Did gold and silver just experience a blow-off top, or do they have more room to run?
Lobo Tiggre, CEO of IndependentSpeculator.com, shares his thoughts on what’s going on with the precious metals, and how investors may want to position.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Optimism was building at last year’s Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC), with fresh capital flowing back into the mining sector, lifting project financings and investor portfolios alike.
This year’s VRIC, which ran from January 25 to 26, saw that optimism tip into outright exuberance.
Record-breaking gold and silver prices drew a larger, more diverse crowd, while speakers openly compared the current market to the great bull runs of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Yet beneath the enthusiasm, a note of caution emerged. While few questioned the strength of the rally, debates centered on whether the move is still in the early innings or edging closer to bubble territory.
Precious metals were front and center throughout VRIC.
The price of gold crossed the US$5,200 per ounce mark during the show, and silver’s incredible run peaked at US$116 per ounce, gaining more than 250 percent since January 2025.
Over the past couple of years, gold’s shine has been brought about by significant central bank buying. Considered the ultimate buy-and-hold participants, these entities have been acquiring large quantities of gold for several reasons, including runaway global debt and concerns over the weaponization of the US dollar.
Central bank purchases, along with geopolitical and financial uncertainty, have helped to revive a beleaguered retail segment, effectively pouring gasoline onto the fire.
For silver, structural shortages that have developed over the past several years came into focus and were exacerbated by a surge of investors seeking a cheaper physical asset alternative to gold.
Flashpoints in the Middle East, a simmering trade war driven by tariff threats, disrupted supply lines and currency devaluation have also helped bring the monetary aspects of gold and silver to the forefront.
In the 2026 ‘Gold Forecast’ panel at VRIC, Gold Royalty (NYSEAMERICAN:GROY) Chair and CEO David Garofalo explained why precious metals were one of the best-performing asset classes last year.
“Gold has been a one-way trade for 50 years … the purchasing power of our dollars has gone down 99 percent over that period of time. The negative correlation between the gold price and the purchasing power of our underlying currencies is undeniable,” he said, adding that “gold can only go in one direction.”
Garofalo added that the debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 350 percent in 2025 from 100 percent in the 1970s, creating a “ticking time bomb” that leaves central banks with no wiggle room to raise interest rates. “Gold can only go in one direction in that market because there is a limited supply of gold. Gold can’t be printed,” Garofalo said.
With those circumstances in mind, how high can gold and silver prices go? There were differing perspectives throughout the conference on whether precious metals are in a bull market or a bubble.
At the ‘This Isn’t Our First Bull Market’ panel, Ross Beaty, Equinox Gold (TSX:EQX,NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) chair and Canadian Mining Hall of Famer, was one of those who suggested the market is in a bubble.
He also compared the state of the market to the late 1970s and early 1980s, and spoke about how gold went above US$700 per ounce before crashing to US$250 an ounce in a matter of months. “You only know you’re at the top after the fact. From my standpoint today, it is. It’s a bubble, it’s a frothy market,” Beaty said.
Fellow panelist Rick Rule, proprietor at Rule Investment Media, didn’t go so far as to say the market is in a bubble, but did point out that even in a strong bull market, there are risks.
He pointed out that in 1975, as the gold bull market was running, the gold price fell by half.
Both speakers suggested there is still upside in the market, but acknowledged that now is a good time for investors to take some profits. For his part, Beaty was blunt in his advice.
“It is time to take some money off the table. I think probably not all, because I think we have more room to run, but we’re not in the early innings of this game, we’re in the late innings,” he said.
Rule’s approach was more one of preparation, especially for less experienced investors.
“If you aren’t financially and psychologically prepared to deal with 30 or 35 percent declines, or 50 percent declines, you really have to get some money in the bank now, because you’re going to experience that,” Rule said.
During VRIC, Rule also spoke about how he recently sold off 25 percent of his junior mining portfolio, noting, “I sold off 25 percent of my upside, and I eliminated 100 percent of my downside.”
If industry stalwarts like Beaty, Rule and Garofalo are suggesting it’s time to take some money off the table, were there any suggestions where to look next?
On the gold panel, Incrementum AG Managing Partner and Fund Manager, Ronald-Peter Stöferle gave insight that his fund had cycled funds from precious metals into other areas of the resource sector.
“We reallocated some capital, took some profits, because the risk has been too dominant and reallocated into oil, into copper, into uranium,” he said.
What’s become more apparent over recent years is the growing need to add gigawatts to the electrical grid. To meet growing demand, electricity must be generated, and uranium is increasingly used as a fuel. However, delivering it requires infrastructure, and copper remains one of the best ways to do so.
However, both copper and uranium have demand exceeding supply.
While copper has been in balance over the last couple of years, incidents at Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE:FCX) Grasberg mine and Ivanhoe’s (TSX:IVN,OTCQX:IVPAF) Kamoa-Kakula mines tipped the market into supply deficits in 2025, and it’s likely to stay there for some time.
Both copper and uranium have been increasingly tied to the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
At the ‘Copper Forecast’ panel, Independent Speculator Editor Lobo Tiggre noted the connection but pointed out that underlying fundamentals beyond AI continue to make the case for investing in copper and uranium. He noted that the release of Chinese AI DeepSeek affected Western equities tied to the AI boom.
