Hycroft Mining: Gold's $5,100 Run Has One Nevada Miner Primed to Explode

• Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ: HYMC) holds 16.41 million ounces of gold and 562.57 million ounces of silver in Measured and Indicated resources, a 55% and 56% increase respectively since 2023
• The company carries approximately $199 million in unrestricted cash with zero debt as of February 9, 2026
• Two new high-grade silver discoveries, Vortex and Brimstone, have returned standout intercepts including 18.2 meters at 1,987 g/t Ag at Brimstone
• At $2 per ounce AgEq, Hycroft trades at a steep discount to silver developer peers whose median sits at $3 per ounce AgEq per BMO Capital Markets
• The company is targeting PEA completion in Q1 2026 while scaling its drill program from 3 to 5 rigs

Gold at $5,176. Silver Up 167% in a Year. Why Precious Metals Are Back at Center Stage.

Gold is trading near $5,176 per ounce as of February 27, 2026, up approximately 81% over the past year according to Investing.com, and researchers published a forecast on February 25, 2026 projecting gold will reach $6,300 per ounce by year-end, a further 22% rise from then-current levels. Silver is trading near $86.80 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $121.67 in late January 2026, with the Silver Institute projecting a sixth consecutive year of structural supply deficit totaling 67 million ounces in 2026. That combination of rising spot prices, structural physical deficits, and sustained central bank demand has made large, undeveloped precious metals deposits more strategically valuable than at any point in the past decade.

Against that backdrop, Hycroft Mining sits on a 64,000-acre land package in northwestern Nevada holding one of the world's largest undeveloped precious metals deposits. The company's 2026 resource estimate, based on gold at $3,100 per troy ounce and silver at $36 per troy ounce, reflects a dataset that current spot prices of both metals suggest is materially conservative. As the World Gold Council noted in its Gold Outlook 2026, "gold's role as a portfolio diversifier and source of stability remains key amid continued market volatility," a macro backdrop that extends directly to the companies holding it in the ground at scale.

Inside Nevada's Most Underfollowed Mining Claim: 16 Million Ounces of Gold and Half a Billion of Silver

The Hycroft Mine operated as a heap leach gold and silver operation from the 1980s through 2021. As of January 21, 2026, the combined Measured and Indicated mineral resource stands at 1.53 billion tonnes grading 0.333 g/t Au and 11.42 g/t Ag, containing 16.41 million ounces of gold and 562.57 million ounces of silver. The Inferred resource adds a further 5.03 million ounces of gold and 132.84 million ounces of silver. These are confirmed figures from the company's formally published resource statement, not projections.

Benchmarking data from analysts as of February 9, 2026 places Hycroft's 696 million ounces of silver across all resource categories at the top of the global primary silver project rankings, ahead of Endeavour Silver's La Pitarrilla at 591 Moz and Discovery Silver's Cordero at 558 Moz. On a resources-per-share basis, Hycroft delivers 22.4 ounces of AgEq per share, more than double the median of 2.1 oz AgEq per share among silver producers and nearly 15 times the silver developer median of 1.5 oz AgEq per share. "Gold enters 2026 at record highs after an exceptional rally driven by strong central bank demand, macro uncertainty, and a shift in strategic asset allocation," noted ING Think in its December 2025 metals outlook, a structural environment that amplifies the relative value of large deposits in politically stable jurisdictions like Nevada.

Drills Don't Lie: The High-Grade Silver Finds That Are Rewriting Hycroft's Value Story

The most significant development in Hycroft's recent history is the discovery and initial resource definition of two high-grade silver systems, Vortex and Brimstone. Combined, the two zones contain 90.22 million ounces of silver in the Measured and Indicated category at a cutoff grade of 68.57 g/t Ag. Brimstone carries a silver-to-gold ratio of approximately 3,000:1, while Vortex extends approximately 1 kilometer east to west and 500 meters down dip with a silver-to-gold ratio of 600:1.

The drill intercepts are exceptional by any global standard. Hole HD24_6010 at Brimstone returned 18.2 meters grading 1,987.35 g/t Ag, with sub-intervals including 0.3 meters at 20,280 g/t Ag and 0.9 meters at 10,289 g/t Ag. The 2025 Vortex program added hole H25D-6072 returning 26.4 meters at 565.31 g/t Ag and hole H25D-6070 delivering 30.8 meters at 436.29 g/t Ag. Both systems remain open along trend and at depth.

"High-Grade Mineralization Remains Open Along Trends and at Depth."

