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1. Gold has traded between $1,610 and $1,663 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $31 an ounce at $1,653…3 of the world’s biggest Gold refineries say they will partially reopen after a 2-week closure that disrupted global supply of the metal…Silver has jumped 39 cents to $14.76…investors are continuing to pile into Gold and Silver exchange-traded funds…there have been 10 straight days of inflows into Gold ETFs, based on the latest Bloomberg data…holdings rose by 1.5 million ounces last week…material held in physically backed ETFs is now up 10% year-to-date…meanwhile, Silver ETFs posted inflows of 4.35 million ounces last week…Copper is up 4 pennies at $2.23…Nickel is 2 cents higher at $5.07 while Zinc is steady at 84 cents…Crude Oil is off $1 a barrel at $27.33, trimming earlier losses after the CEO of Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF told CNBC that Moscow and Riyadh were “very close” to an Oil deal…“I think the whole market understands that this deal is important and it will bring lots of stability, so much important stability to the market, and we are very close,” Kirill Dmitriev of the Russian Direct Investment Fund told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” this morning…Oil prices edged into positive territory shortly after Dmitriev’s optimistic comments, but have since pared those gains…the U.S. Dollar Index has added another one-tenth of a point to 100.69…
2. Globally, more than 1.28 million people have been infected by the Wuhan COVID-19 virus in 183 countries and regions as of this morning, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins…a total of 70,356 people have died from the virus…however, there are some signs of hope…New York, which has been the hardest hit by the Wuhan virus in the U.S., yesterday reported its first decline in deaths in a single day, though Governor Andrew Cuomo cautioned that it was too early to understand the significance of this…health authorities have warned that new “models” show the number of cases is likely to reach a new high in coming days…at least one-quarter of the U.S. economy has gone idle as authorities curtailed travel and activity, according to an analysis conducted for The Wall Street Journal…over a third of all infections and more than 40% of the deaths in America are in New York state, with New York City shouldering most of that burden…strict containment measures appear to be helping to contain the spread in Europe’s worst-hit countries…in Italy and Spain, the rate of infection has slowed down, with the number of confirmed cases increasing less than 5% from the previous day in both countries…they are now recording fewer daily deaths than they have in over a week…in France, the number of new admissions to intensive care – a measure authorities use to make sure that hospitals don’t become saturated – fell to 140 on Sunday, continuing a downward trend of recent days…in parts of Asia, however, countries that have avoided harsh restrictions on activity are now tightening controls after new infections and lax observance of voluntary curbs threatened their success in checking the virus…
3. Germany has drawn up a list of measures, including an obligation to wear masks in public, limits on public gatherings and the rapid tracing of infection chains, that officials think should allow life to return to normal after lockdown’s scheduled end on April 19…the proposals, contained in a draft action plan compiled by the Interior Ministry document and seen by Reuters, say the measures should be sufficient to keep the number of people infected by each person below 1 even as public life is allowed gradually to resume…for this to be possible, mechanisms will have to be in place to track more than 80% of people an infected person had contact with within 24 hours of diagnosis…in return, schools will be able to reopen on a regional basis and strict border controls will be relaxed…
4. A big hit for GFG Resources (GFG, TSX-V) at its 100%-owned Pen Gold Project 40 km west of the prolific Timmins district…the company announced this morning that it has intersected a significant high-grade Gold system at the Nib Prospect…hole PEN-20–47 cut 71.3 g/t Au over 8.5 m including 511 g/t over 1.15 m at a vertical depth of only about 50 m below surface (70% to 90% true thickness)…3.15 m graded 192 g/t…pervasive mineralization in the vein and wall rock…during the 1st quarter, the company completed 7 holes (2,751 m) as part of its 2020 Phase 1 drill program…the final hole is currently in progress at the HGM prospect…the program was designed to test targets at the Nib, HGM and Slate Rock prospects with approximately 3,500 m of drilling…additional assays will be reported as they become available…“Hole PEN-20–47 is the most significant intercept ever drilled on our 500 sq. km Pen Gold Project,” stated Brian Skanderbeg, President and CEO…“This exceptional intercept along with the multiple mineralized intervals further downhole demonstrates that the Nib Prospect has the potential to host a large-scale Gold system. These recent results in combination with numerous significant intercepts at our other regional targets, validates our view that this portion of the Abitibi has the potential to host multiple Gold deposits next to a world-class Gold camp. We look forward to follow-up drilling on this very exciting and underexplored target in our Phase 2 2020 drill program in the 3rd quarter”…at the Nib Prospect, in the central part of Pen, Gold mineralization occurs in altered and variably sheared and veined diorite along the western margin of the Reeves Ultramafic Complex…extensive swamp and esker cover in this area have hindered historic exploration and prevented explorers from realizing the significance of the Gold mineralization at the Nib-Yellowknife occurrence…GFG last traded at 9 cents Friday and resumes trading at 8:00 am Pacific…
