New beginnings: Portfolio Review
Welcome back. A look at what's working, what isn't and everything in between
Hey everyone, long time no Substack.
It’s been an extended time away from this newsletter, because you don’t need me to tell you to hold onto your mining stocks in a metals bull market.
Also, I got married In January. So I got my own problems over here.
Here’s a Warren Buffett quote more people should use, and internalize, instead of talking about moats:
“Money, to some extent, sometimes lets you be in more interesting environments. But it can’t change how many people love you or how healthy you are.”
Before looking at the where the portfolio ended up, I wanted to explain the thought process behind the positioning.
War is expensive.
Oil price shocks are inflationary.
A recession would kill the economy.
Falling tax revenue, de-dollarization, an interest rate trap and stuffing US 10-year and 30-year debt into a market that doesn’t want it mean the US government will have to choose between inflation or austerity. Nobody willingly chooses austerity.
Without getting into politics, the gold trade is still early. The question I am trying to answer is how do I express my view on gold prices to maximize leverage? Other commodities will move higher because of long-term supply/demand dynamics, but only gold has upside without demand destruction. The only other trend that matches gold on a risk/reward basis are the constraints on artificial intelligence - first it was datasets, then chips, then storage and now it’s electricity.
Updated Portfolio
As of May 30, 2026
Mining
KGCRF - Kinross Contingent Value Rights
Banyan Gold
Mayfair GoldSurge Copper
Iamgold
Industrials
Comstock Inc. - Silver
LibertyStream Infrastructure Partners - Lithium
Aecon - Nuclear
Clean Seed Capital - Agriculture
Royalties
Altius Minerals
Gold Royalty
LunR Royalties
Oracle Commodity Holdings
Exploration/Prospect Generators
Kenorland Minerals
Orogen 2.0
Prospector Metals
Magna Terra MineralsVulcan Minerals
Morien Resources
Specials/Workouts
Panthera Resources
Almaden Minerals
NGEx MineralsEagle Plains ResourcesChibougamau Independent MinesEagle Royalties/Summit Royalties
Raw Commodities
Sprott Physical Uranium Trust
Bought and sold
Nickel 28 Capital
Max Power Mining
New Stratus Energy
Short Viszla
Short Viszla Royalty
Westhaven Gold
Price dislocations caused by the Iran conflict led to more portfolio churn than I like. The opportunity to add Surge Copper in size below 50 cents was too good to pass up and I sold smaller positions to raise funds and consolidate. Westhaven, New Stratus Energy, Eagle Plains Resources, Mayfair Gold and Magna Terra all had to go to fund my outsized SURG.V buying.
Considering Surge is above 80 cents this weekend, not waiting was the right move. I believe the component parts - the Berg deposit, Berg’s silver byproduct, the 2% royalty on land adjacent to Artemis’ Blackwater mine and Ootsa, are worth more than $1-billion.
Nineteen names is a lot to follow, but I’m holding almost a quarter of them (KGCRF, LODE, LUNR, OGN.V) on a zero-cost basis. Another one-third of my positions (KLD.V, ALS, IAG, BYN.V SURG.V, ARE) have reached escape velocity and require less oversight. They’re managed well with irreplaceable assets and can finance whenever they want. Iamgold and Banyan have tier-1 mines and could be taken over tomorrow, while Altius and Aecon could compound value for another 20 years. They’re all investments rather than speculations.
A quick note on Nickel 28
I like Craig Lennon. However a potential sulphuric acid shortage matters with the Iran conflict dragging on. Navigating life as the junior partner in a joint venture is treacherous at the best of times. There are easier ways to make more money in a metals bull market.
Industrials
I have a sinking feeling Clean Seed is turning into a disaster, but we’ll know more when we see first quarter sales numbers. Comstock has multiple catalysts in the next 90 days and still represents compelling value as we await an announcement on the sale of the mining assets and the ramp up of solar panel recycling. LibertyStream Infrastructure and Aecon have already inflected. Aecon in particular continues to solidify itself as one of the world’s leading nuclear services providers. The only difference between ARE and LIB.V is that one company has seen that inflection reflected in the stock price while the other should see it shortly.
Royalties
Altius is a beast and LunR now has cash flow from the Frute del Norte silver stream. I re-entered Gold Royalty this week below $3.20 as the price is just too cheap to ignore. The base case is still Tether buying GROY for $7 per share.
Prospect Generators
I bought Prospector Metals after the monster hole at the ML project, but after the B2Gold financing. My entry price is in the 90 cent range. Prospector is fully funded to go hunting for more monster drill holes. I’m okay to take on exploration risk or balance sheet risk. I don’t want to take on both. The eventual distribution of Lightning Resource shares is a nice bonus.
Special situations
Thanks to the rising price of gold, Panthera Resources and Almaden Minerals have the potential to return 20-30 times my original investment. The value drivers that aren’t reflected in the share prices are the updated damages and the strength of the legal cases. KGCRF and the expected value on these litigation stubs will outperform 99% of exploration stocks with less risk by orders or magnitude.
Other stuff I’ve mentioned
Opendoor
Bullfrog AI
AMD
Mawson Infrastructure/Big Digital Energy
Ethereum
I sold Big Digital this week above $7.50, mostly because of a very distasteful interaction with the new CEO on X. Neither one of us came off looking good, but only one of us runs a public company. When someone tells you who they are, listen to them. There’s also the matter of not yet settling with BRIC on their defaulted loan.
I’ll do a more involved write up on these names separately.
Interesting links
Japanese oil reserves are collapsing.
How to find 20-baggers.
Congrats!!
Congratulations! And good to hear your thoughts again.