Junior Exploration Sector – Page 30

NEWS RELEASE: Pasinex Reports Net Income of $5.8 Million for 2017, Strong Operating Results at Pinargozu and Operating Guidance for 2018

April 30, 2018

TORONTO, ON – April 30, 2018 – Pasinex Resources Limited (CSE: PSE) (FSE: PNX) (The “Company” or “Pasinex”) today reported net income for 2017 of $5.8 million; a 700 percent increase from 2016 net income of $0.8 million.

Net income for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017 was $2.7 million compared to $0.6 million in Q4 2016. The significant improvement in the consolidated results is due to the strong operational and financial performance at Horzum AS (the 50% owned joint venture that holds the Pinargozu mine), which is reflected in Pasinex net income as Equity gain from Horzum AS.

Steve Williams, CEO of Pasinex commented, “We are very pleased with our 2017 financial results. Pinargozu reached its production expectations for the year resulting in a record year. This comes at a time of very strong zinc prices and we see this reflected in the robust 2017 financial results. We also received a $1.2 million dividend payment from Horzum AS in 2017 and we are expecting approximately $6.5 million in dividends paid to us during 2018.”

Canada’s First Cobalt eager for more after U.S. Cobalt buy – by Barbara Lewis (Reuters U.S. April 25, 2018)

April 26, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Canada’s First Cobalt, which has just bought another cobalt developer, is keen for more acquisitions to accelerate bringing on production to meet North American demand, a senior company official said.

Expectations of soaring demand for cobalt because of its use in electric vehicles has inspired a hunt for the mineral across the globe.

Governments and miners are anxious to secure supplies in more stable jurisdictions than Democratic Republic of Congo, which holds around half of the world’s reserves.

Bright prospects for exploration industry: Opportunity and change in store for prospectors, junior miners in 2018 – by Ian Ross (Northern Ontario Business – April 23, 2018)

April 23, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

The good vibes of confidence and recovery in the mining industry from this past spring’s Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto have filtered into northwestern Ontario.

Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association (OPA), expects this year to be a busy field season, judging from what he hears and sees walking the floor at the recent Ontario Prospectors Exploration Showcase held in Thunder Bay in early April.

Many companies are ready to do exploration work on their properties if they can raise the financing. Others have money in their treasury and were just waiting for the snow to melt. Clark is expecting to see a mix of new mineral discoveries in 2018 and some stale projects, not worked for years, springing back to life.

Osisko Sees Perfect Storm Brewing For Base Metals – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – April 18, 2018)

April 18, 2018

http://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – One of Canada’s most renowned gold mining companies is wading into the base metals sector, particularly zinc, as prices continue to trade near their highest level in more than ten years.

Osisko Metals is celebrating its first year of operation as it continues to develop two of Canada’s most prominent past producing zinc mining camps.

The Osisko brand is more known for its success in the precious metals sector as it developed its Canadian Malartic project, country’s largest open-pit gold mine now owned by Agnico Eagle and Yamana Gold.

Cobalt Firm Says Chinese Car Companies Keen to Secure Supplies (Bloomberg News – April 16, 2018)

April 16, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

Cobalt 27 Capital Corp., owner of the world’s largest private stockpile of cobalt, said it is in talks for potential tie-ups with major Chinese companies seeking to secure supplies of the key metal in batteries powering electric vehicles.

Car and battery makers from China have approached Cobalt 27 to discuss long-term partnerships and supply contracts, Anthony Milewski, chief executive officer of the Canadian firm, said in an interview in Beijing on Monday. Milewski said he has at least 17 such meetings lined up in major Chinese cities over the next three days.

“There’s a lot of interest and it is natural because it is where all this will happen,” Milewski said, declining to identify the companies. “China is going to be the world leader of electric vehicles.”

Prospectors split on online map staking system launched by province this week – by Benjamin Aubé (CBC News Sudbury – April 13, 2018)

April 13, 2018

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

Ontario’s new online map staking system for prospectors launched Tuesday.

The province’s new online map staking system was launched this week. It means prospectors don’t have to venture into the bush to claim ground for mineral exploration.

More than 14,000 online claims have been staked since the province’s new system, CLAIMaps, was launched Tuesday morning, according to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.

Hermann Daxl has been a prospector for more than 20 years. The 77-year-old retired geologist was formerly skeptical about map staking. He’s since become a convert. “It’s actually tremendous.

Excitement as ‘Wits-style’ gold is discovered in iron-ore hub, but geologist urges caution – by Nadine James (MiningWeekly.com – April 13, 2018)

April 13, 2018

http://www.miningweekly.com/

While there is no doubt that conglomerate gold has been discovered in the Pilbara, the broader understanding of this style of gold mineralisation in the Pilbara remains incomplete and, therefore, any comparisons with the Witwatersrand (Wits) basin are premature, states SRK Consulting geologist Mike Cunningham.

Commenting on the furore surrounding the recent discoveries of conglomerate gold in the Pilbara region, in Western Australia, he notes that some of the excitement is understandable, as the discoveries represent “a new and exciting style of gold mineralisation in a hitherto underexplored part of the country traditionally known for its world-class iron endowment”.

This excitement started in July last year, when Canadian-listed miner Novo Resources discovered nuggetlike gold at the Purdey’s Reward prospect, a joint venture project with Australian miner Artemis Resources.

Analyst calls for more disclosures from mining firms to offset share volatility – by Niall McGee (Globe and Mail – April 11, 2018)

April 11, 2018

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

Mining companies need to disclose more information ahead of earnings releases to offset volatility in their share prices, says RBC Dominion Securities Inc. analyst Dan Rollins.

Over the past few years, North American gold producers have seen a noticeable uptick in share price volatility during earnings season, in part because investors are being blindsided by so-called “misses” or “beats” that analysts don’t see coming.

