IKN #724Premium

The IKN Weekly
Week 724, April 2nd 2023
Contents
This Week: Trade heads up, In Today’s Edition, US Jobs and market holidays, No China Crisis.
Fundamental Analysis: QC Copper & Gold (QCCU.v): The laggard.
Stocks to Follow: Faraday Copper (FDY.to), Goldshore Resources (GSHR.v), AbraSilver
Resource Corp (ABRA.v), Newcore Gold (NCAU.v), SolGold Plc (SOLG.to), Aldebaran Resources
(ALDE.v), Contango Ore (CTGO), Amerigo Resources (ARG.to), Chesapeake Gold (CKG.v).
Copper Basket: Overview, Element 29 Resources (ECU.v), Solaris Resources (SLS.to).
Producer Basket: Overview, Newmont (NEM) and Newcrest (NCM). Newmont and Barrick
(GOLD), Wesdome Gold (WDO.to) (WDOFF).
TinyCaps Basket: Overview, District Metals (DMX.v), Viva Gold (VAU.v), Nine Mile (NINE.cse).
Regional Politics: Mining’s image in LatAm, Ecuador vs mining continues.
Market Watching: Deferred.
I remind subscribers that no part of this newsletter can be copied, reproduced or
given to any third party without the express permission of the author.
This Week
Trade heads up
I don’t have a lot to spare, but after revisiting QC Copper & Gold (QCCU.v) this weekend and
considering its heavily discounted price compared to the likely catalyst event in its near-term
future, I’ve somehow talked myself into adding a few shares to my underwater pile and
averaging down a little. Details in today’s main fundies section.
In Today’s Edition
 The first quarter of 2023 is in the books (wow it’s flown by) and we take the pulse of
what we’ve seen in Q1 as we review the Copper Basket and Producer Basket lists.
 After introducing three new stocks to the Stocks to Follow list last week, today’s main
Fundies section is all about one of the more annoying under-performers on the list at
the moment. We review QC Copper & Gold (QCCU.v), get its financials up to date and
consider its potential to turn around in the weeks to come as we await the arrival of its
Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) update, due out this quarter.
 Copper continues to out-perform and thanks to a couple of big market voices, the
whole issue of world inventory levels is now front and centre as a price driver for the
metal. That’s today’s main intro section as well as more details in The Copper Basket
(where else?).
US Jobs and market holidays
The main US inflation reading, the CPI (due April 12th), is the current star turn macro but that
doesn’t mean the US BLS Jobs Report isn’t an important moment. The next one is up this Good
Friday, April 7th, when the US BLS is scheduled to release its Jobs Report for the month of
March. According to Calculated Risk (in a post that features a useful little near-term tracking
chart) (1), “The consensus is for 240,000 jobs added, and for the unemployment rate to be
unchanged at 3.6%.” However, please also note that the main Northern Hemisphere markets
will have to wait until Monday April 10th to react. It’s Good Friday and the NYSE and TSX are
closed for business.
1

No China Crisis
Yes, yes, I could be wrong
Why, why, should I pretend
Cos God only knows in the end
China Crisis. "Black Man Ray" 1985
Today’s intro is not about The USA and gold, instead we lift one of the themes of today’s
Copper Basket and do China and copper. One of the more enduring tropes of the Chinese
economy is of its impending collapse and this desk has been hearing about the problems faced
by the world’s largest command economy for many years. As one example of many, we’re
regularly invited to watch social media exclusives as some-or-other building crew demolishes
some-or-other block of high-rise living quarters that have failed to attract a single resident. That
it never occurs to the prophets of doom publishing these clips just why these images are
allowed to escape the Great Firewall is rarely considered, not when there’s some bias to
confirm.
But not here. This desk has been clear-eyed about the effects of Chinese demand on
commodities and raw materials of all types, from the time it “only” made up around 25% of
world demand for copper. These days it’s 55% of all copper produced around the world and
from the look of the latest data, that demand isn’t about to come to a stop. A month ago we
reported on the 52.6 reading from the China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index,
normally known as “China PMI” and one of the better gauges of true economic activity in the
country. That came as quite a shock to observers expecting a reading of just over 50 (the
median indicating expansion) as it was the highest PMI in over a decade. Analysts scrambled to
explain why they’d got it so wrong and once a large dose of 20/20 hindsight had been applied,
they decided that the combo of the end of Covid Zero regulations and the Chinese CCP
government’s economic stimulus package that had been approved just before President Xi did
his abrupt 180° on Covid restrictions (after protests threatened to upset the country) were
behind the sharp improvement. Here’s how we put it in IKN720 dated March 5th when
commenting on the blowout number:
We’re now seeing the result of this double upside whammy to the Chinese economy;
the downturn, obvious in the Q4 PMI readings above, is now all over. So the February
number was strong and enough on its own to boost copper (and other things), but
what you should really be thinking about is what happens when the next reading
comes out strong. It wouldn’t need a record number, all we want is a good
expansive number and the market is going to read a different story into China’s
economic data. The combo of stimulus and re-opening promises to be explosive for its
economy, far more so than any of those anecdotal videos of authorities demolishing
empty blocks of flats in provincial cities may be.
That was then, this is now and on Friday we got the March 2023 PMI reading, which had been
forecast at a mildly expansive 50.5% before February’s blowout number. That shirted the
forecast up to 51.5 but (2) instead, we got…
China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)
54
53
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
2
0202naj ram yam luj pes von 1202naj ram yam luj pes von 2202naj ram yam luj pes von 3202naj ram
source: China PMI
…51.9, another strong reading. This chart is a snapshot of the post-Covid years for reference
(Feb 202 was 37.4) and includes the weirdness that created, but for better context the link
above will show that 51.9 is in the top five readings since 2012. So even without February’s

blow out, China’s March 2023 would impress the suited and booted anal ysts of the world.
There’s nothing wrong with the economy of China and its economic stats show that clearly. As
does its appetite for copper and for more on the way the world’s inventory drawdown is now
making headlines since Robert Friedland put it front’n’centre of his PDAC keynote (good for
him) see The Copper Basket below. But here in today’s intro we take a slightly different and
more conspiratorial route. Here’s a simple question:
Considering that copper is the only major metal China needs to import in
large quantities from the rest of the world due to a lack of copper mines and
deposits on its home soil. if you were China would you prefer copper to be
expensive or cheap?
Don’t think about it too hard, it’s not a trick question. So if you agree with this desk and
answer “cheap”, might that be a reason for those “China about to implode” headlines and news
stories so regularly leaked to the western world? And now for a simple observation to add to
that simple question, as for several years the copper space would, from time to time, be rattled
by sudden and large inventory events, mostly to the LME and mostly at its Asian warehouses.
From out of nowhere, warehouses would be bombed with a large influx of copper inventory
that would send jitters through the market, add to any bearish case and, more often than not,
stop price appreciation in their collective tracks. Examples of these Inventory Bombs for LME
copper include:
 March 2017, when LME copper inventories jumped 95,000 metric tonnes (mt) in one
month
 January 2018, when LME copper inventories jumped 97,000mt in the month
 April 2019, when LME copper inventories jumped 60,000mt in the month
 July 2019, when LME copper inventories jumped 45,000mt in the month
 August 2020, when LME copper inventories jumped 72,000mt in the month
 March 2021, when LME copper inventories jumped 67,000mt in the month
 June 2021, when LME copper inventories jumped 89,000mt in the month
 April 2022, when LME copper inventories jumped 62,000mt in the month
Arguably that last one may have been more about the fall-out from Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine, but this publication has documented the way in which large lumps of copper inventory
have come out of nowhere in an attempt to disrupt the copper market too many times for that
list (and more where they came from) to be coincidence. Therefore, it’s interesting to note that
we haven’t seen any of these large dumps in the last year, that at a time when the Chinese
strategic reserve for copper (and other commodities) is reputed to be at all-time lows and the
shadow stocks of copper in non-bonded warehouses are reportedly down to fumes as well.
Suddenly, China has no more bullets left to shoot at a copper market that is showing every sign
of breaking upward in the near term and has shown itself to be remarkably resilient to the
normal tide of US recession talk.
The metal’s nickname isn’t “Dr. Copper” for any medical reason. The “PhD in economics” metal
has an uncanny track record as lead indicator for the financial world. Copper bears are puzzled
by how it has stayed above U$4.00/lb (a price that provides rich profits for the large copper
miners of the world) in the face of US hard landing and recession risks, they have been
reluctant to give up their bearish position and admit that this time might be (slightly) different.
We, on the other hand, have fewer doubts and whatever might happen to the US economy in
the quarters to come, Chinese demand for copper will remain robust as we then move into the
much-predicting structural deficit for the red metal, as forecast by all and sundry for 2024 and
beyond. The secret ingredient now keeping copper prices high may turn out to be the lack oif
“bear bullets” left in the Chinese arsenal and however much they’d like to spook the market and
push prices lower, they no longer have the wherewithal to do so.
3

Fundamental Analysis of Mining Stocks
QC Copper & Gold (QCCU.v): The laggard
Our Brave New World of copper at U$4.00/lb and above, even as a hard landing and potential
recession threatens to hit the world’s largest
economy and cause all the usual knock-on effects,
means there has been renewed attention and
interest about investment and speculation in copper
stocks of all shapes and sizes. This sample chart
(right) shows the rally in the last six months for the
biggest end of the sector, with Southern Copper
(SCCO), Freeport (FCX), the main copper producers’
ETF (COPX) and the metal spot price (HG00) chosen
as rough examples of what’s been happening among
the large caps.
We’ve seen many of the same benefits in our smaller
world of juniors and explorecos, as well. For just a couple of examples, our main copper trade
Amerigo (ARG.to) is up 60% in the same period and the recent arrival to the list, Faraday
Copper (FDY.to) is up over 90% (I’ve managed to grab only the tail end of that move, though).
Even low volume Aldebaran and (until recently) shorters’ target SolGold are showing gains and
in general terms, without being the best out
there our copper portfolio is doing quite well in
recent months. All except for one stock, that is:
My position in QC Copper & Gold (QCCU.v) is not
the biggest, but neither is it the smallest on the
list and there’s no escaping the way that it has
underperformed in quite miserable style while
other copper juniors around it have sprung and
rallied. It’s been the most painful hold on my list
(yes, even more so than the prolonged inertia at
Minera Alamos) and while some of the damage
has been self-inflicted by the company, there’s
no real reason for a serious exploreco to trade
like this, one with a truly valid project that isn’t
the normal wing/prayer fodder so common in the sector. However, it must also be stated that
at least part of the problem is the company itself, with two reasons for the underperformance
coming to mind:
 Resource update delays: The period when a company does infill/expansion drilling to enlarge
and expand its project is often one that comes with more laggardly price action, but QCCU has
done itself (and we shareholders) no favours at all by promising timelines for its flagship
Opemiska project, Quebec Canada, that it could not deliver. At the time of the Maiden Resource
Estimate (MRE) in 3q21, we were told that 2022 would be the year for drilling and the updated
MRE would show at the end of the year. That didn’t work out, as first QCCU moved back the
MRE update to 1q23 and then most recently to the current quarter just started, calendar 2q23.
While the reasons given at the time were reasonable, it’s meant those holding through have
had their patience (and back pockets) tested, particularly when the second delay was
announced just as copper-the-metal came out of its price slump.
 Mediocre communication of plans: As 2022 rolled out, QCCU explained that it would change
focus at Opemiska. Instead of building a resource around areas of relatively small, high grade
material left behind/left undiscovered by previous operations at the site, it would build a larger
model and incorporate the lower grading halo material around the zones featured in the 2021
MRE. Here’s the current resource table (with a written-in reminder in red):
4

