Mark Zaret: 46-Bagger, Multi-Decade Winners, Ongoing Bets, & Buying Illiquidity When Nobody Cares
MiningStockEducation.com Jul 20, 2026
Summary
The guest's 46-bagger came from patient holding while management executed, with commodity tailwinds he says nobody could have predicted.
Buy prospective junior small-caps when nobody cares: illiquidity is an opportunity, and building real value takes years of management execution.
Judge management on capital discipline: stable share counts, no warrants, and insiders funding their own raises signal real alignment.
Two multi-decade holds ended in buyouts, validating patience; failed speculations still help because tax losses offset gains from winners.
Cash is now the guest's second-largest position: he urges caution on stretched valuations and better entries in six to eight weeks.
Key points on Agnico Eagle Mines
- Zaret says Agnico saw the value in Orion, the junior he held for 18 years, and calls the takeover a good transaction.
- Host Bill Powers states that Fox River Resources was bought out by Avenir Minerals, a subsidiary of Agnico Eagle.
Bill Powers's takeaways
- Top takeaway Host Bill Powers brought Mark Zaret back after repeated listener requests to review his past picks on the record and hold him accountable, as Zaret himself had asked.
- He credits Zaret rather than himself for the Tenaz win, saying a significant number of his listeners made a significant amount from the pick.
- He frames the episode's core question — whether decades of patience in illiquid juniors is a superpower or an Achilles heel — and admits 18 months can feel like an eternity to him.
- He contrasts Zaret's low-profile style with the newsletter playbook of using a 50-bagger as the headline to sell the next pick, and notes none of the picks discussed are MSE sponsors or owned by him.
David Lotan's takeaways
- Top takeaway Zaret says he and David Lotan know each other and are in fairly regular contact, and that Lotan's careful execution — capital raised without ever issuing warrants and a well-managed float — kept him in Orion for 18 years.
- He praises Lotan for taking no salary and showing his faith in the company through his own share ownership.
Mark Zaret's takeaways
- Top takeaway Zaret's biggest result is Tenaz Energy, a pick he shared at $1.50 that recently traded as high as $70, and he still holds just over half because he sells on management execution, not price.
- He argues you must buy illiquid small caps when nobody cares and hold for years, because building real value takes far longer than anyone expects.
- He reveals cash is now his second-largest position — a first in his career — as he believes a meaningful market correction is overdue, and he advises waiting six to eight weeks for a better entry.
- He says he has no new high-conviction names right now, with Fortune Bay the only one of his recent high-conviction names not bought out.
- He calls his 18-year Orion hold extreme and says he will not repeat it, and he uses tax losses on losers to offset the tax burden on winners.