BullMarketRun.com

Visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information!

1. Gold has traded between $1,488 and $1,499 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is off $4 an ounce at $1,488…Bloomberg reported yesterday that China wants more talks to hammer out the details of the Phase 1 trade deal with the U.S. before signing it…investors are also keeping a close eye on a make-or-break summit between Britain and the EU on Thursday and Friday that will determine whether Britain is headed for a deal to leave the bloc on October 31, a disorderly no-deal exit or a delay…metal held across global Gold ETPs is at all-time highs, yet there is still appetite to add to exposure…regional distribution of ETP flows has recently shifted toward Europe…Silver has slipped 14 cents to $17.48…Nickel, which tumbled over a 5-minute span yesterday, has rebounded 15 cents to $7.75…Copper, Zinc and Cobalt are all steady at $2.60, $1.11 and $16.10, respectively…Crude Oil is off 39 cents to $53.20 while the U.S. Dollar Index has added more than one-tenth of a point to 98.62…U.S.-China trade tensions will cut 2019 global growth to its slowest pace since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, according to the International Monetary Fund…the IMF added that the outlook could darken considerably if trade tensions remain unresolved…what they fail to point out, of course, is how poor economic policies in the euro zone and elsewhere are also acting as a drag on global growth…the IMF said its latest World Economic Outlook projections show 2019 GDP growth at 3.0%, down from 3.2% in a July forecast…the IMF and World Bank hold annual meetings this week in Washington…

2. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard, a voting member of the FOMC, stated today at a conference in London that global trade and other risks remain high for a U.S. economy that may slow more sharply than expected…as a result, the Fed “may choose to provide additional accommodation going forward, but decisions will be made on a meeting-by-meeting basis,” he said…Bullard did not specifically discuss the preliminary trade deal reached between the United States and China last week, instead stressing that the uncertainty around global trade was likely to last, potentially for years…daily threats and counter-threats in the trade battle, or announcements or rejections of tentative deals, “are just the manifestations of ongoing negotiations and manifestations of the trade regime uncertainty,” he added…

3. The Dow has climbed 139 points as of 7:00 am Pacific…earnings season kicked off with stronger-than-expected results from J.P. Morgan Chase, Johnson and Johnson, UnitedHealth, BlackRock and Citigroup…Goldman Sach’s 3rd quarter profit fell 26% from a year ago, hit by a slowdown in deal-making and losses on the bank’s stakes in companies…in Toronto, the TSX is up 38 points while the Venture has rebounded 3 points to 544…Canada Cobalt (CCW, TSX-V), the world’s top-performing Cobalt stock the past 2 years, continues to gain traction following news that the company has inked a transformational deal to acquire a strategic mineral processing and analytical facility in the Northern Ontario Silver-Cobalt District, the area’s only facility that includes bullion pouring (Silver and Gold), bulk sampling, commercial assaying and eWaste processing, specializing in high-grade ores…CCW’s proprietary and environmentally friendly Re-2OX process will be integrated into the PolyMet Labs‘ facility…CCW is up 2 cents to 38.5 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…CCW has multiple drivers in its favor at the moment including the fact it’s one of the market’s best-kept secrets on the Silver side…Gatekeeper Systems (GSI, TSX-V) is looking strong, up a penny at 17.5 cents…the company, which posted a 3rd quarter profit, recently announced that it has won a $6.3 million contract with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) to supply and install digital video recorders (DVRs) on SEPTA vehicles and trains…what’s the next chapter in the humorous but pitiful MGX Minerals (XMG, CSE) saga?…“MGX Minerals fires CEO Lazerson”…“MGX Minerals says Lazerson still CEO”…“MGX Minerals directors still say Lazerson out as CEO”…“MGX Minerals says Lazerson remains CEO”…“MGX news releases temporarily restricted by judge”…

