Check back later this morning for today’s BMR Morning Market Musings.
1. Gold has traded between $1,241 and $1,249 so far today as it hovers around 5-week lows…as of 7:00 am Pacific, Gold is flat at $1,243 while Silver has slid another 17 cents to $16.27…Russia’s Gold reserves rose to 54.9 million troy ounces by early June from 54.2 million ounces on May 1, the Russia central bank reported yesterday…that’s the 5th consecutive month of gains…Russia’s central bank, which usually buys locally produced Gold from Russian banks, has been one of the leading national buyers of the yellow metal in recent years, along with China…
2. Saudi Arabia has relieved Muhammad bin Nayef from his role as crown prince, replacing him with Mohammad bin Salman…the move positions the 31-year-old Bin Salman to be next in line to the throne…in March, Bin Salman met President Trump in the White House, and agreed that Iran represents a regional security threat…the young prince has taken a central role in Saudi Arabia’s efforts to build its economy beyond the Oil industry…he holds primary responsibility for the kingdom’s military and energy sector…meanwhile, with WTIC hovering around the key $43 technical level, reports have surfaced that the Saudis’ next tactic to boost Oil prices is to take aim at the highly visible U.S. Oil inventories…the Saudis, who have a large refinery on the U.S. Gulf Coast, are apparently planning to hold back some exports to the U.S. which could show up immediately in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s import data and inventories as a bullish signal…it’s estimated the Saudis supplied about 1 million barrels a day of the 8 million bpd imported by the U.S. last week…suddenly cutting back those U.S. exports would manufacture a drop in the EIA report…the next government report on inventories is due this morning, within the hour…
3. Ground conditions are beginning to rapidly improve in the Eskay Heart of Gold Camp…Seabridge Gold (SEA, TSX) announced this morning that it has mobilized rigs to KSM to commence drilling 2 highly prospective targets – the down plunge projection of the Lower Iron Cap zone, and a new target which could represent a 5th, higher grade deposit at KSM…both targets were discovered in the last drill hole completed in 2016 which returned an interval of 555 m grading 0.82 g/t Au, 0.24% Cu and 4.4 g/t Ag beginning at a depth of 353 m in the Lower Iron Cap zone…
4. The Venture is up 2 points at 772 as of 7:00 am Pacific as it bounces off its rising 300-day moving average (SMA)….updated chart in today’s Morning Musings…First Cobalt (FCC, TSX-V) and CobalTech (CSK, TSX-V) were both halted at the same time pre-market, pending news…the TSX has added 37 points while the Dow is off 14 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…
5. Orla Mining (OLA, TSX-V) has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Goldcorp (G, TSX) to acquire Camino Rojo, a Gold and Silver oxide heap leach project containing 1.7 million ounces of Gold reserves located in Zacatecas state, central Mexico, for consideration to Goldcorp consisting of 31.9 million common shares of Orla and a 2% NSR… in addition, Orla and Goldcorp have agreed to enter into an option agreement regarding the potential future development of a sulphide operation at Camino Rojo…the project hosts 1.7 million ounces of oxide Gold reserves and 4 million ounces of attributable Measured & Indicated Gold resources along with significant Silver, Lead, and Zinc by-products…based on Orla’s $1.10 closing price yesterday, the company is paying approximately $16/oz (U.S.) for oxide Gold reserves, with the sulphide resource providing long-term optionality to create additional shareholder value…Camino Rojo is 50 km southeast of Mexico’s largest Gold producer, Goldcorp’s Peñasquito mine…OLA is up 17 cents at $1.27 as of 7:00 am Pacific…
6. Barkerville Gold Mines (BGM, TSX-V) reported more high-grade results this morning from the Valley zone at its Cariboo Gold Project as a 130,000-m drill program continues…CM-17–025 returned 17.5 g/t Au over 6.2 m; CM-17–021 intersected 10.8 g/t Au over 5.9 m; and CM-17–044 cut 5.4 g/t Au over 14 m. “We are seeing repeated success with targeting and intercepting mineralized vein systems across our current drilling program areas,” commented Kyle Orr, senior geologist with Barkerville. “These latest results provide more evidence that the Cow Mountain and Island Mountain areas are connected through continuous, high-grade Gold mineralization in the Valley zone.“ BGM is off a penny at 99 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…
7. North American Palladium (PDL, TSX) has signed a definitive option agreement with Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (Implats) and Transition Metals Corp. (XTM, TSX-V) that provides the company with the exclusive right to acquire 75% ownership of the Sunday Lake Project located near Thunder Bay…to earn 75%, PDL will have to make cumulative total cash payments of $3.5 million and complete a minimum of $4.5 million in qualified expenditures over a 5-year staged earn-in period…PDL is in the process of raising $50 million and says it intends to invest up to $10 million annually in exploration over the next 3 years on targets at the Lac des Iles mine site, the Sunday Lake Project and its current greenfields properties…
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Bayshore Silver reports their 900,000 sorter that will revolutionize the degree of recoveries (possibly down to 2%) is being manufactured in Germany. Delivery this summer and during interim drilling into mountain in an effort to increase reserves. Already have 160,000 tons of high grade mined rocks to be sorted and shipped to smelter. I guess nobody can say for sure about these penny miners but it sure looks good.
