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Check back later today for Daniel’s Den and visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold has firmed up entering a Fed decision at 11:00 am Pacific…bullion has traded between $1,312 and $1,324 so far today and is up $9 an ounce at $1,320 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will hold his first news conference this afternoon following the rate decision…the Fed is widely expected to raise rates today but the tone of the statement, the “dot plot” and Powell’s comments will be crucial…Silver has jumped 21 cents to $16.38…Copper is off a penny at $3.05…Nickel is 3 cents lower at $6.08 while Zinc is up a penny at $1.47…Cobalt is steady at $40.14…Crude Oil has gained another 85 cents to $64.39 as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington raises the prospect of a more aggressive U.S. stance toward Iran…the replacement of Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State is expected to boost those in the Trump administration looking to confront Iran more forcefully…renewed sanctions against the Iranians could take more than 500,000 barrels of Oil a day off the market…the U.S. Dollar Index is down one-third of a point to 90.06…

2. The crown prince’s visit to the U.S. comes as Saudi Arabia is scaling back its ambitions for a public offering of the country’s state-owned Oil giant known as Aramco…the listing, which had been expected to raise as much as $100 billion this year for the sale of 5% of the company, has been shelved until 2019…one factor in the delay is that the kingdom is counting on being awarded emerging market status by index complier MSCI in June to help Saudi Aramco attract Western funds, in addition to cornerstone investors from China, Japan and South Korea.  “Without the pressure of the IPO, Saudi Arabia may have less incentive to continue restricting its Oil output by more than the required amount, as it has been doing so far,” analysts at Commerzbank wrote yesterday…OPEC and 10 producers outside the Oil cartel, including Russia, have been holding back output by 1.8 million barrels a day since the start of 2017, part of an effort to rein in a global supply glut and boost prices…

3. Western carmakers have yet to wake up to the limited supply of Cobalt and risk being left behind by their Chinese rivals, according to Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of Glencore, the world’s biggest producer of the battery metal.  “The motor car industry hasn’t woken up to the fact, I don’t think, how important Cobalt is and how ‘tight’ it is”, Glasenberg told the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne (the event wraps up today)…worries over the availability of Cobalt have increased after Glencore signed an agreement with a Chinese battery materials maker this year to supply around one-third of its Cobalt production over the next 3 years.  “The Chinese will have most of the offtake of Cobalt,” explained Glasenberg.  “They’re not going to sell batteries to the world, more than likely they’ll produce batters in China and sell electric vehicles to the world.” 

4. The chief executives of America’s biggest companies are on track for another banner year of compensation, fueled by a soaring stock market and an improving economy…median pay for the chief executives of 133 of the largest U.S. companies reached an all-time high of $11.6 million in 2017, up from $11.2 million in 2016, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of proxy statement data…total pay, including salary, cash incentives, equity, perquisites and more, rose at least 9.9% for half of the executives, the fastest annual growth since 2014, while about a quarter of the executives received raises of 25% or more…most of the gains came from stock awards, as firms largely held the line on cash compensation and stock options…

5. The Dow is off slightly through the first 30 minutes of trading after a triple digit gain yesterday…Facebook (FB, NASDAQ) is down for the 3rd straight session, bringing its loss for the week to more than 10%…the social media giant faces an investor lawsuit after reports emerged alleging that Cambridge Analytica, an analytics company, had gathered data from 50 million Facebook profiles without the permission of its users…the TSX is 17 points higher while the Venture is flat at 831…Cornerstone Metals (CCC, TSX-V) climbed as high as 42 cents in early trading and is up 6 cents at 39 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…the company is in the process of closing a $3 million financing while more drill results are also pending from the company’s Vanadium Project in Nevada…Pascal Biosciences (PAS, TSX-V) has broken out above a bullish symmetrical triangle, up 2.5 cents at 48 cents…the company recently closed a $5 million financing at 40 cents after announcing that it’s the first to identify a mechanism in which cannabinoids may provide a direct benefit in immunotherapy…

6. Crystal Lake Mining (CLM, TSX-V) has commenced diamond drilling at its 100%-owned Nicobat Project, a promising 50 sq. km package of magmatic Nickel sulphide targets in the Rainy River district of northwest Ontario…initial drilling is undercutting the historic zone at the Nico1 Property to test the potential for a broad area of semi-massive or massive sulphides beneath the near-surface disseminated and breccia-style magmatic sulphide mineralization…borehole EM surveys will also be carried out through Lamontagne Geophysics…massive sulphides outcrop at surface at Nico1 while the high tenor of the sulphide (3% to 5%) speaks to the potential for an economic deposit in an area that has excellent road, rail and power access…Crystal Lake has also expanded its deep penetrating airborne electromagnetic survey by more than 50% to 850 line km…based on historic government data, the geological team led by Dr. Peter Lightfoot is confident that this new survey will identify electrically conductive signatures of sulphide mineralization associated with mafic intrusive bodies, in addition to  strong magnetic anomalies that may represent mafic-ultramafic intrusions under cover…Nico1 is approximately 35 km from the Rainy River Gold mine where Nickel massive sulphide mineralization has also been encountered…

