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Will the Venture be able to avoid the so-called “PDAC” curse?…

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 traded between $1,315 and $1,325 so far today after almost touching the top of key support at $1,300 yesterday…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion has added $6 an ounce to $1,323…Silver is up slightly at $16.48…Copper is off a penny at $3.11…Nickel is down 4 cents at $6.07 while Zinc is also off slightly at $1.54…Cobalt is up 11 cents to $36.85…Crude Oil has slipped 37 cents to $60.62 while the U.S. Dollar Index has backed off sharply from an overnight high near 91 and is now unchanged for the day at 90.24…newly-appointed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell spoke again yesterday to the Senate Committee on Banking about monetary policy and the state of the U.S. economy…he said there were currently no “decisive” signs of wage inflation…

2. Canopy Growth (WEED, TSX) CEO Bruce Linton told a meeting of the Economic Club of Canada in Toronto yesterday that the company is considering listing on the NASDAQ…no timeline for the potential listing was given, but Linton suggested that plans were already underway.  “We prepared to list in October and we pulled it back, because trying to do the deal with Constellation was already 11 months of complexity,” said Linton, referring to the $245-million investment in Canopy made by U.S. alcohol company Constellation Brands.  “The step will be list – and get ready for the drum roll – there will be a $75-million U.S. placement-ish.  And it’s just because the economic model works for the people who took you public and give you coverage to get a listing out there.  I think Nasdaq is doing a great job because they’re not allowing people to list who break (U.S.) federal laws, and so I think it’s a place we should list in due course, because we like to follow all the rules.”  Linton’s comments come after competitor Cronos Group (MJN, TSX-V; CRON, NASDAQ) became the first Canadian cannabis company to list on the NASDAQ earlier this week…American investors have embraced Cronos with the stock trading 25 million shares in its first 3 sessions through yesterday…

3. Mainstream media are hyperventilating again (“Trump Chaos Goes Global”, proclaims CNN) after President Trump told a gathering of U.S. industry executives yesterday that he would impose tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, without providing specifics…this President is a businessman, not a politician, something the media and others are struggling to adjust to, so he has different ways of negotiating and presenting policy options on wide-ranging issues…he said the official announcement and full details on steel and aluminum tariffs will come next week, so markets reacted yesterday (and again this morning) to a lot of unknowns and media hysteria.  “Our Steel and Aluminum industries (and many others) have been decimated by decades of unfair trade and bad policy with countries from around the world,” Trump said on Twitter yesterday morning (he’s correct about that, but only in terms of certain countries with China being the chief culprit as far as steel is concerned). “We must not let our country, companies and workers be taken advantage of any longer. We want free, fair and SMART TRADE!”  Canadian and Brazilian steel comprise 16.7% and 13.2 % of U.S. steel imports (followed by South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and China)…the top 4 exporters of aluminum to the U.S. are Canada, Russia, United Arab Emirates and China…Trump has options and would be wise to choose a more targeted approach rather than an across-the-board tariff structure that could easily morph into the equivalent of a job-killing tax hike and create unnecessary rifts with key allies…one thing’s for sure – there are factions within the White House on opposite sides of this issue, from Gary Cohn (Trump’s top economic adviser who doesn’t support tariffs) to trade hawk Peter Navarro whose role in the White House has been elevated after the recent departure of Rob Porter who became a target of the #MeToo movement…

4. The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, March 3, edition that a survey by the Human Resources Professional Association found that 71 per cent of HR professionals believe their workplaces are not prepared to deal with the coming legalization of recreational weed, including issues related to impairment, usage on the premises and safety. The Globe’s guest columnist Joel Kranc writes that criminalization will no longer be an appropriate objection. Currently, it is not okay for employees to show up to work drunk and the same is true of them showing up high. Aird & Berlis lawyer Lorenzo Lisi says that legalization does not undermine an employer’s ability to make rules or policies that prohibit use on company property. The issue, Mr. Lisi adds, is whether impairment can be demonstrated in the same ways as someone who is under the influence of alcohol. This remains a serious debate for employers as drug impairment can be more difficult to ascertain and tests have not reached the levels of accuracy that occur with alcohol testing. Mr. Lisi says employers’ policies going forward have to be consistent in their approach to alcohol and drugs on company property.

