July 7, 2020
Daniel’s Den
7 @ 7:00
Visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information!
1. Spot Gold has traded between $1,772 and $1,800 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal is up $5 an ounce at $1,790…the latest trade data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed that for the 3rd week in a row hedge funds continued to add to their bullish bets, though they started from a low position…Gold ETFs saw their 7th straight month of inflows in June with Gold holdings rising by 104 tons last month, according to data released this morning by the World Gold Council (WGC)…the inflows have driven Gold holdings to a new all-time high of 3,621 tons…the WCG added that assets under management have also climbed to their highest level on record…in the 1st half of 2020, Gold ETFs saw inflows of 734 tons valued at $39.5 billion…Silver is up 3 pennies at $18.29…Copper, Nickel and Zinc are off slightly at $2.77, $6.01 and 92 cents, respectively…Crude Oil has retreated 22 cents a barrel to $40.41 while the struggling U.S. Dollar Index has rebounded one-tenth of a point to 96.82…Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for the Wuhan COVID-19 virus…Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic told The Financial Times the U.S. economic recovery will be “bumpier” as COVID-19 cases continue to rise…meanwhile, the U.S. government has awarded drugmaker Novavax (NVAX, NASDAQ) a $1.6 billion contract to develop a coronavirus vaccine, the biggest amount yet granted under the White House’s “Operation Warp Speed”…the embattled World Health Organization (WHO) said today it’s reviewing new evidence on whether COVID-19 can spread through particles in the air…“We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission, aerosol transmission, as one of the modes of transmission of COVID-19 as well as droplets,” stated Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit stated…“We will be issuing our brief in the coming weeks and that will outline everything that we have in this area”…WHO’s remarks come after 239 scientists from 32 different countries published an open letter to the organization calling for them to update their information on COVID-19…WHO has been all over the map on COVID-19 since this all started in China…Seattle’s socialist City Council continues to drive the city into the ditch…last night it voted to slap businesses who have at least $7 million in annual payroll expenses with a new tax ranging from 0.7% to 2.4%, effective in 2021…
2. Major League Baseball is having some significant COVID-19 testing issues, so much so that Washington Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo, whose club shut down the day’s workouts Friday because of delayed test results, commented: “Without accurate and timely testing it is simply not safe for us to continue with summer camp”…Major League Baseball struck a deal with the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City, which converted a portion of its anti-doping lab to conduct the COVID-19 screening…meanwhile, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association have taken a major step toward resuming the pandemic-hit 2019–20 season later this summer – and securing labour peace for the foreseeable future…the league and its union announced yesterday the 2 sides have hammered out a tentative deal on the return-to-play protocol as well as a memorandum of understanding on a 4-year extension of the current collective bargaining agreement…the NHL board of governors, the NHLPA’s executive board and full membership must now ratify the documents, which are tied together, in 3 separate votes…if the proposals get the green light, training camps would begin July 13, with the 24 teams set to resume heading to the league’s 2 designated hub cities July 26…competitive game action would then commence August 1…COVID-19 testing will also be a major issue with the NHL…
3. The number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. rose by about 45,000 yesterday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the slowest daily rise since June 29, although public health experts caution that the figures don’t necessarily mean the infection rate is slowing…fewer tests take place on weekends while coronavirus infections that are detected might not be reported until early in the following week…India’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 700,000 and the death toll crossed 20,000, according to the country’s Health Ministry…India reported 22,252 new cases – the 5th consecutive day of more than 20,000 infections…India has the 3rd-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world behind the U.S. and Brazil, according to Johns Hopkins…Iran recorded 200 coronavirus deaths overnight, the highest 24-hour death toll since the pandemic was first reported in the country in February…in Australia, the city of Melbourne will return to lockdown for 6 weeks in an effort to contain an outbreak, the premier of Victoria state said…Victoria reported 191 new cases, the worst 1-day rise in the state since the start of the pandemic…