That’s a strong resource at the assumed cut-off of 0.2% CuEq (grade four times cut off is
always going to deliver strong economics, with an all-categories 1.4Bn lbs copper and 10.24m
oz gold. And alongside the global numbers, QCCU reported an obvious starter pit zone where
previous underground mining had left a crown pillar. This 10-6m tonnes zone, all in the M+I
category, grades strongly at 1.26% CuEq and would offer excellent early stage production and
quick payback of capex.
However, when QCCU changed focus it didn’t do a good job of explaining why, so when
headlines such as…
 QC Copper Intersects 184 m of 0.32 % CuEq, including 49.5 m of 0.7 % CuEq,
Extending Mineralization Within the Conceptual Pit
 QC Copper Intersects 100m of 0.42 % CuEq and 93m of 0.45% CuEq Further
Extending Mineralization of Opemiska’s Conceptual Open Pit
…started showing (two of several examples), it was too easy for the casual observer to sniff at
the grades compared to the MRE of the year before and not even open the NR, let alone read
up on how the project economics would likely benefit from higher tonnages, higher throughput
and significantly lower strip rate the eventual mine plan once the resource were updated. As a
result, QCCU lost market momentum and interest, even as it continued to report the type of
news that keeps a value investor and fundies anal yst such as I firmly on the hook. You may
recall my frustration in comments about the QCCU results and their lack of traction during 2022
(because I certainly do). That ennui and inertia has continued into 2023, but with copper now
perky and copper stocks of all types beginning to rally, it may be time to revisit QCCU as its
major catalysts are now and that’s what we’re about today. Three things to do:
1. Catch up on corporate financials
2. Take a stab at what we might see in the Resource Update, due out soon
3. Run some numbers and show you how darned cheap this stock is today
In other words, I remain a firm believer in the prospects of QCCU.v at Opemiska and think that
its current 13c stock price is a real bargain, a gem among the pennycrappers and now to
explain why.
Corporate financials check-up: As I reviewed recent notes on QCCU in The IKN Weekly, it
became clear I haven’t done a financials review for a while. That gets remedied today, along
with reasonable assumptions for the rest of 2023 in the model and visuals. We begin at the
beginning and the balance sheet items and the most recent quarter 1q23 (to January 2023 is
now in the books.
QCCU.v: Assets, per qtr
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
5
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
$m QCCU.v: Liabilities, per qtr
4
fixed 3.5
other current 3
cash
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
source: company filings/IKN ests
91q2 91q3 91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
source: company filings/est
srallod
fo
snoillim
LT liabs
current liabs

We start with the assets overview charts and the easy one first, liabilities. Since the company
chewed through the non-cash flow-though liability they’ve been tiny and, while it’s unlikely to
come out that way, we assume the same level for the next three quarters to corporate year end
(October 31st). That’s that, now for the assets chart and here we see how fixed asset total are
small (they expense, they do not capitalize) and how cash treasury depletes in classic exploreco
style as the company goes about its exploration and development programs, does its drilling
and burns through cash. There is one novelty in the last two quarters to note, however. “Other
Current” suddenly grew at 2022 YE and we expect it to stay that way, due to the QCCU.v equity
position in Ore Group sister company Baselode (FIND.v), i.e. 10.714m shares.
FIND.v has recently rallied from oversold lows to close at 54c this weekend, making that assets
line item now worth C$5.59m to QCCU. It will again be marked to market at quarter end, April
30th. With QCCU now including FIND shares as current assets and unlikely to sell them into the
market for the time being (even less likely at its current discounted price), the better gauge of
liquidity at the company is therefore its straight cash treasury.
QCCU.v: Cash treasury per qtr
As at end 1q23 that stood at C$8.052m and we expect the current small financing, announced
last week and including strategically important “Quebec Funds” (3), will close fully filled and
bring in C$1.4m in gross proceeds. That should top up most of the current quarter’s burn that
includes part of the current 10,000m drill program (three rigs turning), but after that and once
the MRE is in the books, QCCU will turn its attention to the compilation of its PEA and will no
big drill program planned, burn should drop accordingly. That’s a long way of saying that the
company has more than enough money to get through 2023 and its wouldn’t surprise me to
learn my assumptions as seen that chart are overstating burn rates and QCCU won’t have to
raise capital until deep into 2024.
As for shares out, we assume the current placement closes fully filled and add the 500,000
shares it emitted recently to pay for the land
purchase next to Opemiska, that gets us to 162.8m
shares out today and we round up to 163m S/O for
the rest of the year and for valuation purposes. At
today’s 13c, QCCU runs a market cap of C$21.16m
and that’s small number for a company with a live
project and plenty of cash to back it up.
The bottom line to financials: QCCU is on good
shape money-wise. Those FIND shares are booked
as current assets which suggests they may be sold,
I don’t think that’s going to happen and it’s neither
here nor there that they get booked the way they
do. More importantly, QCCU has all the cash it
needs to get into 2024 and while the recent dilution isn’t optimal for current holders (such as I),
it does bring in more money from supportive insto backers who are likely tight hands. So with
that done, let’s move to consider what we might get from the impending resource update.
6
743.0 319.0 577.0 606.1 347.1 208.6 170.6 385.2 905.71 480.61 125.41 750.01 658.8 250.8 7 5.5
5.3
20
18
16
14
12
10 8 6 4
2
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
source: company filings/IKN ests
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fo snoillim
QCCU.v: Working Capital per qtr
343.0 417.0 306.0 603.1 864.1 571.6 108.4 196.2 372.41 763.41 249.21 149.9 874.61 788.51 51.41 7.21 7.01
20
18
16
14
12
10 8 6 4
2
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
source company filings/IKN ests
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QCCU.v: Shares out (m)
4.93 4.93
4.35 4.35 7.85 8.07
9.701 7.311 2.711
4.431 0.541 6.641 4.941 7.051 9.051 8.261 0.361 0.361
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
91q3 91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
source: company filings, IKN ests

What to expect from the Mineral Resource Estimate update: The first thing to confirm is the
timing on the upcoming MRE, which will replace and supersede the 3q21 MRE. I checked with
QCCU CEO Stephen Stewart this weekend and he confirmed this:
The drill data that will be included in the MRE has now been delivered to the third party QP,
who will now generate the resource. CEO Stewart was quick to point out that even though the
company is on-time to this stage, the exact timing is now out of the company hands and
dependent on the independent compiler. That’s fair comment under normal circumstances but
as QCCU has already delayed this 43-101 twice there will be hell to pay if this MRE is delayed
past Q2 and I don’t care whose fault it might be. Anyway, according to this timeline chart we
are due the NR to announce the headline numbers at some point in mid-May, then the 43-101
gets delivered to SEDAR 45 days later. As for the contents, we know some basics:
1) QCCU has changed its plan for Opemiska and is now aiming for higher tonnage that
incorporates lower grading halo zones around the higher grading veins. This means
we’re going to get a lower grade in the upcoming MRE, but with the cut-off at 0.2%
CuEq (according to the CEO that’s unlikely to change, but the final decision is with the
3rd party compiler) they have plenty of leeway to do that.
2) The 2022 and 2023 drill campaign has done a good job in “turning waste to ore” by
drilling into areas previously classified as waste and, while lower grade, turning it into
material for eventual processing. That means the higher tonnage will get offset by a
significantly lower strip rate assumption come the day of the PEA, a good thing. As for
the upcoming MRE, it means we can use a lower cost assumption and that means lower
grades become economic.
3) Away from the published drill results (the long list is in the appendix of the latest
corporate presentation (4)) we know that the conceptual pit shell is going to grow
considerably. This schematic from corporate literature shows the current theoretical pit
outline and how the resource block model has out-grown its borders. It’s also a near-
certainty that the higher grading zones that QCCU has earmarked for the starter pit and
early stage, quick payback feed will grow in tonnage and resource.
7

However, we also know that QCCU has kept its cards very close to its chest on the absolute
size, grade and contained metal totals of the upcoming MRE. Aside from “more tonnes”, lower
grade”, “lower strip”, “lower cost” there is so much that is about to change in this revised MRE
that it’s not easy to make a close guesstimate of the eventual contents. With several target
zones inside the larger Opemiska project area, we’re going to have to wait to find out what’s
included and what might be omitted from this 43-101, it’s a tougher call than a standard
resource update because of the conceptual changes in the mine plan.
However, we are allowed to guess. While we recognize that the upcoming MRE is only going to
be a staging post to even bigger things as the zone is drilled out further (we’ve always
considered Opemiska has “Malartic Size” potential), what we need from this MRE is a tonnage
and grade that can support a larger and robustly economics PEA when that is delivered at the
end of this year. It’s going to be VERY tough to get this one right and come the MRE, I expect
I’ll have to adjust the inputs by a fair amount, the job today is to ballpark a case that allows for
a larger mine, bigger throughput and profitable mining of a lower grade resource. Therefore
some parameters:
 We assume QCCU at Opemiska will deliver enough tonnage for a 20-year
mine
 We assume Opemiska becomes a medium-to-large tonnage open pit
operation
 We assume grades for both copper and gold drop from the 2021 MRE levels
 We recognize that silver may become an extra by-product credit, but for the
time being prefer to leave it out of our calculations
 We assume a lower strip rate cuts per-tonne costs from our previous model,
however we also adjust for cost inflation in the period between late 2021 and
today
Therefore we assume for our ballpark model:
 175m metric tonnes of mineralization
 Copper grade of 0.5% average (including starter pit zone)
 Gold grade of 0.25 g/t average (including starter pit zone)
This give a Copper equivalent of 0.66%, compared to the 0.88% average of the 2021 MRE. We
assume the cut-off remains at 0.2% CuEq and QCCU stays with the same metals price
assumptions of Cu U$3.50/lb and Au U$1,650/oz. As for the total tonnage, that would be
enough to feed a 25,000tpd machine for 20 years at 350 days per year. That’s going to be the
house best guess for the tonnage QCCU delivers to market next month, however I’m fully
aware that could be out by a long way so here’s a table that lays out potential production
parameters for a life of mine of 20 years and different run rates (LoM). We also add in a line for
the potential starter pit economics that would run for the first three years at a reduced
10,000tpd rate (providing an easier capex hurdle):
QCCU.v: Estimated production parameters for Opemiska
Mine plan TPD thruput Cu grade Cu recovery Au grade (g/t) Au recovery Cu prod (Mlbs) Au prod (oz)
starter pit 10,000 0.87% 90% 0.54 80% 60.4 67,524
LoM 20,000 0.50% 90% 0.25 80% 69.4 45,016
LoM 25,000 0.50% 90% 0.25 80% 86.8 56,270
LoM 30,000 0.50% 90% 0.25 80% 104.2 67,524
source: IKN calcs from QCCU data
At 25,000tpd, with 0.5% Cu and 0.25 g/t Au, then recoveries of 90% for copper (recent data
suggests up to 955 is possible) and 80% for gold (recent data suggests up to 85% is possible),
our ballpark case mine at Opemiska produces 86.8m lbs copper and 56,270 oz per year on
average. As you can see, adjustments come for higher or lower average throughput. As for the
10ktpd starter pit scenario, that would be of interest for quick payback and/or bootstrapping a
8

