Nick Hodge,
Publisher
Nov. 3, 2026
Last week at the New Orleans Investment Conference, I sat on the Mining Share panel along with Brent Cook, Don Durrett, Jeff Phillips, and Jennifer Shaigec.
Here’s a summary of the questions and the answers that I gave…
What inning of the metals bull market are we in?
We are in the fourth or fifth inning. I think we’re deeper into it than many people think. I was called a “bear” for saying so. I cited the CRB Commodity Index, which, as you can see on the chart below, has risen by more than half what it did in the previous cycle. Granted, it includes soft commodities and not just metals.
Even if you look at just precious metals and you think gold is going to $10,000, we’ve already been halfway there this year.
How deep will the ongoing correction go and when will it end?
What started as a healthy correction in the sector has been made worse by the government and Federal Reserve via a war that has lasted much longer than advertised and a rate hiking cycle that came too late to meaningfully battle inflation.
Gold is down 25% from its record highs earlier this year. By definition, that is more than a correction. Precious metals mining stocks have done worse, down 30% to 40% from their highs as yields have risen and the dollar has strengthened.
And the selling is now being exacerbated by tax loss season.
It will turn around once we approach the end of the interest rate hiking cycle. That will come after the next hike in December.
Q3 GDP came out last week at 3.4%. Inflation is near 3.7%. Both of those will likely cool heading into 2027, which will lead the Fed to stop hiking rates and usher in a recovery of the metals complex.
What is the most contrarian or undervalued metal or mining share sector?
Uranium.
The spot price ticked up to $90 per pound this week, but the equities remain extremely soft despite robust fundamental underpinnings that include reactor life extensions, small modular reactors, the Chinese buildout, and trillion-dollar tech companies turning to nuclear to power their data center ambitions.
Despite the commodity price being up some 20% this year, the related equities are down 40% from their highs earlier this year.
Give two picks: one lottery ticket and one to set and forget for a few years.
North Shore Uranium (TSX-V: NSU)(OTC: NSURF) is the lottery ticket. Trading at just a C$14 million market cap with a historic resource of 11 million pounds and a fully built 1970s mine from which nothing was ever extracted. We had previous success with Blake Steele and Azarga Uranium, which was sold to EnCore Energy. Blake is now putting his leadership and personal capital into North Shore, and has a theory that the Rio Puerco deposit is ISR-amenable, which would make it much cheaper to mine and therefore more valuable in the market. I spoke with Blake here at the conference, and everything he’s seeing so far is confirming that theory, including recent drill results.
Daura Gold (TSX-V: DGC)(OTC: DGCOF) was the set-and-forget stock. It is drilling now at La Flora and Cerro Bayo in Argentina, which it optioned from Latin Metals. That could provide some near-term excitement. But the real prize is at Antonella in Peru, which sits adjacent to Highlander Silver’s Bonita deposit. Social license and permitting there still require some time, hence the waiting.
Gerardo and I also recorded the Investing in Bizarro World podcast at the conference. We covered how we vet private placements and evaluate opportunities for Private Placement Intel.
The entire episode is free this week, and it covers the two most recent companies in which we participated in private placements. You can see that here if you missed it yesterday.
Call it like you see it,
Nick Hodge
Publisher, Bizarro World