4. Another shocker from the U.S. Supreme Court – it has refused to let construction start on TC Energy’s (TRP, TSX; TRP, NYSE) Keystone XL pipeline, rejecting a bid by the Trump administration to jump-start the long-delayed project…the justices, without explanation or noted dissent, left in force part of a federal court order that blocks use of a key federal permit…although the justices cleared the way for other Oil-and-gas pipeline construction projects to use the permit, they refused to do so for Keystone XL…the rebuff means almost all Keystone XL construction is delayed until 2021, according to court papers filed by TC Energy…the company told the high court that lifting the order probably would have let construction start by August on the pipeline, which would carry more Crude than some OPEC members produce…“TC Energy remains committed to the future of this project,” the company said in a statement…“We will continue to evaluate our 2020 U.S. scope. In Canada, our work in 2020 remains unchanged”…U.S. District Judge Brian Morris’s order, which concerned a nationwide permit the Army Corps of Engineers uses to approve water crossings, required projects across the country to seek more time-consuming and expensive individual permits…the Trump administration urged the court to block Morris’s order while the case is on appeal…the rejection is a setback for Alberta, which has committed $5.3 billion (U.S.) to help fund the pipeline’s construction…
5. The Dow has eased off 180 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX is 17 points lower while the Venture is up another 5 points at 650…GoGold Resources (GGD, TSX) has drilled 18.4 m grading 889 g/t Silver equivalent consisting of 5.2 g/t Au and 500 g/t Ag at its Los Ricos Project in Mexico…hole LRGG-20–183 was drilled on section 925N in the Rascadero area of the project and intersected the Los Ricos quartz vein from 70.5 m to 92.5 m…the interval included 3.2 m of 4,335 g/t AgEq…“As we approach the data cut-off for our initial resource, we are excited to see the high-grade intercepts at Rascadero in the northern end of Los Ricos South,” stated President and CEO Brad Langille…“In the coming weeks, we will release the initial resource that will summarize the results of our drill program to date. Post resource, drilling at Los Ricos South will continue in addition to the recently initiated drilling at Los Ricos North”…GoldQuest Mining (GQC, TSX-V), which should benefit from new political leadership in the Dominican Republic, is up another penny-and-a-half at 29 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…PureGold (PGM, TSX-V) has added 7 cents to $1.80…QMX Mining (QMX, TSX-V) is gaining momentum, up a penny at 15.5 cents…2 non-resource plays we have favoured have hit new highs – Gatekeeper Systems (GSI, TSX-V) is up 7 cents at 59 cents while PyroGenesis Canada (PYR, TSX-V) has cracked the $4 barrier as of 7:00 am Pacific…
6. GTT Gold (GTT, TSX-V) is under pressure in early trading following release of a maiden resource estimate for its Saddle North deposit in Northwest British Columbia…an Indicated Resource shows 298 million tonnes grading 0.28% Cu, 0.36 g/t Au and 0.8 g/t Ag for a total of 1.81 billion pounds of Copper, 3.47 million ounces of Gold and 7.58 million ounces of Silver…an Inferred Resource comprises 543 million tonnes grading 0.25% Cu, 0.31 g/t Au and 0.7 g/t Ag for a total of 2.98 billion pounds of Copper, 5.46 million ounces of Gold and 11.64 million ounces of Silver…Saddle North is amenable to open-pit as well as bulk underground mining methods…the deposit features significant potential for expansion with mineralization being open at depth as well as to the northwest and southeas…the mineral resource released yesterday will form the basis for a Preliminary Economic Assessment expected to be completed by the end of 2020…Paul Harbidge, President and CEO, stated: “The importance of having a geological model and a high quality of underlying data to more accurately segregate and estimate these resources will only play a stronger role as we move into our PEA work ahead. Entering the 2020 field season, we look forward to testing prospective greenfield targets in the Quash Pass area at Tatogga, in a region which is now beginning to show the signs of a newly emerging porphyry district in northern British Columbia”…
7. The Copper concentrate market looks to tighten further this year, according to BMO: “With [Chile] now having one of the worst COVID-19 infection rates in the world and thousands of cases across the domestic mining industry, pressure from mining unions and politicians alike for mining companies to curtail operations is rising. The construction of a number of key projects has already being suspended, while the risks of further curtailments to operating mines is rising, increasing the potential for medium-term disappointment in Chilean output levels in our view,” wrote BMO Capital Markets head of commodities research Colin Hamilton…plus, with additional disruptions in Peru, Zambia and Mexico already making an impact, “The Copper concentrate market looks set to tighten further as evidenced by falling TCRCs, while we now estimate the refined Copper market in to be near balanced this year, with the risk of a deficit growing,” Hamilton added…at the same time, demand is picking up…“Further evidence of the strength in Chinese Copper demand came from SMM’s latest survey of wire and cable fabricators, which showed operating rates at 103.3%. This is another new record level. We see Chinese Copper demand in Q2 as having risen ~4% y/y”…
How This Pandemic Will Ultimately Help Copper
The Cost Of Doing Business With China (The CCP)
“Silver Lining”: Innovative Vancouver Company Provides Help During Crisis
Smithers Shakes Off Turmoil For A Major 3-Day Event Connecting Hockey And The Resource Sector
July 6, 2020
7 @ 7:00
Visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information!
