Tocvan Ventures traded over 570,000 shares this week closing at $0.355. The big seller again was Anonymous, selling over 470,000 and buying only 72,000 shares. This week and month in particular, Anon orchestrated a very aggressive dump of stock. I suspect it was timed around a liquidity event presented by Tocvan when they announced a Private Placement and the discovery of what could be the feeder system of gold for Placer miners in old river beds at lower elevations.
Simply put, this shareholder or group is taking advantage of this promotion to sell stock at the best price possible and move on.
There has been considerable discussion about the high volume selling through Anon. It is important to note, this not only happens with Tocvan, but in many other companies as well. The answer to this question is complex. I know that from the filings of Colibri, they have sold 5 M shares that were part of the payment as per their Option Agreement with Tocvan in September 2019. But even after their selling over the last few years, there is still an unusual number of shares being sold through Anon today.
This month alone Anon has sold almost 1 Million shares, with 502,000 shares in March, and another 740,000 shares in February. No doubt this has been a big overhang in the market for Tocvan, but Brodie Sutherland has still managed to hold the price for the last 3 months. Anyone can sell through Anon, but most small shareholders sell through the brokerage they buy from due to the convenience of electronic selling and low commissions. They also have smaller positions and no reason to hide their selling.
Therefore, I think the selling is likely from a large group that took down an early financing. Perhaps part of their reasoning has to do with a very depressed resource sector and wanting to move money into moving sectors such as Bitcoin, uranium, or just plain buying gold which has had a spectacular run. Another reason for their aggressive exit has to do with timing, since Tocvan has presented a growth plan leading to production that will take time. Whatever the reason, they are selling, but the good part is they will eventually run out of stock and this loose stock will have been moved into stronger hands.
I have never been more comfortable owning Tocvan now. Just think what Brodie has managed to accomplish.
First, Tocvan inked a sweetheart deal with the same institutional investor who participated in two previous financings. " The units issued to the investor under the institutional offering will be subject to the terms of an escrow agreement. The company will receive $62,500 per month from the closing date of the institutional offering over the next 24 months. The offering structure is an extension of the private placement structure previously disclosed by the company in its news releases dated June 30, 2022, and March 29, 2023."
This will essentially de-risk cash flow for operations for the next two years providing much needed breathing room.
Second, Tocvan is raising a non-brokered financing in the amount of $750,000 at $0.35 with a warrants exercisable at $0.50. Some may think this is dilutive at this price, but money has been difficult to raise for mining companies for almost two years now. The good part is there seems to be a loosening of the purse strings with gold now pushing over $2,400 USD. They re-filed yesterday suggesting they may raise more money due to investor interest.
From yesterday's filing, " The company expects to close the offering within the upcoming days. The closing remains subject to the company obtaining all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals. The company will evaluate and may potentially close an additional tranche of the offering as it deems strategic based on needs and fit with prospective investors."
As my dad always said, "Take the money when you can, the terms and conditions may not be there tomorrow."
I think these two strategic financings by Brodie will serve shareholders very well. The dilution will still leave Tocvan with less than 50 Million shares, as well significant money that can be raised by the exercise of warrants from the last three financings. At some point the selling through Anon will stop, and this combined with the surging price of gold now over $2,400 USD, the value of Tocvan will increase overtime as they get closer to production.
Don't get me wrong when I say "closer to production", this is no easy task, and will take time and money. But given the geology of Pilar, and the current infill and step-out drill program leading to a resource estimate, and previous metallurgical studies, the viability of an open pit mine is well within reach. Combine this with an excellent share structure, investors will be attracted to Tocvan's future potential. This will take time, but I am sure it will be well worth the wait.
My experience tells me the value proposition of Tocvan just got better with the recent acquisition of the property surrounding Pilar. Tocvan now owns 51% and Colibri 49% of the Pilar concession as per the September 2019 Option Agreement. This is only about 5% of the newly acquired property which is owned 100% by Tocvan.
Just on Thursday, Brodie stated, "Tocvan Ventures Corp. has released surface rock sample results from its 100-per-cent-controlled Greater Pilar gold-silver project in the mine-friendly state of Sonora, Mexico. A first-pass program of geological mapping and surface rock sampling topographically above continuing extensive placer mining activity has begun to outline an expansive set of mineralized trends in the recently acquired area. Highlights from sampling include 7.3 grams per tonne Au (gold) with 177 g/t Ag (silver); 5.5 g/t Au with 80 g/t Ag; and 1.8 g/t Au with 389 g/t Ag."
This quote from the Press Release is the exciting part,
"Over the past three years placer mining by local workers have ramped up activities in the Pilar area, most notably just north of Pilar where workings now extend 3.5 kilometres up a dry creek bed. Placer miners have focused on loose unconsolidated material that can easily be extracted and screened with an excavator. Most operations consist of one excavator operator and three 20-tonne haulage trucks used to transport material to a nearby sluice box for quick gravity recovery of the gold. The placer activity has provided an obvious vectoring tool toward areas potentially shedding gold from larger source rocks. Through geological mapping and sampling above these placer activities, the company has quickly been able to pinpoint the primary source for the placer gold. An area 800 metres by 700 metres has been identified as the source zone with the highest-grade samples collected so far adjacent to new road development and placer activities. Mineralization is described as hosted in quartz veins, silicified hydrothermal breccias and faults associated with altered andesite host rocks similar to those mapped at the Main zone. Sample highlights include 5.5 g/t Au with 80 g/t Ag on trend with artisanal mine workings and shafts. The company looks to further evaluate mineralization along these trends with the areas to the north and east remaining open to further gold-silver potential."
Make no doubt about it, finding high concentrations of gold and silver in numerous locations on a first-pass program of geological mapping and surface rock sampling is nothing short of spectacular. One needs to understand that most early stage companies make drilling decisions based on low level indicator concentrations of minerals and mapping. It is like drilling deep into the unknown and hoping.
This is the first time Tocan has had an opportunity to explore the Greater Pilar. It is obvious that "the placer activity has provided an obvious vectoring tool toward areas potentially shedding gold from larger source rocks". The discovery of surface mineralization of significantly elevated gold and silver concentrations, and numerous artisanal mine workings and shafts, suggests this is the source of Placer gold in dry river beds at lower elevations. If you think about it, the surface of this massive area has been eroded over time and exposed the upper part of gold and silver deposits, similar to what they have seen in the Main Zone at Pilar.
Essentially nature has done all the work and prepared the property for an open pit mine....
Thus, significantly reducing the cost to remove overburden or undertake expensive underground mining operations. The good part this is similar to many other working open pit mines in the Sonora area. It makes exploration easier and will lead to the identification of high valued drill targets. Whether we find the "Sweet Spot" or "Motherload" beneath is yet to be determined. We will soon find out.
The new property is exciting to me, and reminds me of this saying from my Dad, "always best to invest in companies with properties that have seen previous work such as Placer mining and old mine workings and shafts, thus increasing the probability of a successful drill program".