Junior Exploration Sector – Page 18

Exploration expenditure flattens in BC – survey – by Valentina Ruiz Leotaud (Mining.com – March 15, 2020)

March 16, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

Following two years of continued growth, exploration activities in British Columbia remained steady through 2019, with expenditures down less than a percentage point from 2018.

This, according to the British Columbia Mineral and Coal Exploration Survey carried out by the provincial Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, the Association for Mineral Exploration and Ernst & Young, based on responses provided by 29 prospectors and 171 companies operating in BC, which collectively represent 326 projects across the province.

“The positive momentum gained between 2016 and 2018 has flattened out, with exploration expenditure shifting across the province’s regions,” the survey’s final report reads.

Eric Sprott bets on Orefinders Resources – by Trish Saywell (Northern Miner – March 5, 2020)

March 6, 2020

https://www.northernminer.com/

Financier Eric Sprott is putting some of his money behind Orefinders Resources (TSXV: ORX) and the junior explorer’s properties in the Kirkland Lake district of Ontario. Sprott has taken an 8.01% of the company’s issued and outstanding common shares on a non-diluted basis and about 11.64% on a partially diluted basis.

“He’s had tremendous success in the Kirkland Lake camp and that’s clearly what got his attention about us,” Stephen Stewart, Orefinders’ president and CEO, said in an interview. “He is obviously interested in our neighborhood.”

“Eric’s a seasoned investor who has seen it all, has lived through all the cycles, and understands it’s a long-term game, writes significant cheques and he brings eyeballs, which is important,” Stewart continued. “He’s probably the best shareholder you can have and it’s also nice to have money to execute on our plan.”

Canada Nickel expands Crawford holdings (Mining.com – March 4, 2020)

March 6, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

Shortly after releasing a maiden resource for its wholly-owned Crawford nickel-cobalt sulphide project near Timmins, Ontario, Canada Nickel (TSXV: CNC) has announced an agreement with Noble Mineral Exploration to acquire one additional property and entered into option agreements on five additional holdings nearby.

“Given our demonstrated success at Crawford, this transaction provides us the larger footprint to fully develop Crawford, along with additional exploration targets, which can potentially host nickel-cobalt deposits that are similar to Crawford,” Mark Selby, Canada Nickel’s chairman and CEO, said in a release.

The company has agreed to pay Noble C$500,000 and issue 500,000 of its shares to acquire the 49-sq.-km Crawford Annex holding with a further option to acquire up to an 80% interest in five additional target areas within a land package covering 706 sq. km.

Contra Guys: This is one gold stock we’re (very patiently) watching closely – by Benj Gallander and Ben Stadelmann (Globe and Mail – February 25, 2020)

February 25, 2020

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

It is almost time for PDAC, one of the world’s largest mining shows held annually in Toronto. March 1-4 are the dates, and for investors scouting out resource investments, this is a great place to venture as companies large and small are in attendance and want to make you aware of their wares.

At least one of us has attended almost every annum for more than 30 years, during fat times and lean for gold and commodity prices. When valuations are up, the place is rocking; when down, as one attendee said, “You could shoot a cannon down the aisle and not hit anyone.” With the gold price being reasonably sweet and getting sweeter, 25,000 plus should be in attendance this year.

While we wrote about our success with better than a triple on Alacer Gold in August, Orvana Minerals has proven more problematic for Benj. Purchased just over five years ago at $0.28, it currently trades at $0.22.

Prospects brighten for Northern Dynasty Pebble mine on leaked draft study – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 13, 2020)

February 13, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

A leaked draft of an environmental impact statement (EIS) on Northern Dynasty’s (TSX: NDM) proposed copper-gold mine in Alaska has brighten up its prospects, suggesting nearby terrestrial freshwater resources and downstream fisheries could co-exist with the project.

While the US Army Corps of Engineers’ document is not final, it could mean the government is closer to issuing a long-sought permit for the $100 billion copper-gold mine in the Bristol Bay, southwest Alaska.

Shares jumped up as much 9.4% to 70 cents on the news on Wednesday, to close at 69 cents, the highest value so far this year. If permitted, Pebble would be North America’s largest mine, according to a study by the Center for Science in Public Participation.

