Despite the yellow metal hitting a rough patch earlier this year due to Middle East tensions, gold and silver are still continuing rallies that started in 2024. The high prices are incenting exploration and development across the Americas and beyond. Here are four more companies to watch.
LaFleur Minerals
Junior developer LaFleur Minerals (CSE: LFLR) is targeting initial gold production this year as it advances a restart strategy based around its Swanson gold deposit and the nearby Beacon mill in northern Quebec.
Vancouver-based LaFleur is working to recommission Beacon and feed it with mineralized material from Swanson, about 40 km away. The approach would allow LaFleur to control the full mine-to-mill chain – a relatively rare setup among junior miners – while also opening the door to processing third-party ore from regional operators.
Beacon, a 750-tonne-per-day plant that underwent more than C$20 million in upgrades under previous owner and now defunct Monarch Mining, is one of the few fully permitted gold mills in the district. Beacon last operated in 2022, when gold prices were in the $1,800-2,000 per oz. range.
Rehabilitating and restarting the mill would probably require a maximum of C$6 million, a fraction of the cost required to permit and build a new facility, LaFleur calculates.
Located 66 km north of Val-d’Or, Swanson is an advanced exploration-stage asset surrounded by more than 100 former and operating mines in the Abitibi greenstone belt, one of Canada’s most productive gold districts. More than 36,000 metres of historical drilling have been completed on the property, including 22,500 metres by LaFleur.
The junior controls a large land package of more than 190 sq. km in Abitibi, giving it exploration potential beyond the initial mine plan.
A PEA for Swanson, released in March, outlines an after-tax NPV of about C$101 million (at a 5% discount rate) and an IRR of 65% at a base-case gold price of $2,750 per ounce. Payback is estimated at under two years, with all-in sustaining costs projected at $1,569 per oz. over a seven-year mine life.
Swanson holds 2.96 million indicated tonnes grading 1.69 grams gold for contained metal of 160,300 oz. gold, according to a February resource. Inferred resources are pegged at 1.08 million tonnes grading 1.93 grams gold for contained metal of 66,800 oz. gold.
Recent drilling has produced encouraging results, with two new gold discovery zones announced in April. Hole SW-25-080 cut 255 metres of 1.18 gram gold from 341 metres downhole, while hole SW-25-079 cut about 68 metres grading 2.29 grams gold from 339 metres depth.
In May, LaFleur hired former Probe Gold (now part of Fresnillo (LSE: FRS)) executive Marc Ducharme as vice president. He is advancing an “aggressive” exploration program and plans to identify and evaluate additional acquisition targets near Beacon. The move came weeks after LaFleur acquired the 18-sq.-km McKenzie East gold project that’s located next to Fresnillo’s McKenzie Break deposit.
In April, LaFleur agreed on a C$30-million prepayment facility and gold doré offtake arrangement with global trader Trafigura. The deal will provide funding for a proposed capacity increase at Beacon to 1,250 tonnes per day, as well as development work at Swanson.
Besides its own ore, LaFleur sees potential revenue from custom milling agreements, taking advantage of limited regional processing capacity. This could provide early cash flow and reduce operational risk as Swanson is further developed.
LaFleur’s market capitalization is C$56 million.
NexGold Mining
NexGold Mining (TSXV: NEXG) is advancing infill drilling and feasibility updates at its permitted Goldboro brownfield project in Nova Scotia as it moves towards a construction decision this year.
It’s also continuing to return high-grade results from its Goldlund deposit in northwestern Ontario.
Drilling at Goldlund cut 6 metres at 14.1 grams gold from 53 metres depth in hole GL-26-003A, and 20 metres grading 2.99 grams gold from 157 metres downhole, the company said May 6. Hole GL-26-002A returned 7 metres at 10.67 grams from 189 metres depth.
NexGold is running a 25,000-metre infill program across the Goliath-Goldlund-Miller deposits near Dryden to expand and upgrade resources.
Goldboro, located about 175 km northeast of Halifax, is the company’s most advanced asset and already holds key provincial and federal permits. The company secured a $24-million (C$33.5-million) royalty agreement in September with Appian Capital Advisory and signed a non-binding deal for as much as $175 million in project financing.
A feasibility study released in 2022 outlined an open-pit operation producing about 100,000 oz. gold annually over a roughly 11-year mine life, with initial capital costs estimated at C$271 million.
The project has an after-tax NPV of C$328 million at a 5% discount rate and an IRR of 26% at a gold price of $1,600 per oz, according to the study. The company plans a new resource based on recent drilling to update the feasibility work.
The project hosts 21.6 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 3.72 grams gold for 2.58 million oz. contained metal, and 3.18 million inferred tonnes at 4.73 grams for 484,000 oz., based on a 2021 resource. Mineralization remains open along strike and at depth, with drilling targeting both near-surface extensions and higher-grade underground zones.
Goldboro sits within Nova Scotia’s historic Eastern Goldfields district, where multiple deposits have been mined intermittently over more than a century, though modern large-scale production has yet to be established.
In Ontario, the Goliath gold complex – about 20 km east of Dryden – is also advancing towards development following a 2023 prefeasibility study that outlined a 13-year mine life and average annual production of roughly 90,000 oz. gold. The project has federal environmental approval in place and is being optimized ahead of future permitting and development work.
The broader Goliath land package hosts multiple past-producing deposits, including Goldlund , where limited open-pit mining occurred in the 1980s, providing existing infrastructure and geological data that underpin current exploration and development plans.
Formed through the merger of Treasury Metals and Signal Gold in 2024, NexGold is positioning itself as a future mid-tier Canadian producer with a targeted output of more than 200,000 oz. gold annually from Goldboro and Goliath combined.
