Tocvan prepares for a busy season ahead. Not much happened this week with Tocvan closing Friday at $0.47 on 70,600 shares, with most of the shares coming from one seller. Tocvan traded only 97,850 shares for the entire week.
Another low volume week as shareholders anxiously wait for several important events to occur.
Here are the key messages worth repeating from the November 27 press release, "Tocvan arranges $3-million in financing".
"The first tranche of the institutional offering for gross proceeds of $1.8-million is expected to close on or before Dec. 4, 2024". We know the offering is an extension of the private placement with Sorbie that was previously disclosed in news releases dated June 30, 2022, and March 29, 2023. I suspect this will close soon, legal documentation is often delayed in complicated multi-year deals like this one with Sorbie.
"In addition, the company will complete a concurrent private placement for up to $1.2-million to other eligible investors for an aggregate issuance of 6.25 million units of the company at a price of 48 cents per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $3-million."
I suspect this financing will take a bit longer due to the Canada Post strike, however, as I mentioned in a previous post, the easiest way to move money is directly through the bank as a draft. Also, documents can be sent by fax or email, making the overall process much easier than when I first started trading.
"A diamond core drill rig is set to mobilize on or about Dec. 4, 2024. Core drilling of up to 1,250 metres is budgeted and prepaid through an existing credit with partial joint venture partner Colibri."
Here is a link to Brodie Sutherland's December 5th post on X which "shows a dozer on site preparing our next pads. Team continues to find silicified rocks, extending our footprint (this photo 600m southeast of the main zone)". One common theme I find with the Pilar property is the surface geology suggests a robust open pit mine is possible, i.e., Team continues to find silicified rocks.
https://x.com/SutherlandPGeo/status/1864684373464825948
"Additionally, RC drilling is expected to begin in early December to test the northern and northeast extent of known mineralization. An initial phase of up to 2,000 metres of RC drilling is anticipated with a pause over the holidays before returning for the new year."
I suspect the preparation for both core and RC drilling is well underway and we will hear something soon.
"In addition to drilling, the next round of permitting will include extraction and processing of the anticipated 50,000-tonne bulk test mine scheduled for next year." Sounds like another round of permits has already been submitted and collection of material and preparation for the heap leach pad will start later this year or early in Q1 of 2025.
The test mine should be fully operational by the end of Q2 2025, not that far away.
"The company expects to recover between 800 and 1,400 ounces of gold, depending on grade and recovery encountered with an additional 5,000 ounces of recovered silver. The company has used conservative estimates based on recovery rates encountered during the independently reviewed bulk sample completed in 2023 that yielded a head grade of 1.9 grams per tonne gold with 62-per-cent recovery."
Tocvan "estimates the total cost of the Pilot facility including the extraction and processing of 50,000 tonnes to be approximately $1.7-million (U.S.)" What is very important is that Tocvan "is reviewing several term sheets to evaluate non-dilutive methods to fully finance the test mine facility."
It is very encouraging to hear that Brodie is looking at non-dilutive methods to provide shareholder value by keeping the share structure as tight as possible. My guess is that since the processing facility is scalable and will be used during the full production process, this financing will likely look at a cost recovery and profit model over several years and not just the one time cost of the pilot mine.
There should be consistent activity and progress once all the financings are completed.
It is getting close to Christmas so I suspect the overall activity in the stock markets will slow. Combine this with tax loss selling, there are always deals to be found.
As my dad said at this time of year, "don't be fooled into selling your stock as tax loss selling generally makes the markets look weak"
He also said, "keep some powder dry for deals at this time of the year".