“Bit of a quiet year” for Northern Prospectors Association, says President – by Brad Sherratt (Kirkland Lake Northern News – February 10, 2020)

February 10, 2020

https://www.northernnews.ca/

The President of the Northern Prospectors Association says his group “had a bit of quiet year In as much as that most of our meetings and discussions were not so much based on being reactionary in context when compared to dealing with the past provincial Liberal government and its hostility toward exploration and mining.”

During the association’s recent Annual General Meeting, Gino Chitaroni said “since the Ford Government took over, there has been serious relief from government stress and pressure on our industry as a whole. Yes, the MMAC government committee is gone and many of us are quite happy it is. Nonetheless, exploration appears to be somewhat forgotten even though the Ontario Government created the Mining Working Group.

“This working group is heavily slanted toward red tape reduction at the mining development and operations stage. At least this group is trying to bring in “Made in Ontario” solutions for flow through financing, renewed JEAP financing and early stage engagement with First Nations and for exploration permitting.

Northern prospectors look to boost their visibility- by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – February 7, 2020)

February 10, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Tough times in grassroots exploration prompt Ontario Prospectors Association to boost their image as lobby group

Gold and palladium prices are reaching lofty heights but there continue to be troubling signs on the grassroots side of Ontario’s mining industry. Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association (OPA), said the mining sequence of discovery and development is faltering right now.

Since the economic crash of 2008, investor interest in early-stage exploration has largely been in the dumper, despite the uptick in value of various mineral commodities. “Grassroots exploration isn’t happening as much as it should,” said Clark.

Part of problem, he said, has been competition for investor attention from other high-risk, high-reward ventures such as Bitcoin, Blockchain and marijuana stocks.

Conversation With Legendary Junior Mining Investor Rob Cudney Of Northfield Capital – by Goldfinger (CEO.ca – February 4, 2020)

February 6, 2020

https://ceo.ca

Dislosure: Author owns shares of CORE.V and may choose to buy or sell at any time without notice.

Forty years is a long time in any industry, however, in the junior mining sector forty years is the equivalent of multiple lifetimes. One of my favorite investors/characters in the junior mining sector is Rob Cudney, a man who has been involved as an investor in the sector since 1980.

Mr. Cudney has a colorful personality and an impressive track record as an investor which includes multiple big wins and new discoveries. His forty years of investing experience means that he has more knowledge and experience in his little finger than most investors accumulate in entire lifetimes.

He has literally seen it all.

Just in the last year Cudney saw his stake in Cantex Mine Development (TSX-V:CD) soar to a more than $30 million valuation, only to fully roundtrip back to less than his total cost basis:(go to original article for chart).

Australians grab another northwestern Ontario gold project – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 28, 2020)

January 28, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Auteco Minerals cuts an 80-20 joint venture deal with First Mining on Pickle Lake-gold prospect

Another Australian exploration company is making a move to hunt for gold in northwestern Ontario. Auteco Minerals of Perth has inked an agreement for a joint venture with Vancouver’s First Mining Gold on its Pickle Crow gold project, east of the community of Pickle Lake.

Under the terms of the earn-in agreement, Auteco can grab an 80 per cent stake in Pickle Crow by spending $10 million on exploration over the next five years, paying First Mining $4.1 million in cash, and issuing 125 million shares of Auteco to First Mining.

According to a Jan. 27 First Gold news release, what Auteco brings to the table is “a highly skilled management team with a track record of discovery success,” due to its work in reviving a past producing gold mine in Western Australia.

Mines Minister Mungall addresses a B.C. mining exploration sector facing challenges – by Derrick Penner (Vancouver Sun – January 20, 2020)

January 21, 2020

https://vancouversun.com/

Energy and Mines Minister Michelle Mungall greeted a mining-exploration sector that is looking for more certainty, clarity and speed from government on permitting its activities as she helped open its annual convention in Vancouver on Monday.

Mungall is “a fabulous supporter” of mining, said Kendra Johnston, CEO of the Association of Mineral Exploration B.C., but exploration firms need certainty around the timeliness of permits and consistency around permit requirements. “Government is well aware of the issues industry has been having,” Johnston said.

