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1. Gold is firming up again this morning after news, just released, that showed the U.S. services sector continued its expansion in September but at a considerably slower pace than expected…the closely-watched ISM Non-Manufacturing Index came in at 52.6 compared to an expected reading of 55.3…equity markets dropped and Gold and Silver prices jumped instantly on the news…as of 7:00 am Pacific, Gold is up $10 an ounce at $1,509 after trading as low as $1,495…Silver has jumped 13 cents to $17.64…Nickel has added another 9 cents to $8.05…Copper and Zinc are off slightly at $2.54 and $1.05, respectively…Crude Oil continues to struggle, down 74 cents to $51.90, while the U.S. Dollar Index is steady at 98.99…the mining industry is grappling with a rising number of illegal miners, also known as artisanal miners, who break into sites in search of metals…IAMGOLD (IMG, TSX) denies rumors that it has partially halted work at its Rosebel Gold mine in Suriname after media reports that an influx of illegal miners blockaded operations…the U.S. is imposing tariffs on a range of European goods after wining the largest arbitration award in World Trade Organization (WTO) history in its dispute with the EU over illegal subsidies to Airbus…this follows 4 previous panel and appellate reports from 2011–2018 finding that EU subsidies to Airbus break WTO rules…massive EU corporate welfare has cost American aerospace companies hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenue over the nearly 15 years of litigation…

2. Trading statistics show that September was a record-breaking month for the Gold market…the CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, says that volume in the overall metals space averaged 818,000 contracts per day last month, up 37% from last year and the 2nd highest average daily volume in the exchange’s history…precious metals led the way – on September 24, the Gold market saw record open interest of 659,000 contracts…at the same time, Gold futures saw record quarterly average daily volume of 469,000 contracts…including options, Gold’s average volume rose to 549,000 in the 3rd quarter, an increase of 61% from last year…the exchange also saw record average daily volume of 17,000 contracts in Silver options, an increase of more than 100% from 2018…average daily volume in Silver futures and options rose to 149,000 in September, up 57% compared to last year…September was also an interesting month for Platinum with record open interest of 99,300 contracts on September 13…at the same time, the metal enjoyed record average daily volume of 37,000 contracts…

3. July’s global drilling activity was the highest since January, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence in its Mining Exploration Insights report…while activity levels had been trending downward since the end of 2018, July may have been a turning point…“By adding 55 projects over June, July’s rebound is one of only 5 months in the past 5 years where the monthly increase was by 50 or more projects reporting”…S&P Global said its 4 exploration metrics – significant financings, drilling activity, initial resources and positive project milestones – were all up in July…

4. The Dow has fallen 142 points as of 7:00 am Pacific on continued U.S. and global growth concerns…since Tuesday, the Dow has lost 980 points…leading U.S. on-line brokerages are slashing their trading commissions to zero, leaving Canadian investors wondering whether a similar trend will take hold in Canada…the TSX shed only 20 points, aided by strength in Gold stocks…Canadian markets saw twice as much equity issued in the 3rd quarter this year ($10.4 billion) as the same period in 2018, driven largely by transactions in blue chip companies…Eric Sprott has acquired 18.75 million units of MacDonald Mines (BMK, TSX-V) in an 8-cent private placement for total gross proceeds to the company of $1.5 million…Quentin Yarie, Macdonald’s President and CEO, stated, “We welcome the investment of Mr. Sprott into MacDonald Mines.  We are now solidly financed and well-positioned to aggressively explore and develop our SPJ Project and bring the Scadding mine back into operation”…BMK is unchanged at 14.5 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading…Liberty Gold’s (LGD, TSX) drilling at Black Pine in southern Idaho continues to return thick, high-grade intervals of Carlin-style oxide Gold mineralization…new results from Discovery 2, highlighted by 41.1 m @ 2.5 g/t Au including 4.6 m grading 9.1 g/t, expand the footprint of mineralization and confirm the company thesis that previous operators did not test laterally and to depth in this 12 sq. km sedimentary rock-hosted Gold system…Canada Cobalt (CCW, TSX-V), quite capable of pulling off a big Silver surprise or technology breakthrough, is trading at multi-month highs at 34 cents…an underground drill program at the Castle mine is following up on stellar Phase 1 results that included 385.2 ounces per tonne Silver, 0.67% Co and 3.8 g/t Au over half a meter within a broader core interval of 7 m grading 261 g/t Silver, 2.3% Cobalt and 1.7% Nickel starting less than 2 m downhole…underground drilling is just one of multiple catalysts for CCW at its Castle mine and property…Kraken Robotics (PNG, TSX-V), halted pre-market yesterday, has announced that it was the successful bidder on a program for the acquisition of new sonar systems for an unnamed international navy…the total contract value is expected to be approximately $35 million to $40 million, with the majority of that received over a 2-year equipment acquisition phase…

