Gold has traded between $1,392 and $1,412 so far today…as of 6:45 am Pacific, bullion is down $12 an ounce at $1,395…we’ll see if $1,400 will hold as technical support on a closing basis…Gold, which hit a 3.5-month high this week and is about to post its 2nd straight monthly gain, also has a strong support band between $1,382 and $1,394 according to John’s charts…historically, September is bullion’s best month of the year…another strong move to the upside next month, after gains in both July and August, may convince traders/investors that the correction that started in September 2011 finally ended in late June this year when bullion tumbled as low as $1,180 – a nearly 40% drop from the all-time high 2 years ago…bullion will have plenty to deal with in September including an important Federal Reserve meeting, a fresh U.S. jobs report next Friday, a reconvened U.S. Congress that will have to grapple with the debt ceiling issue, the nomination by President Obama of a new Fed chairman (or chairwoman, the market is hoping for continuity with Yellen), plus of course geopolitical concerns with Syria at the top of the list at the moment (what’s perhaps even more of a concern regarding Syria is that Obama has backed himself into a corner and is appearing weak on the international stage)…an imminent but slow scaling back of the Fed’s bond-buying program – by no means a certainty starting in September – has likely already been baked into the Gold price, so Gold may go up no matter what the Fed decides to do at its meeting Sept. 17-18…
As of 6:45 am Pacific, Silver is off 40 cents at $23.42…Copper is down 2 pennies at $3.21…Crude Oil is 81 cents lower at $107.99 while the U.S. Dollar Index is up slightly at 82.08…
John Embry, Sprott Asset Management’s chief investment strategist, has made a very upbeat prediction regarding Gold on Mineweb’s Gold Weekly Podcast…“At this point I am probably as bullish as I’ve been in living memory, actually,” Embry stated, adding, “I thought this summer might be a little slow because it’s a quiet market and you can play around in the paper market, but I think that’s going to change quite significantly in the fall and I would not be surprised if, by early next year, we weren’t challenging all-time highs.”
One of the main pillars of increased prices for the yellow metal is rooted in China, a source of very strong demand in recent months in particular with a powerful shift in buying from West to East…Embry believes China is ultimately intent on backing its currency with Gold…“I think they’re [China] accumulating a lot more than is being admitted, and at some point they may spring that on the world,” he told Mineweb…
Today’s Markets
Asian markets were mostly higher overnight…China’s Shanghai Composite added 1 point to close the week at 2098…for the month, the Shanghai was up an impressive 5.2%…Japan fell 71 points to close August at 13389…it finished a volatile month down 2%…European markets are off moderately in late trading overseas…
The Dow is down 15 points through the first 15 minutes of trading…on the economic front, U.S. consumer spending ticked up 0.1% in July, according to the Commerce Department this morning…economists polled by Reuters had expected a gain of 0.3%…the TSX is flat while the Venture is down 2 points at 939 as of 6:45 am Pacific…keep in mind the Venture, aided now by a rising 50-day SMA, is underpinned by very strong technical support between 918 and the 930’s…
Zenyatta Ventures (ZEN, TSX-V) Update
Strong day for Zenyatta Ventures (ZEN, TSX-V) yesterday as it shot up 52 cents on news that it has commenced drilling with a 2nd rig on the Albany East pipe with a larger drill (HQ size) in order to obtain 5 tonnes of graphite mineralization to proceed with a 2nd phase processing of a mini bulk sample…this processing, according to Zenyatta, will allow additional optimization of the flow sheet for the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) and provide material for further testing by ZEN and interested parties that have requested material…
Zenyatta President and CEO Aubrey Eveleigh stated, “Both pipes continue to demonstrate the exceptional continuity and size potential of the graphite deposit, and the outline of each pipe correlates well with the shape of the conductivity anomalies defined by the ground electromagnetic survey. The current drill campaign is designed to allow for a National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource estimate by RPA (formerly Roscoe Postle & Associates Inc.) for both the East and West pipes. Drilling is on schedule for an NI 43-101 statement in early fourth quarter of 2013.”
