Brett Heath: New Gold Highs Expected in 2026 & Why Royalties Will Outperform

Brett Heath, CEO of Metalla Royalty & Streaming, discusses the current gold and silver pullback, which he views as a healthy bear-trap phase within a multi-year bull market. He outlines Metalla’s strongly bullish long-term outlook for gold as it transitions toward world reserve-asset status, provides insight into Tether’s royalty-focused strategy, shares a forecast that average mining AISC could double over the next three years, and details Metalla’s 2026 guidance and path to materially higher gold-equivalent production by the end of the decade.

• The recent sharp gold and silver sell-off is considered a healthy correction that shakes out weak hands; Heath expects new highs in both metals by the end of 2026, supported by the absence of speculative froth and strong technical resilience.
• Gold is midway through a structural shift to become the world’s tier-one reserve asset, as central banks and institutions divest approximately $9 trillion in foreign-held U.S. Treasuries; this shift, rather than short-term geopolitics, is the primary long-term driver.
• Average all-in sustaining costs (AISC) across the gold mining industry could double over the next three years as producers process lower-grade surface stockpiles that become economic at current prices, eroding operating margins but delivering significant upside to royalty holders.
• Metalla’s portfolio is heavily weighted toward high-quality, long-duration development assets (including the recently acquired Nova copper royalties); production is guided at 35,000–45,000 GEOs in 2026, with the company positioned to reach over 20,000 GEOs per year by the end of the decade.
• Near-term priorities include continued share buybacks while the stock trades at a discount to NAV, a move to net-cash position, and future capital returns via dividends; Metalla remains focused on accretive acquisitions and portfolio execution rather than pursuing new royalty financings in the current strong-equity environment.