Power Nickel set to file short selling complaint

Power Nickel Inc. [TSXV-PNPN, CMETF-OTCQB] CEO Terry Lynch is alleging that his company has been the target of potential naked short selling.

Lynch, who is also a founder of Save Canadian Mining, said the company and its advisors have prepared and will file in the coming days an official complaint detailing significant and persistent position imbalances for Power Nickel’s stock.

In a press release, Power Nickel said “this troubling imbalance is defined as a broker having an insufficient number of shares in its depository account compared to the number of beneficially owned shares for its customers. This can indicate potential naked short selling and other manipulative actions designed to artificially drive down share prices,’’ Power Nickel said.

The company said it is bringing this to the attention of all Canadian investors to make them aware of the non-market factors that have led to the terrible performance of the TSX Venture Exchange despite it being on the whole a robust commodity market.

“The takeaway is that it is not remotely normal for our stock market to be so severely depressed,” said Lynch. “Indeed, it is clear there is something fundamentally wrong with the price action on the TSXV and indeed all Canadian exchanges,’’ he said. “In my volunteer and unpaid role as founder of Save Canadian Mining we have tried to bring this problem to the attention of Canadian politicians and regulators. However, this lobbying effort had no discernable benefit. Nothing was accomplished.”

“Shortly” Power Nickel says it will file a formal complaint which should cause CIRO (Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization) and FINRA (The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) to investigate the investment banks we have found who have persistently and consistently maintained significant imbalances of more than 100,000 shares for a minimum of eight weeks.

This imbalance started collectively around 3.0 million shares and now stands at over 9.0 million shares on the 80% of the float of Power Nickel’s stock that it can obtain information.

Power Nickel unveiled its plan after the close of trading on November 23, 2023, when the company’s shares closed at 26 cents. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 35.5 cents and 14.5 cents.

Power Nickel is drilling its flagship Nisk project in Quebec in a bid to become a supplier of low-carbon class 1 nickel to the developing North American electric vehicle supply chain.

The Nisk property occupies a large land position with numerous high-grade nickel intercepts in the southern portion of the Eeyo Istchee James Bay territory, a region that hosts a number of mining projects and improving infrastructure.

It consists of two blocks, covering 46 square kilometres and a length of over 20 kilometres. The Route du North from Chibougamau runs inside the south border of the property. Nisk-1 is also traversed by a Hydro Quebec power line and road.