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Don Durrett & John Feneck Interview Blackrock Silver ($BRC | $BKRRF) & Discuss Stock Insights

Investor TV May 4, 2026

Summary

Blackrock Silver's updated PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment — an early mine study) extends mine life 42% to 11.2 years with $190 million capex.

The Nevada project plans 7.1 million silver-equivalent ounces a year at AISC (All-In Sustaining Cost — what it really costs to produce an ounce) near $1,744.

Sitting entirely on private land skips federal review; one of three key permits is secured, with groundbreaking targeted for the second half of 2027.

Guest Don Durrett sizes potential free cash flow at $750 million to $1.2 billion on $200 silver and calls Blackrock a top takeover target.

Hosts also highlight Honey Badger's $11 million purchase of the 400-million-ounce Prairie Creek project from Canadian Zinc, calling it an unusual bargain.

Key points on Anglogold Ashanti

  • Pollard notes AngloGold is constructing a 25-million-ounce project in the Walker Lane, making the district as active as it has been since the early 1900s.

Key points on Coeur Mining

  • Durrett names Coeur among the established silver producers that would likely put Blackrock Silver at the very top of their acquisition list.

Key points on First Majestic Silver

  • Durrett names First Majestic among the established silver producers that would likely see Blackrock Silver as the top silver development project to acquire.

Key points on Hecla Mining Company

  • Durrett names Hecla among the established silver producers that would likely rank Blackrock Silver at the top of their list of silver development projects to buy.

Key points on Pan American Silver

  • Pollard says Blackrock added a board member who was with MAG Silver up until Pan American's takeout of MAG, part of strengthening the company ahead of any takeover approach.

Key points on Denarius Metals

  • Feneck lists Denarius Metals among the longer-term names he and Durrett hold alongside short-term picks in their hub-and-spoke approach.

Key points on NexGold Mining

  • Durrett recalls NexGold traded in a tight US$0.50-0.55 range until it picked up a Nova Scotia project that doubled its ounces in the ground, after which the market started paying attention.
  • He uses NexGold as the template for how a deal like Blackrock buying West Vault could accelerate a company's perceived pathway to production.

Key points on P2 Gold

  • Durrett points to P2 Gold as close to construction yet getting no value, because weak sentiment means investors will not pay until a company finances and actually starts building.

Key points on West Vault Mining

  • Pollard says West Vault's Three Hills and Hasbroke projects are shovel-ready bulk-tonnage gold projects that directly abut Tonopah West, with Three Hills touching the southern boundary.
  • Durrett pushes a shares-for-assets deal, arguing West Vault is essentially an investing company that wants returns, so taking shares in Blackrock — which he says carry massive leverage — would suit it, and the acquired project could reach production within 12 months.
  • Durrett argues buying West Vault would materially shorten Blackrock's pathway to production, both hosts urge Pollard to make the call, and Pollard adds the Walker Lane is hot enough that district consolidation is realistic.

Key points on Blackrock Silver

  • Andrew Pollard presented an updated PEA on March 31, 2026: one year of expansion and conversion drilling lifted mine life 42% to 11.2 years despite upsizing the mill from 1,500 to 1,800 tpd, and about a third of ounces are now in the indicated category versus 100% inferred in the 2024 PEA.
  • The plan targets over 7.1 million ounces of silver-equivalent a year over 11 years at all-in sustaining costs of about $1,744 per ounce, from silver and gold only, with metallurgical recoveries of about 91.5% silver and 96-97% gold.
  • The project sits entirely on private land, so permitting bypasses NEPA and the BLM and rests with Esmeralda and Nye counties and the state; the first of three key permits arrived in March 2026, with groundbreaking targeted for H2 2027 and nameplate capacity around 2030-2031.
  • Capex is $190 million including the mill (about $90 million of it for the mill); Pollard cites a 28% IRR at $31 silver and a $1.55 billion US net asset value at $67 silver, while Durrett's bull case at $200 silver makes Blackrock his top silver development takeout candidate.
  • Momentum is building after Eric Sprott's $7 million and an $8 million co-investment followed the December interview, and a 45-person analyst and institutional site visit just wrapped with six banks that do not yet cover the stock; next catalysts are the two remaining permits and step-out drilling of up to 800 m along the vein sets.

Key points on K2 Gold Corp

  • Pollard mentions K2 Gold — about 10 kilometers east and formerly known as Legion Gold — as one of the nearby Walker Lane projects that someone could consolidate around Blackrock Silver.

Key points on Silver47 Exploration Corp

  • Durrett proposes Blackrock acquire Silver47's adjacent project in a share deal while Silver47 keeps its other two projects, calling it a strong strategic fit.
  • Pollard confirms the adjacency — Silver47's ground is the historic side of the district and Blackrock's the unmined extension — and says there are many possible synergies in the area.

Key points on Xtra-Gold Resources Corp

  • Feneck highlights that Xtra-Gold is already producing in Africa as the eighth-largest producer in its region, with 23 years of exploration in Ghana behind a management team he calls pragmatic.
  • Durrett calls it a good drill story for investors who like that stage, though he says he no longer chases early drill stories himself.

Don Durrett's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Durrett's top call is Blackrock Silver as the most attractive silver development takeout target: at $200 silver in 2030 he estimates $750 million to $1.2 billion of free cash flow, and a 20x multiple against the current ~$380 million fully diluted market cap implies large upside — though he expects the big re-rating only around early 2029.
  • He argues market sentiment is weak right now: investors pay for only one to two years out, so near-construction names like P2 Gold get no value until they finance and start building.
  • He bought Honey Badger Silver before its ~30% jump and walks through why the Prairie Creek deal at roughly two cents an ounce is a bargain with high free-cash-flow potential despite heavy permitting and build risk.
  • He owns Western Exploration and frames it as an early-stage Nevada developer that must add ounces toward ~2 million and reach production, in a jurisdiction where permitting rarely exceeds three years.
  • He applies a 10-step red-flag checklist to every company and says Blackrock is the rare project that clears it — high recoveries, no base-metal dependence, no weather or political risk in Nevada — and that he would like to own 50 projects like it.

Rick Rule's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Durrett notes Rick Rule participated in Honey Badger's Prairie Creek financing, and says having the conservative Rule join Sprott in the same stock is a rare, positive signal.

Blaine Monaghan's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Feneck recalls the Pacific Ridge CEO saying his company's copper is in the ground at about a penny a pound, a figure he uses to frame how cheap PTX Metals trades.

Eric Sprott's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Pollard credits Eric Sprott with a $7 million check right after Blackrock's December interview, alongside $8 million from another party, leaving the company much better capitalized.
  • Durrett notes Sprott holds a sizable position in Honey Badger ahead of the Prairie Creek closing.