4. Benchmark Metals (BNCH, TSX-V) reported this morning that it has completed its 2019 exploration program at the Lawyers Property in north-central British Columbia…the program included 47 diamond drill holes totalling 10,767 m, defining 6 discrete mineralized zones that will be the focus of resource definition and expansion drilling in 2020…in addition, the collection of 1,406 soil samples, 215 rock trench samples, 42 rock channel samples, 299 rock grab samples, and detailed geological mapping and ground geophysics have developed 2 zones to drill-ready targets and 6 additional early-stage exploration targets for more comprehensive field programs in 2020…Benchmark anticipates the release of drill results from October through January, 2020…CEO and Chairman John Williamson commented,  “The 2019 program successfully extended Gold-Silver mineralization in all directions within 6 different zones across a 3 km radius in the heart of the Lawyers trend.  Each zone shows significant potential to develop a mineral resource that includes high-grade and bulk-tonnage intersections that begin at surface.  Our geologists have also defined new discovery zones across the 127 sq. km package that will be drill tested in 2020“…

5. Cannabis producer CannTrust Holdings (TRST, TSX) says it will destroy about $12 million worth of plants and about $65 million worth of inventory as the company’s new management seeks to regain full regulatory compliance…Health Canada had frozen over half of CannTrust’s stock of marijuana and the company had earlier estimated its inventory and assets impacted by regulatory issues to be about $51 million…the Canadian health regulator canceled CannTrust’s licence to produce and sell cannabis in September, months after it found the company was illegally cultivating pot…since the company was found to be growing illegal pot back in July, it has fired its CEO, disclosed a regulatory investigation, and said its results may have to be restated…the company said yesterday it would not challenge the regulator’s suspension order…the Ontario-based company said its plan to regain regulatory compliance includes measures to recover cannabis that was not authorized by CannTrust’s licence and improve its inventory tracking…CannTrust will provide a detailed plan to Health Canada on or before October 21…the stock has rallied on the news, gaining 39 cents to $1.59 as of 7:00 am Pacific…

6. Despite Trudeau’s promise to the contrary, the legal weed market has only supplanted 14% of the black market since legalization a year ago according to a Financial Post report over the weekend…there is no shortage of answers to the question of what went wrong in the cannabis industry’s disappointing first year – among them, mediocre product quality, uncompetitive pricing and a heavy regulatory burden (governments will typically find a way to screw things up)…there is plenty of blame to go around, however…the industry’s early focus on scale, something that others agree was largely a symptom of the push to raise capital ahead of legalization, distracted it from other important considerations…

7. How high of a carbon tax do you want to pay to supposedly “save the planet”, according to Canada’s left-wing “coalition” toying with socialism?…even if Canadian federal and provincial governments increase their carbon taxes to $75 (U.S.) a tonne, they will fall far short of reaching greenhouse gas emission targets, according to a new report by the International Monetary Fund…countries that rely more on Coal than Canada will see a greater impact from carbon taxes on their emission levels because the monetary bite will be deeper, the IMF says…some would see a $75 (U.S.) a ton carbon tax balloon Coal prices by 200% by 2030, the report released today showed…“Whereas a $25 (U.S.) a ton price would be more than enough for some countries (for example, China, India, and Russia) to meet their Paris Agreement pledges, in other cases (for example, Australia and Canada) even the $75 (U.S.) a ton carbon tax falls short,” the Washington, D.C.-based lender said…“Emissions are more responsive to pricing in Coal-reliant countries such as China, India, and South Africa than in other countries”…

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Visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information!

1. Gold has traded between $1,280 and $1,287 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $5 an ounce  at $1,285…data on the People’s Bank of China website shows Gold reserves rose to 61.1 million ounces in April from 60.62 million a month earlier…in tonnage terms, last month’s inflow totalled 14.9 and the increase follows the addition of almost 43 tonnes in the 4 months through March…that means that since the Chinese central bank began its latest series of purchases in December, the PBOC has built up its Gold holdings by nearly 60 tonnes…still, China’s Gold reserves are very low by international standards, at just 2.5% or so of total foreign-exchange reserves…Silver is off 4 cents at $14.76…Copper, Nickel and Zinc are all under continued minor pressure at $2.76, $5.34 and $1.24, respectively…Cobalt remains steady at $15.76…Crude Oil is down slightly, trading just below $62 a barrel, while the U.S. Dollar Index has slipped one-tenth of a point to 97.47…President Trump has ordered new sanctions on Iran, this time targeting the Islamic Republic’s export revenues from its industrial metals sector, and vowed to keep squeezing Tehran unless it “fundamentally alters” its policies…“Today’s action targets Iran’s revenue from the export of industrial metals – 10% of its export economy – and puts other nations on notice that allowing Iranian steel and other metals into your ports will no longer be tolerated,” Trump said in a statement…

