The Oreninc Index decreased in the trading week ending January 28th, 2022 to 47.61 from 64.48 a week ago as the short-term outlook for metals turned negative after the FOMC meeting.
On to the money: the aggregate financings announced decreased to $99 million, a 2-week low, with 4 new brokered financings and 1 new bought-deal financings announced. The average offer size decreased to $4.5 million, a 2-week low, and the number of financings decreased to 22.
Endeavour Mining just published Q3-2021 results. The press release is quite lengthy, below is a quick digest.
›Positioned to beat full-year production guidance of 1,365-1,495koz within the guided AISC range of $850-900/oz; which would mark the ninth consecutive year of meeting guidance.
·Healthy balance sheet with Net Debt reduced to $70m despite having returned $105m to shareholders during Q3-2021; Net Debt to EBITDA leverage ratio stands as near zero
·Continued strong focus on shareholder returns with $224m paid year to date
›As a reminder, dividend strategy is to distribute at least $500m over the next three years, with supplemental returns by way of additional dividends and buybacks if the gold price prevails above US$1,500/oz and leverage remains below 0.5x Net Debt to adjusted EBITDA
›Paid H1-2021 interim dividend of $70m during the quarter, which is over half the FY-2021 minimum dividend, demonstrating commitment to paying supplemental returns over the fixed minimum
›Completed $35m of buybacks during the quarter; a total of $94m of buybacks have now been completed since the start of the program in April
Click the link to view short video with our CEO, Sébastien de Montessus, presenting a summary of our Q3 Results: https://youtu.be/-e3ubUmUCKg
·Organic growth remains on track
›Construction of Sabodala-Massawa Phase 1 on track for completion by year-end
›DFS for Sabodala-Massawa Phase 2 expansion, Fetekro and Kalana expected in Q1-2021 to allow for new resources at Sabodala-Massawa and Fetekro to be incorporated into studies
›Group on track to discover more than 2.5Moz of Indicated resources in 2021 with significant recent discoveries at Ity, Houndé, Sabodala-Massawa and Fetekro
·LSE listing, indexation and liquidity have performed well
›Subsequent to Endeavour's premium listing on the London Stock Exchange ("LSE"), Endeavour was included in the FTSE All Share, FTSE 250, FTSE 350 and FTSE 350 Lower Yield indexes as part of the FTSE Q3-2021 rebalancing, which became effective on 20 September 2021
›Strong liquidity in the UK (LSE, CBOE, CXE, BXE, OTC) since listing, equivalent to 25% of total trading
›Upcoming FTSE 100 inclusion potential as our current market capitalisation positions us within the top 100 companies (FTSE market cap review date is 30thNovember)
·Upcoming catalysts:
TIMING
CATALYST
Q4-2021
Exploration
Resource updates at Sabodala-Massawa, Houndé, Ity and Fetekro
Q4-2021
Sabodala-Massawa
Completion of Phase 1 plant upgrades
Q1-2022
Sabodala-Massawa
Completion of Definitive Feasibility Study for Phase 2
Hedge funds snap up uranium in bet on green energy shift | Financial Times
Global energy crunch has highlighted role of uranium, in a transition away from fossil fuels
After years of stagnant prices, 37% rally in prices for nuclear fuel uranium has helped attract investors back to the sector.
Uranium mining equities have rallied 58% this year
Funds such as Ben Melkman's New York-based Light Sky Macro, Anchorage Capital and Tribeca Investment Partners have been positive on the outlook for the raw material, as a global energy crunch highlights the role of nuclear power in a transition away from fossil fuels.
- price of raw uranium, known as yellowcake, rose to $50 a pound last month, its highest level since 2012 when buying by investors drove the price from $20/lb. to a record high of $136 in June 2007.
- Ben Cleary, of Tribeca Investment Partners in Singapore, whose fund is up 345 per cent net of fees this year. "Clearly there's speculative money coming back into the sector, there were massive price moves in September."
- Sprott's Physical Uranium Trust has catalyzed the price rise with significant buying of uranium, but investors say the broader energy transition is highlighting the key role of nuclear — a low-carbon source of baseload power.
…
energy crisis in Europe and China, and has "placed uranium back in the spotlight", said Rob Crayfourd at CQS New City Investment Managers.
"The political fallout of this energy crisis will be a greater willingness in the west to extend the life of the existing reactor fleet," he said. "It has focused governments on the benefits of secure supply of energy from the nuclear fleet. We expect that to lend support [to prices]."
…
"Light Sky Macro sees an immediate and sizeable opportunity in the uranium sector, making it one of our highest conviction views for 2021," he wrote in a note to clients, seen by the Financial Times, earlier this year.
"The growing focus on 'green energy' at a political level and the growing demand for [sustainable] assets in the investment community should turn uranium into one of the most asymmetric trades for the coming years," he wrote, meaning that the possibility of potential gains far outweighs the risk of losses.
Also profiting is Sean Benson, founder of London-based Tees River. His uranium fund, which buys equity stakes in uranium miners, is up 115 per cent this year.
