Gold has traded between $1,165 and $1,179 so far today…as of 9:20 am Pacific, bullion is off $3 an ounce at $1,177…Silver has also reversed from its lows and is now up a penny at $15.77…Copper is flat at $2.61…Crude Oil has added 65 cents to $58.98 while the U.S. Dollar Index has rebounded more than one-third of a point to 95.44…
Investors bought the most Gold through physically-backed funds in almost 5 months last week as Greece and its creditors headed for last-ditch talks…holdings in Gold ETF’s rose 6.9 metric tons as of last Thursday, the most since February 2, for a total of 1,598.7 tons, according to data compiled by Bloomberg…assets rose in 7 out of 8 days, rebounding from the lowest level since 2009…
Greece has requested a new bailout amid a last-minute diplomatic push before the country’s current rescue deal expires and it defaults on a payment to the International Monetary Fund…the Greek government submitted a proposal for a 2-year agreement with the euro zone bailout fund to cover its financing needs and restructure its debt, according to a statement issued this morning by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s office…the proposal says Greece wants the new rescue package to cover €29.15 billion in debt repayments between 2015 and 2017…
Greece makes up just 2% of the euro zone economy and investors have to also keep in mind that the country has been “ring-fenced” because the private sector holds little Greek debt these days…so even in the worst-case scenario of a Greek default and departure from the euro zone, the world including the euro zone will keep moving forward…the euro zone could very well be better off without Greece…
Euro Weekly Chart
Interestingly, the euro staged its biggest reversal in history yesterday according to CNBC…
The currency dropped as much as 1.89% overnight Sunday to $1.095 as investors digested news that the Greek government would close the country’s banks and hold a referendum in order to evaluate its creditors’ proposals on solving the country’s debt…however, the euro recovered strongly as the day progressed and finished up more than one-half of 1% at 112.35…previously, the largest single-day turnaround occurred January 23, 2009, when the euro fell as much as 1.70% but then eked out a gain of 0.04%…
Technically, the euro has been looking quite bullish since a March-April double bottom which also corresponded with a double top pattern in the U.S. Dollar Index…there’s every reason to believe that based on this chart, and how the currency responded yesterday to the situation in Greece, the euro should continue to strengthen in Q3 at the expense of the U.S. dollar…that provides a much more positive backdrop for the Venture and commodities, and should allow the Venture to maintain critical support and eventually push through resistance just above 700 at some point during the upcoming quarter – likely not until the typical mid-August “turn”, however…
U.S. Dollar Index 9-Month Daily Chart
The Dollar Index met stiff resistance between 96 and 97 yesterday, as expected, and quickly retreated to close near the low of the day at 94.95…the Dollar Index is clearly entering Q3 on a bearish note and that could be a signal that the Fed won’t increase interest rates in September as many expect…
A test of strong support around 88 in the coming months seems likely before the Dollar Index may regain momentum…
Today’s Equity Markets
Asia
Asian markets were strong overnight with China’s Shanghai Composite rebounding 225 points or 5.5% to finish a volatile session at 4278…intra-day, it fell as low as 3847 before the recovery set in…yesterday’s close at Fib. support and the bottom of a downsloping channel on the 2-year weekly chart, and the turnaround from 3847 overnight, are important lows the Shanghai must hold…
Europe
European shares were down significantly again today as Greece remained firmly in the spotlight…
North America
The Dow is up 27 points as of 9:20 am Pacific…U.S. consumer confidence increased more than expected in June, according to the latest data from the U.S. Conference Board…the Index rose to 101.4, up from May’s revised reading of 94.6…this is giving the greenback a boost…
In Toronto, the TSX is up 70 points as of 9:20 am Pacific…Canada’s economy began the 2nd quarter of 2015 the same way it finished the previous 3-month period, continuing to contract as the collapse of Oil prices squeezed output in the energy sector and the hoped-for turnaround in manufacturing again failed to materialize…Statistics Canada said GDP, the widest measure of goods and service produced in the country, declined 0.1% in April – the 4th straight monthly contraction in the economy…expect more stimulus from the Bank of Canada…
The Venture has added 4 points to 671 as of 9:20 am Pacific…
TSX Energy Index 3-Year Weekly Chart
Nervousness regarding the NDP in Alberta has had a significant impact on the TSX energy index since that party assumed power May 6 as you can see in the following chart…the drop has been nearly 20%…
The energy index is up a point at 205 as of 9:20 am Pacific…a double bottom around the 182 Fib. level is a distinct possibility, especially if investors become more skittish on Canada’s largest Oil-producing jurisdiction…
Meanwhile, more startling revelations yesterday regarding the NDP team in Alberta…last week, we learned that Environment Minister (and Minister for the Status of Women) Shannon Phillips co-wrote the introduction of a book a decade ago by Alberta Greenpeace organizer Mike Hudema titled “An Action A Day Keeps Global Capitalism Away”…yesterday, Ezra Levant at therebel.media reported that Phillips’ chief of staff, Brent Dancey, “is a convicted violent criminal who was sentenced to nine months in jail, and banned for a further ten years from owning firearms and explosives, after he mercilessly beat a Regina man so badly (in 1993) he was sent to hospital.”