5. The Dow is soaring this morning, up 1,050 points as of 7:00 am Pacific…in Toronto, the TSX has gained 488 points while the Venture has added 9 points to 393…G6 Materials (GGG, TSX-V) has hit a new 52-week high, touching 12.5 cents…the stock has been a heavy trader for the past couple of weeks, breaking out above a long-term downsloping channel, after news that it’s working on graphene-based solutions that allow for the removal of viruses from the air and surfaces...G6 has other potential catalysts at play as well…Sona Nanotech (SONA, CSE), a BMR find at 30 cents in February, hit a new all-time high of $2.22 in early trading…the company is gearing up for millions of immediate/near-term sales of its Rapid Response Lateral Flow test kits for COVID-19…Sixth Wave Innovations (SIXW, CSE) was halted pre-market following news after the close Friday (64 cents) and a hot trading session on the Frankfurt Exchange (FSE) today…Sixth Wave has filed a patent application that contemplates the development of a flexible platform for the quick deployment of RDTs (Rapid Diagnostic Technologies) for new viral threats…this AMIP technology (Molecularly Imprinted Polymers) could have all of the advantages of traditional PCR and IAT diagnostics, with the potential to be developed, deployed and scaled in a fraction of the time…this proposed “AMIP” device would generate an instant colorimetric response, or change in colour, to indicate the presence of COVID-19 or other viruses…the company is tight-lipped about physical applications for the AMIPs technology at this point…however, it’s intriguing to note that SIXW has already developed highly effective wipes-style products in the past (most notably explosive detection wipes – “EDW” – used by the U.S. military), and that wipes may be one of many excellent ways to deploy AMIPs…imagine wiping a surface and being able to detect COVID-19 or some other potentially deadly virus…
6. Datametrex (DM, TSX-V) is coming back to life, with the stock hitting a new 52-week high in early trading…DM announced this morning that it has established a joint venture with LOTTE to co-bid on contracts with the Ministry of Health in South Korea…this is to improve accuracy and transparency in the middle of the Wuhan COVID-19 pandemic on media, social media, and various other data sources…on April 2, Datametrex announced that it was awarded preferred vendor status with LOTTE…one of the many benefits of being a preferred vendor is the opportunity to create JV’s and co-bid on contracts with LOTTE’s support…Datametrex and LOTTE recently agreed to create a JV using its AI and other relevant technologies to improve the accuracy and transparency of data which includes ability to filter disinformation for the Ministry of Health Department in South Korea…this opportunity was initiated due to the COVID-19 catastrophe…South Korea’s health department has been the leader in screening and “flattening the curve” and has been an example for other countries on how to manage the pandemic…Datametrex was successful in pitching the opportunity and creating a JV with LOTTE largely due to the work it has done for the U.S. federal government on COVID-19…Datametrex released a report on April 1 which clearly identified Chinese authorities manipulating social media surrounding the pandemic…their intent, the report concluded, was to sway public opinion to negatively impact the U.S. government and President Trump while positively impacting China and President Xi…“I am thrilled to share this update with shareholders, our team has done a fantastic job fast tracking with LOTTE. The work we have done this past year training our technology in various languages such as Korean, Chinese, French, and Russian is really starting to pay off,” stated CEO Marshall Gunter…
7. Marathon Gold (MOZ, TSX) has released a Pre-Feasibility Study this morning for its Valentine Gold Project in Central Newfoundland, expected to be be Atlantic Canada’s largest Gold producer…the PFS supports an open-pit mining operation with low initial capital cost and a high rate of return over a 12-year mine life…after-tax IRR, based on a $1,550 U.S. Gold price, is 49% while NPV(5%) is $503 million (U.S.) or $671 million (CDN)…initial capital cost is $205 million (U.S.) or $272 million (CDN) while life-of-mine (LOM) capital is $409 million (U.S.) or $545 million (CDN)…after-tax payback is 1.8 years…over a 12-year mine life, average Gold production would be 175,000 oz/year in Years 1–9 from the processing of high-grade mill feed, and 54,000 oz/year in Years 10–12 from the processing of low-grade stockpile…LOM average total Cash Costs of $633/oz (U.S.) and all-in sustaining costs of $739/oz (U.S.)…Proven and Probable mineral reserves of 1.87 million ounces (41.05 million tonnes at 1.41 g/t Au)…mill capacity of 6,800 tpd (2.5 Mtpa) during years 1–3 based on gravity-leaching, expanding to 11,000 tpd (4.0 Mtpa) in year 4 based on gravity-flotation-leaching with LOM average gold recovery of 93%…simplified execution strategy based on open pit-mining, conventional milling and thickened tailings deposition, with no heap leaching…Matt Manson, President & CEO commented: “The Valentine Pre-Feasibility Study released today presents a high value, low capex project with a strong gold production profile and high operating margins. We have taken the approach of identifying the optimum starting point for mining at Valentine, emphasising highest rate of return and lowest risk, while recognizing that the large resource inventory and extensive exploration potential along strike and at depth offers plenty of opportunity for mine life extension. Our mill expansion strategy is supported by internal cash flow using a conservative Gold price assumption, and the project carries strong project financing attributes, including a fast payback”…MOZ is up 7 cents at $1.18 as of 7:00 am Pacific…
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Comment by AFchief — April 6, 2020 @ 6:03 pm