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1. Spot Gold has traded between $1,772 and $1,800 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal is up $5 an ounce at $1,790…the latest trade data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed that for the 3rd week in a row hedge funds continued to add to their bullish bets, though they started from a low position…Gold ETFs saw their 7th straight month of inflows in June with Gold holdings rising by 104 tons last month, according to data released this morning by the World Gold Council (WGC)…the inflows have driven Gold holdings to a new all-time high of 3,621 tons…the WCG added that assets under management have also climbed to their highest level on record…in the 1st half of 2020, Gold ETFs saw inflows of 734 tons valued at $39.5 billion…Silver is up 3 pennies at $18.29…Copper, Nickel and Zinc are off slightly at $2.77, $6.01 and 92 cents, respectively…Crude Oil has retreated 22 cents a barrel to $40.41 while the struggling U.S. Dollar Index has rebounded one-tenth of a point to 96.82…Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for the Wuhan COVID-19 virus…Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic told The Financial Times the U.S. economic recovery will be “bumpier” as COVID-19 cases continue to rise…meanwhile, the U.S. government has awarded drugmaker Novavax (NVAX, NASDAQ) a $1.6 billion contract to develop a coronavirus vaccine, the biggest amount yet granted under the White House’s “Operation Warp Speed”…the embattled World Health Organization (WHO) said today it’s reviewing new evidence on whether COVID-19 can spread through particles in the air…“We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission, aerosol transmission, as one of the modes of transmission of COVID-19 as well as droplets,” stated Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit stated…“We will be issuing our brief in the coming weeks and that will outline everything that we have in this area”…WHO’s remarks come after 239 scientists from 32 different countries published an open letter to the organization calling for them to update their information on COVID-19…WHO has been all over the map on COVID-19 since this all started in China…Seattle’s socialist City Council continues to drive the city into the ditch…last night it voted to slap businesses who have at least $7 million in annual payroll expenses with a new tax ranging from 0.7% to 2.4%, effective in 2021…
2. Major League Baseball is having some significant COVID-19 testing issues, so much so that Washington Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo, whose club shut down the day’s workouts Friday because of delayed test results, commented: “Without accurate and timely testing it is simply not safe for us to continue with summer camp”…Major League Baseball struck a deal with the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City, which converted a portion of its anti-doping lab to conduct the COVID-19 screening…meanwhile, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association have taken a major step toward resuming the pandemic-hit 2019–20 season later this summer – and securing labour peace for the foreseeable future…the league and its union announced yesterday the 2 sides have hammered out a tentative deal on the return-to-play protocol as well as a memorandum of understanding on a 4-year extension of the current collective bargaining agreement…the NHL board of governors, the NHLPA’s executive board and full membership must now ratify the documents, which are tied together, in 3 separate votes…if the proposals get the green light, training camps would begin July 13, with the 24 teams set to resume heading to the league’s 2 designated hub cities July 26…competitive game action would then commence August 1…COVID-19 testing will also be a major issue with the NHL…
3. The number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. rose by about 45,000 yesterday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the slowest daily rise since June 29, although public health experts caution that the figures don’t necessarily mean the infection rate is slowing…fewer tests take place on weekends while coronavirus infections that are detected might not be reported until early in the following week…India’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases topped 700,000 and the death toll crossed 20,000, according to the country’s Health Ministry…India reported 22,252 new cases – the 5th consecutive day of more than 20,000 infections…India has the 3rd-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world behind the U.S. and Brazil, according to Johns Hopkins…Iran recorded 200 coronavirus deaths overnight, the highest 24-hour death toll since the pandemic was first reported in the country in February…in Australia, the city of Melbourne will return to lockdown for 6 weeks in an effort to contain an outbreak, the premier of Victoria state said…Victoria reported 191 new cases, the worst 1-day rise in the state since the start of the pandemic…
