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Check back later today for Daniel’s Den and visit the BMR comments section throughout the day for updates and helpful information.

1. Gold remains under mild pressure as the Fed begins its 2-day meeting with a rate hike expected tomorrow…bullion has traded between $1,307 and $1,318 so far today and is off $8 an ounce at $1,309 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Silver has retreated 13 cents to $16.17…Copper is off 3 pennies at $3.05…Nickel is steady at $6.10 while Zinc has slipped 2 pennies to $1.46…Cobalt has crossed the $40 barrier for the first time in a decade, up 57 cents at $40.14….Cobalt drilling activity worldwide quadrupled in Q4 and accounted for 50% of total activity of battery materials worldwide, according to data from Mining Intelligence…50 Cobalt projects reported drill results in the last 3 months of 2017, up from 12 during the previous quarter…Crude Oil has surged more than $1 a barrel to $63.20 while the U.S. Dollar Index has jumped more than one-third of a point to 90.29 ahead of tomorrow’s Fed decision…Saudi Arabia’s ambitious young prince has arrived in Washington…in his inaugural visit since becoming the heir apparent to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is slated to meet with a number of high-profile political and industrial heavyweights…Washington and Riyadh are forging improved relations following tensions resulting from the Obama administration’s handling of the very flawed Iran nuclear deal…President Trump has threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the accord between Tehran and 6 world powers, raising the prospect of new sanctions aimed at Iran’s Oil industry…the Iranians are also believed to be providing help to North Korea…

2. Will the Fed surprise the pundits and come across more dovish than expected tomorrow, even if it does raise rates as expected?…Brad Melek, TD Securities‘ head of commodity strategy and an accurate Gold forecaster, had this to say in a report published yesterday:  “Given the current equity market weakness, recent lackluster economic data and trade war rhetoric getting louder, we judge that a hawkish tone is not…warranted at this time.  Given recent positioning, if Fed officials do not adjust the dot plots higher, the yellow metal could find a bid and move considerably higher later this week.”  Gold has shown weakness coming into the last 5 rate hikes but rebounded strongly after each of those hikes…

3. Bonterra Resources (BTR, TSX-V) has released initial results from a continuing winter drill program at its Gladiator Gold deposit in Quebec…3 of the 4 drill holes released this morning intersected high-grade mineralization including BA-18–04 which cut 6.5 m @ 16.9 g/t Au in the Main zone and 14.5 g/t Au over 1.5 m in the South zone…to date, continuity of mineralization is now confirmed over a total drilled strike length on at least 4 horizons (North, Footwall, Main and South) of 1,200 m, as well as a drilled depth of 1,000+…drilling is expected to total 70,000 m in 2018…5 active drill rigs are currently focused to support the timing and completion of an updated mineral resource estimate in the 2nd half of the this year…BTR is up 2 cents at 54 cents through the first 30 minutes of trading

4. The Dow has rebounded 98 points through the first 30 minutes of trading after a rough session yesteday…the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether Facebook’s use of personal data violated a consent decree it signed with the agency in 2011…the Bloomberg report follows a weekend of turmoil for Facebook after British-based research firm Cambridge Analytica was alleged to have improperly gained access to the data of more than 50 million Facebook users…Facebook (FB, NASDAQ) tumbled as much as 8% yesterday and is off again in early trading today…the TSX is up 26 points as of 7:00 am Pacific while the Venture has slipped 4 points to 831 with some softness in marijuana stocks…the Index continues to battle resistance in the low 830’s…Cartier Resources (ECR, TSX-V) has intersected 7.6 g/t Au over 5 m, 235 m beneath the deepest stope at the Chimo mine near Val d’Or…the intersection is the first from an 8,000-m deep drilling program which is part of the ongoing 34,000-m drill program on the Chimo mine property…

5. Blind Creek Resources (BCK, TSX-V) has received important land use approvals and permits from the Yukon government to advance its 100%-owned Blende Zinc-Lead-Silver Property 64 km northeast of Keno Hill…a Class 4 quartz mining land use approval allows the company, among other things, to construct a 50-man exploration camp, store fuel on site, develop up to 15 km of new roads, upgrade up to 30 km of existing roads, construct an air strip and complete up to 400 diamond drill holes on the property over the next 5 years, subject to certain conditions…meanwhile, portions of the Wind River winter trail used to access Blind Creek’s Blende property from Mayo are included in the proposed 65 km all-season ATAC/Barrick Rau Project access tote road recently approved in an agreement between the government of Yukon and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun.  “The acquisition of the Class 4 QMLUA and land use permit for the Blende Property and the recently announced Rau Project tote road access agreement are significant developments for Blind Creek,” stated President Brian Fowler, “The company is currently awaiting the completion of the Blende maiden (National Instrument-43–101) mineral resource estimate (currently in preparation by Moose Mountain Technical Services) and is positioning to conduct a large exploration effort at Blende in 2018.”

6. Eagle Plains Resources‘ (EPL, TSX-V) option partner SSR Mining Inc. (formerly Silver Standard Resources) has commenced its 2018 drilling campaign at Eagle Plain’s 100%-owned Fisher Property contiguous to the north, south and east with SSRM’s Seabee Gold operation in Saskatchewan…SSRM is planning approximately 18,000 m of drilling during 2018, with an initial program of 10,000 m expected to be completed by June…SSRM is in the 2nd year of a 4-year option agreement whereby the company may earn up to an 80% interest in the 34,000 hectare property by completing $4 million in exploration expenditures and making $3.3 million in cash payments to EPL…

7. The Globe and Mail reported this morning that Alberta is shaping up to be an exciting power play for cannabis retailers when the herb becomes legal later yea…the reason demand is sizzling is because Alberta, unlike Ontario, British Columbia or Quebec, has opted for a fully private approach to cannabis retail, with big expansion opportunities for anyone who gets in early and has money to invest over the long term…in the first year alone after legalization later this year, more than 200 cannabis shops are expected to open their doors for business across the Wild Rose province…Calgary-based 420 Clinic chief operating officer Mike Tomiyama says, “To start, cannabis retail will occupy roughly one-sixth of the commercial real estate that liquor does.”

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