The KE Report

[Recorded on 05-28-2026]  Sean Brodrick, Editor of Wealth Megatrends, Supercycle Investor, Resource Trader, and contributing analyst to Weiss Ratings Daily, joins us to review how he is trading opportunities in drone and counter-drone stocks on the back of news that broke on Thursday May 28th that the US government may be investing directly into drone technology for defense.  Additionally, we discussed how the government is also investing directly into or shaping favorable policy initiatives around the critical minerals sector.

 

We start off discussing next generation defense and how integral drones have become on as a key aspect of battlefield protection. Sean points out that many nations have invested big into this technology, and that hot conflicts in Ukraine and Iran have changed modern warfare.

Some of the companies we discussed include: Unusual Machines, Inc.(NYSE American: UMAC), Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT),  Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS), and Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO) (CSE: DPRO).

Sean reiterates that investors need to do proper due diligence as not all companies are run well or have the right technology. He points out AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) as a cautionary note of a company that has struggled even in a bullish sector.

He also points out that counter-drone and counter-measure tech companies, like V2X, Inc. (NYSE: VVX), have done incredibly well in this environment.

 

The discussion then pivots to the US government also putting funding and proactive policy initiatives into the critical minerals stocks.

He narrows down this wide range of minerals to a focus on getting exposure to the defense metals like antimony, heavy rare earths, tungsten, and niobium, or conductive metals like copper and silver.

Some critical minerals stocks that he and his subscribers have traded well are: MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP), Critical Metals Corp. (NASDAQ: CRML), and USA Rare Earth, Inc. (NASDAQ: USAR), Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE American: TMQ) (TSX: TMQ), Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO) (NYSE American: TGB), Almonty Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: ALM) (TSX: AII), and American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR) (OTCQX: ARRNF).

 

He views periods of time where these critical minerals stocks correct as opportunities where investors that missed a stock on the way up, get another opportunity to accumulate into these pullbacks for the longer-term trends in motion. He stresses the need to understand the extreme volatility in this sector, to focus on companies with a legitimate pathway to production, and that may have received government funds in the past.

 

Wrapping up Sean highlights just how important this administration proposing implementing price floors to certain niche critical minerals sectors will be for encouraging development of projects that can then depend on the government being a steady buyer at a set prices higher than prevailing market prices.

 

Click here to follow along with Sean’s work at Weiss Ratings Daily and Wealth Megatrends

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Click here to learn more about Resource Trader

 

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Investment disclaimer:

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing in equities and commodities involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Guests and hosts may own shares in companies mentioned.

Mark Brennan, Founder, CEO, and Director of Cerrado Gold Inc (TSX.V: CERT) (OTCQX: CRDOF), joins me to review their Q1 2026 financial and operational metrics at the producing Minera Don Nicolas (MDN) gold mine in Argentina.  We discuss the aggressive 70,000 meter exploration program on tap for MDN into 2026, review the permitting process at the Lagoa Salgada VMS Project in Portugal and the key development catalysts on tap at the Mont Sorcier Iron-Vanadium project in Quebec.

 

Q1/26 MDN Operating Highlights:

Q1 Gold equivalent production of 12,842 Gold Equivalent Ounces (“GEO”) vs 11,163 GEO in Q1 2025

Heap leach production of 8,787 GEO continues to increase as water availability improves

Underground development work continued at an accelerated pace, with record development meters during the period

Access to new underground ore zones expected in Q2 2026, delivering higher-grade ore to the CIL plant, improving head feed grade, and increasing production

CIL plant continues to process a blend of stockpile material and additional ore from underground development, resulting in total production of 4,055 GEO in Q1 through the CIL plant

Acquisition of Falcon Properties has the potential to extend Heap Leach operations based on historical drill results.

Combined with the existing exploration program, the acquisition is expected to position the mine to add new mineable material quickly

Full year production guidance of 50,000-60,000 GEO maintained

AISC of $1,348/oz Au during Q1 2026

Record Adjusted EBITDA of $28.7 million for Q1 2026, benefiting from unhedged gold position

Strong Cash Position of $31.4 million at quarter end

 

Mark and I review their Minera Don Nicolas producing gold project in Argentina, and the combination of heap leach and underground gold equivalent ounce production for the first quarter. He also highlighted the advantages of the Falcon Properties acquisition, and how it adds years to the existing heap leach mine life, as well as substantial exploration upside.  We discuss the key objectives from the ongoing 70,000 meter drill program will be looking to extend mine life in a substantial way and find new high-grade areas, at surface and underground, for future mine sequencing.