larger pit capex for later years, though we’re not going to pursue that line of economics today
as we’re staying ballpark and Life of Mine (LoM) average to keep things as straightforward as
possible.
From here we run with our best guess 25,000tpd case and consider four price cases for the
production from out theoretical mine:
 Base case: That’s U$3.50/lb copper and U$1,700/oz gold
 Current case: That’s U$3.80/lb copper and U$1,800/oz gold
 Upper case: That’s U$4.00/lb copper and U$1,900/oz gold
 Blue Sky case: That’s U$4.50/lb copper and U$2,000/oz gold
You could of course argue that with copper currently trading at over U$4.00/lb and gold almost
touching U$2,000/oz that I’m being too conservative with these price cases (or at least with
their names). That’s fine by me, all I want to do is show you how robust the economics are for
this mine model. So with those price assumptions and a 15% vig for TC/RC, transport and
marketing we get this table:
QCCU at Opemiska: Model Year Revenues & Op Income (U$m)
Price case base current upper blue sky
copper Mlbs 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8
U$/lb 3.50 3.80 4.00 4.50
copper revs $303.82 $329.87 $347.23 $390.63
Prod. gold (Oz) 56,270 56,270 56,270 56,270
U$/oz $1,700 $1,800 $1,900 $2,000
total Au rev $95.66 $101.29 $106.91 $112.54
Total mine rev $399.48 $431.15 $454.14 $503.17
TC/RC/other $59.92 $64.67 $68.12 $75.48
Revenues 339.6 366.5 386.0 427.7
Sources: QCCU data, IKN calcs and estimates
I’m going to prefer the “current” case and pitch my prices lower than current spot, but even so
we get an average annual sales total of U$366.5m over the 20 year LoM. Now for the simplified
income statement and aside the details such as a 1% NSR (there’s a 2% NSR, QCCU can buy
half back), wild guesses for capex (U$300m to start up, paid 50/50 in debt and equity) and
other such delights, we stick with the biggest guesstimate line item of U$20/tonne COGS.
QCCU at Opemiska: Income statement model year (U$m)
at 300m S/O base current upper blue sky
Sales (U$m) 339.6 366.5 386.0 427.7
Depreciation 12.0 12.0 12.0 12.0
SGA+R&D 13.0 13.0 13.0 13.0
NSR etc 3.4 3.7 3.9 4.3
Op income 136.2 162.8 182.2 223.4
finance exp. 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0
"Quebec Inc" 8 .5 10.6 12.2 15.5
Tax (23% eff) 22.5 28.1 32.2 40.9
Net income 75.2 94.1 107.8 137.0
Shares out 300 300 300 300
EPS 0.25 0.31 0.36 0.46
Sust. Capex 10 10 10 10
FCF 0.32 0.39 0.43 0.53
Sources: QCCU data, IKN calcs & estimates
9

In its previous MRE, QCCU assumed open pit mining at C$2.25/tonne, processing at C$13/tonne
and G&A at C$3/tonne for a total of C$18.25/tonne. Therefore our assumption of U$20/tonne is
around C$25/tonne at a long-term forex rate and leaves plenty of room for cost inflation since
late 2021. We also make no adjustment for lower strip rate QCCU is bound to run in its
upcoming MRE and eventual PEA later this year, so I’m comfortable about using U$20/t in our
ballpark model.
So at our “current” model QCCU would deliver U$162.8m of operating profit and even if the
company takes it to production itself and has to pay off a welter debt burden over a few years,
the model has it netting U$94.1m from these reasonable metals price assumptions. As for the
target box, I’m loathe to run with this as you might get the wrong impression, but on just 2X
EPS the target is 82c Canadian, some 527% higher than this weekend’s 13c:
Sales and earnings Valuation data for QCCU.v at Opemiska based on
Price case base current upper bluesky Life of Mine model year production
Sales (U$m) 340 366 386 428 12-month target $0.82 based on 2x EPS
Sales growth 8% 5% 11% Upside to target 527%
EPS 0.25 0.31 0.36 0.46 Mkt cap (CAD$m) $21 Enterprise value $14
FCF 0.32 0.39 0.43 0.53 P/sales (base) 0.06 EV/sales (base) 0.04
P/E (base) 0.5 EV/EBITDA (base) 0.1
P/E (current) 0.4 EV/EBITDA (current) 0.1
P/E (upper) 0.4 EV/EBITDA (upper) 0.1
Another way of running the numbers would be to assume that 20 year mine life and an and a
8% discount rate, which would give QCCU at Opemiska an NPV of just over U$400m. Compare
that to today’s market cap: At the current 163m shares out, the share price of C$0.13 and a
0.75/1 forex between Loonies and greenback, QCCU runs a market cap of U$15.9m, or 0.04X.
In other words, a silly price that could multiply six times before getting into range of a
reasonable project sales price to an eventual operator of the mine. So at 0.25X NPV we’re at
C$0.80, roughly in line with the cash flow model target (as rough as it might be at this stage).
Discussion and conclusion: Please be clear, those final calculations that throw off supposed
price targets of C$0.82 and C$0.80 are not to be taken too seriously, we were already playing
with a very loose model and anyone setting a price target of a 5-bagger or 6-bagger needs to
be drummed out the anal ysts guild. The only reason those final calcs made this report was to
outline the potential that Opemiska has for QCCu or its eventual mine operator, way down the
line. The main lesson to draw from the financial calculations at the end of today’s note is to
show Opemiska’s robust potential economics when the MRE numbers are announced in a few
weeks’ time, numbers that will surely get me to adjust my model but should still remain firmly
profitable…on paper, at least.
Come the publication of the NMRE (or at the least NR, due out next month) we’ll have a better
idea on how to frame these numbers as the company moves towards its next likely catalyst, the
PEA slated for end 2023. However, the MRE is set to deliver its own market moment for QCCU
the stock and at some point, this company’s share price is going to wake up from its long-term
slumbers and re-rate, it’s simply too cheap for an expanding copper resource in a copper-bullish
market to be ignored for much longer. Therefore and after due consideration, I have decided to
take advantage of these low prices and after the longest time of just holding QCCU shares and
suffering in semi-silence, will add to my
underwater position and average down on QCCU: Equity vs Book Value
0.4
cost while boosting its size. I don’t have a
0.35
mountain of cash and the purchase planned
0.3
for the week ahead won’t be the biggest, but
0.25
it should at least get me down to 24c or 25c
0.2
cost as long as the 13c prices are duly
0.15
0.1
10
0.05
0
02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 tse32q2
C$/share
pps at qtr end
bv/share
source: IKN ests from QCCU data

available. With a major catalyst now in the near-term future for QC Copper & Gold (QCCU.v)
and share price that’s ripe for revisiting, the timing is right in this market. I’ll leave you with a
final derivative chart (above) that shows the share price compared to book value per share and
suggests that even though QCCU expenses, its the share price is unlikely to drop much further.
If the market starts paying attention, it could deliver a quick win in the style that holders
enjoyed in 2021. Adding.
Stocks to Follow
It wasn’t all positive and indeed, seven losers (QCCU.v, NCAU.v, RIO.v, ALDE.v, MIRL.cse,
GSHR.v, MENE.v) and two unchanged stocks (ATC.v, RUG.v) from a list of 17 companies is over
half the headcount. But you’ll get no real complaints from me this weekend as it was a good
five days for the active portfolio and the back pocket, as the nine winners (MAI.v, ARG.to,
SOLG.to, FDY.to, ABRA.v, ORX.v, CKG.v, CTGO) included most of the larger personal positions
and also came with a good smattering of double figure percentage wins, headed up by SolGold
(SOLG.to up 17.0%) and followed by AbraSilver (ABRA.v up 13.0%), Chesapeake (CKG.v up
12.9%), Contango (CTGO up 12.6%), Orefinders (ORX.v up 12.5%) and just for fun, let’s takc
on the good starting move from Faraday Copper (FDY.to up 9.1%) as well. The two double
figure percentage losers (MIRL.cse down 14.3%, MENE.v down 13.5) didn’t hurt. Much.
With the addition of FDY.to to the main reco list and GSHR.v and RUG.v to the Watch list, we
now have 17 open positions covered, three below the self-imposed max. Nine of those are in
the green on their cost averages, one is UNCH, seven are in the red. I expect Newcore to join
the winners soon enough.
company Ticker this week Avg Price Reco date Current PPS Gain/Loss% Notes
TOP PICKS
Minera Alamos MAI.v STR BUY C$0.21 13-Oct-19 C$0.40 90.5% $0.75 first tgt, #1 idea
RECOMMENDED STOCKS
Amerigo Res ARG.to STR BUY C$1.36 12-Dec-21 C$1.63 19.9% Main Cu trade, top fundies
SolGold SOLG.to STR BUY C$0.265 19-Feb-23 C$0.31 17.0% Cu in Ecuador, M&A tgt
QC Copper&Gold QCCU.v SPEC BUY C$0.275 25-Apr-21 C$0.13 -52.7% MRE now due 2q23, annoying
Faraday Copper FDY.to BUY C$0.79 26-Mar-23 C$0.84 6.3% Latest Cu exploreco, IKN723
AbraSilver Res. ABRA.v BUY C$0.36 4-Dec-22 C$0.39 8.3% added for last time Mar'23
Newcore Gold NCAU.v BUY C$0.205 23-Oct-22 C$0.19 -7.3% MRE better than it looked.
Rio2 Ltd. RIO.v SPEC BUY C$0.83 22-Apr-18 C$0.145 -82.5% Cheap on permit probs, appeal
SPECULATIVE TRADES
Orefinders ORX.v.v SPEC BUY C$0.04 20-Nov-22 C$0.045 12.5% build position at 4c
Chesapeake Gold CKG.v SPEC BUY C$3.07 20-Feb-22 C$2.37 -22.8% Au leverage, small trade so far
Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v BUY C$0.72 16-May-21 C$0.93 29.2% drill assays now coming
Minera IRL MIRL.cse avoid C$0.195 22-Jul-12 C$0.03 -84.6% run into ground byCEO, AVOID
A WATCHLIST OF POTENTIAL TRADES. NB: I DO NOT OWN
ATAC Res ATC.v WATCH C$0.095 11-Sep-22 C$0.135 42.1% Cheap Yukon neighbour play
Rugby Resources RUG.v WATCH C$0.06 26-Mar-23 C$0.06 0.0% new on watchlist, Cu in Col
Goldshore Res GSHR.v WATCH C$0.165 26-Mar-23 C$0.16 -3.0% return to list, possible flip
Contango Ore CTGO WATCH U$23.25 2-Dec-22 U$28.50 22.6% Manh Choh finance happening
LONG-TERM NON-MINING HOLD
Mene Inc. MENE.v adding C$0.63 6-Dec-20 C$0.32 -49.2% LT bet, adding slowly
CLOSED TRADES IN 2023 date closed close price
Altiplano Metals APN.v jan'23 C$0.31 17-Sep-21 C$0.17 -45.2% delayed and will dilute soon
Western Copper WRN.to mar'23 C$2.02 13-Nov-22 C$2.32 14.9% sold on reduced M&A prob.
11

