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The IKN Weekly
Week 728, April 30th 2023
Contents
This Week: In Today’s Edition, Fed and Rates and Jobs and Gold and Copper.
Fundamental Analysis: Marking cards on Equinox Gold (EQX).
Stocks to Follow: Western Exploration (WEX.v), Minera Alamos (MAI.v), SolGold Plc
(SOLG.to) (SOLG.L), Goldshore Resources (GSHR.v), Newcore Gold (NCAU.v), AbraSilver
Resource Corp (ABRA.v), Faraday Copper (FDY.to), Aldebaran (ALDE.v), Orefinders (ORX.v).
Copper Basket: Overview, Oroco Resources (OCO.v), Hot Chili/Costa Copper (HCH.v), Regulus
Resources (REG.v), Arizona Sonoran (ASCU.to).
Producer Basket: Overview, Notes on 1q23 results to date.
TinyCaps Basket: Overview, Aurelius Minerals (AUL.v), Palamina Corp (PA.v).
Regional Politics: Chile recession beckons, Chile: More lithium politics, Argentina’s mining
growth plans, Mexico’s mining law sails through the upper house, Colombia: Petro lurches left,
Ecuador: Lasso’s woes are not just for mining.
Market Watching: Menē Inc (MENE.v) 4q22 and YE financials.
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
In Today’s Edition
 Last week saw copper trade weakly for the first time in 2023 and, as the fate of that
metal is important to the health of the IKN Weekly portfolio of stocks, we take extra
time to consider the state of affairs in the copper market and point to a potential near-
term soft patch for its market and pricing. Please note that I’m not changing any trades
or decisions today, but I am concerned about how copper might trade in the near-term.
 The other main event today is a look at Equinox Gold (EQX), a company that provides
plenty of leverage to the price of gold and is about to report its 1q23 this coming week.
We looked at it a few weeks ago and since then, it’s performed as well as we’d
imagined in a rising gold price environment. With catalysts now in the pipeline for the
stock, it may time to take a position and ride it higher.
Fed and Rates and Jobs and Gold and Copper
I think that title covers all the angles for the week ahead so to continue with word economy,
here’s how Calculated Rick frames the FOMC scheduled for this week and the Statement +
Presser scheduled for its normal Wednesday lunch ET time slot (1):
2:00 PM: FOMC Meeting Announcement. The FOMC is expected to raise the Fed
Funds rate by 25bp at this meeting and indicate a likely "pause" in June.
2:30 PM: Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press briefing following the FOMC
announcement.
Then Friday pre-open comes the US BLS Employment Report for the month of April,
with current consensus at +178,000 NFP jobs and the headline unemployment rate
rising one notch to 3.6%.
This desk sees no issue with Bill McBride’s take, as it fits neatly with our ongoing playbook and
1

for weeks on end we’ve banged the same drum:
 He may have caused the problem in the first place by going “transitory” in 2021, but since
declaring “War On Inflation” Fed Chair Jay Powell has kept his message unchanged.
 He identifies as a “Student of Volcker” and as such, will quickly tell you about Volcker’s big
mistake of easing too early and letting the inflation genie back out of the bottle again.
 His underlings at the Fed haven’t moved much from the established script, which has been
“one more hike then a pause.” What remains to be seen is the likely length of that pause
before the Fed dares start cutting rates.
 Bets are now divided, with the dovish argument being that the Fed won’t keep rates
elevated for long. As a result, Fedwatchers will scour the Statement for changes in wording
and then ask their questions of Powell at the presser, but until otherwise informed this desk
will assume the Fed will keep rates on hold (and they may even hint at a further hike),
caring less about the potential for recession and job losses and more about screwing down
the inflation rate, once and for all.
This more hawkish scenario of “higher rates for longer” is gold negative and enough to stop the
monetary metal from rallying further even as
inflation drops. Hence our overall unchanged call
for gold price equilibrium around or at its current
U$2,000/oz line. We been party poopers* who
can’t see why gold would necessarily break out
into new high prices for seven weeks and counting
and, as unpopular and crowd-annoying as it might
be, we remain that way. As noted for example in
IKN725 dated April 9th while the precious metals
hype machine was in full swing and “…(p)redicting
higher prices for gold in the timeframe of your
choice ha(d) suddenly become a popular and
alluring call”, we also know those who confidently
shout gold higher “can always blame “them” or
“the banksters” or “the crooked system” if their dreams of riches fail to materialize.
