A Weekly Recap of All Things Resources to Friday, May 27th
‘That’s a Wrap’
By Rod Blake
With their Canadian counterparts enjoying a much-deserved Victoria Day off, the American brokers, investors, traders and portfolio managers prepared to face what could be week-8 of the deepest market correction since the economic meltdown of 2008.
Volkswagen AG ‘VLKAF-OTC’ sends a delegation to North America to among other things – search out electric vehicle (EV) production facilities in the U.S and Mexico as well as sourcing EV materials from Canada.
Panelists at a recent Canaccord Genuity Metals & Mining Conference noted that “..ex-China battery capacity will have to grow by 7-times over the next 7-years to meet current demand projections” and that “…the timely development of ex-China refined lithium capacity was critical for the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs)”.
And while the world is obsessed with the price of crude oil and gasoline – the price of natural gas quietly rose to a new 14-year high of US$8.98/mmbtus.
Meanwhile – the United Kingdom government takes advantage of high petroleum prices by announcing a 25% windfall profits tax on its oil & gas companies.
The way I see it – I recently had the pleasure of attending the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference. It was my first venture to a conference since the arrival of Covid-19 and I was amazed how much I looked forward to seeing and catching up with old colleagues from my brokerage days and getting caught up with the many companies progress or programs. And while the floor wasn’t as busy as I remembered from previous conferences, the energy in the room and the enthusiasm of company representatives and conference speakers made the event well worthwhile. Resources are making a comeback and I encourage everyone to attend a resources conference should one come to your region.
Resource markets love drilling news and Filo Mining Corporation ‘FIL-T’ & ‘FLMMF-OTC’ didn’t disappoint as its stock price surged up by $2.89 or 12.30% to $26.31 after the Lundin Group company reported a diamond drill hole assay of 1,338 metres of 1.33% copper equivalent (CuEq) from its Filo del Sol Project that straddles the border between northern Argentina & Chile.
Olko Resources Ltd. ‘OKU-A’ shares’ doubled in price to A$0.15 on word that senior gold producer B2Gold Corporation ‘BTO-T’ & BTG-N’ was enhancing its mineral land position in Mali, West Africa by taking over the Australian based junior explorer in a cash & share deal valued at some A$91.3-million.
Equinox Gold Corp. ‘EQX-T&N’ and Sandstrom Gold Ltd. ‘SSL-T & SAND-N’ they were joining forces to form Sandbox Royalties Corporation a new diversified metals royalty company with an initial portfolio of some 23 metals royalties spanning multiple assets and jurisdictions.
Mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland announced he is taking Ivanhoe Electric Inc. ‘IE-N & T’ – his U.S. mining and battery-based energy storage business public with a mandate to “support American supply chain independence and to deliver critical metals necessary for electrification of the economy.”
The closely watched Baker Hughes Petroleum Rig Count reported the number of active American drilling rigs fell by 1 to 727, an increase of 270 from this time last year. Meanwhile – the number of active Canadian rigs increased by 15 to 103 for an increase of 41 over one year ago.
For the Week – The DJI gained 6.24% to 33,213 as the S&P 500 rose by 6.59% to 4,158 and the NASDAQ improved by 6.83% to 12,131. In Canada – the TSX gained 2.73% to 20,749 while the TSX Venture rose by 3.13% to 724.
Gold bullion rose by 0.38% to US$1,857, as silver rose by 1.65% to US$22.12 and copper improved by 0.47% to US$4.32. Elsewhere – crude oil  gained 1.78% to a 21/2-month high of US$115.19  while natural gas surged up by 7.9% to US$8.73. The Canadian dollar was up by 0.89% to US$0.7861. Overall – the CRB Commodities Index gained 1.80% to an 11-year high of 339
And Finally – With inflation seemingly front & centre in our daily lives it was nice to see one company keep its ‘line in the sand’ against rising prices as Costco has reiterated it will keep the price of its hot dog & soda combo at $1.50 – the price established when the prized meal was launched some 37-years ago in 1985.
Good luck in the week ahead….