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

1. Gold has traded between $1,263 and $1,277 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, bullion is down $12 an ounce at $1,266 while Silver is off 21 cents at $17.20 after so-called “Super Thursday” (British elections, ECB and former FBI Director Comey who disappointed much of the mainstream media with no “smoking gun”)…macroeconomic forces justify the strength in Gold since mid-May, according to an analysis just out from UBS which highlighted a “weaker dollar” and “broader uncertainty” as key factors in providing a good foundation for the market to continue its journey higher.  “We’ve argued Gold’s role as a diversifier in investor portfolios, and this is becoming increasingly relevant in the current environment. Despite the rally from the lows printed in May, we think Gold positioning is not crowded overall and there should be room for the move to extend. While a pause is understandable around key resistance levels and ahead of key events in the near term, the market should stay supported overall and would view dips as an opportunity to build/add to positions.”  Gold has solid support in the low $1,260’s and should respond well following a U.S. rate hike next week…

2. Crude Oil prices are up slightly as of 7:00 am Pacific but are nonetheless down sharply for the week after U.S. data showed a surprise 3.3 million barrel build in commercial Crude Oil stocks to 513.2 million…inventories of refined products were also up, despite the start of the peak demand summer season, and remain above their 5-year range…markets will want to see a pick-up in U.S. demand for gasoline and distillate fuels…Asian markets also appear oversupplied, with traders putting excess Crude into floating storage, an indicator of a glut…the Saudis have their work cut out for them to get prices back above their “comfort zone” in the $50+ range…we’ll have an updated Crude Oil chart in today’s Morning Musings…

3. In British Columbia, Christy Clark was officially sworn in yesterday as Premier of B.C., following last month’s elections, as she leads the province’s first minority government in 65 years…she has recalled the legislature for June 22, daring the Green Monster coalition of NDP’ers and Greens to attempt to usurp power in a move that would have significant consequences for the province’s resource sector…the Green Monster’s first targets to “kill” are the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion into Burnaby and the Site C Dam Project in the north…

4. Mexico’s tax agency is holding over $360 million (U.S.) in tax rebates owed to 6 Canadian miners, including $230 million to Goldcorp, according to sources and official documents seen by Reuters…the move escalates the situation into a showdown between the Mexican government and multiple mining firms operating there…in a string of meetings, Canadian officials have pressed Mexico to fix the problem, which hamstrings mining companies’ ability to invest in operations and is particularly difficult for smaller, cash-strapped miners and explorers…Goldcorp declined to comment on its outstanding refund, which represents 142% of its 2016 net profit and 6% of its full-year revenue…

5. The Venture is off 1 point at 790 as it heads for a 2nd straight weekly loss thanks largely to the pullback in Crude Oil…action is slow in early trading…much more in the days ahead from our trip to the northern Ontario Cobalt-Silver Camp…new record highs in U.S. markets which shows how out of touch much of the mainstream media is with its sensationalism surrounding the Trump Presidency…the Volatility Index (VIX), considered the best gauge of fear in the market, dropped this morning to 9.37, its lowest since December 27, 1993…

6. Bonterra Resources (BTR, TSX-V) announced this morning that it’s raising $12.9 million in a bought deal private placement to further explore and develop its Gladiator Gold Project in Quebec’s hot Urban-Barry Greenstone Belt…the offering will consist of a combination of 11.9 flow-through shares of the company at a price of 84 cents per share, and 5.8 million non-flow-through shares at a price of 50 cents per share…the financing is expected to close by the end of June…no warrants with this PP…BTR is up a penny at 49 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…

7. RJK Explorations (RJX.A, TSX-V) came within a penny-and-a-half of its 2017 high yesterday as more drill results from the company’s Maude Lake Gold Property in northern Ontario are due shortly…RJK has completed some deeper holes at the historical resource, so some impressive high-grade numbers are within the realm of possibility…no matter what the results are, downside risk appears minimal given the current $4 million market cap (company has $1 million coming from New Gold later this month) while drilling at Maude continues as the company is testing a sizeable geophysical anomaly discovered by Earth Science Services Corp. (ESSCO) near a splay fault north of the historic deposit…in this district, deep holes can be effective in generating both market excitement and breakthrough results…RJK is up 2 pennies at 22 cents as of 7:00 am Pacific…