And indeed, gold’s squiggly line has continued flat. And indeed, “the most unpopular gold rally
ever” (the intro to IKN721 March 12th) continues as bullion fails to catch a bid or see any sort of
significant buying from big US money in the whole of 2023. Sentiment remains firmly in the
dumpster and there’s little evidence of a flight to safety to gold, T-Bills and bonds remain the
#1 pick for hiding money.
GLD gold holdings, 2022 to date (metric tonnes)
1120
1100
1080
1060
1040
1020
1000
980
960
940
920
900
880
860
That opens the subject of the other big macro moment of the week to come, the US BLS Jobs
report due out Friday and to return to Calculated Risk for the bare bones, at this point “The
consensus is for 178,000 jobs added, and for the unemployment rate to increase to 3.6%”,
estimates that may see some refining before Friday. This may be a key moment, as we’ll
2
12/21/13 22/1/41 22/1/82 22/2/11 22/2/52 22/3/11 22/3/52 22/4/8 22/4/22 22/5/6 22/5/02 22/6/3 22/6/71 22/7/1 22/7/51 22/7/92 22/8/21 22/8/62 22/9/9 22/9/32 22/01/7 22/01/12 22/11/4 22/11/81 22/21/2 22/21/61 22/21/03 32/1/31 32/1/72 32/2/01 32/2/42 32/3/01 32/3/42 32/4/7 32/4/12
mt 6.80 GLD: Inventory/Price Ratio, 2022 to date
6.60
source: SPDR GLD data
6.40
6.20
6.00
5.80
5.60
5.40
5.20
5.00
4.80
12/21/13 22/1/41 22/1/82 22/2/11 22/2/52 22/3/11 22/3/52 22/4/8 22/4/22 22/5/6 22/5/02 22/6/3 22/6/71 22/7/1 22/7/51 22/7/92 22/8/21 22/8/62 22/9/9 22/9/32 22/01/7 22/01/12 22/11/4 22/11/81 22/21/2 22/21/61 22/21/03 32/1/31 32/1/72 32/2/01 32/2/42 32/3/01 32/3/42 32/4/7 32/4/12
Source: SPDR data, IKN calcs

already have a FOMC decision that may look behind the curve if the Jobs Report comes in
weaker than expected. The market’s big fear, the hard landing, comes into play if the Fed is
seen as too heavy-handed and with Jay “Student of Volcker” at the helm that seems to be a
near-inevitable moment of reckoning at some point in the future. The question is “when” and
that may turn out to be Friday. Which brings us to the other metal in today’s headline, our
frenemy and adversary Dr. Copper. This week’s thoughts on this key metal for sector
investment (and your author’s personal portfolio) are split between this intro section and further
commentary in The Copper Basket below, but the thrust of the argument is that all of a sudden,
copper is looking weak.
You will be aware of my copper bullish position and over the mid and long-term that has not
changed. We are driven by the obvious fundamentals of the copper supply deficit in the pipeline
and the way the world needs (no other word) far more copper than it is currently producing in
order to execute on the grand plans for energy transition in the next few years (or couple of
decades). I repeat and underscore, my fundamentally bullish outlook on copper and the copper
mining sector has not changed but it’s difficult to ignore the new bearish backdrop to copper in
the near-term. And as the near-term includes “right now”, that makes a difference to trading
strategies and portfolio management decisions. In The Copper Basket below we consider a
combination of factors that, while not big enough to tip any balances on their own, seem to
have arrived in a bunch and the result is a copper price that did something we haven’t seen for
a while; it sold off but didn’t rebound immediately. There was a distinct lack of “bargain
hunters” snapping up sub-U$4.00/lb Cu levels last week and though the list is long. This
weekend may have shone a little light on the reason behind the lack of buyers. So while we
chew over the majority of bearish influences in The Copper Basket below, as China’s
Manufacturing PMI has been the subject of previous intro pieces, I thought we’d separate it out
and write a few lines on it here, instead.
China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)
54
53
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
3
0202naj bef ram rpa yam nuj luj gua pes tco von ced 1202naj bef ram rpa yam nuj luj gua pes tco von ced 2202naj bef ram rpa yam nuj luj gua pes tco von ced 3202naj bef ram rpa
source: China PMI
We’ve reported on the recent spike in readings from the China Manufacturing Purchasing
Managers Index, a.k.a. Manufacturing PMI, in recent editions and the way the record February
2023 reading (52.6) was followed by an equally strong March number (51.9). So to rain a little
further on your parades, this weekend we got the April PMI and manufacturing, expected at
51.4, came in at a weak 49.2. While on the subject, non-manufacturing PMI (which affects
metals demand less directly) was 56.4 compared to an expected 57 and as a result, the
composite 54.4 was well below expectations.
