BullMarketRun.ca

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

1. Gold has traded between $1,287 and $1,294 so far today, immediately ahead of tomorrow’s important elections in Britain as Prime Minister Theresa May attempts to increase a Conservative majority against far left Labor candidate Jeremy Corbyn…the ECB also meets tomorrow for a “Super Thursday” that also includes Senate testimony from fired FBI Director James Comey…fueled by technical momentum, geopolitical developments, and the possibility of a less aggressive Fed after a near-certain rate hike next week, Gold surged to a 7-week high yesterday as it closed in on key near-term resistance around $1,300…the U.S. Dollar Index tried to rally this morning but has fallen back to even at 96.62 and remains vulnerable to fresh weakness in the days ahead…Gold is down $2 an ounce at $1,292 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Silver is unchanged at $17.68 as it continues to grapple with resistance at its 200-day moving average (SMA)…in the wake of last weekend’s Islamist terror attacks in Britain, ISIS has claimed responsibility for a pair of terrorist attacks today in Tehran in which suicide bombers and teams of gunmen stormed Iran’s parliament and the nearby shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, killing at least 12 and injuring dozens of others…this is the first attack orchestrated by ISIS in the Islamic Republic…

2. A campaign by leading Arab powers to isolate Qatar is disrupting trade in commodities from Crude Oil to metals and food, and deepening fears of a possible shock to the global gas market where the tiny Gulf state is a major player…just a day after Saudi Arabia and 3 Arab allies severed transport links with Qatar over a diplomatic row, bans on Doha’s fleet using regional ports and anchorages threatened to halt some of its exports and disrupt those of liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)…meanwhile, CNN, a network that knows all about fake news, reported last night that U.S. investigators believe Russian hackers breached Qatar’s state news agency and planted a fake news report that contributed to the crisis among America’s closest Gulf allies…

3. The U.S. Department of Energy yesterday signaled it’s now more confident that U.S. Oil production will rise to 10 million barrels a day next year, the highest average annual level on the books…the department’s Energy Information Administration forecast output would surge to the historic level in 2018 after last month projecting the country would produce just shy of 10 million barrels a day next year…the previous record average was 9.6 million barrels a day in 1970.  “Increased drilling activity in U.S. tight Oil basins, especially those located in Texas, is the main contributor to oil production growth, as the total number of active rigs drilling for oil in the United States has more than doubled over the past 12 months,” EIA acting Administrator Howard Gruenspecht said in a statement…meanwhile, WTI prices have plunged below $47 a barrel on a surprise 3.3 million rise in U.S. Crude inventories, reported just moments ago…

4. The Venture is off 2 points to 799 as of 7:00 am Pacific…PyroGenesis Canada (PYR, TSX-V), which has confirmed a breakout above key resistance at 80 cents, announced this morning that it has signed its second contract for an order of Titanium powder (Ti-6Al-4V) from an undisclosed U.S.-based end-user…this is the second order placed during the ramp-up phase of the company’s powder production system and exceeds the original expectations for powder sales during this phase…PyroGenesis’s system uses plasma atomization to make small, uniform, fully dense and spherical metal powders that flow like water, and which are highly sought after in the additive manufacturing industry…Cartier Resources (ECR, TSX-V), aggressively drilling in northwest Quebec, has hit a new multi-year high of 38 cents in early trading…GT Gold (GTT, TSX-V), which commences a major program at its promising Saddle Gold target near Red Chris in just over a week, is up 2 pennies at 40 cents…the TSX is 30 points higher while the Dow has added 42 points through the first half hour of trading…

5. Jaxon Minerals‘ (JAX, TSX-V) crews have commenced the first phase of the 2017 field season at the company’s 100%-owned, 280 sq. km Hazelton Property in central British Columbia…geologists will attempt to establish the continuity and extent of previously identified high-grade, stratified massive sulphide beds historically mapped over an area of roughly 1 sq. km…Jaxon has compiled a comprehensive model of mineralization at surface at the Max Zone which will augment the final interpretation of a 464 line-km VTEM magnetics and resistivity survey due mid-June…this survey is expected to be later followed by a ground-based gradient IP survey to test depth of mineralization and enhance drill hole targeting…the strata-bound VMS mineralization at Max has never been comprehensively sampled, and the true extent of high-grade mineralization has remained unknown…historical trenches at Max were excavated on a steeply-sloping hillside, exposing massive sulphides and associated alteration within a volcano-sedimentary package, over a lateral extent of 700 m and a vertical extent of 200 m…JAX is up 2 pennies at 29.5 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…we’ll have an updated chart in today’s Morning Musings…

6. First Cobalt (FCC, TSX-V) announced this morning that it has acquired 22 mining claims in Cobalt, Ontario, including the former producing Bellellen mine…the transaction increases First Cobalt’s footprint in the district by 40% and establishes a presence for the company in the Cobalt part of the Camp in addition to its substantial land package to the south…Bellellen is adjacent to First Cobalt’s Keeley-Frontier mine and exploration this summer will test for continuity between the 2 mines…significantly, First Cobalt is evaluating the opportunity to use modern bulk mining techniques in this district…the Keeley and Frontier mines were originally developed and operated as separate underground mines before being integrated in 1961…from 1908 to 1965, the Keeley-Frontier mine produced a total of over 3.3 million pounds of Cobalt at a recovered grade of 0.5% and 19.1 million ounces of Silver at a recovered grade of 58 ounces per ton…most of the production occurred between 1922 and 1931…the company acquired a 100-per-cent option over the property in March of this year…

7.  To the northwest of First Cobalt at Gowganda, Castle Silver Resources (CSR, TSX-V) is carrying out underground bulk sampling at its 100%-owned Castle Silver-Cobalt mine with drilling to commence shortly…mineralized material featuring visible Cobalt is being sourced from the mine’s 70-foot level to put through CSR’s proprietary Re-2OX process to produce value added, high purity Cobalt products (powders) for battery sector end user evaluation…we’ll have more on CSR and the entire district, including a fascinating video interview with life-long Cobalt resident Gino Chitaroni, the President of PolyMet Labs and a very active player in the Greater Cobalt Camp…

The most popular recent BMR articles…

Video special:  CSR Leads Canadian Cobalt Charge 

All You Need To Know About Gold’s Direction

Developments in Cobalt Country

How The Eskay Heart of Gold Camp Will Help Drive The Coming Venture Up Wave (Part 1)

“Beyond the Supercycle”:  15 Predictions About The Future Of Natural Resources