2. Rhetoric and “positioning” ahead of high-stakes U.S.-China trade discussions has rattled the equity markets again this morning…Liu He, China’s vice premier and top trade negotiator, will have dinner with President Trump’s trade team tonight in Washington, just hours before the U.S. says it will hike tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods…Liu will dine with Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and other U.S. officials as the world’s 2 largest economies try to salvage a deal, according to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders…Liu is not expected to meet with Trump today…markets will be watching for any clues or updates to leak out of the dinner…at a boisterous rally in Florida last night, President Trump said China “broke the deal” – a reference to a slew of changes demanded by China late last week that undermined key parts of a 150-page draft agreement…

3. A new jolt of energy is needed to wake Gold up this year, according to Scotiabank which has also adjusted its previous “long Gold” 2019 investment theme…“We continue to believe that it won’t take just one attempt to break the cyclical range earmarked by $1,350 as Gold remains a 2nd-tier investment while it awaits for a $-negative or vol-positive catalyst to evolve,” the bank’s commodity strategists wrote in a new report…“Our original overarching 2019 investment theme – long volatility, short politics and short the $ (which is best expressed by being long Gold) – drastically changed the past 2 months.  Gold should do well in a low (and falling) real rate environment…but unless there are some macro fear and complacency is shattered, it’s tough to see Gold really outperform,” the report added…investors have been frustrated with Gold’s narrow trading range this spring, but Scotiabank believes that the yellow metal’s performance has been decent considering the macro circumstances…

4. The Golden Triangle just got another boost…not long after Australian-listed Newcrest cut a deal with Imperial Metals (III, TSX) for 70% of the Red Chris mine, Newmont Goldcorp (NEM, NYSE) is investing $17.6 million into GT Gold (GTT, TSX-V) for a 9.9% interest in that company after GTT’s world class Copper-Gold discovery at Saddle North last summer…Saddle North is on the same trend as Red Chris, just 15 km northwest of that mine…Newmont Goldcorp will be the back-end purchaser of a flow-through private placement (11.5 million shares) at $1.53 per share, a 78% premium to GTT’s closing price yesterday of 86 cents…the money that is going into the ground in key parts of Northwest B.C. this summer is phenomenal and can only lead to a major acceleration in interest from investors over the coming weeks and months…this morning’s news makes yesterday’s news from Colorado Resources (CXO, TSX-V) that much more significant as CXO’s Castle Property (expanded through its deal with Buckingham Copper) features a multi-kilometre mineralized trend, west to east, that hooks up with Saddle North and Saddle South (similar geological and geophysical signatures)…Castle is a gem, so much so that it led to a messy internal battle at Colorado starting in mid-2017…unfortunately, this prevented any serious work from being carried out at the property – a travesty…everything now has suddenly changed, however, given the deal between Colorado and privately-held Buckingham Copper…CXO is up a penny at 8 cents while GTT, battling through a resistance band between 90 cents and $1, has added a nickel to 91 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…

5. Infill drilling by Marathon Gold (MOZ, TSX) has produced new high-grade mineralization with abundant visible Gold in the Main Zone of the Leprechaun deposit at Marathon’s Valentine Lake Gold Camp, further defining a continuous corridor of high-grade Gold ranging from 30 m to more than 80 m wide, extending from surface for 300 m to the bottom of the open-pit and beyond, and stretching along strike for more than 270 m…results included 126 m grading 4.3 g/t including 12.2 g/t over 19 m (VL-19–681); 153 m @ 3 g/t including 12.5 g/t over 8 m (VL-19–686); and 5 g/t over 30 m including 14.1 g/t over 8 m (VL-19–688)…this current program of drilling downward at high-angle to and through the shallow SW dipping en-echelon stacked QTP-Au veining demonstrates significant additional width and higher Gold grades for the Main zone…it also shows the continuous nature of the high-grade Gold from surface to depths beyond the bottom of the open-pit, particularly significant in areas of limited previous drilling along the southwestern portion of the Main zone Gold corridor…

