Comstock Mining Company Is Now Comstock Inc. (LODE)

Short answer: Comstock Mining Company is now called Comstock Inc. Its shares still trade under the ticker LODE, and the 2025 annual report lists the exchange as NYSE American. The company began life as GoldSpring and mined gold and silver near Virginia City, Nevada, but it no longer mines. On 24 August 2026 it announced that it had closed the sale of its mining subsidiaries to Mackay Gold & Silver Corp. Its business today is recycling end-of-life solar panels in Silver Springs, Nevada, plus a renewable fuels unit.

This page follows the company, not the lode: who it was, what its Lucerne mine produced, what it does now, who owns the old claims, and what the sale terms were. A calculator shows what a 1.5% royalty on a small precious-metal mine could pay. If you want the ore, the geology and the 1859 discovery, read our guide to the Comstock Lode ore and where it sits.

Comstock Mining Company at a glance

The table gathers the facts people most often search for. Each one comes from a filing or news release by Comstock Inc. or by the buyer, Mackay.

Timeline: from GoldSpring to Comstock Inc.

The Comstock district is much older than the company. The company itself is recent. Its own filings give this sequence.

• 2003: the company began acquiring properties and developing projects in the Comstock district (annual report for 2016).
• 2004 to 2006: test mining at the Lucerne mine and American Flat heap leach plant produced over 12,000 oz of gold and over 53,000 oz of silver. A troy ounce (oz) is 31.1035 grams, the unit used for precious metals.
• 21 July 2010: GoldSpring became Comstock Mining Inc. and took the ticker LODE, previously GSPG (company release).
• 29 September 2012: first pour of gold and silver bars at the heap leach plant.
• 2015 and 2016: mining stopped in 2015 and processing was finished in 2016.
• 31 May 2022: shareholders approved new articles that changed the name to Comstock Inc. (SEC filing).
• 31 December 2022: Tonogold Resources let its option to buy the owner of the Lucerne properties expire, and the properties came back to Comstock (company release, January 2023).
• December 2024: Comstock sold its Northern Exploration subsidiary to Mackay; the price was later raised to US$2.95 million.
• 9 January 2026: Comstock sold a 1.5% royalty on certain Storey County claims to Mackay for US$1.1 million cash.
• 22 June 2026: Comstock announced the sale of all mining entities to Mackay. Comstock announced on 24 August 2026 that the sale had closed.
• 22 September 2026: Comstock Metals announced continuous operation of its Silver Springs recycling plant.

How the Lucerne mine produced gold and silver

Comstock did not run a classic deep silver mine. From 2012 it ran the Lucerne mine near Virginia City and extracted metal by heap leaching. In heap leaching, crushed ore is stacked on a lined pad and a weak cyanide solution is sprayed on top. The solution dissolves gold and silver, and the metal-bearing liquid is collected for recovery, as the company’s annual report defines it. The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology shows the same idea in a classroom model, including the plastic and clay layers that stop leaks. The end product is doré: unrefined bars of gold and silver that a smelter later converts into pure metal.

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Gold produced and shipped at Lucerne, by year

Troy ounces of gold; 2012 is a part year (first pour 29 September)

From 2012 to 2016 the company mined and processed about 2.6 million tons of ore and produced 59,515 oz of gold and 735,252 oz of silver, according to its 2021 prospectus. The chart shows gold by year. Output peaked at 19,601 oz in 2014 and fell to 4,086 oz in 2016. Average gold sale prices in those years were US$1,272 (2014), US$1,195 (2015) and US$1,241 (2016).

The ore was low in grade. Grade is the amount of metal in each tonne or ton of rock. Across 2012 to 2016, 59,515 oz of gold from about 2.6 million tons of ore works out to roughly 0.023 oz per ton, or about 0.8 g/t if the ton is a US short ton (our calculation). The 2016 annual report gives 0.025 oz of gold and 0.436 oz of silver per ton for the small last batch stacked in 2016 (about 0.86 g/t gold and 15 g/t silver), with recovery of 88.5% for gold and 59.5% for silver. Recovery is the share of the metal in the ore that ends up in the bars. For contrast, Mackay describes the district’s old bonanza lodes as averaging 35 g/t gold and 726 g/t silver. Bulk low-grade mining and narrow high-grade veins are different businesses, and the company ran the first.