1. Spot Gold has traded between $1,769 and $1,788 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal is up $8 an ounce at $1,783…Gold has posted 3 straight monthly gains and is trading higher at this time of the year than it ever has, setting the stage for a run to the $2,000 level during this 2nd half of 2020…Silver, also looking very strong as it outpaces Gold, has added 28 cents to $18.30…base metals continue their upward trend, thanks in part to encouraging economic news out of China…Copper has climbed 6 cents to $2.78…Nickel has shot up 20 cents to $6.00 while Zinc is a penny higher at 93 cents…Crude Oil has declined 20 cents to $40.45 while the struggling U.S. Dollar Index has retreated more than half a point to 96.57…technically, the dollar is in trouble and that’s good news for commodities and the Venture…the Independence Day weekend saw a record increase in new COVID-19 infections in several U.S. states, with Florida surpassing the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the height of the outbreak…British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears poised to reverse course and ban Huawei from supplying components for the country’s 5G wireless network…the expected decision comes amid growing friction between Britain and China over Hong Kong as well as new security concerns about Huawei raised by Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre, or NCSC…any change of heart by Johnson could have repercussions for the Canadian government, which has yet to decide whether to ban the Chinese tech giant, and the larger Five Eyes intelligence alliance…Canada would be the lone member of the group that is not taking a firm stand against Huawei…Britain’s decision in January to allow Huawei components in non-core parts of the fifth-generation network had been seen as a potential model for Canada to follow…the Trump administration rightly views Huawei as a security threat because of its close ties to China’s communist government…“I don’t want to see our critical national infrastructure at risk of being in any way controlled by potentially hostile state vendors,” Johnson told the Evening Standard newspaper…“We have to think very carefully about how to proceed now”…
2. China’s Shanghai Composite Index soared 5.7% today to reach 3,333, its highest close since February 2018…this is no insignificant event…a front-page editorial in state-owned China Securities Journal said fostering a “healthy bull market” was important, given China’s increasingly complicated international relations, intense financial and technological competition, and the challenge of controlling internal financial risks…the article was a clear indication that China’s communist government is determined to support the rally in local stocks…part of that effort will likely include using state-owned entities to purchase stocks, as they’ve done in the past…ample liquidity, cheap funding and expectations of a faster and better back back in business activity that other major countries are underlying factors that should drive the Shanghai Index considerably higher during this last half of 2020…
3. Great Bear Resources (GBR, TSX-V) has drilled 10 g/t Au over 31.25 m in the widest high-grade interval drilled to date at the LP Fault at its Dixie Project at Red Lake…BR-129 is one of the deepest drill holes intersecting the LP Fault so far, with results suggesting that the mineralized zone is expanding at depth…it extends known mineralization on this section from bedrock surface to approximately 400 m vertical depth…continuity of mineralization is demonstrated by shallower drilling on the same section as BR-129…new drill hole BR-139 intersected the same mineralized zone 100 m vertically above BR-129…assays include 32.4 g/t Au over 3.75 m within a broader interval of 13.2 g/t over 9.75 m…Chris Taylor, President and CEO, commented: “The most recent drilling along 650 m of strike length of the multi-kilometre LP Fault Gold system has shown mineralization typically expands at depth. As the system broadens, we generally observe an increasing number of high-grade Gold intervals within broader halos of moderate Gold grades. Gold mineralization continues to show excellent continuity within and between drill sections in all locations tested to date. A new Gold zone adjacent to the LP Fault zone was also discovered at approximately 750 m vertical depth, consistent with our model of a greater than 1 m wide structural zone at Dixie that has the potential to host additional new Gold discoveries”…Great Bear has completed 120 of approximately 300 planned drill holes into the LP Fault target, as part of its 5-km-long by 500 m deep grid drill program…GBR is up $1.21 at $18.82 as of 7:00 am Pacific…