Now for notes on some of the covered companies:
Faraday Copper (FDY.to): POSITION OPENED. On the back of last weekend’s main note
“Faraday Copper (FDY.to): A window of opportunity”, I went with the plan and this position is
now open. I was willing to pay 80c if necessary and got a decent price, as FDY was easy to buy
early week. In fact, though it eventually finished up 9.1% it was readily available even as the
copper sub-sector began to come with wet sail on Thursday and Friday. It’s always nice to start
a position on the right side of the trade, but I suspect FDY will remain buyable until its real
newsflow period begins as from May. FWIW I still think this weekend’s price is still an obvious
bargain, but I’ve got all I want for the moment.
Goldshore Resources (GSHR.v): GSHR mucked around between 16c and 17c all week as the
market goes about digesting the latest round of dilutive financing, the stock finishing on a
downtick. That’s fine by me, I don’t own any yet and with luck it goes even lower.
AbraSilver Resource Corp (ABRA.v): This is what it was supposed to do:
ABRA picked up from where it left off in and continued its very decent rally after the SILJ
dumpage of three Fridays ago. About time too and for once, it even managed to react to
another positive drill assay NR out of Diablillos and the current new target for resource
expansion, the JAC silver zone.
On Wednesday March 29th we got (5) “AbraSilver Reports Further High-Grade Results at the
JAC Zone; 2,320 g/t Ag over 4.0 Metres and 233 g/t Ag over 45.5 Metres in Oxide
Mineralization” as our headline and three new holes reported from JAC and while the sparkling
headliner was from hole 10, the one that speaks to this desk most was hole 7. We quote the
NR: “DDH 23-007 drilled into very high-grade silver mineralization in oxides, with 2,320 g/t Ag
over 4.0 metres starting at a downhole depth of 115 metres.” Still good though its numbers
are not quite as impressive, but it’s the location that matters:
Hole 007 shows the high likelihood that JAC now connects neatly to the previous open pit
conceptual shell and that’s great news for the mine plan; it’s straightforwarf mining to connect
12

and mine out the vein from a stope beginning in the eventual pit wall and add high grade silver
mineralization to the mill feed.
Newcore Gold (NCAU.v): A replay of the one hour webinar run by NCAU last week is on this
link (6) and it’s worth the time of current and prospective shareholders. CEO Luke Alexander
and VPEx Greg Smith were the main speakers and they present the case for the company well.
You get a lot of gold exploreco for C$27m (U$20.2m approx), or U$12/oz in situ if you prefer.
SolGold Plc (SOLG.to) (SOLG.L): Another stock that did what it was supposed to do. We
went through the rationale as to why the recent corporate level changes were attuned to
potential near-term M&A last weekend in IKN723
and the way the stock traded last week, with
continued accumulation and improving volume
with price as the week wore on, the market
seems to agree.
Almost the last thing I wrote in IKN723 last
weekend was how “…SolGold sticks out as a
sleeper story and the corporate story that the
market seems to have either missed or
misunderstood from last week.” The only wrinkle
was that shorters weren’t ready to pull the stock
lower, so I didn’t add any to my personal stack. I
have enough already, though. As for the price
chart, if we consider the main UK listing we’re just a sliver away from the best price since
SOLG’s post-Ukraine/Fed hike slump of 2q22. This gets to 20p in London and there’s little on
the chart to stop it rushing up quickly from there…if you believe in TA, at least.
Aldebaran Resources (ALDE.v): To its credit and as seen in The Copper Basket quarter-end
review (below) today, ALDE has done okay so far this
year. However this ten-day comparative chart to the
main copper producers’ ETF (COPX) shows the stock’s
weak flank clearly:
Until it attracts more regular volume, ALDE looks set to
drift at moments when its peers attract attention. It
week was rescued somewhat by the 49k traded on
Friday, but even that is nothing to write home about.
ALDE needs a news catalyst and a drill assay that
brings it wider attention (but we knew that already).
Contango Ore (CTGO): One of the key missing
ingredients for the equity has always been traded volume for the stock. Last week saw a clear
improvement as the stock price climbed, likely the
product of buyers ushered in by one of RVN’s many
newsletter admirers.
As for me, this will remain on the Watch List until the
Devil in the debt financing details is known and while
Lucky Shot is capable of providing decent reasons to
speculate on the company and call buy, I still want to
see how much Manh Choh is left for shares before
making any decision.
13

Amerigo Resources (ARG.to): Up 3c and a reasonable week for ARG without creating a stir,
its “slow and steady wins the race” profile isn’t going to grab news headlines as other more
speculative copper stocks shoot higher. We should get preliminary 1q23 production/sales
numbers from ARG either this coming week or the next. Here right is the 2023 YTD
comparative chart of ARG against the main copper producers’ ETF (COPX) to remind you why I
like this stock so much.
In other news, the 2023 Management Information
Circular (MIC) was filed to SEDAR on Friday
afternoon and we now know that after the recent
options exercises, the share count stands at exactly
166,519,695 shares outstanding as at March 23rd
2023, down 7,809,078 shares from the date of the
2022 MIC (March 28th 2022). Expect that total to
drop by around 10m shares by the end of 2023 as
the company enacts on its NCIB share buyback
program. We also have updates on the position of
biggest holder Aegis as well as the larger and most
significant insiders. Here’s a list:
 Aegis Financial Corp owns 21,648,194 shares, up 2,882,363 from this time last year.
This now accounts for 13.0% of shares out and assuming no sales, will be around
14% by year-end.
 Director Michael Luzich owns 12,654,400 shares, down 217,600 from this time last
year. So down a little, but considering he sold almost 12m shares in 2021 it’s a
better result and indication he has decided to stay in for the long-haul.
 Director George Ireland own 12,057,076 shares, up 280,063 from this time last
year.
 Chair Klaus Zeitler owns 6,733,912 shares, up 441,581 from this time last year
 CEO Aurora Davidson owns 1,561,909 shares, up 184,888 from this time last year,
She also holds 2.4m stock options.
Overall, a positive attitude toward share ownership by ARG’s major holder and its most
important insiders.
Chesapeake Gold (CKG.v): Here’s the same message as always wrapped up in different
words. We’re here in CKG for its optionality (or leverage, or whatever) to gold and understand
that there are going to be question marks about its true viability as long as the met testing on
Metates continues. It’s up to CEO Pangbourne (who
lost his CFO last week but frankly that’s not a
biggie…sorry accountants out there) to prove his
theory of “double heap leaching” Metates works.
However and as the trading on Friday shows, it
wouldn’t take much more than one or two
speculators to decide to play the risk/reward game
on CKG and buy now for the stock to move up
rapidly and re-take the $3 line. The low volume
typical to the stock is a double edged sword and
while I’d prefer it to be more popular, it also means
it’s likely to shoot higher on low volume before
sellers appear and allow new money an entrance.
The Copper Basket
After thirteen weeks of 2023, The Copper Basket shows a gain of 2.82% to level stakes:
14

company ticker price 1/1/23 Shares out Market Cap current pps gain/loss%
1 Solaris Res SLS.to 6.44 114.56 750.37 6.55 1.7%
2 Western Copper WRN.to 2.41 151.597 372.93 2.46 2.1%
3 Marimaca Cop MARI.to 3.22 88.028 331.87 3.77 17.1%
4 Arizona Sonoran ASCU.to 1.92 105.96 196.03 1.85 -3.6%
5 Oroco Res OCO.v 0.91 207.034 173.91 0.84 -7.7%
6 Faraday Copper FDY.to 0.54 175.2 147.17 0.84 55.6%
7 Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v 0.78 139.007 129.28 0.93 19.2%
8 Hot Chili HCH.v 0.78 119.455 107.51 0.90 15.4%
9 Regulus Res. REG.v 1.10 124.509 103.34 0.83 -24.5%
10 Pan Global Res PGZ.v 0.46 212.145 74.25 0.35 -23.9%
11 Kodiak Copper KDK.v 1.12 55.6 52.82 0.95 -15.2%
12 Element 29 Res ECU.v 0.16 86.966 20.87 0.24 50.0%
13 QC Copper QCCU.v 0.165 150.736 19.60 0.13 -21.2%
14 Libero Copper LBC.v 0.155 93.869 11.26 0.12 -22.6%
15 Atacama Copper ACOP.v 0.16 34.373 5.50 0.16 0.0%
NB: All stocks in CAD$ Portfolio avg 2.82%
The Copper Basket swung back into the win
column for quarter end thanks to a weekly result 10% The Copper Basket 2023, weekly evolution
9%
of ten winners (SLS.to, MARI.to, OCO.v, ASCU.v, 8%
7%
HCH.v, REG.v, FDY.to, KDK.v, ECU.v), one 6%
5%
unchanged stock (WRN.to) and five losers 4%
3%
(ALDE.v, PGZ.v, QCCU.v, LBC.v, ACOP.v). Most 2%
1%
of the moves were moderate but there were
0%
outliers in the big percentage pops of Element 29 -1%
-2%
(ECU.v up 37.1%), Solaris (SLS.to up 17.6%) -3%
and Hot Chili (HCH.v up 11.1%), while to the
downside the biggest loser was Libero Copper
(LBC.v down 14.3%).
So a good week for the stocks and they seem to have played catch-up to the metal. Last
weekend we documented how copper had rallied back from under U$4/lb to the previously
established range just above that “psychologically important” level. As this longer-term chart
shows, the main Comex futures
contract (HGK23) may have closed
Friday near the top of that range but it
didn’t show much sign of breaking out.
But some stability is probably what we
need in these times of change and
volatility, it allowed money to rotate out
of the larger copper company stocks
and into our riskier focus sub-sector.
Copper has beating off the bear
theorists with headlines on dropping
inventories (see below) and the boost
in the manufacturing activity (see
today’s intro). We noted the impressive
continuation to China’s manufacturing
PMI above, here we add that the equivalent reading for China’s services sector rose to 58.2,
also a decade high and while it’s less directly related to copper sales and demand, it’s still
pulling in the same direction. Another potential to last week’s rally in junior copper names may
have been the quarter end and a little tape painting going on. Which brings us to the quarter-
end review chart and the comparative performance of the 15 component stocks so far:
15
ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA
source: IKN calcs