 

Next we got an update on the ongoing work from the previously announced unfavourable opinion of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Lago Salgada VMS Project in Portugal. This ‘unfavourable opinion’ was issued after expiry of statutory deadline under Portuguese EIA legislation. The Company maintains its position that the project has been tacitly approved. Mark reiterated that the purported unfavorable opinion was issued despite the project being the first mining project in Portuguese history to receive unanimous favourable opinion for the Project by all 17 people that make up the Technical Evaluation Committee. The Company is working on a resolution and will update the market when it has more information.

 

Moving on to the Mont Sorcier Iron Project in Quebec, there are final workstreams feeding into the Bankable Feasibility Study slated for release here in Q2 of 2026. Recent metallurgical test work has reaffirmed the potential to produce high-grade and high-purity iron concentrate grading in excess of 67% iron with silica and alumina content below 2.3%, which gets a premium in the iron marketplace.  The NPV(8%) of the is project in the prior PEA was US$1.6Billion, so even at a very low multiple being applied to this Project, it more than underpins the current market cap that the company is currently receiving, and yet the market cap doesn’t even fully reflect the gold production asset.

 

We wrap up discussing the underappreciated valuation that the company is receiving for the both the producing MDN mine in Argentina, the development-stage Lagoa Salgada and large Net Present Value of the Mont Sorcier Project.

 

 

If you have questions for Mark regarding Cerrado Gold, then please email those to me at [email protected].

 

In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Cerrado Gold at the time of this recording, and may choose to buy or sell shares at any time.

 

Click here to see the latest news from Cerrado Gold.

 

 

For more market commentary & interview summaries, subscribe to our Substacks:

 

The KE Report: https://kereport.substack.com/

Shad’s resource market commentary: https://excelsiorprosperity.substack.com/

 

 

Investment disclaimer:

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing in equities and commodities involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Guests and hosts may own shares in companies mentioned.

Nick Hodge, Co-Owner of Digest Publishing and editor of Foundational Profits and Underground Alpha, joins us for our monthly longer-format discussion on different macroeconomic factors and market reactions to the war in the Middle East, his key takeaways from 2 different site visits to South Dakota and Wisconsin, and investing strategies in select copper, gold, and critical minerals stocks.

 

We start off reviewing the mix of macroeconomic movers and knock-on effects from geopolitics as it relates to the closure of Strait of Hormuz, the US/China meetings last week, projections around central bank monetary policy options, rising bond yields and interest rates, a strengthening US dollar, GDP growth, rising inflation, sovereign debt loads, and AI datacenter buildouts.   

 

The US stock markets have shrugged off most of these economic datapoints and geopolitical news, continuing to blast up to new all-time highs over the last week. He points out that the CRB commodities index has also been strong lately, lead by base metals, soft commodities, and the energy space.

 

 

When reviewing the commodities,  it has been hard to ignore the strength in the copper pricing, which has been up at all-time highs over the last few weeks of May, and Nick shares his approach is to investing in the copper equities.

 

For exposure to the base metals producers he has been positioned in the iShares MSCI Global Metals and Mining Producers ETF (PICK), which has performed quite well over the last year and especially in 2026.

Nick reiterated points from our prior conversation about 2 of the copper developers with good investor engagement, solid pounds in the ground resources, and good fundamental catalysts being: Gunnison Copper Corp. (TSX: GCU) (OTCQB: GCUMF) and Aldebaran Resources Inc.  (TSX-V: ALDE) (OTCQX: ADBRF).  

Nick highlighted the recent acquisition of Arizona Sonoran Copper Company Inc. (TSX:ASCU | OTCQX:ASCUF) by Hudbay Minerals Inc (TSX, NYSE: HBM) and how that may be used as a good case study and lens for consideration of other advanced copper development assets and what kind of projects and jurisdictions may interest the senior producers.

