Morning Briefing: Markets Awaiting Pivotal FOMC Announcement Today

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

Today is Tuesday February 1st.

After a huge move took gold from $1630 in early November to the mid-1900's range, gold has been drifting sideways between 1915 and 1950 for the last 8 trading days. Yesterday the yellow dog was taken down $25 overnight but launched about an hour before the Comex opened and ran from $1915 to as high as $1946 before settling the afternoon Globex session at $1943. Silver has had a big move starting in September, running from $17.75 to over $24 in December. Since mid-December silver has been coiling around the $24 level, oscillating between $23.50 and $24.50. The Mining Stock Journal commented that the lateral move in silver over the last 6 weeks has completely relieved the overbought technical condition of silver. The next move in the metals will be short-term dependent on the tone of today's FOMC policy statement released this afternoon. However, longer term the mining stock newsletter is confident that both gold and silver will be considerably higher by the end of the summer. Following the lead of gold and silver, the mining stocks using GDX as a proxy have also been drifting sideways since the beginning of the year. A pullback in GDX to its 21 day moving average has been accompanied by declining volume, suggesting that the next significant move could be higher. Further supporting this possibility has been a material deterioration in investor sentiment toward the precious metals sector.

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…Fireweed Metals

Fireweed Metals is advancing 3 different projects within the Yukon and Northwest Territories, including the flagship Macmillan Pass Project, a large zinc-lead-silver deposit and the Mactung Project, one of the largest and highest-grade tungsten deposits in the world. Fireweed plans to advance these projects through exploration, resource definition, metallurgy, engineering, economic studies and collaboration with indigenous people on the path to production. For more information please visit fireweedmetals.com.

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

Regulus Resources shared the results from the remaining holes from its phase two drilling program at the AntaKori copper-gold project in Peru. The holes expressed multiple intervals of mineralization throughout the 7 holes reported this morning. Select highlights included 128.15 m of 0.08% Cu, 0.30 g/t Au and 3.87 g/t Ag in hole 54, 323.25 m of 0.49% Cu, 0.11 g/t Au and 6.30 g/t Ag from hole 56, and 240.55 m of 0.38% Cu, 0.26 g/t Au and 7.05 g/t Ag from hole 58. These holes were successful in expanding mineralization to the north. Holes AK-22-053 and AK-22-055 were designed to test portions of the Colquirrumi claims (currently owned by Buenaventura) where Regulus can earn up to a 70% interest in the claims by completing 7,500 m of drilling. With this drilling, the threshold has been met and Regulus has notified Buenaventura. Buenaventura now has a one-time right until February 22, 2023, to either give Regulus a 70% interest in the claims or give Regulus a 30% interest in the claims and a cash payment of US$9 million. Regulus trades on the TSXV with REG and on the OTCQX with RGLSF. News Release

American Lithium published the results of a maiden preliminary economic assessment for its Tonopah Lithium Claims (“TLC”) project located in the Esmerelda lithium district northwest of Tonopah, Nevada.  The PEA base case envisions an initial 4.4 Million tonnes per annum (“Mtpa”) processing throughput expanding to 8.8Mtpa. This base case signals a Pre-tax Net Present Value (“NPV”)8% $3.64 billion at $20,000/tonne (“t”) LCE and an Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) of 28.8%. Total Capex is estimated at $1.4Billion with a payback period of 3.6 years. The PEA alternative case is identical, but with added production of high purity magnesium sulfate as a by-product over life of operations. This shows a Pre-tax Net Present Value (“NPV”)8% $6.06 billion at $20,000/t LCE & $150/t MgSO4 and an Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) of 38.6%.There appears to be little difference in capex between the base case and the alternative case. American Lithium trades on the TSX-V:LI and on the NASDAQ:AMLI. News Release

Fortuna Silver provided an update on its Séguéla gold Project located in Côte d’Ivoire. The company says construction is winding down and the company expects commissioning to be begin in Q2 of this year. Overall, the project is approximately 90 percent complete as of the end of January and remains on-track and on-budget for first gold pour in mid-2023. Mining preparations are underway with the Antenna Stage 1 pit having been cleared and grade control drilling in progress. The run of mine pad and Antenna pit haul road areas have been cleared in preparation for their construction which is scheduled to begin in early February. Fortuna Silver trades on the NYSE with FSM and on the TSX with FVI. News Release

Angus Gold announced drill results from  2022 drill program at the Golden Sky Project in Wawa, Ontario. Results from eight (8) holes were successful in confirming the extension of the strike length of the Dorset Gold Zone 500 metres to the east. Hole GS-22-047 intersected 1.3 g/t over 52.0 metres including 4.1 g/t over 12.0 metres, was drilled in a NE-direction, oblique to mineralization, approximately 500 metres east of the Dorset Gold resource. The drill hole was testing a newly interpreted structural model of the Dorset Gold Zone and was successful in identifying its potential eastern extension. The hole will be used to guide ongoing exploration drilling to define the full strike length of the Au-mineralizing system at the Dorset Gold Zone. The company also noted that the 2023 winter drilling program has also begun. Angus Gold trades on the TSXV with GUS and on the OTC with ANGVF. News Release

Summa Silver was also out with drill results this morning from its Mogollon project in New Mexico. The focus of the ongoing three-rig drill program is testing extensions of mineralization around the Consolidated Mine, centered on the north-trending Queen Vein. Results included 16.6 m at 445 g/t silver equivalent and 17.8 m at 339 g/t silver equivalent. This mineralized zone remains open in multiple directions with strong silver-gold assays returned from holes at both ends of the current drilling pattern. 3 drill rigs remain on the property. Summa Silver trades on the TSXV with SSVR and on the OTCQX with SSVRF. News Release

Defiance Silver has appointed Doug Cavey to the position of Executive Vice President. Doug has been an instrumental member of the team for the past several years, managing key aspects of their corporate functions, as well as exploration and technical programs on the ground in Mexico. News Release

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