Barrick Increases Dividend Despite Falling Earnings

Welcome to Mining Stock Daily. I’m Trevor Hall. And I’m Paul Harris

Today is Wednesday, February 16th. 

Gold ran from US$1,820 per ounce on Friday morning up to $1,881 on rising inflation expectations, an economy that appears to be falling apart and rumors spread by the Biden government that Russia was going to attack Ukraine. Similarly silver ran up from $22.83 per ounce to up and over $24 late Monday night. Then, abruptly, after Asia closed on Tuesday, gold and silver were slammed hard. Gold did a $37 cliff dive down to as low $1,844 before bouncing while silver was shoved back under $23 before closing at $23.10. 

The Mining Stock Journal said that it was not coincidental that the big price plunge in the metals occurred right after the Asian physical gold buying markets were done for the day and trading shifted to the gold and silver derivatives markets in London and New York. The manipulative effort was punctuated by the fact that both the CPI and PPI reports showed that price inflation is running at a higher level than has been forecast by Wall Street. 

The mining stocks were slammed hard initially on Tuesday but managed to rally enough to bounce back more than 50% from their lows of the morning. The Mining Stock Journal said that this is a positive sign and indicative of a market that wants to go higher.

We’ll get to the news out of the miners and explorers here in a moment, but first a mention on today’s sponsor. 

This episode of Mining Stock Daily is brought to you by… Rio2

Rio2 is advancing the Fenix Gold Project in Chile, the largest undeveloped gold heap leach project in the Americas. Fenix consists of 5 million ounces in the measured and indicated resource category and 1.4 million ounces in the inferred resource category. With a robust PFS in place, Fenix is set up for fast-tracked construction and production. You can find a list of project and company information on their website, rio2.com.

And here’s what you need to know this morning….

Barrick Gold said strong performances from its Africa & Middle East and Latin America regions helped it achieve 2021 production guidance although its net earnings fell to US$2 billion from $2.3 billion in 2020 as production fell to 4.4 million ounces from 4.7Moz a year ago. The company increased its dividend to 10 cents from 9 cents previously and announced a new performance dividend policy to begin in 2022, which will be based on the amount of net cash on the company’s balance sheet potentially adding up to 15 cents per share onto the base dividend in the event its net cash position increases to $1 billion. In a further attempt to woo investors, Barrick also announced a $1 billion share repurchase program. The company also said it has set up a specialist Asia-Pacific team to identify and evaluate opportunities in that region. Barrick Gold trades on NYSE under GOLD and on the TSX under ABX. News release

Aldebaran Resources reported assays from the first hole completed in the 2021/2022 drill campaign at the Altar copper-gold project in San Juan, Argentina. The first hole was designed to begin testing the extent of mineralization at the Radio porphyry and returned an upper zone of 707.1m grading 0.51% copper equivalent from 203m depth. The hole ended at a depth of more than 1,000m in mineralization and was a significant step out from previous known mineralization. The current resource estimate for Altar does not include any mineralization from Radio. Aldebaran has three drill rigs on Radio until mid-year. Aldebaran Resources trades on the TSXV under ALDE and on the OTCQX under ADBRF. News release

Denison Mines announced multiple intersections of uranium mineralization beyond the previously defined etends of the domain in the Phase 1 aea of the Zone A portion of the Phoenix uranium deposit on the Wheeler River Project. Three drill holes were completed during the fall of 2021 to follow up the discovery of high-grade uranium mineralization in drill hole GWR-045, which was located outside of the previously defined extent of the high-grade domain of Phoenix Zone A. Results included 24.9% U3O8 over 4.3 meters, 3.6 % U3O8 over 3.5 meters and 1.2% over 2.1 meters. The company noted this last hole represents a style of mineralization which has not been previously encountered at the project. Denison Mines trades on the TSX with DML and on the NYSE with DNN. News Release

Golden Mineral reported a second set of assays from the completed 21-hole program at its yoquivo gold-silver project in Chihuahua state of Mexico. The drill program included 3,949m comprised of 21 holes exploring the Pertenencia, Esperanza and Dolar vein systems. Results included 6.2m of 17.19 g/t Au and 2,403.5 g/t Ag. Drill holes were designed to follow up on the high-grade zones intersected by the company’s 2020 drill program and to explore additional veins to identify new high-grade zones. Golden holds an option to purchase seven concessions that comprise the Yoquivo property, totaling 1,975 hectares located in western Chihuahua State in northern Mexico, for payments totaling $0.75 million over four years and subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty on production, capped at $2 million. Golden Minerals trades on the TSX and the NYSE with AUMN. News Release

Fury Gold Mines provided results from exploration work at the Raven prospect within its Committee Bay project in Nunavut. Highlights include drill intercepts of 9.18 g/t gold (Au) over 1.5 metres and 7.30 g/t Au over 1.0m in drill hole 12 and 0.88 g/t Au over 8.00m in drill hole 11 as well as rock grab results of up to 32.90 g/t Au from a newly identified gold mineralized outcrop 150m to the south of the Raven structure that was drilled in this program. The reported intercepts have extended mineralization 160m down dip and 70m along strike from historical drilling. Fury trades on the TSX and the NYSE American with FURY. News Release

Capitan Mining reported results from its 2021-22 phase I drilling program at the Jesus Maria polymetallic silver deposit at its Peñoles project in Durango, Mexico. Highlights included 42.7m grading 224.3 grams per tonne silver equivalent which included 1.52m grading 1,352g/t. All three holes reported intersected additional mineralized structures that had not been previously identified. The company has drilled 14 RC holes with assays pending on 11 holes. Jesus Maria hosts a 2015 inferred resource of 7.5M tonnes grading 62g/t silver for 15Moz. Capitan Mining trades on the TSXV under CAPT. News release

That concludes today’s morning briefing.

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