The 2023 Copper Basket after 13 weeks
16
%6.55 %0.05
%2.91 %1.71 %4.51
%1.2 %7.1 %0.0 %6.3- %7.7- %2.51- %2.12- %6.22- %9.32- %5.42-
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
-10%
-20%
-30%
-40%
-50%
ot.YDF v.UCE v.EDLA ot.IRAM v.HCH ot.NRW ot.SLS v.POCA ot.UCSA v.OCO v.KDK v.UCCQ v.CBL v.ZGP v.GER
source: TSX, IKN calcs
We address the Element 29 (ECU.v) move below in the notes, its late spurt bringing it up
through the pack and into second place for the quarter in a move that doesn’t look the most
reliable of readings. However, the undoubted top performer of the quarter was Faraday Copper
(FDY.to) and as my recent personal purchase underscores, I think there’s plenty more to come
from the company in 2023. Then come three decent results from ALDE, MARI and HCH, then
four other “UNCH-Or-Thereabouts” from WRN, SLS, ACOP and ASCU. That leaves six clear Q1
losers and of those, some under-performances (REG, LBC) are less surprising than others (PGZ,
KDK). There’s still plenty of 2023 to roll out and time to turn these losers into winners, though.
I’m looking at you, QCCU.
We now move to the world of copper inventories and it’s good to report that the rest of the
world is finally paying due attention to this obvious price driver. I now go off on a weird tangent
(humour me) as the new interest in the world of metals and mining over copper’s inventory
data reminds this desk of Slartibartfast, one of the characters in Douglas Adam’s Hitch Hiker’s
Guide to the Galaxy series. He was a planet designer and had a penchant for making coastlines
with fjords, even though they were rarely fashionable in planet design circles. Here’s a quote
from the moment he’s visited by one of the main characters and he talks about what he’s been
doing on the design for the new planet earth (in the book, ours was destroyed to make way for
a superhighway):
“Look at me, I design coastlines, I got an award for Norway. Where’s the sense in that?
None that I’ve been able to make out. I’ve been doing fjords all my life, for a fleeting
moment they become fashionable and I get a major award. In this replacement Earth
we’re building they’ve given me Africa to do, and of course, I’m doing it with all fjords
again, because I happen to like them. And I’m old fashioned enough to think that they
give a lovely baroque feel to a continent. And they tell me it’s not equatorial enough…
what does it matter? Science has achieved some wonderful things of course, but I’d far
rather be happy than right any day!
As these long-term copper inventory charts show, we’ve been covering and monitoring the ebb
and flow of copper stocks in the world’s official systems for over a decade. Our principle
objective has always been to note when the copper inventory levels have a direct effect on the
price of the metal, which has been greater or lesser depending on the moment. Right now,
stocks are flavour of the month, thanks to Robert Friedland and other big name voices using
the dataset for the bull cause and getting plenty of echoes in the marketplace.
Key Cu inventory aggregate, 2012 to date
1000000
900000
800000
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
21.naJ ram yam luj pes von 31.naJ ram yam luj pes von 41.naj ram yam luj pes von 51.naj ram yam luj pes von 61.naj ram yam luj pes von 71.naj ram yam luj pes von 81
naj
ram yam luj pes von 91
naj
ram yam luj pes von 02
naj
ram yam luj pes von 12
naj
ram yam luj pes von 22
naj
ram yam luj pes von 32naj ram
Mt Cu
Comex
Shanghai
LME
source: Cochilco

Copper inventories: percentage held per exchange
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
17
21.naJ ram yam luj pes von 31.naJ ram yam luj pes von 41.naj ram yam luj pes von 51.naj ram yam luj pes von 61.naj ram yam luj pes von 71.naj ram yam luj pes von 81
naj
ram yam luj pes von 91
naj
ram yam luj pes von 02
naj
ram yam luj pes von 12
naj
ram yam luj pes von 22
naj
ram yam luj pes von 32naj ram
LME Shanghai Comex source: Cochilco
The upper chart is the most important and shows the decline of world stocks over the long-
term. The ratio chart below shows how the Shanghai SHFE share of the total has now peaked
and under the normal Chinese demand cycle, we’ll see its stocks deplete for the rest of the year
(see below for the dedicated SHFE data visual that does a better job of capturing the way a
normal year goes).
We’ve heard a lot about SHFE stocks recently, but for this desk it’s the recent moves from LME
that should really be making the world headlines. The above long-term chart shows how LME
stocks have dropped over the long term but the latest news is also big, as our regular weekly
check on world copper inventories is about to highlight. Data from Cochilco:
 Another week of net draw downs, and this time, the LME saw the biggest drop. The
aggregate total comes to 236,068 metric tonnes (mt) this weekend, down 11,323mt on
the week.
 Another draw down at the SHFE, though not as sharp as in previous weeks and down
just 4,576mt to close at 156,576mt.
 This time the big story was, which had been floating around just above 70kmt for
several weeks but with cancelled warrants finally delivered, its stocks dropped by
7,950mt to close at a new decade low of 64,725mt. It’s strange how SHFE is now
garnering the headlines when LME is now at historic lows.
 The Comex bucked the trend in its own small way, adding 1,203mt to its stockpile and
closing the week at 14,767mt. No biggie, but off those record lows all the same.
The second of the two dedicated SHFE tracking charts show is the one that gives best
perspective this weekend, as stocks return to the 150k mt line. One of the classic mid-year
medians, if it drops quickly from these levels in the weeks ahead the current loud headlines will
become a screamfest.
SHFE copper inventory levels, 2018 to 2023
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 01 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 02 12 22 32 42 52 62 72 82 92 03 13 23 33 43 53 63 73 83 93 04 14 24 34 44 54 64 74 84 94 05 15 25
MT Cu 2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
source: Cochilco data

Shanghai Futures Exchange Warehouse Stocks, 2014 to date
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
18
31'13ceD dr32 ht51 ht7 ht03 dn22 ht71 ht9 ts1von ht42 ht71 ht01 dn2tcO 7102ts1naJ ht62 ht81 ht01 dr3ced ht52 102ht72rpa ht91 ht11 9102
dr3bef
102ht82rpa ts12 ht31 0202ht5naj 202ht92ram ts12 ht31 0202ht6ced ht82 dr32 ht51 ht7 202ht03naj ht42 ht71 ht9 3202
naJ
ht62
Mt Cu
|
source: Cochilco
Now for some notes on just two of our basket component stocks:
Element 29 Resources (ECU.v): Funny things
happen at the end of quarters. We noted last week
that ECU had become suddenly volatile and was
swinging hard in both directions on low volumes in
the last couple of weeks. That continued, but this
time to the upside and with something closer to
reasonable volume capping off the week and the
gains on Friday, too. It came on no news and the
timing smacks of end quarter tape painting, but you
never know with these smallcap stocks and it doesn’t
take much to move them.
Solaris Resources (SLS.to): Solaris has had a hard time of it recently, but rallied last week
on this NR out Wednesday (8):
March 29, 2023 – Vancouver, B.C. – Solaris Resources Inc. (TSX: SLS; OTCQB:
SLSSF) (“Solaris” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that the Company has
received exercises of common share purchase warrants (“warrants”) totaling C$30.2
million since the Company’s last quarterly results dated November 8, 2022.
Notably, the Company’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Richard Warke, and Equinox Gold
Corp. (“Equinox”) have exercised a total of
23.1 million warrants at a price of C$1.20
for proceeds of C$27.7 million,
representing the final tranche of warrants
held by these parties. Following the
exercise, Equinox sold its remaining 7.5
million common shares of Solaris through
the facilities of the Toronto Stock
Exchange.
The market may like Warke’s confidence, but
it really liked the fact that the selling from EQX
is now all done and removes a large overhang.
Shares rallied by a strong 17.6% on the week
and as this price chart shows, most of those
gains came after the news.
The Producer Basket
After 13 weeks of 2023, the Producer Basket shows a gain of 12.07% to level stakes:

company ticker price 1/1/23 Shares out MktCap(U$Bn) current pps gain/loss%
1 Newmont NEM 47.20 799 39.17 49.02 3.9%
2 Barrick GOLD 17.18 1761.54 32.71 18.57 8.1%
3 Agnico Eagle AEM 51.99 488.9 24.92 50.97 -2.0%
4 Wheaton PM WPM 39.08 451.963 21.77 48.16 23.2%
5 Kinross Gold KGC 4.09 1256.1 5.92 4.71 15.2%
6 Alamos Gold AGI 10.11 393.1 4.81 12.23 21.0%
7 B2Gold BTG 3.57 1074.567 4.23 3.94 10.4%
8 Hecla Mining GFI 5.56 603.86 3.82 6.33 13.8%
9 Eldorado Gold EGO 8.36 185.73 1.92 10.36 23.9%
10 Wesdome Gold WDOFF 5.53 142.287 0.81 5.71 3.3%
All prices and stock quotes in U$ Port. avg 12.07%
The good times continue to roll in the bigcap PM producers and we saw the third positive week
in a row, with GDX up 2.5% and our list up 3.85% as the more leveraged stocks did better than
the Tier 1 companies. Nine of our ten stocks went up on the week, the only loser Agnico Eagle
(AEM down 1.4%) while the bets of the bunch were the more volatile Kinross (KGC up 8.0%)
and Hecla (HL up 7.1%).
As with the Copper Basket above, the end of the quarter brings our first snapshot of
comparative performance from our Producer Basket components this year:
The 2023 Producer Basket components after 13 weeks
19
%9.32 %2.32
%0.12
%2.51
%8.31
%4.01
%1.8
%9.3 %3.3
%0.2-
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
-5%
OGE MPW IGA CGK LH GTB DLOG MEN FFODW MEA
The 2023 Producer Basket: Weekly performance and
comparative to GDX control
16%
14% 12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
-2%
-4%
-6%
-8%
source: NYSE, IKN calcs
Just one in the Q1 loser column and that’s not bad, but the normally high-performing Agnico
was for my money the least likely tail ender of the ten. Wesdome has managed to claw back
into the green after its double whammy news in January, showing the leverage it offers to
higher gold prices (and the speculators). But all applause should go to our three frontrunners
for Q1, with Wheaton out-performing peer royalty/streamer stocks by a long way, Hecla doing
what we wanted it to do when picking the stock for the list this year (Skouries news going
down very well) and Alamos continuing from where it left off as 2022’s top performing large
cap PM miner.
ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA
The 2023 Producer Basket: Percentage difference
between GDX benchmark & basket (negative = IKN ahead)
4.0%
ikn 3.5%
gdx control 3.0%
2.5%
2.0%
1.5%
1.0%
0.5%
0.0%
source: NYSE, IKN calcs ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA
source: IKN calcs, NYSE data

