If you’re following rising oil prices that are smashing records right now, it should lead you directly to gold.
Inflation is coming, and some say gold is our only true defense.
Oil prices are now at a six-week high, with Oman even predicting that prices could increase to $200 per barrel if global climate policies are pushed through.
But it all could mean higher inflation.
As oil prices rise, inflation tends to rise in tandem because oil is a major input in the economy. When those inputs rise, costs do the same, leading to inflation. That’s why Biden has been calling on OPEC to produce more to keep oil prices down. It’s all about taming inflation.
Gold is considered a hedge against inflation.
Gold soared in 2020 on realized fears of inflation when stimulus checks started hitting American accounts. Gold finished 2020 up 28%–its biggest win since 1980.
And while gold may have already priced in inflation based on pandemic stimulus, what we think it didn’t figure in was soaring oil prices.
While oil prices look set to break new records, gold is flying under the radar, and there has never been a better time to gain direct exposure against the coming inflation.
Right now, smart money is looking at gold. But it’s not looking at physical gold …we think it’s looking at small-cap miners who stand to benefit the most from future inflation.
Why We Believe Discount Gold Is The Only Gold To Watch
Fear is a bargain. And right now, with the Delta variant of COVID-19 surging through the world, threatening renewed lockdowns and more economic stimulus, and with oil prices rising, we think gold should be on everyone’s radar.
But there’s only so many ways to find discount gold …
Our pick for the best avenue is through the potential of the small-cap miners and their underpriced assets that could realize outsized gains with any jump in gold.
With gold trading in the $1800 range, imagine getting it for $2-$3 an ounce, instead. This may be the ultimate safe haven.
When Wall Street hunts for bargain gold, it targets the junior miners with major upside potential, setting short-term price targets that could make these juniors look incredibly undervalued.
Discount gold was a hot commodity when gold prices were in the $1200 range not too long ago. When they’re in the $1800 range, it becomes even more precious.
Big miners don’t offer the same potential upside.
In 2016, we saw a run on junior gold miners for the same reason. Then, we saw gold increase by about 26% in 6 months.
Even mid-cap Endeavour Mining Corp gained nearly 200%. IAM Gold gained nearly 260%.
The smaller you go, the bigger the potential gains. Small-cap Argonault soared by nearly 300%, while Great Panther Mining jumped by about 340%.
For 2021, the numbers look even better, with $1800 gold, coming off a 28% increase in 2020, and oil-price-led inflationary fears appearing to mount fast.
Now, it’s small-cap Starr Peak Mining Ltd (TSX:STE.V; OTC:STRPF) in our spotlight, backed by a gold encounter that has turned into much more than that.
This early-stage exploration play jumped on our radar when they scooped up territory adjacent to Amex Exploration, right before Amex made a stunning high-grade gold discovery in 2019. Since then, it’s been fast-paced news flow.
Not only did Starr Peak buy property right next to Amex and right next to the past-producing Normetal Mine, but it bought the Normetal Mine itself, which has historically produced ~10.1 million tonnes of 2.15% copper, 5.12% zinc, 0.549g/t of gold and 45.25 g/t of silver.
Drilling began and results started to come back, Starr Peak encountered something that major miners are said to be always on the lookout for but rarely hit: A VMS (volcanogenic massive sulfide ore) deposit, containing multiple base metals, including zinc, copper, silver, and gold.
In March, it released its first results, showing large intervals of high-grade sulfide mineralization, and new results have come in every month since then–each time with higher grades than the last.
Now, Starr Peak has expanded its drilling program to 60,000 meters. It looks to be paying off, too.
On August 12th, Starr Peak released another set of results from its NewMetal property in Quebec’s Abitibi Greenstone Belt, which includes the Normetal Mine, showing ~10.1 million tonnes of 2.15% Cu, 5.12% Zn, 0.529 g/t Au and 45.25 g/t Ag.
Adding to high-grade results from July, August’s showings highlighted the copper-rich zonation in the Deep and Upper zones of Normetmar.
Starr Peak Chairman and CEO Johnathan More lauded the results as the highest-grade copper results to date.
“As we continue to be blown away by the results and potential of the Normetmar mineralized system, we are seeing an increase of copper mineralization at depth. This often occurs in these polymetallic VMS deposits, with metal zonation from zinc-dominant to copper-dominant at depth. We are excited to be releasing some of our highest-grade copper mineralization to date, and look forward to increasing our understanding of this highly continuous zone of rich mineralization with our recently announced 60,000 meter expanded drill program.”
This is the third time Starr Peak has expanded its drilling program based on encouraging results.
After announcing results showing high-grade gold, silver, copper, and zinc on its first two drills, Starr Peak is starting to gain attention, and we think it’s not just as one of the best potential discount gold exploration plays of the past several years, but also as a great exploration play on soaring base metals.
We see it as a de-risking basket deal that could benefit from record prices for metals such as copper and zinc, too.
And with high-risk/high-reward discount gold exploration plays, a 98% hit rate on drill targets is extremely attractive in our view.
