Buzz on the Bullboards: Mining Heats Up as Healthcare Makes Headlines

(Image via The Supreme Cannabis Company Inc.)

Another week of the COVID-19 pandemic means another week that the healthcare sector has captivated investor attention.

COVID-19-related stocks are not just rising in the Stockhouse ranks, they are topping them at this point. In the past year we have highlighted numerous stocks that have risen in both share price and investor interest mainly because of their potential, but now the tide has turned, and this is simply the norm.
On the Stockhouse Bullboards, small-cap investors continue to look for the current and hot plays to capitalize on during a-still uncertain market, while other longer-term plays lose interest. It appears that this has resulted in the perennial favourite cannabis sector losing some ground, only to mark a sizeable comeback, while the consistently attractive metals and mining sector sees several attractive opportunities arise in time for the industry to come together, virtually, for the premier mining networking event of the year.

So let’s dive in and find out who’s at the top this week, who’s new to the conversation, and who’s licking their chops ….

At the top of this story you may have noticed some intruging gummies on display, those come courtesy of The Supreme Cannabis Company Inc. (TSX: FIRE, Forum), who launched its line of THC gummies under its sugarleaf brand this week. The first variety, Strawberry Peach, is being shipped to cannabis retailers in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta Manitoba, as well as PEI, and is expected to be available by the end of March.



Another cannabis play that gets a lot of attention among Healthcare traders is Empower Clinics Inc. (CSE: CBDT, Forum). The integrated healthcare company serves patients through medical centres, telemedicine platforms and a high complexity medical diagnostics laboratory, that processes thousands of COVID-19 specimens. CBDT along with MedX Health Corporation (TSX-V: MDX) recently signed Memorandum of Understanding to pilot MedX’s DermSecure Screening Platform at two Empower Clinics locations in Ontario, with plans for a broader market roll-out pending the completion of a successful pilot.

Speaking on this news, Empower’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steven McAuley stated that his Company exists to make testing, screening, and diagnostics as convenient as possible for patients.

“Providing our patients with easy access to quality virtual services like teledermatology compliments our current COVID-19 testing amid the ongoing pandemic. MedX is an ideal teledermatology partner, as their screening platform is second to none. We look forward to the results of this pilot and making the platform more widely available throughout our network.”

CBD biotech company Claritas Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TSX-V:KLY, Forum), formerly doing business as Kalytera Therapeutics Inc. announced this week that it had formed a Scientific Advisory Board. The board will work closely with Claritas’ management team to develop nitric oxide-based therapeutics to treat diseases and disorders with an unmet medical need. The advisory board will be led by Dr. Garry J. Southan, an internationally renowned expert in the biology, biochemistry, and chemistry of nitric oxide.



Many who frequent the Metals and Mining Bullboards are keeping up with the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), which is a must attend event for the world’s mineral exploration and mining industry, now coming to you virtually.

The convention wraps up today and highlights the market for electric vehicle (EV) battery metals.

One of the key companies exhibiting at PDAC in this space is Critical Elements Lithium Corporation (TSX-V: CRE, Forum), who initiated a new phase of exploration on its extensive land position in Eeyou Istchee, Québec. According to an update released this week, the company has more than 700 square kilometres of highly prospective lands in its portfolio beyond Rose, the first to be advanced.


(View looking NNE): Image of the 3D Constraining Pit Shell showing the 300 Horizon (Purple), CS-600 Zone (Red) DS-5 Zone (Orange) and Copper Belle (Blue) Map via American Creek Resources Ltd. Click to enlarge.)

American Creek Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: AMK, Forum) delivered results of the initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the Goldstorm and Copper Belle Zones at its flagship Treaty Creek property this week, which was conducted by its joint venture partner, Tudor Gold Corp. (TSX-V: TUD, Forum).

A total of 218 drill holes totalling 105,658.8 metres were used in the Mineral Resource Estimate. The constraining open-pit shell contains 14.15 million ounces of Measured and Indicated gold equivalent ounces (AuEq) at an average grade of 0.72 gpt AuEq and 5.26 million Measured and Indicated AuEq ounces at an average grade of 0.80 gpt AuEq for the out-of-pit Mineral Resources. Cut-off grades of 0.30 gpt AuEq were used inside the constraining open-pit shell and a higher cut-off grade of 0.46 gpt AuEq was used for the out-of-pit Mineral Resource Estimate which includes underground constrained blocks. The Goldstorm Zone remains open in all directions and at depth.

Tudor Gold’s Vice President of Exploration and Project Development, Ken Konkin, P.Geo., elaborated further, touting the results that were obtained from the initial Mineral Resource Estimate.

“Only 10-12% of the gold equivalent values are attributed to silver and copper mineralization indicating a strong gold-dominate system. However, due to the immense volume of the system, it contains large quantities of silver and copper. Further studies are required to investigate the potential economic impact of these two metals. Our preliminary metallurgical test work shows excellent gold recoveries to a gravity + flotation concentrate. From four composite tests, gold recoveries averaged 96.2% in pyrite concentrates with overall gold recoveries after concentrate extraction expected to be on the order of 88%. The mineralogical studies also demonstrated that no deleterious elements such as As, Sb or Hg were detected within the Goldstorm and Copper Belle Zones.”

