Stockhouse Canadian Small and Micro-cap Stock Report for Monday, September 23, 2013 VANCOUVER (SHfn) –
NioCorp Developments Ltd. (
TSX: V.NB,
Stock Forum) soared 27% to 16.5 cents as investors assessed the news the Niobium mine developer had appointed Mark A. Smith as CEO and a director of the company. Smith is well recognized in the mining community, having recently served as Chief Executive Officer and director of
Molycorp, Inc. (
NYSE: MCP,
Stock Forum), where he was instrumentally involved in taking it from a private company to a publicly traded company with a producing mine.
Critical Elements Corp. (
TSX: V.CRE,
Stock Forum) rose 13.5% to 21 cents after the exploration and development company reported the latest results of the optimization metallurgical program underway at SGS Canada Inc. (Lakefield) for its Rose lithium-tantalum deposit in James Bay, Quebec. The program has resulted in significant tantalite optimization recoveries, achieving tantalum recoveries of up to 84
% with a concentration grade of 11,713 grams per tonne tantalite in laboratory batch tests using wet high intensity magnetic separation. The average tantalite recovery rate for the program stands at 77.6
% with a concentration grade of 10,700 grams per tonne tantalite in batch magnetic separation tests.
Northern Graphite Corp. (
TSX: V.NGC,
Stock Forum) was down 3.6% to 80 cents before closing unchanged at 83 cents after the exploration junior announced that the economics in the previously released bankable feasibility study for its 100% owned Bissett Creek graphite project, located 100 kilometres east of North Bay, Ontario, have been updated to incorporate a new and larger resource estimate, some modifications to the capital and operating cost assumptions, and lower graphite prices. The Bissett Creek project has a pre-tax internal rate of return of 19.8% and a pre-tax net present value of $129.9 million in the base case which uses a weighted average price of US$1,800 per tonne for the concentrates that will be produced. This represents a substantial improvement in project economics over the feasibility study which had a 15.6% pre-tax internal rate of return at a price of US $2,100 per tonne. The project has significant leverage to higher prices as the pre tax internal rate of return increases from 19.8% to 25.7% and the pre- tax net present value from $129.9 million to $201.1 million at a price of US $2,100 per tonne.
Colossus Minerals Inc. (
TSX: T.CSI,
Stock Forum) lost 7.0% to 80 cents after the development-stage mining company provided an
update for its 75% owned Serra Pelada gold-platinum-palladium mine in the State of Pará, Brazil. "After the setback related to dewatering experienced in July, the company's dewatering and underground development activities are progressing according to the remediation plan communicated in mid-July,” said Claudio Mancuso, CEO. “Completion of the first phase of the ventilation system expansion provides a four-fold increase in underground airflow and allows us to begin ramping up development with increased manpower and equipment in September. The underground team achieved development on four separate faces in August and we remain on track to have five access drives ready to enter the Central Mineralized Zone in December."