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#102 Digging for Dollars #30 Talking our Portfolio and Top Picks

CEO.CA Jun 3, 2026 30:14

Summary

Early private-market entries into juniors re-rated hard when they listed, beating flat TSX Venture and GDXJ benchmarks at mid-year.

Sterling Metals' Batchawana Copper Belt consolidation shows why the hosts buy whole districts early instead of waiting for neighbors to prove up.

Galantas Gold's $100 million raise shows how a large, well-supported financing lets a near-term producer reach cash flow without repeated dilution.

With no senior tungsten producers, Allied Critical Metals' year-end pilot plant in Portugal offers juniors-only exposure to a quintupled price.

Stagnant juniors with strong treasuries and intact teams remain the buys — own value before promotion arrives and prices move.

Key points on Amex Exploration

  • Up 60% since Simon Mercaud's 'Dig This Deal' recommendation, per the mid-year scoreboard.
  • Named by a host among the portfolio developers that have done incredibly well; he says pitched developers have averaged around 70% gains.

Key points on Belo Sun Mining

  • The stock has been picking up, but progress is slower than hoped because of permitting and court processes in the jurisdiction, per the host.
  • He frames it as binary: Belo Sun is 'either going to be like $10 or 10 cents.'

Key points on Hycroft Mining Holding

  • Simon Katz's Hycroft pitch is the scoreboard's second-best guest pick at +460%, though both hosts admit they were on the fence and missed the move.
  • Citing its roughly 15 million ounces, the guest calls Hycroft an example of a giant system drawing capital-market support, while noting it 'isn't really going to work' at a $4 billion valuation.

Key points on Mayfair Gold

  • Alex Ruggieri's pitch, the show's very first, has not been exciting, a host says, but it has still outperformed the market.

Key points on Montage Gold

  • Cited as the model the Galantas deal reminds the guest of: very big, lower-grade gold deposits that can work.

Key points on Radisson Mining

  • Named by the host among the pitched developers that have done really well, in a cohort he says averages around 70% gains.

Key points on Rio2

  • Used as the comparable for the Galantas producer story; the guest thinks Rio2 itself is worth about a billion and a half.

Key points on Wallbridge Mining Company

  • Matt's best 2026 pitch so far at +25%, and one of the few stocks recommended on the show more than once.
  • A host argues Wallbridge trades at a big discount to the gold in the ground, has money, and, despite the share count, rewards investors with a longer time horizon: 'just own it.'

Key points on Big Ridge Gold Corp

  • David D'Onofrio's pitch is up 110%, an honorable mention on the guest scoreboard.

Key points on Freeman Gold Corp

  • He still likes the Idaho deal and owns Freeman purely for optionality, one of the positions you 'just have to own' in this space.
  • A feasibility study is coming, slightly delayed (normal for the sector), but the company has hit all its other timelines and is firmly in development.

Key points on NGEx Minerals Ltd

  • Cited in the district-consolidation debate as the payoff for staying independent: NGEx went from $6 to $30-plus plus a royalty spinout, the guest notes.

Key points on Omai Gold Mines Corp

  • One host's top 2025 recommendation is up 200% since it was pitched.
  • He expects Omai will probably be acquired because it is the last great asset in its area.

Key points on San Lorenzo Gold Corp

  • The show's best 'Dig This Deal' pick ever: Chris Paul's San Lorenzo call is up 965%, the hosts played it around 70 cents, and the stock now sits near $6.
  • Matt says it would no longer make his top-picks list because the run has taken the value out.
  • A host uses it as his buy-early lesson: he loved it at 10 cents but was cut back on the financing and watched it go to $6 without him.

David D'Onofrio's takeaways

  • Top takeaway His Big Ridge Gold pitch is up 110%, an honorable mention on the guest scoreboard.

Chris Paul's takeaways

  • Top takeaway His San Lorenzo pitch is the show's best ever at +965%; the hosts played it around 70 cents and the stock now sits near $6.

Eric Sprott's takeaways

  • Top takeaway In the Galantas financing discussion, the guest notes 'Eric Sprott wrote a huge' check, part of a book in which about three shareholders hold roughly half.

Warren Buffett's takeaways

  • Top takeaway The guest recalls Warren Buffett putting money into a tungsten play during a prior cycle, everyone went crazy, he says, and it is the only time he has seen Buffett in a resource deal.

Kai Hoffmann's takeaways

  • Top takeaway His Pan Global pitch is up 33%, one of 2026's 36 guest picks, a cohort averaging 13% so far.

Fred Bell's takeaways

  • Top takeaway His pitch, Pasofino Gold (ticker VEIN), was acquired for $142 million, a 70% gain from his December recommendation.
  • The hosts count it as one of two acquisitions among 2025's 39 guest pitches, alongside Probe's $770 million takeout.