Glossary
Plain definitions of the terms used across Gold Silver Analytics. Gold Silver Analytics is a research platform, not an investment-recommendation service. Nothing defined here is a buy, sell or hold call.
The seven ranking lenses
- Best Re-Rate
- Ranks companies by Re-Rate Score, where a near-term catalyst, quality and timing converge. It is built for the next catalyst window, not for long-term compounding.
- Deep Value
- Companies with high quality, high upside and a large discount from their 52-week high, where the methodology's forward valuation sits well above the current price. The cause has to be specific and identifiable, such as a permit delay or a dilutive financing. It is not a list of the cheapest stocks. The gap can last longer than expected.
- Highest Pure Upside
- Ranks companies by MID-scenario price appreciation to a chosen target date. It is pure reward with no risk filter, so high upside can sit next to high risk and distant catalysts.
- Imminent Catalyst
- Companies whose next high-impact milestone is due within about two quarters. Catalyst timing alone says nothing about quality or upside, so read it alongside Overall Quality.
- Jurisdiction Safety
- Only assets in Tier 1 and Tier 2 jurisdictions, ranked by quality. It reduces political and operational risk, but it leaves out some high-upside names in riskier jurisdictions.
- Lassonde Dislocation
- Developers and explorers whose market price is at or below the GSA resource floor, which makes them possible structural undervaluation candidates. Read it within each stage: a high ratio in an explorer can simply reflect a stage discount.
- Overall Quality
- Ranks companies by their combined 9-factor score. It measures how strong the business and assets are, regardless of share price. Quality alone does not tell you about timing or upside.
Platform and tools
- CompanyCard
- The analysis view for each company. Selecting a company on the Dashboard opens its CompanyCard. Expand it and you get eight tabs: Summary, Catalyst Ladder, Valuation, Scenarios, Context & Risks, Factor Scores, Lassonde Curve and Audit Trail.
- CSV export
- Pro and Pro+ subscribers can download ranked output as a CSV file for offline analysis. Free does not include it.
- Dashboard
- The tool that answers "is this name worth owning, given my time horizon?" It acts as the selection gate and the quality ranking, and it refreshes monthly. Free covers 5 curated tickers. Pro covers the full library of ~300.
- Dashboard indicators
- Fundamental measures calculated for each company, such as Re-Rate Score (recalculated weekly) and milestone proximity. They help you decide whether a name belongs on your list. They are not trading signals.
- Future CompanyCard view
- A valuation of a company at full build-out that ignores timing. It uses steady-state production, all-in sustaining cost, an FCF multiple and the fully diluted share count expected at build-out, priced under the BASE / MID / HIGH metals scenarios. It is a cross-check, not the main target. The toggle is turned off when a company lacks the inputs. Available on Pro and Pro+.
- Monthly refresh
- Every analysis is rebuilt each month from primary sources such as filings, technical reports and company disclosures, and no values are carried forward. Check the analysis date before you act, because events after that date may not be reflected yet. Re-Rate Scores are the exception: they are recalculated weekly.
- Per-ticker signals (DIP / FROTH / BREAK / NEUTRAL)
- Technical flags calculated at the end of each day from one company's price and volume. DIP means oversold in a supportive regime. FROTH means overbought with signs of exhaustion. BREAK means the stock closed below its 200-day moving average on rising volume. NEUTRAL means no extreme condition.
- Regime Monitor
- The free macro tool, and the slowest-moving of the three. It tests whether the macro premise behind the whole approach still holds, and it sits above both the Dashboard and Signals.
- Signals
- The tool that answers "given I want these names, when do I act?" It reads your whole junior book and the broader complex weekly through a decision ladder: Hold → Watch → Confirmed → Re-entry → Glide. It informs timing and never overrides the fundamental read. Formerly called the Trading Tool. Pro and Pro+.
- State of the Platform (SotP)
- A monthly report on the whole library. Free users get the Public edition, and Pro and Pro+ subscribers get the Subscriber edition.
- Tiers: Free, Pro, Pro+
- Every tier uses the same 9-factor methodology and the same monthly refresh. Free ($0, no card): 5 curated tickers in full depth, the Regime Monitor and the Public SotP. Pro ($32 a month or $349 a year): the full library of ~300, the Subscriber SotP, Signals, the Future CompanyCard view, Dashboard indicators, CSV export and 2 ticker requests a month. Pro+ ($46 a month or $499 a year): everything in Pro, plus directed research queries, one event re-run a month and 5 ticker requests a month. Saved screens are coming soon.
- Watchlist
- A list of up to 100 tickers you choose to follow on the Signals page (Pro and Pro+). Add a name with "+ Watch" on any CompanyCard. Watchlist event alerts are coming soon.
Scoring and valuation
- 9-cell scenario matrix
- For each target year from 2028 to 2032, valuation is calculated for each of three metals-price cases (BASE / MID / HIGH) and each of three outcomes (Scenario A, Prob-Weighted Mid, Scenario B). That gives the full range of nine outcomes instead of one midpoint.
- 9-factor scoring
- Each company is scored on nine factors: properties, management, share structure, location, growth profile, market discovery, cost structure, cash/debt position and peer valuation. Weights vary by stage cohort (Developer / Hybrid / Producer) and were set using a cross-sectional factor study of about 300 companies.