7. Snipp Interactive (SPN, TSX-V) is active again this morning on news that WeedMD (WMD, TSX-V) has made a “strategic investment” in SPN, a global loyalty and promotions company focused on disruptive engagement platforms for consumers…SPN recently launched the Cannabis Resource Marketing Centre (CMRC) and WeedMD has appointed Snipp as its technology vendor of record to design and deploy custom marketing solutions for direct sales, retail sales, referral/sourcing programs, distributor programs and other programs.  “As we move into new markets, it’s important to provide informed and engaging online experiences to consumers. By utilizing Snipp’s proprietary solutions to develop and implement new marketing and sales programs, we plan to deepen our relationship with current and future customers,” stated Bruce Dawson-Scully, CEO of WeedMD. “We are excited to roll-out these campaigns to expand market awareness, enhance communication touch points and further engage our consumers.”  Yesterday, SPN stated that it has received broad interest from a variety of cannabis companies from across the spectrum of the industry including leaders like Aphria (APH, TSX), WeedMD and others…over 10 companies have signed up for the centre since the launch just last week…

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Check back later today for Daniel’s Den and visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold remains under mild pressure as the Fed begins its 2-day meeting with a rate hike expected tomorrow…bullion has traded between $1,307 and $1,318 so far today and is off $8 an ounce at $1,309 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Silver has retreated 13 cents to $16.17…Copper is off 3 pennies at $3.05…Nickel is steady at $6.10 while Zinc has slipped 2 pennies to $1.46…Cobalt has crossed the $40 barrier for the first time in a decade, up 57 cents at $40.14….Cobalt drilling activity worldwide quadrupled in Q4 and accounted for 50% of total activity of battery materials worldwide, according to data from Mining Intelligence…50 Cobalt projects reported drill results in the last 3 months of 2017, up from 12 during the previous quarter…Crude Oil has surged more than $1 a barrel to $63.20 while the U.S. Dollar Index has jumped more than one-third of a point to 90.29 ahead of tomorrow’s Fed decision…Saudi Arabia’s ambitious young prince has arrived in Washington…in his inaugural visit since becoming the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is slated to meet with a number of high-profile political and industrial heavyweights…Washington and Riyadh are forging improved relations following tensions resulting from the Obama administration’s handling of the very flawed Iran nuclear deal…President Trump has threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the accord between Tehran and 6 world powers, raising the prospect of new sanctions aimed at Iran’s Oil industry…the Iranians are also believed to be providing help to North Korea…

2. Will the Fed surprise the pundits and come across more dovish than expected tomorrow, even if it does raise rates as expected?…Brad Melek, TD Securities‘ head of commodity strategy and an accurate Gold forecaster, had this to say in a report published yesterday:  “Given the current equity market weakness, recent lackluster economic data and trade war rhetoric getting louder, we judge that a hawkish tone is not…warranted at this time.  Given recent positioning, if Fed officials do not adjust the dot plots higher, the yellow metal could find a bid and move considerably higher later this week.”  Gold has shown weakness coming into the last 5 rate hikes but rebounded strongly after each of those hikes…

3. Bonterra Resources (BTR, TSX-V) has released initial results from a continuing winter drill program at its Gladiator Gold deposit in Quebec…3 of the 4 drill holes released this morning intersected high-grade mineralization including BA-18–04 which cut 6.5 m @ 16.9 g/t Au in the Main zone and 14.5 g/t Au over 1.5 m in the South zone…to date, continuity of mineralization is now confirmed over a total drilled strike length on at least 4 horizons (North, Footwall, Main and South) of 1,200 m, as well as a drilled depth of 1,000+…drilling is expected to total 70,000 m in 2018…5 active drill rigs are currently focused to support the timing and completion of an updated mineral resource estimate in the 2nd half of the this year…BTR is up 2 cents at 54 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading

4. The Dow has rebounded 98 points through the first 30 minutes of trading after a rough session yesteday…the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Facebook’s use of personal data violated a consent decree it signed with the agency in 2011…the Bloomberg report follows a weekend of turmoil for Facebook after British-based research firm Cambridge Analytica was alleged to have improperly gained access to the data of more than 50 million Facebook users…Facebook (FB, NASDAQ) tumbled as much as 8% yesterday and is off again in early trading today…the TSX is up 26 points as of 7:00 am Pacific while the Venture has slipped 4 points to 831 with some softness in marijuana stocks…the Index continues to battle resistance in the low 830’s…Cartier Resources (ECR, TSX-V) has intersected 7.6 g/t Au over 5 m, 235 m beneath the deepest stope at the Chimo mine near Val d’Or…the intersection is the first from an 8,000-m deep drilling program which is part of the ongoing 34,000-m drill program on the Chimo mine property…

