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Check back later this morning for BMR’s Morning Market Musings.

1. Gold has traded between $1,219 and $1,206 so far today, touching a 5-week low…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is down $6 an ounce at $1,209 while Silver has slipped 15 cents to $17.33…a much strong than expected private U.S. jobs report and a half-point jump in the U.S. Dollar Index have put pressure on the metals today…

2. U.S. companies added jobs at a blistering pace in February, with a notable shift away from the service-sector positions that dominated hiring during the Obama years, according to a report released this morning that paves the way for a Fed rate hike next week…employment in the private sector surged by 298,000 for the month, with goods producers adding 106,000, ADP and Moody’s Analytics said…construction jobs swelled by 66,000 and manufacturing added 32,000…the total shattered market expectations of 190,000, according to economists surveyed by ADP…

3. U.S. Crude inventories rose by a more-than-forecast 11.6 million barrels last week, data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed yesterday, putting some downward pressure on Oil prices today…the government’s supply report is due later this morning…

4. The Venture is down 5 points at 797 as of 7:00 am Pacific…exceptional Venture support ranges in a band from 800 to 770…the Cobalt sector remains firm, continuing to outperform the Venture…First Cobalt (FCC, TSX-V), which closed a $6 million financing yesterday, hit a new high of 88 cents during the first 30 minutes of trading while charts for other companies active in the northern Ontario Cobalt Camp remain very healthy…

5. The Financial Post reported this morning that more than $400 billion is at stake over the next decade in the “Uberization of mining”, based on comments by World Economic Forum (WEF) director Gillian Davidson during a panel discussion at PDAC yesterday…among 21 industries studied in a WEF report, mining was most resistant to disruption, Davidson said, adding that if the industry fails to change from within, forces from outside it will cause transformation…

6. AuRico Metals (AMI, TSX-V) has closed its “fire sale” acquisition of Kiska Metals, with the final trade in KSK on the Venture yesterday at 8 cents…AuRico’s President & CEO Chris Richter commented, “We are very pleased to close this accretive transaction which further broadens our royalty portfolio pipeline in North America and preserves our strong balance sheet. With a well diversified portfolio of royalties in place and several key upcoming catalysts expected at Kemess in the near term, we remain very well positioned for an exciting year ahead.”  Just over 96% of Kiska shareholders voted in favor of the “plan of arrangement” last week with KSK shareholders receiving one-fifteenth of a share in ARI and 1.6 cents in cash for each Kiska share held…AMI is up a penny at $1.04 in early trading…

7. Canaccord continues to be a strong net buyer of Deveron UAS (DVR, CSE), with more DVR bought this morning through Canaccord at a 7-month high of 49 cents…trading over the last 9 sessions, including today, shows Canaccord representing nearly 50% of net buying in the stock…DVR, establishing itself as North America’s leading drone-based data provider to the agricultural industry, is now going after lucrative markets in Western Canada and the United States…at 49 cents, DVR’s market cap is still a very modest $8.3 million…

The 3 most popular recent BMR articles…

Update:  Who’s Who In The Northern Ontario Cobalt Camp

The Drone Revolution:  Deveron UAS Carves A Niche In The Booming AgTech Sector

7 @ 7:00: Respected Gold producer CEO: “I don’t think, in my 20 years, I’ve ever seen the stars so aligned for a better Gold price”