Quarterly Production Notes; Vizsla Exploration News

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

Today is Thursday, April 14th

On Wednesday gold bounced around in overnight action but shot up higher like a Roman Candle about two hours before the a.m. London fix, running from $1,967 per ounce to as high as $1,983 before pulling back to settle at $1,978. The entire move higher occurred well before the worse than expected PPI report hit the tape, indicating that either nefarious entities had the report before it was released or, alternatively, a big physical buyer is lurking in the background that frightened the paper derivative short sellers. Silver ran higher from $25.60 per ounce to as high as $26.08 before retreating and settling just below $26 at $25.95. Silver felt particularly perky, according to the Mining Stock Journal. 

The mining stocks traded higher in correlation with the metals, with the GDX closing up 2.24% from Tuesday. The Mining Stock Journal commented the current move in the precious metals sector is the strongest in character since late 2008. It added that, while a pullback is to be expected, the precious metals sector is likely embarking on a long, sustained cyclical bull move. In that regard, the latest Mining Stock Journal will be making the case that the stock market is miscalculating the upside case for a distressed mining stock currently trading for pennies on the dollar. The newsletter believes that an easy double or triple before Thanksgiving is on the table for this stock. You can learn more Investment Research Dynamics dot com.

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 Company.

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….

Lots of quarterly production numbers out today. We’ll start with Wesdome Gold Mines. CEO Duncan Middlemiss says Wesdome’s first quarter combined production of 25,611 oz was essentially in line with expectations and represents the low quarterly production for the year. Wesdome says they will have additional ore available front the Falcon Zone at Eagle, which is expected to boost both volume and grade. At Kiena, the ramp up has been impacted by unscheduled downtime related to the underground crusher. As well, some equipment delays and staff absences in the beginning of the year due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant impacted development, hence the lower grade in Q1. These challenges have largely been rectified, and commercial production is on track for mid year. Wesdome trades on the TSX with WDO. News Release

B2Gold says its total gold production of 209,365 ounces, which included 12,892 ounces from Calibre Mining, was 5% above budget for the quarter. Consolidated gold revenue was $366 million on sales of 195,100 ounces at an average realized price of $1,874 per ounce. The company says it remains well-positioned for continued strong operational and financial performance with total gold production guidance of between 990,000 - 1,050,000 ounces (including 40,000 - 50,000 attributable ounces projected from Calibre) with total consolidated cash operating costs forecast to be between $620 - $660 per ounce. B2Gold trades on the TSX with BTO and on the NYSE American with BTG. News Release

And Barrick reported preliminary Q1 production of 1.0 million ounces of gold and 101 million pounds of copper. As previously guided, Barrick’s gold production in 2022 is expected to be the lowest in the first quarter increasing through the year, while copper production is expected to be higher in the second half of the year. Barrick remains on track to achieve full year gold and copper guidance.

Golden Minerals says they have produced 3,608 oz of gold and 13,944 oz of silver from the Rodeo mine in Durango state of Mexico. 

Paul, what do you make of this quarter’s production notes? 

Moving on to exploration news. Vizsla Silver reported results from 19 new drill holes targeting the Animas Vein Corridor, at its 100%-owned, flagship Panuco silver-gold project in Mexico. The results are centered on two zones, the Rosarito Zone, which was included in the March 2022 maiden resource estimate, and the Cuevillas Zone, a new discovery located near perpendicular to Rosarito, at the northern end of the Animas Vein Corridor. Results included 1,088 g/t silver equivalent over 1.26 meters at Cuevillas and 652 g/t silver equivalent over 4.71 meters at Rosarito. The Company believes the northern end of the Animas Vein Corridor has significant potential to host additional resources and will continue to explore this area throughout 2022. Additionally, the Company is reviewing the potential to utilize existing workings in the area to conduct underground drilling. This may provide improved access to drill more vein intercepts in less time at lower overall costs. Vizsla Silver trades on the TSX V and the NYSE with VZLA. News Release

Seabridge Gold reported updated mineral resource estimates for its Mitchell and East Mitchell (formerly Snowfield) deposits which incorporate drilling completed in 2021. These resource estimates will be used in an updated KSM preliminary feasibility study (PFS) expected in June 2022 that will, for the first time, incorporate the East Mitchell deposit into KSM's mine plans, which the company acquired in 2020 from Pretium Resources. The measured and indicated resources are 4.1 billion tonnes grading 0.54 grams per tonne gold, 0.13% copper, 2.4g/t silver and 71 parts per million molybdenum, containing 72.2 million ounces of gold, 11.9 billion pounds of copper, 323Moz of silver and 648 million pounds of molybdenum. The Mitchell and East Mitchell are two of five deposits in Seabridge's massive KSM project in the Golden Triangle region of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The company expects to see the combination of East Mitchell and Mitchell to create a single very large open pit mining opportunity with improved economic projections including better grades in the early years of production and deferral of the need to pay for capital intensive underground block-cave development. Seabridge Gold trades on the TSX under SEA and on the NYSE under SA. News release

Treasury Metals announced an updated mineral resource estimate for its Goliath gold complex in northwestern Ontario, Canada, which includes the Goliath, Goldlund and Miller deposits. The update increases measured and indicated resources by 9% to 2.1 million ounces, while inferred resources jump 48% to 782,800oz. The measured resources at Goliath more than doubled to 273,600oz grading 1.33 grams per tonne, Miller saw its inferred resources converted into 74,600oz of indicated resources grading 1.1g/t, while Goldlund’s indicated resource grew from 840,000oz to 940,000oz grading 0.87g/t. The company said 62% of the measured and indicated resource is above a 1g/t cut-off and 40% above 2.2g/t. The update is based on 3,185 drill holes for 540,329m, incorporating 176 new holes for 41,072m. The resource will form the basis for a pre-feasibility study due in the second half of 2022. Treasury Metals trades on the TSX under TML and on the OTCQX under TSRMF. News release

That concludes today’s morning briefing.

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