These commodities are working this horrendous week for precious metals: uranium, molybdenum, tantalum, scandium.
Iron ore, it’s hanging in there. Really obscure metals, such as chromium and manganese, are OK this week. Canada and Australia-traded equities that deal in nickel and thermal coal appear to be mostly armor-plated from the gold-silver-platinum turbulence.
(An aside: Natural gas is also showing signs of life; I see asset-rich Cinch Energy Corp. (TSX: T.CNH, Stock Forum) of Alberta cheap right here and do NOT own the shares; ditto for Luis Giusti’s Colombia oil producer/prospector, misfiring on some cylinders but still sound, Alange Energy (TSX: V.ALE, Stock Forum).)
As for the non-golds, as we refer to them at Ticker Trax, I use John Lee’s Prophecy Resource (TSX: V.PCY, Stock Forum) as a carbon test. Aside from Prophecy’s coal/sulfide nickel transactions across Canada and elsewhere, the little Mongolia company’s share price lives and dies on investors’ embracing (or not) its 1.4 billion metric tons of thermal coal in that China-neighboring nation.
Thus far, Prophecy shares are living the thermal dream. (Please see stock chart via Stockhouse.) Nice work, John, and I do NOT own the stock.
Also on the non-gold front, I have learned, after a trip to San Diego this week, that the concept of conflict-free metals and other resource ingredients for technology manufacturers is alive and well. Conflict-free means sidestepping some nations – the Congo (DRC) is one example – that must raise the bar on mining practices and other conduct codes regarding water, employees, carbon emissions and on and on. That from the behavior-monitoring electronics trade group EICC.
I own several non-gold prospectors and mine builders, but all are extreme “high risk.” The one I both own and try to follow on behalf of Ticker Trax subscribers, Kitsault Mine builder Avanti Mining (TSX: V.AVT, Stock Forum), is on the road in New York City and points east as far as London. The shares this week are “working,” as they say in the cynical brokerage biz. Executives Craig Nelsen and A J Ali are longtime confidants of mine and are laying out Avanti’s strategy for raising the several hundred million dollars it will take to put molybdenum into production by 2013 or so at the British Columbia, Canada, property.
“Eye On” RIO, RN, BAT, AGG, GPXM, GV, GGA
Companies in the gold and copper arena we are “keeping an eye on” at Ticker Trax:
- Rio Alto Mining (TSX: V.RIO, Stock Forum) – It’s copper in Peru and going into production soon. A $200 million might seem like a rich market cap to some. Still, Eugene McBurney’s GMP Securities sales-folks in Toronto managed to dispense $50 million-plus of equity to asset managers this week at the current Canadian stock price of $2.05, with two-year full warrants at the same price. The money goes to “advance” La Arena in Peru; in this case, advancement might be to a large suitor, as happened with Peru’s Antares Minerals and its Haquira Copper Project, which I surveyed last year.
- Rio Novo Gold (TSX: T.RN, Stock Forum) – David Beatty’s Rio Novo is also nearing expansion point as it boosts its gold resource at two Brazilian projects. Like Colombia’s Continental Gold (TSX: T.CNL, Stock Forum), Rio Novo drills the flogging heck out of its properties. Rio Novo just came up with a 51-meter in-fill drill hole of two grams-plus gold per metric ton. Toronto investment banker Beatty just completed a $46 million equity raise. Mr. Beatty, whom I have met, says he intends to achieve at least a one million-ounce resource calculation at its Almas property “as quickly as possible.” He is shooting for production as soon as he can, too. Toronto financier Ari Sussman of Continental Gold and Brazil’s Colossus Minerals (TSX: T.CSI, Stock Forum) is tight with Mr. Beatty. Rio Novo has long-term trading warrants at 86 cents a share (RN.WT).
