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1. Gold shot up to a 14-month high of $1,359 overnight, thanks to a range of factors…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $9 an ounce at $1,351…the downturn in bond yields is one of multiple factors pushing Gold closer to a major breakout through a key resistance band between $1,350 and $1,375…money managers are certainly getting more bullish regarding Gold – they have ramped up bets on bullion since late April, when they were wagering that its price would fall…speculative investors held 96,182 more long contracts than short contracts as of June 4, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which is set to release data for this week later today…Silver is 9 cents higher at $14.97…Copper is off 2 pennies at $2.63…Nickel has added 5 cents to $5.41 while Zinc has slipped a penny to $1.17…Crude Oil is up 15 cents to $52.43 while the U.S. Dollar Index has added one-quarter of a point to 97.29…global markets were spooked by news overnight that China’s industrial production was at its slowest growth pace in 17 years in May, up 5% year-on-year which was below market expectations of 5.5% growth…the world’s #2 economy has been showing signs of weakening for months amid a major trade battle with the United States…
2. A ratcheting up of U.S.-Iran tensions is another factor giving Gold a boost today…Iran’s fingerprints are all over yesterday’s attack of 2 more ships in the Persian Gulf area, south of the critical Strait of Hormuz which is the world’s busiest sea lane for Oil shipments…the U.S. military has a video showing what is apparently a small Iranian gunboat next to one of the big ships that was attacked…Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated that Iran presents a “clear and present threat to international peace and security”…U.S. Navy ships are reportedly protecting some Oil tankers in the region…
3. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has slashed its estimate for global Oil demand growth for the 2nd consecutive month, citing intensifying trade concerns amid fears of a global recession…the energy agency’s closely-watched report comes as world Oil markets have undertaken a dramatic shift in recent months, switching from supply-side risks like OPEC’s output cuts or U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela to worries about deteriorating demand growth…Crude futures have turned a 45% price rally in the first 4 months of 2019 into a fall of more than 15% since the start of April…“The main focus I think we should be looking at here is that until very recently the geopolitical factors related to Iran and Venezuela and Libya…they were at the forefront of people’s minds,” Neil Atkinson, head of the oil industry and markets division at the IEA, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” this morning…“Now we are starting to see that confidence in demand is taking over and that is the main driving factor behind the current state of the Oil market”…
4. U.S. retail sales increased in May and sales for the prior month were revised higher, suggesting a pick-up in consumer spending that could ease fears the economy was slowing down sharply in the 2nd quarter…the Commerce Department said this morning that retail sales rose 0.5% last month (vs. consensus estimate of 0.6%) as households bought more motor vehicles and a variety of other goods…data for April was revised up to show retail sales gaining 0.3%, instead of dropping 0.2% as previously reported…
5. The Dow has retreated 99 points as of 7:00 am Pacific…bizzare – a reading of the U.S. economy from Morgan Stanley is signaling “June gloom”…Morgan Stanley’s Business Conditions Index, which captures turning points in the economy, fell by 32 points in June, to a level of 13 from a level of 45 in May…this drop is the largest one-month decline on record and the lowest level since December 2008 during the financial crisis, according to the firm…the good news is, December 2008 was one of the best times ever to buy stocks, especially on the Venture…in Toronto, the TSX is off 28 points despite strength in Gold stocks with the Gold Index hitting a fresh 2019 high (207) and its best level since the 2nd half of 2017…key resistance is 211…the Venture, meanwhile, is up 1 point at 590…Alexandria Minerals (AZX, TSX-V), with more than half a billion shares outstanding, is the early volume leader on a buyout offer from Agnico Eagle (AEM, TSX)…
6. Defense Metals (DEFN, TSX-V) has closed 2 over-subscribed non-brokered private placements totalling $1,097,000…this includes a hard dollar PP for $564,500 (3,763,333 units at 15 cents per unit with a full warrant exercisable at 30 cents for 12 months) and a flow-through PP for $532,500 (2,662,500 shares at 20 cents per share with no warrant)…Defense President and CEO Craig Taylor certainly has a promotable deal on his hands…the company’s Wicheeda REE Property, located about 80 km northeast of Prince George, features an Inferred resource of 11.4 million tonnes averaging 1.96% LREE; DEFN was recently granted a 5-year exploration permit allowing for 51 separate drill site locations; Summer drilling will further delineate the carbonatite intrusion that hosts important REE mineralization of the Wicheeda deposit…this carbonatite body is currently open to the southeast, north and west, where it is interpreted to be potentially down dropped by faulting; More samples will be taken from depth for additional metallurgical testing to establish continuity of the process flowsheet currently being determined by SGS Canada from the 30-tonne surface bulk sample collected in late 2018; DEFN will explore the many identified soil geochemical REE and airborne radiometric anomalies that have not yet been drill tested, which may represent extensions to Wicheeda or additional targets separate from the known deposit…
7. Golden Ridge Resources (GLDN, TSX-V), yet another active company in the Golden Triangle, has commenced drilling at its 100%-owned Hank Project…2019 drilling will focus on expanding upon 2 drilling discoveries made by the company during the 2018 campaign at the Williams (HNK-18–013: 318.7 m of 0.42 g/t Au, 0.34% Cu, and 2.2 g/t Ag) and Boiling (HNK-18–010: 20 m of 11.6 g/t Au and 13.8 g/t Ag) zones…the 2019 campaign will utilize a Zinex A5 heli-portable drill rig with drilling capabilities down to 1,325 m (NQ), allowing the company to test the Williams Zone at far greater depths then possible last year…Golden Ridge will be operating from the company’s exploration camp located on Highway 37 within 15 km of the project, allowing for low-cost highway access and minimal flight times…Mike Blady, Golden Ridge President and CEO, commented: “We are very excited to be commencing our field season nearly a month earlier than last year. A low snowpack and early spring will allow us to aggressively test and build out on our two new drilling discoveries from last year. 2019 will be a defining year for our company as we continue to unlock the potential of the Hank Project”…
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Comment by Weatheritout80 — June 14, 2019 @ 10:10 am
Morning, just wondering Jon, they’ve said the approx meters per drill per shift, is there or have you heard if there are plans to have 2 shifts per drill ? Now that would be aggressive. Thx.
Comment by Laddy — June 15, 2019 @ 7:56 am
2 shifts, so 24-hour drilling right now, Laddy…the 2nd rig is being fired up shortly…we’ll get into more into that and other information in our Sunday Sizzler…
Comment by Jon - BMR — June 15, 2019 @ 8:22 am
Perfect. Core should be flying down quickly then, I don’t get the siz, but that’s ok, I’m sure you’ll have tons more next week… thanks for that and be safe…
Comment by Laddy — June 15, 2019 @ 8:56 am
Laddy, I believe it’ll become clear soon enough how much of a game-changer these new rigs are, in combination with some other factors including much quicker assay turnaround times. At the current rate, by mid-August they could reach last year’s 11,500-m mark. That still leaves at least 2 months in the drilling season.
Comment by Jon - BMR — June 15, 2019 @ 9:01 am