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Junior Exploration Sector

Thunder Bay junior miner zeros in on platinum, palladium – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – July 3, 2019)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Benton Resources swings deal on two high-grade properties in northwest

A Thunder Bay gold exploration company is picking up two high-grade platinum group metals (PGM) properties, west of the city.

In two separate deals, Benton Resources announced July 2 of its impending acquisition of the Escape Lake Discovery from Rio Tinto Exploration Canada for $6 million, and the Thunder Bay North deposit from Australia’s Panoramic Resources for $9 million.

The two properties are 60 kilometres south of North American Palladium’s (NAP) Lac des Iles Mine and 10 kilometres east of NAP’s Sunday Lake property. The acquisitions should be finalized within the next two to three months.

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Ignored by Big Banks, Smaller Gold Miners Are Paying More to Expand – by Justina Vasquez (Bloomberg News – June 20, 2019)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The cost of money is rising for small and mid-sized gold miners. Newmont Goldcorp Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp., the biggest producers, have grown even bigger by buying up peers, shaping themselves as strong candidates for commercial bank lending.

Meanwhile, smaller companies struggling to meet deadlines and budgets on new projects are increasingly forced to turn to private equity to expand.

In some ways that’s good. Private financing often offers smaller miners more insight on projects than a commercial bank might. At the same time, private capital is harder to land and higher priced, with an average weighted cost of roughly 15%-20% compared with 5%-6% for the majors, according to Sprott Inc., a precious metals-focused money manager.

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[Manitoba Flin Flon – Snow Lake Greenstone Belt] Rockcliff Metals Wins a Financing Lottery! – by Stan Sudol (June 19, 2019)

Rockcliff Metals founder, Ken Lapierre, holding rich core samples from Manitoba’s Flin Flon – Snow Lake greenstone belt.

At Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2018 mining convention, Rockcliff Metals was a typical struggling junior with a great land package in the lesser known but geologically-rich Flin Flon – Snow Lake (FF-SL) greenstone belt with eight high-grade VMS base-metal deposits and five promising lode-gold properties.

It was starting out to be a tough year and unfortunately an even rougher start the week before the convention when Rockcliff CEO Ken Lapierre slipped on the freshly fallen snow, when he was taking out the garbage. Not thinking much about his sore ankle, the six-foot, three inch, former hockey playing, karate practising jock, started shoveling the driveway. Twelve hours later, the swelling and pain in his left ankle demanded a trip to the doctor where he learned that it was broken and that he had torn all the soft tissue.

For the entire PDAC convention, the largest and most important in the world, for juniors to meet potential future investors and current shareholders and financiers, Lapierre had to use a knee walker that resembled a scooter to get around, along with a substantial amount of painkillers.

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‘The future is nickel’: Cobalt 27 sells off its namesake metal after tough year – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – June 18, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Toronto-based Cobalt 27 Capital Corp. is selling out at a low point for its namesake metal, a crucial component in the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and other devices.

The company, which stockpiles and streams cobalt, on Tuesday announced a $510-million deal that splits the company along cobalt and nickel asset lines.

Its largest shareholder, Swiss private-equity firm Pala Investment Ltd., which owns more than 19 per cent, will pay $3.57 cash per share for the company’s cobalt assets. The rest of the shareholders will also receive equity in a new company that retains the company’s nickel assets plus $5 million in cash.

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Sudbury: Terry MacGibbon, former FNX Mining executive, shares secrets to his billion-dollar success (CBC News Sudbury – June 16, 2019)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/

MacGibbon has been at the helm of 4 mining companies

Terry MacGibbon has been a major player in Sudbury’s mining industry. He pulled the trigger on some million-dollar deals, including selling his company FNX Mining, and being the guiding force behind several other junior mining companies.

But during a recent Laurentian University graduation ceremony, where he was given an honorary doctorate, MacGibbon told CBC’s Morning North that he issued new graduates a challenge.