Zenyatta said it expected to release additional drill results for the West and East pipes “soon”…the recent consolidation in the ZEN share price has unwound the overbought conditions from earlier this summer on the 6-month daily chart as you can see below…note John’s new Fib. level ($6.70 – not a price target, just a theoretical level based on Fib. analysis)…as always, perform your own due diligence…ZEN is up 6 cents at $4.01 as of 6:45 am Pacific…
Pretium Resources Inc. (PVG, TSX) Updated Chart
The outlook for Gold has to be considered encouraging when 1 examines a range of individual Gold mining stocks (producers and some juniors) that are looking very bullish technically…just 1 example is Pretium Resources (PVG, TSX) which of course is developing the high-grade and large scale Brucejack Project in northwest British Columbia (about 200 km southeast of the Sheslay River Valley and the Sheslay and Grizzly properties we’ve been focusing on)…Brucejack is being advanced as an underground Gold mine with commercial production targeted for 2016…Wednesday, PVG announced a $10 million financing at $9.35 per share with a subsidiary of Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance…PVG has been volatile but is climbing nicely within an upsloping channel…the RSI(14) uptrend is bullish, and buy pressure has replaced sell pressure which has been dominant since late last year…PVG closed yesterday at $8.90 and is relatively unchanged in early trading today…
Exclusive Interview, Part 2: BMR Puts Greencastle CEO On The Hot Seat
Earlier this week, BMR conducted a fascinating interview with Greencastle Resources‘ (VGN, TSX-V) President and CEO Tony Roodenburg who finds his company under attack from CNSX-listed Zara Resources Inc. (ZRI, CNSX)…ZRI has launched a simultaneous all-share takeover bid for 100% of the outstanding shares of Greencastle and 2 other companies (Visible Gold Mines, VGD, TSX-V) and Altai Resources (ATI, TSX-V)…in a news release Monday, ZRI’s Danny Wettreich referred to VGN, VGD and ATI as “undervalued, underutilized and mismanaged assets”…
So far, the market doesn’t appear to be taking Wettreich’s bravado very seriously as share prices for VGN, VGD and ATI simply have not responded to his attempt at pulling off a “triple play” that would supposedly add value to all 3 (plus Zara)…it also doesn’t help when you criticize the falling share prices of other companies over a 3-year period and your own stock tumbles 60% in a single day as ZRI did Tuesday on the CNSX…nonetheless, Wettreich has brought up some valid points on the minds of many investors at the moment in terms of such things as valuations, management compensation, and the need for companies to be more responsive to their shareholders…too many individuals running these public companies, or involved with them, fail to understand they serve at the pleasure of the shareholders…too many of these companies are failing to execute both on the ground and in the market…
At BMR, we decided to ask Greencastle’s Roodenburg for an interview, and he accepted even though we warned him we would be asking some tough questions…below is the 2nd interesting excerpt from that interview (more to come next week) as Jon peppers Tony about “lifestyle” companies…
Click on the forward arrow below to listen to the 6-minute excerpt of the discussion between BMR and Roodenburg…
[audio:https://e8d59e.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/VGNinterviewclip2.mp3|titles=VGNinterviewclip2]
Ginguro Exploration Inc. (GEG, TSX-V)
While investors face many risks in the junior resource market, it’s also an industry that offers incredible leverage – even during its most challenging periods…an excellent case in point is Ginguro Exploration (GEG, TSX-V) which rocketed from a low of 3 cents this month to a high of 27.5 cents yesterday…it closed at 24.5 cents and is up 1.5 cents at 26 cents as of 6:45 am Pacific…
Ginguro says it’s targeting “the first large-scale Precambrian paleo-placer Gold deposit in North America”, offering “potential for mineralization on a scale never seen before in Canada“…no, it’s not Frank Callaghan running GEG, it’s a gentleman by the name of Richard Murphy…yesterday, GEG reported some interesting results from contiguous channel sampling of its recently discovered 007 zone at the Pardo Property, approximately 65 kilometres north of Sudbury, which they’ve been working on for a while…“The 007 zone,” Murphy reported, “was found as a result of surface prospecting using Ginguro’s unique exploration methodology developed over four years as pioneers in North American paleo-placer exploration.”
