
During the last two decades, the XAU Index of gold mining stocks traded, on average, for 14 times cash flow. Today, the XAU is selling for less than 7 times cash flow, which is very close to its all-time low. So with smaller miners that produce cash flow, you have the chance of a good bounce to something closer to historical norms. The best case is a buyout by one of those free-spending bigger gold companies.