Your host Stijn Schmitz welcomes back Michael Gentile to the show. Michael Gentile is Strategic Investor & Co-Founder of Bastion Asset Management. With a background in finance and commodities, Gentile has developed a unique investment approach in the junior mining sector, combining value investing principles with a contrarian perspective. Gentile’s investment strategy is rooted in identifying inefficient market opportunities, particularly in junior resource stocks. He focuses on companies with potential to become mines, looking for key attributes such as grade, scale, infrastructure, and management ownership. His approach involves making initial small investments (around 1% of capital) in companies with promising geological prospects, with the potential to increase stakes as companies demonstrate successful execution.

Michael sees the current commodity cycle, particularly in gold, as being in its early stages. He believes we are entering a period of monetary devaluation, drawing parallels to the 1970s economic environment. Gentile argues that the unprecedented levels of government debt and the challenges of managing interest rates create a favorable backdrop for gold and other hard assets. His due diligence process is comprehensive, examining factors like drilling efficiency, management ownership, and jurisdictional risks.

Unlike many investors, Michael prefers 100% ownership of projects and is cautious about joint ventures or royalty companies. Gentile looks for companies with the potential to become significant producers, focusing on the valuation and future potential of investments. Gentile’s investment philosophy emphasizes long-term thinking, often holding investments for 3-10 years and looking for opportunities where he can potentially make 20-50 times his initial investment. He is currently most bullish on gold, with secondary interest in copper and a watchful eye on oil. As part of his commitment to sharing knowledge, Gentile is planning a European road show in October, bringing six of his key mining investments to meet potential investors across five cities, offering insights into his investment approach and the junior mining sector.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:01:05 – Entry into Commodities
00:03:40 – Competitive Advantage
00:06:11 – Making Long-Term Bets
00:11:15 – Commodity Cycles Lessons
00:18:12 – Current Cycle Stage
00:21:02 – Historical Parallels
00:30:00 – Current Positioning
00:32:30 – Personal Portfolio Allocation
00:36:40 – Due Diligence Process
00:44:38 – Business Models Variety
00:48:50 – Jurisdiction Risk Concerns
00:52:00 – Valuation Assessment
00:55:26 – Warrants Strategy
00:58:55 – Europe Roadshow & Wrap Up

Guest Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-gentile-01028552
Website: https://www.bastion-am.com/
Mining & Metals European Roadshow: https://www.amvestcapital.com/gentile-euro-roadshow-2025

Michael Gentile, CFA is Founding Partner & Senior Portfolio Manager at Bastion Asset Management. Before founding BAM, Michael was Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at Formula Growth Ltd for over 17 years. Michael co-managed the FG Alpha Fund (US SMid equity market neutral) between 2012 and 2018, co-managed the FG Focus Fund (US SMid long short strategy) between 2014 and 2018. Since leaving FG in 2018, Michael has been very successful investing in the gold sector also acting as Strategic Advisor and Director for several companies in the natural resource sector. Michael graduated with Great Distinction from the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University) with a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and received the Calvin Potter Fellowship from Concordia’s Kenneth Woods Portfolio Management Program. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA)