By Jamie Hyland, MiningIR
The Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa was buzzing as the 2026 Precious Metals Summit opened on Tuesday. Mining companies and investors had travelled from across North America and as far away as Australia, the UK, Europe and Latin America. At the base of Beaver Creek Mountain, the hotel provided a meeting place for delegates between presentations in Gerald Ford Hall in Beaver Creek Village.
The invitation-only summit brings explorers and developers together with institutional investors, sell-side representatives and corporate development executives from senior precious metals companies. Its format lets delegates hear company presentations, meet management one-on-one and continue conversations throughout the day. The strong flow of meetings gave the opening day an excellent atmosphere.
“I sat in on a number of presentations and found a strong range of companies with good projects. Several also appeared well funded to advance their plans.” — Robert Joseph, Bell Potter Securities, Australia
The morning program set the context for those meetings. A Young Leaders Panel featured Frederick Bell of Elemental Royalty, Mani Alkhafaji of First Majestic Silver and Charles Funk of Heliostar Metals, moderated by Mining Journal’s Paul Harris. Later, John Feneck addressed why defence metals are relevant and how investors might assess them.
Room 1: Producing mines and Canadian gold projects
Company presentations began after lunch, with parallel sessions moving at 15-minute intervals. In Room 1, West Red Lake Gold Mines (TSXV: WRLG) presented at 1:15 p.m. Its Madsen mine in Ontario’s Red Lake district achieved commercial production at the start of 2026, making its operating ramp-up a point of interest for investors.
At 1:30 p.m., New Found Gold (TSXV: NFG; NYSE American: NFGC) brought the focus to Newfoundland and Labrador. Its Queensway gold project, near Gander, is the subject of an expanded 2026 drilling program directed at discovery, resource growth and mine planning. The company also holds the Hammerdown gold project and Pine Cove mill.
FireFly Metals (TSX/ASX: FFM) presented in Room 1 at 3:00 p.m. Chief Executive Officer Darren Cooke discussed the company’s Green Bay copper-gold project in Newfoundland and Labrador, which includes the former Ming underground mine. FireFly’s August 2026 estimate reported 60.2 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources grading 2.4% copper equivalent across the Green Bay project. Existing underground infrastructure and further exploration give the company a development and growth story to present to investors.
Hemlo Mining (TSX: HMMC) took the stage at 3:15 p.m. Its presentation showed where the company sees potential to grow reserves and resources at the operating Hemlo Gold Mine near Marathon, Ontario. A June 2026 estimate reported 4.8 million ounces of measured and indicated gold resources, a 34% increase over the 2025 estimate. The slide shown at Beaver Creek also identified areas outside the current resource footprint for further drilling and evaluation.
Room 1 closed its company schedule at 4:45 p.m. with Amex Gold Mining (TSXV: AMX). At its Perron project in Quebec’s Abitibi region, Amex is working to expand its known gold inventory while testing for discoveries across a larger land package.
Room 2: Silver, gold and copper-gold
Across the hall, Sierra Madre Gold & Silver (TSXV: SM) opened Room 2’s company program. Its La Guitarra mine complex in Mexico began commercial production in January 2025. Chesapeake Gold (TSXV: CKG) followed with Metates, its large gold-silver development project in Durango, Mexico.
Later in the afternoon, ATEX Resources (TSX: ATX) presented its Valeriano copper-gold project in Chile’s Atacama region. Riverside Resources (TSXV: RRI) followed with its project-generator portfolio, including the La Union project in Sonora, Mexico, where partner-funded drilling has tested gold and base-metal targets.
The company presentations ended at 5:00 p.m. John Hathaway then joined Ronald-Peter Stöferle for the day’s keynote conversation, moderated by Anthony Vaccaro.
After the keynote, delegates gathered on the Park Hyatt’s patio overlooking the Beaver Creek ski hill for a cocktail reception sponsored by Invest Yukon. The mountain setting gave companies and investors a chance to continue the day’s conversations over drinks.