5. Sun Metals (SUNM, TSX-V) is under pressure in early trading after releasing multiple intercepts from an ongoing drill program at its Stardust Project in north-central British Columbia, highlighted by 7.1% CuEq over 24.85 m (3.1% Cu, 4.9 g/t Au and 93.5 g/t Ag starting 598.4 m downhole in hole #436D) and 2.4% CuEq over 45.5 m (1.4% Cu, 1.2 g/t Au and 27 g/t Ag) a little shallower in the same hole starting at a depth of 502 m…the market would prefer even higher grades that are closer to surface, hence the weakness…results from drill hole 436D and 5 other holes extend the known plunge length of the 421 zone to over 160 m and indicates the zone continues to be open in both directions…drilling continues at Stardust and preparatory work for the winter program is well underway…step-out drilling along the projected strike and plunge of the 421 zone continues to show the lateral continuity of the 421 zone mineralized system, which the company believes was generated from a buried multi-phase Copper porphyry intrusive to the north…a pervasive skarn alteration envelope surrounds the Copper-Gold mineralization, indicating that current drilling is on the correct trajectory to find the more proximal part of the system…Steve Robertson, President & CEO stated, “Our ongoing exploration program continues to define the shape of the 421 zone as an ovoid cylinder plunging to the north northwest.  It is currently observed to extend more than 160 m along plunge and is open to both the north and south.  One of the most promising things about working toward the mineralization source is that we expect the sulphide replacement of the skarn alteration to be more complete closer to the high energy heat source, theoretically resulting in even higher grade material.  This is what drives us to continue our focus on the trend to the north.  We are excited that our team will continue exploration over the coming winter months as we learn more about this impressive high-grade system”…

6. HeyBryan Media commenced trading on the CSE this morning under the symbol “HEY” after completing a $2.5 million IPO at 30 cents, though the stock has opened lower than that…HeyBryan is a peer-to-peer marketplace app backed by HGTV celebrity Bryan Baeumler that connects customers to trusted experts who have the skills to complete everyday home maintenance needs in a way that is more efficient than traditional contracting services…founded in 2018, the app is named after the Canadian HGTV personality and one of the country’s most trusted contractors…Baeumler is widely recognized as a home maintenance expert and has been featured in multiple hit shows for over 7 years, such as Island of Bryan, House of Bryan, Disaster DIY and Leave it to Bryan…“I am so excited for the launch of HeyBryan into the capital markets after its first year of successful operations,” said Baeumler…“HeyBryan expertly responds to the need for trustworthy, high-quality work around the house.  Think of it as Uber for home services.  Getting small jobs done at home, and getting paid well for doing them, has never been easier”…Lance Montgomery, CEO of HeyBryan, added: “HeyBryan launched in both Vancouver and Toronto less than one year ago, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.  In 2019 alone, our user base grew by over 800% and we have quadrupled our team to support this growth”…

7. Electric-car maker Tesla (TSLA, NASDAQ) delivered a record 97,000 vehicles globally during the 3rd quarter, an impressive milestone that still fell short of investor expectations and set a tough hurdle for CEO Elon Musk to meet his year-end goals…the company bested its last delivery record of 95,200 electric vehicles set during the 2nd quarter and just missed Wall Street’s expectations of 99,000 deliveries during the 3 months ended Monday, according to average estimates compiled by FactSet…Tesla’s deliveries are a closely watched number in the industry, providing the closest proximation to sales…it tracks vehicles that have been sold and physically delivered to customers…the number is a barometer for how the company is performing ahead of releasing its quarterly earnings…Tesla has slipped $18.43 a share to $224.70 a share as of 7:00 am Pacific…