“If you think it (AI) is a bubble, remember what happened in the DeepSeek moment. Copper wobbled, uranium wobbled … The good news, in my view, is that means that whenever the next wobble comes, there’s potentially a buying opportunity, given the fundamentals we’re talking,” he said.
The fundamentals are that AI and data centres are just additional demand. Through several of his appearances, Rick Rule noted that there are a billion people on the planet who don’t have access to reliable electricity.
Additionally, global infrastructure needs to be upgraded as more people rely on electricity for a wider range of uses, including EVs. However, there are only a few new mines on the horizon, and not enough to meet baseline demand.
Ivan Bebek, CEO and chair of Coppernico Metals (TSX:COPR,OTCQB:CPPMF), said on the copper panel that all the easy copper deposits have been found.
“Copper mines are hidden behind geopolitical boundaries, social issues or undercover. They’re mined, and all the easy ones have been found. Look at the chart I presented earlier, and it shows the decline basically falls off a cliff in 2015. There hasn’t been any major copper discovery of consequence since then,” he said.
It’s not just a lack of discovery; copper mines require significant capital investment and can take decades to complete permitting.
Likewise, uranium is in a similar boat. Although it’s far from its US$140 per pound high in 2007, uranium has solid supply and demand fundamentals and has significant upside potential.
In his fireside chat, Uranium Energy (NYSEAMERICAN:UEC) CEO Amir Adnani said that he expects uranium prices to continue to increase.
“The uranium price has no business hanging around under US$100 per pound. The uranium price should be doing what silver and gold are doing. It will do that, in my opinion, because it is fundamentally in a structural deficit,” he said.
Adnani pointed to a cumulative shortage of 379 to 840 million pounds over the next 10 to 15 years, and stated it should be at least US$1,000 per pound. He noted that both China and the US have designated uranium a critical mineral, with the US even establishing a strategic reserve.
With consensus at the conference that AI is a bubble that’s ready to burst, the overall fundamentals for copper and uranium remain strong even without it.
As for precious metals, given the strain on global financial systems in recent years, and uncertainty when it comes to US debt loads and a weakening US dollar, they should still hold a place in an investor’s portfolio.
However, as many at the conference suggested, the time to take profits is before the peak, not after investors look back on it.
Though some suggest cycling that money into other equities to take advantage of copper and uranium, there was also the suggestion that holding cash can be a good thing, remaining liquid and ready to take advantage of pullbacks and corrections in the market.
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold an investment interest in Equinox Gold.
Ross Beaty of Equinox Gold (TSX:EQX,NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) and Pan American Silver (TSX:PAAS,NASDAQ:PAAS) shares his thoughts on gold and silver’s record-setting runs.
While high prices are exciting, he noted that even US$50 per ounce silver is good for miners.
‘At the end of the day, there’s still great value in the silver equities,’ Beaty said.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Gold and silver are wrapping up a record-setting week once again.
Starting with gold, the yellow metal left market participants hanging last week after finishing just shy of US$5,000 per ounce. However, it made up for it in spades this week, breaking through that level and continuing on up to smash through US$5,500.
Silver was no slouch either. After hitting triple digits at the end of last week it moved even higher this week, spending time above US$121 per ounce.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for those questions to be answered.
Gold and silver prices dropped precipitously as the week drew to a close, with the yellow metal finishing Friday (January 30) just below US$4,900 and silver sitting at about the US$85 level.
What’s going on, and more importantly, what should investors do?
Let’s tackle what’s going on first. The broad consensus from the experts I spoke to at VRIC was that gold and silver prices continue to be driven by elements that have been in play for years, such as strong central bank gold buying and silver’s persistent deficit. But both metals have new factors contributing to their gains.
Adrian Day of Adrian Day Asset Management highlighted two points that have changed for gold, with the first being increasing global chaos. Here’s how he explained it:
Day also mentioned gold purchases from stablecoin issuer Tether as a new factor for gold:
On the silver side, the dynamics are undeniably complex, but Willem Middelkoop of the Commodity Discovery Fund summed it up like this:
So how should investors approach this environment? Personalization was a major theme among the people I spoke to at VRIC, with many emphasizing the importance of understanding why you own the assets in your portfolio and what circumstances would lead you to sell.
Here’s Lobo Tiggre of IndependentSpeculator.com on how that could look right now:
With that said, two key themes emerged when it comes to what experts are doing now.
The first is silver stocks. Multiple market watchers, including Rick Rule of Rule Investment Media, believe silver stocks are set to move higher now that the metal itself has broken out.
Rule said he sold 80 percent of his physical silver and used around half of the money to buy silver companies. This is why he did it:
The second place people are rotating to is oil and gas stocks. You may remember that I touched on this in last week’s video, and the theme strengthened at VRIC — Rick himself took 25 percent of the money he made selling physical silver and put it in oil and gas stocks.
While opinions differ on whether now is the exact right time to buy, I heard multiple times that senior dividend-paying oil and gas companies are a play to consider for those who have taken profits in the gold and silver sector and are looking for the next ‘buy low’ opportunity.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Statistics Canada released November’s gross domestic product (GDP) data on Friday (January 30). The numbers show that the economy remained flat overall with the prior month, following a 0.3 percent decline in October.
The goods-producing industries fell by 0.3 percent in November, weighed down by a 1.3 percent contraction in manufacturing and a 2.1 percent decline in wholesale trade amid ongoing trade tensions between Canada and the United States.