Mungall, along with Paul Lefebvre, the federal parliamentary secretary for natural resources, helped open the Association for Mineral Exploration’s 2020 Roundup convention, which brings together more than 5,000 delegates from industry, government and First Nations for one of the biggest technical conferences on mining exploration in Canada.

Toronto mining company eyes rare earths near Uranium City – by Alex MacPherson (Saskatoon StarPhoenix – January 20, 2020)

January 20, 2020

https://thestarphoenix.com/

James Sykes said he needed just a few seconds with a hammer and a pry bar to knock a 60-kilogram hunk of rock from an outcrop just south of Saskatchewan’s border with the Northwest Territories a couple of years ago.

The veteran prospector liked what he found. “We have surface showings. That (rock) was 40 per cent rare earth oxide,” said Sykes, who has spent his career exploring for uranium and, along the way, helped discover several major deposits in northern Saskatchewan.

Today, Sykes is the vice-president of exploration and development at Appia Energy Corp., a Toronto-based junior mining company aiming to capitalize on a growing interest in developing a new supply of rare earth elements in Saskatchewan.

Inventus trades heavily on Sudbury update (Resource World – Janary 13, 2020)

January 14, 2020

https://resourceworld.com/

Inventus Mining Corp. [IVS-TSXV] shares advanced in heavy trading Monday January 13 after the company said it has updated the terms of a previously announced non-brokered private placement that aims fund projects in the Sudbury, Ontario region.

It said the updated private placement will be for up to 12.4 million units at 10.5 cents per unit, raising gross proceeds of $1.3 million.

Each unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, each of which will entitle the holder to acquire one common share for 17 cents for a period of two years after the closing date of the offering.

Lac des Iles exploration boss joins base metal junior miner – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – January 13, 2020)

January 14, 2020

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Grid Metals seeks to advance platinum-palladium project near Sudbury

North American Palladium’s former head of exploration has found a home with a Toronto outfit looking for base metals in northeastern Ontario. Grid Metals Corp. has appointed Dave Peck to be its vice-president of exploration and business development.

Peck is regarded as a world expert in platinum group metals (PGM) and nickel-copper sulfide projects, mining districts and markets. He is credited as one of the senior managers that led the turnaround of North American Palladium (NAP) culminating in its $1-billion acquisition by Impala Platinum of South Africa last October.

From 2012 to 2019, Peck worked the exploration side at NAP’s Lac des Illes palladium mine, north of Thunder Bay, finishing as vice-president of exploration.

Billionaire Eric Sprott dishes on his golden investment spree: ‘It’s like being at a table with a winning run’ – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – December 18, 2019)

December 19, 2019

https://business.financialpost.com/

One week before Halloween, Canada’s biggest gold enthusiast, the septuagenarian billionaire Eric Sprott, wearing a neatly pressed tuxedo, bounded onto a stage in a downtown Toronto ballroom and accepted his induction into Canada’s Investment Industry Hall of Fame.

He declared himself both humbled and honoured, and then rollicked into the wee hours of the night at his home in a nearby tower with expansive views of the city’s sparkling skyline. The next morning, though 75 and technically retired, he showed up at his office, grumbling about a lack of sleep, but dressed in a magenta-coloured, paisley button-up, ready for a 9 a.m. meeting with a penny stock exploration company.

“I keep reading that people are never making (gold) discoveries, the rate of discoveries is going down,” he said, occasionally rubbing his temples and closing his eyes. “The funny thing, well, I guess I’m the sucker then because I keep buying guys who say they’re making discoveries.”

Gold exploration trends: drilling up, Canada leads – September 2019 – by Vladimir Basov (Mining.com – December 11, 2019)

December 13, 2019

https://www.mining.com/

Mining Intelligence data indicates that after a bleak month of August, exploration activity in the gold sector jumped in September and hit the second highest bar since the beginning of 2019, and both the number of drilled projects and the number of drillholes reported in September, were up in all major regions.

A trend towards exploration of advanced projects, rather than greenfield opportunities, was reversed in September with companies willing to take more early-stage exploration risks.

There was a noticeable improvement in overall drill intersection grades, with reported gold intersections with grades greater than 2 g/t have risen from 23% of their total count in August to 40% in September 2019.