5. The Dow has lost 1,100 points the last 3 sessions and is off another 302 points through the first 30 minutes today as volatility continues… in Toronto, the TSX has fallen 59 points as of 7:00 am Pacific while the Venture has retreated 4 points to 825…Cornerstone Metals (CCC, TSX-V), which on Wednesday released strong initial drill results from its Vanadium Project in Nevada, is getting some additional backing…the company has announced a private placement to raise up to $1.5 million at 30 cents per unit (each unit will include a 2-year half warrant at 45 cents)…Mawson Resources (MAW, TSX) was halted pre-market this morning and then released first drill results from its 2018 program (3 rigs in action around the clock) at its Rajapalot Gold Project in Finland, highlighted by an impressive 31.7 m @ 8.4 g/t Au from 244.1 m, including 10.9 m at 21 g/t Au…Michael Hudson, President and CEO, declared:  “This is a great start to our winter campaign, delivering the best hole drilled at Rajapalot to date. The grade x thickness interval in drill hole PAL00093 puts Rajapalot in a league with some the best exploration projects discovered globally over the past 6 months”…Goldcorp (G, TSX) recently invested $8.1 million in MAW at 45 cents per unit…more results this morning from The World’s Biggest Drill Program (800,000 m)…Osisko Mining (OSK, TSX), trading at its lowest price since early 2017, has cut 265 g/t Au over 2.4 m,  191 g/t Au over 2.6 m, 198 g/t Au over 2.3 m, and 116 g/t Au over 2.1 m in 4 separate holes at Windfall Lake in Quebec (true widths estimated at 65% to 80%)…Cobalt 27 (KBLT, TSX-V) is raising another $130 million, issuing 11.4 million shares at $11.40 to a group of “strategic investors”…net proceeds will be used, in part, to finance the acquisition of Cobalt-related streams and royalties.  “At a time when we see the acceleration of the adoption of the electric vehicle and tremendous opportunity to capitalize on the structural changes underway in the energy and automobile industries, the proceeds of this private placement will strengthen Cobalt 27’s balance sheet and liquidity, and better positions us to execute the many opportunities currently available to the company,” stated Anthony Milewski, Chairman of Cobalt 27…InMed Pharmaceuticals (IN, CSE) has firmed up nicely on news that it has received conditional approval to list on the TSX…Eric Adams, President & CEO, stated:  “Graduating to the TSX is a significant accomplishment for InMed.  This milestone furthers our corporate goal of securing a leadership position in this high-growth sector. InMed is one of only a few pure-play cannabinoid biopharmaceutical companies to be trading on one of the world’s senior stock exchanges”…another strong week for Pascal Biosciences (PAS, TSX-V), though it’s off 3 pennies at 53 cents in early trading…on February 21 Pascal announced that it has discovered certain cannabinoids that enhance the immunogenicity of tumour cells, rendering them more susceptible to recognition by the immune system…

6.

Atlantic Gold Corp. has declared commercial production at the Moose River Consolidated (MRC) gold mine, Nova Scotia, Canada. The effective date of commercial production is March 1, 2018.

The Company has been ramping up production since late 2017 and has been working through the normal bottle necks in the processing facility since commissioning. In January, the Company experienced 3 days of power outage due to Atlantic storms which resulted in 5 days of production losses. In addition, January had the equivalent of a +100 year event in terms of precipitation which resulted in challenges in the materials handling part of the circuit with daily extreme variations in temperatures. We are working with our EPC contractor to make repairs and adjustments to the crushing circuit to better accommodate the conditions.

Notwithstanding this, the Company continues to target its full year guidance as stated on January 19, 2018; however Q1 2018 production is expected to be at, or below pro-rata the annualized production rate, as commercial production is only commencing from March 1 st 2018.

7. METALLIC MINERALS AND GROUP TEN METALS ANNOUNCE FORMATION OF THE METALLIC GROUP OF COMPANIES

Metallic Minerals Corp. and Group Ten Metals Inc. have formed the Metallic Group of Companies, a collaboration of two leading precious and base metals exploration companies with a portfolio of highly prospective assets in North America. By leveraging the combined decades of experience of its founders in mineral exploration, finance, capital markets, permitting and community relations, the Metallic Group sees an opportunity to maximize shareholder value for member companies. The Metallic Group also benefits by sharing resources for cost efficiency and providing access to specialized technical expertise and experienced corporate governance and management teams.

