Morning Briefing: B2Gold to buy Sabina Gold & Silver

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


Today is Monday, February 13th.


Last week gold ran from the high $1870's per ounce to just over $1900 thru Thursday morning before it was slammed back to the $1860's in correlation with a sharp sell-off in the stock market. Silver traded most of the week between $22.10 and $22.60 per ounce until the Thursday bloodbath in everything. All of the markets were beset with high volatility all week. But the Mining Stock Journal points out that the sell-off in the metals on Thursday was confined entirely to the paper gold Comex market, as the sharp sell-off started when the Comex opened on Thursday. That said, gold inched closer to tagging and testing its 50 day moving average while silver found its way to the mid-point between the 50 and 200 day moving average. 

The mining stocks were lower along with the metals and the general stock market. The GDX fell 2% for the week and is now a bit below its 50 dma. The Mining Stock Journal remains adamant that this correction - notwithstanding the assistance it's getting from the price management squad - is a necessary evil that will set up the next move higher.

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….

B2Gold is to pay C$1.1 billion to buy junior gold explorer Sabina Gold & Silver in an all-stock deal to obtain the Back River project in Nunavut, Canada. B2Gold will pay 0.3867 of a B2Gold share for each Sabina share, representing consideration of C$1.87 per Sabina share, an 18% premium over the junior’s Friday close and 45% to the 20-day volume weighted average prices. Back River includes the fully permitted Goose deposit, which is construction ready and has significant infrastructure in place. Sabina made a construction decision to build Goose in September 2022. It said its initial capital is $610 million with first production expected in 2025. A March 2021 feasibility study update on Goose outlined a 15-year life of mine, producing an average of 223,000ozpa of gold from a 3.6Moz reserve grading 5.97gpt, which makes it one of the highest-grade gold development projects in the world. B2Gold (TSX: BTO, NYSE MKT: BTG) Sabina Gold & Silver Corp (TSX: SBB) News release


Kinross Gold announced a maiden 5Moz gold resource estimate for its Great Bear project in the Red Lake district of Ontario, Canada. The indicated resource consists of 33.1Mt grading 2.57gpt gold for 2.74Moz, with an inferred resource of 20Mt grading 3.56gpt for 2.29Moz. Within this is a higher-grade open pit resource of 3Moz in all categories. Since acquiring Great Bear Resources in December 2021, Kinross has focused on drilling the first ~500m at the LP Fault zone to increase confidence in the upper portion of the deposit and facilitate the delivery of the initial mineral resource. It drilled over 250km in 2022, bringing the project total to over 550km since 2018. Kinross Gold (TSX: K, NYSE: KGC) News release


Freeport-McMoRan said its Grasberg operations in Indonesia were disrupted by significant rainfall and landslides which resulted in flooding and a flow of debris, causing damage to infrastructure near its milling complex. The company is conducting a damage assessment and preparing a recovery plan to resume operations. Preliminary estimates, indicate operations can be restored by the end of February 2023. Grasberg produces nearly 5Mlb of copper per day and 5,000oz of gold. Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) news release


Nevada King Gold announced assay results from four reverse circulation holes and one core hole recently completed at its Atlanta Gold Mine Project in the Battle Mountain Trend of Nevada. These holes were drilled 200m north of the Atlanta pit and cut across the high-grade feeder zone that includes a network of structures comprising the Atlanta Mine Fault Zone. Highlights included 71.7m grading 2.31G/t Au. The company highlighted the consistent and contiguous nature of the gold mineralization seen from hole to hole throughout the system which it said is generally a hallmark of a strong and well-developed gold system. Nevada King Gold (TSXV: NKG) (OTCQX: NKGFF) News release


Metal Energy announced assay results from four holes of the Phase Two drill program on the nickel and copper-cobalt Manibridge project in the Thompson Nickel Belt, Manitoba. Phase Two's 10,000 m drill program was completed in December 2022, with five additional drill hole assay results still pending. Highlights included 68.55m grading of 0.82% NiEq as drilling expanded a shallow high-grade nickel zone. It is now 100m along strike, 40 to 90m thick, and extends for at least 180m. The Phase 2 drill program continues to redefine the system at Manibridge with over 1 kilometre of strike, and mineralization down to at least 800 m depth.  Metal Energy (TSXV: MERG) (OTCQB: MEEEF) news release

The Mining Stock Daily morning briefing is produced by Clear Commodity Network and Investment Research Dynamic’s Mining Stock Journal. It is distributed throughout the world through your podcast network of choice, and by our friends at the Junior Mining Network. 

The information presented should not be considered investment advice. Mining stock daily and its affiliates are not responsible for any loss arising from any investment decision in connection with the material presented herein. Please do your own research or speak with a licensed financial representative before making any investment decisions.

Trevor HallGold, Silver, Comex, GDX