Nomi Prins — On-Site at Aya Gold & Silver's Zgounder Mine
A boots-on-the-ground Pulse Premium field video from Aya's Zgounder silver mine in Morocco's Anti-Atlas Mountains — confirming the pure-play silver thesis the spring paper-market selloff hasn't touched.
One-line take: Prins's "Nomi Notes" field video from Aya Gold & Silver (AYA)'s Zgounder mine — she walks 2,000 m underground into the active tunnels where Aya is pushing out the mining perimeter. The thesis (a high-conviction holding since the July 2024 silver call) only strengthens on the visit: Zgounder is a rare pure-play silver asset (most silver is a lead/zinc/copper by-product), it runs on local wind and solar to beat the energy cost curve, and in Q4 the mill hit 3,800 tonnes/day at a 91% recovery rate — above stated capacity. Macro catalysts ahead: Morocco ranks near the top of the Fraser Institute mining survey (pro-mining stability lets Aya drill hard at Zgounder and Boumadine), and Aya has just moved from the OTC market to a NASDAQ listing — more institutional visibility, coverage and liquidity that "the broader market has not fully baked into the current price." Silver hit an all-time $121/oz in January before the dollar-driven pullback, which Prins reads as paper-market liquidity fear, "not a shift in underlying physical realities."
1. Stocks & names mentioned
A single-name field update. "View" reflects how Aya was framed in the piece; the "At" link opens the post. Research: QT Qualtrim · SA Seeking Alpha · STK Stock Analysis.
| Ticker | Name | Research | View | What she said | At |
|---|
| AYA | Aya Gold & Silver | QT · SA · STK · FA | Positive | Boots-on-the-ground confirmation of the long-held silver thesis: Zgounder is a rare pure-play silver mine, wind/solar-powered to beat the energy cost curve, milling 3,800 tpd at 91% recovery in Q4 (above stated capacity). Pro-mining Morocco + the new NASDAQ listing are catalysts she says the price hasn't baked in; the spring selloff is "paper market liquidity fears," not physical. | read |
"View" reflects how Aya was framed in this field video (Positive = a confirmed high-conviction pure-play silver holding), not a price rating. The gated content is the video itself; the thesis text is captured here. Research: QT Qualtrim · SA Seeking Alpha · STK Stock Analysis.
2. Key points
Why the trip — Prinsights does its own field diligence
- The silver thesis dates to July 2024; last month Prinsights produced a member-only deep-dive on Aya, and this is the follow-up field video. "We don't just rely on corporate reports and headlines. We follow our positions with our own eyes and ears" — 2,000 m underground into Zgounder's active tunnels, with Aya's Head of Operations (Dr. Gamer) and Head of IR (Salicha Ilyas) on camera.
The setup: a paper selloff, not a physical one
- Silver surged to an all-time $121/oz in January before pulling back sharply on dollar strength and inflation concerns tied to geopolitical noise. Prins's consistent framing: the selloff is "a product of paper market liquidity fears. It is not a shift in underlying physical realities." Seeing Zgounder's efficiency firsthand "confirms that fundamental story is stronger than ever."
What makes Zgounder distinct
- A rare pure-play asset: most global silver is pulled out as a by-product of lead/zinc/copper mining; Zgounder's revenue is driven by pure silver extraction.
- Beating the energy cost curve: while volatile oil prices squeeze miners globally, Zgounder runs on locally-sourced wind and solar, cutting power costs in a remote location.
- Outperforming stated capacity: in Q4, the milling rate reached 3,800 tonnes/day at a 91% recovery rate.
Macro catalysts on the near horizon
- Jurisdiction: Morocco is a "highly progressive, pro-mining" jurisdiction near the top of the Fraser Institute survey — stability that lets Aya advance high-grade drilling at both Zgounder and Boumadine.
- The NASDAQ listing: moving from the OTC market to a major U.S. board "will amplify the company's institutional visibility, analyst coverage and trading liquidity" — a powerful event "the broader market has not fully baked into the current price."
3. In plain English
A jargon-free summary of why Aya is the focus. (Plain-language companion to the table above; renders on the ticker's consolidated page.)
AYA — Aya Gold & Silver Positive
Aya owns a silver mine called Zgounder in the mountains of Morocco. Most "silver miners" actually dig for lead, zinc or copper and get silver as a leftover — so their silver output rises and falls with those other metals. Aya is different: silver is the main product, so the business is a cleaner bet on the silver price. The mine also runs on local wind and solar power, which keeps its electricity bill low when oil prices are jumping around.
Prins flew out and went underground herself to check the operation rather than trusting the company's reports. What she found backs the thesis: the plant is processing more ore than its official capacity (3,800 tonnes a day) and recovering 91% of the silver, in a country that welcomes mining. On top of that, Aya just upgraded its stock listing to the NASDAQ, which usually brings more big investors and trading interest. Her bottom line: silver's recent price drop was traders scrambling for cash, not a problem with the metal or the mine — so she stays a conviction holder.
Summary derived from the Prinsights Substack post (text in transcript.txt) for personal study. The gated content is the field video; the thesis summary is captured here. Not investment advice. © Nomi Prins / Prinsights for source material.