Had this individual (chief of staff for the Minister for the Status of Women) been convicted of assaulting a woman, would that have been enough to disqualify him from being one of the province’s highest public officials?…the Alberta NDP has some serious explaining to do here, and this is yet another example of how weak their talent pool is…they recruited Dancey from Manitoba where the NDP is in total disarray)…
It speaks volumes that the Alberta government has launched a “royalty review” but has said nothing about a “spending review”, and that’s the province’s biggest problem…already, during its first 2 months, the NDP has hiked spending and taxes (plus of course they’ve added a jobs-killing 10% to the minimum wage which will give Alberta the 3rd-highest minimum wage in the country effective October 1)…it’s going to get much worse in Alberta, which means financial and human capital will be fleeing the province just like what happened in B.C. in the late 1990’s when the NDP there pursued exactly the same course of higher taxes, over-regulation and bigger government (Bob Rae’s Ontario years ago is another example)…
The NDP sees wealth and all they want to do is redistribute it, which in turn chases capital away and destroys wealth…it’s hard not to believe that a real tragedy will unfold in Alberta over the next couple of years, and investors need to be prepared…
Construction Permit Granted For B.C.’s Silvertip Mine
British Columbia has approved a construction permit for a proposed $50-million Silver, Lead and Zinc mine just south of the Yukon border after the project’s economic and environmental plans helped win support from an area First Nation…Mines Minister Bill Bennett said yesterday that the underground Silvertip mine could create up to 200 jobs and could be in operation for more than 20 years…privately-held JDS Silver Inc. said the mine will be one of the most environmentally responsible operations in the province…
“JDS Silver has committed to dry-stack tailings versus a conventional tailings pond, resulting in very little post-closure impact on the environment,” COO Kevin Watson stated. “The company intends to leave the land with minimal impact while maximizing benefits to all of our stakeholders and our partners, the Kaska First Nation.”
Columbus Gold (CGT, TSX-V) Update
Columbus Gold Corp. (CGT, TSX-V) has commenced a Phase 3 drill program, financed by Nordgold (NORD, LSE) at its 100%-owned Montagne d’Or Gold deposit in French Guiana…the program will support the completion of a bankable feasibility study for Montagne d’Or and will consist of a combination of RC and diamond drilling…meanwhile, Columbus has also added a 2nd drill rig at its 100%-owned Eastside Gold project in Nevada…approximately 45,000 meters of drilling are expected to be completed this year…depending on results, a 3rd rig could be added in the fall…
TSX Gold Index 5-Year Weekly Chart
Back up the truck, load up with high-quality Gold producers, and be a little patient…this chart provides further evidence that the TSX Gold Index is headed for a strong finish to 2015 given the rounding bottom formation and the growing likelihood of a breakout above the downtrend line at some point during the last half of the year…keep in mind, traditionally, Q3 is one of the strongest periods of the year for Gold producers…
Claude Resources Inc. (CRJ, TSX) Update
Despite challenging market conditions, there have been several outstanding success stories among producers including smaller-scale ones…we’ve pointed out how Richmont Mines (RIC, TSX) turned the corner financially last year, with that stock tripling in value since last summer, while Claude Resources (CRJ, TSX) has also experienced a similar turnaround with superb results in the market…
Recently, as anticipated, CRJ has backed off from temporarily overbought conditions to its uptrend support line…
Yesterday, CRJ announced that it has expanded its land position at the Seabee Gold operation in northeastern Saskatchewan by approximately 3,000 hectares to 19,950 hectares…the additional 3,000 hectares are located east and north of the Santoy region, where the company is currently expanding production from the Santoy mine complex and conducting 35,000 m of underground drilling in 2015…
CRJ‘s 2nd quarter Gold production results are expected to be announced prior to market open July 7…
On May 7, CRJ recently reported 1st quarter net profit of $5.1-million, or 3 cents per share, a $10.2-million difference from the 1st quarter of 2014…this is related to improvements in Gold production, sales volumes, ore grades and operational efficiencies at its flagship Seabee mine…a declining all-in sustaining cost per ounce profile for the remainder of the year bodes well for the company…
This chart shows a bullish primary trend, so any pullbacks should be considered accumulation opportunities…
CRJ is off 2 pennies at 67 cents as of 9:20 am Pacific…
Richmont Mines (RIC, TSX) Update
Richmont Mines (RIC, TSX) continues to “flirt” with a breakout above a downsloping flag…the fundamentals with RIC are extremely encouraging and this 4-year weekly chart shows superb support at the Fib. retracement level of $3.48 (touched in April) and the rising 200-day moving average, currently $3.67…strong RSI(14) support as well at the 50% level…
While the masses aren’t paying attention to Gold stocks, this is exactly the time to be considering high-quality companies like Richmont that could deliver spectacular returns over the next 6-12 months…
RIC is off 4 cents at $4.00 as of 9:20 am Pacific…
Note: John, Terry and Jon do not hold share positions in CGT, CRJ or RIC.
