Monthly Metals Mining Rundown for Month Ending 1 May 2026

This past month’s metal price and top & bottom mining company peer group movers include:

This past month’s top & bottom 40 performing metals mining stocks (out of Peer Table’s 509) include (share price rounding errors apply, as sourced from Google Finance):

Coverage of metals mining announcements incorporated into this month’s Peer Table (resource updates, economic studies, changes in attributable project ownership) include:

• Silver developer (and now also small-scale silver producer) Silverco Mining (TSXV:SICO) announced yesterday/Monday (27 Apr) that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire private co Nuevo Silver Inc. for consideration of 16.8 million shares of SICO (worth ~C$168 million), plus US$17.5 million in combined milestone and contingency payments, while also assuming Nuevo’s debt of US$11 million. Nuevo acquired in 2026 and recently restarted the La Negra primary silver mine in Querétaro, Mexico. The mine has historic production dating back to the 1970s under Penoles Industries, and according to an old 2022 PEA had mineral resources (before recent minor depletion) of 8.88 Mt (28% indicated, rest inferred), with the indicated portion amounting to 2.46 Mt @ 64 g/t Ag, 1.95% Cu, 0.5% Cu, and 0.27% Pb, and with overall indicated + inferred contained silver-equivalent resources standing at 35 Moz @ 121 g/t AgEq at our 3-month trailing average metal pricing with no recovery factors – which are a SOLID two-thirds (67%) from silver, rest Zn and trace Cu/Pb. Not considering the future milestone and assumed debt payments (presumably to be covered by the La Negra’s cash flow), the share-based payment for this acquisition grows SICO’s basic shares outstanding by ~31% to ~53.3 million shares while growing its mineral resources by +55% to 98 Moz AgEq (including the company’s PEA-stage primary silver Cusi project also in Mexico – see note covering PEA below at bottom of this newsletter) – now 78% from Ag, 9% from Z, rest Au/Cu/Pb. SICO stock SURPRISINGLY traded flat +0% on day of announcement on also-surprisingly light volume (1/3 of daily average), before closing (the month ending 1 May) up +3.2% to C$9.80/sh (just underperforming group median monthly performance +8%), proforma market cap C$523 million, market cap/oz resource US$3.92/oz AgEq ($233/oz AuEq), and P/NAV (including both 2026 PEA for Cusi. and 2022 PEA for La Negra) of 0.65x at our reference silver price of US$50/oz – a narrow 15% premium to our 17-company silver developer group median 0.57x at same silver price. But now with this new La Negra mine, SICO is ALSO a small-scale silver PRODUCER, and so this P/NAV of 0.65x at reference silver pricing should rise to a ~1-2x once La Negra reaches full scale commercial production (and an even higher >2x once Cusi also comes online).

• Former gold explorer – now gold developer – WA Gold Limited (formerly BMG Resources) (ASX:WAU) announced Wednesday (22 April) a scoping study for a Stage 1 production scenario at its Abercromby project in Australia, which contemplated toll treatment at an existing CIL processing facility within 70km of Abercromby (and discussions are underway for an alternative toll treatment location at Matilda CIL plant located 20 km away from Abercromby). The Stage 1 mine assessed in the scoping study includes a small open pit transitioning to an underground mine recovering a total of ~114 koz Au from resources of ~121 koz with high recovery of 94% (90% of which are classified in the indicated category according to JORC, making them higher confidence) – out of total available resources of 518 koz (leaving significant leverage to convert additional resources into the future mine inventory).

   

  WAU stock (surprisingly) dropped -11% during the week ending 23 Apr (just underperforming our 85-company gold developer group median weekly drop of -4.4%), before closing the month (ending 1 May) flat +0% at ~3c/sh, market cap A$40m, 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗽/𝗼𝘇 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗨𝗦$𝟱5/𝗼𝘇 𝗔𝘂 (𝗮 𝟮2% 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝟴𝟱-𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝗦$𝟳1/𝗼𝘇 𝗔𝘂𝗘𝗾), and P/NAV (taken as market cap/70% of pre-tax NPV) of 0.18x (in between median 0.12x and mean 0.16x) – all at our 3-month trailing average gold price US$4,981/oz Au. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗯𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘀 - 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗮 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴’𝘀 𝟭𝟮𝗠𝗼𝘇 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁, 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿’𝘀 𝟭𝟬𝗠𝗼𝘇 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘃𝘂𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱’𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘃𝘂𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 - 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀: (𝗮) 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗯𝘆’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝟱𝟭𝟴𝗸𝗼𝘇 𝗮𝗻𝗱 (𝗯) 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗔𝗨 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲-𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀.