Before quarterly earnings are released, data providers such as Thomson Reuters canvass analysts on their expectations for metrics, such as earnings per share (EPS), revenue and non-GAAP items such as adjusted EPS.

SoftBank’s first lithium deal raises prospects for junior miners – by Susan Taylor and Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – April 6, 2018)

April 9, 2018

https://www.reuters.com/

TORONTO/VANCOUVER (Reuters) – SoftBank Group Corp’s (9984.T) entry into the lithium sector, a hot commodity for electric car batteries, is raising hopes that small miners struggling to secure bank funding can tap alternative financing to cash in on booming demand.

Japan’s SoftBank, with investments including ride-services firm Uber [UBER.UL] and Chinese online retailer Alibaba (BABA.N), will invest up to C$99.1 million ($78 million) for a stake of up to 9.9 percent in Nemaska Lithium Inc (NMX.TO).

Separately, Nemaska is also in talks with U.S. private equity firm Orion Mine Finance on a streaming deal, a type of specialized mining finance, people familiar with the transaction told Reuters. Nemaska shares jumped as much as 20.5 percent on Friday, giving the Quebec-based company a market value of C$566 million.

Conference aims to build interest in prospecting (CBC News Thunder Bay – April 4, 2018)

April 4, 2018

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/

Ontario Prospectors Exploration Showcase running this week in Thunder Bay

About 500 mining industry workers are expected to be at Thunder Bay’s Valhalla Inn this week for the annual Ontario Prospectors Exploration Showcase.

The three-day event — running Tuesday, April 3 to Thursday, April 5 — will include guest speakers, a trade show and awards banquets, all with the overall goal of building interest in prospecting, said Garry Clark, executive director of the Ontario Prospectors Association.

“The biggest thing we can hope is that some of these people that come here either get interested in becoming a prospector, or interested in prospecting, or that prospectors hook up with companies that they can sell their properties to,” Clark said Tuesday.

Orefinders pick up former northeast gold mine – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – April 4, 2018)

April 4, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Gold explorer building stable of northeast properties with McGarry Mine acquisition

There’s new ownership coming for a former gold mine in the Kirkland Lake area. Toronto’s Orefinders Resources announced April 3 that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Kerr Mines (formerly Armistice Resources) to acquire the McGarry Mine and Barber-Larder properties.

Under the deal, Orefinders will issue 8 million common shares to Kerr. The shares are subject to a lock-up agreement with Kerr and are scheduled to be free trading over a two-year period.

The McGarry property is in Virginiatown, between Kirkland Lake and the Quebec border, and spans 2.4 kilometres on the Cadillac Larder Lake Break, considered one of the world’s most prolific gold structures. It’s located next to the Kerr-Addison Mine, which once produced more than 12 million ounces of gold over a 58-year period ending in 1996.

Dormant Swedish Mine Comes Alive in Rush for Car Batteries – by Niclas Rolander and Jesper Starn (Bloomberg News – April 3, 2018)

April 3, 2018

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The global race to develop batteries for electric cars is reaching deep into the pine forests of central Sweden, where a dormant graphite mine is getting a new lease on life.

Woxna, situated about 160 miles (259 kilometers) north of Stockholm, was mothballed in 2001 amid a slump in prices. Now, a Canadian company called Leading Edge Materials Corp. is preparing to revive operations.

Though graphite has grabbed fewer headlines than other battery components like lithium and cobalt, whose prices have surged in recent months, the carbon material makes up a large part of the raw material costs.

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut’s share of mining exploration spending is on the decline – by Walter Strong (CBC News North – March 28, 2018)

March 28, 2018

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut’s share of expected spending on resource exploration and deposit appraisals in Canada is on the decline, and has been for a few years.

The most recent numbers from Natural Resources Canada indicate spending in the N.W.T. is expected to decline to $81.3 million this year, down from $90 million last year. Exploration spending in the territory peaked in 2007 at $194 million.

In Nunavut, the decline is more dramatic. Spending there is expected to decline by more than $58 million — from $169 million last year to $110.7 million this year. In 2007, companies spent $338 million on mining exploration in Nunavut.

Unearthing Results from Idaho’s Cobalt Belt – by Jon Brown (Stockhouse.com – March 27, 2018)

March 28, 2018

http://www.stockhouse.com/

FULL DISCLOSURE: Hybrid Minerals Inc. is a paid client of Stockhouse Publishing.

The automotive industry has a serious problem. There is a push to turn production toward electric vehicles, but the batteries that will power these vehicles is short on one key ingredient – cobalt. The price of cobalt has quadrupled over the last two years to roughly $40 a pound ($85 a kilogram) thanks to its rarity.

Add to this the challenge of just getting access to the metal, as much as 60% of the world’s supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, an embattled region to say the least.

A Canadian-based exploration company is rising to meet this challenge and is one step closer to bringing the United States’ only cobalt mine into current production. Hybrid Minerals Inc. (TSX: V.HZ, Forum) is focused on the acquisition and development of production-grade cobalt deposits and has a 100% stake in the advanced exploration CAS cobalt and gold project located in the Idaho Cobalt Belt.

Orefinders gets into the cobalt game – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – March 26, 2018)

March 26, 2018

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

Power Ore is the name of the spinoff company being created by Orefinders Resources to work its cobalt properties in northeastern Ontario.

By way of a court-approved plan of arrangement, Power Ore picks up Orefinders’ silver-cobalt assets, the former Mann silver-cobalt mines, and MacMurchy nickel property in the Gowganda district.

The arrangement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange. Power Ore is targeting to list on the exchange soon after receiving approval from Orefinders’ shareholders at a special meeting on May 4.