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1. Coming off its best year since 2010, Gold is off to a strong start to begin 2020 and a new decade…the yellow metal has traded between $1,518 and $1,531 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific it’s up $9 an ounce at $1,526…Gold has already broken out above a bull flag formation on its long-term weekly chart, and a move through resistance in the $1,520’s would be another sign of increasing momentum…$1,675 is our target for the 1st half of 2020…demand for Gold in China should start to pick up in advance of the Chinese New Year period starting January 25, a key Gold buying occasion in the region…Silver has added 12 cents to $17.94 after briefly topping $18…Copper is off slightly at $2.79…Nickel has gained 8 cents to $6.40 while Zinc is up a penny at $1.04…Crude Oil is steady at $61.08 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen nearly half a point to 96.81, giving commodities support…a private survey released today showed China’s manufacturing activity expanded in the month of December, but slightly below analysts’ expectations…the Markit/Caixin Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing came in at 51.5 last month after a reading of 51.8 in November…on Tuesday, China’s statistics bureau released official manufacturing PMI for December that was slightly above expectations at 50.2…President Trump confirmed on New Year’s Eve that the U.S.-China Phase 1 trade deal would be signed on January 15 at the White House…the President’s campaign announced this morning that it raised an impressive $46 million in the final quarter of 2019 as the Republican cashed in while he was being impeached by the Democratic-led House of Representatives…Trump’s total in the final 3 months of 2019 is far bigger than any quarterly total announced so far by any Democratic candidate…it also marks the best fundraising quarter for Trump’s reelection bid…the campaign also said it had $102.7 million in cash on hand heading into 2020…meanwhile, socialist Bernie Sanders amassed $34.5 million in the final 3 months of 2019, his campaign said, the most that any of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates has raised in a single quarter…
2. Global stock markets got off to a solid start on the first trading day of the year after China’s central bank announced a fresh dose of monetary policy easing….markets in Asia and Europe were broadly up while New York and Toronto are also pushing higher in early trading today…yesterday the People’s Bank of China lowered the amount of reserves banks need to keep on hold at the central bank, essentially freeing up cash for lending into the world’s 2nd-largest economy…the PBOC announcement reinforces expectations that Beijing will follow through on promises to boost its economic growth in 2020…
3. The city of Ganzhou in China’s southeastern province of Jiangxi has launched an exchange for spot transactions in rare earths and minor metals, according to a report posted by the Association of China Rare Earth Industry today…the Ganzhou Rare Metal Exchange, which was launched on December 31, will help boost the city’s global influence and pricing power for the traded products, the report by the provincial government-run Jiangxi Daily cited Ganzhou mayor Zeng Wenming as saying…the bourse is the 2nd rare earth exchange to open in China, the world’s dominant producer of the group of minerals after the launch of the Baotou Rare Earth Products Exchange in Inner Mongolia in 2014…the Shanghai Futures Exchange is also working to introduce rare earth futures…Baotou and Ganzhou are China’s 2 hubs for rare earths, which are prized for their use in consumer electronics and military equipment…
4. The Supreme Court of British Columbia has ruled that Indigenous law is not necessarily Canadian law in a decision that will enable more construction work on the $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline despite some First Nations opposition…B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church ruled New Year’s Eve that Coastal GasLink has suffered irreparable harm after protestors built blockades and camps to stop work crews from accessing parts of the natural gas pipeline route between Dawson Creek and Kitimat, B.C., where a massive LNG export terminal is under construction…Church granted both an interlocutory injunction and an enforcement order, which will “provide a mandate to the RCMP to enforce the terms of the order”...she also noted that Indigenous laws do not become part of Canadian common or domestic law until they are enshrined through treaties, court declarations, statutory provisions or other means….“There has been no process by which Wet’suwet’en customary laws have been recognized in this manner,” the judge wrote…“While Wet’suwet’en customary laws clearly exist on their own independent footing, they are not recognized as being an effectual part of Canadian law”…
