Real Rocks, Real Returns, and Real Progress Power The Top 5 in Kelowna
Going into CEM’s 100th capital event in Kelowna last weekend, the buzz wasn’t about the loudest story in the room.
It was about which company could turn hard assets into real and near term cash flow in a tougher, results driven market. By the time the weekend wrapped, the Investor Breakout Exchange’s (IBE) Top 5 Picks had quietly answered that question.
The five companies that rose to the top all shared the same underlying pitch: they already control valuable land, infrastructure or operating platforms, and they have visible paths to scale them.
They also shared many of the traits seen in the other five companies that rounded out this event’s Top 10, including clear milestones, credible management and business plans that investors can follow over time.
“Taken together, the top 10 represent a coherent theme of capital flowing to businesses where physical assets, infrastructure and demand visibility combine to offer derisked growth and potential rerating,” said Ryan Iverson, CEM’s Portfolio Manager.
“Their stories stood out in Kelowna because investors were asking harder questions and looking for clearer answers.”
Top 5 Picks
Here is your exclusive early look at the Top 5 Picks selected by the IBE at the 2026 TSX Venture Growth Capital Event in Kelowna, where 50 growth stage companies met with scores of investors as CEM marked its 100th milestone event.
TSXV: BYN | OTCQB: BYAGF
Banyan Gold Corp.
Banyan Gold’s flagship multi-million ounce gold project in the Mayo Mining District of central Yukon sits on a large, road accessible land package hosting the Airstrip and Powerline deposits, with grid power, highway access and cell coverage already in place. The latest AurMac resource now tops 8.6 million ounces of pitconstrained gold, with a growing high grade core and more drills turning. FrancoNevada has written a $52.2million cheque for the underlying royalty, a loud signal that the rocks here are real.
This is not a boots and hopes junior as its 2026 drilling keeps punching out new zones at Powerline and Airstrip, including hits like 5.58 g/t gold over 21.7 metres in a fresh highgrade corridor.
A fully funded, 70,000 metre program plus a maiden PEA slated for later this year give investors a clear line of sight to the next set of numbers.
Why It Was Picked
Big ounces in the ground, getting bigger. AurMac now carries 3.64 million ounces indicated and 4.98 million ounces inferred, with a defined higher grade core around 1.0 g/t that sets up starter pits and stronger margins.
Money in the bank and money backing the story. Banyan has raised tens of millions this year for drilling and studies, while FrancoNevada’s royalty deal and analysts from Cormark and Canaccord point to room for a rerating as the PEA comes into view.
Real infrastructure in a friendlier jurisdiction. Year round road access, hydro power and improving Yukon permitting give AurMac a head start on many peers still flying into camp.
CSE: NUE
NU E Power Corp.
From its base in Calgary, NU E Power hunts for land with grid access, locks it up at low cost, then turns it into solar, battery and hybrid “power parks” designed to feed data centres, industrial loads and utilities. In a world staring at trillions in required clean energy spend, NUE is pitching itself as the shop that finds and derisks the early stage projects before big capital shows up.
Instead of betting on any one technology, NU E focuses on the first quarter of project spending, where the bulk of value is created. The team screens sites, advances interconnection and permitting, structures off take, and then looks to monetize or bring in deeper pocketed partners once the heavy construction spend starts. That approach is already being tested on a 503.5 megawatt Alberta portfolio advanced from greenfield concept to a nonbinding LOI in about 18 months. The company now has a project pipeline that stretches from operating solar in Lethbridge to a planned 600megawatt energy park in Mongolia, with additional growth plans in North America and Southeast Asia.
Why It Was Picked
NU E Power gives investors a levered way to play the global scramble for power, datacentre capacity and baseload energy by sitting at the origination end of the value chain, where projects are cheaper to enter and margins can be higher.
The company’s Alberta portfolio shows how its “originate, advance, monetize, repeat” model can move hundreds of megawatts from idea to LOI with only a few thousand U.S. dollars per megawatt invested, setting up potential per-megawatt payouts that are many times its development cost if deals close on expected terms.
With projects in Alberta and Mongolia and an eye on Southeast Asia and U.S. markets, NU E offers diversified exposure to power-constrained regions, backed by a management and board bench that mixes energy development, datacentre experience and capital markets savvy.
TSXV: WHN | OTCQB: WTHVF
Westhaven Gold Corp.
Westhaven is developing an underexplored volcanic belt in southern British Columbia into the next high grade underground gold and silver story. The company controls about 60,263 hectares along the Spences Bridge Gold Belt and has already pushed its Shovelnose project to a detailed economic study that points to strong margins and an 11 year mine life.
At Shovelnose, the updated 2025 assessment outlines an underground operation averaging 56,000 ounces of gold and 313,000 ounces of silver a year, with an aftertax project value of roughly 454 million Canadian dollars and a 43.2 percent internal rate of return based on conservative metal price assumptions. In February 2026, Westhaven added real firepower by signing an earning with Dundee Corporation that can bring up to 85 million Canadian dollars of staged spending into the four Spences Bridge properties, including a fully funded 50,000 metre drill program at Shovelnose this year.
Why It Was Picked
Westhaven offers investors a high margin underground gold and silver project with a completed assessment, clear production metrics and room to grow further along a 4kilometre trend of epithermal veins.
The Dundee earnin provides nondilutive funding and a partner with deep technical and financial experience, accelerating drilling, engineering and baseline work without forcing Westhaven to carry all the risk on its own balance sheet.