6. The Dow has lost 314 points through the first 30 minutes of trading on the continuing “China chill”…in Toronto, the TSX has slipped 71 points while the Venture is 3 points lower at 598…Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM, TSX) has posted Q1 net earnings of $57.4 million (U.S.) with the company generating $120 million in operating cash flow, driven by record Gold sales volumes…meanwhile, Franco Nevada (FNV, TSX, NYSE) reports record revenue and income in the 1st quarter, announces higher dividend and also says that Pierre Lassonde plans to step down as board chair after the next annual meeting in 2020…by then, he will have been chair for a dozen years…the company says it earned $65.2 million (U.S.), or 35 cents a share, up from $64.6 million in the year ago period…Metallis Resources (MTS, TSX-V) is up in early trading after news last night regarding its Thunder North target, contiguous to the southern border of Garibaldi Resources‘ (GGI, TSX-V) Nickel Mountain Project…a petrographic thin section analysis has confirmed the presence of olivine gabbronorite with 8.55% MgO which points to the potential to identify a prospective intrusion at Thunder North…this area represents part of the Texas Creek suite “Lehto Pluton”, a segment of the Eskay Rift that has seen no historic exploration for Nickel sulphide mineralization…meanwhile, a high-resolution VTEM Survey generated 25 coincident conductive and magnetic anomalies outside of the footprint of the volcanic center at Thunder North…this highlights the potential to identify conductive sulphide mineralization in association with magnetic gabbroic rocks…another key takeaway is that olivine gabbros are more widely distributed along the western margin of the Eskay Rift than previously thought, with gabbroic boulder samples containing 25–26% MgO from Harrymel Creek, 2.2 km to the east of Thunder North…

7. Bitcoin’s 9-day rally has pushed it back above $6,000…the biggest cryptocurrency outperformed its closest peers again in the digital market today and has now rebounded more than 90% from its trough last December…it’s the latest milestone as the wild ride continues for the decade-old token, which crashed last year from a peak of more than $19,000 in 2017…the price has been bolstered by an increasing interest in Bitcoin trading from investment institutions…Fidelity Investments will begin to allow customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg reported earlier this week…other trading platforms like Robinhood have already started digital currency trading…Bitcoin is still prompting fierce debate over its future and viability…major Bitcoin skeptic Nouriel Roubini called crypto the “mother and father of all bubbles” at a conference earlier this week…Roubini was debating with Bitcoin bull and former hedge fund manager Michael Novogratz, who had a different point of view…“The realty is there’s a tremendous amount of stuff going on.  In some ways, there’s been a small miracle.  The debate is over, Bitcoin won.  It is now seen by people all around the world as a legitimate place to store their value”…

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Visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold rallied to its highest level in 5 weeks yesterday but has backed off on profit taking today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is down $11 an ounce at $1,342…holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest Gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.38% to 847.30 tonnes yesterday from 850.54 tonnes on Friday…Silver has slipped 15 cents to $16.52…the record net short positioning and possible short-covering activity in Silver could make the metal a particularly strong performer during the next leg up in precious metals, according to TD Securities…base metals are up slightly…Copper and Nickel are each up 2 cents at $2.99 and $5.87, respectively, while Zinc has added a penny at $1.49…Cobalt has eased off 34 cents to $42.75…Crude Oil is down 14 cents at $65.41 while the U.S. Dollar Index is flat at 89.05…

2. U.S. consumer confidence declined moderately in March, slightly missing expectations, after reaching an 18-year high in February according to data released this morning by the Conference Board.  “Consumers’ assessment of current conditions declined slightly, with business conditions the primary reason for the moderation.  Consumers’ short-term expectations also declined, including their outlook for the stock market, but overall expectations remain quite favorable.  Despite the modest retreat in confidence, index levels remain historically high and suggest further strong growth in the months ahead,” the Conference Board stated…