“Looking forward to the next 50 years, they have to solve the climate, like climate change and it’s not just a single thing that a government or a company can do,” MacGibbon said. “We all have to do it.” “We all have to make our choices of how we live.”

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Agnico Eagle Offers To Acquire Alexandria Minerals – by Allen Sykora (Kitco News – June 14, 2019)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE, TSX: AEM) has made an offer to acquire Alexandria Minerals Corp. (TSXV: AZX), a Toronto-based junior gold and exploration company, for C$26 million, the companies reported Friday. The proposal is based on a purchase price of 5 Canadian cents per share.

Alexandria said that its board of directors concluded that the unsolicited offer constitutes a “superior proposal” as outlined in a prior May 14 agreement with Chantrell Ventures Corp. Chantrell now has a 10-business-day period in which it can amend its own offer for Alexandria.

To enter an agreement with Agnico Eagle, Alexandria would first have to terminate the Chantrell agreement and pay a fee of C$875,000. If the Alexandria board accepts the Agnico Eagle offer, the agreement would be subject to approval of Alexandria shareholders.

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Rare gold specimens unearthed at WA mine compared to ‘finding a needle in a haystack’ – by Jarrod Lucas (Australian Broadcasting Corporation – June 5, 2019)

https://www.abc.net.au/

They say lightning never strikes twice, but spectacular gold specimens have been unearthed at a Western Australian gold mine for the second time in nine months.

Another pocket of rare visible gold has been discovered at the Beta Hunt mine near the historic mining town of Kambalda, 630 kilometres east of Perth.

Underground miners have recovered an estimated 987 ounces of coarse gold in 238 kilograms of rock since Saturday — worth about $1.9 million at today’s gold price.

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Canadian Resource Companies Investing Abroad at Record Levels – by Erik Hertzberg (Bloomberg News – May 30, 2019)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Canadian resource companies are choosing to invest abroad at record levels, amid waning global interest in the nation’s energy and mining assets.

Statistics Canada reported Thursday that Canadian-based energy and mining companies invested a net C$15.5 billion ($11.5 billion) outside of the country in the first three months of 2019. The exodus of Canadian capital from the sector in the quarter was almost double the previous quarterly record.

It’s a bad sign for industries already struggling to attract capital. The data suggest that Canadian-based resource companies — who have refrained from large foreign investments in recent years — may now be seeking alternatives outside of Canada.

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Osisko finds new gold zone at Windfall (Northern Miner – May 29, 2019)

Northern Miner

Osisko Mining (TSX: OSK) has found a new and shallow gold zone about 350 metres north of the main deposit at its Windfall property in Quebec, one of the highest grade resource-stage gold projects in Canada.

The mineralization occurs between a vertical depth from surface of between 50 metres and 275 metres and is open at depth and along strike.

Highlights include 393 grams gold per tonne over 2.2 metres starting from 100 metres downhole in OSK-W-19-1883 and 31 grams gold over 6.1 metres starting from 211 metres downhole in OSK-W-1911.

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NEWS RELEASE: Rockcliff Announces Appointment of New CEO

http://rockcliffmetals.com/

Toronto, ON – May 23, 2019 – Rockcliff Metals Corporation (“Rockcliff” or the “Company”) (CSE: RCLF) (FRANKFURT: RO0, WKN: A2H60G) is very pleased to announce the appointment of Alistair Ross as the Company’s new President and Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. In addition to his new executive management role, Alistair has also been appointed to the Board of Directors of Rockcliff. The strengthening of Rockcliff’s senior management team is a major component of the Company’s strategic initiative to become a producing mining company.

Alistair brings to Rockcliff a broad spectrum of in-depth mining experience and mining innovation in both small to large-scale projects as he prepares to lead the Company in its next phase of growth. His career has spanned three continents beginning with Rio Tinto in Zimbabwe, Phelps Dodge in New Mexico as well President of Lonmin’s South African operations, the world’s third largest platinum producing company from 2005 through 2008.

Alistair also spent a combined seven years with Inco/Vale most recently directing a team responsible for the re-build of Vale’s Sudbury mining operations which consisted of six mines and approximately 2,000 employees.