Looks like the ask side is drying up (DBV) . With the annual financial statement out of the way I’m expecting the remainder of the results from hole 23 and a news update . Enough people have said hole 23 will be made public soon that someone has to be correct. Look for higher prices ahead with the announced drill program and interviews with Dr. Razique. IMHO
Comment by Les — June 30, 2015 @ 11:42 am
Looking good, Les. Second video on Dr. Razique will be made available to BMR eAlert subscribers only and will be released later in the week. It is raw, unedited footage of a key part of the hour-long interview, running nearly 3 minutes, and eAlert subscribers will find this to be very educational.
Comment by Jon - BMR — June 30, 2015 @ 12:05 pm
I’d be surprised if we are not drilling by now… How many meters can they drill in a day – anyone know? Have they said how deep they were planning to drill each hole?
Comment by Paul — June 30, 2015 @ 12:07 pm
Paul , if conditions are similar to the other holes , about 75 to 80 meters per day and I believe that’s drilling 24 hrs. per day.
My guess is they are drilling in area A and most likely drill as deep as possible or until the mineralization peters out. IMHO
Comment by Les — June 30, 2015 @ 12:24 pm
Jon ,I’m looking forward to seeing part 2 of the interview with Dr. Razique. This will also bring new people to BMR. Thanks
Comment by Les — June 30, 2015 @ 12:29 pm
I agree with you Paul we probably drill since a week if we drill at a dip between -70 to -90 we have around 500 meters drilled. We are suppose to drill 500 meters N-O of hole 23 !
Comment by Guy Delisle — June 30, 2015 @ 1:10 pm
If what Guy says is right, we could hopefully get the H23 results, Tahltan agreement and then results of this most recent drilling in short order….perhaps a few really strong NR’s in a row would turn some heads and get the share price UP where it should be.
Comment by Steve A. — June 30, 2015 @ 5:25 pm
Jon, do you have a link for Sillitoe’s 1990 report?
Comment by Martin — June 30, 2015 @ 6:26 pm
Martin, we’ll post a link to the full PDF report from Sillitoe in tomorrow’s Morning Musings.
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 1, 2015 @ 10:07 am
A reminder that to sign-up for BMR eAlerts, please click on the icon in the top right corner of the home page (Free BMR eAlerts) and fill out the short form (first name and email address). A confirmation email will be sent to you within 24 hours.
In the coming few days BMR eAlert subscribers will be receiving an exclusive unedited, raw video segment from our discussion with Dr. Razique regarding the Hat Project and why it’s believed the Lisle Zone connects with Anomaly A (and other target areas). Very educational and illuminating.
Comment by BMR — July 1, 2015 @ 11:12 am
What we might look forward to soon once DBV pin-points where the good stuff is…….this is taken from the historical timeline on the company website:
July 9, 1995
Ostensoe E. P.Geo.- Lisle T. E. P.Eng. (Owners)
Geological Exploration – Soil and Rock sampling – 141 samples collected – A rock sample assayed 3.9% Copper and 1.27 g/t Gold. Hoey zone sample assayed up to 8.6 g/t Gold.
Comment by D4 — July 1, 2015 @ 2:30 pm
D4, the fluid throughput at the Hat appears to be phenomenal – every indication here that the volume potential is truly massive when you look at the Lisle Zone connecting with other target areas…somewhere in this cooked-up system is an important high-grade starter area…Razique will find it. This has world class written all over it, and I believe that will become more evident in the coming days.
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 1, 2015 @ 3:43 pm
Jon you write coming days, this is very soon !
Comment by Guy Delisle — July 1, 2015 @ 5:13 pm
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some Canada Day fireworks going off in the skies above the Sheslay district tonight, Guy. Watch for a BMR eAlert by AM.
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 1, 2015 @ 6:40 pm
For sure Jon, Thank you !