Average Gold content over the 22.5-metre length of channel sampling was an impressive 40.1 g/t Au…we’ll see how this develops…GEG has arranged financings at 10 cents and 15 cents totaling $2.3 million as they try to ramp up exploration at Pardo…it’s not the easiest property for most investors to understand from a geological perspective, so not only are future results important but so too will be the way the company communicates this story…
From a technical standpoint, GEG certainly has momentum on its side at the moment but it is in overbought territory (doesn’t mean it can’t become more even more overbought, temporarily)…resistance is at 30 cents while Fib. support is between 14 and 20 cents as John shows on this 2.5-year weekly chart…at some point in the near future the stock of course will need to cleanse its overbought condition and consolidate for a period of time before possibly moving to even higher levels…
Zodiac Exploration Inc. (ZEX, TSX-V)
A junior that has a strong working capital position, liquidity in its stock and a favorable chart is always worth putting on the radar screen…ZEX is an oil and gas play, and we’re pointing it out this morning simply because of its recent trading behavior and the fact it reported about $15 million in working capital at the end of June (lots of shares outstanding – 360 million)…Zodiac has engaged Meagher Energy Advisors and Western Energy Production to assist the company in its previously stated objective of maximizing opportunities on its extensive San Joaquin basin land base through potential joint ventures, farm-outs and dispositions…ZEX is up half a penny at 11.5 cents as of 6:45 am Pacific…
ZEX 3-Year Weekly Chart
Fraser River Gold Panning Championships
We’ll be catching up again very soon with Yukon Dan, but from all reports last weekend’s Fraser River Gold Panning Championships were once again a major success…below is a picture from the event with Yukon Dan (far right) and just a few of the winners…BMR was one of the numerous proud sponsors of this year’s edition of the Gold Panning Championships…congratulations to all the participants and winners…BMR sponsored the Children’s Competition, the Teens Competition and the Open Competition…Bryan Anca was the winner in the Children’s event, while Vanya Plotnikoff claimed top honors in both the Teen and Open events…
Last weekend's annual Fraser River Gold Panning Championships at the Anderson Creek Campground just north of Hope, B.C., were a huge success.
Have a great long weekend, everyone…we’ll be posting the Week In Review And A Look Ahead on Sunday…no postings on Labor Day Monday…1st edition of Morning Musings to begin the new trading week will be at approximately 5:00 am Tuesday with an updated version at approximately 9:00 am…
Note: John, Terry and Jon do not hold share positions in ZEN, PVG, GEG or ZEX.
In the VGN interview, Tony just stated that their about surviving and pretty much nothing more. I didn’t invest my money into VGN for Tony and Jim to just survive and to support their lifestyle. I think Tony needs to find a different line of work if he just wants to survive. I think it’s time for a management change. How is he going to survive in 5 years when the 5 million in cash is all gone?
Comment by Chris — August 30, 2013 @ 6:22 am
Great report on v.zen. Spoke to management of cvn yesterday. pp closing very near future and news expected labour day week. Additionally….they are the land bordering zen’s Albany east pipe..where they announced yesterday they brought in a second rig . I would say .055 is a steal not a bargain of what is to come in the next week and month. glta
Comment by natalie — August 30, 2013 @ 6:38 am
Still not hearing Tony tell us how he is going to build shareholder value, I hope he has something better to offer in the next round of interview, also why stagger the interview?
Comment by Hugh — August 30, 2013 @ 8:12 am
I have come to the conclusion that placing one’s cash under one’s mattress
is the prudent way to go. Unless a bomb falls on your place of residence, it
remains safe, if the banks go under, it is safe, if a fire starts, alert your
family, grab your cash & exit, your cash remains safe, if you experience a break
in, your cash could be safe, after all, finding it under one’s mattress is as
safe as the stock market., Do you realize that cash in the bank is only guaranteed
for a portion of your savings. Just imagine, in order to hang on to the results
of one’s endeavour’s over a lifetime, one has to depend on a mattress. Be careful
out there, it appears the only one’s on your side is your loved one’s. R !