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1. Gold has traded between $1,474 and $1,499 so far today as it rebounds on fresh expectations of monetary stimulus in the United States and elsewhere…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $16 an ounce at $1,495…the fact that Gold’s strong support band between $1,500 and $1,450 is holding up has given bulls added encouragement…the Fed funds rate futures price is up sharply with the November contract now pricing in about an 80% chance the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its next meeting at the end of October…Silver has jumped 27 cents to $17.45…Nickel has added another 15 cents to $7.99…Copper, Zinc and Cobalt are all steady at $2.56, $1.06 and $16.78, respectively…Crude Oil, down 6 sessions in a row for its longest losing streak this year, has slid another 29 cents to $53.33…Ecuador, one of the smallest members of OPEC, says it will leave the 14-nation bloc January 1 due to fiscal problems…Ecuador will be the 2nd country to withdraw from OPEC in the last year after the departure of Qatar…the U.S. Dollar Index is flat at 99.14…Republican U.S. lawmakers this week have urged the Trump administration to ease restrictions on Uranium mining on federal lands as a Cabinet-level committee prepares recommendations this month for boosting domestic nuclear fuel production…“We strongly encourage you to make improved access to federal lands with high-grade uranium deposits a top priority,” according to the letter Monday from 27 Western state Republican senators and Congress members to Trump’s national security and economic advisers Richard O’Brien and Larry Kudlow, both co-chairs on the Uranium mining working group…

2. The private sector in the U.S. created more jobs than expected in September, but the pace slowed amid growing signs that the labor market is getting tighter, according to a report this morning from ADP and Moody’s Analytics…companies hired 135,000 more workers in the month, ahead of the 125,000 that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected…that was a drop from the 157,000 in August, a number that itself saw a sharp downward revision from the initially reported 195,000…September’s gain was the slowest since June and brought the 2019 monthly average down to 145,000, a steep decline from the 214,000 for the same time period last year…“We are in a very critical place, kind of a fragile juncture in the economy,” stated Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s…“What happens over the next few weeks, next few months, will determine whether there’s an economic downturn in 2020″…Friday’s non-farm payrolls report may seal the deal in terms of another interest rate cut this month…

3. GoGold Resources (GGD, TSX) hits again on step-out from mine area: GoGold Resources (GGD, TSX) has cut 5 m grading 4.4 g/t Au and 436 g/t Ag within a broader interval of 21 m @ 1.4 g/t Au and 145.9 g/t Ag (3.3 g/t AuEq) in drill hole LRGG-19–048 located 400 m northwest of the Los Ricos Main mine area…the mineralization started 89.1 m downhole and no historical underground workings were encountered…“We are encouraged with these new high grade assay results at San Juan,” stated Brad Langille, President and CEO…“Hole 48 was drilled to test about 50 m up dip from our San Juan discovery hole LRGG-19–030 (16.9 m @ 0.54 g/t Au and 67.8 g/t Ag starting 128.7 m downhole) and is quickly demonstrating the potential for near-surface mineralization.  We have now tested San Juan 200 m down dip from surface and our drilling program will continue to focus on the extent of this newly discovered potential ore shoot down dip and along strike”…GGD has expanded its drill program with the addition of a 3rd rig…the company’s initial program, which began in March, was planned for 10,000 m of drilling…as of today, 8,700 m have been completed, and the company intends to continue drilling well past the 10,000 m mark due to the strength of the results achieved to date…GGD is up a penny at 63 cents in early trading…

4. The Dow has fallen 326 points as of 7:00 am Pacific on U.S. and global growth concerns…the TSX has shed only 140 points, aided by a jump in the Gold Index…Newmont Goldcorp’s (NGT, TSX; NEM, NYSE) newly-commissioned all-electric Borden mine has achieved commercial production…Borden was acquired from Probe Mines in a blockbuster $526 million (CDN) deal in 2015…the operation has the advantage of being situated near Newmont Goldcorp’s Porcupine mine, where ore from Borden is milled…Borden features state-of-the-art health and safety controls, digital mining technologies and processes, and low-carbon energy vehicles…with no undergroud diesel, the work environment is also more comfortable…the oversold Venture, down in 11 out of the past 12 sessions, is off another 3 points at 552 as cannabis stocks remain under pressure…the Canadian Marijuana Index is continuing where it left off in September and has dropped another 13 points to a new 2-year low of 291…Canopy Growth (WEED, TSX; CGC, NYSE) reported this morning that it has completed an all-cash transaction to purchase a majority stake in BioSteel Sports Nutrition, a leading producer of sports nutrition products…the transaction provides Canopy Growth with a significant platform to enter the sports nutrition and hydration segment, and lays the groundwork for the adoption of cannabidiol (CBD) in future product offerings in accordance with regulations globally including products to be sold in the U.S. containing CBD sourced from federally permissible industrial hemp…WEED is off slightly, trading at levels not seen since early 2018…Canada Cobalt (CCW, TSX-V) is up another penny in early trading at 33 cents…CCW has multiple near-term catalysts and appears to have started a fresh trend of significant outperformance vs. the Venture, something it was known for during significant periods in 2017 and 2018…an underground drill program has commenced at the Castle mine, following up on stellar Phase 1 results that included 385.2 ounces per tonne Silver, 0.67% Co and 3.8 g/t Au over half a meter within a broader core interval of 7 m grading 261 g/t Silver, 2.3% Cobalt and 1.7% Nickel starting less than 2 m downhole…