The video below follows one nugget through the standard steps from drilling to refining, which is a useful picture of what a plant like Comstock’s heap leach does.

▶ A clay nugget followed from rock to ring: drilling, crushing, dissolving, recovery and refining. · 5:27

What Comstock Inc. does today

The company website describes a business that turns waste and under-used natural resources into clean energy products, including metals and minerals recovered from end-of-life solar panels. The 2025 annual report names five business activities, four of which are listed here (the fifth is corporate services).

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Revenue by segment, 2024 versus 2025

US$ million, from the annual report for 2025

• Metals: run by Comstock Metals LLC. It recycles solar panels and earns money from service fees for taking panels, from fees for processing them, and from selling recovered aluminum, glass, copper and concentrated tailings that contain silver and silicon.
• Fuels: Bioleum Corporation, a subsidiary working on renewable fuels from woody biomass. In its second-quarter 2026 release the company said it was reorienting Bioleum toward nearer-term revenue from existing technologies and recorded a non-cash impairment of about US$16.4 million.
• Mining: the legacy gold and silver assets, now sold.
• Strategic investments: minority stakes, including 47.63% of Sierra Springs Opportunity Fund, which holds more than 2,200 acres of northern Nevada land and water rights (as of 30 June 2026).

On 22 September 2026 Comstock Metals said its Silver Springs plant was running continuously. The company’s July 2026 outlook says each full-scale line is designed for up to 3.3 million panels, about 100,000 tons, a year. It names a second site in southern Nevada and a third in central Ohio. It also expects at least 25% of rated capacity from August to year end and about US$5 million of revenue in the second half of 2026. Those are company forecasts, not results.

The money side is simple to state. Revenue fell to US$1,553,796 in 2025 from US$3,016,163 in 2024, because Mining revenue dropped from US$2.60 million to US$0.14 million after the Mackay lease ended in December 2024, while Metals revenue rose from US$0.40 million to US$1.40 million. The net loss attributable to the company was US$43.1 million in 2025 against US$53.3 million in 2024, according to the annual report. Cash was US$31.4 million on 30 June 2026.

The sale of the mining assets to Mackay in plain English

Comstock announced the deal on 22 June 2026 and put the total value at over US$45 million. Mackay Gold & Silver Corp. (TSX Venture: MACK) bought 100% of four subsidiaries: Comstock Mining LLC, Comstock Processing LLC, Comstock Exploration and Development LLC and Comstock Real Estate Inc. They hold the patented and unpatented claims, town lots, processing plants, operating permits and water rights. The pieces of the price arrive at different times and with different certainty, so the headline is not cash in hand.

Comstock expects the sale to cut costs by about US$1.5 million a year and to book a gain of roughly US$10 million to US$12 million. Mackay’s closing release of 24 August 2026 says its acquisition is complete but that final TSX Venture Exchange approval is still to come. Reclamation means restoring the land after mining, and a surety bond is money set aside to pay for it.

A net smelter return (NSR) royalty pays the holder a set percentage of the money a mine earns from its metal after smelting, refining and transport charges. The holder carries none of the mining cost, and gets nothing until the mine sells metal. Our guides explain the NSR royalty definition and rank silver royalty companies. In Comstock’s deal the rate is 1.5% less any royalties already on that ground, so it can be lower on some parcels; on Lyon County parcels it is set at not less than 0.5% in most cases.

What could a 1.5% royalty pay? A calculator

Use the calculator below to test the royalty from the Mackay deal with your own numbers. Enter yearly gold and silver sold, prices, the royalty rate and the smelting and transport deductions. The last line shows how many years of royalty it takes to equal the US$3.5 million buy-back price, which is a way to see how Mackay’s repurchase option compares with a producing mine. The inputs are examples, and no mine is producing on these properties today.