• Senior gold producer Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE,TSX:AEM) announced Monday (20 Apr) the acquisition of gold developer Rupert Resources (TSX:RUP) and its PFS stage flagship Ikkari project in Finland, for total consideration of C$15/sh RUP – consisting of share consideration of C$12/sh and contingent cash consideration of C$3/sh (spread over a 10 year period upon reaching certain milestones). The share consideration of C$12/sh represents a value of C$2.9b at 100% ownership basis (or ~C$2.5b at 86.1% equity basis, after the 13.9% already owned by AEM), representing a 67% premium to RUP’s prior close on 17 Apr. This RUP/Ikkari story is near-and-dear to our hearts after our Founder/CEO Mitch Vanderydt had covered it years ago on Toronto sell side – where he forecasted an initial resource of 3.3Moz Au in March 2021 using a spreadsheet-based mineral inventory estimate, with an initial post-tax NPV of US$1.3b according to unit costs adopted from the 2006 and 2008 (43-101 compliant) technical reports for AEM’s producing Kittila mine (also in Finland) along with Mitch’s conceptual mine plan (which had come up just short of RUP’s initial 43-101 compliant numbers of 3.95 Moz released in Sept. 2021 and US$1.6b from PEA released in Nov. 2022). This had initially put Mr. Vanderydt on the map along with his (and his colleague’s) similarly accurate forecasts for Great Bear Resources some months before in Sept. 2020 (which was later acquired by Kinross Gold Corporation in December 2021 for US$1.4b) - together leading to his recruitment for a CEO role in Europe. RUP shareholders will receive 0.0401 shares AEM per share RUP for the share consideration, and RUP stock traded up +68.5% over past month (ending 1 May), to C$10.36/sh, market cap C$2.4b, and P/NAV of 0.28x (at recent spot US$4,981/oz) – which still leaves ample room for an up-ward re-rating (inside AEM) to P/NAV ~0.6-1x (at spot) by the time Ikkari reaches commercial production some years from now (EIA is targeted for submission in Q4/26 and an FS is due H1/27). AEM's basic shares outstanding will increase by ~1.6% to ~510.08 m shares, while increasing its mineral resources by ~2.8% (based on remaining unowned 86.1% of RUP shares) to 156.9 Moz AuEq (98% from Au, including minor resources from equity holdings in Atex Resources, STLLR Gold, and Maple Gold Mines). AEM stock traded down slightly by -4.3% over past month (ending 1 May) – just underperforming our senior gold producer peer group median monthly gain of +1.7% – to US$183.56/sh, (pro-forma) market cap US$93.6b, and market cap/oz of US$597/oz AuEq (in-line with group median $581/oz and mean $606/oz).

• Intermediate gold producer Regis Resources Ltd (ASX:RRL) announced Wednesday (22 Apr) its annual reserves and resource update for its operations in Australia. It’s overall resources grew by +10.4% to 209 Mt @ 1.2 g/t Au containing 8.28 Moz Au. RRL stock is up +11% this past month (ending 1 May) - just outperforming intermediate gold producer median gain of +4.1% - to A$7.06/sh, market cap A$5.3b, and market cap/oz resource of US$465/oz Au – around the upper-quartile-range (75-percentile) of our 61 company intermediate gold producer group (above median US$226/oz and mean $335/oz) – or a 20% discount to more advanced senior gold producer median US$581/oz - the group that could acquire RRL when the time is right for its growing gold production that also comes with steadily growing reserves (even after substantial depletion, particularly at Duketon UG which makes up just over half of overall reserves).

• Gold explorer Strickland Metals Ltd (ASX:STK) announced Wednesday (15 Apr) an updated resource estimate for its Shanac deposit within its Rogozna gold and base metals project in Serbia, which included a maiden indicated category resource, grew the deposit to a company reported 5.35 Moz AuEq, and which grew overall Rogozna resource by ~8.4% to 7.4 Moz AuEq (70% from Au, 12% from Cu, 9% from Ag, 8% from Zn, rest Pb) at our estimated 3-month trailing average metal pricing. STK stock surprisingly traded over past month (ending 1 May) on this news by -10.5% to 17c/sh, market cap A$448m, and market cap/oz resource US$44/oz AuEq (a 14% discount to 84-company gold explorer group median US$51/oz AuEq).

