This OVERLOOKED Gold Stock Could TRIPLE - 3.3M Ounces, Bottom-of-Peer Valuation

Key Points:

• Kena hosts a historical resource of ~3.31 million ounces of gold, with 561,000 ounces in the Indicated category and 2.77 million ounces in the Inferred category. The 2021 estimate was calculated under the assumption of a gold price of US$2,000 per ounce, well below current levels.
• Upside Gold is targeting a 30% increase in resources, bringing the total to more than 4 million ounces of gold if achieved. The "three-pillar approach" combines unincorporated historical drilling, the company's own 5,000-meter program, and the inclusion of copper and silver values for the first time.
• Kena has shown surface-to-near-surface mineralization, with visible gold reported in some areas. That profile could support open-pit development, which would help with capex, costs, and timing compared to underground operations.
• The company plans to mobilize a drill rig in June 2026 and to publish an updated NI 43-101 resource estimate in the first quarter of 2027. That updated resource is the company's key near-term catalyst.
• Upside Gold trades at an EV of US$17-18 per ounce versus a peer range of US$20-60 per ounce, suggesting a discount to its peer group. If the stock re-rates and the company hits its growth target, we could see, under the most optimistic scenarios, a target of C$4.00, close to triple today's level.

Upside Gold Corp. is a resource exploration company that searches for mineral deposits rather than operating producing mines. It’s focused on developing the Kena Gold-Copper Project, located approximately 7 kilometers south of Nelson, in the Kootenays region of southeastern British Columbia.

Led by Montreal-based CEO Sophy Cesar, who has a background in capital markets, Upside Gold specializes in acquiring and developing gold and copper assets.

Although the company was established in 2021, Kena dates back to the 1970s. The project covers more than 10,000 hectares in the Kootenay Volcanic Arc, a region that has hosted many gold and silver mines and exploration prospects dating back to the early 1900s.

Notably, Otto Janout, the original prospector who first claimed the mineral rights decades ago, remains a shareholder and participated in the company’s go-public financing round.  

The resource

In the latest NI 43-101, a Canadian technical report standard for mineral projects published in 2021, Kena was reported to have ~3.31 million ounces of gold. 

561,000 ounces is in the Indicated category, a higher-confidence resource estimate, and 2.77 million is in the Inferred category, a lower-confidence estimate that still needs more drilling, representing 84% of total deposits. 

That said, the 2021 NI 43-101 report is treated as historical because a Qualified Person, an independent technical expert recognized under Canadian mining rules, has not done sufficient work to classify it as a current mineral resource. 

Notably, the historical resource was calculated using a gold price assumption of US$2,000 per ounce, well below current gold prices- suggesting potential for resource expansion at lower cutoff grades, the minimum grade needed for rock to count as potentially economic, in a re-statement.

On a call, Cesar explained that their resource base is one of the clearest ways Upside Gold stands apart from many other junior exploration companies. These are the small mining companies that find or are expanding deposits, not yet producing metal.

"I think that that's a differentiating factor for us because there's not a lot of small junior companies that come out of the gate that are sitting on 3.31 million ounces of gold," Cesar said.

The deposit is considered a low-grade, bulk-tonnage system, meaning it is a large deposit with lower metal content per tonne, where scale matters, with average grades ranging between 0.49 and 0.54 grams per tonne Au (gold). 

This means that the rock contains relatively small amounts of gold per tonne. In addition to gold, copper and silver are also present in the deposit, but they have not yet been included in the resource estimate.

Kena has shown surface to near-surface mineralization, or rock containing valuable metals, with visible gold reported in some areas. Although the typical hole depth is around 300 meters, the deepest hole drilled to date has a depth of roughly 500 meters. Drilling has not yet reached the bottom of the deposit, suggesting it could extend farther underground.

That near-surface profile is important because it could support the potential for open-pit development, which is a mine dug from the surface rather than underground. The company has not yet completed the economic studies needed to define ultimate pit depth, strip ratio, the amount of waste rock to be moved per unit of ore, or mine economics.

