Hour 1 – The Sectors That Are Catching Our Eye
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This week we saw a lot of company updates from the resource sector. This typically happens right before the conferences in Beaver Creek and Denver. Be sure to click on the links below for the exclusive interviews this week. As always please keep in touch by emailing me at Fleck@kereport.com.
- Segment 1: Axel Merk kicks off the show by addressing the weaker inflation data reported this week as well as a slightly different take on central bank policy.
- Segment 2: Joe Mazumdar from Exploration Insights joins me for two segments. First we discuss the gold market and the companies he is focusing on.
- Segment 3: Continuing our chat with Joe but this time looking at the base metal and lithium sectors.
- Segment 4: We wrap up the first hour following up with Skeena resources after releasing a drill result of 43g/t Gold over 27.7 meters from the Eskay Creek Project.
Exclusive Company Interviews The Week
Segment 1
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Segment 2
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Segment 3
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Segment 4
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Ditto to Skeeta – always appreciate your updates on Auryn Cory and others. Thank you.
Thanks for the weekend show guys. Ever Upward!
Regarding companies with exposure to Copper, they are NOT that rare and there literally are hundreds of companies with a nice copper project, large secondary copper project, or substantial Copper assets in a polymetallic deposit (far more common).
But are they clean concentrate projects???
Yeah, I’ve seen Marin’s points on that before, but it is a bit of a Red Herring in itself – the elusive quest for clean concentrates…..
(which is like beauty and varies in the eye of the beholder…..)
[or in this case in the eyes of the shareholder] 🙂
There are plenty of successful base metals companies that do get penalties on their concentrates, but still have a good enough mix of components to be quite economical. So this whole topic has been overblown to make it look like they have an edge on their picks because they are “clean concentrates”.
Now, obviously with less penalties on the concentrate, this helps out the T&Cs on the concentrate, but this binary focus of clean/dirty concentrate ignores MANY other factors that can be much more substantive:
What about Grade (which can easily Trump a dirty concentrate), how deep is the deposit, open pit or underground, what method of mining, how far does it need to get shipped to make it to the processing center (by truck, barge, rail), what is the road access, what is the power situation at the mine, etc….. Focusing on the clean concentrates is good, but just one of dozens of data points to consider, that certain people are jumping up and down about, because the other aspects of a project aren’t as good.
Often smelters will buy concentrates with too much aresenic, mercury, or manganese, and blend them with more pure concentrates or that are out of balance in a different way, so it is an error to assume that a project won’t be economic just because XXXX or YYYY is present.
Prime Example:
We were following Wildcat Silver on here at they transitioned over to Arizona Mining, and were on the trail early on as they continued to hit it out of the park on their Zinc/Silver/Lead deposit. Then a few negative nancy newsletter writers decided to put out hit piece after hit piece about the metallurgy being “dirty” or riddled with uneconomic concentrates due to the Evil Manganese….. (oohhh!).
So many retail investors then seized on this information about the high manganese exposure being a deal killer for Arizona Mining, and then chatroom gurus jumped on the blame train, talking trash about AZ as what to avoid…… Yeah, OK.
As we know, the concentrate issue was over-hyped to preposterous levels, and when these “experts” and armchair geologists/engineers/newsletter writers were telling everyone to steer clear, the stock relentlessly rose higher and higher until it was just bought out by South32 for 1.3 Billion.
Arizona Mining’s shares went from $.30 up to their takeout level of $6.20 all while investors crowed about them not having a clean concentrate.
So yeah, it doesn’t keep me up at night.
Just to clarify though, it can be a boon to find a development or production project that has a cleaner concentrate with few deleterious elements, because it is will assist in lower economics on the processing side.
For example, that is why I like Alexco or Amercias Silver or Avino Silver & Gold since their concentrates are fairly clean and will be in higher demand by more smelters with lower treatment charges. However, look at Maya Gold & Silver’s outperformance in the sector, where they have mercury and arsenic present, but still did fine last year and this year. Personally, I wasn’t a fan of how they protected their old tailings from possible erosion into the water supply, so I bowed out on those reasons, but the point is that they surged with a concentrate that has penalties.
It is simply a factor to consider along with all the other variables like energy, water, permitting, remoteness of project, road access, hauling distance, grade of the deposit, etc…. and if a company is on the up & up, then their PEA or PFS or FS should include a breakdown of the metallurgy, processing method, recovery percentage, and if there are any deleterious minerals present. As long as they can set things up where smelters will purchase the concentrate and blend it down, then it’s just one of the cost inputs. There are a few companies so remote, that the cost for them to get the processed minerals to another smelter if their closest ones won’t accept it, could be cost prohibitive, so there could be some that due to jurisdiction or proximity to too few smelters may become cost prohibitive.
There are no shortages of land mines and challenges that mining companies face, and it is the overall package that development company is marketing that causes them to sink or sail, but if a larger company purchases them, they normally have done their due diligence and resolved these concerns with the whole supply chain.
Ever Upward!
John McAfee Blockchain Cruise Presentation | A New Age | A Good Feeling!
Is Bitcoin the New Pets.com?
