Don Durrett argues the gold/mining bull market is still early, with gold ultimately headed far higher—potentially toward $7,000—and sees major leverage in miners if gold keeps rising. He favors buying high-quality producers/developers on weakness, using a checklist to find companies with genuine operating edge, insider alignment, and 10-bagger upside that could become 20-baggers.
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This is a host-led interview on Sprott Money’s Ask the Expert segment with Craig Hempkey interviewing mining analyst Don Durrett. Durrett frames his entire approach as speculative rather than long-term investing: he has been accumulating mining stocks since 2004 because he believes gold and silver are in a major bull market driven by debt excess, monetary instability, and what he sees as a fragile macro backdrop. He repeatedly says the current move is still early innings, sentiment remains weak, and the sector has not yet reached the stage where institutions and mainstream capital crowd in. On gold and silver, he says the current bull market began around August 2025, after which the metals and miners have already experienced normal bull-market corrections. …
Tactically, the setup favors patience: Durrett expects another pullback in gold/silver before the next leg, so he is looking to buy weakness rather than chase strength. Near-term risk is that rates, gasoline, or a broader equity wobble keep miners choppy before the larger trend resumes.
Over the coming weeks and months, he sees a volatile but still constructive precious-metals trend, with the next meaningful leg likely needing either lower risk appetite in equities or renewed macro stress. Validation would come from gold holding trend support while miners regain sentiment and institutions begin rotating in.
Structurally, the interview argues for a sustained hard-asset regime where debt, inflation pressure, and policy credibility continue to support gold. In that environment, quality miners can re-rate dramatically because earnings and reserve value become leveraged to a much higher gold price.
The gold and silver mining bull market began in August 2025 and is still in early innings.
He says the bull market started in August when silver was around $35 and argues sentiment has not yet fully improved.
Gold is headed toward roughly $7,000 to $8,000 in the next major leg.
This is his explicit long-run price target and the basis for his miner upside math.
Near-term corrections in gold and silver are normal within a bull market and do not invalidate the trend.
He explicitly says corrections should be expected, with higher highs and higher lows following them.
Has the compression on miners' margins been overdone, and is it anticipating more metal weakness like you're forecasting?
Don explains that as a speculator, current margins and profitability are irrelevant noise — what matters is the macro destination. He uses Newmont as an example: at $7,000 gold, even with $2,000 AISC, the free cash flow math gives a $500 target price vs. the current ~$120. The only thing that matters is that Newmont is mining 5.6-6 million ounces when they get to the top of the mountain and costs aren't $4,000.
If a miner's all-in sustaining cost is $2,000 and gold goes higher, what's the free cash flow math on a stock like Pan American Silver?
The guest answers that if Pan American (Pneumon/PanAm) gets to mining 5.6-6 million ounces at the top of the cycle with costs not at $4,000, the math works out to a $500 stock price. He believes a 25x multiple is conservative vs. the current ~10x, so buyers are getting it for less than half off. He also notes he told everyone to buy Pan American at $30, calling it a 10-bagger from there.
How do you identify 10-bagger and 20-bagger opportunities in mining stocks? What's the core thesis of your analysis?
The guest explains his methodology: for exploration companies, you need an edge — either buy gold/silver in the ground way under market value (like Free Gold Ventures), or buy early in the Lan curve after a significant discovery. For development plays, he has a six-item checklist ranking each from 5-9; he wants 7-9 across all six. One key item is 10-bagger upside. Another is insider ownership — developers with heavy skin in the game won't give it away. He notes many companies are pivoting from exploration to development because selling at a 100% premium would be giving it away, and he identifies White Gold, Newfound Gold, Scotty Resources, and most recently Fury Gold as examples of this pivot.
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