Gold, silver and the need to take profits

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.”

Copper, uranium and the AI bubble

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.

Investors are faced with choices

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.

Markets and commodities react

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.

Top Canadian mining stocks this week

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.

1. Vanguard Mining (CSE:UUU)

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.

2. San Lorenzo Gold (TSXV:SLG)

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.

3. Ameriwest Critical Metals (CSE:AWCM)

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.”

4. Tectonic Metals (TSXV:TECT)

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.

5. Golden Lake Exploration (CSE:GLM)

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.

FAQs for Canadian mining stocks

How much does it cost to list on the TSXV?

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.

How do you trade on the TSXV?

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.