3. Crude Oil has climbed by more than 7% so far this month and by 5.3% in the first 3 months of the year, putting it on track for a 3rd consecutive quarterly gain, something the market has not witnessed since late 2010…strength in WTI and Brent is due to 3 factors: 1) A stable OPEC output level thanks to impressive compliance with an Oil supply-cutting deal; 2) Supply-side geopolitical developments in Venezuela, Libya and Iran, the most acute of which is Iran; and 3) Bullish chart dynamics…all of this is helping to offset a continued rise in U.S. Crude production which has grown by nearly 25% in under 2 years to above 10 million barrels per day…it’s important to note that Canada is lagging behind its competitors in the Oil sector as Western Canadian select prices are badly trailing WTIC and are in fact down sharply this year because of a lack of pipeline capacity, a serious problem that is costing the national economy at least $50 million a day…politicians don’t seem to care, however, as the international perception of Canada as an Oil leader erodes…even Canadian institutions are now skeptical about investing in the Oil and gas sector in Canada, thanks to the lack of export pipeline space, Canada’s failure to match U.S. reductions in corporate taxes, higher personal taxes north of the border, and numerous reviews and changes to regulatory systems that create uncertainty…ENOUGH IS ENOUGH…concerned Canadians can make a difference, and can start to take their country back, beginning with phone calls and letters of complaint to their local MP’s…

4. The fact that Wacky Weaver’s Green Party in British Columbia opposes the development of a robust LNG industry in the province (in addition, of course, to the critically needed expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline) defies all logic…more evidence of that today as the Financial Post’s Claudia Cattaneo wrote this morning that a new report has found that First Nations in B.C. support the establishment of a liquefied natural gas sector, further discrediting the green movement’s false narrative that Canada’s Indigenous communities are opposed to fossil fuel projects…according to a joint report co-authored by the B.C. government and the First Nations LNG Alliance, the nascent sector enjoys such high Indigenous support that many are in fact upset that projects haven’t been built yet.  “There have been many positive impacts to First Nations communities related to LNG development, prior to any construction,” according to the report, made public yesterday. “Much capacity has been created due to these projects.  However, expectations have also been raised.  Now, First Nations leaders are trying to deal with their constituents’ frustration because of the delays or cancellation of these projects.”  If Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is the most dangerous woman in Canada, as best-selling Canadian author Jordan Peterson rightly claims, then Andrew (Wacky) Weaver is the most dangerous man…his actions are almost treasonous as he has consistently participated in foreign-funded, foreign-orchestrated smear campaigns against Canadian jobs related to the resource sector…he’s also against the largest proposed industrial project in B.C. history, a possible $40 billion investment by LNG Canada, for fear it will “add 8 to 10 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions”…

5. The Philippines’ mining council has again pushed back the deadline for completion of a review of 26 mines ordered shut or suspended last year…former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, a favorite among climate change activists in Canada, ordered the closures as part of a mining crackdown led by President Rodrigo Duterte…the new delay means the review likely won’t be completed until August or September, according to a Department of Finance statement today, after an initial pledge to finish it by the end of last year…the miners have appealed the shutdowns and are still operational, so Nickel from those mines is still making its way into the market…the Philippines is the world’s 2nd-largest exporter of Nickel behind Indonesia…

6. The Dow enjoyed its biggest point gain in a decade yesterday while the NASDAQ recorded its best point gain in 17 years…in percentage terms, it was the best advance in the U.S. equity markets in nearly 3 years as the Dow surged 669 points while the NASDAQ climbed 228 points…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the Dow is up 54 points while the NASDAQ has edged slightly higher…in Toronto, the TSX is down 34 points while the Venture has slipped 3 points to 813…Cobalt 27 (KBLT, TSX-V), closing in on its $14 high from last November, has launched a Mandarin Chinese website…KBLT Chairman Anthony Milewski commented, “As our business continues to expand, many of the automakers, OEMs, battery manufacturers and investors who are expressing interest in Cobalt 27, are located in China and the broader Southeast Asia Region.  With the launch of our Chinese language website, we hope to further broaden the reach of our audience within the region and globally.  We believe our company is becoming of strategic interest to a large group of investors and industry players.”