Newmont (NEM) and Newcrest (NCM): FWIW, a
straw poll I ran on Twitter late last week has three out
of ten people saying that this merger is not going to
happen (8). I realize a) this is not the most scientific
poll ever and b) seven in ten give it at least some
chance, but getting 30% picking the final option was
interesting because I don’t think you’d have seen even
10% eight weeks ago. The world still expects some sort
of improved offer from NEM, I’m still going to take the
under on it happening, or being enough to get NCM to
the altar.
And Newmont and Barrick (GOLD): This story from the Nevada Independent (9) didn’t get
much airtime in the trade papers last week but is a definite eye-catcher as it flags higher costs
for Nevada Gold Mines, the GOLD/NEM JV now running Goldstrike and all the other mines long
the Carlin Trend USA. It’s also a reminder of the way NGM’s general manager “was resigned”
suddenly last year after a site visit by Mark Bristow. We know Barrick took a hard line on
employee salaries and benefits after the JV happened and one of the main sales pitches both
sides used was about its potential cost efficiencies. Those are now fading away as employee
unions gain collective power. Here comes the whole note, as it’s worth a careful read:
Nearly three years after the National Labor Relations Board sued Nevada’s largest gold mining business for not
recognizing a union that had been in place for decades, a collective bargaining committee reached an agreement with
the company this week for a new three-year contract.
The contract provides more than a thousand workers at Nevada Gold Mines with an 8.5 percent increase in wages over
the contract’s term, along with other protections, as the mega-company continues to hold a large amount of influence
over a local economy dominated by its operations.
“The greatest highlight to note is that in December of 2019, we could not receive recognition… and our members faced
a large amount of uncertainty and insecurity,” Scott Fullerton, a district representative for Operating Engineers Local 3,
said in a press release Tuesday. Negotiating a new three-year contract, Fullerton said, “says a lot about the dedication
of the membership, the determination of Local 3 and the importance of both parties communicating effectively.”
The new collective bargaining agreement covers Nevada Gold Mines’ operations that used to be managed by Newmont,
including Gold Quarry, Leeville, Pete Bajo, Emigrant, Chukar, Deep Post, Deep Star, Exodus, Mill 5, Mill 6, South Area
Leach, Genesis/TriStar, Rita K and parts of North Area Leach. The agreement does not cover areas previously operated
by Barrick.
In an email, Fullerton said any employee covered by the agreement could join the union. As of Jan. 30, the bargaining
unit consisted of 1,394 employees with 542 union members.
Nevada Gold Mines did not respond to a request for comment.
In 2019, Nevada Gold Mines was formed as a joint venture between multinational mining giants Barrick and Newmont,
companies with deep histories operating massive gold mines across the Interstate 80 corridor in northeastern Nevada,
from Winnemucca to West Wendover. Merging the two operations into one company led by Barrick — Nevada Gold
Mines — had an immediate impact on workers. Where there were two major competing employers in the area, now
there is one.
In the months following the merger, Nevada Gold Mines management stopped recognizing the union, which had
represented Newmont employees since 1965, taking actions that the nation’s top labor regulator told a federal court “left
many employees feeling terrified and betrayed.”
In June 2020, the National Labor Relations Board asked a U.S. District Court judge to grant an injunction reinstating the
union, alleging that the company had engaged in “unlawful conduct.”
Nevada Gold Mines had initially responded by calling the federal agency’s request “an extreme and draconian
injunction” to force it into a labor agreement that had preceded the new company. But the case did not proceed as the
company entered into settlement talks that culminated in a win for the union: Nevada Gold Mines agreed to recognize
the union and restore benefits.
During the past two years, The Nevada Independent and High Country News have investigated workplace changes at
Nevada Gold Mines. Through a tip form, dozens of former and current workers have shared information about policy
changes at the mines, discrimination complaints and the company’s outsized influence over the labor pool. In addition,
workers have reported concerns that the company placed an emphasis on productivity at the expense of safety.
After the settlement agreement, Operating Engineers continued to file additional complaints with federal regulators,
alleging unfair labor practices concerning pay and worker classifications. But union officials said communication with the
company improved. By March 2022, the company had agreed to issue $1.1 million in back pay and damages and a one-
year contract extension with a 2.5 percent pay increase. The negotiations over the new contract began in February.
After the contract was negotiated Tuesday, Fullerton said that the agreement marked “positive progress” in a
relationship with Nevada Gold Mines that had started on adversarial footing.
The contract, Fullerton said, also includes pension increases and addresses “safety aspects,” though he noted that the
safety record of union areas is better than the record in other areas.
Although there are several small mines in the region — and a few more are expected to come online — Nevada Gold
Mines remains a regional giant, employing roughly 7,000 workers and thousands of contractors. The company’s size,
workers said, gives it significant control over the local labor pool, supplies and contractors. Carl Peters, an underground
miner with Nevada Gold Mines, said in a press release that he participated in the union’s volunteer negotiating
committee because he felt that the union “is the only thing that holds this company in check.”
20

“There’s no competition for labor anymore,” he added.
Jackulyn Kinkead, an underground truck operator and a member of the negotiating committee, said in a statement that
the union “came out ahead on everything.” Kinkead said that she valued having the union protection: “If something
happens, I am able to make a phone call.”
Wesdome Gold (WDO.to): It pays to take risks in this market and that’s something I did not
do when calling WDO and “avoid” in IKN714 dated January 22nd 2023 on the back of the
company’s poor 2022 production and FY23 guidance, then in the follow-up piece in IKN715
dated January 29th that considered the way in which Duncan Middlemiss had suddenly
departed. Here’s part of the conclusion from IKN714:
“…the bottom line to WDO today is AVOID and it’s an easy one to make for a person
such as I, willing to take a certain amount of risk on a turnaround situation but not
when it starts to feel like outright gambling. Those of you with higher risk tolerance
and enough patience are free to disagree with me but even then, I’d strongly suggest
there are other stocks that provide a better reward potential to the inherent risks of a
trade in WDO today.”
So much for that, WDO has rallied well and become a speculative trade attracting plenty of
volume as gold has rallied through February and March, to the point that it’s now back in the
green YTD and no longer our worst performer on the list. It was 20% adrift of the pack in
January, too.
The TinyCaps List
After 13 weeks of 2023, the TinyCaps show a gain of 24.12% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/23 Shares out Mkt Cap current pps gain/loss%
Aurelius Min AUL.v 0.07 49.787 3.24 0.065 -7.1%
Coast Copper COCO.v 0.045 64.001 3.20 0.05 22.2%
District Metals DMX.v 0.075 86.891 8.69 0.10 33.3%
Latin Metals LMS.v 0.13 69.962 12.94 0.185 42.3%
Manitou Gold MTU.v 0.02 344.568 18.95 0.055 175.0%
Nine Mile Metals NINE.cse 0.29 57.025 17.11 0.30 3.4%
Palamina Corp PA.v 0.08 65.285 5.88 0.09 12.5%
Precipitate Gold PRG.v 0.075 130.367 9.13 0.07 -6.7%
South Star STS.v 0.55 32.755 14.58 0.445 -19.1%
Viva Gold VAU.v 0.14 91.608 12.37 0.135 -3.6%
Prices in CAD$, data from TSXV basket avg 24.12%
This section attempts to track the tinycap mining sub-sector of the market, our ten companies
chosen under the following criteria to put together a list representing the state of play in the
sub-sector of tinycap exploration company stocks. At least, that’s the plan.
 Market capitalization of under $20m. They have to be tiny. In two cases I’ve stretched the window a
little and allowed sub-U$20m market capper in that are just over the C$20m level, but the spirit is unaltered.
 A “non broken” stock price and project story. There are literally hundreds of tinycap juniors of the right
size, but it was a particularly depressing exercise to trawl through the whole of the TSXV and find companies
that are small enough, but with life in them. The vast majority of sub-$20m stocks are broken stocks, either
traded to death on the exchange or with projects that are a bust or with entrenched management more
interested in their monthly paycheck than anything else.
 Likelihood of meaningful newsflow in 2023. This connects to the company’s “unbroken” status, as we
want news and potential catalysts from companies with projects that can work.
 Decent management if possible. When you are down among the little guys it doesn’t pay to be too
choosy, but still I preferred companies that have teams or people with good peer reputations.
The TinyCaps basket average took a sharp 8% drop on TinyCaps, 2023 weekly tracker
50%
the week, the three winners (AUL.v, NINE.cse, PRG.v) 45%
40%
and three unchanged stocks (MTU.v, STS.v, VAU.v) not
35%
enough to balance out the four losers (COCO.v, DMX.v, 30%
LMS.v, PA.v) even though the biggest move on the 25%
20%
21 15%
10%
5%
0%
ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA
source: IKN calcs, TSX data

week was the big 50% added by Nine Mile Metals (NINE.cse up 50.0%). That had its move
balanced out by the big loss in District Metals (DMX.v down 46.0%).
District Metals (DMX.v): DMX dropped a heavy
46.0% on big volume when on Wednesday, Sweden put
its moratorium on uranium mining to a parliamentary
vote and by 237 to 64 votes (and 7 of the 8 parties
voted against) the motion to lift the moratorium was
voted down. According to the company’s NR on the
subject (10), cynically delayed until post-close Friday,
the voting down of the proposal to lift the moratorium
was “unexpected” (and they said it twice, so they must
be serious) despite local political observers seeing
nothing to be surprised about with this decision (11) .
Not a good optic on the management acumen, has to
be said.
Viva Gold (VAU.v): On February 27th VAU
announced a $3m financing priced at 14c per unit
(share + full warrant at 23c) and on March 27th we got
this news on the closure of the placement (12):
“…the Company issued an aggregate of
14,925,731 units (the 'Units') at a price of
CDN$0.14 per Unit for gross proceeds of
CDN$2,089,602.”
In other words, the company only filled 2/3rd of the
financing and of that, 2.25m units went to strategic
holder RAB Capital who now owns 17.19% of shares
out.
Nine Mile Metals (NINE.cse): Last week we pooh-
poohed the stock, this week stuffed my opinions back
down my throat. It didn’t take much to get NINE to
rally back to the 30c level seen for the last nine
months, just a drill program update NR (13) that told
us the team were “quite” happy with the way things
are going.
NB: Please be clear that The Tiny Dogs is NOT a list of
recommended tinycap stocks. It is a list of companies with market caps of under $20m offering a reasonable
representation of the wider tinycaps market. It’s possible in the future I may buy shares in one or several of these
stocks, at the moment both my opinion and wallet are strictly neutral.
Regional politics
Mining’s image in LatAm
For the last three years, Colombian pollster Jaime Arteaga y Asociados has run an annual poll
on mining in the LatAm region, called “brujula minera” (mining compass) (14) (15) and
surveying nine major mining countries in the region: Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,
Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Guatemala and Panama. Last week saw the firm announce its findings
for the 2023 version, here are the main findings:
22

