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1. Gold has traded between $1,308 and $1,314 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is off $7 an ounce at $1,310…U.S. bond yields have firmed since Friday following strong economic data including monthly non-farm payrolls and the ISM manufacturing survey…outflows from Gold ETF’s totalled 5.3 tonnes Friday, a noticeable change from the 25 tonnes of inflows over the previous 4 sessions…Silver is still grappling with the key $15.75 level…it’s down 9 cents at $15.77…Nickel continues to lead among base metals, up another 7 cents to $5.75…Copper is unchanged at $2.76 while Zinc has gained a penny to $1.26…China’s Zinc output came in at 4.53 million tonnes in 2018, according to a survey of smelters by Antaike…that marked a fall of 4.6%, or 218,000 tonnes, from 2017, the steepest drop since 2013…Zinc was the worst performer in the base metals complex in 2018, falling 26% on concerns of oversupply, but it’s is off to a flying start in 2019…inventories are low and global Zinc demand is expected to increase to 14 million tonnes this year…Crude Oil has retreated $1.02 a barrel to $54.25 while the U.S. Dollar Index has gained one-quarter of a point to 95.87…
2. Radient Technologies (RTI, TSX-V), Aurora Cannabis‘ (ACB, TSX-V) extraction technology partner, is up sharply in early trading after announcing that it has received its standard processing licence from Health Canada…in 2016, Aurora identified Radient’s proprietary extraction technology (MAP) as potentially disruptive for the cannabis industry due to its ability to achieve much higher throughputs than is possible with existing benchmark technologies, as well as its efficiency and ability to preserve the full spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes found in the source material…these aspects provide key competitive advantages in the development and large-scale production of high-quality derivative products…since investing in Radient, Aurora has expanded into the hemp sector with its majority ownership of Hempco Food and Fiber and the acquisition of AgroPro, Europe’s largest producer of organic hemp products, providing low-cost access to high-quality raw material for the extraction of cannabidiol…the industrial-scale extraction of CBD will play a key role in the rollout of Aurora’s derivative products strategy, including the development and production of high-margin products for the wellness market…meanwhile, Radient today also announced the appointment of Aurora CEO Allan Cleiren to its Board of Directors…RTI is up 26 cents at $1.07 as of 7:00 am Pacific, while ACB has blasted through Fib. resistance at $9.80 and is 61 cents higher at $10.31…
3. The Liberals’ Bill C-69 (pending legislation that overhauls the review process for major resource projects in Canada) is a major threat to Western Canada’s Oil sector…that’s the view of Hal Kvisle, the former CEO of TransCanada (TRP, TSX) who spent a decade shepherding projects such as the Mackenzie Valley Gas pipeline and the original Keystone pipeline through Ottawa’s byzantine regulatory process, with mixed results…now chairman of the board of ARC Resources (ARX, TSX) and a director for Cenovus Energy (CVE, TSX), he’s concerned that burdensome federal policies are killing growth prospects in the Western Canadian Oil industry and warns the new legislation will only compound the problem…the Liberal legislation “takes a horrifically bad situation and makes it worse,” Kvisle told The Globe and Mail…“They’ve created something that we in industry – having been through what we have – we see no end in sight to that [review] process”…no pipeline company will pursue a project under those circumstances, he added…energy industry executives also say that Bill C-69 threatens to bog down development projects just when they are most needed…the Bill has been pushed through the Commons by the Trudeau majority and is now before the Senate…
4. Barrick Gold (ABX, TSX; GOLD, NYSE) says it has entered into an agreement with Reunion Gold (RGD, TSX-V) to form a 50-50 alliance to jointly explore for, develop and mine certain mineral projects in the Guiana Shield, including Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and the north and northeast regions of Brazil…Reunion will initially contribute to the alliance the Waiamu, Aremu, Arawini and Oko projects, all located in Guyana…Barrick says it will initially fund $4.2 million on these projects, as credit for historical exploration expenditures by Reunion, with subsequent funding to be on a 50-50 basis between Reunion and Barrick…the alliance “expands Barrick’s exploration footprint in the Guiana Shield, a significantly underexplored region and one of the most prospective in the world for large-scale gold discoveries,” stated Mark Bristow, Barrick President and CEO…Barrick will also increase its equity position in Reunion from 15% to 19.9% of outstanding shares…Barrick has agreed to acquire up to 35.7 million shares of Reunion at 15 cents each for a total purchase of just under $5.4 million (CDN)…