7. Datametrex AI (DM, TSX-V) has firmed up on news that the company is in the final stages of negotiations with its partner, ABC Solutions, to implement an AI and blockchain solution for the real estate development and infrastructure division for Hyundai Corporation, the second largest conglomerate in South Korea…this opportunity is across Hyundai’s vast worldwide real estate holdings…the Nexalogy AI product, Nexa Intelligence, will be used to analyze the large amount of data gathered across various real estate sites, with a focus on security and Smart City initiatives…the utility and billing information will be collected in a private blockchain platform developed by DM’s subsidiary, Graph Blockchain, giving it greater authentication and verification.  Jeff Stevens, Datametrex President and CEO, stated:  “Hyundai Corporation is a great platform to showcase our AI and blockchain solutions. The opportunity to penetrate many divisions with our partner, ABC Solutions, within Hyundai, will position Datametrex well in the AI and blockchain sector.”

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Check BMR during the day for possible additional postings and visit our comments section for updates and valuable tips. Morning Musings returns tomorrow.

1. Many analysts still don’t believe Gold’s move this year is for real which raises the possibility of some major scrambling and a potential short squeeze…Gold has hit a 7-week high today, fueled by technical momentum, geopolitical developments, and the possibility of a less aggressive Fed after a near-certain rate hike next week…the U.S. Dollar Index, meanwhile, continues to look dreadfully weak going into the 2nd half of 2017…it’s off one-fifth of a point at 96.59 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Reuters reported this morning that ECB policymakers are set to take a more benign view of the economy when they meet tomorrow and will even discuss dropping some of their pledges to ramp up stimulus…the outcome of tomorrow’s meeting could put additional pressure on the greenback…Gold is up $14 an ounce at $1,293 as of 7:00 am Pacific…it has traded as high as $1,295 today with key technical and psychological resistance at $1,300…Silver is up 14 cents at $17.66 as it tries to overcome resistance at its 200-day moving average (SMA)…

2. Bitcoin has surged to another new record high, eclipsing the $2,900 level for the first time this morning…the digital currency hit a high of $2,968 (U.S.) and is currently trading at $2,953, up 8% for the day…the cryptocurrency has enjoyed a stellar year, rising nearly 200%, easily outperforming stock market benchmarks like the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ in 2017…entering today’s session, the S&P and NASDAQ had risen 8.8% and 16.9% for the year, respectively…

3. The Venture has gained 3 points to 800 as of 7:00 am Pacific…the TSX is up very slightly while the Dow is off 32 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…Quantum Numbers (QNC, TSX-V) is one of the early volume leaders on the Venture, up 1.5 cents at 16 cents after bouncing off support at 14 cents…the company announced this morning that it has appointed Ted Colivas as director and Executive Chairman…Granada Gold (GGM, TSX-V) is showing signs of breaking out now that Secutor Capital appears to have exhausted its supply of flow-through paper from last fall’s financing while GGM is also now armed with updated NI-43–101 resource and Block Model estimates for its multi-million ounce deposit near Rouyn-Noranda…in addition, Gold in Canadian dollars is surging through $1,750…the TSX Gold Index has jumped nearly 5 points this morning to 213, putting it slightly above its 200-day SMA which has served as key resistance this year… 

4.  The onslaught of high-grade drill results from the continuing 130,000-m Phase 2 drilling program at Barkerville Gold’s (BGM, TSX-V) Cariboo Gold Project continues with 4 drill rigs revealing the richness of the Valley Zone…highlights from this morning’s news include 25.2 g/t Au over 2 m; 12.6 g/t Au over 5.5 m; 10.9 g/t Au over 7.85 m (hole #23); 12.4 g/t Au over 7.2 m (hole #23); 5.2 g/t Au over 19.55 m (hole #23); and 7.2 g/t Au over 9 m…deeper drilling at the Valley Zone, which has not been explored circa 1960, has again yielded new, previously unidentified veining corridors with drill hole #23 (CM-17–023) intersecting 3 separate veining occurrences at respective depths of 270 m, 310 m and 375 m vertically below surface…

