The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that heading into the holidays, eight of the S&P/TSX Composite Index's top-10 performers in 2025 were gold producers, and their gains pushed the index up 27 per cent for the year. The Globe's Tim Kiladze writes, however, the biggest winners might be precious-metals executives. Not only has their stock-based compensation soared in value as the price of gold and silver rose, but many have stock options that flipped from being worthless at the start of the year to looking like pots of gold. For example, promoter Eric Sprott has been investing in Discovery, known for its undeveloped Cordero silver project in Mexico. In January, Discovery transformed itself with its acquisition of the Porcupine complex near Timmins, Ont., from Newmont, adding Canadian gold-mining assets to its portfolio. In a December report, his total stake was disclosed to be 80 million shares, which is worth $694-million. Meanwhile, chief executive officer Tony Makuch's two million stock options had no value at the end of 2024. Today, the gain on this investment is $65-million in 10 months. Add in the rest of the shares and restricted share units he owns, and he is sitting on $106-million in stock.