1.Ā Spot Gold has traded between $1,719 and $1,670 so far todayā¦as of 7:00 am PacificĀ the yellow metal is up $2 an ounce at $1,705…Silver has retreated 17 cents to $14.77…Palladium is up $7 an ounce at $1,827 while base metals are off slightly with Copper, Nickel and Zinc trading at $2.30, $5.35Ā and 86Ā cents, respectively…Crude Oil is up 39Ā cents at $20.17…the 6-month spread of Brent futures hit its narrowest in almost a month today at a discount of around $6.50, up from a record wide discount of almost $14 in late-March, reflecting decreasing oversupply expectations and making storage for later sale less profitable..the all the money that people made by making deals with China over the years has been eclipsed many fold by the economic damage from the Wuhan COVID-19 virus…as a result, the U.S. Commerce Department, state and other agencies are looking for ways to push U.S. companies to move both sourcing and manufacturing out of China…tax incentives and potential re-shoring subsidies are among measures being considered to spur changes in an initiative that is being turbocharged by the Trump administration…there is a whole of government push to move U.S. production and supply chain dependency away from China, even if it goes to other more friendly nations instead…Florida has joined the U.S. states starting to ease restrictions against the pandemic and Italy reopened most of its factories today as the global number of reported infections crossed 3.5 million with nearly a quarter-million deaths…even in U.S. states where restrictions arenāt being lifted, local authorities in some areas are making plans to reopen (this cannot be done in British Columbia, for example, where the socialist NDP has overruled all local autonomy)…2 California counties, Sutter and Yuba, have said that some businesses such as salons, spas and tattoo parlors can open today under modified guidelines…in Italy, the opening of production lines and construction sites to more than 4 million workers after nearly 6 weeks closure will test whether an economy flattened by a pandemic can restart in earnest without touching off a 2nd wave of contagion…Italy reports declining rates of infection but more than 1,000 new cases a day…Alberta will allow dine-in restaurants, cafes, lounges and bars at 50% capacity starting May 14…meanwhile, Justin Trudeau seems keen on keeping Canadians in a state of fear – “Don’t go out unless you absolutely have to,” he actually said this morning…how do you get an economy moving again when you have a Prime Minister talking like that?…
2. U.S. officials believe China covered up the extent of the Wuhan COVID-19 outbreak, and how contagious the disease is, to stock up on medical supplies needed to respond to it, intelligence documents show…Chinese leaders “intentionally concealed the severity” of the pandemic from the world in early January, according to a 4-page Department of Homeland Security report dated May 1 and obtained by The Associated Press…the revelation comes as the Trump administration has intensified its criticism of China, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying that China was responsible for the spread of disease and must be held accountable…the analysis states that, while downplaying the severity of the coronavirus in January, China increased imports and decreased exports of medical supplies…it attempted to cover up doing so by “denying there were export restrictions and obfuscating and delaying provision of its trade data,” the analysis states…the report also says China held off informing the World Health OrganizationĀ (WHO) that the coronavirus “was a contagion” for much of January so it could order medical supplies from abroad – and that its imports of face masks and surgical gowns and gloves increased sharply…those conclusions are based on the 95% probability that China’s changes in imports and export behaviour were not within normal range, according to the report…
3. Calgary-born Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz argued yesterday that the United States needs to reassess its relationship with China in the wake of the pandemic…Cruz, who was interviewed on “Sunday Morning Futures“, called China the greatest geopolitical threat to the United States…“The most important long-term, national-security informed policy consequence of this coronavirus pandemic is going to be a fundamental reassessment of the United States’ relationship with China. China is the most significant geopolitical threat to the United States for the next century”…Cruz added: āIf you look at the pandemic itself, the communist government in China bears enormous responsibility, enormous direct culpability for this pandemic. We know they covered it up. We know that when heroic whistleblower doctors tried to draw attention to it last December, the Chinese government shut them up and punished them”…the Republican lawmakerās comments came the same day that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told ABC NewsāĀ āThis Weekā there was āenormous evidenceā that the novel coronavirus originated in a lab in the central Chinese city of Wuhan…
4.Ā CloudMD (DOC, TSX-V)Ā has entered into a non-binding LOI with Save-On-Foods and separately with Pure Integrative Pharmacy to pilot telemedicine kiosks in 9 stores throughout British Columbia…for 6 weeks starting on May 26, CloudMD’s telemedicine software and services will be offered free of charge to Save-On-Foods and Pure Integrative Pharmacy clients…telemedicine kiosks will be installed in existing private consult rooms in participating Save-On-Foods and Pure Integrative Pharmacy locations across the province…patients will be able to see a doctor for prescription refills and non-emergency health concerns in real time on-site, and after the virtual visit, the prescription can be submitted directly to the same pharmacy for fulfillment…the delivery of these services will be billed under provincial medical plans…Save-On-Foods is Canada’s largest Western-based grocery chain with over 170 stores across B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and in Whitehorse, Yukon (owned by the Jim Pattison Group, Canada’s 2nd-largest privately-held company)…Pure Integrative Pharmacy is one of B.C.’s leading independent community pharmacies and has been servicing patients with 16 locations across B.C. since 2008…in addition to the corporate arrangement, CloudMD and Save-On-Foods are joining forces to help provide home based