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1. Spot Gold has traded between $1,725 and $1,736 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal is up $6 an ounce at $1,743…fears regarding the resurgence of coronavirus infections and a rather grim 2020 economic outlook by the Federal Reserve has boosted demand for bullion this week, leading the metal towards its biggest weekly gain in 2 months…Silver is 8 cents higher at $17.71…base metals have rebounded after some softness yesterday with Copper, Nickel and Zinc at $2.63, $5.75 and 90 cents, respectively…Crude Oil has added 45 cents a barrel to $36.49 while the U.S. Dollar Index is relatively flat at 96.70…U.S. import prices increased by the most in more than a year in May, driven by higher costs for petroleum products and food, which could further diminish fears of deflation as the economy battles a recession…the Labor Department said this morning that import prices rose 1.0% last month, the largest gain since February 2019, after falling 2.6% in April…wow – as reported by The Globe and Mail, Canada’s most senior diplomat – Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne – owes China $1.2 million (2 mortgages since 2015 with an outstanding balance of $1.2 million with the state-owned Bank of China)…does this help explain some of Champagne’s comments about China, including in 2017 when he actually told 1 of its state-backed TV stations that the communist country is “a beacon of stability, predictability a rules-based system, a very inclusive society”?…one has to wonder, sometimes, whose side the Trudeau government is really on…
2. Air Canada (AC, TSX) CEO Calvin Rovinescu says the Trudeau government should loosen travel restrictions because they are excessive and “stifling” the recovery of both the airline sector and the broader economy…the measures undertaken by Canada to limit the movement of people in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic are too sweeping and represent “the most challenging impediment” to getting planes flying again and stoking growth, Rovinescu said yesterday in a webcast organized by trade publication Aviation Week…“It strikes me as being a combination of disproportionate steps, things that are really stifling the return to a more normalized aviation environment. And quite frankly, stifling an economic recovery”, Rovinescu added…
3. Restaurants Canada is now projecting that the industry’s revenues will drop by as much half this year, with a “worst-case scenario” of $47.8 billion, down from a pre-pandemic forecast of almost $100 billion…the “best-case” revenue scenario is $70 billion…in its latest membership survey, the association found that 6 out of 10 restaurants are operating at a loss…roughly a quarter of all restaurants have returned to sit-down service, either on patios or in dining rooms as some provinces advance into the later stages of their reopening plans, the survey found…but 47% of independents that have reopened and 39% of owners with multiple locations said reopening made things worse financially…“You have to invest so much to restock and you have to have the staff start coming in again,” said Restaurants Canada spokesman James Rilett…“If your sales aren’t high enough to pay for the stock and the staff, then you’re losing money”…Restaurants Canada surveyed 940 restaurateurs, who operate a total of 14,129 locations, between June 1 and June 7…
4. The Guyana Goldfields’ (GUY, TSX) bidding war is over: China’s Zijin Mining Group is acquiring Guyana for $323 million in cash at $1.85 per share…Alan Pangbourne, President and CEO of Guyana, stated: “The all-cash offer from Zijin represents a significant premium to the amended Silvercorp offer price and is an excellent outcome for Guyana Goldfield’s shareholders. Zijin is a highly regarded mining company with an impressive track record of successful international acquisitions and operations. We look forward to working with Zijin over the coming weeks to close this transaction and transition to the new team”…Chen Jinghe, chairman of Zijin, commentedd: “Guyana Goldfields‘ management team has dedicated tremendous effort and made significant contributions in progressing the Aurora Gold mine and we look forward to advancing and developing the next phase of the mine. We believe that the Aurora mine is a high-quality Gold asset with significant upside potential, which we believe will be highly complementary to Zijin’s existing mining asset portfolio”…
5. PyroGenesis Canada (PYR, TSX-V) has signed a second multiphase torch-modelling contract, aimed at evaluating the performance of the company’s proprietary torches in an existing iron ore industrial furnace with the goal of replacing existing fossil fuel burners with PyroGenesis’s plasma torches…the first phase is expected to be completed in approximately 8 to 10 weeks…PYR says this contract is with another multi-billion-dollar producer of iron ore pellets whose name will remain confidential for competitive reasons…”ClientB” has over 100 burners in its existing facilities…“This is the second press release announcing that a significant player in the iron ore pelletization industry has entered into a modeling contract with us, in the past few months,” said Peter Pascali, CEO and President of PyroGenesis…”This just underscores the tremendous impact our proprietary torch is having on the industry and, as we said in the past, this interest is spilling over into other industries as well (such as mining, metallurgy and cement industries). We continue to find that the proposition of reducing greenhouse gases emissions, and avoiding carbon taxes, with a simple bolt-on replacement of their current environmentally damaging fossil fuel burners, is too compelling to resist. That, combined with the environmental pressure these industries are currently under (only recently a new trend has emerged where financial institutions are tying credit facilities and debt issuances to carbon reduction targets for multi-national industrial and mining conglomerates), has contributed significantly to this wave of interest and proposals”…PYR is hitting new highs, up as dime at $1.95 in early trading…
6. The Dow is up 732 points through the first 30 minutes of trading following yesterday’s slide, the biggest route in 12 weeks…dip-buyers emerged this morning for companies, led by the commodity, industrial and financial sectors, that bore the brunt of yesterday’s sell-off… putting the index on pace for its first 3-day losing streak in a month and for its biggest 1-day drop since April 1…in Toronto, the TSX has gained 326 points while the Venture has rebounded 12 points to 556 after touching its 20-day moving average (SMA) yesterday…Else Nutrition (BABY, TSX-V), which has received approval to list on Frankfurt, is up another 30 cents at $1.90…Artemis Gold (ARTG, TSX-V) has arranged a $155 million financing at $2.70 per share to complete its purchase of New Gold’s (NGD, TSX) Blackwater deposit…Blockchain Holdings (BCX, CSE), a strong performer this week and since March, is changing its name to TraceSafe…the company will continue to focus on data and analytics, and growing TraceSafe’s wearable safety technology business…in addition, TraceSafe is actively implementing additional safety technology solutions for enterprise and large-scale venues…Wayne Lloyd, President and CEO, remarked: “So far, the feedback on the TraceSafe’s safety tech lineup has been stronger than anticipated, with governments implementing the TraceSafe technology as part of official programs and pilot programs. We are very excited to unveil ongoing product expansions into enterprise and venues”…a nearly $1 million Gold heist: A robbery occurred at Soma Gold’s (SOMA, TSX-V) wholly owned La Ye mine in El Bagre, Colombia, on Wednesday…an armed group of individuals entered the mine site after a Gold pour but before the dore was transported by helicopter to the refinery in Medellin…no employee was injured during the theft but the thieves were able to steal a dore bar of 475 equivalent Gold ounces…the police and Colombian military have been to site and an active investigation is under way…the Gold was insured and the company expects a full recovery…Javier Cordova, SOMA’s CEO, said: “The thieves took advantage of a change in the protocols during the transition as a result of the recent acquisition of Operadora by Soma. New protocols and a full security review have been instituted”…
7. The top 40 miners have performed “remarkably” during the COVID-19 disruptions and the companies, tracked in PwC’s index, will take only a modest revenue hit…the consultancy released its Mine 2020 Resilient and Resourceful report today…PwC suggested the top 40 miners should also have no difficulty paying dividends…“Our forecast for 2020 suggests the Top 40 miners will take a modest hit to EBITDA of approximately 6%. Capital expenditure will also slow, freeing up cash flows, and giving miners the capacity to pay dividends should they choose to do so”…
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