He added that the plans for 2021 are to complete the drilling of the Goldstorm Zone; to define the limits of the 300 Horizon, the CS-600 and DS-5 Zones. In-addition, diamond drilling is planned for the Eureka and Perfect Storm Zones.

“We believe that the Treaty Creek Property contains excellent potential for continued discovery of gold-silver-copper systems such Goldstorm.”

Mineral Estimate Highlights:

The classifications of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources for gold, silver, copper and gold-equivalents and their respective tonnage are listed in Table 1 below. In addition to the 17.33 million ounces of gold Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource and 7.22 million ounces of gold Inferred Mineral Resource, there are 93.41 million ounces of silver estimated as Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources with an additional 40.57 million ounces of Inferred silver Mineral Resource. The Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource also estimates 1.096 billion pounds of copper with an additional 330 million pounds of copper as an Inferred Mineral Resource.

The Property is located within the heart of the Golden Triangle of Northwestern British Columbia which is on-trend from the KSM Project under Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSX: SEA), located five kilometres southwest of the Goldstorm Zone.



Datametrex AI Ltd. (TSX-V: DM, Forum) announced that it intends to acquire 100% of Perspectum Drone Inspection Services Ltd., an arm’s length privately held artificial intelligence drone imaging predictive analytic services company.

Perspectum deploys multiple technologies including delivery platforms, sensors, software, and data management. Perspectum provides the most efficient inspection services available while addressing all matters related to safety, environment, accuracy, reliability, and cost.

Datametrex’s Chief Executive Officer, Marshall Gunter stressed that the impact of the acquisition of this AI business cannot be minimized.

“The demand for imaging predictive analytic reporting continues to be a large area of growth. As businesses and countries continue to work towards zero emissions and carbon neutral footprints, we believe that adding this imaging predictive AI element to our existing cybersecurity business will drive significant value for our stakeholders.”

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On January 25th, 2021, US President Joe Biden announced his intention to replace the US government fleet of vehicles with electric vehicles (EV's), in line with his $2-trillion (USD) Climate Plan.

A report by Governing says that before the year 2025, the US will look to increase workplace and public fast-charging by 400% to keep up with the demand.

Fast-forward a month and a half and Extreme Vehicle Battery Technologies Corp. (CSE: ACDC, Forum) announced its plans to launch the IoniX Pro EV Smart Charging Station. Similar to the EV Battery Tech’s SmartWall and TITAN series, the aim with the Smart Charger was to deliver a product at a lower price point that its competitors, while keeping quality high.
EV Battery Tech CEO, Bryson Goodwin pointed out that the demand for charging stations is at an all-time high, with no signs of slowing down.

“We have been working on perfecting our smart charging station for quite some time. We continue to conduct research and to develop and improve our technology that enables us to have the opportunity to bring superior products to the market”.
In 2019, the global EV market was valued at $162.34 billion in 2019, and according to Allied Market Research, it is projected to reach $802.81 Billion by 2027.

CEO Goodwin added, “With the rapidly increasing number of new EV's entering our roads each and every day, there is a significant shortage in EV infrastructure predicted to hit worldwide.”

Another tech industry report that caught the eyes of many found that 67% of data breaches are caused by credential theft and social engineering attacks that capitalized on moments in time like COVID-19.

The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) now mandates that all Federal departments use Derived Credentials for identity proofing on mobile devices.

BlackBerry Limited (TSX:BB, Forum) moved in to offer that support for Derived Credentials within the BlackBerry AtHoc mobile app would allow those Federal workers to ensure that their sensitive data remains authenticated and authorized when using the app for instant messaging, sending or responding to notifications.

BB announced new technology advancements to BlackBerry AtHoc that it said would improve how US Federal agencies communicate and collaborate during times of crisis and reduce the risk of unauthorized access to Federal data, systems and applications.

BlackBerry AtHoc is the first to support Derived Credentials for identity authentication on a mobile device. In addition, BlackBerry has added AWS GovCloud to its cloud infrastructure, making BlackBerry AtHoc services the most widely available EMNS solution to the Federal government.

The provider of intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world followed this news by teaming up with Desay SV Automotive to launch a dual-screen virtual smart cabin domain controller to enable safer driving. Leveraging the QNX Hypervisor and the QNX Real-time Operating System, the new technology is now available in leading Chinese automaker Chery's Tiggo 8 Plus and Jetour X90 models.

This brings us to this week’s Investor Pulse Poll question - Are you still tracking your "COVID Plays" since the pandemic began? Click the image below to cast your vote.


(Click the image to vote.)

Looking at last week’s poll, a number of you have different ideas how to build a portfolio, which is probably a good thing. Whatever you do, keep doing it.



As always, the most important thing for investors is to stay informed, alert, and ready for action. The lingering market uncertainty and developments of the COVID-19 pandemic only strengthens this need, so make sure to catch up on the latest plays on the Stockhouse Bullboards. For previous editions of Buzz on the Bullboards: click here.

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FULL DISCLOSURE: American Creek Resources Ltd., Extreme Vehicle Battery Technologies Corp., and Datametrex AI Ltd. are clients of Stockhouse Publishing.