telemedicine and delivery services (where available) of medications to at risk patients who cannot, or should not, leave self-isolation…B.C. patients unable to travel out of their homes can advise their CloudMD doctor they require home delivery of their medication and Save-On-Food’s pharmacies will take care of fulfillment and delivery…Dr. Essam Hamza, CEO of CloudMD, commented, “One of our key growth drivers is our kiosk implementation program, and we are excited to work with Save-On-Foods and Pure Integrative Pharmacy on the first major step of the roll out. CloudMD, Save-On-Foods, and Pure Integrative Pharmacy share a community centric vision and are all aligned in maintaining customer focused businesses. Our priority is providing patients with innovative, accessible healthcare when and where they need it and in doing so, integrating the pharmacist into their team-based care. The initial paid pilot program is the first phase of our kiosk implementation and will hopefully lead to long term, mutually beneficial relationship with Save-On-Foods and Pure Integrative Pharmacy“…DOC is up 7 pennies at 91 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading…
5.Ā Great Bear Resources (GBR, TSX-V) has cut 18.6 g/t Au over 13 m, within 104.15 m grading 2.7 g/t, from its continuing fully financed $21 million exploration program at its 100%-owned flagship Dixie Project in the Red Lake district of Ontario…Chris Taylor, President and CEO of Great Bear, stated: “As we approach the 1-year anniversary of the discovery of the LP Fault and our 100th drill hole into this target, our sense of enthusiasm continues to build as the LP Fault continues to deliver robust Gold results with more detailed drilling. New drill hole BR-118 returned one of the longest high-grade Gold intervals to-date, and was completed in the middle of a 150-m gap in drilling. Mineralization begins immediately at the bedrock surface, with consistent geology and mineralization styles observed in both neighbouring drill sections. Importantly, all other drill holes reported in this release also continue to successfully intersect gold mineralization at all points tested along the LP Fault to-date”…theĀ company has completed 99 of approximately 300 planned drill holes into the LP Fault target as part of its 5-km-long x 500-m deepĀ grid drill program…drill hole BR-118 on drill section 20650 was completed in the middle of a 150-m gap in drilling…the drill hole contained 2 significant mineralized intervals –Ā 10.2 g/t over 6.80 m, within a broader interval of 3.2 g/t over 56.95 m, beginning at the bedrock surface at 30.20 m, andĀ 18.6 g/t over 13 m, including 132.00 g/t over 0.50 m, within a broader interval of 2.7 g/t over 104.15 m beginning at 127.15 m…
6.Ā The Dow is off 251 points through the first 30 minutes of trading amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China and as Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway unloaded its entire stake in airlines…Air CanadaĀ (AC, TSX) says it expects the impact of the pandemic to last at least 3 years and predicts large job cuts as it hunkers down to survive āthe darkest period everā for the industry…Canada’sĀ biggest airline, which this morning reported a 1st quarter loss, says it expects capacity in the 3rd quarter to be 75% below last yearās level, from an 85% to 90% drop in the current quarter…it’s also accelerating plans to retire 79 planes and continues to look for ways to reduce costs and boost liquidity…the small-cap segment in Canada has outperformed the broader stock market in 8 of the past 10 trading sessions, over which time the S&P/TSX SmallCap Index rose by 8.5% compared with a 1.8% increase in the S&P/TSX Composite Index…resource plays make up a big portion of the Canadian small-cap market while there are also some hot emerging tech stocks…small caps and laggards have outperformed coming out of every bear market and major market correction during the last 40 years, according to a recent report from Goldman Sachs…the TSX is up 32 points as of 7:00 am Pacific to begin the new week while the Venture is 2 points higher at 475…the Venture has enjoyed 4 straight robust weeks with next key resistance in the 490’s…Marathon Gold (MOZ, TSX) has arranged a $26 million bought deal hard dollar financing at $1.50 per share led by Canaccord Genuity, Sprott Capital Partners and RBC Capital Markets…
7. A privately-held Ottawa biotech company is voluntarily recalling a rapid molecular-based test for COVID-19 after Health Canada expressed concern about its effectiveness, dealing a setback to expanded testing in the country…Spartan Bioscience said yesterday that the concerns centre around the proprietary swab used in the test, but that Friday’s Health Canada report did not raise issues about the accuracy of the test reagents and portable analyzer device…about 5,500 of the hand-held DNA analyzers, called the Spartan Cube, haveĀ been shipped to federal and provincial health agencies since the company gainedĀ that approval from Health Canada…“In light of the clinical results, Health Canada has placed conditions on the company’s authorization to restrict the use of the product to research use only until adequate evidence of clinical performance can be provided. The Spartan product can continue to be used for research purposes only,” the agency said in a statement…Spartan’s problems create an expanded opportunity in Canada for Sona Nanotech (SONA, CSE), currently in the midst of 3rd party validation for its lateral flow test…
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Hi Jon\Daniel, any thoughts on the drill results released by XTM? They look good but my understanding of PGM is not as great as other metals. Thanks
Comment by Danny — May 5, 2020 @ 6:33 am
Some nice intersections, there, Danny, such as 9 meters @ 4.28 g/t PGM from the outer edge of the Big Red Anomaly…Big Red, which has been tested with just 4 holes so far with each of them intersecting high-grade mineralization, is much bigger than originally thought, part of a broader 1,200 m x 400 m anomaly, so lots of targets to follow up on, with mineralization also intersected outside the anomaly…this area is going to get a lot of increased attention with Clean Air trading shortly with a treasury of $15 million to put toward their ground…XTM webinar at 8 am Pacific this morning…
Comment by Jon - BMR — May 5, 2020 @ 6:44 am
Thanks Jon, appreciate the quick response.
Comment by Danny — May 5, 2020 @ 7:19 am