4. Skeena Resources (SKE, TSX-V) is exercising its option to acquire 100% of the Eskay Creek Gold-Silver Project…as a result, Barrick Gold (ABX, TSX; GOLD, NYSE) will become a significant shareholder in Skeena…under this binding agreement, Skeena and Barrick have agreed to amend the terms of the original option agreement…Barrick will be issued 22.5 million Skeena units, comprising 1 common share and a non-transferable half warrant with a strike price of $2.70…Barrick has also been granted a 1% NSR royalty on the entire Eskay Creek land package…half of that royalty must be repurchased from Barrick during the 24-month period after closing, at a cost of $17.5 million (CDN)…Skeena will also have to pay Barrick $15 million (CDN) in the event it sells more than a 50% interest in Eskay Creek over the next 2 years…Skeena’s CEO, Walter Coles Jr., commented: “Skeena is honoured to have Barrick as a significant shareholder as we endeavor to revitalize Eskay Creek, the former highest-grade, past-producing Gold mine in the world. The recent improvements to infrastructure in the Golden Triangle offer us an opportunity to potentially reopen closed mines and contribute to the economic development of communities in northern Canada. Gaining 100% ownership and operatorship of Eskay Creek is an important milestone in the evolution of our company. Skeena is well financed with almost $50 million of cash and we continue to believe there are meaningful opportunities to increase the grade and size of this project with aggressive exploration drilling”…Barrick President and CEO Mark Bristow stated: “The Skeena team has done a great job on its evaluation of Eskay Creek and this is another good example of a transaction that delivers a value creating opportunity for all stakeholders”…SKE, trading at new highs, has jumped 41 cents to $2.40…
5. Enduro Metals (ENDR, TSX-V), formerly Crystal Lake Mining, has demonstrated the high-grade Gold potential of its Newmont Lake Project in the Eskay Camp with news this morning that assay results from previously unsampled drill core from a previous operator have returned 54.7 m of 7.6 g/t Au and 8.9 g/t Ag, starting at just 20 m, within a broader interval of 144 m grading 3.2 g/t Au and 3.7 g/t Ag (historic drill hole R-08–07)…a 2019 Enduro hole, NW19–12, 150 m northeast of R-08–07, intersected 188 m of 1.1 g/t Au starting 67 m downhole, including 44.1 m of 4 g/t Au starting at 82 m…that 2019 hole is highly significant because it was drilled beyond where the NW Zone was thought to have ended, thereby confirming that the zone remains open in that direction…newly reported Enduro hole, NW19–17, intersected 2 low sulphidation epithermal feeder structures underneath and adjacent to NW19–12, including 1.62 m of 14.8 g/t Au within 18.3 m of 1.8 g/t Au starting at 189 m, and 1.5 m of 9.3 g/t Au, 16.3 g/t Ag and 0.82% Cu starting at 80.24 m…infrastructure in the region has greatly improved, including power and road access now within 16 km, leading to a dramatic change in the approach to exploration and potential development at Newmont Lake…an on-going comprehensive technical review of the project recently identified 3 Gold mineralization styles associated with the 20-km-long McLymont Fault, one of multiple target areas within the Newmont Lake Project…the study determined that previous operators did not identify all Gold mineralization styles, and as a result, only 19% of the total drill core has been assayed to date…the Enduro technical team assayed the full core length from the earlier diamond drill hole R-08–07…other holes in the NW Zone are now also being re-examined…this has some similarities to the Great Bear experience early on at Dixie…Enduro needs to continue to focus on this high-grade Gold potential…ENDR is up 8 cents at 27.5 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…