Comment by Bert — August 30, 2013 @ 8:15 am
Hey Jon. Your thoughts on the DYG? My understanding was that they were supposed to be drilling at this time…and here we are, end of Aug, with no news. Think they are waiting until Sept before announcing anything? ( as most traders are back from holidays)
Comment by Tony T — August 30, 2013 @ 9:42 am
Jon
thanks for the chart on Zodiak, I asked about that co back on the 21st
thanks
Comment by Greg — August 30, 2013 @ 5:05 pm
Effective Sept. 3, 2013, the company’s common shares will commence trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol PGX.
Comment by bob — August 30, 2013 @ 6:44 pm
Prosper Gold Completes Qualifying Transaction
August 30, 2013
QUESNEL, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – Aug. 30, 2013) – Prosper Gold Corp. (“Prosper Gold” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:PGX.H) is pleased to announce that it has received TSX Venture Exchange final approval (“Exchange Approval”) for its Qualifying Transaction and its concurrent private placement.
Resumption of Trading
Effective September 3, 2013, the Company’s common shares will commence trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange”) under the trading symbol PGX.
The Qualifying Transaction
Pursuant to an option agreement (the “Option Agreement”) dated July 15, 2013 between the Company and Firesteel Resources Inc. (“Firesteel”), the Company may acquire up to an 80% interest in certain mining claims on the Sheslay property (the “Property”) located in northwestern British Columbia.
The Property is a porphyry copper-gold discovery located approximately 50 kilometers northwest of Telegraph Creek, B.C. and consists of 19 claims covering approximately 6,800 hectares and contains five alkali, porphyry copper-gold targets in the resource-rich Stikine Arch area of northwestern B.C. The Property is 100% owned by Firesteel. Additional information on the Property is disclosed in a National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) compliant technical report with respect to the Property entitled “National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Sheslay Property: Atlin Mining Division; Northern British Columbia, Canada,” written by Linda Caron, M.Sc., P. Eng. and dated May 27, 2013, as revised on July 26, 2013, which has been filed on SEDAR.
Private Placement
Concurrent with the Qualifying Transaction, the Company completed a private placement (the “Non-Flow-Through Financing”) of a total of 8,389,359 units (“Units”) at a price of $0.35 for gross proceeds of $2,936,275. Each Unit consists of one common share (“Prosper Share”) and one-half of one Prosper Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a “Warrant”) with each Warrant exercisable to acquire one Prosper Share for a period of 24 months at an exercise price equal to $0.60. In the event that Prosper Gold’s common shares trade at a closing price on the TSX Venture Exchange of greater than $0.80 per share for a period of twenty consecutive trading days at any time after the closing date of the Private Placement, Prosper may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants by giving notice to the holders thereof and in such case the Warrants will expire on the 30th day after the date on which such notice is given by Prosper Gold. The Company also completed a private placement (the “Flow-Through Financing,” and together with the Non-Flow-Through Financing, the “Private Placement”) of a total of 1,750,000 flow-through shares (“Flow-Through Share,” and together with the Units, the “Securities”) at a price of $0.40 per Flow-Through Share for gross proceeds of $700,000.
The Securities bear a four month hold period. Finder’s fees totaling approximately $116,562 cash and 317,854 broker warrants were paid in accordance with the policies of the Exchange. Each broker warrant is exercisable into one Prosper Share for a period of 24 months at an exercise price equal to $0.60.
The gross proceeds raised from the Flow-Through Financing will be used for exploration expenditures which will constitute Canadian exploration expenses (as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada)) and will be renounced in an applicable income tax year. The net proceeds from the Non-Flow-Through Financing will be used for exploration expenditures and general and administrative expenses.
At the closing of the Qualifying Transaction, Prosper Gold had 25,021,042 Prosper Shares issued and outstanding.
None of the insiders of the Company, or their associates and affiliates, have any interest in the Qualifying Transaction or are otherwise an insider of, or have any relationship with, Firesteel or its direct and indirect shareholders, and the transaction is not a Non-Arm’s Length Qualifying Transaction as defined under the Exchange policies (as such terms are defined by the Exchange).
Grant of Options
Concurrently with the closing of the Company’s Qualifying Transaction, the Company has granted an aggregate of 2,400,000 incentive options (the “Options”) to purchase common shares of Prosper Gold exercisable at a price of $0.42 per common share until five years from the date of grant to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company.