The Metallic Group currently comprises two member companies: Metallic Minerals Corp., focused on high-grade silver, gold, lead and zinc in Canada’s Yukon Territory; and Group Ten Metals Inc., focused on platinum group metals, gold, nickel, copper and cobalt in the Western USA and Canada. A copper-focused explorer is expected to be launched later in 2018.

Shared approaches to business for Metallic Group companies include:

• Exploration projects in politically stable districts with the potential to produce top-tier mining assets;
• Highly experienced management teams and boards with track records of exploration and project development success; and
• A core commitment to environmental stewardship and community engagement.

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Visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold has traded between $1,304 and $1,316 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion has retreated $11 an ounce to $1,307…as we pointed out yesterday, Gold has fallen below an uptrend line on its short-term chart going back to December…a strong support zone exists between $1,300 and $1,280 with the rising 200-day moving average (SMA) at $1,287…Silver is down 21 cents at $16.18…Copper is off 3 pennies at $3.10…Nickel has slipped 18 cents to $6.09 while Zinc is 3 cents lower at $1.56…Cobalt continues to hover just below a decade high at $36.74…Crude Oil has backed off 84 cents to $60.80…banks have raised their forecasts for Oil prices for the 5th month in a row, according to a poll of 15 investment banks surveyed by the Wall Street Journal…WTI should average $58 a barrel in 2018, they say…the U.S. dollar has risen to its highest since mid-January, with the euro also under pressure from benign euro zone inflation data that dented expectations that the ECB would curb its stimulus program anytime soon…the Dollar Index is up one-fifth of a point at 90.82…U.S. government debt yields have fallen modestly this morning on inflation numbers and ahead of a second day of testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell…weekly jobless claims in the U.S. are now at their lowest level since 1969 while the ISM manufacturing index has exceeded estimates with a reading of 60.8 for February…

2. Despite strong economic growth, U.S. inflation remains muted, according to fresh data this morning from the U.S. Commerce Department…the latest inflation report showed Personal Consumption Expenditures increased 0.4% in January, in line with expectations and up from December’s 0.1% reading…however, on the year the PCE Index remains stable at 1.7%, unchanged from December…Core PCE, which strips out volatile food and energy prices and is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, rose 0.3% last month as expected, up from a 0.2% increase in December…however, core inflation remains lackluster on an annual basis, up 1.5% last month – the 4th consecutive month at that level and below the Fed’s 2% target rate…

3. Canadian firms are sounding off against Ottawa’s dismal failure to introduce policies in Tuesday’s budget to narrow the “competitiveness gap” with the United States, saying Canada is increasingly at risk of losing investment dollars to its southern neighbor.  “There is nothing happening to make Canada more competitive – nothing that we’ve seen in this budget,” said Kevin Neveu, President and CEO of Calgary-based Precision Drilling (PD, TSX)…even a former federal Liberal finance minister is sounding the alarm…John Manley, now the President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, says growth-focused policy changes in Ottawa’s budget were “disappointingly thin”…Manley said the budget “ignores Canada’s serious tax competitiveness challenges, sending an unfortunate signal to entrepreneurs and companies that are looking to invest and grow.”  The Mining Association of Canada is also chiming in, upset at the absence of any policies to address the sharp reduction in U.S. corporate tax rates…the budget “does little to enhance Canada’s competitiveness at a time when the country’s relative share of exploration spending and new mine investment has been declining, and as our major trading partner, the United States, has significantly reduced corporate and personal income taxes”… the Canadian dollar has been driven down to a 10-week low of just under 78 cents…