5. The Dow is up 192 points through the first 30 minutes of trading to kick off 2020…Wall Street booked a strong 2019 performance on Tuesday with the S&P 500 rising 28.9% for the year…that was the broad index’s biggest annual gain since 2013 when it surged 29.6%…the Dow, meanwhile, climbed 22.3% while the NASDAQ surged more than 35%…gains were much more modest in Canada where the pursuit of economic growth under “progressive” policies seems secondary to “saving the planet”…the TSX climbed 19.1% while the Venture eked out a 3.6% gain…DynaCERT (DYA, TSX-V) has hit a new 2+ year high of 81 cents in early trading…Palladium One (PDM, TSX-V) continues to strengthen, up another half a penny to 19 cents and a fresh 52-week high…Skeena Resources (SKE, TSX-V), overcoming resistance in the mid-60’s, is closing in on a new 2-year high, up 4 pennies at 72 cents…another Eskay Camp play, Crystal Lake Mining (CLM, TSX-V), is beginning to rebound after falling into deeply oversold conditions in Q4…CLM is up 2.5 cents at 14.5 cents…Lasalle Exploration (LSX, TSX-V) began trading on the Venture this morning following the successful closing of its oversubscribed $2 million IPO…the company’s primary assets include the Radisson Property in the Eeyeou Itschee-James Bay region of Quebec and the Blakelock Property in northeast Ontario along trend from the high-grade Case Berardi Gold mine operated by Hecla…the Board includes Dan Innes, Founder and past Chairman and CEO of Lake Shore Gold, and Ian Campbell, past President and CEO of Temex Resources up until its acquisition by Lake Shore in 2015…
6. Most of the major licensed cannabis producers – Canopy Growth (WEED, TSX; CGC, NYSE), Hexo (HEXO, TSX, NYSE) and Tilray (TLRY, NASDAQ), notably – have invested heavily in cannabis-infused drinks that will hit the market during this 1st quarter of 2020, but some industry observers are predicting that beverages might be a failed venture altogether…“When you look at the established markets in the U.S. – California, Oregon and Colorado – beverages are just 2% of those markets. They never really took off,” said Jerome Hass of Lightwater Partners…he believes that some licensed producers are vastly overstating the impact beverages will have on overall sales…his company invested in a small brewery in Waterloo, Ontario, that he once thought would be a “perfect play” for cannabis-infused drinks…“They had a canning facility and excess capacity so we thought these guys would be a prime beneficiary of cannabis 2.0“…in the end, the brewery lost interest in the venture…
7. Cannabis industry insiders are bracing for a slew of bankruptcies in the coming year as small and medium-sized companies low on cash struggle to raise funds in the downtrodden sector…“We have had a busy few years, but we’re going to be busy in 2020 for a different reason – we expect a few million dollars in legal fees from insolvencies and consolidation,” stated Ranjeev Dhillon, a partner at McCarthy Tetrault LLP and the firm’s cannabis group lead, in a Financial Post report…Dhillon says that his team is already seeing companies that are heading down that path…“Companies that cannot distinguish their brands and don’t have the money to keep up operations on existing facilities will not be able to carry forward,” he told the Financial Post in an interview…“The only kind of money you can raise right now, if at all, is debt”…there are currently more than 200 cannabis companies either in the cultivation, processing or extraction businesses, primarily supplying a domestic market that has yet to cross the $1 billion mark in annual sales…although cannabis sales have been increasing on a monthly basis since legalization in October 2018, inventory has been growing much more quickly, resulting in oversupply and declining prices… “We are definitely going to see some companies struggle,” said Greg Engel, CEO of Organigram Holdings (OGI, TSX, NASDAQ) which has also been hit by slumping sales…“We’ve already seen two companies file for bankruptcy protection, and they certainly won’t be the last”…in December, Wayland Group, one of the first pot companies to obtain a cultivation licence, filed for creditor protection…2 months earlier, DionyMed Brands had entered into receivership after failing to repay debt…“Companies that don’t have a good cost structure will be in a really difficult position. It’s not about growing cannabis anymore, it’s about how efficient you are as a consumer packaged goods producer,” Engel added…
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There is a little downward pressure in the SP for CCW the last few days. I think it is the 2,742,857 warrants at 0.500 due January 15, 2020. Do you know how many are left to exercise still?