Declines were offset by increases to the retail trade sector, which grew 1.3 percent alongside a 0.9 percent increase to the transportation and warehousing sector.
The release also included advanced data for December that shows real GDP increased by 0.1 percent. Although the data for the month are preliminary, they point to a 0.1 percent contraction in the fourth quarter and a 1.3 percent annual gain in 2025.
This week also marked the first rate-setting meetings of 2026 by the Bank of Canada and the US Federal Reserve.
Both central banks decided to keep their rates unchanged. On Wednesday (January 28), the BoC reported it would maintain its benchmark rate at 2.25 percent. In its announcement, the bank said the outlook remains little changed from its October projection but noted it is vulnerable to evolving US trade policy and geopolitical risks.
South of the border, the Fed held its Federal Fund Rate at 3.25 percent to 3.75 percent. In its announcement, the Fed shared similar sentiments, suggesting that uncertainty remained elevated.
Against that backdrop, gold and silver experienced significant volatility this week, with prices for both metals dropping on Thursday (January 29). Gold fell from above US$5,500 toward the US$5,100 mark during the first hour of trading on US markets, while silver fell from the US$120 mark to around US$108.
Both metals rebounded on the day, posting slight losses from their opening levels, but on Friday prices collapsed further, with gold trading below US$4,800 and silver approaching US$80 in morning trading.
For more on what’s moving markets this week, check out our top market news round-up.
Canadian equity markets were in retreat to end the week.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) lost 3.4 percent over the week to close Friday at 31,923.52, while the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index (INDEXTSI:JX) fared worse, shedding 8.15 percent to 1,051.08. The CSE Composite Index (CSE:CSECOMP) dropped 9.54 percent to 169.92.
The gold price saw significant declines from mid-week highs, losing 9.76 percent during Friday’s trading day. However, it fell just 1.76 percent from the week’s start to close at US$4,840.76 per ounce on Friday at 4:00 p.m. EST.
The silver price fared even worse, plummeting 28.17 percent on Friday, and closing the week 13.62 percent lower overall at US$83.43 on Friday.
In base metals, the Comex copper price recorded a 1.32 percent drop this week to US$5.98.
On the other hand, the S&P Goldman Sachs Commodities Index (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) was up 4.24 percent to end Friday at 598.20.
How did mining stocks perform against this backdrop?
Take a look at this week’s five best-performing Canadian mining stocks below.
Stocks data for this article was retrieved at 2:00 p.m. EST on Friday using TradingView’s stock screener. Only companies trading on the TSX, TSXV and CSE with market caps greater than C$10 million are included. Mineral companies within the non-energy minerals, energy minerals, process industry and producer manufacturing sectors were considered.
Weekly gain: 141.18 percent
Market cap: C$29.82 million
Share price: C$0.41
Vanguard Mining is an exploration company working to advance a portfolio of uranium, copper and nickel assets in Canada and Paraguay. Its flagship project is the Yuty Prometeo uranium project in Paraguay.
Among its properties is the Redonda copper and molybdenum project near Campbell River, British Columbia. The site consists of nine mineral claims covering 2,746 hectares and hosts porphyry-style mineralization.
On Tuesday (January 27), Vanguard announced plans for its phase 2 drill program at Redonda, comprising up to 7 holes totaling 2,800 meters, targeting areas in the southeast portion of the property between historic drill holes.
The company also said it would conduct detailed mapping and prospecting in the northern and western portions of Redonda to identify additional priority drill targets and would use phase 1 results to refine targeting.
The program is being advanced quickly to build on drilling results that “confirmed a significantly expanded copper-molybdenum mineralized system at Redonda,” the company said.
Weekly gain: 85.6 percent
Market cap: C$185.63 million
Share price: C$2.32
San Lorenzo Gold is an exploration company working to advance its Salvadora project in the Chañaral province of Chile.
The property consists of 25 exploration and nine exploitation concessions covering an area of 8,796 hectares. It hosts a large copper and gold porphyry system with several significant targets. According to the project page, the site geology resembles that of the nearby Codelco-owned Salvador copper mine, which has operated since the early 1950s and is expected to continue until the mid-2060s following an expansion.
On January 26, San Lorenzo provided assay results from the first hole of a drilling program at the Cerro Blanco target at Salvadora. The hole was drilled to a depth of 472 meters, of which it encountered 222.4 meters of mineralization across five sections. The widest interval graded 1.09 grams per metric ton (g/t) gold over 132.2 meters from a depth of 201.5 meters.
The company said it believes the mineralization represents the upper level of a porphyry system and that it suggests a continuation of the system encountered during drilling at the site in 2025.
Weekly gain: 75.76 percent
Market cap: C$14.69 million
Share price: C$0.58
Ameriwest Critical Minerals is an exploration company with a portfolio of assets in British Columbia, Canada, as well as the US states of Nevada, Oregon and Arizona.
The company announced in August that it was changing its name from Ameriwest Lithium to better reflect a portfolio diversifying into copper and rare earth minerals.
In October 2025, Ameriwest entered into a definitive agreement for the option and potential purchase of the Xeno RAR rare earth mineral claims in British Columbia. Under the terms of the deal, Ameriwest will pay C$55,000 in cash considerations, C$125,000 in exploration expenses over 18 months, a 2 percent net smelter return royalty and 2 million shares.
