Why an Americas-ex-Canada framing makes sense
Canadian investors tend to split the precious metals universe into Canada and "everywhere else" — with "everywhere else" lumped together under generic jurisdictional-risk discount. That framing is too coarse. Mexico, Guyana, Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Brazil have different regulatory regimes, different fiscal terms, different permitting realities, and different historical track records. A gold project in Mexico is structurally different from one in Nicaragua, which is different from Guyana or Colombia. Grouping them all under "LatAm risk" misses the real jurisdictional picture.
That said, for portfolio construction purposes, there is value in thinking about Americas ex-Canada as a single basket — because the ex-Canada names collectively offer different macro exposure than pure Canadian gold. Currency effects, commodity-price beta, and the political calendar all differ from pure-Canadian exposure. A 15-25% allocation to Americas ex-Canada gold names is a reasonable diversification layer for a Canadian-anchored portfolio.
Mexico: the quiet producer jurisdiction
Mexico remains the most important gold-silver mining jurisdiction outside Canada and the US by operator count. Heliostar is the only Mexican name in our BUY-rated list, but GoGold (silver) also operates primarily in Mexico. Capital-allocation discipline among Mexican-operating juniors tends to be good — they've had to be, given the more challenging financing environment than comparable TSX-listed Canadian operators. The trade-off is higher political risk around mining concessions, illustrated by the 2022 AMLO-era regulatory tightening.
Guyana: the hottest gold story of the 2020s
Guyana has emerged as one of the most active gold exploration jurisdictions globally over the last five years, driven by the Omai mine district's rediscovery and a series of major transactions (G2 Goldfields' parent transactions, Zijin's involvement). Our coverage includes G2 (BUY) and Omai Gold (WATCH, WATCH-adjacent). The geological potential is real; the jurisdictional maturity is still developing, which shows up in permitting timelines and infrastructure scarcity.
Nicaragua: the producer's jurisdiction
Nicaragua hosts two of our WATCH-rated producers — Mako Mining and Calibre Mining. Both operate producing mines with mature local workforces and established regulatory relationships. The political risk discount that has historically applied to Central American mining has narrowed as operational track records have lengthened. For investors looking for producer-stage gold exposure outside Canada, the Nicaragua names are worth the research time.
Colombia, Brazil, and the rest
Colombia (Collective, Max Resource) offers exceptional geological potential combined with complex regulatory evolution. Collective's Guayabales exploration work has drawn major-company interest; Max Resource has scored AVOID on project-specific factors, not jurisdictional ones.
Brazil (GoldMining Inc.) has a mature mining framework but a high tax burden and historically complex permitting. GoldMining is structured as an in-ground-ounces holding company, which differs from the operator model of most names on this list.
Ecuador (Lundin Gold, not yet scored), Peru, and other Andean jurisdictions have meaningful gold-and-copper exposure that we will add to coverage as research capacity allows.
The two AVOIDs
Both Max Resource and Precipitate Gold carry AVOID verdicts — and both are driven by project- specific factor scores (geology, management, acquisition value), not by jurisdictional categorisation. A company can operate in a reasonable jurisdiction and still score AVOID if the project and team factors don't support a higher verdict. Conversely, a company can operate in a jurisdiction the market discounts heavily and still earn a BUY if the underlying factors are strong. The framework separates those signals.