Don't be lulled by recent market action...
Right now, U.S. equity markets are sitting just below all-time highs.
But there are risks and fear bubbling under the surface.
The trade war between the U.S. and China rages on. In recent weeks, tensions between the U.S. and China have risen, increasing fears that talks could be falling apart.
In Europe, investors are afraid of a potential looming recession – in addition to the ongoing Brexit saga.
U.S. relations with the Middle East and North Korea still remain on thin ice, with potential conflict constantly on the horizon.
And all of these uncertainties are a good sign for gold demand...
Remember, gold has proven itself as a reliable store of value for thousands of years. So, investors flood into the precious metal when the markets spook them.
And what's good for gold is good for gold miners. But not many gold producers are growing like today's company is...
We're talking about Kirkland Lake Gold (NYSE: KL)...
Kirkland Lake is a $10 billion gold mining and exploration company based in Toronto.
It owns and operates four underground gold mines – two in Canada and two in Australia.
But two of its mines – one in Fosterville, Australia and the other in Canada – are its crown jewels.
In 2015, the Fosterville mine only produced 123,000 ounces of gold.
But last year, the mine produced more than 356,000 ounces – a 189% jump in just three years. And Kirkland Lake is forecasting 550,000 to 610,000 ounces of production out of the mine in 2019.
Not to mention, Kirkland Lake expects another 40% growth at Fosterville in the next two years.
Fosterville contains around 1.7 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves... with an astonishing average grade of 23 grams per ton (g/t) of gold. To put that in perspective, the World Gold Council – a nonprofit organization focused on the gold industry – defines a high-quality underground mine as having a grade between eight and 10 g/t of gold.
Kirkland Lake's other prized asset is the Macassa Mine. It is located along the company's namesake, Kirkland Lake in Ontario, Canada – roughly 360 miles north of Toronto.
Longtime subscribers know all about this region's extensive mining history... Kirkland Lake is part of the prolific Abitibi gold belt – a geological district that has produced more than 100 mines and 170 million ounces of gold since mining started there more than a century ago.
This mine was commissioned in 2002, but the deposit has been producing gold since 1933.
Last year, Kirkland Lake produced more than 240,000 ounces of gold at Macassa. The company expects the mine to produce between 240,000 to 250,000 ounces this year.
And Kirkland is planning to increase production to more than 400,000 ounces per year by 2025.
The Macassa Mine has more than 2 million ounces of proven and probable gold reserves. And like Fosterville, it's high-quality stuff... with an average grade of 21.9 g/t of gold.
Both of these mines sit in regions with well-developed infrastructure, too...
The Fosterville Mine is easily accessible by paved roads, making transportation easy. And the area around the Macassa Mine includes a provincial highway, a railway, and an airport.
These mines will help propel Kirkland Lake to become one of the world's largest mining companies.
You see, Kirkland Lake has a goal to produce 1 million ounces of gold annually. To do this, it plans on growing production by 10% to 15% per year over the next three years.
Our colleagues at Stansberry Gold & Silver Investor classify any company with that much production as a "gold major."
In addition to its production potential, Kirkland Lake has a world-class management team leading it.
Legendary precious metals investor Eric Sprott is the chairman of the company's board. He's spent more than four decades in the investment industry, and is Kirkland Lake's second-largest shareholder – holding about 7% of outstanding shares.
The company's president and CEO, Tony Makuch, is an engineer with more than 35 years managing and operating mines.
Put together the explosive growth potential along with a stellar management team, and you get great results for shareholders.
Over the past year, Kirkland Lake's shares soared nearly 150%. The stock returned 85% this year alone.
On a long-term basis, the gains are just as impressive. The stock has soared from about $1.31 per share in 2015 to nearly $50 today – a gain of more than 3,500%.
With the Fosterville and Macassa mines propelling Kirkland Lake to quickly become a "gold major," and the macro picture setting up tailwinds for gold, these incredible gains should continue.
Sometimes investing is simple.
Our colleague Bill Shaw recommended shares of Kirkland Lake to his Stansberry Gold & Silver Investor subscribers in January. Readers who followed his advice are sitting on 92% gains in nearly 11 months as of Friday's close. Congrats to Bill and his team on a great call. If you'd like to learn more about Stansberry Gold & Silver Investor, click here.
As we went to press, Kirkland Lake announced it has agreed to buy Detour Gold in an all-stock deal valued at $3.7 billion. The stock has sold off heavily on the news as investors worried about a potential increase in production costs.
However, the Detour acquisition will add another "cornerstone asset" to Kirkland Lake's portfolio, according to Makuch. Detour's main mine, The Detour Lake mine in Ontario, is expected to produce an average of 659,000 ounces of gold per year for the next 22 years.