When asked whether mining is a positive influence for their country, the LatAm average in 2021
was 68% of people agreeing that mining is positive. In 2022 that dropped to 65% and this
year, the percentage has dropped again to 63% as the global average. This table shows the
country breakdown of that average:
Mining enjoys its best image in Chile, Peru and Bolivia. The two countries showing less than
50% are Argentina (45%) and Ecuador (44%).
So aside those countries that’s a positive result, but mining’s image has deteriorated somewhat
in the last three years. But it’s not all good news, as under that headline result,53% of LatAm
residents consider mining as the main cause of social conflicts. Also, when asked which sector
has the worst effect on the environment 32% of those polled chose mining, the number one
choice, compared to hydrocarbons (24%) and industrial manufacturing (18%). Government
entities in mining didn’t score well either, with only 17% of people trusting in their mining
ministries and state bodies and just 27% saying they trusted their environmental authorities.
Interesting, the best score for any enviro ministry was for Colombia, at 47%.
Ecuador vs mining continues
We’ve documented the fierce and long-standing community opposition to the Llurimagua
copper mine project on several occasions in the past, with the latest moves coming since
February 2022 when the community took the project to court in an attempt to get its
environment permits thrown out. The legal action has been slow but steady (government
lawyers using every delaying tactic under the sun but last week the locals scored a major
victory when the provincial appeals court revoked the project’s EIA and ordered the company,
run by Chile’s Codelco with minority JV the Ecuador state mining company Enami, to re-do its
permit application because it didn’t run the necessary prior consultancy meetings with the
surrounding community (16).
While the EIA is only technically suspended until the project submits the missing prior
consultancy work, it’s a major victory because both sides know there’s zero chance of the
project garnering the necessary support from local communities. Therefore the Llurimagua
project is now appealing the decision to the highest court in the land, Ecuador’s Constitutional
Court. It is also likely to re-activate its international ICSID/CIADI tribunal case against the State
of Ecuador that it voluntarily suspended in December last year.
Market Watching
Deferred
Next week.
23

Conclusion
IKN724 is done, we end with just one bullet point on today’s main event.
 We adding copper exposure on what feels like a weekly basis now, with recent starts in
both SolGold (SOLG.to) and Faraday (FDY.to) as well as Rugby (RUG.v) on the Watch
List and now an addition to the under-performing QC Copper (QCCU.v). I didn’t expect
to convince myself to add to the position when setting off on the review of the stock
this week, but after a while and considering its very cheap price and impending
catalyst, one that should finally lay out the bull case for Opemiska with clarity, the idea
became compelling. So instead of playing it chicken like I did with WDO, EQX and ORE
recently, I’m a buyer3.
I thank you in advance for any feedback. Our Top Pick stock is Minera Alamos (MAI.v). Flash
updates will be sent if required by events.
I wish you good trading fortune, ladies and gentlemen.
Best wishes, Mark
Footnotes, appendices, references, disclaimer
(1) https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2023/04/schedule-for-week-of-april-2-2023.html
(2) https://www.investing.com/economic-calendar/chinese-manufacturing-pmi-594
(3) https://qccopper.com/news/qc-copper-announces-private-placement-with-quebec-funds/
(4) https://qccopper.com/investors/presentations/
(5) https://abrasilver.com/news-releases/abrasilver-reports-further-high-grade-results-at-the-jac-zone-2320-gt-ag-over-
40-metres-and-233-gt-ag-over-455-metres-in-oxide-mineralization
(6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeiDC0ai0Fs
(7) https://www.solarisresources.com/news/press-releases/solaris-receives-proceeds-from-warrant-exercises-of-c302-
million--including-significant-exercises-by-richard-warke-and-equinox-gold-corp
(8) https://twitter.com/Mark_IKN/status/1641969056516554755
(9) https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/nevada-gold-mines-union-agree-to-new-three-year-contract
(10) https://twitter.com/Engofnature/status/1641438934164193284?t=ObBSCzGai-mZdcGQdfO1EA&s=09
(11) https://districtmetals.com/news/district-comments-on-the-status-of-the-uranium-moratorium-in-sweden
(12) https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/VIVA-GOLD-CORP-64307696/news/Viva-Gold-Announces-Closing-
of-Private-Placement-Offering-43348671/
(13) https://ninemilemetals.com/nine-mile-metals-continues-to-drill-on-its-nine-mile-brook-vms-project/
(14) https://www.brujulaminera.com.co/
(15) https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1641536538054893574
(16) https://mineriaenlinea.com/2023/03/tribunal-ecuatoriano-revoca-licencia-ambiental-del-proyecto-llurimagua-de-
codelco-y-enami/
(17) https://www.bnamericas.com/es/noticias/asamblea-nacional-ecuatoriana-debatira-dos-proyectos--de-ley-de-agua
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2022
Closed in 2022 date closed close price
Great Bear Res GBR.v Jan'22 C$15.83 26-Aug-20 C$28.58 80.5% Bought out by Kinross, print
24

