Morning Briefing: Newcrest Rejects $17B Newmont Bid

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

Today is Thursday February 16th.

 Gold on Wednesday was pummelled overnight, getting hammered down to $1842 per ounce from $1870 starting shortly before midnight NY time. The yellow metal limped sideways the rest of the day, bouncing between $1840 and $1848 and settling at $1846. Silver similarly was hammered overnight, falling from $21.88 per ounce to as low at $21.40 before staging a steady rally back to $21.65. The Mining Stock Journal said that weakness globally, including U.S. stock futures was likely the cause of the overnight sell-off. But U.S. stocks did a "V" bounce and ran higher, which is probably why silver rallied but gold did not. Sometimes silver breaks away from gold and  correlates closely with the stock market. 

The mining stocks took their cue from gold and were hit hard, with the GDX declining 2.9%. The Mining Stock Journal noted that the GDX is approaching its 200 dma and the RSI and MACD momentum indicators are now at extreme oversold readings. The newsletter added that it will start to redeploy cash that it raised back in January when GDX hits its 200 dma.

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….

Newcrest Mining has rejected Newmont’s $17B bid for the company. Newcrest said its board had unanimously determined to reject the offer which it said did not offer sufficient value to shareholders. Although it appears a counter offer is to be considered. Newcrest says they are prepared to provide access to limited, non-public information on a non-exclusive basis to Newmont for an improved proposal. 

Ridgeline Minerals provided a summary of assay results for the 2022 drill program at the Swift Project, located in the Cortez mining district of the Battle Mountain - Eureka Trend, Nevada. The project is operated by Nevada Gold Mines an  exploration earn-in agreement with NGM holding an option to spend US$20 million in qualifying expenditures over five years to earn an initial 60% stake in the project. Holes 2 and 3 intersected lower-plate carbonate host rocks between 570 and 830m depth and returned 37.2m of .29 g/t gold and 2.6 g/t silver in hole 2. Hole 3 returned 48.8m of .45 g/t gold and .98 g/t silver. NGM has spent a total of US $4,900,000 on the project to-date and has now satisfied the guaranteed work commitments of US $4,000,000 ahead of the scheduled deadline of December 31, 2023. Ridgeline trades on the TSXV with RDG and on the OTCQB with RDGMF. News Release

Blackwolf Copper and Gold has updated their mineral resource estimation for its Niblack property in Alaska. The project now sits with an Indicated Mineral Resource of 5.85 million tonnes at 0.94% Copper, 1.83 g/t Gold, 1.73% Zinc, and 29 g/t Silver and an Inferred Mineral Resource of 0.21 million tonnes at 0.93% Copper, 1.52 g/t Gold, 1.38% Zinc, and 18 g/t Silver from the Lookout and Trio deposits using a US$100/tonne cut-off. A higher-grade zone comprised of multiple, subparallel, interconnected lenses of sulfide mineralization on the Lookout deposit comprised of 3.790 million tonnes at 1.06% Copper, 2.19 g/t Gold, 2.07% Zinc, and 35 g/t Silver in an Indicated category using a US$130/tonne cut-off. The company says both Lookout and Trio are open along strike and up/down-dip of the Mineral Resource with significant additional exploration potential across the property. Blackwolf Copper and Gold trades on the TSXV with BWCG and on the OTC with BWCGF. News Release

Orla Mining provided an update on its 2022 exploration activities on its Cerro Quema Project in Panama and its plans there for 2023. At the Caballito Deposit: Drilling increased confidence and refined geometry, controls, and definition of the mineralization. At La Pava, drilling defined zones of significant Cu-Au sulphide mineralization beneath the oxide gold deposits. At Quemita Norte: Potential satellite sulphide mineralization highlighted by positive 2022 Cu-Au drill intersections over a 180-metre by 210-metre area. With potential seen at the La Pelona and La Prieta Targets. This years programme will follow-up on the encouraging results generated at La Pelona and La Prieta. Orla Mining (TSX: OLA; NYSE: ORLA) news release

Piedmont Lithium signed agreements with LG Chem under which LG Chem will make a $75 million equity investment in Piedmont to own a 5.7% stake, and commit to the offtake of 50,000tpy of spodumene concentrate for four years from Piedmont’s jointly-owned North American Lithium. LG will utilize the material to support its plans to produce cathode materials for key North American customers. Piedmont also agreed to provide LG priority negotiation rights for 10,000tpy of lithium hydroxide. Piedmont intends to utilize the funding to advance its portfolio of projects, including its planned 30,000tpy lithium hydroxide project at Tennessee Lithium, the Ewoyaa Lithium Project in Ghana in partnership with Atlantic Lithium, and the fully integrated Carolina Lithium project in development in North Carolina. Piedmont Lithium (Nasdaq:PLL; ASX:PLL) news release

Troilus Gold reported assay results from Zone X22 at its Troilus Project in Quebec as part of a campaign to define and expand on a newly discovered NE-SW mineralized deformation corridor, originating in Zone 87 and extending southwest into the Gap Zone. Since its discovery in 2022 the strike length of X22 has grown to over 800m. Zone X22 Highlights included 18m at 1.34 g/t AuEq, including 2m at 7.16 g/t. The company expects X22 to positively impact the grade profile of Troilus in the early years of the mine life, and it is not yet included in any resource calculations, although it will be in the upcoming Feasibility study. Troilus Gold (TSX: TLG; OTCQX: CHXMF) news release

EMX Royalty provided an updated on the advancement of its Yarrol Project in Queensland, Australia. Analytical results from a drill hole in the core of the historically defined zone of gold mineralization are highlighted by an intercept of 17.8 meters averaging 4.01 g/t gold from 61 meters. A second hole intersected multiple intervals of gold mineralization including 12 meters at 0.91 g/t gold from 92 meters. The comopany says both drill holes began and ended in gold mineralization. These holes were intended to confirm the nature of the gold mineralization that have been historically mined and explored at Yarrol. EMX trades on the TSXV and the NYSE American with EMX. News Release

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