth naming.

## Where the host places the company

Laboucan applies the Pixys 12 criteria to sort mining companies by stage. On his own five-phase curve — running from a one-mine producer mining out its single asset, through the flat and high-cost middle, to the rising path — he rates Equinox as both a stage-five producer and a stage-four developer, with several advanced projects about to become mines. Equinox sits on the rising trajectory, and he names the reasons: the gold price, which he expects to go considerably higher, and the way the company operates its assets and replaces what it mines. For investors who want gold exposure with a chance to outperform gold, his summary is that Equinox is "a good one to do your homework on."

## Disclosure

The episode states plainly that the companies covered did not pay to be featured, that the show is independently produced and hosted by Allan Laboucan, and that CEO.CA does not direct, approve, or influence the companies, press releases, or topics selected for coverage. The segment also carries the standard warning that the content is not investment advice and includes forward-looking statements subject to risks outside the company's control.

**Watch items from the segment:** fourth-quarter production against the 870,000–920,000 ounce guidance; South Railroad permitting and startup; the Los Feliz restart decision following the access and community agreements; cost performance as Valentine Lake and Greenstone scale; and the pace of buybacks ahead of a possible dividend.