The Crypto Crash of 2018 Is Now Worse Than the Dotcom Bust
Bloomberg – September 12, 2018
http://fortune.com/2018/09/12/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-crash-dotcom-bubble/
ZINCX RESOURCES PROVIDES EXPLORATION UPDATE AT AKIE
2018-09-12 – News Release
2018 drill program highlights:
– First-ever drill test of the massive Sitka barite surface showing where previous channel sampling in 2013 returned high-grade zinc-lead assay results;
– Drill test of the southeastern strike extent of the Cardiac Creek deposit beyond the current limits of the resource model;
– Drill test of the downdip extent of the north lead zone target where previous drilling intersected extensive intervals of bedded pyrite mineralisation highly anomalous in zinc and lead;
– Drill test of the projected Sitka mineralized target approximately 400 metres to the southeast of the Sitka showing;
– A total of 567 drill core samples, including quality assurance/quality control samples, taken and split by rock saw and submitted for assay.
https://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=Z-C%3aZNX-2657910&symbol=ZNX®ion=C
(BTR) BONTERRA INTERSECTS 29.6 G/T AU OVER 3.0 M AT THE GLADIATOR GOLD DEPOSIT AS NEW HIGH-GRADE TRENDS CONTINUE TO EMERGE
2018-09-14 – News Release
https://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=Z-C%3aBTR-2659291&symbol=BTR®ion=C
2018-09-06 08:12 ET – News Release
(BAR) BALMORAL EXPANDS GARGOYLE NICKEL-COPPER-COBALT PROPERTY BY 1600%; ADDS TWO NEW PROPERTIES IN LUMBY LAKE BELT, ONTARIO
2018-09-06 – News Release
“Balmoral Resources Ltd. has staked an additional 697 claim units in the Lumby Lake greenstone belt in Ontario. The newly acquired claims increase Balmoral’s holdings in the belt by more than 16 times, making it the dominant land holder. The staking includes the acquisition of two new properties — Goblin and Ghost. The expanded land position covers all or portions of at least 21 mapped and interpreted ultramafic volcanic and intrusive bodies, only one of which has ever been drill tested.”
https://www.stockwatch.com/News/Item.aspx?bid=Z-C%3aBAR-2656254&symbol=BAR®ion=C
(GGI) Garibaldi Accelerates Buyout of Strategic Claims at Nickel Mountain
@newswire on September 14, 2018
“Garibaldi Resources (TSXV: GGI; OTC: GGIFF) is pleased to announce that with three drill rigs currently building out the Nickel Mountain magmatic nickel-copper-rich sulphide discovery in the heart of Northwest B.C.’s Eskay Camp, Company directors have approved an accelerated buyout for a 100% interest in 766 strategic hectares subject to a 2% NSR royalty.”
https://ceo.ca/@newswire/garibaldi-accelerates-buyout-of-strategic-claims-at
(SIL) SilverCrest Expands High-Grade Babicanora Norte Vein
September 13, 2018
1.8 Metres Grading 2,851 gpt AgEq
1.6 Metres Grading 1,750 gpt AgEq
1.5 Metres Grading 1,004 gpt AgEq
http://www.silvercrestmetals.com/news/2018/index.php?content_id=364
clif high Live Stream 9-16-18
Artemis Resources 225 Ounces of Gold Nuggets Recovered from Conglomerates
https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20180917/pdf/43yct0zsm242kg.pdf
For any pot followers
http://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1010/bnn-bloomberg-launches-unprecedented-editorial-series-on-the-legalization-of-marijuana-1.8034423?mode=Article&autoplay=1.8034423
a deal with one of the biggest brands in the world in the Canadian marijuana market or at least with a Canadian supplier”
at the 6:34 minute mark
Sorry. It’s regarding a major scoop to be announced Monday
A SUBMERGING GLOBAL ECONOMY
September 13, 2018 by Egon von Greyerz
“Many emerging markets are now turning to submerging markets as country after country is experiencing falling economies, currencies and stock markets.”
“The currency is often the best indication of a country’s economic health. Just look at these six currencies submerging into obscurity:”
U.S. Dollar and Gold: Is This Time Different?
by Dr. Thorsten Polleit – Degussa Market Report
“On 13 August 2018, the price of gold fell below 1,200 USD/oz, declining to a 1.5 year low. What to make of this move? It seems that several factors have been at work in triggering the gold price decline. At the same time, it does not seem too far-fetched to think that the current market price of gold is now well below its true value, and so the chance for the gold price to go up outweighs the risk of a further drop by quite a margin. Here is why…”
A word on the ten-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers’ collapse
September 14, 2018 – Daily Market Report
Gold Futures Close Below $1,200
September 14, 2018 – Gary Wagner #TechnicalAnalysis #VIDEO
https://thegoldforecast.com/video/gold-futures-close-below-1200
Caution warranted in metals for the next 8 days
September 15, 2018 – Smart Money Tracker #TechnicalAnalysis #Gold
Gold & Silver Price Update + US Dollar Doomed?
iGoldAdvisor – September 12, 2018 #TechnicalAnalysis
It appears most technicians are still concerned about a bearish drop before the FED rate hikes for this week going into next (which makes sense based on what we’ve seen in the past), but most are preparing for a rally after that, paired with a weaker dollar.
It is odd that almost nobody is bullish right now, since the bounce in mid-August, but if we have to wait until after the 26th to see a more meaningful move higher then that isn’t long to wait.
I’m moving some dry powder into my trading account, because if we do see a further plunge down moving into the Sept rate hike, then I’ll be spearfishing deals along the bottom of the resource mining ocean.
BRIXTON METALS DRILLS 6.00 METRES OF 4,719.33 G/T SILVER AND 0.33% COBALT AT ITS LANGIS PROJECT, ONTARIO
http://pdf.reuters.com/htmlnews/htmlnews.asp?i=43059c3bf0e37541&u=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20180917:nGNX2z4xJL
That’s a very nice high grade hit for Brixton. Wow!
Thanks as always for your efforts in putting the weekend show together guys.
Much appreciated.
Cheers.