5. Marathon Gold (MOZ, TSX), which closed a $25 million bought deal Monday, has released another batch of infill results from ongoing drilling at its Marathon deposit including 18.4 g/t Au over 3 m within 29 m grading 4.6 g/t…the new drilling continues to successfully demonstrate the occurrence and continuity of Gold mineralization both along and across strike of the 1,500-m long “Main Zone” within the Marathon deposit, as well as from surface to the base of the currently planned open-pit, where mineralization remains open to depth…in particular, the latest results confirm significant new zones of gentle SW-dipping, en-echelon stacked Quartz-Tourmaline-Pyrite-Gold (“QTP-Au”) veining in areas of limited previous drilling within the southwestern area of the planned Marathon open-pit…assays are pending for additional new drill holes which have also intersected significant QTP-Au veining in areas of limited previous drilling in the southwest Main zone corridor…3 drill rigs are currently operating at the Marathon deposit…based on the results achieved to date, additional drilling has been approved in the southwest extension area, both infill and exploratory…this will bring the total meterage to be drilled at Marathon and the Leprechaun deposits in 2019 to approximately 60,000 m…this extended program is expected to be completed by mid-October…thereafter, 2 drill rigs will move on to complete a planned 7,000-m exploration drilling campaign at the Sprite zone…all drilling completed to the middle of October will be utilized in the upcoming mineral resource update for the Valentine Gold Project, expected to be completed in the 4th quarter of this year…

6. Fighting back against smears from the left and climate change alarmists:  The Alberta government’s promised “energy war room” has a new name and will be officially operational within weeks, Premier Jason Kenney told a Calgary business crowd yesterday…the “Alberta Energy Information Centre” will be based in Calgary but will have satellite offices in key markets to inform decision-makers and media across North America and around the world, Kenney said during a speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce…more details will be released later this month, Kenney said, but the centre is meant to be an information hub that can respond in real time to all of the “lies and myths” that exist about Alberta’s energy industry…the $30 million war room – one piece of what the government is calling its “fight back” strategy, which also includes a $2.5 million public inquiry into allegations (very convincing evidence) that foreign interests are funding a campaign aimed at denigrating the reputation of Alberta Oil – was a key plank of the UCP’s election platform…in August, the government announced that retired Financial Post journalist Claudia Cattamneo had been hired to draft the plan for the war room’s operations…Kenney, who was in New York in September meeting with private equity firms and investment banks, said it’s clear from his meetings on Wall Street that many financial decision-makers aren’t up to speed on Alberta’s environmental performance, nor are they looking properly at the “social context” when deciding where to invest…

7. The economic importance of mining and exploration:  Although not a mining town per se, everyone knows mining plays a significant role in the Smithers, British Columbia, economy…now, the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) has put a number on that economic activity, and it is a big one…according to a comprehensive report on the benefits of B.C.’s mining supply chain entitled “One Province, One Economy”, mining contributed nearly $36 million to the Smithers economy in 2018…there were 95 businesses in the town that directly supplied materials, goods and services to B.C. mines and smelters…the $36 million figure does not include contributions from the many exploration companies in B.C. who use Smithers as a hub for services, nor does it include the wages of residents of Smithers who work directly for mining companies and their suppliers…“Just about every community, every city or town in B.C. is, in some important way, a mining community,” said Michael Goehring, MABC president…overall, the MABC report indicated the province’s mines and smelters purchased $2.9 billion worth of materials, goods and services from 3,700 businesses in 215 urban, rural and Indigenous communities, a staggering figure that most politicians in Canada are totally ignorant of…Goehring noted the data came directly from the procurement records of the province’s 17 working mines and 2 smelters and characterized it as “very tight and accurate”…following the Association of Mineral Exploration (AME) Annual Roundup in January, Christine Ogryzlo, President of the Smithers Exploration Group (SEG) and a director with AME, said exploration companies spent $164 million in Northwest B.C. in 2018…

