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Gold Summary for March 11, 2024
2024-03-11 18:28 ET - Market Summary
by Stockwatch Business Reporter
New York spot gold added $1.80 to $2,180.40 on Monday. The TSX Venture Exchange fell 16.40 points to 559.34 while the TSX gold index rose 5.38 points to 277.55. West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (WRLG) was an energetic gainer today, as it added five cents to 77 cents on 2.26 million shares. New Gold Inc. (NGD) also did well, adding 20 cents to $2.23 on 5.61 million shares. Franco-Nevada Corp. (FNV) lost $1.87 to $153.35 on 612,000 shares.
Anna El-Erian and Dragos Tanase's Gabriel Resources Ltd. (GBU) saw its just over one billion shares add seven cents to 87 cents on 2.38 million shares Thursday. The stock was halted at the open Friday, and late that day -- a weekday renowned for bad news -- came word the company has lost its arbitration case against the Romanian government related to the permitting -- lack thereof more correctly -- of the Rosia Montana precious metals project. Worse, the government gets $10-million (U.S.) to cover legal fees and expenses.
The oh-so-close decision, the company grumped, "is entirely inconsistent with any objective assessment of the evidence presented in this case." (The company apparently considered the assessment of the two arbitrators voting against it as either unobjective or willingly inconsistent. Instead, Gabriel focused on the "compelling dissenting opinion" of the third arbitrator to support its opinion.)
Ms. El-Erian, chairman, deemed the decision of the majority to be "deeply flawed and a travesty of justice," noting as the dissenting arbitrator did, that "the Romanian government's sustained political interference with Gabriel's contractual rights prevented the development of a flagship mining project owned in partnership with the state." Gabriel will take time to evaluate its options, she says.
Mr. Tanase, chief executive officer, noted that Gabriel's shareholders had "invested hundreds of millions of dollars to deliver a transformational mining project" that would have brought very significant social and financial benefits to the Romanian people. He will also be taking time to study the decision before planning the next move. (Gabriel and its state-owned Romanian minority partner -- Gabriel, in other words -- had put $760-million (U.S.) into the project over the years.)
This is not a new fight. Gabriel has been toing and froing with the Romanian government for 20 years over permitting for the project. The project cleared feasibility nearly a quarter century ago based on a reserve of 10.4 million ounces of gold and 52 million ounces of silver. The economics were bright, even with gold at $275 (U.S.) per ounce. Gabriel, which traded at nearly $9 in the early 2010s, had a 20-cent stock barely a year ago. When it ran as high as 89 cents earlier this year the company said it knew not why, but investors were clearly banking on a positive decision. Gabriel crashed 84.5 cents to 2.5 cents -- no those are not reversed -- on 21.2 million shares today.