Then, in November, the company completed the acquisition of 34 unpatented mineral claims in Oregon that form the Bornite copper project in exchange for US$100,000 and a 2 percent net smelter return royalty.
Previous exploration of the Bornite property by Plexus in the 1990s identified a historic resource of 138.5 million pounds of copper, 54,000 ounces of gold and 1.7 million ounces of silver from 3.2 million metric tons of ore. Ameriwest’s current CEO was part of the Plexus team who explored Bornite.
In addition to its recently acquired properties, Ameriwest also owns the Thompson Valley lithium project in Arizona and the Railroad Valley lithium project in Nevada.
The most recent news from the company came on January 20, when it upsized a non-brokered private placement from C$2 million to C$3 million. The company said proceeds would be used to accelerate exploration efforts at its Bornite project.
In the release, Ameriwest says its long-term goal at the project, if results, financing and permitting are successful, is “evaluating the development of an approximately 1,000-tonne-per-day underground copper mining operation.”
Weekly gain: 61.78 percent
Market cap: C$217.87 million
Share price: C$2.54
Tectonic Metals is a gold exploration company working to advance the Flat project in Alaska, US.
The project covers 98,840 acres in Western Alaska and hosts a reduced intrusion-related gold system and six district-scale targets. According to Tectonic, the mineralization is analogous to Kinross Gold’s (TSX:K,NYSE:KGC) Fort Knox mine in Eastern Alaska.
Among the targets is the Chicken Mountain intrusion, where exploration has identified 3 kilometers of mineral strike that remains open in all directions. Each of the 87 holes drilled at Chicken Mountain have intercepted gold.
The most recent update from the Flat project came on Thursday, when Tectonic announced results from 20 drill holes across four target areas.
Most significantly, its first drilling at the Black Creek intrusion, located 6 kilometers north of Chicken Mountain, discovered a new gold zone. The discovery hole, which started from surface, returned grades of 4.5 g/t gold over 48.77 meters. This included a core interval of 7.79 g/t over 24.38 meters, inside of which was a 6.1 meter interval grading 15.19 g/t.
The company said drilling has now confirmed gold mineralization across five intrusion targets: Chicken Mountain, Alpha Bowl, Golden Apex, Black Creek and Jam. It also said that results from 14 other holes are still pending.
Weekly gain: 60 percent
Market cap: C$12.48 million
Share price: C$0.12
Golden Lake Exploration is a gold exploration company that owns the Jewel Ridge gold project in Nevada, United States.
The project sits along the prolific Battle Mountain–Eureka Gold trend, which has produced more than 40 million ounces to date and hosts operations from McEwen Mining (TSX:MUX,NYSE:MUX) and North Peak Resources.
More than 700 meters of strike have been identified on the property across three primary targets: Eureka Tunnel, Jewel Ridge and Hamburg.
On Wednesday, Golden Lake announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be wholly acquired by McEwen Mining and become its subsidiary. Among the highlights of the deal is the ability for Jewel Ridge to be integrated into McEwen’s neighboring Gold Bar mine complex, providing access to infrastructure and funding.
The TSX, or Toronto Stock Exchange, is used by senior companies with larger market caps, and the TSXV, or TSX Venture Exchange, is used by smaller-cap companies. Companies listed on the TSXV can graduate to the senior exchange.
As of December 2025, 898 mining companies and 71 oil and gas companies are listed on the TSXV, combining for more than 60 percent of the 1,531 total companies listed on the exchange.
As for the TSX, it is home to 175 mining companies and 51 oil and gas companies. The exchange has 2,089 companies listed on it in total.
Together, the TSX and TSXV host around 40 percent of the world’s public mining companies.
There are a variety of different fees that companies must pay to list on the TSXV, and according to the exchange, they can vary based on the transaction’s nature and complexity. The listing fee alone will most likely cost between C$10,000 to C$70,000. Accounting and auditing fees could rack up between C$25,000 and C$100,000, while legal fees are expected to be over C$75,000 and an underwriters’ commission may hit up to 12 percent.
The exchange lists a handful of other fees and expenses companies can expect, including but not limited to security commission and transfer agency fees, investor relations costs and director and officer liability insurance.
These are all just for the initial listing, of course. There are ongoing expenses once companies are trading, such as sustaining fees and additional listing fees, plus the costs associated with filing regular reports.
Investors can trade on the TSXV the way they would trade stocks on any exchange. This means they can use a stock broker or an individual investment account to buy and sell shares of TSXV-listed companies during the exchange’s trading hours.
Article by Dean Belder; FAQs by Lauren Kelly.
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Global gold demand surged past 5,000 tons in 2025 for the first time on record driven by a historic wave of investment inflows and sustained central bank buying, according to the World Gold Council’s (WGC) latest Gold Demand Trends report.
Total gold demand, including over-the-counter transactions, exceeded the 5,000-ton threshold as investors, institutions, and official buyers responded to geopolitical risk, falling real rates, and growing uncertainty across bond and equity markets.
Combined with a year of relentless price gains, the surge pushed the total value of global gold demand to a record US$555 billion, up 45 percent year-on-year.
Consequently, gold prices themselves rewrote the record books. The LBMA PM gold price set 53 new all-time highs during 2025, with the average price in the fourth quarter climbing to US$4,135 per ounce, up 55 percent from a year earlier.