Comment by Don — January 2, 2020 @ 8:03 am
Don, what it actually is, from a technical perspective, is a brief and healthy minor pause to the nearest short-term SMA after quite a significant run…this is normal in a very bullish trend…experienced traders will see this as the set-up to the coming breakout for CCW thru the mid-60’s resistance…so actually, it’s exactly what you should be excited about seeing…as far as the warrants go, I imagine most have been exercised already (going into December month-end) and that particular PP from early 2018 was taken by a small select group of investors…warrants expire Jan. 15 (another $1.35 million in the treasury) so I see little pressure on the stock going fwd…
Comment by Jon - BMR — January 2, 2020 @ 8:19 am
Jon: any targets for PDM? this has been on fire since you first mentioned it as Eric Sprott is involved in the last p.p. This looks like one of a very few on the Venture that has great Palladium assets! Great volume and upward movement–gotta like that going into 2020! Thanks for any response.
Comment by MERIDEX — January 2, 2020 @ 10:37 am
Our New Year’s Eve Morning Alert, which included PDM, spelled it out pretty good, Meridex…we’ll be following up…
Comment by Jon - BMR — January 2, 2020 @ 1:05 pm
Ccw fairly strong day today. Do you anticipate Frank to deliver news this week? Kinda feels like it, but I’m cautious…
Comment by Phil — January 2, 2020 @ 1:09 pm
Jeepers Jon, could you imagine if a few more of our favourites would catch on fire with some volume, the venture would be smoken!! , all in due time I guess…lookin good.
Comment by Laddy — January 2, 2020 @ 2:47 pm
Do you intent to compile a list of favourite stocks for 2020.
Got your front-runners, ….tx….but are there any sleepers ?
Comment by brigitte — January 2, 2020 @ 6:16 pm
I don’t know if anyone has noticed but CLM looking a whole lot better. I actually might be making money on this now.
Comment by Danny — January 2, 2020 @ 7:08 pm
CCW drills into high-grade Gold underground for first time at Castle mine…very important new development as it not only adds value to that high-grade model, but…
…if that Gold mineralization has been mobilized from the Archean rocks at Castle East, as some geologists believe, then CCW could be looking at not only a new high-grade Silver deposit (Robinson Zone Discovery) but a high-grade Gold deposit adjacent to it…very fertile ground…
Up 22.7 g/t Au, 4% Cobalt, 5,000 g/t Ag (145 oz/ton) and 3.7% Nickel in intervals from short holes on first level where new discovery is emerging on western side near the adit entrance…assays pending for 32 more holes…drilling at Castle East resumes Monday…more assays from high-grade Silver discovery during this first half of January…stock could really go ballistic next week…
CANADA COBALT DRILLS INTO HIGH-GRADE GOLD, COBALT, SILVER AND NICKEL AT CASTLE MINE
Initial assay results from Canada Cobalt Works Inc.’s multidirectional and very short underground drill holes on the western side of the Castle mine have revealed unexpected high-grade gold in addition to more high-grade cobalt, silver and nickel. This is now considered an emerging new discovery area open for considerable potential expansion with easily accessible mineralization from the first level near the adit entrance.
With Canada Cobalt soon to be vertically integrated through its pending acquisition of the only facility in the Northern Ontario Silver-Cobalt district that combines bullion pouring, bulk sampling, commercial assaying and e-waste processing, these latest results support the Company’s enhanced strategic options to fully unlock the value of the 11-level Castle mine and very prospective material left in the stopes and adjacent to the mine as a result of historic production. Silver was the primary focus of previous operators who used a very high silver cut-off grade and bypassed cobalt-rich veins with less apparent silver while gold and nickel potential were ignored.
Highlights:
– 22.7 g/t Au and 1.03% Co in drill hole C-U-19-016 from 3.3m to 3.6m within a broader 2.4-m core interval grading 5.8 g/t Au and 0.78% Co (2.4m to 4.8m, drilled upward toward the surface);
– 10.8 g/t Au and 3.4% Co in drill hole C-U-19-005 from 0.67m to 1m within 1.33m (0.67m to 2.0m) grading 3.7 g/t Au and 1.3% Co (drilled down into the floor, collared approximately 4m west and 4.3m south of C-U-19-016);
– 4,970 g/t Ag (144.9 oz/ton) and 0.40% Co (1.2m to 1.8m), 1.6% Co and 1.1% Ni (1.8m to 2.4m) and 2.9% Co, 3.7% Ni and 0.89 g/t Au (4.8m to 5.4m), all in drill hole C-U-19-006 (drilled down into the floor from the same set-up as C-U-19-005 but intersecting a different part of the vein);
– 3.2% Co, 102 g/t Ag and 3.0% Ni from 0.9m to 1.2m in drill hole C-U-19-002 within 1.5m (0m to 1.5m) grading 1.7% Co and 1.6% Ni (drilled down into the floor from the same set-up as holes #5 and #6 but at a different angle);
Cobalt mineralization was intersected in 13 out of the 16 holes included in this release with 7 of those short test holes returning intervals >1% cobalt. Cobalt grades reported from the first level of the Castle mine, previously only exploited for its native silver, are considered very high in a global context.
