It’s been a difficult four months in the gold (“Au“) sector. The price is down from an ATH of nearly $5,600/oz to ~$4,500/oz. today. But, has it really been that difficult?!? Yes, most Au juniors and some producers are down significantly from their highs, but an Au price above $4,000 is pretty damn good.
I spent an hour checking Au price forecasts to see if they’ve changed much over the past several months. They have not. Select firms have lowered targets modestly, but the vast majority of analysts, banks, and pundits remain above $5,000/oz for year end 2026, and there are still plenty at/above $6,000 for 2027.
Nevada has been the epicenter of heap leach gold mining globally since the 1960s, combining scale, geology, infrastructure, and regulatory predictability. Parts of Chile and Mexico come close, but Nevada is also ranked #1 of 82 mining jurisdictions the latest annual Fraser Institute Mining Survey.
A Nevada-focused company I continue to believe is meaningfully undervalued is Strikepoint Gold (TSX-v: SKP) / (OTCQB: STKXF). It’s flying under the radar as a pre-maiden resource company, but that will change in 4Q/26. Earlier this week, the Company announced its best drill hole intercept ever, more on that later…
Strikepoint has three impressive leaders in CEO/Pres./Dir. Mike Allen, Dir. Adrian Fleming, and Exec. Chair Shawn Khunkhun. Mr. Khunkhun was the major force behind Dolly Varden Silver for five years, leading to its successful sale to Contango Silver & Gold. Under Shawn’s watch, Dolly experienced explosive resource, land holdings, and share price growth.
CEO Allen brings 20+ years of hands-on experience advancing projects from grassroots to feasibility, construction, and operations across multiple jurisdictions. He previously served as Pres./CEO of Northern Empire Resources, and as Pres. of Elevation Gold Mining. He has extensive experience in Nevada and Arizona.
Director Fleming has 40+ years of intl. experience in all aspects of mining projects and operations. He has done important geological work in Canada, the U.S., Suriname, Papua New Guinea and Western Australia, among other places. He was a founding Dir. of Northern Empire Resources, acquired by Coeur Mining for C$117M.
Mid-tiers & Majors including Nevada Gold Mines, (a JV between Newmont & Barrick), SSR Mining, Kinross, Coeur Mining, Equinox Gold, McEwen Mining, Minera Alamos, and Integra Resources own one or more heap leach operations in the State.
AngloGold Ashanti is huge in Nevada and has plans for an integrated mine that will include heap leach mining. Mid-tier Centerra Gold and Hycroft Mining have significant heap leach projects as well.
Nevada heap leach players enjoy shorter construction timelines, modest upfront cap-ex relative to that of milling operations, and rapid payback periods. With gold around $4,500/oz, projects earn attractive margins, on the order of US$2,500-$3,000/oz.
Importantly, tailings management differs materially from that of milling complexes. Instead of tailings dams requiring long-term water management, heap leach facilities rely on lined pads and dry stacked ore.
This reduces long-term environmental liabilities and greatly simplifies mine closing requirements. In many cases, heap leach mines can be fast-tracked compared to much more complex (technical, environmental, logistical & regulatory) milling operations.
Permitting in Nevada is best described as “regimented,” the questions that need to be answered are well known ahead of time. There are fixed timelines, which is important from an investment planning perspective.
Readers worried about tiny Strikepoint navigating the permitting process should be comforted that a strategic investor, possibly with heap leach experience in Nevada, like the names in red font above, could probably be secured post maiden resource estimate (“MRE“). That assumes management needs to partner up, and the MRE comes in at decent size/grade.
We got very good news from Strikepoint this week. A second batch of drill results from a 3,000 meter drill program were released on May 26th, adding to a database of over 300 holes. The highlight was the best-ever interval at the flagship Hercules project –> 114.3 m at 0.69 g/t Au, incl. 9.1 m of 2.95 g/t.
I love that this grade came in 53% higher than the second best 100+ meter hole, a solid 117.4 m of 0.45 g/t Au. Admittedly, one very good hole doesn’t mean the upcoming resource will be high grade, but in my opinion all a heap leach junior in Nevada needs is 0.40 g/t, assuming other factors are reasonably favorable.
