3 Gold Miners To Inflation-Proof Your Portfolio

It was another turbulent week for the major averages, with the S&P 500 (SPY) finding itself down 3%, extending its decline to the 20% mark. However, one sanctuary from the turbulence was the Gold Miners Index (GDX). Not only did the index not lose ground last week, but it gained 3%, and it is one of the few ETFs sporting a year-to-date gain. This continued relative strength combined with an undervalued industry group relative to historical levels suggests that this is a group worth keeping a close eye on for investors looking to inflation-proof their portfolios.

Gold Miners Index (GDX)

Source: TC2000.com

With inflation readings continuing to sit at multi-decade highs and the Federal Reserve maintaining its hawkish pivot, there are few places to hide in today's market. However, one asset that has historically done well in periods of negative real rates is gold (GLD), and one way to collect income with exposure to the gold price is through gold miners. The caveat, however, is that they must be trading at a deep discount to net asset value [NAV] and ideally out of favor. With more than 80% of miners trading at discounts to NAV and the industry group down nearly 40% from its Q3 2020 highs, it currently meets both requirements. Let's look at three names that make for solid buy-the-dip candidates: Continue reading "3 Gold Miners To Inflation-Proof Your Portfolio"

Three Gold Miners Trading At Deep Discounts

It’s been a rollercoaster ride for investors in the Gold Miners Index (GDX), with the index starting the year up 24% only to find itself back at a negative year-to-date return. While this has led to disappointment among many investors, I believe that this complete retracement is a gift, and it's worth noting that the GDX is still massively outperforming other sectors despite the sharp reversal. However, the key when investing in gold miners is to buy quality, and it rarely pays to bet on turnarounds from the lower-quality or lower-priced names in hopes that they will play catch-up. In this update, we'll look at three sector leaders worthy of a closer look.

Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM), Eldorado Gold (EGO), and Maverix Metals (MMX) all provide exposure to the gold price but have little in common from a cost, scale, and jurisdictional standpoint. All three operate in very different jurisdictions and have costs ranging from $400/oz to $1,300/oz. From a size standpoint, Maverix produces as little as ~40,000 gold-equivalent ounces [GEOs] per annum on an attributable basis. In contrast, Eldorado Gold produces over 400,000 GEOs per year, and Agnico produces over 3 million ounces of gold each year. However, all three companies share one key trait: enviable organic growth. In a sector that lacks growth stories, with most being inorganic, these companies do not need a higher gold price to significantly increase cash flow per share looking out to FY2025.

Beginning with Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM), the company is the 3rd largest gold producer globally and expects to produce 3.3 million ounces of gold in 2022 at all-in sustaining costs [AISC] between $1,000/oz to $1,050/oz. The company's 10+ mines are located in Canada, Australia, Finland, and Mexico, and the company has a large development that could add 700,000+ ounces per annum of production by 2030. Among the million-ounce producers, this jurisdictional safety is a rarity and is one reason that AEM is a favorite among funds, with 95% of production coming from Tier-1 ranked jurisdictions vs. Barrick Gold and Newmont at less than 60%, and Gold Fields at less than 50%. Continue reading "Three Gold Miners Trading At Deep Discounts"

Three Gold Miners To Buy On Dips

It’s been an ugly week for the major market averages, with the S&P 500 (SPY) continuing its violent decline from its Q1 highs. Prior to this week, the Gold Miners Index (GDX) was a sanctuary from the turbulence, but when the market heads past the 15% correction mark, few stocks are sheltered from the turbulence. While this has been painful for investors that chased miners in early Q2 near their highs, this is set up an excellent buying opportunity for patient investors. So let’s look at a few names in the GDX where the selling looks to be overdone:

GDX Gold Index

Source: TC2000.com

Over the past month, we’ve seen several gold miners slide more than 25% from their highs, and in many cases, these corrections are entirely justified. This is because several producers have weak balance sheets and high costs, making them very sensitive to weakness in the metal price and rising interest rates. However, when it comes to names like SSR Mining (SSRM), Yamana Gold (AUY), and Barrick (GOLD), which are sitting in net cash positions or expect to be net-cash positive by Q4, the recent pullback makes little sense, especially given that they’re some of the best operators sector-wide. Continue reading "Three Gold Miners To Buy On Dips"

3 High Quality Silver Miners To Consider

While the Gold Miners Index (GDX) has been a sanctuary in the turbulent market environment, the Silver Miners Index (SIL) has not fared as well. This is evidenced by its 2000 basis point underperformance vs. the GDX, partially explained by the weaker margin profile for silver producers. The good news is that this underperformance is setting up a buying opportunity, with a few names trading at more reasonable valuations.

The Silver Miners Index is made up of several silver miners, but like the GDX, 70% of the miners in the index have short mine lives based on reserves and slim margins. This makes owning the SIL ETF difficult, given that companies within the index need to acquire other companies to replace reserves vs. accomplishing it organically, which often leads to share dilution. One of the ways to reduce exposure to the sector laggards is by owning the highest-quality names, and in this update, we’ll look at three names that stand out that do make for worthy investments: Hecla Mining (HL), SilverCrest Metals (SILV), and Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM).

The first name on the list is Hecla Mining (HL), a silver producer with operations in Idaho, Alaska, and Quebec (Canada). The company also has organic growth potential in Montana and Nevada, and it expects to produce over 43MM ounces of silver this year from its three operating assets. While there are a few producers with larger production profiles than Hecla, its key differentiator is that it’s focused on high-grade assets in safe jurisdictions, as the chart below displays.