Matt Halliday, Canada Cobalt VP-Exploration, commented: “The presence of gold in gabbro (diabase) vein structures, open toward the surface and at depth, is extremely intriguing. Through some immediate lab work we will better understand what this gold is associated with in preparation for aggressive follow-up. Gold content bodes very well for our underground model. Also, this gives fresh impetus to our drive to find a high-grade gold system in the heavily under-explored Archean rocks, a very favorable host for gold, adjacent to our new high-grade silver discovery at Castle East 1.9 km from Shaft #3. These are exciting times for our geological team.
“We eagerly anticipate updating shareholders with respect to the Castle East discovery where drilling is scheduled to resume Monday, January 6, with a second and larger batch of assays expected from the lab during this first half of the month,” Halliday concluded.
This news release includes highlights of significant results from the first 16 holes of 47 completed to date (228.5 meters) that have further tested parts of a large vein exposed over 80 meters on the mine’s first level, associated with at least three sub-parallel veins. Assays are core lengths (true widths unknown at this time) and show good continuity of mineralization (refer to CanadaCobaltWorks.com for assay table). The depth extension of this major vein has yet to be determined while other mineralized vein structures on the expansive first level (365 meters east-west and 360 meters north-south) are also a priority during this second phase of drilling to follow up on the success of the first-ever underground program in 2018. More assay results will be released after they are received, verified and interpreted.
Quality Control/Assurance
The underground drilling program and sampling protocol are being managed by geologists from GoldMinds Geoservices. Holes were drilled from eight setups using AQ diameter drill core. Samples were collected using a 0.3-meter average length, 1.5-meter maximum length. Drill core recovery averaged 95%. Two quality control samples (blank and standards) were inserted into each batch of around 20 samples. The drill core was separated into two parts using the hydraulic splitter with one half of the split core placed in a plastic bag with the sample tag and sealed, while the second half was returned to the core box for storage on site.
All AQ core assays reported were assayed at ALS laboratory at Rouyn-Noranda by crushing 70% <2mm then pulverized to 85% passing 75 micrometers. Au, Pt and Pd determination was by fire assay on a 30-gram sample of the pulverized sample and ICP-AES. The high-grade Au samples were determined with a gravimetric finish. All samples were also analyzed for multi-elements, using an Aqua Regia digestion and ICP-AES method (Co, Ni and Ag). Ag samples returning over limit values were re-run using a gravimetric finish.
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release was prepared under the supervision of Mr. Merouane Rachidi, Ph.D., P.Geo., (APGO, APEGNB and OGQ) of GoldMinds Geoservices, a qualified person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101.
About Canada Cobalt Works Inc.
Canada Cobalt has 100% ownership of the Castle mine and the 78 sq. km Castle Property with strong exploration upside in the prolific past producing Gowganda high-grade Silver Camp of Northern Ontario. With underground access at Castle, a pilot plant to produce cobalt-rich gravity concentrates on site, and a proprietary hydrometallurgical process known as Re-2OX for the creation of technical grade cobalt sulphate as well as nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) formulations, Canada Cobalt is strategically positioned to become a vertically integrated North American leader in cobalt extraction and recovery while it also exploits a powerful new silver-gold market cycle.
We seek Safe Harbor.
Comment by Jon - BMR — January 3, 2020 @ 4:44 am
Brigitte, yes, we’ve certainly laid out the front-runners entering 2020 (more to come) but you bring up a good point regarding some “sleepers” for this year, and we’ll start highlighting those shortly…
Comment by Jon - BMR — January 3, 2020 @ 8:24 am