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1. Gold has traded between $1,195 and $1,205 so far today…as of 7:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $6 an ounce at $1,203…geopolitical risks, such as those surrounding Italy, could trigger a short-covering rally in Gold, according to Standard Chartered…Tuesday’s rally, ignited by Italy’s fiscal and political issues, shows that Gold “remains on investors’ radar” during times of uncertain geopolitical developments, the bank stated…Gold ETF’s tracked by Bloomberg have seen outflows of 14.5 tonnes since the start of the month…Silver is up 8 cents at $14.70…Copper has added 4 pennies to $2.87…Nickel is 3 cents higher at $5.79 while Zinc and Cobalt are steady at $1.22 and $26.12, respectively…Crude Oil has retreated 75 cents to $75.66 while the U.S. Dollar Index has dipped one-third of a point to 95.73…yesterday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit its highest level since July 2011 while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond reached the highest it has been since October 2014…yields surged following new data that showed that private payrolls rose by 230,000 in September, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics, which far surpassed the 168,000 jobs in August…meanwhile, the ISM non-manufacturing index has hit its highest level on record…Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated yesterday that the U.S. central bank had a long way to go before interest rates hits neutral, suggesting to markets that more hikes are on the horizon…

2. China’s overseas expansion will spread over land that is home to more than half the world’s population, potentially boosting Copper use by 1.6 million tonnes, or roughly 7% of annual demand, major miner BHP said today…BHP has analyzed the impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a network of overseas construction projects, on commodity demand on the basis of a database it constantly updates…it said China’s overseas expansion plan now covers 115 partners across Eurasia, parts of Africa, Latin American and Oceania, up from 68 countries or regions just over a year ago…its latest analysis estimated the BRI represented one-third of the global economy and would drive spending of up to $1.3 trillion over the decade to 2023…Vicky Binns, BHP’s vice president for minerals marketing, told Reuters if anything the expectation an extra 1.6 million tonnes of refined Copper would be needed over the same time period was conservative…such initial investment could lead to knock-on demand from other sectors…“Increasing the international competitiveness of manufacturing in these regions may create a major lift in future demand from Copper intensive sectors, such as automobiles, consumer durables and machinery,” BHP says…Binns downplayed the impact of mounting trade tensions between the United States and China on demand, saying long-term fundamentals are likely to be robust…

3. Canadian mergers-and-acquisitions activity nearly doubled in the 3rd quarter, fueled by deals in the mining, real estate and cannabis sectors, according to Thomson Reuters‘ data released this morning…quarterly deal volume was up 91% to $75.7 billion from $39.6 billion in the same period last year, the data showed, bucking a global trend of declines in Europe and Asia…mining transactions in the quarter included Barrick Gold’s (ABX, TSX, NYSE) planned $6.5 billion acquisition of Africa-focused miner Randgold Resources (GOLD, NASDAQ) as well as China’s Zijin Mining Group’s $1.86 billion deal to acquire Nevsun Resources (NSU, TSX)…it was the strongest period for Canadian mining M&A since the 2nd quarter of 2011…mining deals have slowed in recent years, due in part to commodity price pressures, balance sheet weakness and investor pushback against miners seen as overpaying for assets…

4. Endless “consultation” and more foot-dragging by the federal government with regard to the TransMountain Pipeline…Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi announced yesterday that the feds would be reopening Trans Mountain pipeline consultations with 117 First Nations with no timeline…“We haven’t set a deadline for ourselves,” declared Sohi…“We will not put a stop clock on the consultations.  We’re going to take our time to figure this right”…meanwhile, Canadian heavy Crude’s discount to WTI increased to the widest in 5 years yesterday, raising the spectre of local Oil producers curtailing operations…Western Canadian Select’s discount for November widened $1 to a whopping $41.75 a barrel…while increasing volumes of Oil are being shifted onto rail cars, the pickup hasn’t been fast enough…Cenovus said last month it signed Oil-by-rail agreements to ship about 100,000 barrels a day on tracks but the agreements won’t go into full effect until the 2nd quarter of next year…quite simply, there is no margin for error…if in the coming days or weeks there’s a transportation problem, or Oil operators produce more supply than the pipes can handle, then the overhang in Canada will worsen…

5. The Dow has slipped 115 points through the first 30 minutes of trading…in Toronto, the TSX has lost 69 points while the Venture is 1 point lower at 706…Cannabix Technologies (BLO, CSE) continues to look strong, up another 8 cents at $2.21 as of 7:00 am Pacific…Enthusiast Gaming Holdings (EGLX, TSX-V) commenced trading on the Venture this morning…“As one of the few gaming companies trading publicly…we look forward to a beneficial relationship with our shareholders as we carry out our vision of growing our platform both online and through our Enthusiast gaming Live Expo, EGLX,” said Enthusiast Founder, President and CEO Menashe Kestenbaum…a drill program has commenced at Evrim Resources’ (EVM, TSX-V) Cerro Cascaron Gold and Silver project in southwestern Chihuahua, Mexico…Evrim and exploration partner Harvest Gold (HVG, TSX-V) have planned up to 3,000 m of diamond drilling, with HVG holding an option to earn up to 80% in the project…Cerro Cascaron is a large underexplored and undrilled project with known areas of strong and veining outcropping Gold and Silver mineralization…

6. Pretium Resources (PVG, TSX), up strongly in early trading, has refinanced its construction credit facility, securing a commitment letter for $480 million (U.S.)…”We are focused on execution and delivery at Pretium, and securing a signed commitment letter to refinance our construction credit facility is another 2018 milestone we have delivered on,” stated Joseph Ovsenek, President and CEO.  “With a strengthened balance sheet and a focus on operational efficiency we will continue to build free cash flow”…Pretium anticipates meeting production guidance of 200,000 to 220,000 ounces of Gold and all-in sustaining cost guidance of $710 to $770 (U.S.) per ounce Gold sold for the 2nd half of 2018, with production weighted more heavily in the 4th quarter than the 3rd quarter…meanwhile, the approval process to increase the permitted production rate at Brucejack to 3,800 tonnes per day from 2,700 tonnes per day is on track, with a decision expected later this year…in addition, grassroots exploration in the Bowser claims located approximately 20 km southeast of the Brucejack mine is continuing, with 2 drills turning…

7. Balmoral Resources‘ (BAR, TSX) has expanded drilling at its Grasset and adjacent Fenelon properties, focused on the continued evaluation of the Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-Platinum-group-element potential of the Grasset ultramafic complex (GUC)…a second drill has been added with 11,000 m of drilling now expected to be completed…“Three years ago we suspended expansion drilling on the Grasset deposit and exploration drilling within the broader GUC following the dramatic crash of the Nickel price,” stated Darin Wagner, Balmoral President and CEO…“Today with the strengthening of the Nickel market and the outlook for increasing demand for Nickel sulphide deposits to help meet the burgeoning electric vehicle battery market, we are excited to return to the evaluation of the Grasset deposit and nearby discoveries.  This new Nickel sulphide belt is in its infancy from an exploration perspective and Balmoral controls it in its entirety”…

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