Gladiator Metals Corp. (TSXV: GLAD) (OTCQB: GDTRF) is a copper and gold exploration story in Nick’s portfolio that just released some high-grade intercepts in the Yukon, and still has a lot of drilling on tap for this season as a catalyst.

When reviewing why he prefers safer jurisdictions in the Americas for copper investing, he did point out a company like Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) (OTCQX: IVPAF) is an exception, due to the quality of the management team to navigate the risks when operating in Africa.

 

Next we got a boots-on-the-ground recap of Nick’s 2 recent company site visits:

Lion Rock Resources Inc. (TSXV: ROAR) (FSE: KGB) (OTCQB: LRRIF) – The company recently announced Phase One drill results at their Volney Project in South Dakota. The system features high-grade lithium, tin and tantalum hosted within spodumene-bearing LCT (Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum) pegmatites.

GreenLight Metals Inc. (TSXV: GRL) (OTCQB: GRLMF)- GreenLight is a Wisconsin-focused exploration company advancing copper-gold and gold projects across the Penokean Volcanic Belt-one of North America's most prospective VMS districts. GreenLight's Wisconsin portfolio includes the Bend copper-gold deposit, the Reef high-grade gold project, and the Lobo and Lobo East massive sulfide targets.

 

We wrapped up getting the near-term technical price support levels that Nick is watching for in gold. 

For now he is not concerned about gold falling into a true bear market, and he is treating the pullback we’ve seen in the precious metals a buying opportunity.

Any short-term consolidation in pricing should be juxtaposed against the fundamental structural drivers for the longer-term precious metals bull market that are all still solidly in place.

He’s been using periods of sector weakness in the PMs to add to positions in both GDXJ and Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD), along with some other junior precious metals stocks.

 

Click here to follow Nick’s analysis and publications over at Digest Publishing

 

 

For more market commentary & interview summaries, subscribe to our Substacks:

 

The KE Report: https://kereport.substack.com/

Shad’s resource market commentary: https://excelsiorprosperity.substack.com/

 

 

Investment disclaimer:

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing in equities and commodities involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Guests and hosts may own shares in companies mentioned.

Arturo Préstamo Elizondo, Executive Chairman and CEO of Santacruz Silver Mining Ltd. (TSX.V: SCZ) (NASDAQ: SCZM) (FSE: 1SZ), joins me for an exclusive visual review of the Q1 2026 financial and operational results across their portfolio of 4 producing silver-zinc mines and ore feed sourcing business in Bolivia and Mexico. We also review a few of the key growth initiatives that the company has slated for 2026 across multiple projects.

 

 Q1 2026 Highlights

 

Revenues of $127.5 million, an 81% increase year-over-year.

Gross profit of $42.9 million, a 54% increase year-over-year.

Net income of $28.5 million, a 201% increase year-over-year.

Adjusted EBITDA of $42.6 million, a 55% increase year-over-year.

Cash and highly-liquid marketable securities of $64.9 million, a 100% increase year-over-year.

Working capital of $75.9 million, a 47% increase year-over-year.

Average realized price per silver ounce sold of $63.30, a 128% increase year-over-year.

AISC per silver ounce sold of $31.60, a 76% increase year-over-year.

Realized mining margin per silver ounce sold of $31.70, a 221% increase year-over-year.

Average realized price per zinc tonne sold of $3,116, a 12% increase year-over year.

AISC per zinc tonne sold of $2,729, a 32% increase year-over-year.

 

When discussing the financial strength of the company, Arturo also highlighted that after paying $31.5 million in taxes during this first quarter, that the company ended Q1 2026 with a healthy cash and highly liquid marketable securities position of $64.9 million, providing Santacruz with the financial flexibility to continue funding operational improvements while maintaining a strong treasury position.

 

At the Bolivar Mine, the recovery of the areas affected by the May 2025 localized water inflow event continues to advance; with work focused on restoring production while maintaining operating discipline. The Company continues to expect Bolivar’s full recovery by Q4 2026, with the dewatering program progressing ahead of plan, and now accessing again the high-grade silver veins –  Pomabamba and Nané.

 

The Porco Mine remains a smaller but solid contributor, and it is strategically located in the important Potosi district.   Arturo mentions that their 1,200 tonne per day plant also assists with processing ore from the San Lucas business unit.