Previous gold recovery rates, the percentage of gold that can be extracted from the rock, were reported in the range of 86% to 96%. As a result, recovery quality is considered one of Kena's more positive technical aspects. However, copper and silver recoveries have not yet been tested, and additional metallurgical work, including lab testing to determine how metals can be extracted, is planned after the 2026 drilling project is complete.

The path to a higher resource estimate

Upside Gold is expected to release a new NI 43-101 resource estimate in the first quarter of 2027. Cesar outlined three drivers that could potentially raise the historical estimate.

First, approximately 5,000 meters of historical drilling by the prior operator in 2021 and 2022 was never included in the resource estimate and remains unaccounted for.

Second, Upside Gold is carrying out its own exploration, consisting of roughly 5,000 meters of drilling, including 1,000 meters already completed in 2025. For 2026, Upside is planning a roughly 4,000-meter drill campaign on a budget of C$1.2 million. The company's all-in drilling cost is around C$260 per meter, which is considered competitive.

The campaign is well-funded. On May 21, 2026, the company announced a $5 million brokered private placement, led by Beacon Securities, expected to close in June 2026. The raise is structured as a mix of flow-through and non-flow-through units priced between $1.25 and $1.735, each with a half warrant exercisable at $1.80, and provides capital well beyond the current drill season.

For the 2026 exploration program, the company has 22 priority diamond drill targets, or specific locations selected for core drilling, with the addition of roughly 30 prospective sites for future follow-up work. 

Although no ultimate pit depth has been defined yet, the project has the potential for open-pit development, which would require lower capital expenditures compared to underground operations.

Third, the company will include copper and silver values in the estimate for the first time, although this will require additional metallurgical work.

Cesar described this as Upside's "three-pillar approach" to growing the resource.

"So in total, 10,000 meters of drilling will be incorporated into an updated resource," Cesar said. "And interestingly, the company that had it previously, they didn't incorporate copper and silver values into the resource. So there is a lot of value there in doing that."

Altogether, the next resource estimate could benefit from roughly 10,000 meters of new drill data, including polymetallic values, meaning value from more than one metal, such as gold, copper, and silver.

Timeline and catalysts

Upside Gold is targeting a 30% increase in resources, bringing the total to more than 4 million ounces of gold if achieved. This growth would come from converting existing Inferred resources into the Indicated category, as well as adding new ounces from drilling.

The company plans to mobilize a drill rig, meaning move drilling equipment onto the site, in June 2026 to begin its next phase of exploration, with the initial 5,000-meter drill program expected to continue through September under the current permit.

In addition, Upside has already submitted a permit application for a further 10,000 meters of drilling. If approved, it would allow the company to continue drilling into late 2026.

In addition to exploration, the company will conduct metallurgical work focused on copper and silver recoveries through late 2026 and into the first quarter of 2027. As mentioned, Upside Gold is targeting the publication of an updated NI 43-101 resource estimate in Q1 2027.

The resource can be found across a 4-kilometer stretch. However, a major structural trend, or a geological zone that may control where mineralization occurs, extends up to 11 kilometers along strike, meaning the length of the mineralized zone on the surface, compared to earlier estimates of around 7 kilometers.

That broader trend could give the company room to expand the resource if exploration beyond the known deposits proves successful. Notably, the 2026 drill program will prioritize targets within the Kena Copper Zone to define a second major mineralized zone on the property.

The company also acquired a 100% interest in the Venus-Juno six reverted Crown grants. The areas cover around 273 hectares and recorded past production of roughly 5,411 tonnes grading an average of 19.8 g/t gold and 17.7 g/t silver with minor copper and lead credits, during the first half of the 20th century. The acquisition broadens the company's exploration efforts as it continues to develop Kena.

After the updated resource is published, a natural next step in the development pathway would be a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), an early-stage study that estimates whether a project could be economically viable. That said, no specific timeline has been announced for it. 

