- Despite robust year-to-date index returns, markets face persistent inflationary pressures sparked by the recent Middle East oil shock, Trump’s tariff regime and Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, leaving investors vacillating between a pivot towards AI (critical minerals, data centers) and a shift away from vulnerable sectors like SaaS and media.
- Economic uncertainty and high input costs are, in turn, increasing the appeal of safe-haven assets, particularly bonds offering higher yields and gold as a macro hedge.
- Capitalizing on gold’s momentum, Hycroft Mining (NASDAQ:HYMC) has posted a 752 per cent return year-over-year as it transitions its eponymous multi-million-ounce mine in Nevada from oxide heap leaching to a large-scale sulfide milling operation.
The dual truths about equity markets year-to-date is that index returns have been robust, despite an abundance of volatility affecting select sectors caught in the midst of geopolitical tension.
In February, the US and Israel’s war with Iran led to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil route, causing oil prices to shoot above US$100 per barrel, compounding global industrial stress from Trump’s tariff policy, resulting in the senseless loss of tens of thousands of lives and the displacement of millions more across the Middle East.
This article is a journalistic opinion piece which has been written based on independent research. It is intended to inform investors and should not be taken as a recommendation or financial advice.
A tentative peace deal, to be ratified on Friday, has since cut oil prices to their lowest readings in months, although inflationary pressures are likely to remain tangible for the foreseeable future as supply chains slowly adjust, weighing on any stocks that count oil as a major input.
The fate of interest-rate-sensitive stocks is also hanging in the mix, as the oil spike and accompanying inflation fears keep liquidity at a premium and central banks with their fingers beside the trigger in terms of future interest rate decisions.
Amid this macroeconomic windstorm, the rise of AI, coupled with the continued reign of mega-cap tech stocks, has been tightening its grip on near-term market expectations, with a growing investor contingent keen on capitalizing on the critical minerals, data centres and associated technologies required for AI models to learn their way into their next evolutionary stage, while sidestepping sectors unable to compete with AI disruption, including media, customer service and software-as-a-service.
The upshot of these competing forces is a currently prospective environment for safe-haven assets capable of reducing risk while contributing to returns, including bonds, which are enjoying higher yields, as well as gold, whose 80 per cent return since 2024 and 145 per cent return since 2021 are heralding a potentially new era of higher prices and permanent allocations for the precious metal as a hedge against economic uncertainty.
Hycroft Mining
Investors interested in leveraging momentum in physical gold towards greater heights should take a moment to evaluate gold and silver miner Hycroft Mining, market cap US$2.43 billion, whose nearly 800 per cent return year-over-year, one of the highest across the US market, reflects diligent development at its more than 64,000-acre Hycroft mine in Nevada.
The mine hosts one of the largest precious metals deposits in the US, estimated in 2026 at 16.4 million ounces of gold and 562.6 million ounces of silver measured and indicated, plus 5 million ounces of gold and 132.8 million ounces of silver inferred, which combine for more than US$140 billion in metals in the ground according to spot prices on ADVFN at the time of writing.
The globally relevant deposit yielded a 2026 preliminary economic assessment detailing a post-tax net present value (5 per cent) of US$4.3 billion, supposing base cases of US$3,600 per ounce of gold and US$48 per ounce of silver, with 204,000 ounces of gold and 6.8 million ounces of silver in annual production expected over a 51-year mine life.
Following oxide heap leaching operations from 1980 to 2021, Hycroft is transitioning the mine into a large-scale milling operation to process sulfide ore, while advancing a 2025-2026 drilling campaign to build upon the fact that known resources represent less than 15 per cent of the land package (see slide 20 of the H1 2026 investor deck).
Hycroft’s leadership team, well-versed in project development, only adds conviction to the path ahead, with Diane R. Garrett, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, having overseen the development of Romarco Minerals’ multi-million ounce Haile gold mine in South Carolina from discovery to construction, leading to the company’s acquisition by OceanaGold in 2015.
Looking into the near future, Hycroft remains well funded with ~US$188 million in cash and no debt as of May 28, 2026, to validate sulfide milling and processing, assess the potential restart of heap leach operations, as well as follow up on ongoing exploration with further drilling to potentially expand a mineralized system that remains open in all directions and at depth.
Hycroft Mining stock (NASDAQ:HYMC) last traded at US$26.86 and has added 752 per cent year-over-year.
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