5. Extraction has started at Castle Silver Resources’ (CSR, TSX-V) Castle mine in northern Ontario’s prolific Cobalt-Silver belt as confirmed by the company in a news release this morning…CSR is the only company with critical underground access in the district, and the game plan is to source mineralized material that is converted into value added, client-specific high purity Cobalt products (powders) through the company’s proprietary Re-2OX process for near-term battery sector end user evaluation…meanwhile, historic Silver values on the mine’s first level at 70 feet are as high as a staggering 1,750 oz/ton…underground drilling is slated to begin shortly to target high-grade Cobalt-Silver vein structures…meanwhile, CSR reports that a promising first stage of Re-2OX test work on a mixed sample of consumer electronic lithium-ion batteries has been completed by SGS Lakefield with results pending…Re-2OX achieves recovery through stripping the casing, leaching the cathode of the batteries, and forming a high purity precipitate containing the valuable metals…

6. Continued resource development drilling at Bonterra Resources’ (BTR, TSX-V) Gladiator Project in Quebec, near Osisko Mining’s (OSK, TSX) Windfall deposit, has uncovered an additional parallel Gold zone to the south and west of the main deposit…the new zone lies within the Rivage Gap and has been intersected by 4 drill holes so far, including BA-17-12 reported this morning (the most westerly hole) which returned 3 m of 8.8 g/t…BTR is well-financed with over $20 million recently raised…the Gladiator deposit has a strike length of 1.2 km and mineralization has been outlined to a depth of 800 m…BTR is up a penny at 50 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading…

7. Probe Metals (PRB, TSX-V) released fresh assays this morning from its Val d’Or East Project in northwest Quebec…Probe has outlined include 2 new shallow discoveries of 7.4 g/t Au over 12.4 m and 7.8 g/t Au over 2.5 m, located 1,200 m and 600 m south of the former Beliveau mine, respectively…these are the farthest stepouts from the New Beliveau deposit to date…the intervals are also associated with new geophysical targets generated along the interpreted mineralized trend and suggest the potential for a much more extensive Gold mineralized system than previously thought…in addition to the new zones, drilling has also intersected numerous high-grade intervals within the New Beliveau deposit, including 12.3 g/t Au over 8.9 m, as well as thick, near-surface Gold intervals…PRB is up 8 cents at $1.45 as of 7:00 am Pacific...

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Venture Update – The Surprise That’s Just Around The Corner!

Check back later this morning for today’s BMR Morning Market Musings.

1. Gold hit a 6-week high this morning, buoyed by technical momentum, geopolitical events including another Islamist terrorist attack, and disappointing U.S. jobs data on Friday that may have dimmed the prospects for further U.S. interest rate hikes during the 2nd half of the year…Gold has traded between $1,279 and $1,284 so far today and is up $2 an ounce at $1,280 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Silver is up slightly at $17.58…India will be rolling out a new 3% nationwide sales tax on Gold and Gold jewelry as soon as July 1, according to the country’s GST Council which met during the weekend to finalize the numbers…the new bracket will force consumers to pay a total of 13% in taxes on Gold jewelry…this number consists of a 10% import duty and 3% GST…right now buyers pay around 12.5%….India’s Gold imports in May surged 4-fold from a year ago to 103 tonnes as jewellers increased purchases to replenish inventory and stock up ahead of the new national sales tax…

2. Saudi Arabia and 3 other Arab countries have severed diplomatic and some commercial links with Qatar, a dramatic move today that exposes divides among U.S. allies in the Middle East over policy toward Iran and the role of political Islam in the region…in cutting ties, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt accused the tiny Gulf state of backing terrorism and meddling in their affairs…the step marked a sharp escalation of a rift between the countries that surfaced late last month when Qatar’s state-controlled news agency carried pro-Iranian comments that it later said were the result of a hack…Iran has spoken up, doing what most like to do – they’ve blamed President Trump…with a production capacity of about 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), Qatar’s Crude output is one of OPEC’s smallest (it accounts for only about 2% of the cartel’s output)…there are 2 ways to view today’s developments…tension within OPEC clearly has the potential of weakening the Oil supply deal, aimed at supporting prices, or the opposite could occur – increased tensions could lead to a broader Middle East conflict that ultimately builds a risk premium into Crude…Qatar, by the way, is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied Natural Gas, accounting for about one-third of global supply…WTI prices are 68 cents lower at $46.98 as of 7:00 am Pacific…