• Copper explorer Osisko Metals Incorporated (TSXV:OM) announced Tuesday (14 Apr) a VERY SUBSTANTIAL resource upgrade for its flagship Gaspe project in eastern Quebec, which QUADRUPLED contained copper-equivalent resources (from its prior maiden estimate) to 18.8 Blbs CuEq (12.9 Blbs Cu only) within 2.07 Bt (88% M&I), including a measured category share ff 136.5 Mt @ 0.37% Cu, 0.014% Mo 1.98 g/t Ag (for a reported 0.42% CuEq), with the overall 18.8 Blbs CuEq being 69% attributable to Cu, 23% from Mo, with remaining 8% from Ag – at our estimated 3-month trailing average metal pricing with no metal recovery factors. Surprisingly, OM stock only traded up +12.6% over the week ending 15 April on this news (only ~double our 41-company copper explorer group median performance of +5.5% for same period), before closing the month (ending 1 May) up +34% (vs. group median +3.3%) to C$1.57/sh, market cap C$1.16b, and market cap/lb resource US$0.045/lb CuEq – in between our copper explorer median $0.032/lb CuEq and mean $0.064/lb CuEq. And this deposit’s 18.8 Blbs CuEq is a WHOPPING 12x the median copper explorer deposit size of 1.55 Blbs CuEq (or 3.7x the mean of 5.1 Blbs CuEq) and this 12.9 Blbs Cu excluding Mo/Ag is 21x the size of group median deposit size of 0.62 Blbs Cu (and 4x the mean of 3.1 Blbs Cu) – which as management states in the release makes Gaspe one of the largest undeveloped Cu-Mo deposits in North America.

• Copper and gold developer Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSXV:SEA) announced Tuesday (14 Apr) a maiden resource estimate for its Snip North deposit at its Iskut Project in BC which amounted to 633.3Mt (95% inferred with small indicated potion) which was just over half pit-constrained and rest underground. The indicated resources were entirely pit-constrained and totaled 27.6Mt @ 0.38 g/t Au, 0.06% Cu, 1.3 g/t Ag, and 0.0066% Mo. This encompassing Iskut project was also reported to now be called the Bronson Corridor project, and this maiden Snip North resource estimate grew the company’s overall resources by +3.1% to 374 Moz AuEq (314.6 Blbs CuEq) – 57% from Au, 35% from Cu, 8% from Ag (excluding the super low-grade Molybdenum). SEA stock traded roughly flat on the news, and was down -2.9% over the week ending 15 Apr (underperforming our gold developer median weekly gain of +1.6%), before closing the month (ending 1 May) UP +10% (outperforming group median monthly gain of +5.3%) to C$38.26/sh, market cap C$3.0b, and market cap/oz resource US$5.9/oz AuEq ($0.0070/lb CuEq) – a 92% discount to our 86-company gold developer group median $71/oz AuEq and a 71% discount to our 34-company copper developer group median US$0.024/lb CuEq ($20/oz AuEq). The lion’s share of SEA’s resources (and net asset value) come from its HUGE KSM project in BC, which according to its 2022 PFS (combined with a 2024 PEA for other, much smaller Courageous project in NWT) yields a post-tax NPV5 of US$20.4b at low gold price of US$3,500/oz (and copper price $4.50/lb Cu) – yielding a P/NAV (market cap/combined NPV) of 0.089x – a 60% discount to gold developer median 0.22x at same gold price $3,500/oz and a 35% discount to copper developer median 0.14x at same copper price $4.50/lb.

• Former silver explorer – now silver developer - Silverco Mining (TSXV:SICO) announced on 13 April a PEA for its flagship Cusi project in Mexico. Company has sufficient funds to finance the restart of this past-producing mine, which it aims to achieve by end of 2026, with full ramp up by mid-2027. Cusi is a rare primary silver deposit, with a highest-in-class 88% of its revenue to come from silver, according to the study’s recovery assumptions (rest Pb-Au-Zn). The PEA contemplated underground mining and trucking via 30-tonne highway trucks to the company’s existing 1,200 tpd mill located 40 km from the mining areas, which yielded a post-tax NPV5 of US$312m at spot silver price US$75/oz Ag from initial capital of only US$19m, resulting in a P/NAV (market cap/NPV) of 0.89x – which should roughly double to the ball park of ~2x once full commercial production is reached (for this rare high-silver content primary silver project) – making it an excellent take-out target for any of the many nearby operators (First Majestic Silver, Kootenay Silver, Discovery Silver, Endeavour Silver, Pan American Silver, Agnico Eagle, Alamos Gold, or Coeur Mining). Cusi hosts mineral resources of 9.0 Mt (M&I+I) including M&I share of 4.9Mt grading 206 g/t Ag, 0.15 g/t Au, 0.73% Pb, 0.86% Zn (262 g/t AgEq) – which are set to grow from an ongoing 30,000m drill program. SICO stock traded roughly flat on 13 April on this news (down ~1% intraday) in-line with silver developer group median performance of flat +0%, before the stocks closed the month (ending 1 May) up +3.2% to C$9.80/sh and market cap C$532m.

