A Weekly Recap of All Things Resources to Friday, April 12th

‘That’s a Wrap’

By Rod Blake

As the brokers, investors, traders and portfolio managers watched their terminals last week, one item kept standing out above all the rest. Gold bullion rose for five consecutive days from US$2,220 to US$2,327 a troy ounce (t oz). A $107 gain to put the yellow metal firmly above the previous long-term resistance highs of about US$2,000 set in 2020, 2022, and twice in 2023. Like the ram battering the dam – gold has finally broken well above previous long-term resistance with only blue-sky above.

The way I see it – The next time you see twp people bumping chests they might not be the usual sport enthusiasts celebrating a victory. They could be Gold Bugs celebrating something 4-years in the making and maybe the first signs of a run that they haven’t seen since March of 2019 when the world’s only true currency finally broke through a 6-year resistance of US$1,350 and marched $650 to the $2,000 level only 5-months later. Gold is now firmly above the previous resistance level of US$2,000. The upside from here is unknown and a downside of over $227 to break what should now be support at $2,000 seems unlikely. It might not be pretty to watch, but the Gold Bugs could be bumping chests for months to come.

The enthusiasm for precious metals spilled over to the new week with silver rising to a new 3^3/4-year closing high of US$28.46 a troy ounce (t oz) and gold closing at a new all-time high of US$2,376 a t oz.

Which no doubt helped the price of IMPACT Silver Corp. ‘IPT-V’ to reach a new 1-year closing high of $0.36.

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. ‘FVI-T’ & ‘FSM-N’ shares’ rose by $0.14 or 2.20^% to a new 2^1/2-year closing high of $6.50 after the Vancouver, BC miner reported improved 1^st-quarter production figures.

B2Gold Corporation ‘BTO-T’ & ‘BTG-N’ closed at a new 3^1/2-month high of $3.98 and Kinross Gold Corp. ‘K-T’ & ‘ KGC-N’ rose to a new 2^1/2-year closing high of $8.86.

Copper also continued its rally and climbed to a new 2-year closing high of US$4.31 a pound (lb).

Which helped Hudbay Minerals Inc. ‘HBM-T & N’ to reach a new 2-year closing high of $10.83, and Taseko Mines Ltd. ‘TKO-T’ & TGB-N’ to close at a new 3-year high of $3.44, while Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. ‘IVM-T- closed at an all-time high of $18.36.

Capstone Copper Corp. ‘CS-T’ stock rose to a new all-time closing high of $9.39 after the Vancouver, BC based miner announced that the first ore had been introduced to the grinding circuit of the company’s Mantoverde Development Project (“MVDP”) in Chile. The $870-million total capital cost project is projected to increase Capstone’s consolidated copper production by over 40^% with a significant decrease in unit operating costs.

Zinc finally caught a bid and rose to a new 1-year high of US$1.27 a pound.

All of which helped the stock price of Fireweed Metals Corp. ‘FWZ-V’ to reach a new 3-month closing high of $1.22.

Big Canadian oil remained in favour with Cenovus Energy Inc. ‘CVE-T & N’ rising to a new 2-year closing high of $29.81 and Imperial Oil Ltd. ‘IMO-T & N’ closed at a new all-time high of $100.99.

Conventional producers also gained investor attention with the share price of Crescent Point Energy Corp. ‘CPG-T & N’ rising to close at a new all-time high of $12.15.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed with a lower court ruling that the Enbridge Inc. ‘ENB-T & N’ Line 5 in Wisconsin is trespassing on 12-miles of Bad River of Lake Superior Chippewa lands. But, rather than shutting down the line as was suggested by the lower court, the DOJ suggested that Enbridge pay the First Nation Band some US$5-million for trespassing on their land.

The influential Baker Hughes Petroleum Rig Count reported the number of active American drilling rigs fell by 3-rigs in the past week to 617, down by 134rigs from this time last year. Up north – the number of Canadian active rigs rose by 5-rigs to 141, up by 14-rigs from one year ago.  

The CRB Commodities Index closed at a new 2-year high of 344.

Sherritt International Corp. ‘S-T’ stock surged up by $0.35 or 11.29^% to close at $0.345 after the Toronto, ON based company’s shareholders’ received an unsolicited all-cash purchase offer from Calgary, AB based SC2 Inc. to purchase up to 21,621,621 shares of the nickel/cobalt miner in the open market at a price of $0.37 per share.

Uranium stocks received renewed investor attention with industry giant Cameco Corporation ‘CCO-T’ & ‘CCJ-N’ shares’ rising to a new all-time closing high of $69.03.

Canfor Corporation ‘CFP-T’ shares’ fell by $0.27 or 1.69^% to $15.74 after the Vancouver, BC based forestry giant announced permanent closing the company’s Jackson, AL mill and the addition of a second shift to its Fulton, AL facility.

This as the price of lumber fell to a new 4-month low of US$540 per 1,000 board feet (mbf).

Lithium Ionic Corp. ‘LTH-V’ reported a 26^% increase in global mineral resources to 60.1-million tonnes (Mt) for the company’s flagship Bandeira Lithium Project located in Minas Gerais State of Brazil.

Silver and copper were the commodities with the largest gains on the week, while lumber and crude oil were off the most.

The TSX Venture Exchange rising to a new 6-month closing high of 588 while the TSX composite Index rose to a new all-time closing high of 22,362.

South of the border – the NASDAQ rose to a new all-time closing high of 16,442.

All of the North American markets were off going into the weekend as rising tensions in the Middle East drove investors to cash and a rising U.S. dollar.

The CBOE Volatility Index or “VIX” rose to a new 6-month closing high of 18.08.

The TSX Venture Exchange was the only North American market to hold a weekly gain going into the weekend.

For the Week – the DJI lost 2.37^% to 37,983, as the S&P 500 fell 1.56^% to 5,123, and the NASDAQ dropped 0.45^% to 16,175. In Canada – the TSX lost 1.63^% to 21,900 while the TSX Venture rose 0.68^% to 588. The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX gained 7.99^% to 17.31.

With currencies – the Canadian dollar lost 1.36^% to US$0.7258, while the U.S. dollar ‘DXY’ rose 1.65^% to a 4^1/2 month closing high of 106.01.

With commodities – gold bullion gained 0.73^% to US$2,344, as silver rose 2.04^% to US$27.99, while copper improved by 1.65^% US$4.31 and lithium gained 1.53^% to US$15,341. Crude oil lost 1.15^% to US$85.46, while natural gas was unchanged at US$1.78, and uranium gained 0.28^% to US$88.75. With soft commodities – lumber fell 5.43^% to US$540. Overall – the CRB Commodities Index was unchanged at 343.

And Finally – Hong Kong authorities reported their largest ever gold smuggling bust after seizing 146 kg or about US$10.7-million of the yellow metal disguised as machine parts within air compressors being shipped to Japan in late March.