3. The World Bank has maintained its forecast that global growth will improve to 2.7% this year, citing a pickup in manufacturing and trade, improved market confidence and a recovery in commodity prices…the updated report marked the first time in several years that its June forecasts were not reduced from those published in January due to rising growth risks…the World Bank said advanced economies were showing signs of improvement, especially Japan and Europe, while the 7 largest emerging markets – China, Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Russia – were again helping to drive global growth…

4. The Venture is up 1 point at 802 as of 7:00 am Pacific…the TSX has slipped 58 points while the Dow has gained 8 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…Deveron UAS (DVR, CSE) has just reported that it has closed the 2nd and final tranche of its previously announced financing, raising an additional $716,000 for total gross proceeds of just over $2 million…Deveron is scaling up its fleet of drones as it continues to dominate and lead innovation in drone-data-related precision agriculture in Canada…Granada Gold (GGM, TSX-V) is showing signs of breaking out now that Secutor Capital appears to have exhausted its supply of flow-through paper from last fall’s financing while GGM is also now armed with updated NI-43–101 resource and Block Model estimates for its multi-million ounce deposit near Rouyn-Noranda…

5.  White Gold (WGO, TSX-V) has commenced initial RAB drilling programs on its Dime and Loonie properties in the Yukon…an estimated 50 to 60 drill holes, representing approximately 5,000 to 6,000 m of drilling, are planned between the two properties over a period of about 4 weeks…the programs will utilize on-site XRF analysis and downhole optical televiewer surveys paired with 3D modelling software for daily geologic, geochemical and structural interpretation to guide the drilling…these drill holes comprise the first phase of a 3-phase drilling program planned over 6 properties by the company in 2017…

6. Atac Resources (ATAC, TSX-V) has commenced diamond drilling at the Carlin-type Conrad Gold zone within its wholly-owned Osiris project at the 1,742 sq. km Rackla Gold property in the Yukon…as a result of the recently announced Barrick Gold earn-in agreement, the Rackla Gold Property has been divided into 3 projects:  1) Osiris, located at the east end of the property, covers 302 sq. km and hosts the Osiris, Conrad, Ibis and Sunrise drill-confirmed Carlin-type Gold discoveries; 2) Rau, located at the west end of the property, covers 660 sq km and hosts the Tiger Gold Deposit in addition to numerous other early-stage carbonate-replacement style Gold and base metal targets; and 3) Orion, located in the central portion of the property, covers 780 sq. km and is the only project subject to the Barrick earn-in agreement…Orion hosts the Orion and Anubis drill-confirmed Carlin-type Gold discoveries in addition to 8 other early stage Carlin-type Gold prospects…

7.  Biorem (BRM, TSX-V) reported this morning that has received several new orders totaling $5.4 million for air emission abatement projects in North America…the Company’s 2017 order bookings to date total $12.5 million compared to $7.6 million of orders booked in the 1st half of 2016, and the order backlog of $24 million is $6.9 million or 40% greater than the order backlog of $17.1 million on June 30, 2016.  “Our business development and sales initiatives continue to bear fruit as we approach the mid point of 2017,” said Derek S. Webb, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We have focused our attention on providing technical and engineering services to our existing clients in an effort to expand the scope of supply for high profile projects. This approach is resonating with consultants and municipalities who need to have a reliable long term solution. With these latest orders, the company’s order backlog stands at approximately $24 million, providing great revenue visibility for the next 4 to 6 quarters.”  Biorem is a leading clean technology company that designs, manufactures and distributes a comprehensive line of high-efficiency air emissions control systems used to eliminate odors, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants…

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Venture Update – The Surprise That’s Just Around The Corner!