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1. Spot Gold has traded between $1,708 and $1,680 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific the yellow metal is off $11 an ounce at $1,695…Silver has gained 4 cents to $14.98…base metals are pushing higher with Nickel leading the way, adding 10 cents to $5.50…Copper and Zinc are up 2 cents each at $2.33 and 88 cents, respectively…Crude Oil has eased off $1.14 a barrel to $23.42…data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration released moments ago showed that for the week ending May 1 inventories rose by 4.6 million barrels, which was smaller than the 8.67 million barrels build analysts had been expecting, according to FactSet…Suncor Energy (SU, TSX, NYSE) is going further into a defensive crouch, cutting its capital spending plans for a second time and shrinking its dividend payout, as the Wuhan COVID-19 pandemic hammers Crude demand…capital spending this year will be $3.6 billion to $4 billion, down from an already-reduced range of $3.9 billion to $4.5 billion announced in late March…the board also cut the company’s quarterly dividend to 21 cents a share, from 46.5 cents…Suncor is joining a parade of global Oil producers that are hunkering down as low Crude prices cause steep losses…in the 1st quarter, Suncor was able to shift output to higher priced light Crude and its refined-product mix to higher-value distillate…the moves helped the company post a better-than-expected loss, excluding some items, of 20 cents a share…the European Union will contract 7.4% in 2020 as the pandemic brings the worst economic shock since the Great Depression in the 1930’s, the European Commission said this morning…the executive arm of the EU has released its latest economic forecasts – the first estimates since European countries introduced lockdown measures to stop the spread of the virus…in February, the European Commission estimated a 1.4% rise in GDP for the EU this year…
2. No big surprise: U.S. private payrolls hemorrhaged more than 20 million jobs in April as companies sliced workers amid a coronavirus-induced shutdown that took most of the U.S. economy offline, according to a report this morning from ADP…in all, the decline totalled 20,236,000 – easily the worst loss in the survey’s history going back to 2002 but not as bad as the 22 million that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting…the previous record was 834,665 in February 2009 amid the financial crisis and accompanying Great Recession…“Job losses of this scale are unprecedented,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute, which compiles the report in conjunction with Moody’s Analytics…“The total number of job losses for the month of April alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Recession”…investors await the Labor Department’s key jobs report on Friday, when economists expect to see the U.S. unemployment rate to have rocketed to 16% in April from 4.4% in March…
3. Freegold Ventures (FVL, TSX) is flying in early trading after reporting a drill hole (GSDL2001) that cut an impressive 188 m grading 3.7 g/t Au, including – very significantly – 20 m at 9.9 g/t Au over the final 20 m (528 m to 548 m) – at its Golden Summit Project near Fairbanks, Alaska…the intercept represents the projected high-grade extension of the Cleary vein system…GSDL2002, drilled 150 m to the east of GSDL2001, was drilled to a depth of 165 m and had just intersected the projected vein system, returning 2.4 g/t over 9 m, before drilling activities were suspended due to COVID-19…drilling on this hole will be resumed when the program restarts…Kristina Walcott, President of Freegold, stated, “Management is tremendously excited with these results. The drill program is testing our interpretation that the high-grade CVS extends to the west and these results are confirming our interpretation”…these intercepts correspond with Freegold’s revised model that the strike of the Cleary Hill vein system may extend west of the old mine workings toward the Dolphin intrusive in an area of limited previous drilling…as the district’s highest-grade historical underground mine, Cleary Hill produced 281,000 ounces at an average grade of 1.3 ounces per ton before production ceased in 1942…the historic Cleary Hill mine workings are projected to lie approximately 500 to 600 m to the northeast of current drilling…FVL has soared 15 cents to 23 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading…
4. Another fantastic quarter for Kirkland Lake Gold (KL, TSX, NYSE)…net earnings grew to $202.9 million (U.S.) or 79 cents per share, 84% higher than $110.1 million (52 cents per share) in Q1 2019 and 20% higher than $169.1 million (81 cents per share) in Q4 2019…adjusted net earnings totalled $179.2 million (70 cents per share) versus $113.8 million (54 cents per share) in Q1 2019 and $185.3 million (88 cents per share) in Q4 2019…revenue growth in Q1 was 82%, totalling $554.7 million…Gold sales totalled 344,586 ounces, 48% higher than 232,929 ounces in Q1 2019 and well up from 278,438 ounces in Q4 2019…average Gold price of $1,586 per ounce in Q1 vs. $1,307 per ounce in Q1 2019 and $1,481 per ounce the previous quarter…free cash flow in Q1 of $130.9 million (the Detour mine contributed $78 million of free cash flow from January 31 to March 31)…KL had $530.9 million in cash as of March 31 with no debt…Tony Makuch, President and CEO, commented, “Throughout my career, I have seen that, in times of adversity, quality people rise to the occasion. Faced with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, our team did extremely well protecting themselves and each other, while also turning in a very solid performance for the quarter. As a company, we have also risen to the occasion to support our local communities. We are donating $20 million (U.S.) to assist community groups in the areas of Canada and Australia where we operate in recognition of the essential services that these groups provide and the challenges they are, or may be, faced with in obtaining funding and social assistance as a result of a slowing economic environment”…KL is off 75 cents at $59.81 as of 7:00 am Pacific…