The WGC reported that investment demand was the primary driver of growth, accounting for the bulk of incremental buying during the year.
Global gold exchange-traded funds recorded net inflows of 801 tons in 2025, the second-strongest annual increase on record, which reversed years of subdued ETF participation.
At the same time, bar and coin demand accelerated sharply. Demand rose to a 12-year high as retail and high-net-worth investors sought safe-haven exposure in the midst of persistent geopolitical tensions and uncertainty around monetary policy trajectories.
That momentum carried into the final months of the year. Total fourth-quarter gold demand reached 1,303 tons, the highest ever recorded for a fourth quarter, further supported by ETF inflows of 175 tons and bar and coin buying of 420 tons.
Meanwhile, central banks continued to provide a firm foundation for demand even as purchases eased modestly from the extraordinary levels of recent years.
According to the report, net official-sector buying reached 863 tons in 2025, remaining historically elevated but below the more than 1,000 tons added in each of the previous three years. In the fourth quarter, buying accelerated with central banks purchasing 230 tons, up 6 percent quarter-on-quarter.
For instance, the National Bank of Poland emerged as the largest buyer for the second consecutive year, adding 102 tons in 2025 and lifting its gold reserves to 550 tons. Gold now accounts for 28 percent of Poland’s total reserves, approaching its revised 30 percent allocation target.
In January, the bank’s governor signaled an intention to increase reserves further to 700 tons, citing national security considerations.
On the supply side, the response to soaring prices remained unexpectedly subdued. Total gold supply rose just 1 percent year-on-year to 5,002 tons, the highest level in the WGC’s annual data series dating back to 1970.
Mine production inched up to an estimated 3,672 tons, potentially setting a new record, while recycling increased only 3 percent to 1,404 tons. This was a muted reaction given the 67 percent rise in the US-dollar gold price.
The council explained the weak recycling response reflected the absence of economic distress, expectations of further price appreciation, and structural behaviours in key markets. This included the use of gold as collateral and the prevalence of trade-in transactions rather than outright selling.
Meanwhile, gold demand in the technology sector remained broadly stable at 323 tons for the year, supported by continued growth in artificial-intelligence-related applications.
The AI boom increased demand for high-speed computing and data-center infrastructure. However, the report also noted that rising gold prices continued to push manufacturers toward thrifting, substitution, and research into alternative materials.
Overall, 2025 marked an evolution of how industry stakeholders view the metal in relation to changing market dynamics.
Randy Smallwood, president and chief executive officer of Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX:WPM,NYSE:WPM) said investors are increasingly recognising gold as a monetary asset rather than a cyclical commodity.
“For the last 40 years, we’ve thought of gold as a commodity,” Smallwood said. “We forgot that it’s a currency, and it is a currency,” said Randy Smallwood, president and chief executive officer of Wheaton Precious Metals, in a fireside chat at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC).
“The mining industry doesn’t have an impact on pricing. Doesn’t have an impact on value. It is a currency. It has been a currency for thousands of years,” he added, further noting that new mine supply adds only less than 2 percent annually to the total stock of gold held globally
Smallwood, as well as the council, expects many of the forces that drove 2025’s record demand to remain in place.
“We still see continued strength and appetite for swapping out US dollars, treasuries, whatever you want to call it, any exposure towards gold,” he said. “And that’s not going away.”
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Sranan Gold offers early-stage exposure to a high-impact gold discovery in Suriname’s Guiana Shield, one of the world’s most underexplored gold belts. Backed by the same technical team behind some of the region’s largest gold discoveries, Sranan is a high-leverage discovery story in a mining-friendly jurisdiction, now with demonstrated drill-confirmed continuity and growing scale at its flagship project.
Sranan Gold (CSE:SRAN,OTCQB:SRANF,FSE:P84) is a junior gold explorer operating in Suriname, a South American nation producing more than 600,000 ounces of gold annually. The company’s flagship 29,000-hectare Tapanahony gold project is located within the prolific Guiana Shield, one of the world’s most prospective yet underexplored gold provinces.
The 29,000-hectare Tapanahony project covers one of the oldest and largest small-scale mining areas in Suriname.
The project overlays a historic mining belt with strong geochemical and structural indicators. Sranan’s objective is to convert extensive local mining activity, legacy drilling and modern datasets into an inaugural gold resource along the 4.5 km Poeketi–Randy mineralized corridor.
Following systematic trenching and drilling in 2025, the company has confirmed a large, structurally controlled orogenic gold system extending from saprolite into fresh bedrock. With drilling resuming in 2026, Sranan is focused on expanding known mineralization, testing parallel shear zones identified by LiDAR and geophysics, and advancing toward resource definition.
Suriname and Guiana Shield
The Tapanahony gold project is Sranan’s flagship asset, covering 29,000 hectares in southeastern Suriname. The project lies within the Paleoproterozoic Guiana Shield, which hosts multiple Tier-1 gold systems. The property is situated at the intersection of a regional NW-striking structural corridor crosscut by penetrative NE–SW fabrics, creating excellent ground preparation for high-grade, shear-hosted gold mineralization. These relationships are clearly defined in LiDAR and aeromagnetic datasets.