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Australian gold miners on the hunt for Canadian assets – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – May 21, 2019)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Here come the Aussies. Flush with cash, Australian mining companies are buying Canadian gold mines and more are expected to join the fray.

Last week, Melbourne-based St. Barbara Ltd. reached a friendly agreement to buy Vancouver’s Atlantic Gold Corp. for $722-million. Atlantic owns and operates a very profitable gold mine in Nova Scotia with a long reserve life.

Earlier this year, Australia’s biggest gold company, Newcrest Mining Corp., paid US$806-million for a majority stake in Red Chris, one of Imperial Metal Corp.’s prized gold and copper mines.

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Northern Superior discovers gold-bearing structures at massive TPK project in Ontario – by Staff (Mining.com – May 17, 2019)

http://www.mining.com/

Northern Superior Resources (TSXV: SUP) reported the discovery of eight gold-bearing structures and alteration zones at its Ti-pa-haa-kaa-ning gold-silver-copper project located in northwestern Ontario.

In a press release, the miner said the discoveries represent a critical and important advance in defining bedrock-hosted high-grade gold mineralization, necessary to yield the unique world-class gold grain-in-till dispersal apron and high-grade boulders defined and recovered within the Big Dam area, one of the three management zones into which the property has been subdivided.

According to Northern Superior, the structures have the potential to host economic deposits of gold because they have elevated gold values in widths of up to 20 metres, mineralized alteration envelopes with widths up to 30 metres, and a strike length of up to 2 kilometres, defined by tying mineralized structure to geophysical signature.

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‘Cash crunch’: Canada’s shrinking junior mining sector struggles for relevance — and deals – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – May 15, 2019)

https://business.financialpost.com/

Cannabis companies raised $4 billion in 2018 compared to $217 million by mining companies

Last spring, Vancouver-based Hecla Mining Company’s chief executive Philip Baker Jr. announced a $600 million deal to purchase three gold mines in Nevada at a 59 per cent premium.

Baker assured investors his company conducted extensive due diligence to justify the hefty price tag. “There isn’t anyone on the planet who knows this asset better than us,” he told the Financial Post.

About one year later, Hecla has initiated “a comprehensive review” after running into a flurry of problems in Nevada, including “unacceptable” costs, lower than expected production, problems expanding the mine life, excessive water in one mine and other issues. The mines produced 10,000 ounces of gold in the first quarter, down from the 162,000 annual production estimate given at the time of the purchase.

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Australia’s St Barbara snaps up Canada’s Atlantic Gold for $536 mln – by Melanie Burton (Reuters Canada – May 14, 2019)

https://ca.reuters.com/

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian gold miner St Barbara said on Wednesday it will buy smaller Canadian peer Atlantic Gold Corp for C$722 million ($536 million), marking a second overseas acquisition for cashed-up Australian producers.

St Barbara’s C$2.90 a share cash offer represents a 39% premium to Atlanta Gold’s closing price on Tuesday in a deal that analysts said opened up growth options, but could lead to a call on capital and crimp dividends.

“Buying an unknown asset in a new country which itself potentially requires a fresh injection of capital… could present an additional barrier for some investors,” said RBC Capital in a report.

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Struggling junior miners woo investors to fund exploration projects – by Nichola Saminather (Reuters U.S. – May 2, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Junior miners, struggling to fund exploration as institutions seek lower risk and better returns from larger rivals and newer industries, sought to sell potential investors on projects on Thursday, with mixed success.

The proliferation of index funds, sluggish gold price growth and a shift into cannabis and cryptocurrencies by risk investors has left junior miners short of funding. While the mining industry has seen a tentative revival in interest, much of that capital has flowed to larger producers.

“There has never been greater divergence between big and small companies in the mining sector. Big companies are healthy. … They have a lot of (earnings),” Peter Grosskopf, chief executive of asset manager Sprott Inc, said at the Mines and Money Conference. “The juniors are nowhere near that.”

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