Infrastructure and team advantages

The property has easy access to infrastructure, including hydroelectric power, logging roads that lead to drill pad locations, or prepared sites where drill rigs operate, and a highway that runs directly through the site. It's also located in an area with a multigenerational local mining workforce.

Cesar and the company's VP of Exploration, Trevor Boyd, previously worked together on a polymetallic project where they successfully raised over C$40 million and significantly grew its resource.

Meanwhile, the project team consists of experienced professionals, including field geologists, drillers, junior geoscientists, and consultants with 10-20 years of experience on the project.

Exit strategy

Upside's long-term goal isn't to build mines, but to develop Kena and grow its resource until a larger company can step in, perhaps in a joint venture or strategic partnership.

Cesar was clear that Upside's core competency is exploration, not mine construction.

"Our goal is to drill, to execute on expanding and growing that resource to a number that becomes very interesting," Cesar said. "Then a larger-tier mining company is going to be interested in what we've discovered, and then it would be for them to take it forward into production."

Cesar's previous project attracted a 9.9% strategic investment from New Gold as a mill feed for a nearby mine. New Gold was later acquired by Coeur Mining in a multi-billion-dollar all-stock transaction completed in March 2026. That said, the company's strength lies in exploration, and it would likely implement the same playbook for Kena.

Valuation

As of late May 2026, the stock traded at approximately C$1.44, and with a fully diluted share count of more than 75 million, including options, warrants, and other potential shares, the market cap sits around C$79 million. Based on the historical estimate of 3.31 million ounces of gold, that works out to an enterprise value, or market cap adjusted for cash and debt, of roughly US$17-18 per ounce.

In my base case, similar exploration companies are valued in the range of US$20-60 per ounce, placing Upside Gold at the very bottom of that range. Once there's clarity from the new resource report and the stock re-rates closer to its peers, there could be meaningful upside even without any growth in the resource itself.

In my most optimistic case, the company hits its 30% growth target, lifting the resource to roughly 4 million ounces, and the stock re-rates toward the top of the peer range at around US$60 per ounce. That would imply a market capitalization of roughly C$330 million, more than four times today's level. 

Accounting for the additional shares from the recent private placement, that translates to a price target of approximately C$4.00 per share, or close to triple where the stock trades today. And that's before factoring in any new gold claims, or any copper and silver credits added to the resource in the future.

Risks

Of course, no investment is without risk, and with Upside Gold, I find five key risks:

Execution risk: the base and bull cases depend on the drilling results, metallurgical test results, technical validation (by qualified persons), and, of course, timely progress in exploration.

Regulatory and Indigenous engagement risk: permitting and First Nations engagement also add to the uncertainty, especially given British Columbia's regulatory environment for mining projects. 

Commodity risk: the company is heavily exposed to gold, so a significant decline in gold prices would certainly affect the value of its claims.

Financing risk: additional funding rounds are expected to fund ongoing exploration, potentially diluting existing shareholders. Indeed, the company is looking to secure additional funds in the second half of 2026.

Resource confidence risk: approximately 84% of the resource is classified as Inferred- this is the lowest-confidence category (and lowest priced). The resource will need to be upgraded to Indicated through infill drilling, which means drilling between existing holes to improve confidence in the deposit, before it can support any economic study beyond a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).

Final thoughts

Today, Upside Gold is a junior exploration company with an optimistic roadmap backed up by impressive prospects. The company continues to advance Kena and aims to grow the resource as it expands exploration and acquires additional mineral claims.

Looking ahead, the company could raise its resource estimate once it factors in copper and silver values for the first time, along with historical drilling data from the previous operator.

Further, the company has already proposed 22 priority diamond drill targets for its 2026 exploration projects and has a pending permit application for an additional 10,000 meters of drilling. It also acquired interests in six gold crown grants historically known for their high-grade production.

Despite this, the stock continues to trade at a discount, suggesting that much of the potential growth isn’t yet priced in. Should the company execute on its Q1 2027 plans and the market begins to recognize that growth, the stock could rerate significantly higher.