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1. Gold has traded between $1,458 and $1,472 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is at its high of the day at $1,472…Gold slid to a near 2-month low in earlier trading but rebounded immediately after the release of disappointing U.S. manufacturing activity…the Institute for Supply Management confirmed that manufacturing contracted to its worst level since June 2009…President Trump quickly that tweeted that Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the central bank “have allowed the Dollar to get so strong, especially relative to ALL other currencies, that our manufacturers are being negatively affected…They are their own worst enemies, they don’t have a clue…Pathetic!”…the September consolidation/correction in Gold did not represent a major change in positioning with technical charts still pointing to long Gold signals, according to TD Securities…“A marginal chart signal prompted extremely skewed positioning to liquidate some length, but our positioning analytics suggest that this move is more likely to be tied to a minor shakeout in length than to a major change in positioning.  However, the combination of some 75 technical analysis trading signals suggests that 43% of signals are still tilted towards the long side in Gold.  In fact, chart signals in old present the most compelling case in a cross-asset basket of securities, with the yellow metal holding the crown for the highest absolute percentage of signals pointing long on a 60d moving average basis”…Silver has rebounded 21 cents to $17.16…Nickel is 11 cents higher at $7.87…Copper has slid 5 cents to $2.54 while Zinc is off 2 pennies at $1.07…Cobalt has retreated 23 cents to $16.78…Oil prices have recovered modestly, up 47 cents at $54.54, on reports that output from the world’s largest Oil producers fell during the 3rd quarter, although a resumption in Saudi supply and demand concerns has kept a lid on gains…the Dollar Index has jumped another quarter point to 99.61…European stocks and the euro both suffered shaky mornings after euro zone manufacturing data showed the sharpest contraction in almost 7 years…Australia’s dollar tumbled after its central bank cut interest rates for the 3rd time this year…that also dragged the neighboring New Zealand dollar to a 4-year low…emerging markets are also in the firing line as the South African, Turkish, Russian, Indian and Mexican currencies all sink lower…The Globe and Mail reports that senior Canadian officials involved in economic and security issues have been meeting since July to discuss how Ottawa and Washington can secure access to minerals and metals such as Uranium, Lithium, Cesium and Cobalt in the context of cutting dependence on China…why it would have taken until July to have those discussions is a good question…

2. How can we allow this to happen given that Canada is a country so rich in natural resources?…Canada’s mining, quarrying and Oil and gas extraction sector, under relentless attack, dropped by 3.5% in July, the largest decrease seen since May 2016, according to new Statistics Canada data released this morning…support activities for those same industries slumped by 11.5%, the largest decline since December 2018…Oil and gas extraction (except Oil sands) fell 4.7%, the biggest monthly drop in a decade…as a result, Canada’s economy was unchanged in July, badly underperforming its neighbor to the south…Canada is setting itself up for major economic problems if it doesn’t get its act together with regard to the resource sector plus general productivity, investment, taxation and government spending issues…

3. World trade flows are set to increase at the weakest pace this year since the global financial crisis as tariffs rise and the global economy cools, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said today…the slowdown in exports has hit factories around the world…surveys of purchasing managers in Europe and Asia that were also released this morning pointed to deepening declines in manufacturing activity during September…in Germany, Russia and the Czech Republic, factories were operating at levels last seen in 2009…slowing growth has made it more difficult for central banks to reach their inflation targets and have inspired a wave of new stimulus measures from policy makers around the world…in the euro zone, figures showed the annual rate of inflation fell to its lowest level in almost 3 years in September – at 0.9%, inflation there is less than halfway to the ECB’s goal…