5. The Dow is 38 points lower through the first 30 minutes of trading…investors are weighing the cost-benefit analysis of a growing number of states beginning to reopen their economies during this 1st half of May…President Trump acknowledged yesterday that “there’ll be more death” from the Wuhan COVID-19 virus but the consequences of not reopening businesses are even worse, economically and from a broader health perspective…the empire Robert Iger built at Walt Disney Co. ruled Hollywood last year, with box-office blockbusters, capacity crowds at theme parks and new streaming service with subscribers in the millions…this year brings an unwelcome twist…the world’s largest entertainment company said yesterday the pandemic took a $1.4 billion bite out of its earnings, with more to come as executives detailed how the global economic fallout would affect every part of its business for the foreseeable future…total operating income for the three months ended March 28 fell 37% from a year earlier to $2.4 billion (U.S.) while revenue rose 21% to $18 billion…Barrick Gold’s (ABX, TSX; GOLD, NYSE) Q1 Gold production and costs were consistent with full year guidance…debt net of cash was reduced by a further 17% from the end of Q4 to $1.85 billion with no significant maturities until 2033…operating cash flow increased to $889 million and free cash flow to $438 million from Q4…net earnings per share were 22 cents…adjusted net earnings per share were 16 cents while the quarterly dividend of 7 cents per share was maintained….in Toronto, the TSX is off 12 points while the Venture has added another point to 482…next Fib. resistance on the daily chart is 492…Gatekeeper Systems (GSI, TSX-V) has closed above 20 cents for the first time since February…CEO Doug Dyment has acquired 2.9 million common shares in a private transaction for an aggregate purchase price of $522,000 or approximately 18 cents per share, boosting his ownership in the company to just over 11%…
6. B2Gold (BTO, TSX; BTG, NYSE) has announced record quarterly total Gold production of 264,862 ounces in Q1…revenue was up 44% to $380 million (U.S.), also a record, with net earnings of $83 million…the quarterly consolidated cash flow provided by operating activities from the company’s 3 mines was $216 million, also a record…cash-flow was up $130 million or 151% over the 1st quarter of 2019…the jump in Gold production over Q1 2019 was driven by the Fekola Mine in Mali, which had a strong start to the year with record quarterly Gold production of 164,011 ounces, well-above budget by 9% (14,011 ounces) and 49% (53,662 ounces) higher compared to the 1st quarter of 2019…Fekola’s significant increase in Gold production over the 1st quarter of 2019 was mainly due to expansion of the Fekola mining fleet and optimization of the pit designs and mine plan for 2020, which have provided access to higher grade portions of the Fekola deposit earlier than anticipated in previous mine plans…consolidated all-in-sustaining-costs for the 1st quarter of 2020 were $695 per ounce sold, $110 lower than AISC in the 1st quarter of 2019…based on current assumptions for 2020, B2Gold says it remains well positioned for continued strong operational and financial performance…total consolidated production guidance remains at between 1 million and 1.55 million ounces of Gold…BTO is up 7 cents at $7.68 as of 7:00 am Pacific…
7. Energy Fuels (EFR, TSX; UUUU, NYSE) has entered into an agreement to acquire from GeoInstruments Logging LLC (GIL) all of its prompt fission neutron (PFN) technology and equipment, including all of its related intellectual property, which will give Energy Fuels the exclusive right to use, license and service this particular PFN technology globally…PFN is critical to successful Uranium production particularly from many in situ recovery deposits, as it more accurately measures downhole in-situ U3O8 ore grade versus traditional Total Gamma and Spectral Gamma methods…Mark S. Chalmers, President and CEO, stated, “Energy Fuels‘ acquisition of this PFN equipment and technology will further solidify Energy Fuels‘ position as the leading Uranium miner in the United States, especially in the ISR space. We believe that acquiring PFN technology is now more important than ever, as we believe a revival of the U.S. Uranium industry is imminent. On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Working Group (NFWG) conclusively described why the U.S. needs healthy Uranium and nuclear fuel industries in order to secure U.S. energy and national security and prevent Russia, China and other geopolitical rivals from gaining control of global nuclear markets. We believe the NFWG report represents the strongest U.S. government commitment to supporting U.S. Uranium miners in decades. The NFWG report also provides a menu of actions the U.S. government can take to support domestic uranium mining, including creating a U.S. uranium reserve, and potentially increasing the size of the American Assured Fuel Supply. We believe the NFWG report is an emphatic call for the U.S. government to take whatever actions are necessary to bring back U.S. Uranium and nuclear fuel production. In response to the NFWG Report recommendations, President Trump has already announced a budget that seeks $150 million per year over the next 10 years (totalling $1.5 billion over that timeframe) to establish a strategic Uranium reserve intended ‘to provide additional assurances of availability of uranium in the event of a market disruption'”…EFR is up a penny at $2.46 as of 7:00 am Pacific…
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KL has blow out numbers and they still sell the news.. fack!!!!!
Comment by Jeremy — May 6, 2020 @ 8:37 am
Granada Gold (GGM): wow, someone wants to take a significant position… 1,000,000 shares on the bid at $0.125 ! gees…
Comment by rgiroux — May 6, 2020 @ 12:38 pm
That was just a reflection of the Gold price, Jeremy…beautiful numbers, and KL will keep pushing higher…
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 6, 2020 @ 1:36 pm
https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/1911-gold-commences-tailings-reprocessing-operations-866563975.html
Comment by AFchief — May 6, 2020 @ 1:40 pm
Now if this headline doesn’t piss people off then I don’t know what will, bombardier in discussions with governments for financial help. Boy o boy!!
Comment by Laddy — May 7, 2020 @ 7:23 am
Geez Laddy, you put me in a bad mood just by mentioning that company. Talk about a never ending black hole when it comes to throwing money away. I could go on and on. I wonder if the executives are still getting multi million dollar bonuses or did they stop that? Trades about the same price as CCW right now.
Comment by Danny — May 7, 2020 @ 11:10 am
Didn’t mean to ruin your day Danny, but, I figure the more people that get mad at this idiot running this country ,the better … btw, my buddy up in Clearwater B.C. says the pipeline activity continues.
Comment by Laddy — May 7, 2020 @ 2:41 pm