Great Bear keeps on giving…

$KGC Kinross Gold completes Great Bear PEA

Some really spectacular numbers

• Annual production +500,000 oz.
• Low Costs: Impressive margins with AISC of ~$800/oz, even with a 6.7 strip ratio in the O/P
• Drilling beyond PEA inventory shows high-grade mineralization at depth

Initial Mine Plan:

• Concurrent Mining: The plan includes both open pit and underground mining for the first 8 years, followed by underground mining and stockpile processing from years 8 to 12. This approach offers production flexibility and allows for ongoing u/g exploration.

Open-pit Mining Plan

U/G Mining Plan

• Resource Expansion: Ongoing deep drilling indicates significant potential for expanding the resource and extending the mine's life, with multiple wide, high-grade intercepts found beyond the current resource.

Current Resources:

Mineral resources have been calculated at a gold price of $1,700 and the open pit reflects a $1,400 pit shell. The open pit cutoff grade is 0.55 g/t and the underground cut off grade of is 2.3 g/t for the main LP zone. The $1,400 pit shell has been chosen as this represents the optimal trade-off point at which underground extraction below the pit shows higher potential margins then deepening the open pit.

Exploration Success Continues:

• Extensive Drilling: Kinross has completed over 420 kilometers of drilling

• Deep Drilling: Drilling up to 1,600 meters deep has shown continued high-grade mineralization well below the current PEA inventory, underscoring the asset's potential and Kinross’s view that high-grade mineralization extends at depth, suggesting future resource growth.

See the full news release here:

Kinross Gold completes Great Bear Preliminary Economic Assessment https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/junior-miner-news/press-releases/879-tsx/k/166841-kinross-completes-great-bear-preliminary-economic-assessment.html

The full PEA is here: https://s2.q4cdn.com/496390694/files/doc_downloads/2024/09/Great_bear/Kinross-Great-Bear-PEA-TR-REVISED-FINAL-Sep-9-2024.pdf

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MasterMetals

@MasterMetals

Gulf states putting their $ into #Mining

"Middle East is looking to diversify and has a war chest."

Interesting article from the FT on the new kids on the Mining block.

#Zambia's Mopani #Copper deal with #UAE's International Resources Holding IRH, part of the $240bn business empire of powerful Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, finalized at the end of March marks a new force sweeping through the global mining sector.

"Gulf nations, hungry to diversify their economies beyond fossil fuels, are redirecting petrodollars to secure copper, nickel and other minerals used in power transmission lines, electric cars and renewable power."

"Washington has welcomed the Gulf's expanding role in mining for helping to break Beijing's monopoly over processing critical minerals. The US has been actively brokering Saudi, Emirati and Qatari investment

#Canada’s #Gold Miners at the forefront of West #Africa’s #Mining Development

Canadian miners dig deeper in West Africa

An artisanal miner climbs out of a gold mine at the unlicensed mining site of Nsuaem Top in Ghana, November 24, 2018. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Mining firms large and small are exporting the expertise gained in their home market to Francophone West African countries where governments are keen to boost their revenue. Canada is home to gold giants like Barrick Gold, as well as minnows that are far from being household names.

"West Africa has more potential than any other region in the world. Its geology is similar to that of northern Ontario, Quebec or Western Australia – exceptionally prolific belts," says Richard Young, head of the Canadian mining group Teranga Gold Corporation, which is active in Senegal and Burkina Faso.

The region is the third-richest gold-bearing zone in the world, after Australia and Canada. The Covid-19 pandemic has helped boost the gold price, as many investors sought safe havens for their money. The price briefly broke the $2,000/oz barrier in August 2020, before returning to the high $1,800s in November.

Three countries in the region are now among the top five African gold producers, starting with Ghana, which has become the continent's largest producer with 142tn mined in 2019. This puts it ahead of South Africa (118tn), Sudan (76tn), Mali (61tn, with 15 industrial mines in operation) and Burkina Faso (51tn, 14 mines).

Who is interested?

Although, according to experts, the region is still largely underexplored,

Osisko #Gold Royalties $OR.to will it ever recover?

Osisko Gold Royalties posted record GEO production this quarter. However, the company indicated a substantial non-cash impairment that was surprising. The stock has suffered a massive selloff with the acquisition of the Bakerville Gold mine starting in September 2019.

Then, the weak diamond market at Renard and the sale of the Brucejack offtake were the main issues that pushed the company to revise down the 2019 guidance.

The combination of those factors triggered a "correction." Despite the gold price increase, now reaching a multi-year high, the stock was not able to regain strength and has languished since then in the $8s range.

...