4. Another shocker from the U.S. Supreme Court – it has refused to let construction start on TC Energy’s (TRP, TSX; TRP, NYSE) Keystone XL pipeline, rejecting a bid by the Trump administration to jump-start the long-delayed project…the justices, without explanation or noted dissent, left in force part of a federal court order that blocks use of a key federal permit…although the justices cleared the way for other Oil-and-gas pipeline construction projects to use the permit, they refused to do so for Keystone XL…the rebuff means almost all Keystone XL construction is delayed until 2021, according to court papers filed by TC Energy…the company told the high court that lifting the order probably would have let construction start by August on the pipeline, which would carry more Crude than some OPEC members produce…“TC Energy remains committed to the future of this project,” the company said in a statement…“We will continue to evaluate our 2020 U.S. scope. In Canada, our work in 2020 remains unchanged”…U.S. District Judge Brian Morris’s order, which concerned a nationwide permit the Army Corps of Engineers uses to approve water crossings, required projects across the country to seek more time-consuming and expensive individual permits…the Trump administration urged the court to block Morris’s order while the case is on appeal…the rejection is a setback for Alberta, which has committed $5.3 billion (U.S.) to help fund the pipeline’s construction…
5. The Dow has eased off 180 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX is 17 points lower while the Venture is up another 5 points at 650…GoGold Resources (GGD, TSX) has drilled 18.4 m grading 889 g/t Silver equivalent consisting of 5.2 g/t Au and 500 g/t Ag at its Los Ricos Project in Mexico…hole LRGG-20–183 was drilled on section 925N in the Rascadero area of the project and intersected the Los Ricos quartz vein from 70.5 m to 92.5 m…the interval included 3.2 m of 4,335 g/t AgEq…“As we approach the data cut-off for our initial resource, we are excited to see the high-grade intercepts at Rascadero in the northern end of Los Ricos South,” stated President and CEO Brad Langille…“In the coming weeks, we will release the initial resource that will summarize the results of our drill program to date. Post resource, drilling at Los Ricos South will continue in addition to the recently initiated drilling at Los Ricos North”…GoldQuest Mining (GQC, TSX-V), which should benefit from new political leadership in the Dominican Republic, is up another penny-and-a-half at 29 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…PureGold (PGM, TSX-V) has added 7 cents to $1.80…QMX Mining (QMX, TSX-V) is gaining momentum, up a penny at 15.5 cents…2 non-resource plays we have favoured have hit new highs – Gatekeeper Systems (GSI, TSX-V) is up 7 cents at 59 cents while PyroGenesis Canada (PYR, TSX-V) has cracked the $4 barrier as of 7:00 am Pacific…
6. GTT Gold (GTT, TSX-V) is under pressure in early trading following release of a maiden resource estimate for its Saddle North deposit in Northwest British Columbia…an Indicated Resource shows 298 million tonnes grading 0.28% Cu, 0.36 g/t Au and 0.8 g/t Ag for a total of 1.81 billion pounds of Copper, 3.47 million ounces of Gold and 7.58 million ounces of Silver…an Inferred Resource comprises 543 million tonnes grading 0.25% Cu, 0.31 g/t Au and 0.7 g/t Ag for a total of 2.98 billion pounds of Copper, 5.46 million ounces of Gold and 11.64 million ounces of Silver…Saddle North is amenable to open-pit as well as bulk underground mining methods…the deposit features significant potential for expansion with mineralization being open at depth as well as to the northwest and southeas…the mineral resource released yesterday will form the basis for a Preliminary Economic Assessment expected to be completed by the end of 2020…Paul Harbidge, President and CEO, stated: “The importance of having a geological model and a high quality of underlying data to more accurately segregate and estimate these resources will only play a stronger role as we move into our PEA work ahead. Entering the 2020 field season, we look forward to testing prospective greenfield targets in the Quash Pass area at Tatogga, in a region which is now beginning to show the signs of a newly emerging porphyry district in northern British Columbia”…
7. The Copper concentrate market looks to tighten further this year, according to BMO: “With [Chile] now having one of the worst COVID-19 infection rates in the world and thousands of cases across the domestic mining industry, pressure from mining unions and politicians alike for mining companies to curtail operations is rising. The construction of a number of key projects has already being suspended, while the risks of further curtailments to operating mines is rising, increasing the potential for medium-term disappointment in Chilean output levels in our view,” wrote BMO Capital Markets head of commodities research Colin Hamilton…plus, with additional disruptions in Peru, Zambia and Mexico already making an impact, “The Copper concentrate market looks set to tighten further as evidenced by falling TCRCs, while we now estimate the refined Copper market in to be near balanced this year, with the risk of a deficit growing,” Hamilton added…at the same time, demand is picking up…“Further evidence of the strength in Chinese Copper demand came from SMM’s latest survey of wire and cable fabricators, which showed operating rates at 103.3%. This is another new record level. We see Chinese Copper demand in Q2 as having risen ~4% y/y”…
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Keystone xl . Yes, let’s not forget judge Brian Morris was appointed by, yup, Obama. Surprised?
Comment by Laddy — July 7, 2020 @ 2:18 pm
Jon
Did we get our break out today on CCW?
Comment by GREGH — July 7, 2020 @ 3:22 pm
Yes, Gregh…
Comment by Jon -BMR — July 7, 2020 @ 3:31 pm