4. The Dow is up 55 points as of 7:00 am Pacific while the TSX has added 21 points…the Gold Index is up 1 point at 237 as it tries to snap a 4-session losing skid…a strong support band exists between 240 and 227…it was a disappointing last half of September for the Venture which has lost ground in 10 out of the last 11 sessions after a monthly high of 594 September 13…this has led to the most oversold conditions on the Index since late December…slumping cannabis stocks have been a major contributor to Venture weakness with the Canadian Marijuana Index losing a whopping 16% of its value last month…Strategic Metals (SMD, TSX-V), on a steady rise since the beginning of June, has hit a new 2-year high of 55 cents…a sign of the growing interest in Nickel – Noble Mineral Exploration (NOB, TSX-V) is the Venture’s early volume leader this morning after announcing the creation of “Canada Nickel Company” which will become a new public entity…Canada Nickel will own a 100% interest in the Crawford Nickel-Cobalt sulphide project in northern Ontario and will be led by Mark Selby who will be appointed Chairman & CEO…Noble Mineral, a major shareholder in MacDonald Mines (BMK, TSX-V), also announced a plan to complete a fully-subscribed $5 million private placement into Canada Nickel, subject to regulatory approval, to fund the cost of the Crawford Project consolidation and continue exploration and mineralogical work…

5. Kinross Gold (K, TSX) is putting future deals in Russia on hold after snapping up a development project in a country hit by Western sanctions…in July, Kinross acquired the undeveloped Chulbatkan asset from closely held N-Mining for $283 million (U.S.) in cash and shares…the acquisition will add 3.9 million Indicated ounces of Gold to Kinross’s books…foreign investment in new mining projects in Russia has grown scarce due to Western sanctions levelled after the 2014 annexation by Russia of Crimea from Ukraine…the deal with N-Mining does not breach any sanctions but still requires Russian approval…this follows a multi-year effort by Kinross boss Paul Rollinson to cultivate ties in Russia even as diplomatic relations with the West, including Canada, have soured…“If you own our stock, by definition you’re comfortable with Russia, but that doesn’t mean we want to go overboard,” said Rollinson…Russian operations accounted for one-fifth of 2018 revenue for Kinross…the miner has poured more than $3.5 billion (U.S.) into Russia since 1995, making it the biggest foreign investor in the country’s Gold sector…

6. Sign of the times: Over the 3rd quarter of this year, the Global Economic Policy Uncertainty Index reached its highest level in 2 decades…the uncertainty index is now substantially higher than it was during the global financial crisis a decade ago…that lofty level of doubt reflects how U.S.-China trade tensions, Brexit and other considerations (including climate change alarmism) are crippling the ability of companies and investors to feel much certitude about what lies ahead…it also offers one explanation for the prevailing lack of conviction in markets…most major stock indexes finished the 3rd quarter close to where they started…in Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite is 3.7% higher than it was one year ago…meanwhile, the S&P 500 benchmark has gained 5.7% while in London, the FTSE 100 has fallen 3.9%…the Venture, while it’s mostly flat for 2019, has fallen 21% from where it was a year ago…investors would love to find a place to run to, and Gold and certain precious metal stocks could be that place….Gold was the strongest performing major asset during the quarter despite a late September mini-correction…

7. As Canadian petroleum producers face capacity limits on export pipelines and legal challenges to build more, a Calgary-based company is testing a new way to transport Oil sands by rail and sea in shipping containers that gets around the contentious Oil tanker ban…Calgary-based Melius Energy melts pure bitumen, as the Oil sands are known, and pours it into shipping containers after removing diluting agents…when cool, the intermodal containers can be stacked on ships and trains and hauled to market…the company just completed its first test shipment of 130 barrels from Edmonton to Prince Rupert to China…“This is the first shipment – but Melius is prepared to commercialize today.  Currently they are working towards finalizing partnerships with several producers in Canada,” according to an emailed statement on behalf of the company…now Melius intends to scale up the technology of its Calgary-based partner BitCrude and develop supply contracts with Asian refineries…Melius President Nicole Zhang, a former pro golfer on the LPGA circuit, commented, “Establishing a transportation solution for Canadian energy that delivers tremendous value for local producers while satisfying the demand for our energy internationally is our priority”…adding to the industry’s woes, the Trudeau government passed a law earlier this year banning Oil tankers from carrying more than 12,500 metric tonnes along the north B.C. coast…Alberta and petroleum producers have attacked the measure as blocking Canadian Oil from reaching international markets if a pipeline was built to the area (of course the Trudeau government also killed the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, hampering Canada’s ability to ship Oil and gas products to Asia)…

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