Who holds the Comstock claims now

Mackay Gold & Silver Corp. (TSX Venture: MACK, OTCQB: MKGSF) is a Nevada-focused exploration company. After the closing it says its land holdings rose by 70% to 4,343 hectares (43 square kilometres), which it calls the largest claim package held by one company in the district’s history. It also says the district’s three main vein systems, the Silver City Lode, the Occidental-Brunswick Lode and the Comstock Lode, are under one owner for the first time, and that two drill rigs are turning. The package includes a permitted heap leach and Merrill-Crowe plant. Merrill-Crowe is a standard step that uses zinc to pull gold and silver out of the leach solution.

Treat the old resource numbers with care. In January 2023 Comstock published measured and indicated resources of 605,000 oz of gold and 5.88 million oz of silver, plus inferred resources of 297,000 oz of gold and 2.572 million oz of silver. Its annual report for 2025 now lists only the Dayton area, at 293,000 oz of gold and 2.12 million oz of silver (measured and indicated) plus 90,000 oz of gold and 0.48 million oz of silver inferred, from a technical report dated November 2022. Mackay now calls the Lucerne and Dayton figures historical estimates that should not be relied on. The annual report for 2025 says the company has not established reserves under the SEC’s S-K 1300 rules and that its Comstock properties are all exploration stage. A resource is mineralized rock with reasonable prospects of extraction. A reserve is the part shown to be economic after mining and processing costs are applied. The two are not interchangeable.

There is also a land lesson here. A mining claim is a right to look for and develop a mineral deposit. The Bureau of Land Management says this right does not include exclusive surface rights. Unpatented claims sit on federal land. Patented claims have passed into private ownership, which is why Comstock’s package also lists town lots and real estate. For the lode’s own story, see our Comstock Lode guide, and for state-level context see our post on gold deposits in Nevada and claim dates.

▶ Why owning a mining claim is not the same as owning the land. · 3:19

Comstock and silver: what the numbers say

Comstock Inc. is not a silver miner today, and it never was a silver-only company. The 2012 to 2016 output was 735,252 oz of silver but only 59,515 oz of gold, a ratio near 12 to 1. The company says its Dayton project is gold-rich, with a silver-to-gold ratio of about 10 to 1, against about 100 to 1 in the historic bonanza ore bodies.

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Largest silver-mining countries listed by USGS

Tonnes of silver mined, 2025 estimate, countries listed individually

For scale, USGS estimates that US mines produced about 1,100 tonnes of silver in 2025, from 4 silver mines and 31 base- and precious-metal operations. Alaska led and Nevada came second. Photovoltaics took 15% of estimated US silver use in 2025. The chart compares the largest producing countries.

Silver demand from solar is falling even as installations grow. The Silver Institute’s World Silver Survey, summarized by pv magazine, put photovoltaic silver demand at 186.6 million oz in 2025, down 6%, with a further 19% fall to about 151 million oz forecast for 2026, because cell makers use less silver per cell. The same report says silver averaged just over US$40 an oz in 2025. In February 2026 the Silver Institute noted that silver had passed US$100 in January before easing. For Comstock Metals, silver is a by-product of panel recycling, and in July 2026 the company described a one-ton-per-day pilot to recover silver from tailings as a plan, not a result. For another company profile that ties silver to a new find, see our post on Discovery Silver.

How to check a mining company’s status yourself

Names change and assets get sold, which is why web pages go out of date. These steps take about an hour and rely on primary records.

1. Confirm the legal name and ticker. The cover of the latest annual report (Form 10-K) shows the exact name, ticker and exchange. Search the SEC’s EDGAR system for earlier names.
2. Read the current-report filings (Form 8-K). A completed sale or name change appears there, with dates and prices.
3. Split revenue by segment. The annual report’s results section shows which unit earns the money. Comstock’s shows Mining at US$136,000 for 2025.
4. Check who owns the ground. For federal claims, the BLM’s Mineral and Land Records System lists them. For patented land, look at the county recorder.
5. Separate resources from reserves. Look for the words exploration stage, historical estimate and technical report summary. The same checks apply to other developers.
6. Find who pays for cleanup. The reclamation bond and the party that assumed it tell you where the legacy liability sits.

