Check back later today for additional BMR posts.
1. Gold has traded between $1,228 and $1,237 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is up $1 an ounce at $1,229…after breaking out in late March/early April above a downtrend line on the daily chart going back to last summer, and climbing as high as the $1,290’s, Gold has retraced in a normal throwback to that downtrend line, testing potential new support (including Fib.) around $1,230…next support is $1,215…hedge funds and other money managers cut their net-long position in COMEX Gold for the first time in 7 weeks, in the week to May 2, while they reduced their bullish stance in Silver to the lowest since January, U.S. government data showed on Friday…China’s Gold reserves were unchanged at 59.24 million ounces in April, the country’s central bank said over the weekend, and the euro hit a 6-month high against the U.S. dollar today after globalist Mannuel Macron comfortably won the French Presidential election…the Dollar Index, however, is still up one-fifth of a point at 98.98…
2. Crude Oil prices are slightly in the green again today after Friday’s rally that started after a plunge that took WTI as low as $43.76…Crude is trading at $46.28 as of 7:00 am Pacific, helped by Russia’s comments today that it’s discussing prolonging cuts with other producers beyond 2017, without giving a clear timeline…Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih also talked of the possibility of prolonging curbs beyond this year…countering those efforts, U.S. drillers added Oil rigs for a 16th week in a row last week, extending a drilling recovery into a 12th month, energy services firm Baker Hughes confirmed on Friday…since a low point in May 2016, U.S. producers have added 387 Oil rigs, an increase of more than 120%…
3. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ each notched new all-time highs in early trading to begin the new week this morning…the Venture, meanwhile, has recovered 3 more points to 784 as of 7:00 am Pacific after last week’s slide that sent the Index to a 4-month low of 774…
4. The mining sector has much at stake as British Columbians head to the polls tomorrow with Premier Christy Clark’s free enterprise coalition Liberal Party gunning for a 5th straight victory, though most polls have the NDP in the lead which has helped shape the media narrative in recent weeks…the pollsters and mainstream media will likely be discredited again tomorrow…in their platform, the Liberals say they want to see 8 new mines launched in B.C. by 2020, and point to new mines opened under their tenure and those under construction including the $811-million Brucejack Gold mine in the Eskay Heart of Gold Camp….the NDP has long been hostile to the resource industry in B.C. and hasn’t changed its tune in this election…it’s vigorously opposed to the TransMountain Pipeline expansion (construction for the approved project begins in September) and also says it will amend the environmental assessment process to “respect the legal rights of First Nations” and meet the public’s expectation of a “strong, transparent process”…the Green Party, equally hostile to the resource sector but likely to win at least a couple of seats on Vancouver Island, says it will establish a “natural resource sector-wide compliance and enforcement unit” in the province (the Green Gestapo, it seems, as compliance and enforcement are already part of the B.C. regulatory regime)…
5. Cartier Resources (ECR, TSX-V) has arranged a bought deal hard dollar financing at 27 cents per share to raise gross proceeds of $6 million…the funds will be used to fund further exploration on the company’s Chimo mine, Wilson, Benoist and Fenton properties in northwest Quebec, and for general working capital purposes…ECR is quiet this morning after closing Friday at 28.5 cents…
6. Ascendant Resources‘ (ASND, TSX-V) El Mochito Zinc mine in Honduras hoisted 52,912 tonnes of ore in the month of April, a 13% improvement vs. the month of March (1,960 tpd vs. 1,733 tpd), the company reported this morning…the 1,960 tpd figure exceeds guidance by 6%…Ascendant also announced that a new collective 3-year bargaining agreement with union leadership has been achieved to the satisfaction of all parties and ratified by the Minister of Labour of Honduras…the successful conclusion of negotiations without further disruption of work reflects the improving relations since the company’s acquisition of the El Mochito mine in Honduras in December of last year…ASND is up a penny at 74 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading…
7. Columbus Gold (CGT, TSX) issued a news release this morning congratulating Emmanuel Macron on being elected President of France. “In 2015, as the then French Minister of Economy, Emanuel Macron visited Columbus Gold’s Montagne d’Or Gold Project in French Guiana (a Region of France) and expressed his strong support for its development. His visit received coverage by national media…we would like to extend our congratulations on the occasion of your Presidential victory, and express our trust in your vision of guiding France through a future of economic growth and prosperity,” stated CGT CEO and Chairman Robert Giustra…
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cmon CSR lets get moving….
Comment by Dennis — May 8, 2017 @ 11:41 am
Guest(s): Chris Berry President, House Mountain Partners
Aside from precious metals, investors were interested in other metals like lithium and cobalt at the Mines & Money conference in New York; and, to newsletter writer Chris Berry, cobalt may be the metal to watch right now. ‘I’m actually more excited and intrigued by cobalt than I am about lithium just because of the fact that almost all of it is produced as a by-product and almost all of it in the tune of 60% comes from the DRC,’ he told Kitco News. The problem? ‘There’s really no way to get pure play exposure,’ he explained
Comment by Jeremy — May 8, 2017 @ 3:09 pm