The Options are granted pursuant to the Company’s stock option plan, which was approved by shareholders at the Company’s annual general meeting of shareholders held on April 30, 2013. The Company’s stock option plan and the grant of the Options is subject to the final approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.
For a detailed overview of Prosper Gold please visit ProsperGoldCorp.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Peter Bernier, President & CEO
Comment by Dan — August 31, 2013 @ 11:03 am
Great news from Prosper Gold, as Bernier comes through again. Knowing the way he operates, he won’t waste any time in terms of getting the exploration machine going. Given how they executed at Blackwater, expect Bernier and his team to move at lightning speed with this project. Next week should be interesting as PGX starts to trade.
Comment by Jon - BMR — August 31, 2013 @ 11:35 am
We can expect a better start next week, now that the strike on Syria has been delayed.
My purpose of posting at this time is, to tell you all, that is, if you can believe it,
i could have purchased the BMR domain today. Can you imagine having the 3 lads’ working
on my behalf. ha !
Comment by Bert — August 31, 2013 @ 2:49 pm
It’s great to have you back posting, Bert, and you’ve given me a good chuckle with your comment. Indeed we had a glitch this morning (never a dull moment around here lately) with GoDaddy (it was on their end, actually, but they were very good at handling the issue). Thankfully, everything was fixed in time before we all ended up working for someone else (lol). The BMR domain name is secure for a good, long time. Sorry to everyone who wasn’t able to access the site this morning. We’ll make up for it with some very interesting material the next few days.
Comment by Terry - BMR — August 31, 2013 @ 3:21 pm
Yes, i noticed the domain name was down this morning but it’s good to see you are up again! Yes, please keep the Venture updates coming as its been 2.5 years of not much action! Also, how do you guys think this Syria news today will play out as Obama is ready for Military action once he gets approval from Congress!!!? Gold may rocket upwards now! implications for markets,etc…Thanks!
Comment by STEVEN — August 31, 2013 @ 7:14 pm
Gold is a winner in my view, Steven, no matter what happens with Syria…if there’s some sort of attack, even on a limited scale, that kind of thing is always helpful for Gold when it occurs in the explosive Middle East…and you don’t know what chain of events that might set off…if Obama loses the vote in Congress, it’s a major blow to his leadership (as weak as it already is) and Presidency…the world is an even more dangerous place when the American President’s authority and leadership are lacking, when the U.S. can’t stand tall on the world stage and act forcefully and effectively when it has to…Obama backed himself into a corner with talk of “red lines” that can’t be crossed…if you can’t back your talk up with overwhelming force when it’s required, you strengthen your enemies…they sense weakness…Teddy Roosevelt had it right with his approach of speaking softly and carrying a big stick…Obama is doing the opposite…Syria is an ugly mess, both sides in the civil war are bad…I think it’s best in this case to stay completely out of it…launching a few missiles into Syria to send a message to that regime won’t do a darn bit of good…it’s like threatening the schoolyard bully and doing nothing but giving him a weak punch in the nose…keep in mind there a lot of other things that are impacting Gold right now besides Syria – that’s just a minor issue, or one of many, in the big scheme of things at the moment…
Comment by Jon - BMR — August 31, 2013 @ 9:40 pm
Oh boy, here i go again.
Surely, being a reluctant warrior, is not a sign of weakness, if it ware, the
majority of world leaders today are weak… The red line was a strategy that
may have prevented the use of chemical weapons, unfortunately it didn’t, but
it was worth a try. President Obama was voted in to look after his own people,
who are tired of wars, so he is building a stronger case, by consulting with the
voices of the people. He didn’t fear going after & taking out Bid Laden, who
didn’t fear killing Americans. He, who has walked away, will find a way, to do
it the right, another day. Surely we don’t want to see another war, just for
the sake of an increase in the price of Gold, if one person should wish that,
i say shame ! In conclusion, i am saddened that at least 100,000 people have
lost their lives in Syria, so my argument remains, where are the United Nations,
why do it always have to be America.. I chuckled yesterday after listening
to John Baird say, there has to be a very STRONG response to what’s going on
in Syria, but we are not participating. That my friends is the basis for a
another conversation, regarding the goings’ on in Syria. R !
just
Comment by Bert — September 1, 2013 @ 3:57 am