Gold Digs Deeper: How McEwen Mining Turned Grit into a 140% Surge
McEwen Mining Inc. (MUX) has done just that—leaving the market blinking and asking: what gold (and copper) veins did they strike?
The Spark Beneath the Surface
McEwen Mining’s transformation isn’t a sleight of hand—it’s in the numbers. Over the past six months, MUX shares have soared 139.6%, trouncing both the broader market and its peers. Even in a volatile sector, that’s not luck. It’s a cocktail of surging gold prices, operational grit, and a dash of copper ambition.
Revenue in Q3 2024 leapt 36% year-on-year to $52.3 million. Gross profit? Up an eye-popping 268%. Adjusted EBITDA—often the litmus test for operational health—jumped 586%. Where last year’s books bled red, operating cash flow reversed from a negative $2.3 million to a robust $23 million. These aren’t just improvements; they’re a company turning its fortunes around in real time.
Foxes, Bars, and the Metal That Won’t Rust
On the ground, gold production has become a story of resurgence. The Gold Bar Mine in Nevada ramped up output by 43%, churning out 13,640 ounces in Q3 alone. The Fox Complex in Ontario, long a gem in the portfolio, contributed 7,855 ounces, with ambitions set sky-high: plans to double production to 60,000 ounces by 2027 and potentially 150,000 ounces by 2030 are now being actively engineered. Exploration investments at both sites—$5.3 million this quarter—are not about hope, but about extending mine lives and squeezing more from every ton.
All of this unfolds as the backdrop glitters. Gold sprinted past $4,300/oz in October 2025, with silver tagging along at $54/oz. War, inflation, and central bank buying have turned precious metals into safe havens once more. And McEwen, with its dual gold and silver focus, is swimming with the current rather than against it.
Copper Dreams in the Andes
But the real sizzle—what separates McEwen from a hundred other gold miners—is copper. Enter Los Azules, a giant in Argentina’s Andes, where McEwen owns 46.4% through its McEwen Copper subsidiary. It’s not just a speculative bet: $56 million in private capital raised, an implied project valuation of $984 million, and a feasibility study on deck for July 2025. The market already assigns $8.47 per MUX share just for this copper stake—a hidden lode inside the company’s valuation.
Why does copper matter? Because the world’s electrification binge—think EVs, grids, renewables—runs through copper wire. As supply chains strain and demand outpaces new discoveries, any miner with a shovel in serious copper ground becomes a strategic asset. Investors aren’t just buying gold; they’re buying into the backbone of the energy transition.
A Stake in the Ground—and in the Boardroom
The company’s boldness is mirrored in its ownership: 40.16% institutional, 15.7% insider, and 44.14% retail. That’s a tightly held ship, with insiders’ skin in the game and large funds betting long. No wonder analysts are piling on: the consensus rating is a “Strong Buy,” with targets nudging $19.63—another 12% upside from current levels, if projections hold.
Every Boom Has Its Shadows
Of course, not all that glitters is gold—literally. Fox Complex production has faced speed bumps, and the Los Azules project’s financing and permitting are not yet set in stone. Debt, at $130 million, is a watch item, with a leverage ratio now at 1.9x EBITDA. But with cash and equivalents swelling to $68.5 million and free cash flow trending positive, McEwen is no longer fighting for survival—it’s fighting for dominance.
The Gold Rush Remixed
In the end, McEwen Mining’s rally is more than a commodity play. It’s a bet on management’s grit, the power of exploration, and the world’s insatiable appetite for metals old and new. It’s also a story about capital allocation—how a miner can turn deficits into cash flows, and dreams of copper into a near-billion-dollar asset.
This is not a company mining yesterday’s gold. It’s a company digging for the future, one ounce—and one bold decision—at a time.