Copper Mountain CMMC.to Jan'22 C$3.40 18-Jun-21 C$3.78 15.9% Sold 1/2 position in rebalance
Copper Mountain CMMC.to Feb'22 C$3.40 18-Jun-21 C$3.70 8.8% Sold rest on FY22 guidance
Trilogy Metals TMQ Mar'22 U$1.84 15-Sep-19 U$1.04 -41.3% killed by US permit reversal
McEwen Mining MUX Apr'22 U$0.89 2-Jan-22 U$0.82 -7.9% No 2022 turnaround, cut loss
Abrasilver Res. ABRA.v May'22 C$0.42 24-Apr-22 C$0.33 -21.4% sold to reduce Ag exposure
Strategic Metals SMD.v May'22 C$0.42 31-Jan-21 C$0.30 -28.6% trade flatlined 1.5 years
Discovery Silver DSV.v Jun'22 C$1.77 24-Oct-21 C$1.39 -21.5% Cutting Ag exp.& raising cash
Element 29 ECU.v Jul'22 C$0.58 6-Mar-22 C$0.30 -48.3% sold to cut Cu exposure
Superior Gold SGI.v Oct'22 C$0.95 3-Apr-22 C$0.24 -74.7% Q3 prod fail was last straw
Goldshore Res GSHR.v Nov'22 C$0.18 23-Oct-22 C$0.34 88.9% Quick profit taken
Palamina Corp PA.v Dec'22 C$0.295 21-Nov-21 C$0.08 -72.9% Clear-out of underperformer
Pure Gold PGM.h Dec'22 C$0.14 26-Sep-22 C$0.015 -89.3% tiny trade on vh risk, went Ch11
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2021
Closed in 2021 closed close price
Fiore Gold F.v jan'21 C$0.98 21-May-20 C$1.17 19.4% closed as part of rebalance
Norsemont Min NOM.cse feb'21 C$1.55 6-Set-20 C$0.70 -54.8% Cut loser to reduce Au exp.
Element 29 Res ECU.v feb'21 C$0.49 7-Feb-21 C$0.54 10.2% Cut Peru exposure
Kuya Silver KUYA.cse feb'21 C$1.66 8-Nov-20 C$2.51 51.2% Cut Peru exposure
Pucara Gold TORO.v apr'21 C$0.65 4-Oct-20 C$0.26 -60.0% Cut loser, Peru risk call
Copper Mountain CMMC.to apr'21 C$1.40 22-Nov-20 C$4.18 198.6% tgt hit, profit taken
New Gold NGD may'21 U$0.76 9-Feb-20 U$2.14 181.6% Sold to buy AGC, nice win
Orezone Gold ORE.v jun'21 C$0.79 21-Jun-20 C$1.61 103.8% sold on pop, leaky boat
Wolfden Res. WLF.v sep'21 C$0.30 11-Apr-21 C$0.19 -36.7% Failed spec trade, cut loss
Cartier Res ECR.v sep'21 C$0.32 21-Mar-21 C$0.235 -26.6% Failed spec trade, cut loss
Amarillo Gold AGC.v sep'21 C$0.31 30-May-21 C$0.30 -3.2% Capex story changed: Out
Excelsior Mining MIN.to oct'21 C$0.93 10-Mar-19 C$0.53 -43.0% May return in 2022
Royal Road Min. RYR.v nov'21 C$0.155 17-Mar-19 C$0.275 77.4% Closed on Nica pol risk
Aurelius Min. AUL.v dec'21 C$0.75 28-Jun-20 0.24 -68.0% cut end 2021, failed trade
Argonaut Gold AR.to dec'21 C$2.95 25-Jun-21 C$2.15 -27.1% cut on capex blowout
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2020
Closed in 2020 closed close price
TMAC Resources TMR.to Jan'20 C$3.41 20-Dec-19 C$3.61 5.9% TLS flip play, sold new year
Regulus Res REG.v Jan'20 C$1.10 20-Dec-19 C$1.30 18.2% TLS flip play, profit taken
Bonterra Res BTR.v Jan'20 C$1.90 9-Dec-19 C$1.66 -12.6% TLS flip play, loss taken
McEwen Mining MUX Jan'20 U$1.12 2-Dec-19 U$1.18 5.4% TLS flip play, profit taken
Core Gold CGLD.v Jan'20 C$0.255 7-Apr-19 C$0.305 19.6% arb trade, profit taken
HudBay Min HBM Jan'20 U$3.56 9-Dec-19 U$3.36 -5.6% TLS flip play, loss taken
Midas Gold MAX.to Feb'20 C$0.71 5-Jan-20 C$0.57 -19.7% sm & silly trade
Warrior Gold WAR.v Feb'20 C$0.08 3-Aug-18 C$0.05 -31.3% clean out non-perf sm stocks
Contact Gold C.v Feb'20 C$0.40 19-Aug-18 C$0.18 -55.0% clean out non-perf sm stocks
Sandstorm Gold SAND Feb'20 U$3.73 17-Apr-16 U$7.21 93.3% Sold during port rebalance
NexGen Energy NXE Feb'20 U$1.20 2-Dec-19 U$1.06 -11.7% TLS flip play, loss taken
MAG Silver MAG Apr'20 U$8.95 1-Mar-20 U$10.07 12.5% Sold to cut silver exposure
Alexco Res AXU Apr'20 U$1.69 7-Sep-17 U$1.69 0.0% sold to close Ag exp. in FY20
Bonterra Res BTR.v Jun'20 C$1.62 2-Feb-20 C$1.10 -32.1% under-performer cash moved
Regulus Res REG.v Jun'20 C$0.64 6-Apr-15 C$0.79 23.4% moved $ TMQ/MIN & Au stocks
Great Panther GPR.to Aug'20 C$0.60 21-Jun-20 C$1.10 83.3% Profit taken, good trade
Jaguar Mining JAG.v Aug'20 C$0.42 21-Jun-20 C$0.65 54.8% Profit taken, good trade
Sandstorm Gold SAND Aug'20 U$7.76 10-May-20 U$9.37 20.7% Profit taken, good trade
Integra Resources ITR.v Aug'20 C$2.23 13-Aug-18 C$5.40 142.2% Profit taken, good trade
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Wesdome Gold WDO.to Aug'20 C$2.37 14-Oct-17 C$14.82 525.3% last 1/2 of big win closed
INV Metals INV.to Sep'20 C$0.40 17-May-20 C$0.45 12.5% Cut all Ecuador exposure
Cartier Resources ECR.v Nov'20 C$0.155 3-Aug-18 C$0.25 67.7% Exact close price TBA
Tinka Res TK.v Dec'20 C$0.195 19-Apr-16 C$0.195 0.0% Closed on a round trip fail
2015 to 2019 annual closed positions in appendices below, 2009 to 2014 closed positions in editions IKN553 or earlier
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2019
Closed in 2019 closed close price
Atico Mining ATY.v jan'19 C$0.55 24-Jul-16 C$0.32 41.8% patience ran out, made room
Candente Copper DNT.to jan'19 C$0.075 3-Aug-18 C$0.05 -33.3% tiny trade, made room for new
B2Gold BTO.to feb'19 C$2.11 12-Sep-14 C$4.05 91.9% Took 1/2 profits, reduce size
Western Copper WRN.to mar'19 C$0.80 20-Jan-19 C$0.81 1.3% Spec trade that didn't work
B2Gold BTO.to mar'19 C$2.11 12-Sep-14 C$4.15 96.7% Took rest of profit.
GT Gold GTT.v mar'19 C$1.17 10-Oct-18 C$0.90 -23.1% Took loss. Story changed
NovaGold NG apr'19 U$3.84 13-Jan-19 U$4.15 -8.1% Short that didn't work, sm loss
Zinc One Z.v jun'19 C$0.47 14-Sep-17 C$0.025 -94.7% clearing out dead trade
Amarillo Gold AGC.v jun'19 C$0.24 22-Aug-18 C$0.20 -16.7% clearing out dead trade
New Gold NGD aug'19 U$1.44 31-Jul-19 U$1.23 14.6% ST short win thru Q2 earnings
IMPACT Silver IPT.v aug'19 C$0.39 21-Jul-19 C$0.46 18.0% took a quick profit
Fiore Gold F.v aug'19 C$0.34 26-May-19 C$0.56 64.7% Took profit, 2q19 avg
Chakana Copper PERU.v oct'19 C$0.84 22-Mar-18 C$0.16 -81.0% Exploreco trade fail. Want space
Wesdome Gold WDO.to oct'19 C$2.37 14-Oct-17 C$7.57 219.4% Sold half, profit taking
Superior Gold SGI.v oct'19 C$1.46 8-Apr-18 C$0.47 -67.8% Failed sm spec on Au. Moved on
Amerigo Res ARG.to nov'19 C$0.91 23-Sep-18 C$0.50 -45.1% worst trade of year, hefty loss
Guyana Goldfields GUY.to dec'19 C$0.94 14-Apr-19 C$0.56 -40.4% taking the loss, financials weak
Tethyan Res TETH.v dec'19 C$0.30 8-Sep-19 C$0.16 -46.7% tiny trade, word of probs in co
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2018
Closed in 2018 closed close price
Amarillo Gold AGC.v jan'18 C$0.38 24-Mar-17 C$0.31 -18.4% Cut away losing trade
Riverside Res RRI.v jan'18 C$0.39 27-Jun-16 C$0.31 -20.5% Cut away losing trade
Eros Res ERC.v jan'18 C$0.175 1-Mar-17 C$0.16 -8.6% CEO sudden exit, not good
Excellon Res EXN.to jan'18 C$1.54 9-Oct-16 C$1.66 7.8% 4q17 poor, one too many bad qtrs
Wesdome Gold WDO.to jan'18 C$1.68 15-Dec-17 C$2.06 22.6% Near-term trade block, took profit
Sabina G&S SBB.to apr'18 C$2.06 17-Dec-17 C$1.77 -14.1% Near-term trade, bad timing, small
B2Gold BTO.to May'18 C$2.11 12-Sep-14 C$3.67 73.9% sold 25% to reduce exposure
Lara Expl. LRA.v May'18 C$0.65 11-Feb-18 C$0.58 -13.8% Spec on Brazil didn't work
Solitario XPL June'18 U$0.72 19-Mar-17 U$0.41 -43.1% Failed trade, may return in 4q18
SolGold plc SOLG.to July'18 C$0.475 19-Nov-17 C$0.415 -12.6% cut, trade didn't perform
Pan American PAAS July'18 U$17.90 1-Jun-18 U$16.30 8.9% modest win on short position
NGEx Res NGQ.to Sep'18 C$1.01 22-Oct-17 C$1.00 -1.0% Closed to reduce Argentina exp
Sandstorm Gold SAND Oct'18 U$3.73 17-Apr-16 U$4.13 10.7% partial sale to raise cash for GTT
Aldebaran Res ALDE.v Nov'18 n/a n/a n/a n/a liquidate spin out of REG
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2017
Closed in 2017 closed close price
Continental Gold CNL.to Jan'17 C$2.68 22-May-16 C$4.17 55.6% trade closed, profit taken
Focus Ventures FCV.v Jan'17 C$0.23 1-Jul-12 C$0.05 -78.3% Give up, a disaster trade
Wesdome Gold WDO.to Feb'17 C$1.72 28-Aug-16 C$3.00 74.4% Target hit, sold, good trade
Belo Sun BSX.to Mar'17 C$0.90 30-Jan-17 C$0.90 0.0% failed near-term flip trade
Lara Expl. LRA.v Mar'17 C$1.15 8-Apr-12 C$1.05 -8.7% cut to make room for new trade
Rye Patch Gold RPM.v Apr'17 C$0.31 2-Sep-16 C$0.32 3.2% cut for doubts & new stock
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Cordoba Min. CDB.v Jun'17 C$0.75 15-Sep-16 C$0.63 -16.0% closed
Constantine Metal CEM.v Aug'17 C$0.135 9-Apr-17 C$0.28 107.4% spec trade closed, good win
Red Eagle Min. R.to Sep'17 C$0.67 13-Dec-16 C$0.27 -59.7% IKN's biggest failure in years
Starcore Intl SAM.to Sep'17 C$0.61 10-Jan-15 C$0.31 -49.2% Patience ran out
B2Gold BTO.to Dec'17 C$2.11 12-Sep-14 C$3.39 60.7% sold small portion for liquidity
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2016
Closed in 2016 closed close price
Phoscan Chem FOS.to jan16 C$0.28 29-mar-15 C$0.265 -5.4% Buyout trade, bot but poor deal
True Gold TGM.v jan16 C$0.18 23-aug-15 C$0.25 38.9% okay trade, sold on pol risk
McEwen Mining MUX jan16 U$1.09 25-jan-15 U$1.20 10.1% sold due to lack of value
Lake Shore Gold LSG.to feb-16 C$1.10 07-apr-15 C$1.69 53.6% bot out, sold early in process
Atacama Pacific ATM.v feb-16 C$0.19 26-apr-15 C$0.40 110.5% sold for a double on big pop
New Gold NGD feb-16 U$2.06 24-jan-16 U$2.96 43.7% closed good near-term trade
Sandspring Res SSP.v mar-16 C$0.195 18-oct-15 C$0.32 64.1% Hit tgt, took profit
Teranga Gold TGZ.to mar-16 C$0.54 15-feb-15 C$0.60 11.1% disappointing trade
B2Gold BTG mar-16 U$0.85 13-jan-16 U$1.30 52.9% Separate trade on B2, hit tgt
Dalradian Res DNA.to mar-16 C$0.67 27-oct-13 C$1.00 49.3% Hit target, sold, good win
HudBay Min. HBM may-16 U$4.10 03-apr-16 U$4.36 -6.3% Short trade, poor timing
Nevada Sunrise NEV.v may-16 C$0.185 28-feb-16 C$0.23 24.3% V. small, no big deal either way
Richmont RIC jun-16 U$7.60 01-may-16 U$9.30 22.4% near-term trade, profit taken
INV Metals INV.to jul-16 C$0.25 03-apr-16 C$0.95 280.0% Trade closed on time
HudBay Min. HBM aug16 U$4.98 09-jun-16 U$4.80 3.6% short trade covered, no big deal
Miranda Gold MAD.v oct-16 C$0.125 03-jul-16 C$0.10 -20.0% tiny spec trade, didn't work
Avino G & S ASM nov-16 U$2.00 21-oct-16 U$1.40 -30.0% Abandon trade on bad bot deal
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2015
Closed in 2015 closed close price
Argonaut Gold AR.to jan'15 C$1.47 14-dec-14 C$2.53 72.1% Big gain small time, profit taken
Amerigo Res ARG.to jan'15 C$0.405 20-jul-14 C$0.285 -29.6% Given up on weak Cu prices
Reservoir Min. RMC.v jan'15 C$6.05 18-jun-14 C$4.12 -31.9% sold on Cu downturn
Coro Mining COP.to jan'15 C$0.075 26-jan-14 C$0.035 -53.3% sm, sold on Cu downturn
Fortuna Silver FSM mar'15 U$4.12 10-nov-14 U$3.75 9.0% Short used as hedge
GoldQuest Min. GQC.v mar'15 C$0.26 27-oct-13 C$0.085 -67.3% given up ghost
Rio Alto Mining RIO.to apr'15 C$2.30 07-apr-11 C$3.57 55.2% Top pick, bot out, big win
Timmins Gold TGD jun'15 U$0.60 19-apr-15 U$0.62 3.3% near-term trade, out of time
First Majestic AG jul'15 U$10.51 10-aug-14 U$4.55 56.7% horrible failed trade
NovaCopper NCQ.to jul'15 C$1.05 09-apr-14 C$0.50 -52.4% no more Cu exposure, sm sell
McEwen Mining MUX aug'15 U$0.695 21-jul-15 U$0.92 32.4% Closed nearterm flip for win
Midas Gold MAX.to sep'15 C$0.39 21-sep-15 C$0.35 -10.3% Sm. trade idea that didn't work
New Gold NGD oct'15 U$2.18 23-aug-15 U$3.05 39.9% trade closed, profit taken
Legend Gold LGN.v nov'15 C$0.085 01-mar-15 C$0.035 -58.8% tiny "land grab" idea, failed
Timmins Gold TGD nov'15 U$0.245 20-sep-15 U$0.15 -38.8% small near-term loser
Please note that due to space considerations closed positions 2009 to 2014 are now
available on request, or were published in any edition to IKN553 (end 2019).
Important Disclosure
The information and opinions contained within this report reflect the personal views of the author and therefore all
material within should not be construed as accurate or reliable or be utilized as advice for investment or business
purposes. Independent due diligence and discussions with ones own investment and business advisor is strongly
recommended. Accordingly, nothing in this report should be construed as offering a guarantee of the accuracy or
completeness of the information contained herein, as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any
security or as an endorsement of any product or service. All opinions and estimates included in this report are subject to
change without notice. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this report to any type of third party without the express
permission of the author.
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