4. More damning evidence of how incompetent politicians and special interest groups in Canada (domestic and foreign) are inflicting major damage on this country’s Oil and gas industry:  Statistics Canada says capital spending to extract Oil and gas in Canada will plunge an estimated 12% this year to about $33.2 billion (it’ll probably end up worse than that), with the biggest declines in the Oilsands sector where spending will fall by a fifth…one has to ask, why is investment in Oil and gas declining in this country while at the same time it’s increasing significantly in the United States?…higher taxes, an onerous regulatory environment in Canada and of course this country’s inability to get pipelines built, or even expand an existing one, are the reasons Oil and gas investors are now turning away from Canada in droves…a false religion has gripped this country and it’s called “climate change extremism”, the left’s flawed but powerful globalist agenda to “save the planet” (fortunately for the U.S., Trump rejects this)…it’s bizarre to see how Canadians are almost apologizing for the fact that God has blessed this country with the world’s 3rd-largest proven Oil reserves…we’re now struggling to get Oil to market but we’ve become the best in the world at getting pot to market…

5. The Dow, trying to snap a 2-session losing skid that has shaved nearly 700 points off the index, is down another 70 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…share buybacks announced by large U.S. companies have exceeded $200 billion in the past 3 months, more than double the prior year, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of data for S&P 500 companies…among the biggest are Cisco Systems at $25 billion, Wells Fargo at about $21 billion, PepsiCo at $15 billion, AbbVie and Amgen at $10 billion apiece, and Alphabet at $8.6 billion…S&P 500 firms are on track to post their 6th consecutive quarter of earnings growth…if companies spend $500 billion – about a fifth of what they are estimated to hold in earnings overseas – on buybacks, per-share earnings in the S&P 500 this year could go up an additional $3 a share or 2 percentage points, according to an analysis by Goldman Sachs…in Toronto, the TSX has slipped 46 points as of 7:00 am Pacific while the Venture has retreated 6 points to 823 after its best session yesterday in 3 weeks…HIVE Blockchain Technologies (HIVE, TSX-V) is up 7 cents at $1.88 after reporting 3rd quarter revenue of $3.3 million from mining of digital currencies at its Iceland facilities…net income was $150,000 for the period…the company also says it accumulated and held $5.8 million worth of newly minted Ethereum, Ethereum Classic and ZCash as at December 31, 2017…Cronos Group (MJN, TSX-V; CRON, NASDAQ) has traded nearly 13 million shares in its first 2 days on the NASDAQ…bright spots on the resource side yesterday to close out the month of February were Blue Moon Zinc (MOON, TSX-V), which pushed to a new 7-year high of 13 cents on 1.9 million shares, and Cornerstone Metals (CCC, TSX-V) which delivered strong initial Vanadium drill results from its property in Nevada…Aben Resources (ABN, TSX-V) is mobilizing for maiden drilling at its Chico Gold Project in Saskatchewan…the drill program, expected to begin March 9, will initially comprise 1,200 m in 4 to 5 drill holes “with a provision to increase to 2,000 m should the proposed holes encounter significant mineralization as anticipated,” the company says…

6. ML Gold Corp. (MLG, TSX-V) resumes trading at 7:15 am Pacific after yesterday’s late day halt followed by initial drill results from the company’s Stars Project in central British Columbia…drill hole #4 cut a 204-m intersection of 0.50% CuEq (0.45% Copper) including 1.02% CuEq over 40.2 m from surface, not spectacular but certainly very promising given limited previous work at this property…significantly, all the holes completed so far, including #4, have mostly drilled into just the intrusives, not the volcanics where higher grades can be expected…new geophysics has identified a possible porphyry center – a just-completed detailed airborne magnetic survey reveals a cluster of covered and untested circular magnetic anomalies between the two zones drilled in the current program and centered within a larger ovoid magnetic “ring” feature (or “magnetic halo”) approximately 5 km in diameter (long axis)…the company is now preparing for a more aggressive second phase of drilling, stepping out around hole 4 and testing new targets generated from rock chemistry vectors and airborne geophysics…

7. Even if Gold is unable to make new multi-year highs, the market is still in a good space and the mining sector has room to grow, said Sean Roosen, CEO of Osisko Gold Royalties (OR, TSX) in an interview with Kitco.   “I think the Gold market at $1,330-$1,350 is a pretty good price to set the stage for new projects to come online,” Roosen stated…while Gold has struggled to make gains against the U.S. dollar, Roosen noted that his company’s portfolio is weighted heavily in Canadian dollar terms, which is holding up well…with Gold trading at about $1,675 an ounce in Canadian dollar terms, the market is only 11% off its all-time high of $1,886 (CDN) an ounce…

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