What’s going on? The last time we tackled the subject was IKN724 and the March reading,
which included this segment of script:
“(Analysts)…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.
The Keynesian playbook stimulus went into the Chinese economy in November last year and as
its wont, took a few weeks to show its fruits. That coincided with the end of Covid Zero and the
ensuing “Great Re-Opening” improved China’s economy all at once, but the issue now facing
the country is that, according to this new data, the stimulus is not showing much follow-

through. But let’s not jump to conclusions, his weekend’s reading should come with plenty of
caveats and, as always, we shouldn’t be quick to rush to judgment on the back of a single data
reading. We took the same position with the record February reading to the upside and the
enthusiasm only grew with the good March number. The same applies to the downside and
April may simply be a blip on the way upward. However we need to be clear, the markets will
take this 49.2 April PMI number as a clear negative and, in fact, we’ve probably already seen its
effects being priced into Doctor Copper over the last two weeks of price action.
*One of the nicest Spanish compound words is “aguafiestas”, which means party pooper but literally translates as
“waterparties”, or “s/he who waters parties”. So don’t rain on my parade.
Fundamental Analysis of Mining Stocks
Marking cards on Equinox Gold (EQX) (EQX.to)
In IKN719 dated February 26th 2023, we ran a brief review of the 4q22 numbers out of Equinox
Gold (EQX), the high cash cost gold producer well known for being Ross Beaty’s latest
expansion vehicle. At one point in that note, we boiled the company down to three simple
statements…
 Lots of ounces produced
 High cash cost
 Greenstone its big growth project is fully funded and apparently on schedule
…and while that’s obviously over-simplistic, EQX came off better than I thought it would on a
review of its financials and it made sense as a play that would benefit from a move in the gold
price. Here’s how we put it in part of that conclusion on the day:
“If you like gold’s prospects going forward then EQX should be on your radar as a leverage
trade on the metal. Its size and market cap, traded volume, high cash cost and market
presence makes it an attractive option for those near-term risk trades many of you like, though
I’d warn people away from a buy’n’hold on something this volatile and vulnerable to gold’s
downswings. At some point, Greenstone will become a bigger factor in its price performance
and that will all depend on whether EQX can indeed deliver its new mine on time and budget.”
That weekend, gold was priced at the London Friday PM fix of U$1,833.95/oz and if we
consider its US listing as our baseline, its share price was U$3.44. This weekend…
…EQX sits at U$4.98, up a cool 44.8% from that weekend and a trade that would have
rewarded handsomely any reader with more courage than this author.
Does this make EQX a missed opportunity, akin to the trade I’ve watched and failed to profit
from in Goldshore (GHSR.v, see below) more recently? Perhaps yes, but the personal reticence
was more about gold’s prospects at the time, rather than an EQX which already looked to have
4

the construction capital for its big Greenstone project in (one of the more easily accessible
corners of) Canada covered nicely. The balance sheet
would potentially feel pressure as the due date
arrived for first pour and commissioning in mid-2024,
but the team were confident of delivery and every
bulletin to that point had the project on-time and,
more importantly, on budget as well. That’s no small
thing in these inflationary time and since then, we’ve
heard again from EQX that Greenstone is on track as
per plans (see insert right, from the latest corporate
presentation).
Today isn’t a long note, it’s more a case of
presenting the ballpark scenario we see for the stock today, then comparing its financials and
guidance to our model and once the reality is known, make a buy/avoid decision on the stock.
Today’s note is a preview of this:
Equinox Gold Corp. (TSX: EQX, NYSE American: EQX) (“Equinox Gold” or the
“Company”) will announce its unaudited first quarter financial and operating results on
May 2, 2023, after market close, and will host a series of meetings on May 3, 2023, as
described below.
First Quarter Results (May 3, 7:30 am PT)
The Company will host a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, May 3, 2023,
commencing at 7:30 am PT to discuss its first quarter results and answer questions
from participants.
What’s more, that Wednesday morning ConfCall is one of three EQX plans to hold that day, as
later it will stream its AGM to shareholders and once that is finished, EQX main man and Chair
Ross Beaty is set to host a third presentation on its development plans, with an emphasis on
Greenstone. So a busy day for EQX on Wednesday May 3rd and by the end of it, The Fourth Will
Be With Us (groan) and we’ll have a good idea of how the IKN Weekly ballpark parameters
compare to the reality of the company. If we’re close,, this company still looks cheap even after
its near-50% rebound since IKN719, a mere nine weeks ago.
