The mining industry is dominated by major players with the capital and geographic reach to produce on a massive scale. Still, despite a recent cooling of the red-hot silver and gold rally, a major boost in recent months to the price of many precious metals may have opened up areas of potential for smaller companies as well.
One such firm is Hycroft Mining PLC (NASDAQ: HYMC). With a market capitalization of just $3.5 billion, Hycroft is just a fraction the size of $100-billion-plus rivals like Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) and Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM). A potential growth catalyst for the company is a recent technical report with an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) that indicates Hycroft's Nevada mining operations may contain significantly more gold and silver than previously expected.
Despite the promising news about Hycroft's mineral resources, investors may still have reasons to be cautious about the company in addition to its small size—these include concerns about the firm's revenue, its production, and its profitability. This makes Hycroft a highly risky play for mining stock investors, but one that has potential to pay off in a big way.
Digging Into Hycroft's Updated MRE
First, the bullish perspective—Hycroft's updated MRE suggests 55% growth in measured and indicated mineral resources for both silver and gold at its Nevada mine. The report also boosts inferred mineral resources—those for which predictions are less confident but which are still based on educated preliminary assessments—by 50% for gold and 38% for silver. All told, Hycroft's mine could contain some $50 billion or more worth of gold and silver, based on current prices.
The promise of a mine depends not only on the amount of gold and silver it contains but also on how easily these minerals can be extracted. The more challenging the access or extraction process, the higher the time and cost involved. Fortunately, about 83% of the gold and 78% of the silver are recoverable using traditional methods, a comparatively strong indicator relative to the broader industry.
Understandably, investors responded positively to Hycroft's mid-February 2026 report. Shares of HYMC shot up by about 24% over the span of just a few days following the announcement.
Reasons for Caution Remain
As exciting as it is that Hycroft is likely sitting on a massive store of gold and silver, most of which it can fairly easily extract for processing, there are also reasons investors might remain cautious about this small miner. First of all, just because the minerals in Nevada are recoverable does not mean that it is cheap to do so—the process will likely take years and will require significant capital.
When it comes to the latter of these things, Hycroft is lacking. The firm remains unprofitable, posting earnings per share (EPS) of -22 cents in the latest quarter (although this was two cents better than analysts had expected). Hycroft's lack of revenue is due to its focus on exploration rather than production—the company likely still has significant work to do before it can scale production operations to the level necessary to be able to meaningfully extract the resources just identified in the report.
Another reason investors might hesitate before buying Hycroft is that the firm is, like all mining stocks, closely tied to the price of gold and silver, both of which may be due for a correction after months of stratospheric gains. Without the buffer of multiple operations spread out geographically, Hycroft is also subject to significant risk if some unforeseen factors should cause its mining site to be closed or to shut down production for a period of time.
A Play for Those With Tolerance for Risk
Still, Hycroft's massive mineral reserves may appeal enough to some investors willing to accept the risk that comes with this smaller mining play. Major mining investor Eric Sprott, already a significant shareholder in Hycroft, purchased $6.3 million worth of HYMC shares in late February following the MRE announcement.
The company's successful $235 million raise in the latest reported quarter through public equity offerings, a private placement, and other strategies has bought it much-needed time to ramp up production. However, with poor cash flow and lacking profitability, the race is on for Hycroft to be able to boost its operational capacity. The minerals are there—the question is how efficiently Hycroft will be able to access them and build its revenue and cash flow in the process.
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The article "Hycroft Mining: A High-Risk Mining Play With a Huge Potential Payoff" first appeared on MarketBeat.