Silver Miners

Source: Company Presentation

In addition, Hecla has some of the highest margins among its peer group, expecting to produce silver at less than $12.00/oz, with the potential to beat this cost guidance due to higher zinc prices which will help with by-product credits. Given this mix of high-grade reserves, steady reserve replacement at its assets, and safe jurisdictions, it is one of the sector’s better buy-the-dip candidates. It would become very interesting below $4.80 per share, near its multi-year support level.

Silver- Hecla Mining Chart

Source: TC2000.com

The second name on the list is Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM), a royalty/streaming company. For those unfamiliar, royalty/streaming companies provide an upfront payment to gold/silver producers and or gold/silver developers to help finance their project's initial construction or future expansions. In exchange, royalty/streaming companies receive a portion of production over the asset’s life.

In WPM’s case, the company’s business model is focused on streams, which entitle the company to purchase a portion of metals over the mine life, but it must make a small payment for each ounce delivered. In the example of its recent stream with Sabina Gold & Silver (SGSVF), it paid $125MM to receive 4.15% of gold production from the Goose Mine for the first 130,000 ounces for 18% of the spot gold price ($324/oz at $1,850/oz gold).

In addition to the stream on the Goose Mine in Nunavut, which is under construction, Wheaton has made several other bets over the past year, including the Curipamba Copper-Gold Project and the Marathon Platinum Group Metals Project. These acquisitions have improved the company’s 10-year outlook to 910,000 gold-equivalent ounces [GEOs] per annum, a massive improvement from its previous guidance of 830,000 GEOs and FY2022 guidance of ~730,000 GEOs.

Silver - Wheaton Precious Metals Chart

Source: FASTGraphs.com

Since the end of the 2015 secular bear market, WPM has traded at ~35x earnings and currently trades at ~30x earnings at a share price of $44.00. However, with gold and silver in the upper portion of their 8-year ranges, I would argue that WPM could easily command an earnings multiple of 38, translating to a fair value of $55.10 based on FY2022 earnings estimates ($1.45). So, if the company were to trade 25% below this level ($41.30), where investors have an adequate margin of safety, this would present a buying opportunity.

The final name on the list is SilverCrest Metals (SILV), a silver company ready to graduate to producer status at its Las Chispas Project in Mexico. The company has a strong track record of success, having been acquired just seven years earlier for its Santa Elena Mine in Sonora State, and to date, it’s done an excellent job at Las Chispas. This includes uncovering one of the highest-grade projects globally with an average grade that’s just shy of 1 kilogram per tonne silver equivalent, with higher-grade pockets of the resource that come in above 1,300 grams per tonne silver equivalent.

As it stands, SilverCrest has a 130MM ounce resource base, and its high grades contribute to the company being on track to have some of the lowest costs sector-wide at ~$8.00/oz or less. It’s worth noting that this resource does not include its El Picacho Project, which could potentially boost the mine life and production profile down the road (material could be trucked to Las Chispas). This 130MM ounce resource is based on only one-third of the known veins on the Las Chispas Property.

Silver - SilverCrest Metals

Source: Company Presentation

Typically, we see an upside re-rating when silver developers graduate to producer status, and I would be shocked if this wasn’t the case for SilverCrest. In fact, I would not be surprised to see the stock head above $11.00 per share once the asset ramps up to full production by Q1 2022, given that it should receive a premium valuation for being one of the highest-margin producers in the sector. Hence, I see this pullback below $7.50 as a low-risk area to start an initial position in the stock.

While the silver sector can be a minefield due to the large number of low-quality producers that cannot execute successfully, WPM, SILV, and HL are exceptions. Therefore, I believe these are three names worth keeping at the top of one’s watchlist for investors looking for exposure to the space.

Taylor Dart
INO.com Contributor

Disclosure: This contributor held a long positions in SILV at the time this blog post was published. This article is the opinion of the contributor themselves. Disclaimer: Taylor Dart is not a Registered Investment Advisor or Financial Planner. This writing is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation regarding any securities transaction. The information contained in this writing should not be construed as financial or investment advice on any subject matter. Taylor Dart expressly disclaims all liability in respect to actions taken based on any or all of the information in this writing. Given the volatility in the precious metals sector, position sizing is critical, so when buying small-cap precious metals stocks, position sizes should be limited to 5% or less of one's portfolio.

3 Gold Miners Trading At Dirt-Cheap Valuations

It's been a volatile start to the year for the major market averages, but one sector that's managed to hold up well among the carnage is the Gold Miners Index (GDX). In fact, the index is up 10% year-to-date on the back of higher gold prices. While some investors might fear that they've already missed the move and it's too late to chase, it's important to note that gold has begun to outperform the S&P 500 (SPY) after a multi-year downtrend, which typically suggests we're in the early innings of the move for the GDX. In addition, while a few names are outside of low-risk buy zones, several are dirt-cheap, even after the sharp rally in Q1. Let's take a closer look below:

GLD/SPX Chart

Source: TC2000.com

When it comes to getting exposure to gold, the Gold Miners Index is typically the vehicle of choice for investors. However, the issue with the GDX is that it's made up of more than 50 names, with many having weaker balance sheets, a poor track record operationally, and razor-thin margins. Unfortunately, the latter has been exacerbated by inflationary pressures. Therefore, by owning the index, one is diluting their returns with the laggards. For this reason, I prefer playing the sector by owning the highest-quality names when they go on sale. Continue reading "3 Gold Miners Trading At Dirt-Cheap Valuations"