Comment by Carl — June 21, 2017 @ 9:16 am
Jon, longer than expected wait for news from CSK and FCC. You were in Cobalt country recently and had have a pulse on the area, what have you heard?….. whats your thinking on pending news
Comment by Vepper — June 21, 2017 @ 10:44 am
Major consolidation…First Cobalt initiating deal to combine FCC, Cobalt One and CobalTech…
Mr. Trent Mell reports
FIRST COBALT PROPOSES FRIENDLY MERGER WITH COBALT ONE
First Cobalt Corp. has delivered a proposal to Cobalt One Ltd., which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, for the merger of Cobalt One and First Cobalt. Under the proposal, First Cobalt would acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Cobalt One, which would result in the shareholders of Cobalt One holding approximately 60 per cent of the equity in the merged entity and the shareholders of First Cobalt holding the remaining 40 per cent.
If concluded, this merger would consolidate the two largest land packages in the Cobalt camp into a single landholder with over 10,000 hectares. First Cobalt would also become 100-per-cent owner of the Yukon refinery, previously a joint venture option between the two companies.
The proposal delivered to Cobalt One includes the following elements:
Cobalt One shareholders would own 60 per cent of the merged entity and First Cobalt shareholders would own the remaining 40 per cent, prior to giving effect to any subsequent equity issuances by either company.
The merged entity would be based in Toronto, a five-hour drive from the Cobalt mining camp.
First Cobalt would maintain its TSX Venture Exchange listing and seek to obtain a secondary listing on the ASX of chess depositary interests.
It would be a condition of the transaction that the board of directors of the merged entity would include Cobalt One chairman Paul Matysek, Cobalt One chief executive officer Jason Bontempo, as well as Bob Cross and some or all of the current First Cobalt board members.
Trent Mell, president and CEO of First Cobalt, commented: “First Cobalt previously concluded a partnership with Cobalt One on the Yukon refinery near Cobalt, Ont., and we shared a common vision for the Cobalt Ontario camp. Both companies believe that a rebirth of this historic mining district will occur through the application of modern geoscience, a better understanding of disseminated cobalt mineralization and ultimately bulk mining methods. A consolidation of properties, the refinery and the permitted property upon which the refinery is situated offer the potential to significantly shorten the pathway to production. This transaction will benefit shareholders in both companies, while creating one of the largest cobalt exploration companies in the world.”
Cobalt One’s properties are in Canada, adjacent to First Cobalt’s properties, making First Cobalt’s Canadian-based management team (with its experience in this region) the ideal choice to manage the merged entity. Consolidating the land package could facilitate new discoveries in this camp, which is unique for its cobalt-silver mineralization, and provide meaningful future cobalt production in a politically stable, mining-friendly jurisdiction. The refinery is a unique asset in this area, and the permitted facility could meaningfully accelerate permitting of a future mining and processing operation. First Cobalt also believes Cobalt One is an attractive counterparty due to its ASX listing and strong institutional shareholder support in that market.
First Cobalt has engaged Canaccord Genuity Corp. as financial adviser and Cassels Brock and Blackwell LLP as legal advisers on any transactions entered into by the company.
About First Cobalt Corp.
First Cobalt is focused on building a diversified global portfolio of assets that are highly leveraged to the cobalt market. The company’s current assets include almost 3,000 hectares and three former mines in the Cobalt camp in Ontario, Canada. Cornerstone assets include an option for the former-producing Keeley-Frontier mine, a high-grade mine that produced over 3.3 million pounds of cobalt and 19.1 million ounces of silver from 301,000 tonnes of ore, as well as a joint venture on a fully permitted cobalt refinery in Cobalt, Ont. The company also has interests in seven prospective copper-cobalt properties covering 190 square kilometres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all with known surface mineralization.
We seek Safe Harbor.
Comment by Jon - BMR — June 21, 2017 @ 11:43 am
Sounds good for FCC/CSK merger to become a big Cobalt company!
Comment by STEVEN1 — June 21, 2017 @ 11:51 am
FCC-Cobalt One-CobalTech…a 3-way…makes CSR that much more attractive at current levels…
Comment by Jon - BMR — June 21, 2017 @ 11:53 am
also CPO!
Comment by STEVEN1 — June 21, 2017 @ 12:19 pm
where does that leave csr, cpo, etc?
is a refinery important or a frill ?
Comment by donald — June 21, 2017 @ 12:23 pm
If FCC can pull this off, increases the value of the entire region, Donald…and I suspect these guys are also going to take these stocks for a run…that’s great for CSR and others, and CSR is left with the most attractive share structure and underground access that no one else enjoys at the moment…plus a recovery process FCC may need…there are still some unanswered questions with regard to the CobalTech mill and the Yukon refinery…we’ll be delving into those some more, but what the proposed deal reveals is some big picture thinking regarding the great potential of the entire Camp…
Comment by Jon - BMR — June 21, 2017 @ 12:41 pm
This merger has to be good news for all in the camp, Jon you are correct in thinking big and down the road in what they must think the prospects are for cobalt price and the entire region
Has to good for CSR just a matter of time now before others fiqure out what CSR is sitting on and it takes off !! I like the news !!
Comment by Greg — June 21, 2017 @ 3:19 pm