CRU International Ltd. director Paul Robinson forsees higher demand for both steel and aluminum this year.
However, during a presentation at the annual PDAC Convention in Toronto, Sunday, Robinson warned that if proposed U.S. tariffs on both steel and aluminum lead to a global trade war, market sentiment could turn negative.
Robinson said CRU expects demand for steel to increase by 2 per cent over 2017, and is forecasting a price of US$745 per ton.
He said aluminum demand in 2018 is expected to jump 4.7% from last year, pushing the price of the metal to US$2,200 per tonne.
CRU, based in London, England, provides research and analysis on the outlook for commodities.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the proposed aluminum and steel tariffs into law this week.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has vowed Canada will retaliate by taking responsive measures to defend its trade interests and workers.
Meanwhile, please stay tuned for videos of CEO’s who agreed to be interviewed during this week’s PDAC conference.
Below are some company updates for the benefit of investors who can’t make the show but don’t want to miss out on what is making news.
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Tristar Gold Inc. (TSX: V.TSG, OTC: TSGZF, Forum ):
TriStar Gold Inc: Ticking the boxes on what to look for in junior exploration companies.
1. Management has track record.
TriStar’s Board and Management have extensive experience including having been part of, or led, other companies to production or acquisition.
2. Deposit a major might want
“Majors have cut their exploration budgets, but their reserves have not increased, so right now they are looking more and more into investing in junior explorers that fit their criteria.” Brent Cook, Exploration Insights.
That means a project with multi million ounce potential and grade. Castelo de Sonhos project resource is already in reach of this range and growing. 2018 drilling is aimed at further increasing the resource.
It has
Size,
Located in a mining friendly jurisdiction with power and highway, and metallurgy for
Simple Mining.
3. Growth potential
Castelo de Sonhos has exploration upside as the deposit remains open in most directions.
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Labrador Gold Corp (TSX: V.LAB, OTC: NKOSF, Forum ):
Labrador Gold Corp. (TSX-V: LAB) is exploring for gold on its large under-explored land packages in mining friendly Labrador, where Shawn Ryan expects to repeat the successes he had in the Yukon. Our initial exploration program outlined district scale gold on two properties, including gold in soil over a 40 kilometer strike length of a greenstone belt in which Labrador Gold has a dominant land position.
Rock sampling during the program returned assays up to 7.5g/t gold highlighting the potential of the greenstone belt for hosting significant gold deposits similar to those in the Timmins, Kirkland Lake and Larder Lake gold camps of Ontario. The properties have good infrastructure being close to rail or tidewater. Follow up work during 2018 will include more soil sampling, mapping and prospecting, with Initial drilling expected in the third quarter.
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New Age Metals Inc. (
TSX: V.NAM,
OTCQB:PAWEF,
Forum)
:
New Age Metals (NAM) is a Junior Exploration and Development Company focused on two ?Green Energy Divisions. Both our PGM and Lithium divisions’ minerals will aid in powering the?energy needs of the automobile industry today and into the future. NAM owns 100% of Canada’s?largest undeveloped primary Platinum Group Metals (PGM) deposit, The River Valley Project,?with 3.9Moz PdEq in Measured plus indicated including an additional 1.2Moz PdEq in Inferred. It is ?situated only 100 KMs from world class metallurgical facilities in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, each of? which could take NAM’s concentrates.
NAM’s PGM division is complemented by a large? portfolio of Lithium Projects (three of which are drill ready) in the prospective Winnipeg River? Pegmatite Field, which is in the same greenstone belt as the world-class Tanco Pegmatite. NAM?has recently joint-ventured 5 Lithium Projects with a well-funded 3rd party junior company, whereby?a minimum of $500,000 will be expended in 2018.
NAM is not only unique due to its combination? of assets, but it also has a senior technical and financial management team with a proven?background in developing Platinum Group Metal and Lithium Projects on an international?scale. The combination of these projects and the technical expertise of management make it a very?unique junior mining company.
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Skyharbour Resources Ltd. (
TSX: V.SYH,
OTCQB: SYHBF,
Forum)
:
Skyharbour Resources is a preeminent uranium exploration Company with projects located in the prolific Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada which was recently rated the #1 mining jurisdiction in the world by the Fraser Institute. The Company has been acquiring top tier exploration projects at attractive valuations culminating in five uranium properties totaling over 180,000 hectares strategically located throughout the Basin. This winter the company will be carrying out its largest exploration season in company history. Three separate programs will be running simultaneously between the flagship project Moore and Preston projects.
The first of which, a 4,500m drill program, was recently announced and will be funded by Orano (formerly AREVA) at the Preston project as part of the $8M option agreement whereby Orano can earn up to 70% of the project. Following up on Skyharbour’s successful past two drill programs at its flagship, high grade Moore project, the Company has commenced a 4,000m winter drill program. During last year’s programs at Moore, high-grade drill results included 21% U3O8 over 1.5m and a new high-grade lens was discovered along strike from the main high grade zone on the 4km long Maverick corridor. Lastly, option partner Azincourt Energy has also begun their exploration program on the East Preston project as part of their $3.5M earn-in for 70% of the project.
Recently, the world’s largest mine, McArthur River, representing approx. 10% of global mine supply was shut down in addition to the world’s largest producer, Kazatomprom, announcing a 20% production cut over the next 3 years. These cuts equate to a significant amount of the world’s uranium supply and should be a catalyst for higher uranium prices in 2018.