As CME Group observed in its Precious Metals Outlook 2026, "the silver market has entered its sixth consecutive year of structural deficit, a condition where physical supply simply cannot keep pace with the combined appetite of industrial consumers and monetary investors," making large, high-grade silver discoveries like these increasingly rare and strategically valuable.

Trading at Half the Price of Its Peers: The Valuation Gap That Could Reward Patient Investors

At $2 per ounce AgEq, Hycroft trades at the lowest enterprise value per resource ounce among both silver producers and silver developers in BMO's peer group. The median silver developer trades at $3 per ounce AgEq and the median silver producer trades at $8 per ounce AgEq. Hycroft's enterprise value as a percentage of in-situ value stands at 2.2%, below the silver developer median of 3.4%. Part of this discount reflects genuine structural risk including no completed feasibility study, metallurgical process still being optimized through pressure oxidation testing, and commercial production restart that is not imminent.

However, the balance sheet largely offsets those risks. With approximately $199 million in unrestricted cash, $23 million restricted, and zero debt as of February 9, 2026, Hycroft carries no financing overhang and has the runway to reach a PEA and beyond without relying on equity markets. State Street and the World Gold Council project that global central banks will absorb between 773 and 1,117 tonnes of gold throughout 2026, figures that remain double pre-2022 averages and provide a structural floor for precious metals prices broadly.

The Investment Thesis for Hycroft Mining (HYMC)

• Scale advantage: With 696 Moz Ag across all resource categories, Hycroft is the largest primary silver project globally, a scarcity that commands a premium as silver demand from solar, EVs, and AI infrastructure grows.
• Valuation re-rating potential: Trading at $2 per oz AgEq versus a peer median of $3 per oz, a re-rating to developer median alone implies a 50% uplift without any exploration success premium.
• Exploration momentum: Both Vortex and Brimstone remain open along trend and at depth, with the drill program scaling to 5 rigs in 2H 2026, offering multiple near-term resource expansion catalysts.
• Balance sheet strength: Zero debt and $199M unrestricted cash removes financing risk and gives management time to execute technical studies without dilutive pressure.
• Upcoming catalysts: The Q1 2026 PEA and heap leach restart assessment in H1 2026 are concrete, time-stamped milestones investors can track.
• Diversify into development-stage silver miners: Consider HYMC as a portfolio complement to silver ETFs or physical metal if silver sustains a recovery above $90 per ounce, given its leverage to rising spot prices.

PEA Due in Weeks, Heap Leach Restart on the Table: Here Is What Happens Next

The PEA, expected in Q1 2026, will provide the first formal economic assessment of the sulfide milling operation incorporating updated resource and metallurgical data. The company has already confirmed completion of flotation development, benchtop autoclave testing, site layout designs, tailing storage facility design, and capital equipment selection, meaning the PEA inputs are substantially in place. In parallel, management is assessing whether to restart heap leach operations ahead of the milling project, a lower-capital-intensity pathway using infrastructure already permitted and physically on site. The new leach pad is d "permitted and available for ore loading," meaning the barrier to restart is economic rather than regulatory.

"Award-winning safety record: Hycroft has maintained a TRIFR and LTI of 0.00 for more than three consecutive years..."

an operational discipline marker that institutional investors increasingly weight when evaluating development-stage management teams. With a market capitalization of $3.5 billion as of February 9, 2026, approximately $199 million in unrestricted cash, and a 52-week share price range of $2.22 to $58.73, the stock has already demonstrated its capacity for dramatic moves when catalysts arrive. The PEA and heap leach assessment represent two such catalysts within the next two quarters.

The Bottom Line: A World-Scale Asset, a Thin Valuation, and a Window That May Not Stay Open

Hycroft Mining is a large-scale, debt-free, Nevada-based development company sitting on one of the largest precious metals resource bases in North America, with two high-grade silver discoveries still expanding. Silver trades near $86.80 per ounce amid a projected 67-million-ounce 2026 supply deficit. The valuation discount to peers is measurable, the near-term catalysts are concrete, and the balance sheet removes the financing risk that typically plagues development-stage miners. For investors with a medium-term horizon seeking precious metals exposure beyond bullion and ETFs, HYMC offers a differentiated, high-leverage opportunity the market has not yet fully priced.

TL;DR

Hycroft holds one of North America's largest gold and silver deposits, trades at $2 per oz AgEq versus a peer median of $3, carries $199M cash with zero debt, and is drilling two open high-grade silver systems with a PEA due within weeks.

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