Silver Stocks Will Lead the Next Bull Run | Rick Rule

The Deep Dive Jul 7, 2026

Summary

After a 35-40% drawdown, Rule says quality mining companies now trade at discounts that make them compelling again.

Mining's long underinvestment in exploration and development means companies must buy growth, setting up an M&A wave.

Rule screens stocks on price versus net present value, then waits for arbitrageurs or an acquirer to close the gap.

He prioritizes deposit size and grade over jurisdiction, arguing world-class ore bodies finance their own infrastructure.

Silver equities offer more leverage than the metal, and he expects leadership to rotate from gold as generalist capital returns.

Rule names B2 Gold as another name that screens undervalued against its peers on price versus net asset value, and notes it is not among this year's conference exhibitors.

Rule's worked example of the value screen is Oceana Gold: comparing price against NAV, net present value and forward cash flow against its pipeline, he sees it undervalued relative to its peers.
He says a gap like that closes one of two ways, value buyers stepping in or a takeover by a company with a lower cost of capital, with nothing in between.

Rule calls Snowline a must-own deposit that is going to get bigger and higher grade, and argues that deposits with size and grade take care of themselves.
He pushes back on the infrastructure concern investors raise, saying the deposit will build and finance its own infrastructure, while cautioning that the stock itself may or may not do something this year.

Top takeaway Rule cites Friedland as one of the world-class operators drawn to the Congo, to make the point that superb deposits can outweigh a hard jurisdiction.

Top takeaway Rule groups Carney with Trump as a reality-distortion politician who would not accept a gold standard, which is part of his reason for calling one a nonstarter.

Top takeaway Rule says what excites him most this year is that the market has taken care of his earlier worry that good companies were overpriced: great names now sit at a 35% to 40% discount to prices of six or seven months ago, and the gap between price and value is the focus.
He expects a wave of M&A because mining has under-invested in exploration and development for roughly 15 years. Companies are paid today to return capital, but in about two years they will be paid for growth or consistent production, so they will have to buy growth from owners selling below worth.
Rule dismisses the headline talk of the US revaluing its gold as theater, arguing a gold standard is a nonstarter because no politician wants its power constrained by reality, and that revaluing gold at Fort Knox would not make US Treasuries more marketable.
He is more excited by deposit quality than by jurisdiction, and believes every jurisdiction is bad; Chile was his best over 50 years and Congo his second, but he credits that to very large deposits attracting world-class operators rather than to easy politics.
Rule stays bullish on silver equities, noting the shares fell further than the metal because they already discount lower prices, and expects leadership to move from gold to silver once generalist money returns. He sold the January 2026 spike because silver was paying too much interim rent, and counts only a handful of companies with economic silver and management teams that know the metal.

Top takeaway The interviewer says Gilman's number one criterion, above everything else, is the size of the ore body, and Rule says he agrees with him.