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 $1,322 and $1,329 so far today after declining $23 an ounce over the past 2 weeks…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is down $3 an ounce to $1,320…Silver has slipped 13 cents to $16.38…Copper is off a penny at $3.10…Nickel has lost 11 cents, trading at $5.98, while Zinc has retreated 4 pennies to $1.49…Cobalt is steady at $36.85…Crude Oil has added 12 cents to $61.37 while the U.S. Dollar Index has gained one-tenth of a point to 90.11…a measure of U.S. non-manufacturing activity inched down in February but came in slightly higher than expected this morning, remaining near historic highs…the Institute of Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing industries posted a reading of 59.5 in February vs. 59.9 in January…the index, which made its debut in 2008, tracks 17 non-manufacturing industries such a real estate and food services…
2. Australian Gold production has hit its highest level in almost 2 decades and new Gold discoveries and firm prices should help the nation maintain its position as the 2nd largest Gold producer in the world, according to mining consulting firm Surbiton Associates Pty Ltd. in a report issued yesterday…the firm said that Australian Gold production rose to 301 tonnes in 2017, its highest level since 1999…China, which according to the World Gold Council produced 430 tonnes of the yellow metal last year, remains the world’s #1 producer…
3. While Canada is throwing increasing roadblocks at its Oil and gas sector with carbon taxes, a burdensome regulatory regime and no political will to get pipelines built, the U.S. is going in the opposite direction and will overtake Russia to become the world’s largest Oil producer by 2023, accounting for most of the global growth in petroleum supplies…that’s according to a top industry monitor, the IEA, in its closely watched 5-year annual forecast released today…U.S. Crude production is expected to reach a record of 12.1 million barrels a day in 2023, up about 2 million bpd from this year, said the International Energy Agency which advises governments and corporations on industry trends…once heavily dependent on imports from the Middle East, the U.S. is getting closer to achieving its goal of producing enough Crude to meet domestic demand for refined products like gasoline…American influence on global Oil markets is also expected to rise, with U.S. Oil exports more than doubling to 4.9 million barrels a day by 2023, according to the IEA…until 2015, the U.S. didn’t export any Crude Oil by law, but in 5 years it’s expected to be among the world’s biggest exporters…
4. The Dow is off another 108 points through the first 30 minutes of trading after losing nearly 1,200 points in the last 4 sessions, but oversold conditions have clearly emerged…in Toronto, the TSX is up 18 points while the Venture is showing strength as the second day of PDAC begins…the Venture is up 9 points at 835 as of 7:00 am Pacific…key resistance is 833…Cronos Group (CRON, TSX-V), which is coming off a strong week after its launch on NASDAQ, has changed its Canadian ticker symbol to CRON (same as NASDAQ) effective this morning…CRON is up another 42 cents at $12.57 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Golden Predator (GPY, TSX-V) has commenced a 4,000-m diamond drill program at its 100%-owned 3 Aces Project in southeastern Yukon…the drill program will initially focus on stepping out with wide-spaced drilling within the Central Core area…
5. Hopefully more creative thinking like this will emerge in the junior exploration sector – Metallic Minerals (MMG, TSX-V) and Group Ten Metals (PGE, TSX-V) have formed the Metallic Group of Companies, a collaboration of two precious and base metals exploration companies with a portfolio of very 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…they will share resources for cost-efficiency and access to specialized technical expertise as well as experienced corporate governance and management teams…the Metallic Group currently comprises two member companies: Metallic Minerals, focused on high-grade Silver, Gold, Lead and Zinc in Canada’s Yukon, and Group Ten Metals, focused on Platinum Group metals, Nickel, Copper, Cobalt and Gold in the Western United States and Canada…a Copper-focused explorer is expected to be launched later in 2018…
6. Lundin Gold (LUG, TSX) will use its first mine in Ecuador as a springboard to becoming a minimum 1-million-ounce-a-year producer with 3 or 4 operations…CEO Ron Hochstein said at PDAC yesterday. “Our appetite is a good one. We’ve got great opportunities to grow organically and obviously we’ll look at other places as well,” he stated…the company will continue to focus on North and Latin America for future growth…the Vancouver-based miner is targeting the start of production at Fruta del Norte, Ecuador’s biggest Gold mine, for the end of 2019…the low-cost underground mine is expected to operate for 15 years and produce over 325,000 ounces of Gold annually…it encompasses 6 of the company’s 29 mining concessions covering 70,000 hectares of land…
7. More evidence of the big opportunity in Cannabix Technologies (BLO, CSE), a first mover in developing a marijuana breathalyzer for law enforcement and the workplace: The Globe and Mail reported over the weekend that a survey by the Human Resources Professional Association found that 71% 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…one major issue, of course, is whether impairment can be demonstrated in the same ways as individuals who are under the influence of alcohol…this remains a serious debate for employers as drug impairment can be more difficult to ascertain and there’s no product on the market yet to accurately detect marijuana impairment…
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