Carson Block Just Called Snowline a Top Takeover Target — But Gold Strike Is the Company That Holds the Leverage

Yesterday I sent you an overview of Gold Strike Resources (TSXV: GSR) and why I think it controls the doorway to Snowline Gold’s Valley deposit in the Yukon.

Today, that thesis just got a massive new spotlight.

Carson Block (Muddy Waters) spoke at the Sohn London Investment Conference and made a very bullish presentation on Snowline Gold (SGD) – calling it one of the few assets globally that can truly move the needle for a mid- or large-cap producer, and suggesting it could be acquired in the C$4–6B range over the next few years.

You can read the coverage here:

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/19/muddy-waters-capitals-carson-block-makes-rare-long-call-in-canadian-miner-snowline-gold.html

On the surface, that sounds like a straightforward “Snowline gets bought” story.

But there’s a critical piece of the puzzle the market – and even most of the commentary around this call – is ignoring:

You can’t buy Valley without solving the land and infrastructure bottleneck that sits on Gold Strike’s claims.

Why a Clean Snowline Takeover Is Not So Simple

In my previous email, I walked through how Gold Strike One wraps around the Valley deposit on the south, west and north sides, and how Snowline’s own PEA mine plan places a major water pond directly on Gold Strike’s ground.

To recap the key points:

• Snowline has already drilled to within ~30 metres of Gold Strike’s boundary.

• The planned water pond, haul roads and surface infrastructure are not “nice to have” – they are essential to actually building and operating a mine.

• To the east of Valley, rugged topography makes alternative access and infrastructure placements very challenging. Snowline didn’t put that pond on Gold Strike as a courtesy. They put it there because they had nowhere else practical to put it.

That means any acquirer of Snowline isn’t just buying ounces in the ground.

They’re also buying a problem:

• A multi-billion-dollar asset whose development plan depends on key infrastructure sitting on claims they do not control.

• A permitting and ESG minefield if they try to push a mine through without aligning with the neighbouring landowner.

• A significant risk of delay, redesign, and cost overruns if they attempt to engineer around the bottleneck instead of resolving it.

No major wants to spend C$4–6B to inherit that kind of structural risk.

Why Gold Strike Becomes Part of the Conversation

This is where Gold Strike Resources (GSR) becomes more than “another explorer beside a discovery.”

It becomes the forced conversation piece in any serious Snowline M&A scenario.

A rational acquirer looking at Valley has three choices:

1. Ignore Gold Strike
   Build roads, water infrastructure and waste facilities without using Gold Strike’s land. This likely means higher capex, tougher engineering, and more complex permitting. For a flagship Tier-one asset, that’s a hard sell to an investment committee.
   

2. Try to negotiate limited surface rights or easements
   Possible in theory, but Gold Strike is not a random mossy claim with no leverage. It’s a public company with a tight share structure, sophisticated backers, and a clear understanding of its nuisance value. Any surface deal would still have to appropriately compensate GSR shareholders for de-risking a multi-billion-dollar project.
   

3. Acquire Gold Strike outright
   This is the cleanest solution. For a large cap, buying a ~C$30M market cap company to remove a strategic bottleneck on a C$2B+ deposit is not a luxury, it is basic risk management. It simplifies permitting, optimizes infrastructure, and captures any additional discovery upside on the Gold Strike land package.

In other words:

If Snowline is the “elephant” Carson Block is talking about, Gold Strike is the gate in front of the watering hole.

It is hard to see a world where a serious bidder for Snowline does not at least try to bring Gold Strike into the fold – whether before, during, or immediately after a Snowline deal.

The Setup Just Got Better for GSR Shareholders

Carson Block’s call does two important things for GSR:

1. Validates the scale and strategic importance of Valley
   His presentation reinforces what many of us already believed: Valley is one of the few assets globally that can move the needle for a major. That makes the surrounding land – especially the land that controls infrastructure – vastly more important.
   

2. Accelerates the M&A clock
   If mid- and large-cap producers start circling Snowline in the C$4–6B range, they will have to diligence Gold Strike’s position. The more work Snowline does, and the more central that water pond and access corridor become, the harder it is to ignore GSR.

Meanwhile, Gold Strike offers:

• Two shots at discovery – Gold Strike One and Gold Strike Two, both in the same fertile RIRGS corridor.
  

• Early-stage gold and pathfinder anomalies similar to what Snowline had before its breakout.
  

• A tight structure, Florin Group alignment (they took ~90 percent of their compensation in shares), and a recent $5M financing at $0.60 – all above current levels.
  

• A market cap still hovering around C$30M, despite effectively sitting on the choke point of a C$2B+ deposit.

From a risk-reward standpoint, that’s exactly the kind of asymmetry I look for.

How I’m Framing It

To be clear, nothing is guaranteed. Exploration is risky, and there is no certainty Snowline will be taken over on the timeline or at the valuations suggested in that presentation.

But here’s how I think about it:

• If Carson Block is right and Snowline is “inevitably” acquired,
  

• And if majors are unwilling to leave a critical infrastructure bottleneck unsolved,
  

• Then the odds are high that Gold Strike has to be part of the solution.

Whether that comes in the form of a direct bid for GSR, a strategic investment, a surface rights deal at a significant premium, or a three-way transaction, the common thread is the same:

You cannot fully unlock the value of Valley without dealing with the land and infrastructure that Gold Strike controls.

That is the core of the thesis.

I’ll continue to track both Snowline and Gold Strike closely and share updates as the story evolves.

If you missed my original write-up on Gold Strike, you can read it here:
https://smallcapinvestor.ca/this-hidden-gold-company-controls-the-doorway-to-a-2-billion-deposit/

And here’s the recent Snowline coverage again for context:
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/19/muddy-waters-capitals-carson-block-makes-rare-long-call-in-canadian-miner-snowline-gold.html

Best,
Adam

^{DISCLAIMER: The author did not receive any compensation for publishing this article. The author holds a position in Gold Strike Resources Corp and may choose to buy or sell shares of the company at any time without notice. The author does not hold positions in any of the other companies mentioned. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information provided, readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and seek independent financial advice before making any investment decisions related to the companies discussed.}