5. Blind Creek Resources (BCK, TSX-V) has received important land use approvals and permits from the Yukon government to advance its 100%-owned Blende Zinc-Lead-Silver Property 64 km northeast of Keno Hill…a Class 4 quartz mining land use approval allows the company, among other things, to construct a 50-man exploration camp, store fuel on site, develop up to 15 km of new roads, upgrade up to 30 km of existing roads, construct an air strip and complete up to 400 diamond drill holes on the property over the next 5 years, subject to certain conditions…meanwhile, portions of the Wind River winter trail used to access Blind Creek’s Blende property from Mayo are included in the proposed 65 km all-season ATAC/Barrick Rau Project access tote road recently approved in an agreement between the government of Yukon and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun.  “The acquisition of the Class 4 QMLUA and land use permit for the Blende Property and the recently announced Rau Project tote road access agreement are significant developments for Blind Creek,” stated President Brian Fowler, “The company is currently awaiting the completion of the Blende maiden (National Instrument-43–101) mineral resource estimate (currently in preparation by Moose Mountain Technical Services) and is positioning to conduct a large exploration effort at Blende in 2018.”

6. Eagle Plains Resources‘ (EPL, TSX-V) option partner SSR Mining Inc. (formerly Silver Standard Resources) has commenced its 2018 drilling campaign at Eagle Plain’s 100%-owned Fisher Property contiguous to the north, south and east with SSRM’s Seabee Gold operation in Saskatchewan…SSRM is planning approximately 18,000 m of drilling during 2018, with an initial program of 10,000 m expected to be completed by June…SSRM is in the 2nd year of a 4-year option agreement whereby the company may earn up to an 80% interest in the 34,000 hectare property by completing $4 million in exploration expenditures and making $3.3 million in cash payments to EPL…

7. The Globe and Mail reported this morning that Alberta is shaping up to be an exciting power play for cannabis retailers when the herb becomes legal later yea…the reason demand is sizzling is because Alberta, unlike Ontario, British Columbia or Quebec, has opted for a fully private approach to cannabis retail, with big expansion opportunities for anyone who gets in early and has money to invest over the long term…in the first year alone after legalization later this year, more than 200 cannabis shops are expected to open their doors for business across the Wild Rose province…Calgary-based 420 Clinic chief operating officer Mike Tomiyama says, “To start, cannabis retail will occupy roughly one-sixth of the commercial real estate that liquor does.”

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Check back later today for Daniel’s Den and visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold has rebounded, now even on the day at $1,313 after touching its lowest level ($1,307) in more than 2 weeks this morning on nervousness ahead of a Fed meeting that starts tomorrow…speculation is that the central bank will raise rates and signal at least 2 more increases this year…keep in mind, the price of Gold has bounced back after each of the 5 previous U.S. rate hikes…Silver is off 6 cents at $16.27…Copper has slipped a penny to $3.10…Nickel is 3 cents lower at $6.13 and Zinc is steady at $1.48…Cobalt is unchanged at a decade high of $39.58…Crude Oil has retreated 23 cents to $62.11 while the U.S. Dollar Index has fallen one-quarter of a point to 89.99…

2. Hecla Mining (HL, NYSE) is buying out Klondex Mines (KDX, TSX) in a friendly takeover with a mix of cash and shares of Hecla in a deal valued at $462 million, while Klondex’s Canadian assets will be spun out to its existing shareholders (newco will be Klondex Canada)…Klondex shareholders will receive $2.47 (U.S.) per share in cash or shares of Hecla which represents a 59% premium to Klondex’s 30-day volume-weighted average price as of last Friday.  “Opportunities to acquire significant land packages along Nevada’s prolific Gold trends are very rare,” stated Phillip S. Baker Jr., Hecla President & CEO.  “Rarer still are for these land packages to have the highest grade mines in the U.S. and this transaction is consistent with Hecla’s strategy of owning large prospective land packages with mines where we can improve costs, grow reserves and expand production.  We structured the deal to use our excess cash balance so our shareholders can benefit from the approximately 162,000 Gold equivalent ounces a year of production while minimizing dilution.”