Artisanal miners have historically exploited saprolite-hosted gold along the Poeketi–Randy trend. Sranan’s exploration strategy has been to systematically transition this surface production into a drill-defined hard-rock system. Historical exploration exceeds US$10 million, including soil geochemistry, auger programs and approximately 4,000 metres of diamond drilling by IAMGOLD, which intersected significant gold mineralization and validated the structural model.
Sample collected from the Tapanahony project’s Poeketi Pit in 2021
In 2025, Sranan advanced the project from surface sampling and trenching into systematic diamond drilling. Trenching confirmed near-surface continuity with results including 5 m at 36.7 g/t gold and 5 m at 8.9 g/t gold, extending mineralization beyond known artisanal workings. Subsequent drilling intersected wide zones of gold mineralization in both saprolite and fresh basaltic host rocks, confirming a 50 to 150 m wide mineralized shear corridor.
By year-end 2025, drilling had expanded the defined mineralized strike at Randy’s Pit to over 800 metres, with mineralization remaining open along strike and at depth and forming part of the broader 4.5 km Randy–Poeketi trend. Drilling resumed in January 2026 to continue step-out testing, define additional high-grade shoots, and evaluate shallow open-pittable potential.
LiDAR interpretation has also identified three parallel mineralized corridors and multiple targets in the western lobe of the concession, where soil geochemistry and small-scale mining suggest additional discovery potential. These areas represent priority targets for ongoing drilling and future expansion of the project footprint.
Fluent in Dutch and active in Suriname for over a decade, Oscar Louzada has taken two Suriname-based exploration companies to IPO (Sela Kriki and Nassau, now Miata Metals). With 25+ years’ experience in natural resources finance (Canaccord, Investec), he brings capital markets depth and local execution credibility.
Dennis LaPoint is a veteran geologist with 35+ years’ experience. LaPoint discovered Merian (Newmont, 7 Moz) and oversaw major exploration programs at Rosebel and Omai. He leads strategy and resource targeting, and sits on multiple boards, including ASBOG. He also teaches geology at Anton de Kom University in Paramaribo in Suriname.
A Surinamese national and key member of the Saramacca discovery team (IAMGOLD, 1.5 Moz), Rayiez Bhoelan specializes in regolith geology and shear zone mapping. He has worked across the Guiana Shield at Omai and Founders Metals, and lectures locally on geochemistry.
Mario Stifano is a CPA and seasoned mining executive with prior leadership roles at Cordoba Minerals, Lake Shore Gold and Galantas Gold. He led the 2020 acquisition and re-listing of Omai Gold Mines in Guyana.
John Alcock is a chartered professional accountant with over 30 years’ experience as an accounting and financial professional and an investor in the junior mining sector. He currently serves on the board of Altiplano Metals.
Ron Shenton is a capital markets professional with 40 years’ experience. He is the founder of several public companies and has served as CEO/director, leading investor relations, public relations and capital raising across multiple sectors including mining exploration.
(TheNewswire)
GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALBERTA TheNewswire – (January 30, 2026): Angkor Resources Corp. (TSXV: ANK,OTC:ANKOF) (‘ANGKOR’ OR ‘THE COMPANY’) announces the voting results from its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the ‘Meeting’), held on Thursday, January 29, 2026, including the appointment of Dr. David Johnson to the Board of Directors of the Company.
All resolutions presented to the Shareholders were approved. Each of the resolutions are explained in detail in the Management Information Circular published in connection with the Meeting. It is available for reference on the Company’s website https://angkorresources.com.
A total of 96,855,431 common shares, representing approximately 47.78 % of the Company’s outstanding common shares, were voted in person and by proxy at the Meeting. Shareholders voted in favour of:
Reappointing Davidson Company LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants auditors of the Company;
Setting the number of directors at six, with the following six nominees elected as directors: Russ Tynan, Mike Weeks, Terry Mereniuk, Ken Booth, Grant T. Smith and Dr. David Johnson;
Approving the Company’s Rolling stock option plan; and
Approving the sale of the Corporation’s 40% participating interest (the ‘Assets‘) in the Evesham Macklin oil and gas lands in Saskatchewan to an arm’s length party (the ‘Purchaser‘) at a fair market value sale price of $4,800,000 (the ‘Purchase Price‘)
The sale of the oil and gas assets was a strategic decision that removed a debt of $3,800,000 off the books and provided the Company with $1,000,000 in net proceeds. The original Letter of Intent and announcement is provided here: Angkor Resources SIGNS LETTER OF INTENT TO SELL EVESHAM OIL PRODUCTION – Angkor Resources Corp. Because it was a fundamental transaction, approval from shareholders was required at the AGM and over 99% of the voters were in favor of the transaction. The Company wanted to push its resources into the Cambodian onshore Block VIII Project for potential growth of the Company.
Delayne Weeks, CEO, commented ‘On behalf of the Company, I would like to thank shareholders for their participation and continuing support. We welcome Dr. Johnson to the Board.’
Dr. David Johnson is a geoscientist with more than 40 years of Global, Canadian Frontier, and Western Canadian exploration and production (E&P) experience covering petroleum, natural gas and helium. In positions of progressive responsibility, David has worked for Shell, Exxon Production Research, ExxonMobil Exploration, Husky Energy, the Kuwait Oil Company, and KUFPEC. Dr. Johnson has executive, business development, operations, geoscience research, and technical E&P experience covering more than 40 petroleum jurisdictions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. He has led bid-round acquisitions of more than 20 Production Sharing Agreements (PSA’s) and exploration licenses (EL’s); and made significant discoveries in the South China Sea, the Canadian Frontiers and Western Canada.