6. The Dow has jumped 453 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…a slew of encouraging U.S. economic data, including record weekly job additions, helped the NASDAQ end at an all-time closing high last week and brought the S&P 500 and Dow within about 8% and 13%, respectively, of their February peaks…in Toronto, the TSX has climbed 175 points while the red-hot Venture has jumped another 10 points to 643…Sona Nanotech (SONA, CSE) is destined to become one of the great Canadian success stories emerging out of the global pandemic…last Thursday SONA announced a ground breaking development in lateral flow as it moves much closer to bringing its Rapid Response COVID-19 test to market, with potential orders in the tens of millions…robust testing by MRIGlobal revealed exceptional specificity and sensitivity rates of 96%, unheard of in lateral flow, with an ability to detect the COVID-19 virus in patients with low viral loads in just 10 to 15 minutes compared with RT-PCR testing which typically takes 24 to 48 hours to detect the virus…SONA’s unique Gold nanorods – they have a patent on this technology – is the key, and these nanorods – as opposed to the commonly used nanospheres – could power the next generation of lateral flow diagnostics…SONA has essentially created a new platform for lateral flow with this disruptive technology…the stock is up another $1.26 at $8.23 as of 7:00 am Pacific…VIZSLA Resources (VZLA, TSX-V) has hit a new high of $1.03 in early trading…drilling has commenced at Stardust, Sun Metals’ (SUNM, TSX-V) 100%-per-cent-owned high-grade Copper-Gold Project in north-central British Columbia…3 diamond drill rigs are currently onsite and actively drilling…the company’s fully funded $3.8 million program is focused on expanding the high-grade 421 zone at Stardust, and exploring for similar thick high-grade, massive sulphide zones…the drill program is anticipated to run until early October…initial drilling is focused on expanding the 421 zone, including 2 rigs on the highly prospective and shallower southern up-plunge extension of the zone near hole 453 and on completing hole 455 which was not finished during the 2019 campaign and is targeting the northern down plunge extents of the zone…K92 Mining (KNT, TSX-V) production in the 2nd quarter was 26,847 ounces Gold equivalent at its Kainantu Gold mine in Papua New Guinea…during Q2, K92 produced 25,762 ounces of Gold, 531,406 pounds of Copper and 10,867 ounces of Silver, or 26,847 AuEq oz (based on prices of $1,500/oz, $2.70/lb and $17.75/oz)…the quarter also achieved record mill throughput of 49,311 tonnes, despite lower running time associated due to COVID-19 and other production impacts, with multiple daily mill throughput records exceeding 700 tonnes…
7. Another pipeline project bites the dust – citing “legal uncertainty”, Dominion Energy (D, NYSE) and Duke Energy (DUK, NYSE) have canceled their Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, a natural gas pipeline that was to stretch hundreds of miles across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina…despite a recent win for the project in the U.S. Supreme Court, ongoing delays, litigation and an expected increase in costs threatened the economic viability of the project, the companies said yesterday…the pipeline, initially announced in 2014, had faced intense criticism and legal challenges from radical environmental and other groups…“This announcement reflects the increasing legal uncertainty that overhangs large-scale energy and industrial infrastructure development in the United States,” stated Dominion Energy Chairman Thomas Farrell…“Until these issues are resolved, the ability to satisfy the country’s energy needs will be significantly challenged”…the companies had “worked diligently and invested billions of dollars to complete the project and deliver the much-needed infrastructure to our customers and communities” in the years since it was announced, Farrell said…the announcement brought cheers from the Natural Resources Defense Council…“This is tremendous news for West Virginians, Virginians, and North Carolinians who deserve clean air, safe water and protection from climate change,” stated Gillian Giannetti, an attorney with the NRDC…
How This Pandemic Will Ultimately Help Copper
The Cost Of Doing Business With China (The CCP)
“Silver Lining”: Innovative Vancouver Company Provides Help During Crisis
Smithers Shakes Off Turmoil For A Major 3-Day Event Connecting Hockey And The Resource Sector
July 5, 2020
July 4, 2020
July 3, 2020
Daniel’s Den
-
-
-
-
Press "Reload" for fresh quote