3. The internal battle for control of Colorado Resources (CXO, TSX-V) has turned personal and nasty…a letter to shareholders issued by the company (Chairman Larry Nagy) this morning read, in part, “Your Colorado Resources investment is at risk.  Your Board of Directors uncovered evidence of what it believes to be a scheme by former CEO Adam Travis to rig a series of business deals to benefit himself, at the expense of Colorado Resources, and misappropriate and pocket thousands of shareholder dollars.  Once our Board discovered that Travis had his hand in your cookie jar, we took action to terminate him.  We have also launched a court action, on behalf of all Colorado shareholders, against Travis to recover any funds that he may have misappropriated and claims for damages he has caused in the Company’s business dealings.  Now, out of animosity, he has launched an expensive and time-consuming proxy fight to take over Colorado Resources’ Board without disclosing his plan or agenda.  Do not be fooled – Travis wants a Board that will allow him to keep treating your Colorado Resources as his own…the value Travis sees in Colorado is not in the shares he owns, but in the opportunity he sees to drain the company’s bank account…if you think Travis’ behavior is bad with a Board that is willing to hold him accountable, just imagine what he will do with a Board of friends he handpicks!.”  After that attack, there’s little doubt this battle will heat up even more in the coming days…

4. Canada Cobalt (CCW, TSX-V) continues to deliver impressive high-grade Cobalt assays in mini-bulk samples from the first level of its 100%-owned Castle mine in the northern Ontario Cobalt Camp…the latest results feature 2.46% Cobalt and 6,173 g/t Silver from material that was crushed, blended and assayed by SGS Lakefield…Canada Cobalt is the only company in the northern Ontario Cobalt Camp with underground access, as it proceeds toward underground drilling, an important fact that was reinforced with last week’s proposed buyout of U.S. Cobalt (USCO, TSX-V) by First Cobalt (FCC, TSX-V) in all-share deal First Cobalt says “implies a total equity value of approximately $149.9 million on a fully diluted in-the-money basis”…meanwhile, Canada Cobalt has added Dr. Ron Molnar as a special advisor to advance the company’s proprietary Re-2OX process for Cobalt battery metals that’s being optimized at SGS Lakefield in southern Ontario…Dr. Molnar has designed, built and operated over 60 pilot plant circuits extracting, separating and purifying a wide range of metallic elements from Cobalt to rare earths, and he will be one of the key individuals who will assist Canada Cobalt in taking Re-2OX to the full pilot plant stage in 2018 with client-specific Cobalt formulations for the battery sector…

5. The Dow has retreated 172 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX is 44 points lower…the Financial Post over the weekend noted how a reinvigorated U.S. economy under President Trump is a better bet than Canada, where a ticking consumer-debt bomb and declining competitiveness are dragging on asset prices according to some top Canadian money managers…Trump’s tax cuts and pro-business agenda have revved up growth, stocks and corporate confidence…in Canada, minimum wage hikes and carbon taxes are ratcheting up business costs while a housing boom has pushed consumer credit to a near-record 170% of disposable income…besides the Klondex deal, there were 2 other takeovers announced this morning in the mining/exploration sector…Alio Gold (ALO, TSX) is acquiring Nevada-based producer Rye Patch Gold (RPM, TSX-V) in an all-share transaction valued at $128 million (CDN)…meanwhile, Anaconda Mining (ANX, TSX) has announced that it intends to make a formal offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Maritime Resources (MAE, TSX-V) for 0.364 of a common share of Anaconda for each Maritime share, a 44% premium to the volume weighted average trading price of MAE over the last 20 sessions…

6. Medreleaf (LEAF, TSX) has entered into an agreement to become the largest supplier of medical cannabis products to Cannamedical Pharma GMBH, a leading medical cannabis distributor to pharmacies in Germany…MedReleaf will provide Cannamedical with monthly exports of 5 of its premium strain varieties, significantly improving the predictability and security of drug delivery to the German market… Germany is poised to become the largest federally regulated medical cannabis market in the world, with a population of over 82 million, approximately 89% of whom are covered by the public health insurance program and the remainder covered by private insurance plans…the current medical cannabis laws in Germany came into effect just over a year ago…without domestic production, cannabis is being imported to meet the rapidly growing demand…

7. A Canadian federal task force helping the feds decide whether and how to impose marijuana testing for workers is at an impasse, ensuring no new federal rules on workplace impairment will be in place before pot becomes legal later this year…the committee, comprising federally regulated employers, labor groups and federal officials, is split over the issue of drug testing for jobs where impairment could pose a threat to public safety…a number of committee members say that means the Liberal government likely will not have time to address requests from employers, who want rules put in place for “safety-sensitive” jobs, such as transit drivers, that would allow employers to legally conduct random drug tests…there are no federal labor rules about drug and alcohol testing outside the military, but it is permissible in some circumstances…successive governments from the late 1980’s have stayed away from the issue…the Liberals are unlikely to make any final decision on drug testing until the Supreme Court of Canada rules on its legality in a case between Suncor (SU, TSX) and workers at its Alberta oil sands operation….

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Will the Venture “spring” into spring?…in today’s report, near-term trading strategies and how the Index landed Friday at a critical level…