Factors like strip ratio, recoveries, and having 500,000+ Au Eq. ounces. Strikepoint’s Hercules has an Exploration Target (pre-maiden resource estimate), estimated size of 40.3 to 65.5 million tonnes, with an estimated grade of 0.48 to 0.63 g/t Au. Readers can do the math [tonnes x grade], [divided by 31.1] = Au ounces (before dilution & recoveries.
NOTE: Hercules Exploration Target: The stated potential quantity and grade is conceptual, there has not been sufficient exploration to define a mineral resource. It’s uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a resource. The Exploration Target Model has not been evaluated for reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction. See Hercules Technical report filed on SEDAR.CA April 17, 2025.
How strong would the mid-point 0.555 g/t be? For the first quarter of 2026, Bald Mountain, Florida Canyon & Marigold operated at 0.30, 0.19 & 0.26 g/t Au, respectively — an average of 0.25 g/t. The next 3 lowest grade mines — Pan, Gold Bar & Round Mountain — averaged in the mid-0.30s g/t. All of these mines are in Nevada.
Not to beat a dead horse on grades, but Au at ~$4,500 is double the level of 1H 2025. Said another way, a grade of 0.40 g/t Au back then is like 0.80 g/t now. That’s why the six above-mentioned heap leach mines are profitable.
Two images above discuss exploration upside. The Como District property (Como Comets + Pony Meadows + Sirens) was acquired from Newmont. It hosts promising high-grade surface samples & historical drilling. This transaction further consolidated the Hercules project.
Expanded exploration of the southern portion of the property is planned, where past producing mine sites have seen limited modern exploration. In an acquired historical surface sample database, a total of 623 samples covering the Como Mining District and surrounding area were collected. Of those samples, 93 were > 1.00 g/t Au.
That assumes management needs to partner up, and that the MRE comes in at decent size/grade. The answer to the MRE questions is 6-7 months away. Should readers consider buying shares of Strikepoint ahead of the resource news? I don’t have an answer to that.
Make no mistake, this is a highly speculative investment proposition. However, if one’s bullish on Au remaining above $4,000, and believes the management team can deliver a decent MRE, then building a position ahead of the news could be a reasonable approach.
Look at the following juniors with early-stage heap leach projects. These companies all have MREs, but most are pre-PEA stage. Once Strikepoint delivers its MRE, it can be placed into the table.
In my opinion, not necessarily that of management, Strikepoint will be at, or near, the bottom of this table (ranked high to low EV/oz). This isn’t rocket science, it’s heap leach in the world’s capital of heap leach, in the world’s best mining jurisdiction.
Disclosures/disclaimers: The content of this article is for information only. Readers fully understand and agree that nothing contained herein, written by Peter Epstein of Epstein Research [ER], (together, [ER]) about Strikepoint Gold, including but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts, calculations, etc. is not to be considered implicit or explicit investment advice. Nothing contained herein is a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security. [ER] is not responsible under any circumstances for investment actions taken by the reader. [ER] has never been, and is not currently, a registered or licensed financial advisor or broker/dealer, investment advisor, stockbroker, trader, money manager, compliance or legal officer, and does not perform market-making activities. [ER] is not directly employed by any company, group, organization, party, or person. The shares of Strikepoint Gold are highly speculative, and not suitable for all investors. Readers understand and agree that investments in small-cap stocks can result in a 100% loss of invested funds. It is assumed and agreed upon by readers that they will consult with their own licensed or registered financial advisors before making investment decisions.
At the time this article was posted, Strikepoint Gold was an advertiser on [ER] and Peter Epstein owned no shares in the company, but may acquire shares in the open market.
Readers understand and agree that they must conduct due diligence above and beyond reading this article. While the author believes he’s diligent in screening out companies that, for any reason whatsoever, are unattractive investment opportunities, he cannot guarantee that his efforts will (or have been) successful. [ER] is not responsible for any perceived, or actual, errors including, but not limited to, commentary, opinions, views, assumptions, reported facts & financial calculations, or for the completeness of this article or future content. [ER] is not expected or required to subsequently follow or cover events & news, or write about any particular company or topic. [ER] is not an expert in any company, industry sector or investment topic.
