Orla Mining Ltd. ORLA posted total gold production of 81,206 ounces and gold sales of 81,540 ounces in the first quarter of 2026. Production surged 70% year over year and gold sales jumped 76% from the first quarter of 2025. The improvement was mainly attributed to the Musselwhite mine, which was acquired by ORLA in February 2025.
Musselwhite mined 333,495 tons of ore in the first quarter of 2026 and processed 332,822 tons at a mill head grade of 6.29 g/t gold. Gold production at the mine came in at 62,985 ounces in the quarter, which marked a 254% upsurge from the prior-year quarter. Gold sales were 64,104 ounces compared with 15,845 ounces in the prior-year quarter. Drilling efforts at the mine have confirmed high-grade mineralization stretching over two kilometers down-plunge in two new stacked zones, indicating mine life extension.
Orla Mining recently inked a merger deal with Equinox Gold Corp. EQX that is expected to create a senior North American gold producer.
The Musselwhite mine is expected to be one of the three Canadian cornerstone assets for the merged company.
Orla’s Musselwhite mine, combined with Equinox Gold’s Greenstone mine in Ontario and the Valentine mine in Newfoundland & Labrador, will have a cumulative production of 685,000 ounces of gold in Canada. Of this, Musselwhite is expected to contribute 235,000 ounces of gold or 34% of the total production in Canada.
The merged entity will become Canada's second-largest gold producer, trailing Agnico Eagle Mines AEM, which projects an annual output of 2.96 million ounces. Agnico Eagle Mines’ three-year guidance reflects stable production. Agnico Eagle Mines expects a production of 3.3-3.5 million ounces from 2026 to 2028.
The expected total gold output for the merged company is expected to reach 1.1 million ounces from a highly complementary portfolio of six North American mines, surpassing the likes of Coeur Mining, Inc. CDE. Coeur Mining acquired New Gold in March 2026, which added the New Afton and Rainy River mines to its portfolio, and diversified its production profile across gold, silver and copper. The Rainy River Mine emerged as a significant contributor to Coeur Mining in the first quarter of 2026.
There is scope to increase the ORLA-Equinox Gold’s combined output to 1.9 million ounces in the near term, with expected contributions from Valentine phase 2 expansion, South Railroad, and Castle Mountain and Los Filos and Camino Rojo underground.
ORLA’s Price Performance, Valuations & Estimates
Orla Mining’s stock has declined 7.8% in a year against the Zacks Mining – Gold industry’s 46.2% rise. During this time, the Basic Materials sector has jumped 39.5%, whereas the S&P 500 has returned 26.1%.
The stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month earnings multiple of 6.40X, which is at a discount to the industry’s average of 9.70X.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Orla Mining’s 2026 sales is $1.72 billion, indicating a 62% year-over-year jump. The consensus mark for the year’s earnings is pegged at $1.64 per share, suggesting a year-over-year upsurge of 82%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2027 sales implies a 0.2% year-over-year rise. The same for earnings suggests a rise of 3.1%.
EPS estimates for 2026 have moved 7.9% north over the past 60 days, while the same for 2027 has moved up 6.9% over the past 60 days.
The company currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
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Orla Mining Ltd. (ORLA): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).