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Check our comments section throughout the day for helpful information. BMR Morning Market Musings returns tomorrow.

1. Gold has hit a 6-week low today, trading between $1,225 and $1,241 after yesterday’s Fed announcement fueled expectations of another interest rate hike next month…history shows, one needs to be cautious about Gold’s first move following a Fed meeting…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is down $9 an ounce at $1,228…non-farm payrolls for April are due tomorrow, and Gold’s closing price for the week will be important…Fib. support in the $1,230’s is strong and it’s not surprising to see it being put to the test…Global Gold demand was down 18% on an annual basis in the 1st quarter of 2017, but the data was largely skewed by the “strongest ever 1st quarter” in 2016 which overshadowed the robust and healthy appetite for the yellow metal this year…that’s according to a report just out from the World Gold Council (WGC).  “Q1 2017 was a robust quarter, just not as remarkable as the 1st quarter of 2016. There was good demand coming from the investment market in Q1 of this year, from both bars and coins as well as ETFs.”  Global holdings of Gold-­backed ETFs grew by 109.1 tonnes in Q1, just a fraction of last year’s near-record inflows, according to the report…in particular, European ETFs had strong flows…

2.  Crude Oil prices have fallen below $47 a barrel, hitting their lowest level this year after data yesterday showed a smaller-than-expected decline in U.S. inventories which fell 930,000 barrels in the week to April 28 against analysts’ expectations for a decrease of 2.3 million barrels…stocks have steadily declined for the last 4 weeks, but at 527.8 million barrels they are just 7 million barrels off a record high…the stockpile report also indicated continued weakness in gas demand…we’ll see what the Saudis may have in store to try to “talk up” Oil prices to save Crude from a potential technical breakdown…

3. Weakness in Gold and Oil is having its impact on the Venture today which is down 9 points at 784 as of 7:00 am Pacific…the Venture is underpinned by 2 bands of major support – 780 to 800, and the 750’s (rising 300-day moving average) to 770…every Venture bull market has tested its rising 300-day SMA on at least 1 occasion…notably, very oversold conditions have emerged in the Canadian dollar – consistent with previous occasions just prior to a turnaround in the Venture…the TSX is down 71 points through the first 30 minutes of trading while the Dow is off 25 points…

4. Richmont Mines (RIC, TSX) reported a strong 1st quarter financial performance this morning as the company posted net earnings of $5.5 million (CDN) or 9 cents per share on total revenues of $46.5 million…company-wide production of 29,401 ounces of Gold was primarily driven by solid production from the Island Gold Mine of 23,772 ounces…company-wide all-in-sustaining costs were $1,124 (CDN) or $849 U.S. per ounce, positively impacted by low cash costs of $668 (CDN) per ounce from the Island Gold Mine…Richmont maintained a strong cash balance of $75.2 million (CDN), in line with the prior quarter while orking capital increased to $66.3 million (CDN).  “The ongoing transformation of the Island Gold Mine continues to advance and we remain on schedule to release our Expansion Case Preliminary Economic Assessment in the 2nd quarter, which will support our overall objective of positioning the Island Gold Mine as one of the lowest cost underground Gold producers in the Americas,” stated Renaud Adams, Richmont President and CEO…despite the strong Q1 financials, the drop in Gold took RIC as low as $9.60 in early trading…it’s down 42 cents at $9.85 as of 7:00 am Pacific…

5.   As we’ve mentioned previously at BMR, the inactive refinery in Cobalt, Ontario, has been an albatross around the necks of many companies over the years…this morning, CobalTech Mining (CSK, TSX-V) announced that it intends to commence legal proceedings seeking damages and a proprietary interest in the refinery owned by a privately held company (36569 Yukon Inc.)…on April 26, Australian-listed Equator Resources (EQU, ASX) reported that it had entered into an asset purchase agreement with Yukon and its parent company, Yukon Refinery AG, in respect of the property…this followed a February 21 CobalTech announcement that CSK had signed a Letter of Intent with 36569 Yukon Inc. to acquire the fully permitted Cobalt processing facility…Cobaltech says it intends to commence legal proceedings against both Equator and Yukon, seeking damages and a declaration that any interest in the property acquired by Equator is held in a constructive trust for the benefit of Cobaltech…

6.  While Equator and Cobaltech slug it out, Castle Silver Resources (CSR, TSX-V) has the most momentum on the ground and in the market in the prolific northern Ontario Cobalt Camp…CSR is the only company in the region with underground access as it prepares for drilling and sampling on the first level of the Castle mine…significantly, mineralized material will be extracted to prepare a Cobalt concentrate and then value added Cobalt test products (high purity powders) through CSR’s 100%-owned hydrometallurgical process called Re-2OX, developed in conjunction with the National Research Council (NRC)…the test products will be marketed to battery manufacturers…in addition, SGS Lakefield is currently testing Re-2OX’s effectiveness in recycling spent Lithium-ion batteries…Re-2OX is extremely adaptable and recovers multiple metals and elements from all feeds with varying chemistries…

7. Marathon Gold (MOX, TSX) has arranged a $16.2 million bought deal led by RBC Capital Markets to advance MOZ’s exciting Valentine Lake Gold Project in central Newfoundland…the financing features 8 million flow-through shares at a price of $1.25 and 6 million non-flow-through shares at $1.03 per common share (increased from 4.85 million shares as first announced post-market yesterday)…no warrants are attached but the pricing and Marathon’s reliance on flow-through has put the stock under some mild pressure this morning, with Gold of course not helping…MOZ is off a dime at $1.04 as of 7:00 am Pacific but exceptional support exists around $1.00…

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