- BASE / MID / HIGH
- The three metals-price scenarios: $6,000 / $7,000 / $8,000 per oz of gold and $150 / $175 / $200 per oz of silver.
- Data Quality Score (DQS)
- A score from 1 to 10 on every analysis that reflects source recency, document availability and analytical consistency. As a rule of thumb, 7 or higher means the analysis is well sourced. Below 6 means some inputs are estimated, and the audit trail shows which ones.
- Dual-scenario valuation
- Every developer and hybrid gets a Scenario A and a Scenario B, weighted by probability into a calibrated mid. The result is a range, not a single forced number.
- Governing catalyst
- The highest-impact milestone in a company's forward window, which is not always the next one on the calendar. The Re-Rate Score is built around it.
- Market discovery
- Factor 6, weighted at 5%. It measures how far investors have already found the company, based on analyst coverage, institutional ownership, listing venue, daily trading volume in USD and sector visibility, such as inclusion in major sector funds. It ignores price momentum and charts, and a higher score means more discovered, not more bullish.
- Milestone Runway
- A Gantt-style timeline on each CompanyCard showing upcoming catalysts such as financing close, PEA/FS publication, construction decision and production start, each with a 90 to 180 day confidence band. The Catalyst Ladder tab breaks down each milestone.
- Optionality value (resource floor)
- Optionality value means a company's resource floor: 10% of plausible ounces × spot metal price ÷ fully diluted shares, expressed per share. It is a sanity check on what the resource alone supports compared with the market price.
- Peer percentiles
- Where a company's valuation sits within its peer group. There are six groups: Developer, Hybrid and Producer, each split into gold and silver. Each group has a 25th-percentile, median and 75th-percentile figure for EV per plausible ounce, resource value against market cap, P/NAV and the FCF multiple, and those figures feed the Peer Valuation score (Factor 9).
- Per-factor scoring
- The score for each of the nine factors individually, shown in the Factor Scores tab and the score bar, alongside the overall score. Pro and Pro+ show it for the full library.
- Plausible ounces
- A company's resource ounces discounted by how certain each category is. Reserves count in full, measured and indicated ounces at 75% (not counting ounces already included as reserves) and inferred ounces at 50%. They are valued at the BASE metal price whatever the scenario.
- Prob-Weighted Mid
- The blended price target: W × Scenario B + (1 − W) × Scenario A, where W is the assessed probability of Scenario B. It sits in the middle column of the 9-cell scenario matrix.
- Re-Rate Score (RR)
- A score from 1.0 to 5.0 for how strong a company's setup is for an event-driven repricing, built around its governing catalyst. It combines upside given asset quality, catalyst impact by stage and catalyst type, how soon the catalyst is due, and the quality of the name. "RR" always means Re-Rate Score. It is recalculated weekly, because the time remaining to each catalyst changes every week.
- Scenario A / Scenario B
- Outcomes specific to each company. Scenario A assumes a specific, identified milestone does not happen on time. Scenario B assumes the company delivers its official roadmap on schedule. The two are combined using W, the probability of Scenario B, into the Prob-Weighted Mid. Your due diligence comes down to judging how likely Scenario B is.
- Stage-aware price path
- A price path tied to milestones, showing what value each stage transition should unlock, instead of a straight line to one target.
- W (probability weight)
- The assessed probability that a company delivers Scenario B. W is not a free number: it can only fall in fixed bands of 0.15–0.25, 0.30–0.40, 0.50–0.60 or 0.70–0.80, and values between the bands are not used.
Mining terms used on the site
- AISC (all-in sustaining cost)
- The full cost of producing an ounce. GSA uses the reported AISC in Tier 1 and Tier 2 jurisdictions. For producers in Tier 3 to 5 it adds 5%, and stated royalties and streams are added to the cost base.
- Developer / Hybrid / Producer / Explorer
- Stage cohorts. Factor weights and comparisons are set within each cohort. Pre-resource explorers (no MRE) and major producers are outside coverage.
- FCF multiple
- The multiple applied to free cash flow when valuing producing assets. It is capped for higher-risk jurisdictions.
- Jurisdiction tiers (1–5)
- Every operating country falls into one of five tiers, from Tier 1 (established mining jurisdictions) to Tier 5 (the highest country risk covered). Tiers 3 to 5 add 5% to AISC and a minimum risk classification, applied as fixed rules.
- Lassonde Curve
- The common pattern of a mining company's value through its life: discovery, MRE, PEA, PFS, FS, financing, construction, first production, steady state. GSA focuses on the middle of the curve: developers, hybrids and early-to-mid producers.
- Lassonde Ratio
- Optionality per share ÷ current share price. Above 1.0× means the resource floor is above the market price. Compare it only within a stage, because earlier-stage companies always show higher ratios.
- MRE (mineral resource estimate)
- A resource estimate compliant with NI 43-101 or JORC. Coverage requires one.
- PEA / PFS / FS
- Preliminary economic assessment, pre-feasibility study and feasibility study, the sequence of economic studies. Each completed study moves a project's value per ounce up to the next stage.
The methodology, monthly
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