• Gold developer Amex Exploration (TSXV: AMX | FSE: MX0 | OTCQX: AMXEF) announced on 13 April a phase 1 feasibility study for its flagship Perron project in Quebec, which replaces the broader/longer-term potential evaluated in the prior 2025 PEA – as this phase 1 FS incorporates only Measured and Indicated resources, which fed into a maiden ore reserve of 2.0 Mt @ 12.10 g/t Au for 774 koz Au. The study contemplates underground mining and toll-milling over a 5 year life of mine (LOM) using 30-35 tonne trucks by a local contractor, and the company has entered into one non-binding letter of intent and is in discussions with multiple parties for toll-milling agreements in the area (although there is no guarantee that an agreement will be reached). Post-tax NPV5 was C$1.1b at US$3,500/oz Au from initial capital of C$194m. AMX stock traded up +24% on 13 April (intraday) on this news, before closing the month (ending 1 May) up a HUGE +36.6% (vs. group median gain +5.1%) to C$5.11/sh and market cap C$730m, with company resources of 2.31Moz trading at a market cap/oz resource of US$232/oz (well above gold developer mean US$115/oz Au and in-line with the more advanced intermediate gold producer median US$226/oz AuEq).

• Intermediate gold producer G Mining Ventures Corp. (TSX:GMIN) announced on 9 April the acquisition of G2 Goldfields Inc. (TSX:GTWO), which just recently graduated to our gold developer group from gold explorer group with its announced maiden PEA for its flagship Oko-Ghanie project in Guyana (South America) on 18 December 2025 (see our note here: https://lnkd.in/enj-EYhz), which had yielded a post-tax NPV5 of US$2.6b at gold price $3,000/oz from initial capital of only $664m which covered a 3.6 mtpa process plant. And this Oko-Ghanie project by G2 is IMMEDIATELY adjacent to GMIN’s Oko West project, which yielded its own post-tax NPV5 of US$2.2b at gold price $2,500/oz from development capital of $972m covering a 6.0 mtpa process plant in a Feasibility Study released in April of last year. But now, both process plants can be combined into a single, HUGE one – which should unlock MASSIVE synergies for the combined company. G2 shareholders will receive 0.212 shares GMIN per share GTWO in this all-stock deal, resulting in GMIN and GTWO shareholders owning a reported ~80.1% and 19.9% of the combined company. GTWO stock NEARLY DOUBLED on this news, and MORE THAN DOUBLED during April to C$10.35/sh (1 May), market cap C$2.7b, and market cap/oz resource US$557/oz (GMIN paid roughly half of this for GTWO). GMIN stock traded up +10.2% during April on this news (more than double group median gain of +4.1%) to C$47.35/sh (1 May) – and its shares outstanding will rise by ~25% to ~297 million shares, to grow its resources by ~34% to ~13.9 Moz (after adding GTWO’s 3.5Moz) according to our tally – for a proforma market cap of C$14b, and proforma market cap/oz resource US$746/oz Au – just above the upper-quartile-range (75-percentile) of our intermediate gold producer group (and just above mean of senior gold producer group’s $606/oz) – given GMIN’s solid cash position of US$288m and given its strong free-cash-flow from its producing Tocantinzinho mine in Brazil, which can now be used to help develop GMIN’s newly enlarged Tier-1 Oko project in neighboring country Guyana (making GMIN an excellent take-out target for a senior gold producer looking to expand into this region).

• Silver explorer Advance Metals Ltd (ASX:AVM) announced on 8 April an initial JORC resource estimate for its Yoquivo silver (and gold) project in Mexico, which grew the project’s contained silver-equivalent ounces by a reported +92% (compared to the prior foreign/historic estimate) to 33 Moz AgEq @ 120 g/t AgEq. And including the company’s other (historic/foreign) resources in Mexico (Gavilanes and Guadalupe y Calvo), this announcement grew the company’s overall resource inventory by +17.5% to 103 Moz AgEq (1.81 Moz AuEq), which are now 60% from Ag and 39% from Au (rest Cu-Zn-Pb) at our estimated 3-month trailing average metal prices with no recovery factors. This helped AVM stock gain a WHOPPING +30% on 8 Apr, before closing month (ending 1 May) flat +0% to 9c/sh, market cap A$42m, and market cap/oz resource US$0.29/oz AgEq ($17/oz AuEq) - which is STILL a HUGE 67% discount to our 31-company silver explorer group median US$0.87/oz AgEq ($52/oz AuEq).

Disclaimer: Provided for informational and educational purposes on an ‘as-is’ basis, and is not investment advice. For full disclosures, visit www.hostrockcapital.com/disclosures.