Comment by Guy Delisle — July 1, 2015 @ 6:57 pm
So DBV would be the best stock to be in for the real firework Jon?
Comment by Martin — July 1, 2015 @ 6:59 pm
DBV is the only stock i haven’t hold in this area, now i am loaded with GGI only
Comment by Martin — July 1, 2015 @ 7:21 pm
Very confortable with it tought.
Comment by Martin — July 1, 2015 @ 7:23 pm
Martin, you’ve got a very pregnant system here, on a district scale, that stretches many km. DBV is the first to drill this summer and 1 more juicy hole could blow the Hat wide open and bring in a major. I’m predicting GGI will take aim right into the guts of Grizzly Central where a high-grade core could exist based on a variety of factors including a very large circular mag feature supported by geochem. With the Hackett, ABR could pop out of nowhere because everything is trending NW/SE and that does lead onto the Hackett which is contiguous to the very interesting Hoey Zone. The district’s time has arrived. Chad Day knows it, he worked at Red Chris. The fun has just begun. We’re headed back up there again as we see the potential for a national story.
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 1, 2015 @ 7:24 pm
Still c’ant understand how prosper could mess up that much, i was looking at their mag Survey in their 43-101 and there are corridor just like those seen on Dbv!
Comment by Martin — July 1, 2015 @ 7:34 pm
Cool in the week to come?
Comment by Martin — July 1, 2015 @ 7:36 pm
I’m well positioned with the sheslay, like Martin, mostly ggi, look forward to the fireworks to begin, I’m very curious Jon, how would you compare this to highland valley mine in Logan lake, size wise??
Comment by Tombc — July 1, 2015 @ 8:10 pm
Jon nothing about hole 23 ?
Comment by guy delisle — July 2, 2015 @ 5:58 am
What do you mean, Guy?
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 2, 2015 @ 6:29 am
You know Jon hole 23 prove the potential of the body but the next hole(with a very good hole 23) prove that the philosophy of DR Razique for the ore body is reel and after that sky is the limit and that is why the hole 23 has a big importance,but why nothing about hole 23? Perhaps amI impatient ! Excuse my poor English.
Comment by Guy Delisle — July 2, 2015 @ 7:00 am
Hole 23 is already a geological discovery, Guy, with the high-grade zones that were encountered (potassic core), and a lot more intrusive rock was also host to mineralization…we’ll see what the final 250 meters brings but the first 400 meters alone made that the best hole drilled to date…I’d like to see DBV start to step-out, perhaps a few hundred meters from H-23 to start to demonstrate the continuity of the system and prove up that part of the model…just announcing the re-starting of drilling would be welcome at this point…
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 2, 2015 @ 7:12 am
But for me and for the market 250(rest of hole 23)meters around 1% prove enormemous potential !
Comment by Guy Delisle — July 2, 2015 @ 7:25 am
That would be nice, Guy, and the visuals were reported to be impressive from 400 m to about 520…infill drilling at the Lisle Zone should reveal stronger grades as the geometry of this zone becomes better understood…in the meantime, I believe it’s more critical for DBV to demonstrate the robustness of this system further away from the Lisle Zone…two things they need – lots of volume, and grade…Prosper made the mistake of being too conservative when they focused almost all their efforts on the known Star deposit…they never even drilled Star North, perhaps afraid of a miss…so by not trying to “kill the project”, by being too conservative, by changing their strategy, they hurt themselves severely…in this case, Farshad has to let Dr. Razique be Dr. Razique and aggressively test this system, getting beyond just the Lisle Zone deposit as quickly as possible…that’s what would impress me…the Lisle Zone is a great start but realistically, by itself, it’s not going to turn this into a mining camp…several Lisle Zones will, or 1 massive system, combined with everything else in the district…
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 2, 2015 @ 7:45 am
Jon I completely agree with you extend the zone is the best exploration for the moment !
Comment by Guy Delisle — July 2, 2015 @ 8:10 am
Yes, a 300 m to 500 m step-out from the last hole is hopefully what we’ll see…and then progress further from there…
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 2, 2015 @ 8:36 am
This is exploration drilling and not definition drilling !
Comment by Guy Delisle — July 2, 2015 @ 9:05 am
True, Guy. In the kind of market we’re in, you’ll notice that most companies who are drilling tend to be hesitant to step outside of the box, so to speak. Prosper spent a lot of money last year simply drilling off a known deposit, and expanding it modestly. Farshad has to make these holes really count, so anything less than a 300 m step-out would disappoint. Just getting to the drilling stage after the Tahltan flare-up would be nice, but where they drill is going to be just as important.
Comment by Jon - BMR — July 2, 2015 @ 9:44 am