Morning Briefing: Volatility Continues in Markets this Morning
Welcome to Mining Stock Daily. I’m Trevor Hall. And I’m Paul Harris.
Today is Monday, May 9th
Last week gold and silver were treated to the customary two-way volatility that has become ingrained into the Comex and LBMA paper derivative metals markets during FOMC meeting week. The tail wags the dog. Gold traded between $1924 and $1848 per ounce before settling at $1883. On Thursday afternoon and Friday morning gold shot up from $1860 to as high as $1907 after the Kremlin confirmed it was evaluating backing the ruble with the gold. An early day rally Friday was turned lower in the afternoon, as typically happens late in the day at the end of the week. Silver traded as high as $23.70 per ounce last week and as low as $22.10. It settled at $22.37. For now it looks like $22.10 could be solid support.
After getting demolished along with the rest of the stock market two weeks ago, the mining stocks seemed to settle in a lateral trading range, with the GDX oscillating between $34.35 and $36. The GDX is now down 16% from its April high but it's still well above the $29 level from which it took off at the beginning of February. The Mining Stock Journal said that, for the short term, the precious metals sector may be tied to the directional movement of the stock market. But India and China have resurfaced as big buyers of physical gold which should put stout support under the market.
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…Arizona Sonoran Copper.
Arizona Sonoran Copper Company is a lower-risk copper developer with a significant exploration potential on private land just south of Phoenix, in an infrastructure rich area of Arizona. The Cactus Project PEA illustrates an 18 year mine life, generating US$1 Billion post-tax free cash flow. It is a scalable, low capital intensity project with strong leverage to the copper price. The Company is led by an executive management team and Board which have a long-standing track record of successful project delivery in North America complemented by global capital markets expertise. Read more about the company at arizonasonoran.com.
And here’s what you need to know this morning….
Troubled gold developer Pure Gold Mining announced a non-brokered private placement at 15c for proceeds of C$30 million. This will add 200 million shares to the 500 million it already has out, possibly more if it is upsized, and with a full warrant at 18c, this financing could ultimately see the company have one billion shares outstanding! Noticeably, the release did not state that largest shareholder AngloGold Ashanti had committed to retain its 19.9% pro rata stake, although it might. Nor did it state that the equity raise is a condition stipulated by Sprott Resource Lending to extend the terms of certain credit facilities and obtain additional secured debt. Proceeds will be used to complete ramping up the PureGold Mine in Ontario to 800 tpd by the September quarter, reducing operating and sustaining capital costs by at least 30%, achieving sustainable positive site-level cash flow and completing critical trade-off studies in support of the updated Mineral Resource, Mineral Reserve, and Life of Mine plan by the end of the year. PureGold also said former Kirkland Lake Gold CEO Tony Makuch has joined as a Technical Advisor. Pure Gold Mining trades on the TSXV under PGM and on the LSE under PUR. News release
Collective Mining reported assay results from four additional diamond drill holes at the Olympus Target within its Guayabales project in Antioquia, Colombia. Highlights included 216.7m grading 1.08 grams per tonne gold equivalent in hole 4 and 110.1m grading 0.82g/t in the same hole. The company said geological modelling, drilling, underground sampling and detailed mapping now leads to an interpretation of Olympus Central and Olympus South to be one large interconnected mineralized system measuring up to 1.4km by 900m. It said all the ingredients are in place for Olympus to evolve into a multi-million-ounce precious metal deposit. Collective Mining trades on the TSXV under CNL. News release
Electra Battery Materials says drilling at its cobalt-copper mineral Iron Creek project in Idaho has successfully extended mineralization by an additional 180 metres to the east of the current deposit as well as down dip from the eastern edge of the resource zone. Five of six exploration holes drilled in the most recent drill campaign intersected cobalt mineralization, including 2.5 metres at 0.2% cobalt and 2.4 metres at 0.2%. Cobalt mineralization remains open along strike in both directions and the final three holes to be reported intersected the mineralized stratigraphy over a depth extent of 400 meters to the east of the current resource. Electra's Iron Creek Project is located in the Idaho Cobalt Belt and is one of the few primary cobalt deposits in the world. Electra Battery Materials trade on the Nasdaq and the TSX V with ELBM. News Release
Amex Exploration announced results from nine drill holes focused on near surface and on-strike expansion as well as definition drilling of the Denise Zone within the Eastern Gold Zone of its Perron Project in Quebec, Canada. Highlights included 30.9m grading 11.57 grams per tonne gold in hole 510 in the Eastern Denise zone. The company said drilling demonstrates that tenure and grade of the eastern area of Denise is starting to replicate the western Denise Zone which has been well defined with diamond drilling, with potential for higher grade shoots. Amex Exploration trades on the TSXV under AMX and on the OTCQX under AMXEF. News release
HighGold Mining reported ongoing assay results from drilling at its Munro-Croesus project in the Timmins Gold Camp in Ontario, Canada. First pass drill testing of the new Argus Zone, 3km from the historical Croesus Mine, intersected wide intervals of gold mineralization in the first two drill holes, immediately north of the regional gold-bearing Pipestone Fault, represent a new discovery of bulk-tonnage style gold at Munro-Croesus. Highlights included 136m grading 0.54 grams per tonne gold in hole 110, which included 62.8m grading 0.79g/t. The company said the results show that Munro-Croesus has potential to host large bulk-tonnage style gold deposits. HighGold Mining trades on the TSXV under HIGH and on the OTCQX under HGGOF. News release
Ascot Resources announced that its 2022 exploration drilling program has begun on the Premier Gold Project in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia. This will comprise approximately 18,000m and will be equally split between exploration and in-fill holes. Exploration drilling will be largely concentrated on the Sebakwe and Day Zones and in-fill drilling will focus exclusively on the Big Missouri deposit. Drilling will initially be conducted from surface but is anticipated to shift to underground as development enables access and will allow for shorter drill holes and more precise targeting. The Company experienced extraordinary assay lab turnaround delays last year, but times are anticipated to be much shorter this year as a new third party assay lab is being set up in the town of Stewart. Ascot has signed a priority service contract with this new lab to enable faster turnaround. Ascot Resources trades on the TSX with AOT and on the OTCQX with AOTVF. News Release
That concludes today’s morning briefing.
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