With road, power and community access already in place, and a broader beltscale land position around Shovelnose, Westhaven gives investors both a defined development story and exploration upside in a jurisdiction that understands underground gold mining.
TSXV: SCOT | OTCQB: SCTSF
Scottie Resources Corp.
Scottie sits in the heart of British Columbia’s Golden Triangle and is working to turn a past producing high grade mine into a modern, near surface gold operation. The company controls roughly 58,500 hectares across the Stewart Mining Camp, including the Scottie Gold Mine, the Blueberry Contact Zone and the Georgia River Mine area, giving it multiple shots on goal in one of the world’s richest gold districts.
The maiden Scottie Gold Mine resource totals about 703,000 ounces of gold, split between underground ounces grading 8.7 g/t and openpit ounces at 3.2 g/t. It is backed by a PEA that points to strong economics even at basecase gold prices. The study outlines a directship ore plan with average annual production around 65,000 ounces over seven years, plus a potential tollmilling option at the nearby Premier mill that strips capital intensity and shortens payback.
Why It Was Picked
Scottie offers investors highgrade ounces in a proven mining district, with a Preliminary Economic Assessment showing strong aftertax project value in the hundreds of millions of dollars and returns that improve further under potential tollmilling options.
The land package ties together past producing mines, the Blueberry Contact Zone’s long trend of highgrade hits, and multiple brownfield and greenfield targets, giving Scottie room to keep growing the story around existing infrastructure.
With cash on hand, strategic backing from groups like Ocean Partners and FrancoNevada, and a management team embedded in the Golden Triangle, Scottie is positioned as a highgrade, infrastructure advantaged development story rather than a remote, early stage gamble.
TSXV: SERV
Elevate Service Group Inc.
Elevate is turning the messy world of facility maintenance into a single, national service machine. Built around more than 20 years of work for brands like Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Loblaws, the company now runs a tech-enabled platform that handles plumbing, electrical, lighting, foodservice equipment and renovation work under long term master service agreements.
Instead of being one more contractor in the mix, Elevate buys and integrates profitable service businesses, then plugs them into shared systems, technicians and data tools so customers can call one number and get everything done. Recent deals have added electrical and plumbing operations in Ontario and British Columbia plus a national commercial kitchen equipment business, giving Elevate coast to coast coverage, about 90 million dollars of pro forma revenue and a growing base of recurring, highermargin work.
Why It Was Picked
Elevate offers investors a straightforward rollup story in a sector where demand is steady and national brands prefer one trusted partner over dozens of small vendors.
The platform already serves bluechip customers across Canada, with about 130 technicians and a portfolio of acquisitions done at attractive multiples, setting up room for margin expansion as more work is kept in-house.
With a focus on technology, data, and cross-selling more service lines into existing accounts, Elevate is positioned to grow cash flow as it scales, while still giving investors exposure to a business built on essential, recurring services rather than cyclical projects.
Outstanding Performers
These five companies completed the lineup of 10 names that most captured investor interest in Kelowna, standing alongside the Top Picks as the stories that made the strongest impression at CEM’s 2026 TSX Venture Growth Capital Event.
Atlas Salt Inc. (TSXV: SALT)
Tiger Gold Corp. (TSXV: TIGR)
Forge Resources Corp. (CSE: FRG)
Quantum Secure Encryption Corp. (CSE: QSE)
Founders Metals Inc. (TSXV: FDR)
Honourable Mentions
These companies were highlighted for steady execution, clear progress and the momentum they brought into last weekend’s event.
Altura Energy | Lobe Sciences |
Argenta Silver | Midnight Sun Mining |
Brixton Metals | Miivo AI |
Canary Gold | Nevada King Gold |
Cerrado Gold | Nord Precious Metals Mining |
Diamond Therapeutics | Ocumetics Technology |
Enduro Metals | Omega Pacific Resources |
EnWave | Pacific Ridge Exploration |
EraNova Metals | Progressive Planet Solutions |
Fortune Bay | Prospector Metals |
Frontier Lithium | Purebread Brands |
Galactic Gold | Rua Gold |
Green Bridge Metals | Thiogenesis Therapeutics |
Guanajuato Silver Company | Titiminas Silver |
Honey Badger Silver | Tocvan Ventures |
IDEX Metals | ValOre Metals |
K2 Gold | Visionary Metals |
Kootenay Silver | Volta Metals |
Launchit Solutions | Vulcan Resources |
LithiumBank Resources | Yocale.ai |
Next Stop: Muskoka
After Kelowna, the road leads to Ontario’s lake country, where CEM will host the 14th annual Muskoka Capital Event from September 25 to 27, 2026 at the JW Marriott Rosseau Muskoka Resort in Minett. The gathering will bring growth stage companies and investors together for a weekend of lakeside meetings, idea sharing, and dealmaking in a setting that makes it easy to keep the conversations going long after the formal sessions end.
Issuer capacity is SOLD OUT and few investor seats remain.
Warm Regards and Happy Investing,
Fabian Dawson
Weekly Insight
Each week, CEM Partner and Portfolio Manager, Ryan Iverson, spotlights the ideas and companies sparking investor interest form emerging growth stories to the Top Pick featured across CEM’s Capital Events. This series brings real insights from the annotators shaping tomorrow’s markets and reveals where investors are finding the next breakout opportunities.