- Batero Gold (TSX: V.BAT, Stock Forum) – Brandon Rook’s Batero Gold in Colombia is outpacing some of its peers in several ways, most notably in its excellent presentation of drill results. Batero’s rich data and specific mapping and hit points are a model for any reporting prospector. See the map. I do not own the shares but wish I did. (I must confess that one year ago, up in Canada, I did not see the promise of Mr. Rook’s geology at a breakfast with his Colombia team. My bad; I was 404 as the kids say these days.) Batero’s executives will lay out the gold and copper promise of its La Cumbre porphyry at Quinchia on Monday alongside the Cambridge House Gold & Metals Show in Vancouver, which I will attend. (My Sunday morning talk to the Cambridge audience will include a mini-rant about sloppy or thin disclosures on the part of some enterprising prospectors.) Thanks, Batero and company, for setting a nice standard. It is right there with a couple of my other longtime favorites when it comes to deep and rich assay data: Ivanhoe Mines (IVN and T.IVN), whose Mongolia copper and gold deposit is as rich as its press releases and whose shares I do NOT own; and Bellhaven Copper & Gold (TSX: V.BHV, Stock Forum), whose CEO Paul Zweng is a doctor of geology and among the best at presenting drill data in press releases (and whose shares I DO own).
- African Gold Group (TSX: V.AGG, Stock Forum) – Michael Nikiforuk’s African Gold Group is, like several West Africa prospectors we follow,putting in placea succeed-and-sellstrategy forits lead property. Mr. Maka, as he is called in Mali, tells me AGG commissioned a Montreal engineering firm for a preliminary economic assessment for the Kobada, Mali, gold project. That is already public knowledge. Michael says the report will be complete by early March. “We are confident the scoping Study will be positive and therefore will include the recommendations of the engineering Firm to advance the project through the feasibility study stage,” he says. I have been down this road before – with Ivanhoe Mines’ Oyu Tolgoi and at least a dozen other economically feasible deposits (Latin America, Africa, Canada, Nevada) that moved closer and closer to reality.) So, at the year-long request of Mr. Nikiforuk (and several aficionados whose opinions I value, including 321gold’s Bob Moriarty and Stockhouse’s own Marcus New), I am in mid-February heading to Mali with Mr. Michael Nikiforuk. I also will view AGG’s Ghana property and those of two other companies – in South Africa and in Ghana; the companies subsidize part of my airfare to Africa and my hotel costs. “AGG’s strategy will be to continue to develop the project with the conviction that the addition of tonnes and ounces will be reflected by an increase in AGG’s market cap,” Maka tells me. “In the event an attractive offer presented itself that met with the approval of the majority of shareholders (20% management, 70% institutional and 10% individual investors), the project would be sold.”
- Goldgroup Mining (TSX: T.GGA, Stock Forum): I do not own the shares, but I believe you might consider them. Keith Piggott and Gregg Sedun have plenty of skin in this one. I will be visiting GGA’s Caballo Blanco near Veracruz in Mexico in one week; along with us will be several savvy asset managers, at least two analysts whose opinions I respect; and several independent geologists, including asset manager Dr. Zweng, cited above. Please see our coverage at Stockhouse and at our password-secure Ticker Trax Library.
I will be attending the Vancouver Investment Conference this weekend. It comes just as the Minerals Round-Up for geologists starts in Vancouver, Canada. Please seethe speakers’ agenda. Companies I hope to catch up on include Thomas Klein’s Golden Phoenix Minerals (OTC:BB: GPXM, Stock Forum) in Ontario, Nevada and Peru; and Jonathan Adwe’s Gold Standard Ventures (TSX: V.GV, Stock Forum) in Nevada. I own neither of these shares; both appear to be on a springboard for accelerated market appreciation based on drill data, joint venture activity and a flood of fresh money from wealthy and knowledgeable investors. (Please see GV’s Rain District-area Railroad Project drilling map here.)
Note: The only shares in this report Thom owns are Bellhaven and Avanti. For the purposes of the Stockhouse audience, his ownership is in no way a reason to purchase the shares. For more, please subscribe to Ticker Trax.
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HOLDINGS: Thom’s holdings are listed for Stockhouse members at www.Stockhouse.com under the “portfolio setting” for user TCALANDRA. It is public and free to view. He owns shares of about 30 companies.
THOM CALANDRA of Ticker Trax helps his audience find value in a quagmire of investment choices. Thom was founding editor of MarketWatch, CBS MarketWatch and FT MarketWatch. He was the voice of Thom Calandra's StockWatch and The Calandra Report. Thom has been covering life-sciences and natural resources since 1988.
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