NexGold Mining has a market capitalization of about C$384 million.
Outcrop Silver & Gold
Outcrop Silver & Gold (TSXV: OCG; US-OTC: OCGSF) has shown high-grade drill results from its Santa Ana project in Colombia as it prepares for an imminent resource upgrade.
Hole DH587 at the Guadual target cut 10.8 metres grading 167 grams silver per tonne and 0.68 gram gold from 227 metres depth, the company said April 30. Hole DH593 returned 2.09 metres grading 1,287 grams silver and 6.83 grams gold from nearly 215 metres downhole. Intervals so far have rarely exceeded 6 metres, but some have shown very high grades.
The results come from a 35,000-metre step-out and infill drilling program this year. It targets a zone interpreted to plunge about 45 degrees and helps to define the geometry and continuity of high-grade shoots within the Guadual vein system. The company reported assays from the nearby Aguilar vein in January, including high grade intervals of less than 3.5 metres.
Drilling is being incorporated into the company’s geological model ahead of an updated resource estimate expected in the second quarter.
The Santa Ana project hosts 1.23 million indicated tonnes grading 446 grams silver and 2.3 grams gold for 17.5 million oz. contained silver and 88,800 oz. Gold., according to a 2023 resource estimate. It has 966,000 inferred tonnes grading 312 grams silver and 1.6 grams gold for 9.6 million oz. silver and 50,900 oz. gold.
The project 200 km west of Bogota spans more than 280 sq. km in Colombia’s Mariquita district. It’s along a 17-km mineralized corridor hosting multiple parallel veins. The district has a long mining history dating back to the 16th century and is recognized as one of the country’s most significant silver camps.
In April, Outcrop appointed Rob Bruggeman, former chair and interim CEO of AbraSilver Resource (TSXV: ABRA; US-OTC: ABBRF), as chief executive. The company raised $23 million in October through a public offering, strengthening its balance sheet to support exploration.
Outcrop is also exploring on three gold projects in Colombia: Mallama, Oribella and Argelia.
In November, the TSX granted conditional approval for Outcrop to move from the Venture exchange. Near press time the company hadn’t stated yet if final conditions had been met.
Last year, Outcrop optioned 80% of the Kramer Hills brownfield oxide gold property in San Bernardino, Calif. to Silver Mines (ASX: SVL) for $6 million in cash and Silver Mines common shares while free carrying Outcrop through completion of a feasibility study.
The agreement concerns 569 claims across 48 sq. km around the past-producing Shaharald oxide gold mine.
Outcrop Silver & Gold has a market capitalization of about C$183 million.
Silver Tiger Metals
Canadian explorer Silver Tiger Metals (TSXV: SLVR; US-OTC: SLVTF) is advancing the 35-km long El Tigre silver-gold project in Mexico’s Sonora state toward construction, underpinned by robust economic studies and a growing resource base.
Halifax-based Silver Tiger envisions El Tigre as a two-stage asset anchored by a near-surface heap leach operation at the Stockwork Zone, followed by a high-grade underground expansion. The project lies within a historic mining district that produced 353,000 oz. gold and 67.4 million oz. silver between 1903 and 1938, highlighting its long-standing endowment.
Located about 2,000 km northwest of Mexico City, near the Arizona border, El Tigre spans more than 280 sq. km along the Sierra Madre gold-silver belt, a prolific region hosting several producing mines. Mineralization occurs in a broad stockwork system complemented by high-grade veins and sulphide zones, providing both bulk-tonnage and underground mining opportunities.
Silver Tiger began work on the district in 2017 and has since completed more than 150,000 metres of drilling, including about 120,000 in the past six years. The company now holds all key permits required to build the open-pit Stockwork zone, a major milestone toward development.
An updated 2026 preliminary feasibility study on the Stockwork Zone outlined a conventional heap leach operation with a nine to 10-year mine life.
Using price assumptions of $3,200 per oz. gold and $38 per oz. silver, the study projected an after-tax NPV of $456 million at a 5% discount rate, with a 66% IRR and a 1.4-year payback period.
Initial capital costs were estimated at $86.8 million over an 18-month construction period, while after-tax cash flow was projected at $625 million.
Building on this base case, Silver Tiger released a 2026 PEA focused on El Tigre’s underground component. The study returned an after-tax NPV of $304 million with a 43% IRR and a 2.6-year payback, demonstrating the strong economics of the higher-grade zones beneath the planned open pit.
If $4,200 gold and $70 silver price assumptions are used, the project’s scale expands significantly. The Stockwork zone alone could generate an after-tax NPV of about $769 million, while the underground portion could reach roughly $832 million.
The development plan envisions constructing the open-pit heap leach operation first, with the underground mine added later as a “bolt-on” expansion. This staged approach allows for lower upfront capital intensity while preserving exposure to high-grade mineralization at depth.
El Tigre is estimated to hold 58.6 million measured and indicated tonnes of 44 grams silver and 0.49 gram gold for contained metal of 83.4 million oz. silver and 931,000 oz. gold, according to a 2026 resource.
Inferred resources are pegged at 9.1 million tonnes grading 142 grams silver and 0.92 gram gold for contained metal of 41.6 million oz. silver and 271,000 oz. gold.
Recent corporate updates indicate the project is moving into execution. Silver Tiger has awarded an engineering, procurement and construction management contract and continues advancing detailed engineering and site preparation. The company is targeting commissioning and first production by December 2027.
Silver Tiger closed a C$57.5-million bought deal offering in February, less than three months after raising C$40 million via another bought deal. Proceeds will be used to advance the exploration and development of El Tigre. The company counts Sprott Asset Management and Franklin Advisers among its key institutional shareholders.
Silver Tiger has a market capitalization of C$306 million.