 

Next we moved over to the Caballo Blanco Group of mines, which is the lowest cost and thus highest efficiency of their operations.  Colquechaquita and Tres Amigos are the 2 producing mines, but Arturo mentioned that the Company has now brought Esperanza Mine back into production during Q1, and that it should be a profitable smaller zinc-forward mine in this Caballo Blanco complex moving forward.

 

Their Zimapán Mine in Mexico is their highest-volume operation and will be another area of continued growth for Santacruz Silver in 2026. The capital already invested in Zimapan into plant equipment and improving mine efficiencies will allow for more throughput, accessing higher grade areas, and improving metals recoveries.   The operations team gained access to the high-grade 960 Level of the Zimpan Mine at the end of Q4, and already demonstrated to be a more significant contributing area of production in Q1 2026 and looking forward.

 

San Lucas is a margin-based ore sourcing and processing business that supports plant utilization, fixed-cost absorption and operating flexibility.   San Lucas now includes ore blended from the Reserva Mine, (previously part of the Caballo Blanco complex), and may be further enhanced in the future if a dedicated processing center is acquired.   Arturo points out that since this is a “margin business” it will always be profitable, but that it will naturally see higher costs in parallel with moves higher in silver prices, and thus the higher amount needed to be paid to the small regional miners that bring in their ore to sell to San Lucas. The Company has introduced an enhanced reporting framework which provides a more complete basis for investors to assess production, costs, margins and cash generation across all business units.

 

The operations team is advancing their silver-dominant Soracaya mine towards development and near-term production. There is already a decline ramp into this project with initial stope access in 2 areas, and the plan once the permit is received in Q3 is to get this mine into initial ramp-up production by Q4 of 2026.

  

Wrapping up we discussed the potential for future accretive acquisitions in the Americas.  The board and management team are open to a currently producing mine or development-stage underground mining assets, but only if the acquisition would be accretive for shareholders and if their team can unlock value in these acquired assets.

 

* To view the visual presentation on YouTube click below:

https://youtu.be/SCKzJarK0TQ

 

If you have any follow up questions for Arturo regarding Santacruz Silver, then please email those to me [email protected].

 

In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Santacruz Silver at the time of this recording, and may choose to buy or sell shares at any time.

 

Click here to follow the latest news from Santacruz Silver

 

For more market commentary & interview summaries, subscribe to our Substacks:

 

The KE Report: https://kereport.substack.com/

Shad’s resource market commentary: https://excelsiorprosperity.substack.com/

 

 

Investment disclaimer:

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing in equities and commodities involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Guests and hosts may own shares in companies mentioned.

In this Daily Editorial, we sit down with Brian Leni, the founder and editor of the Junior Stock Review and host of the Field Notes YouTube channel. Brian breaks down the current shifting dynamics within the resource sector.

Here are the key themes discussed in this episode:

Shifting Capital in the Metals Sector: How capital is rotating away from precious metals and where those funds are actively migrating within the broader commodities space.

The Macro Outlook for Copper: Learn about the defining economic indicators - including negative treatment and refining charges - that suggest the current copper price may represent a long-term floor rather than a peak.

Evaluating Development Projects: Understand the criteria investors should use to differentiate between early-stage resources and advanced, construction-ready assets.

Geopolitical Factors & Supply Chains: An overview of how deglobalization and regional supply disruptions are fundamentally reshaping global commodity markets.

Strategic Portfolio Rebalancing: Insights into the benefits of holding a tactical cash position and how to position a portfolio for high-upside exploration opportunities during periods of market uncertainty.

 

Click here to visit the Junior Stock Review website to keep up to date on what Brian is investing in - https://www.juniorstockreview.com/

 

Click here to watch the latest Field Notes video - https://www.youtube.com/@FIELD_NOTES

 

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For more market commentary & interview summaries, subscribe to our Substacks: 

The KE Report: https://kereport.substack.com/ 

Shad’s resource market commentary: https://excelsiorprosperity.substack.com/

Investment disclaimer: This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security or investment product. Investing in equities, commodities, really everything involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Guests and hosts may own shares in companies mentioned.