For the technology side of mining today, our post on AI in gold mining separates what software does from what it does not.

What satellite data can show in a historic district

Satellites cannot count ounces. They can map vegetation, bare ground, iron-stained rock, clay minerals and faults, which are clues that point a geologist to places worth sampling. The image at the top of this page is a Sentinel-2 summer composite of the Virginia City and Gold Hill area, where disturbed ground such as pits, dumps and pads usually shows as bare soil. In a district with this much earlier work, screening can show where disturbance has already happened and which ground has not been looked at.

Farmonaut applies multispectral and hyperspectral satellite data to flag alteration zones, faults and target areas from a KML, KMZ or polygon, with delivery in 5 to 20 business days. It is a first screen that sits ahead of drilling, not a resource estimate. The video below explains the principle. Details of the service are on the main site.

▶ How satellites map the rock around gold rather than the gold itself. · 4:25

For a closer look at a related question, see our guide: Silver Lake Resources Limited Is Now Vault Minerals.

Frequently asked questions

Is Comstock Mining Company still operating?

Not as a miner. Comstock Inc. sold its mining subsidiaries to Mackay Gold & Silver, and the sale was announced as closed on 24 August 2026. The company continues as a solar panel recycler and renewable fuels developer.

What is Comstock Mining Company called now?

Comstock Inc. The restated articles that changed the name from Comstock Mining Inc. took effect on 31 May 2022. Before 2010 the company was GoldSpring, Inc.

What does Comstock Inc. do today?

It runs Comstock Metals, which recycles end-of-life solar panels in Silver Springs, Nevada, and Bioleum, which works on renewable fuels from biomass. It also holds minority investments, including in a Nevada land and water fund.

Who bought the Comstock mines?

Mackay Precious Metals Inc., a subsidiary of Mackay Gold & Silver Corp. (TSX Venture: MACK). It acquired Comstock Mining LLC, Comstock Processing LLC, Comstock Exploration and Development LLC and Comstock Real Estate Inc.

How much did Mackay pay for Comstock’s mining assets?

Comstock puts the aggregate value at over US$45 million. That includes US$20 million cash and 2 million Mackay shares at closing, US$7 million due by 21 December 2027, a retained 1.5% royalty and a US$10 million contingent payment. The buyer also took on all reclamation duties.

How much gold and silver did Comstock produce?

From 2012 to 2016 it produced 59,515 oz of gold and 735,252 oz of silver from about 2.6 million tons of ore. Earlier test mining in 2004 to 2006 gave over 12,000 oz of gold and over 53,000 oz of silver.

What is an NSR royalty and why did Comstock keep one?

An NSR royalty pays a percentage of a mine’s net revenue from metal sales, with no share of mining costs. By keeping 1.5%, Comstock stays exposed to any future production on the properties without funding it. Mackay can buy the royalty back for US$3.5 million.

Is Comstock Inc. the same as Comstock Resources?

No. Comstock Resources (NYSE: CRK) is a separate company based in Frisco, Texas. Its annual report for 2025 describes it as an independent natural gas producer working mainly in the Haynesville shale of North Louisiana and East Texas. Comstock Inc. (ticker LODE) is a different company with a different business.

Where are the Comstock mines?

The Lucerne project lies in Storey County, Nevada, about three miles south of Virginia City and 30 miles southeast of Reno, according to the company’s 2016 annual report. The Dayton project is in Lyon County. The heap leach plant is at American Flat, just south of Virginia City.

Does the Comstock Lode still have gold and silver?

Mackay says it is drilling to test that. Company estimates from earlier years are historical and not current resources, so no one can state a reliable quantity until new drilling and technical reports are done.