Kitco MINING · Oct 24, 2026
With Mitch Krebs, President and CEO, Coeur Mining
Coeur Mining's EBITDA was $140 million three years ago, and free cash flow was negative $300 million. This year, Coeur expects EBITDA near $2.3 billion and free cash flow near $1.5 billion.
Most mining companies riding a gold rally keep chasing the next deal. Mitch Krebs, president and CEO of Coeur Mining, says his company is doing the opposite: after the 2024 SilverCrest acquisition and a New Gold transaction that just closed, Coeur is now running what it built rather than looking for more.
"We're now very much in the digestion and delivery mode... generate the kind of cash flow that we're capable of, which this year should be close to $2.3 billion of EBITDA, close to a billion and a half of free cash flow."
Mitch has run Coeur through the stretch that took it from $60 million of cash in the bank to more than $1 billion and growing, built on deals that added the New Afton and Rainy River mines in Canada.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 5 takeaways that matter.
Key Takeaways
Coeur's 2026 EBITDA should near $2.3 billion and free cash flow near $1.5 billion, up from $140 million of EBITDA and -$300 million of free cash flow in 2023
The company says it has reversed each of its historical "three knocks" — a weak balance sheet, high costs and short mine lives — with resources up 65% over five years
A $750 million buyback authorized in May has about $220 million done so far, prioritized over dividend growth because it can be turned on and off opportunistically
Coeur also reinstated a dividend for the first time in roughly three decades, meant to remove any remaining reason not to hold the stock
2026 revenue should run about 65% gold, 30% silver and 5% copper, with Mitch wanting silver nearer 25-50% of revenue over time
2026 is a back-half-weighted year with the fourth quarter the biggest, before 2027 becomes a more "steady state" year
1. Digestion, not deals
Coeur has added scale fast over the past two years — through organic exploration, the 2024 SilverCrest acquisition, and a New Gold transaction that just closed and brought the New Afton and Rainy River mines into the portfolio. Mitch told Kitco Mining anchor Paul Harris the company isn't hunting for the next deal anymore.
Coeur is focused on execution now, not more acquisitions, Mitch says
"Right now we're not looking up at the radar screen, we're looking down on execution and delivery of everything that we've now put together here."
That shift follows a run of transactions that changed the company's scale. Mitch says the payoff this year is close to $2.3 billion of EBITDA and about $1.5 billion of free cash flow.
Coeur's 2026 payoff is $2.3 billion of EBITDA, Mitch says
"We're now very much in the digestion and delivery mode... generate the kind of cash flow that we're capable of, which this year should be close to $2.3 billion of EBITDA, close to a billion and a half of free cash flow."
Three years of dealmaking, in other words, is meant to show up this year as cash rather than more announcements.