OR experienced a support breakout of its ascending channel pattern at the end of February and dropped to nearly $8.00, which is now line support. The new trend that I see is a descending channel pattern with line support at $8.00 and line resistance at $9.60.

My recommendation is to buy at or below $8.00 and take profit at or above $9.60.

See the whole post on Seeking Alpha: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4330549-osisko-gold-royalties-too-early-to-call
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MasterMetals
@MasterMetals

#Lithium's Top Challenge Is Finding Funds

Despite bullish forecasts - especially with accelerating production of #EV's electric vehicles -- lithium may have a funding problem. 

Banks are wary, citing everything from the industry's poor track record on delivering earlier projects to a lack of insight into a small, opaque market. 

Without more investment, supplies of the commodity could remain tight, sustaining a boom that already has seen prices triple since 2015.

Lithium companies will need to invest about $12 billion to increase output fivefold by 2025 and keep pace with the world's growing appetite for batteries, according to Galaxy Resources Ltd., an Australian producer seeking to build further operations in Argentina and Canada. 

Developers say that, so far, projects aren't getting financed fast enough to achieve that leap.

Lithium's Top Challenge Is Finding Funds, Not the Battery Metal

Mariko Ishikawaupdated an hour ago

Altura Mining's lithium operation on May 2018. Source: Altura Mining."

Battery producers and automakers "have absolutely no clue on how long it takes to be able to put a mining project into operation," said Guy Bourassa, chief executive officer of Nemaska Lithium Inc., which spent about 18 months piecing together a complex C$1.1 billion ($830 million) funding program for a mine and processing plant in Quebec. "There will be a big problem -- it's going to be an impediment" to raising supply, he said.

3% #Nickel, about 2% #Copper and a little bit less than 1% of #Cobalt: #VoiseysBay 'exquisite,

"Most people don't find something as exquisite as this in their lifetime" 

Mineral deposits at Voisey's Bay 'exquisite,' says geology professor

Terry Roberts · CBC News · Posted: Jun 19, 2018 6:00 AM NT | Last Updated: June 19

5-6 minutes

---

Questions about the fate of mining operations at Voisey's Bay over the past year have been replaced by unbridled hope and enthusiasm.

A green light for a multibillion-dollar underground expansion, a lifespan extended by many years, a workforce that will nearly double, and an operation poised to capitalize on what many expect will be an explosion in the demand for electric vehicles in the coming years.

Every nickel explorer's dream

You only need to pick up a metallurgical core sample from Voisey's Bay to understand what all the hype is about, and you don't need to be a geologist to know you're holding something unique.

Many times heavier than a similar-sized rock, these samples were drilled to test the ore body, and the first people to cast their eyes on them were likely very impressed.

Red areas indicate the location of confirmed mineral deposits at Voisey's Bay in Labrador. Underground mining operations are being established at Reid Brook and Eastern Deeps. The famous 'Ovoid' surface mine is expected to be exhausted in four or five years. (Wheaton Precious Metals)

"They probably went out and bought a lot of shares," Wilton joked.

The sample is rich in pentlandite and chalcopyrite. In more simple terms, it's every nickel explorer's dream, and a jaw-dropper if you're looking for copper and cobalt.

"Most people don't find something as exquisite as this in their lifetime," Wilton added.

• Al Chislett, co-discoverer of Voisey's Bay, dies at 69

Voisey's Bay was discovered by prospectors Al Chislett and Chris Verbiski in 1993. They were exploring for a company called Diamond Field Resources. 

Three years later, the discovery was sold to Inco, a Canadian mining company, for $4.3 billion. 

The mine opened in 2005, and a year later Inco was swallowed up in a massive $18.2-billion takeover by Vale, a Brazilian company.

A core sample from Voisey's Bay that was drilled to test the ore body of the Labrador discovery is described by Memorial University earth sciences professor Derek Wilton as 'exquisite.' (Terry Roberts/CBC)

Since mining began, some $15 billion in minerals has been hauled out of the famous Ovoid in northern Labrador, at very low cost.

"Usually in the Canadian context with mining operations it takes 10 years, maybe a little bit more, to pay back the amount of money that you put in there to start the mining operation," said Wilton.

"So apparently they paid this back within two or three years, which is just phenomenal. [That will] give you an idea how rich the ore was."

Going underground

But the surface mine will be exhausted in about four years.

So Vale is going underground, where ore bodies about the same size as the Ovoid have been found. And there's significant upside on the exploration front, with the potential for more expansion in the future.

