A Quick Review of the Gold & Silver Miners

As precious metal prices are booming and the miners’ stocks are the strongest segment of the broad market presently, a look at the weakest ones might be timely.

A scan of 64 gold and silver miners this morning shows me the weakest 1-week and 1-month performers on US markets trading.

The ten worst performers over 1 month:

Processing note: When I changed this table to properly show the negative figures in the column, I replaced it with a table that contains MAG Silver. MAG Silver stopped trading in September, so the data in that row is incorrect.

Pan American Silver completed its US$2.1 billion acquisition of MAG Silver on September 4.

The ten worst performers over 1 week:

The ten lowest INSTAT scores this morning:

The INSTAT scores are almost universally “perfect,” with a few exceptions. The lowest INSTAT scores are (in order) Guanajuato Silver -- the only negative INSTAT score – followed by Orla Mining, and SSR Mining.

Guanajuato Silver, Orla Mining, SSR Mining, and MAG Silver have all faced recent scrutiny due to divergent operating trends and market sentiment, raising concerns about their sustainability and growth prospects in the current environment. Each company displays unique issues underpinning the “dubious” nature of their latest market performance, as detailed below.

Guanajuato Silver

Guanajuato Silver has posted five consecutive quarters of positive mine operating income, producing strong operating cash flow and profitability at the mine level. However, fundamental metrics reveal deeper problems:

• Despite operational progress, the company’s negative P/E ratio and lack of a dividend are fueling mixed investor sentiment.

• Guanajuato Silver’s debt/equity ratio remains alarmingly high at 221%, and its net profit margin is negative (-17.1%), indicating structural financial stress.

• The company recently upsized its public offering to $43.5M, signaling liquidity needs that may dilute shareholder value.

• Analyst forecasts indicate muted future revenue growth (18%, versus industry 40%), causing the stock to trade at a low P/S ratio and underperform sector benchmarks.

Orla Mining

Agnico Eagle Mines recently sold its entire 11.3% stake in Orla Mining in early September. The sale of 38 million shares at C$14.75 per share, totaled C$560.5 million (~ US$405 million). Agnico stated that the disposition was to monetize the investment and that it no longer has any intention to acquire shares in Orla Mining. That marked Agnico’s complete exit from its investment in Orla, which it had held since 2017. The Agnico divestment, combined with a similar exit by Newmont from Orla that followed, stripped the company of two of its key long-term institutional backers, contributing to downward pressure on the share price.

Orla recently reported improvements with record gold production and stronger cash flows in Q2 2025. However, market signals are not reflecting optimism:

• Orla shares show persistent volatility and weak trend momentum.

• Short and long-term technical signals remain negative, with sell triggers from moving averages and volume-price divergences suggesting caution.

• Even with improved net income and adjusted earnings, price action and forecast models suggest that the stock may continue to underperform in the near term.

SSR Mining

SSR Mining shows a stark performance divergence:

• Operationally, SSR Mining delivered 15% production growth in Q2 2025 and solid operating cash flow.

• Despite this, shares hit a yearly low after the Copler mine suspension in Turkey and failed to benefit from rising gold prices, indicating the market’s risk aversion.

• Analysts acknowledge the company’s strong liquidity, but continuing cost management issues and uncertainty over resuming operations at Copler mine weigh on sentiment.

• Earnings guidance for 2025 disappointed the market, resulting in a sharp decline in shares (7.7%) despite projected output increases.

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Summary Table: Recent Issues

At this point, amid soaring prices of precious metals miners, I’d be inclined to watch the AT (algo trading) scores for a sudden and substantial pullback in the group’s share prices. If the USD (currently 97.77) were to rise to, say 98.25, I believe traders would take profits in the precious metals miners. As well, when prices are as strong as today, the increase in market cap becomes M&A currency for the acquisitor-minded industry executives. Deals are typically done at +30% premium to market, which usually results in a quick decline in the acquisitor’s share price.

Ecclesiastes mentions “a time to plant and a time to harvest” as part of a larger passage, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, which describes the cyclical nature of life, including markets. Thanksgiving this year might be an appropriate time in the market too.