Skyharbour is well positioned to benefit from a recovery in the uranium market with ample news flow coming over the next 12 months between our drilling results at Moore as well as our “prospect generator” strategy with strategic partners at our Preston project, Orano (formerly AREVA) and Azincourt. The Company is run by a strong management and geological team who are major shareholders with extensive capital markets experience as well as focused uranium exploration expertise in the Basin. Skyharbour's goal is to maximize shareholder value through new mineral discoveries, committed long-term partnerships, and the advancement of exploration projects in geopolitically favourable jurisdictions.
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Callinex Mines Inc. (
TSX: V.CNX,
OTCQX: CLLXF,
Forum)
:
Callinex Mines Inc. (TSX-V: CNX ; OTCQX: CLLXF) has recently announced several drill results that expanded their Nash Creek Zinc Deposit in the Bathurst Mining District of New Brunswick. The Company recently completed a drilling program consisting of 35 drill holes to support an updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate and maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment. The initial drill results have expanded the deposit laterally and along strike in the northern area of the Nash Creek Deposit.
These drill results have expanded the deposit by up to 600m north of the mineral resources and includes drill hole NC17-257 that returned exceptional near-surface results with a 15.0m intersection grading 7.2% zinc equivalent (“Zn Eq.”) mineralization including 9.0m of 11.1% Zn Eq. from a starting depth of 113.0m. Additionally, Drill Hole NC-249, the northernmost hole, intersected extensive mineralization including 53.8m of 2.8% Zn Eq. starting at a depth of 18.5m including two separate higher-grade intervals of 11.5m of 5.1% Zn Eq. and 10.7m of 4.0% Zn Eq. within 60m of surface.
Callinex plans to delineate the extent of the Nash Creek Deposit along strike in both directions along a 3 km long zinc-lead soil anomaly, of which only the southern 2 km has been drilled and is coincident with the Nash Creek Deposit. The Company also plans to test satellite zones that are open for expansion and commence a district-scale exploration program along the 20 km long land package.
The Nash Creek Deposit hosts a near surface indicated resource totaling 712 million pounds Zn. Eq. and inferred resource totaling 88 million pounds of Zn Eq. The Company’s Superjack hosts an additional near-surface inferred resource totaling 328 million pounds of Zn Eq. in the Bathurst Mining District.
The Project benefits from tremendous infrastructure within close proximity. The Nash Creek Deposit is located approximately 1 km from Provincial Highway 11, high-voltage transmission lines and only 25 km by road to Glencore’s Brunswick Smelter, deep water port, railway and power plant near the town of Belledune. Callinex is currently working towards publishing an updated resource estimate and maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment.
The PEA is expected to have a base-case scenario of a standalone open pit operation with potential to process between 15 to 20 million tonnes of material using dense media separation as a pre-concentration process before the material would be delivered to a conventional flotation mill.
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Kerr Mines Inc. ( TSX: T.KER, OTC: KERMF, Forum ):
The past twelve months have been transformational for Kerr Mines. The Company raised a total of CAD 14 million via two equity financings which strengthened the balance sheet and provided the capital to significantly advance its flagship Copperstone asset in Arizona towards a production decision.
The Company completed its Phase I drilling program which confirmed the existence of the Footwall Zone, a mineralized zone running parallel to the Copperstone zone, and subsequently expanded it by 255% along both strike and depth. The Phase I drilling program also extended the Copperstone zone along strike and depth, returning some impressive drill results, all part of delineating a pathway to 1Moz resource target.
The Company also identified three additional exploration targets based on geophysical anomalies similar to Copperstone.
In Q1 2018 the Company is on track to release its pre-feasibility study, a key milestone to make a production decision. The Company is also looking to commence Phase II drilling program with the objectives of further defining and expanding Copperstone’s resource base and mine optimization plans.
Kerr Mines aims to continue to create shareholder value. The Company believes it will achieve this by focussing on maximizing Copperstone’s potential by defining and expanding current resources and strengthening the mine’s economics leading to a production decision.
- Claudio Ciavarella, CPA, CMA, ?Chief Executive Officer
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Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. (
TSX: T.OR,
NYSE: Or,
Forum)
"Even if gold is unable to make new multi-year highs, the market is still in a good space and the mining sector has room to grow, said Sean Roosen, CEO of Osisko Gold Royalties. “I think the gold market at $1,330-$1,350 is a pretty good price to set the stage for new projects to come online.” While gold has struggle to make gains against the U.S. dollar, our company’s portfolio is weighted heavily in Canadian dollar terms, which is a natural edge for us. With gold trading at $1,690 an ounce against the Canadian dollar, the market is only 10% off its all-time highs at C$1,886 an ounce. we doesn’t make investment decisions based on future price forecasts for gold, but rather, makes the assumption that they will be operating in a $1,150- $1,350 an ounce environment.”
- John F. Burzynski , CEO - Osisko Mining
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Carube Copper Corp. (
TSX: V.CUC,
Forum)
:
“The copper market is very hot these days and I expect this will continue for at least 5 or more years. The demand for copper is already strong and it will only become stronger as the major economies shift to electrification of vehicles. We know that most of the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers have committed to electrifying their fleets and several countries have already decreed the demise of the internal combustion engine in passenger vehicles. Copper will be needed for the electric motors in these vehicles. A strong demand for copper is in place and the supply, at least in the short term is going to be lacking.
New copper mines will have to be developed to meet this demand. As part of the supply chain of copper, new and recent discoveries will be brought towards feasibility and production and this is where Carube Copper fits in this chain. Our recent copper and gold porphyry discoveries have already caught the attention of copper producers and with the proper backing and funding, these projects could have the chance to be part of that supply in the future. Carube Copper is certainly a company to look at.”
- Jeffrey Scott Ackert, President, CEO