5. The Dow is off 42 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX is up 14 points while the Venture, aiming for its 8th straight winning session, has added another 3 points to 626…Sun Metals (SUNM, TSX-V) and Lorraine Copper (LLC, TSX-V) were both halted shortly prior to market open, pending news…also halted, as news is disseminated, is Namaste Technologies (N, TSX-V) as the company announced that it has fired CEO Sean Dollinger “for cause” and removed him from his position as Director, effectively immediately…meanwhile, Namaste also stated that “following a recent expression of interest in the company, the Board of Directors…has launched a strategic review process to consider all value-maximizing alternatives”…Zenabis Global (ZENA, TSX-V) has entered into a supply agreement with Shoppers Drug Mart…Shoppers may purchase dried marijuana and cannabis oil (once Zenabis receives its licence to sell oil) from the Zenabis medical branded product line, subject to any and all regulations…Shoppers also has the right to purchase all future products available as laws and regulations allow…Zenabis branded medical cannabis products will then be sold online at cannabis.shoppersdrugmart.ca, as regulations do not allow the sale of medical cannabis in retail pharmacies…on the CSE, Weekend Unlimited (POT, CSE), trading under the much sought-after symbol POT for the first time, climbed as high as 36 cents in early trading on massive volume…Tidal Royalty (RLTY.U, CSE), which jumped 50% last week on a surge in volume, is steady at 28 cents…
6. Amex Exploration (AMX, TSX-V) continues to drill into high-grade Gold in the Eastern Gold zone (EGZ) of its Perron Project north of Rouyn-Noranda…drill hole PE-2019–24 cut 24 g/t Au over 5.85 m including 214.7 g/t over 0.65 m at a vertical depth of 235 m…meanwhile, PE2019–23 intersected 39.6 g/t Au over 0.75 m at a vertical depth of 135 m…this helps verify vertical continuity in the near-surface portion of the system…the zone has been intersected in the same section over a vertical distance of approximately 150 m, pierce point to pierce point, with a spacing varying from 25 to 50 m…in addition to these results, the company reports that the first 25 m step-out hole testing the lateral extent of the EGZ’s High Grade Zone has intersected visible Gold…AMX has pulled back 6 cents to 56 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading…
7. Should this come as any surprise?…the Trudeau government says it has no plans to lower taxes on cannabis, even as other regions in North America embrace research that says lower levies may help eradicate the illegal pot trade…jurisdictions in the U.S. with legal cannabis markets are considering temporarily lowering pot taxes in hopes of encouraging consumers to migrate from the illicit market (if you recall, Trudeau’s thesis for legalizing marijuana revolved around the idea of eliminating the black market – that’s not going to happen, much like his promise to eliminate the budget deficit)…recent research from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy argues that lower taxes in the early days of legalization gives the industry a chance to get on its feet…it also recommends phasing in cannabis taxes over time and allowing medicinal users to pay less than recreational users…the Trudeau government, however, is not interested in following that advice…Finance Department spokesman Anna Arneson told The Globe and Mail, “The taxation framework for cannabis products entails keeping duties low and working with the provinces and territories to maintain a co-ordinated approach to taxation. There are no planned changes to the existing duties at this time”…Ottawa also charges an extra $1-per-gram excise tax on all cannabis, recreational and medicinal…
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Jon: are you following MXR?!
Comment by MERIDEX — February 4, 2019 @ 7:21 am
More selling on IMR today Jon. They are drilling and the .08s getting hit. Any idea who is doing the selling?
Comment by Vladdy — February 4, 2019 @ 11:26 am
Oh ye of little faith, Vladdy…what r u worried about?
Comment by Jon - BMR — February 4, 2019 @ 4:33 pm
Happily added some today 🙂
Comment by goose90 — February 4, 2019 @ 4:33 pm