#Uranium: Denison & Fission to merge consolidating the #Athabasca Basin $DML & $FCU

See the comments below from Cantor Fitzgerald's Rob Chang

DML & FCU - Betting that size matters: Denison and Fission to combine

Interesting transaction in the uranium space as Denison Mines and Fission Uranium have agreed to merge.  Details and our first thoughts below.

Rob Chang

Denison Mines | BUY | Target: C$1.80 | DML-T C$0.88 | DNN-N US$0.70 | MktCap C$456M

Fission Uranium | BUY | Target: C$2.10 | FCU-T C$0.97 | MktCap C$375M

Analyst: Rob Chang    Associate: Michael Wichterle

Betting that size matters: Denison and Fission to combine

Event: Denison Mines and Fission Uranium have announced the execution of a binding letter agreement to merge the two companies.

Bottom Line: Neutral.  The combined company will be appealing to acquirers that are looking to sweep up a large portfolio of quality assets in the Athabasca Basin. Moreover, the combined company will sport a larger valuation that will be more attractive to institutional investors with minimum market capitalization constraints. On the other hand, the merger does not seem to have many obvious synergies as DML's eastern Athabasca assets and FCU's western basin assets are too far apart to share many costs meaningfully.

• According to the terms of the agreement, FCU shareholders will receive 1.26 common shares of DML as well as a cash payment of $0.0001 for every share of FCU.
  • The Transaction will require shareholder approval from two thirds of the votes cast by the holders of Fission common shares, plus any majority of the minority approvals of Fission Shareholders that may be required by Multilateral Instrument 61-101 as well as approval of 50% plus 1 of the votes cast by the Denison shareholders.
  • Based on yesterday's closing prices, this translates into a $1.11/share value for each FCU share, or a 14% premium
    • FCU last traded at $1.11/share on June 15^th. However we do note this is a merger of equals valuation and not a takeout valuation. Indeed the management team of FCU is effectively taking control of DML by assuming the CEO and COO positions.
  • The transaction value translates into a $4.04/lb. multiple for FCU. This is roughly in-line with the average transaction multiple of $3.95/lb. post-Fukushima (see Takeout $/lb. exhibit below).

#Dollar/ #Loonie may have a date with six-year high as crude #oil's collapse continues | Futures Magazine

 

Dollar/Loonie may have a date with six-year high as crude’s collapse continues

        

Global traders remain hyper-focused on the latest Greece-related rhetoric from such influential luminaries as Latvia’s Central Bank Governor, Lithuania’s Finance Minister, and even the Finance Minister of Malta, but perhaps investors should be focusing just as much energy on the collapse in the price of: Energy.

In particular, oil has gone off the boil, with WTI falling nearly 8% in yesterday’s trade alone. Beyond an last week’s surprising increase in U.S. oil rigs and the ongoing Greek debt drama, the primary catalyst for the drop in oil has been optimism about a nuclear deal with Iran that could eventually bring up to 1 million barrels per day of the country’s oil back to the global market. Over the weekend, Russia’s Foreign Minister said that a deal with Iran “is about 90%” complete and suggested that the remaining issues were more procedural than political.

Combined with last week’s technical breakdown below 57.00, traders took these comments as a green light to drive WTI down to a low near 52.00 so far. “Black gold” is now testing the 50% Fibonacci retracement of its entire Q2 rally at 52.30, but if that level gives way, a continuation down toward the 61.8% retracement near the psychologically-significant $50 level could be next.

Read the rest of the article online here: Dollar/Loonie may have a date with six-year high as crude’s collapse continues | Futures Magazine

About the Author

Senior Technical Analyst for FOREX.com. Matt has actively traded various financial instruments including stocks, options, and forex since 2005. Each day, Matt creates research reports focusing on technical analysis of the forex, equity, and commodity markets. In his research, he utilizes candlestick patterns, classic technical indicators, and Fibonacci analysis to predict market moves. Matt is a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) and a member of the Market Technicians Association. You can reach Matt directly via e-mail (mweller@gaincapital.com) or on twitter (@MWellerFX).

The Clintons, a luxury jet and their $100 million donor from #Canada @WashingtonPost

Frank Giustra's relationship with Bill Clinton comes under the microscope now that Hillary is running for president. 

The Clintons, a luxury jet and their $100 million donor from Canada

Bill Clinton was planning a charity trip to Latin America and needed a big plane.

For Frank Giustra, who had never met the former president, this was an opportunity. The Canadian mining magnate and onetime Hollywood studio owner stepped up to let the former president borrow his luxurious passenger jet. There was just one condition: Giustra would come along for the ride.

That 2005 trip was the start of an intense, mutually beneficial friendship — one that has helped propel the Clinton Foundation into a global giant and established Giustra’s reputation as an international philanthropist while helping him build connections in countries where his business was expanding.

