Morning Briefing: A Very Eventful Day in Junior Mining News
Welcome to Mining Stock Daily. I’m Trevor Hall.
Today is Wednesday September 6th.
Tuesday gold was scalped for $15, with 95% of the price decline occurring after the eastern hemisphere physical gold trading markets closed for the day and the paper trading forums in London and NYC assumed command of the markets. Gold did manage a brief bounce when weak economic numbers hit the tape at 8:30 NY time. But then it fell even more, down to $1951 per ounce, where it settled for the afternoon. Silver's journey was a bit different. After getting slammed shortly after midnight from $24.25 per ounce to as low as $23.82, the price shot back up to $24.20 an hour before the Comex opened. But the price management team seemed intent on pushing it back below $24 and silver replunged to settle at $23.87, down 68 cents, or 2.8%.
The Mining Stock Journal said it could not find any specific news catalyst or events that might have caused the big sell-off in the precious metals. This usually means that the price control squad was behind the trading action. The mining stocks fared no better, with the GDX down a little over 2% Tuesday. The Mining Stock Journal noted that the market sentiment and energy level with respect to the precious metals sector is still low and could remain that way for the balance of the week.
We will get to the news from the miners and explorers in a moment, but first a word about today’s sponsor.
This episode of Mining Stock Daily is brought to you by… Western Copper and Gold.
Western Copper and Gold is focused on developing the world-class Casino project in Canada's Yukon Territory. The Casino project consists of an impressive 11 billion pounds of copper and 21 million ounces of gold in an overall resource. Western Copper and Gold trades on the TSX and the NYSE American with WRN. Be sure to follow the company via their website, www.westerncopperandgold.com.
And here’s what you need to know this morning….
Arizona Sonoran Copper provided updates today on exploration and development activities at the Cactus Mine Project, inclusive of the Parks/Salyer deposit. The company says they are on track and on budget to deliver the pfs for the project in Q1 of next year. It will include the enriched and oxide material which comprises about 75% of the total mineral resource. The company is targeting a step up from the PEA’s 28ktpa to 45-50ktpa and to a mine life well-beyond the 18 years previously outlined. The company noted they are also anticipating a high conversation of the the 2.9B lb @ 1.015% TCu Parks/Salyer mineral resource estimate into the indicated category from the inferred category. (TSX: ASCU) News Release
Lets talk about the same deposit but different company. Ivanhoe Electric provided an Initial Assessment for its Santa Cruz copper project. The IA is a preliminary technical and economic study. The IA focuses on a small surface footprint with 5.9Mtpy underground operations supported by exotic, oxide and enriched domains of the Santa Cruz and East Ridge deposits. Copper production is estimated to be 1.6Mt over a 20-Year Mine Life, with an Average Grade of 1.58% Total Copper and C1 Cash Costs of $1.36 per Pound. Copper recoveries of 95.4% are expected to be achieved through a combination of SX/EW and conventional froth flotation. (NYSE American:IE) (TSX:IE) News Release
Heliostar Metals published new drill results from the Ana Paula project in Mexico. The three drill holes reported are the first to assess mineralization down-plunge of the High Grade Panel at the core of Ana Paula. Results included 98m of 6.46 g/t Au in hole 303, 85.5m of 4.73 g/t in hole 304, and 47.6m of 3.2 g/t. Grades in these holes are variably higher than that predicted in the current resource model. These holes expand the High Grade Panel to 280m of total length from near surface. With drilling at the Panel now complete,the company is plans to introduce new exploration targets within and around Ana Paula to start to unlock the full potential of the district. (TSXV: HSTR) (OTCQX: HSTXF) News Release
Brixton Metals reported assays from surface rock and soil samples on the Metla & West Targets and additional targets across the Thorn Project in British Columbia. 18 rock grab samples yielded greater than 1% copper with 11 yielding greater than 5% copper and 4 assayed greater than 10.0% Cu at the West Target. 9 rock grab samples yielded greater than 5 g/t Au and 6 rock grab samples assayed greater than 1% Cu at the Metla Target, and 4 assayed greater than 10 g/t Au. Brixton Metals (TSX-V: BBB, OTCQB: BBBXF) News Release
