Featured
TCR has another special situation.
Four of the five The Calandra Report presented in March produced rapid gains. These were Utah potash developer EPM Mining Ventures ($EPK:CA); Colorado's LKA Gold ($LKAI); Greenland-active True North Gems ($TGX:CA) ($TNGMF). Utah property owner American Sands Energy ($AMSE).
A fifth, Bitterroot Resources ($BTT:CA) ($BITTF), delayed its Hail Mary drill assays in Michigan, so we wait until May for data that might validate the platinum group metals prospector's claims in that mining-friendly state. In addition, we also count Sysorex Global ($SYRX) as a successful SS; this is the California technology services one we began tagging in November 2013.
A special situation is in the eye of its beholder. Investment authors are all over the map on what's special: arbitrage, onetime payouts to shareholders and even death of an executive are tagged as SS. Mostly, a special situation is a large gap in the current value of an investment vs. what is generally seen as fair value.
Best to think of an SS as a zit: what you had on the tip of your teen-tween nose when you were this close to going out on your first date.
TCR, in deep value mode, regards forced or distress selling as special. This is what happened this week with True North Gems (TGX:CA), which already is recovering from the fire sale of a Singapore large shareholder.
Out latest is also a company I have visited four times in Ghana. Today, a seller, likely a Bank of Montreal fund, unloaded the last of what probably was 600,000 shares of Xtra-Gold Resources ($XTG) ($XTGRF).
Xtra-Gold told me today the company bought 100,000 of the shares and subsequently canceled them. This is part of a program of retiring shares that CEO Paul Zyla and his team started more than a year ago.
I bought 12,000 more shares of Xtra-Gold just now (Friday March 28, 2014) at 3 0 cents Canadian. All in, I own about 220,000 shares. Xtra-Gold is funding its Kibi Gold Belt exploration via the sale of alluvial gold on its properties in Ghana. I have been wed to Xtra-Gold for almost four years.
Has Personality: Alex Molyneux of Powertech Uranium ($PWE:CA)($PWURF)/Azarga Resources was recognized at this week's HK Mines & Money confab. Alex is the former head of SouthGobi, the Mongolia coal operator. We might touch base with Alex in three weeks in Asia.
Off To Arizona next week on a copper tour. Then Los Angeles to see a publisher. Two weeks from today: Cambodia. Also in the cards later in April and May: Colombia for El Dovio, a Colombian Mines (CMJ in Canada) property; possibly titanium in Quebec.
Tickers: Powertech is PWE in Canada; Bitterroot is BTT in Canada and BITTF in USA; LKA Gold is LKAI in USA; EPM Mining is EPK in Canada; American Sands is AMSE in USA; Sysorex is SYRX in USA
@thomcalandra for Twitter