Dr. Johnson received a BSc in Geology from the University of Calgary, and a PhD in Geological Oceanography from Dalhousie University and joins the Board of Directors of the Company following the AGM Jan. 29 2026.
The Company also notes that Steve Cochrane, and Scott Smith, long-time directors of Angkor, retired effective today’s meeting. We want to acknowledge their contributions and outstanding service to the Company. Both expressed their ongoing support of Angkor’s success.
ABOUT Angkor Resources CORPORATION:
Angkor Resources Corp. is a public company, listed on the TSX-Venture Exchange, and is a leading resource optimizer in Cambodia working towards mineral and energy solutions across Cambodia.
The company’s mineral subsidiary, Angkor Gold Corp. in Cambodia holds two mineral exploration licenses in Cambodia with multiple prospects in copper and gold. Both licenses are in their first two-year renewal term.
Its Cambodian energy subsidiary, EnerCam Resources, was granted an onshore oil and gas license of 7300 square kilometres in the southwest quadrant of Cambodia called Block VIII. The company then removed all parks and protected areas and added 220 square kilometres, making the license area just over 4095 square kilometres. EnerCam is actively advancing oil and gas exploration activities onshore to meet its mission to prove Cambodia as an oil and gas producing Nation. Having completed seismic in 2025, the Company looks to identify drill targets and advance to drilling Cambodia’s first onshore oil & gas exploratory wells shortly thereafter.
CONTACT: Delayne Weeks – CEO
Email:- info@angkorresources.com Website: angkorresources.com
Telephone: +1 (780) 568-3801
Please follow @AngkorResources on , , , Instagram and .
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as ‘intends’ or ‘anticipates’, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results ‘may’, ‘could’, ‘should’, ‘would’ or ‘occur’. This information and these statements, referred to herein as ‘forward‐looking statements’, are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated benefits of new leadership expertise, and the Company’s plans to develop its resources and create shareholder value.
In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied certain material assumptions, including without limitation, that the Company will successfully advance the development of its resources and that such efforts will result in creating shareholder value.
These forward‐looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties, and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, that the Company will not advance the development of its resources and that the Company will not create shareholder value.
Copyright (c) 2026 TheNewswire – All rights reserved.
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Uranium prices surged back above US$100 a pound this week, extending a year-long rally that is reshaping the uranium market after more than a decade of underinvestment.
Spot price of uranium climbed US$7.75 to US$101 a pound after the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (TSX:U.U,OTCQX:SRUUF,OTCQX:SRUUF) disclosed it had purchased 500,000 pounds of uranium and raised US$214 million through a share issuance, lifting its available cash to US$323 million.
Expectations that the fund will deploy that capital rapidly into further uranium purchases helped push prices back above the psychologically important US$100 mark, a level not consistently seen since 2007.
“Sprott has now built a pretty serious war chest to buy some pounds, so it’s come into this year preloaded with cash,” Guy Keller, portfolio manager of Tribeca’s Nuclear Energy Opportunities Strategy, told the Australian Financial Review.
“We’ve now entered a new range for the spot price and I think it’s safe to say that US$100 a pound is a new floor which should hold for the next 12 months and the next question is, where does it stop?”
Spot uranium one-year price performance.
Chart via Trading Economics
While the move above US$100 grabbed headlines, there have already been previous remarks that claimed uranium has already been trading at triple-digit prices away from public benchmarks.
Earlier this January, Cameco (TSX:CCO,NYSE:CCJ) president and chief operating officer Grant Isaac told the Goldman Sachs Energy, CleanTech & Utilities Conference that most new uranium contracts already imply prices well above published spot levels.
“We’ve had market-related contracts with floors, escalated floors in the mid-70s. We’ve had ceilings as high as US$150 escalated,” Isaac said. “The midpoint between those floors and the ceilings are already US$100 uranium, US$115 uranium.”
Isaac said around 70 percent of uranium contracting last year occurred through market-related agreements that are not fully reflected in reported benchmarks. This meant that utilities are already budgeting for significantly higher prices than spot data suggests.
He also warned that conventional demand forecasts materially understate future uranium needs, as they exclude reactors that have not yet reached final investment decision.
“The demand forecast that most have out there… we believe they’re actually understating demand,” he said, pointing to new build programs in the US, Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as rising electricity demand from data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Sovereign contracting is also returning as a market force. Isaac referenced reports from last year that Canada and India are close to finalizing a 10-year uranium supply agreement with Cameco worth US$2.8 billion.
The price rally also supports growing consensus that uranium supply cannot respond quickly enough to rising demand.
A research report published this week by Teniz Capital said the global uranium market has entered a structural deficit phase that cannot be resolved within the next decade.
The firm argued that the long lead times required to bring new uranium projects into production—often 10 to 20 years from discovery to first output—mean that supply shortages expected in the 2030s are already effectively locked in.
“The supply deficit in the 2030s is already programmed,” the report said, describing the current market as having reached a “tipping point” where utilities that fail to secure long-term contracts today risk facing acute shortages later in the decade.