Filo announced assays from hole 78 in the Aurora Zone, and hole 87 testing the 1.3km gap between the Aurora and Bonita Zones at the Filo del Sol Project in San Juan, Argentina. Highlights included 1,430m at 0.55% CuEq from a depth of 42m including 16m at 4.73% CuEq. The company said this intercept supports the idea of continuous mineralization across the 1.3km distance between the Aurora and Bonita Zones. Hole 78 was abandoned prior to reaching target depth, but intersected 14m at 2.10% CuEq and 63m at 1.59% CuEq. Filo said it holes 90 and 91, currently underway, hit, it will have discovered a continuously-mineralized length of at least 5km from Tamberias in the south to Bonita in the north. Filo (TSX: FIL) (OTCQX: FLMMF) News Release
Standard Lithium announced a Feasibility Study for its first commercial lithium extraction plant project to be located at the LANXESS South Plant in Arkansas, with the aim of producing battery-quality lithium carbonate in 2026, using direct lithium extraction, from Smackover brine.The operation would produce 5,400tpy over a 25-year minimum operating life. The project would yield an after-tax NPV of $550 million at an 8% discount rate and IRR of 24% following a $365 million capital development. The company now plans to finalize commercial agreements with LANXESS and securing project financing, while also exploring funding opportunities within the U.S. Critical Mineral initiatives and the Inflation Reduction Act. Standard Lithium (TSXV:SLI) (NYSE American:SLI) News Release
FPX Nickel announced a PFS for its Baptiste Nickel Project in British Columbia to produce an average of 59,100tpy of nickel over a 29-year mine life. The project would yield an after-tax NPV of $2.01 Billion at an 8% discount rate and IRR of 18.6% at $8.75/lb Ni following a $2.2 billion initial capital cost. The phased development has an initial phase with a mill throughput rate of 108,000tpd followed by a cash flow funded expansion to 162,000tpd. The operation would have the flexibility to produce either a high-grade concentrate (60% nickel) for direct feed into the stainless steel industry or further refining it into battery-grade nickel sulphate, cobalt precipitate, and copper concentrate products for the battery material supply chain. FPX Nickel (TSXV: FPX) (OTCQB: FPOCF) News Release
Revival Gold announced results from a third stage of metallurgical testing on sulphide material for a milling option from the Beartrack-Arnett Gold Project in Idaho. The aim was to evaluate the flotation performance of the high-grade component of sulphide material at Beartrack-Arnett and assess its potential to yield a salable concentrate. Results show gold recoveries of 93% to concentrate from a composite sample grading 4.6 g/t gold. A concentrate grade of 50 g/t gold was achieved with a relatively coarse particle grind size and a resulting mass pull of just 8.9%. The company says these results support a potential mill development concept that would involve the production and sale of concentrate rather than the construction of a complete onsite gold production facility for the Project. (TSXV: RVG, OTCQX: RVLGF) News Release
Ridgeline Minerals has added 141 lode claims to its Big Blue project in Nevada. The property includes the past producing Delker Mine and Skarn Hill Adit, which collectively produced a reported 94,434 pounds of copper at an average grade of 6.2% Cu between 1916-1917. Big Blue now comprises 502 contiguous lode claims totaling 10,168 acres or 41 square kilometers. Ridgeline says the Project has not seen a sustained exploration effort in decades and exhibits excellent potential to make new porphyry copper and Carbonate Replacement style polymetallic discoveries. (TSXV: RDG) (OTCQB: RDGMF) News Release
Meridian Mining announced that Gilbert Clark agreed to take on the CEO role for the company and Susanne Sesselmann accepted the Interim Chair role. Meanwhile, Adrian McArthur has been re-appointed President. The changes reflect the Board's strategy for Meridian going forward, and to forgo the previous Executive Chairman role, as the Board continues to advance the search for an independent Chair to be appointed expediently. (TSX:MNO),(OTCQX:MRRDF) News Release
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