In short: Last year's third pick reviewed: rolled into the merged company, still held. Asked whether he took the November merger paper: "I did. I was a founding shareholder of both EMX and Elemental. So I was involved in both constituents of that merger for 20 years. I have a high opinion of both teams." The case for the combination is three-part and mostly mechanical: "they eliminated a lot of duplicate overhead. They increased the size and scope of the business. And as a consequence of larger market capitalizations, they now get a lot more index buying" — the same passive-flow logic he applies to Equinox and to takeover targets generally. His verdict: "it was a case where two plus two equals five and a half or something." Asked whether all three of last year's picks are still held: "that's correct."
A royalty company owns the right to a small slice of a mine's revenue without operating the mine, paying for its construction, or absorbing cost overruns. Rule helped found both EMX and Elemental Altus, has been involved with them for twenty years, and when they merged last November he took shares in the combined company rather than cashing out.
His case for the merger is unglamorous and worth understanding because he applies it repeatedly. First, two head offices become one, so a chunk of overhead simply disappears. Second, the combined portfolio is larger and more diversified, so one bad royalty matters less. Third — and this is the part most people miss — a bigger company gets bought by index funds.
That last point is a real, mechanical source of demand. Index and exchange-traded funds buy shares according to size and trading liquidity, not according to whether a business is good. Below a certain market capitalisation a company is invisible to them; above it, money arrives automatically every time someone contributes to a retirement account. Combining two mid-sized companies can therefore lift the pair over the threshold and create buyers that neither had alone. It is the same logic he uses on Equinox and on takeover targets generally: "two plus two equals five and a half or something."
58:47So, we're still holding on to that one. The third pick was a little bit more of a complex story. EMX Royalty Corp., metal mining royalty company that ultimately, I think it was in November, merged with Elemental Royalty. So, did you roll over into the new company? Did you like that deal? — I did.
In short: No current rating — cited as the prospect generator he co-founded and the source of the Headwater team. The origin story: "I owned EMX before Davey Cole, the current CEO, was even employed there… I tried to hire Davey a long time ago. And when I couldn't hire him to be an exploration analyst for me, we put him in a company that we then had called Southern European Exploration… and that's what became EMX." He also says he was "one of the founding shareholders of EMX." Context and provenance rather than a call on the stock today.
EMX is not given a rating here. It comes up as the ancestor of Headwater Gold and as a piece of Rick's own history: he was a founding shareholder, and he owned it "before Davey Cole, the current CEO, was even employed there."
The origin story doubles as a lesson in how he backs people. He tried to hire Cole as an exploration analyst and failed, so instead of losing him he built a company around him — "we put him in a company that we then had called Southern European Exploration… and that's what became EMX." When the person is the asset, the right move can be to fund them rather than employ them.
For an investor today, the takeaway is provenance rather than a call: EMX is the template that produced both the model and the team now running Headwater.
40:33I actually owned EMX before Davey Cole, the current CEO, was even employed there. — No kidding. I had no idea. — way back. I tried to hire Davey a long time ago. And when I couldn't hire him to be an exploration analyst for me, we put him in a company that we then had called Southern European Exploration. Proposed symbol on the exchange sex.
Nothing matches this filter.
Verbatim excerpts from the public transcripts (auto-pulled at each mention's timestamp, lightly cleaned). Timestamps link into the video; "source page" opens that commentator's full analysis at this row. Click a mention's header line to expand it (one open at a time). For personal study — not investment advice.