The report estimates global uranium demand to rise by about 28 percent by 2030 and more than double by 2040, driven by reactor construction in China and India, renewed Western support for nuclear power, and rapidly rising electricity demand from data centers and AI infrastructure.
David Franklyn, portfolio manager at Argonaut, also believes uranium could be heading for a “breakout year”.
“We believe the demand-supply balance has continued to improve with most major global economies now looking for nuclear power to be a component of their base load power mix,” Franklyn remarked.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Nuvau Minerals Inc. (TSXV: NMC,OTC:NMCPF) (the ‘Company’ or ‘Nuvau’) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Clarus Securities Inc. and Integrity Capital Group Inc., as co-lead agents and co-lead bookrunners (collectively, the ‘Agents’), in connection with a proposed ‘best efforts’ brokered private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $20,000,000, comprised of the offer and sale of up to (i) 18,750,000 units of the Company (each, a ‘Unit’), at a price of $0.80 per Unit, for gross proceeds of up to $15,000,000, and (ii) 5,000,000 flow-through shares of the Company (each, a ‘FT Share’), at a price of $1.00 per FT Share, for gross proceeds of up to $5,000,000 (together, the ‘Offering’). The Agents will have an option (the ‘Agent’s Option’), exercisable in whole or in part up to 48 hours prior to the Closing Date (as defined herein), to offer for sale up to any combination of additional Units, Common Shares andor Warrants to raise up to an additional $5,000,000 in gross proceeds.
Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company (each, a ‘Common Share‘) and one-half of one transferrable common share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a ‘Warrant‘), with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of $1.30 per Common Share for a period of 36 months following the closing of the Offering. All FT Shares will be Common Shares that qualify as ‘flow-through shares’ within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the ‘ITA‘) [and section 359.1 of the Taxation Act (Québec)].
The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Offering for working capital and general corporate purposes and for the completion of exploration and development activities at its Matagami property. The gross proceeds from the offering of FT Shares will be used by the Company to incur eligible ‘Canadian exploration expenses’, some portion of which may qualify as ‘flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures’, (as both terms are defined in the ITA) (the ‘Qualifying Expenditures‘) on or before December 31, 2027, which Qualifying Expenditures will be renounced in favour of the subscribers of the FT Shares with an effective date on or before December 31, 2026.
The Units and FT Shares are to be offered for sale by way of private placement in all the provinces of Canada, pursuant to applicable prospectus exemptions under National Instrument 45-106 – Prospectus Exemptions. The Agents will also be entitled to offer the Units for sale to eligible purchasers resident in the United States pursuant to available exemptions from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the ‘U.S. Securities Act‘), and in those other jurisdictions outside of Canada and the United States provided that such offer and sale does not require the filing of a prospectus or registration statements, or comparable obligation arises in such other jurisdiction.
In consideration for the Agents’ services, the Company will pay to the Agents on the Closing Date a cash commission equal to 6.0% of the gross proceeds of the Offering (including any gross proceeds raised pursuant to the exercise of the Agents’ Option) (the ‘Cash Fee‘); provided that such Cash Fee shall be reduced to 3.0% in respect of the gross proceeds raised from sales to purchasers included on a president’s list to be formed by the Company in consultation with the Agents (the ‘President’s List Purchasers‘). In addition, the Company shall issue to the Agents on the Closing Date, such number of non-transferable compensation options of the Company (the ‘Compensation Options‘) as is equal to 6.0% of the aggregate number of Units and FT Shares sold under the Offering (including pursuant to exercise of the Agents’ Option); provided that such number of Compensation Options shall be reduced to 3.0% of Units and FT Shares sold to subscribers of the President’s List. Each Compensation Option will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Unit at the Offering Price, at any time and from time to time for a period of 36 months following the Closing Date.
Closing of the Offering is expected to take place on or about February 19, 2026 (the ‘Closing Date‘), and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the conditional approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued under the Offering will be subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day from the Closing Date.
The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any State in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
About Nuvau
Nuvau is a Canadian mining company, incorporated under the OBCA, currently in the exploration and development phase. Nuvau’s principal asset is its right to earn-in a 100% undivided interest from Glencore in the Matagami property located in Abitibi region of central Québec, Canada pursuant to an amended and restated earn-in agreement dated January 28, 2026 among Nuvau, Nuvau Minerals Corp. and Glencore.
Cautionary Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, ‘forward-looking statements‘) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as ‘may’, ‘should’, ‘anticipate’, ‘will’, ‘estimates’, ‘believes’, ‘intends’ ‘expects’ and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking statements. More particularly and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements concerning the timing and ability of the Company to close the Offering on the terms announced, the proposed use of proceeds of the Offering, the Company’s ability to incur Qualifying Expenditures and renounce the Qualifying Expenditures to subscribers, and the Company’s ability to obtain exchange approval for the Offering. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and the actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, assumptions and expectations, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including expectations and assumptions concerning the Company and the Matagami Property. Readers are cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking statements may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, as such information, although considered reasonable by the management of the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated.
The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and are expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statement. Except as expressly required by securities law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Further Information
All information contained in this news release with respect to the Company was supplied by the respective party for inclusion herein, and each party and its directors and officers have relied on the other party for any information concerning the other party.
For further information please contact:
Nuvau Minerals Inc.
Peter Van Alphen
President and CEO
Telephone: 416-525-6023
Email: pvanalphen@nuvauminerals.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
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