A Weekly Recap of All Things Resources to Friday, September 13th

‘That’s a Wrap’

By Rod Blake

As the equity armatures and professionals alike closed up shop last Friday, September 6^th, they left with a seared impression that the North American markets, that up until the end of August, were so focused on the positive, had now suddenly reversed that perspective and were now clearly carrying a negative bias.

The way I see it – Last week’s and especially last Friday’s sell-off was not the result on individual investors selling a board lot or two of stock. No – what we saw last Friday was the work of trading computers, programmed to sell when they sensed the market was turning and then sell methodically and relentlessly into the market until their mission was completed, regardless of price.

Last Fridays across the board selloff came on no particular bad economic or political news.  Then on the following Monday, September 9^th, the North American markets disregarded Friday’s action and opened on a surprisingly positive note – on the same non-news.

According to think tank Ember – Global electricity generation from solar farms has exceeded generation from wind farms since May, marking the longest ever stretch where solar power has been the top source of utility-scale renewable electricity worldwide. However, wind power is likely to reclaim its status as the world’s leading renewable energy source in September due to the changing angle of the sun’s rays coupled with rising wind speeds as winter sets in across Europe, North America and Northern Asia.

Mine ore production and mill feed require delicate balancing – especially in a small mine. As such, the shareholders of Ascot Resources Ltd. ‘AOT-T’ saw their investment plunge by $0.26 or 59.10^% to just $0.18 after the Vancouver, BC based company suspended milling operations at the company’s Premier Gold Mine in Northern British Columbia, due to ore development complications resulting in setbacks to producing ore for its mill.

Snowline Gold Corp. ‘SGD-V’ continued to impress with drilling news. This time the Vancouver, BC based mineral developer announced that diamond drill hole V-24 078 returned 4.05 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) over 244.9 metres (m) from surface. (High-grade material near surface goes a long way to making an orebody profitable.)

Kodiak Copper Corp. ‘KDK-V- shares’ rose by $0.025 or 6.25^% to $0.425 after the Vancouver, BC based mineral explorer’s diamond drill hole AXE-24-007 returned a best ever 357 metres (m) of 0.46^% copper equivalent (CuEq) from the Adit Zone at the company’s MPD copper-gold porphyry project north of Princeton, BC.

Kinross Gold Corp. ‘K-T’ & ‘ KGC-N’ stock rose by $0.72 or 6.23^% to $12.33 after the Toronto, OBN based senior gold producer released a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) from the company’s Great Bear project near Red Lake, Ontario.

Nothing excites a Gold Bug more than seeing free gold. To that end, shareholders of Sitka Gold Corp. ‘SIG-V’ drove the Vancouver, BC based junior mineral explorer’s stock price up by $0.06 or 30.00^% to $0.26, after the company reported that drill hole DDRCCC-24-068 returned over 40 instances of visible gold from surface to 680 metres (m) at the Blackjack Deposit of its flagship RC Gold Project near Dawson City, Yukon.

Centamin PLC ‘CEE-T’ stock gained $0.50 or 23.47^% to close at $2.63 on word the Jersey based junior gold producer had agreed to a US$2.5-billion cash & stock takeover offer from Britain’s AngloGold Ashanti PLC ‘AU-N’.

B2Gold Corp. ‘BTO-T’ & ‘BTG-N.A’ shares’ rose by $0.48 or 12.90^% to close at $4.20 after the Vancouver, BC based miner finally came to terms with the State of Mali regarding ongoing operation and governance for the company’s Fekola Complex in that West African country.

This as the price of gold bullion closed at a new all-time high of US$2,581 a troy ounce (t oz) sending many gold equities to multi-year or all-time closing highs.

Clean Air Metals Inc. ‘AIR-T’ stock surged higher by $0.025 or 71.43^% to a close of $0.06 after the Thunder Bay, ON explorer reported encouraging diamond drill hole platinum group and base metal assays from the company’s Thunder Bay Critical Minerals Project.

Crude oil fell to a new 16-month closing low of US$65.24 early in the week.

Which no doubt helped investors to drive the closing price of Africa Oil Corp. ‘AOI-T’ stock down to a new 2^3/4-year low of $1.78.

Vermilion Energy Inc. ‘VET-T & N’ shares’ fell to a new 3-year closing low of $12.15.

This as the key Baker Hughes Petroleum Rig Count reported the number of active American drilling rigs rose by 8-rigs in the past week to 590, down by 51-rigs from this time last year. Up north – the number of Canadian active rigs fell by 2-rigs to 218, up by 28-rigs from one year ago.  

Nickel dropped to close at a new 6-month low of US$7.16 a pound (lb).

The price of lithium fell to close at a new 3^1/2-year low of US$10,021 a tonne (t).

And disenchanted investors sold Lithium Royalty Corp. ‘LIRC-T’ down to a new all-time closing low of $5.95.

Then the North American lithium companies caught a bid on word that China’s battery giant company CATL was cutting back production from its lithium mine in China’s southern province of Jiangxi due to low lithium prices.

The TSX Composite rose to close at a new all-time high of 23,569.

Silver and copper topped the best performing commodities on the week, while only lithium showed a loss.

All of the North American equity markets were positive going into the weekend as investors focused on an anticipated U.S. Fed interest rate reduction next week.

For the Week – the DJI gained 2.60^% to 41,394, with the S&P 500 up 4.03^% to 5,626 and the NASDAQ ahead 5.95^% to 17,684. Across the line – the TSX rose 3.46^% to 23,569 and the TSX Venture gained 6.42^% to 580. The CBOE Volatility Index or VIX fell 26.04^% to 16.56.

With currencies – the Canadian dollar lost 0.16^% to US$0.7358, and the U.S. dollar ‘DXY’ fell 0.08^% to 101.11. 

With commodities – gold bullion gained 3.45^% to US$2,581, with silver ahead 10.07^% to US$30.72, and copper up 3.74^% to US$4.16, while lithium lost 3.41^% to US$10,211. Crude oil rose 1.48^% to US$69.23, while natural gas gained 0.44^% to US$2.30, and uranium rose 0.25^% to US$80.05. With soft commodities – lumber rose 2.25^% to US$500. Overall – the CRB Commodities Index gained 1.25^% to 325.