Giustra has since committed more than $100 million to the work of the Clinton Foundation, becoming one of the largest individual donors to the family’s charities.

Clinton has also gained regular transportation, borrowing Giustra’s plane 26 times for foundation business since 2005, including 13 trips in which the two men traveled together. The numbers on Clinton’s use of the plane, never previously reported, were provided by a spokeswoman for Giustra.

View Graphic 

Explore the connections of a Clinton donor.

The relationship has gained attention as Hillary Rodham Clinton has launched her presidential campaign amid questions about whether the Clinton Foundation has served as an avenue for wealthy interests to gain entree to a powerful family.

Giustra, 57, a Vancouver, B.C.-based mogul whose eclectic business interests include founding Lionsgate Entertainment and investing in gold mines and an olive oil company, has come to symbolize a relatively new but substantial category of Clinton backers: foreign donors who are not legally eligible to contribute to U.S. political candidates but grew close to the Clintons through the charity.

[Clintons’ foundation has raised nearly $2 billion — and some key questions]

In a rare interview, Giustra told The Washington Post recently that his friendship with Bill Clinton has grown entirely out of their shared interest in philanthropy — not business.

“I have one very specific reason I have a relationship with Bill Clinton: I admire what he does, and I want to be part of it,” Giustra said. “But I’ve never asked him for a damn thing.”

But Giustra’s donations, and others from his friends in the international mining business, are becoming a factor in Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Last week, the Clinton Foundation acknowledged that an affiliated Canadian charity founded in 2007 by Giustra kept its donors secret, despite a 2008 ethics agreement with the Obama administration promising to reveal the New York-based foundation’s donors.

Frank #Giustra, BC Business, November 2012

A little hagiography on Frank Giustra.

Cheers

http://db.tt/uzM9Rjxj

Sprott Loves Silver, But Slashes Many Mining Stakes

Sprott Loves Silver, But Slashes Many Mining Stakes

Yahoo! Finance

the tickerspy.com Staff, On Monday May 16, 2011, 10:01 am 

 

Canadian commodity hedge fund manager Eric Sprott was shifting his precious metals-focused bets during Q1 as the huge bull run for gold and silver continued.

In recent months, Sprott has been particularly bullish on silver, as the metal went stratospheric before pulling back sharply in commodities trading. In an interview in early April, Sprott predicted silver could go to $100 an ounce and called it "the investment of this decade." In early May, he called the underperformance of silver miners as compared to the metal itself, "shocking."

A look at Sprott Asset Management's top-15 U.S.-listed equity holdings from the end of Q1 shows that the bullion-backed Sprott Physical Gold Trust ETV (NYSE: PHYS - News), which debuted in early 2010, remained the firm's largest position. Sprott also introduced a similar, silver-backed entity in late 2010, the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (NYSE: PSLV - News). Elsewhere, Sprott was putting capital to work, with a new stake in gold miner Extorre Gold Mines (AMEX: XG - News) and increased stakes in Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY - News), Brigus Gold (AMEX: BRD - News), Eldorado Gold (NYSE: EGO - News), and Sprott Resource Lending (AMEX: SILU - News), a Sprott-controlled firm that provides funding for commodities companies. 

Elsewhere, Sprott was trimming stakes in Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX - News), Golden Minerals (AMEX: AUMN - News), Alexco Resource (AMEX: AXU - News), Claude Resources (AMEX: CGR - News), IAMGold (NYSE: IAG - News) and Exeter Resource (AMEX: XRA - News). Sprott was reducing its largest silver bets in the three months ended March 31. Sprott slashed its Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW - News) and First Majestic Silver (NYSE: AG - News) stakes during the period, but the latter was nonetheless the firm's second-largest equity holding heading into Q2.

Looking at tickerspy.com's graph charting the performance of Sprott's end-of-Q1 holdings so far in Q2, one can see that the holdings have been quite volatile compared to the broader market. If you want to see how your performance stacks up to Sprott's or take a look at some of the other stocks it's invested in, visit tickerspy.com to see the firm's top holdings and a chart of their combined performance.

Pro portfolio performance is based on institutions' top-15 holdings as disclosed in quarter-end filings with the SEC. Pro performance does not take into account additional holdings beyond the top 15 nor does it include positions that are not required to be disclosed by the SEC. As such, Pro portfolio performance should be considered an approximation and not a precise record of how an institution has performed over time.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sprott-Loves-Silver-But-indie-2810516445.html?x=0&.v=1

http://www.printfriendly.com/print?url=http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sprott-Loves-Silver-But-indie-2810516445.html?x=0