We begin with the charts that leave me most open to mockery come the real figures on
Tuesday.
EQX: Consolidated gold production, per qtr
EQX has guided 2023 consolidated production from its seven operating mines at between
555,000 and 625,000 oz gold, with production expected to weight to the second half of the
year. After due consideration of each asset and what we can reasonably expect from each, the
desk believes EQX is giving itself plenty of leeway with the low end of that guidance and in
reality, even a fairly conservative forecast gets production (and sales) to around 615,000oz gold
for the year. However we agree that most of the upside will come later in the year so for this
week and 1q23, production/sales of around 140,000 oz will be enough to satisfy our
expectations. As for costs, we’ve gone with the AISC number because we expect EQX to ramp
up the capex and return a high overall number.
Away from the immediacy of 1q23 and the results it will post this week, EQX should also give
5
67108 15988
610721 768421 253631 332921 656221 857931
234012
254711 318021 516341 934051 000041 000051 000061 000561
220000
200000
180000
160000
140000
120000
100000 80000
60000
40000
20000
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
Oz Au EQX: AISC
source: company filings, IKN ests
658 869 009 7701 6801
2841 2831 7231 8521 7751 7561 9471 3251 0771 0371 0061 0051
2000
1500
1000
500
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
U$/oz Au
source: company filings, IKN ests

updated guidance on the 2023 quarters to come. We should also get news on Greenstone and
whether that is still on time/budget. This brings up an important point, because if EQX can stick
to the plans this miner will soon bump up to an IKN Estimate 850,000oz annual gold production
(for what it’s worth, EQX itself forecasts 900,000oz in 2025)
EQX: Annual gold production and forecasts
6
710102
681774 011206 913235 000516 000066
000058 000009
Oz Au
1000000
900000
800000
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023e 2024e 2025e 2026e
source: company filings, IKN ests
The above chart is the real reason we’re interested in EQX at this time. While 140,000oz gold at
a high overall cash cost in 1q23 looks far more attractive when gold is trading at U$2,000/oz
instead of U$1,850/oz, the real investment opportunity is to buy EQX before Greenstone re-
rates the company to a higher overall market cap. The 60% owned Greenstone (40% Orion) is
scheduled to produce 400,000 oz gold in its first five years, then an average of 300,000oz and
all at a low cash cost. Assuming the construction and commissioning goes well (and what could
possibly go wrong) and the price of gold remains strong (again, what could possibly…) the
equity re-rate seems a certainty and it would pay
buyers in mid 2023 to hold through to end 2024.
EQX: Mine Op Earnings, per qtr
With construction on-track, the main risk would be 120
to the gold price for an EQX that produces a lot of 100
gold, but due to its high overall cash cost hasn’t
80
been carving out as much margin. Not until now, at
60
least.
40
20
The previous chart generated by the model in
0
February didn’t look like this (right). Instead we has
a series of short stumpy columns for our 2023
estimates that wouldn’t get close to the amount EQX
needs to build out Greenstone this year (budget
$277m) as well as sustaining capex budgets for its other mines (total U$137m as at the 2023
company forecast). But with gold assumptions at U$2,000/oz EQX operations are set to
generate around U$175m in mine operating earnings at its existing mines and while that’s not
“operating income” or even net, it’s the cash flow it will be able to dedicate toward the final
year of construction at Greenstone. The result is in the above balance sheet charts, as we now
expect EQX to draw less on its arranged loan facility and stay in better financial shape at a key
period. The difference doesn’t show up easily in the above charts, but when working cap is
considered…
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
U$m
source: company filings, IKN ests
EQX: Assets
96.096
1.0702 9.9702 7002 4.7202 3.0602
1.2782 7.5092
1.4082
8.4882 3.5103 2.2903 3.1023 5723 0933 0153
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3
U$m EQX: Liabilities Breakdown per qtr
2000
fixed 1800
other current
cash & eq 1600
1400
1200
1000 800
600
400
200
0
source: EQX filings
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3
U$m LT liab
current liab
source: company filings

800 EQX: Working Capital per qtr
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
7
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3
source company filings
srallod
fo
snoillim
…even with most of the financial heavy lifting done we now expect EQX to keep its working cap
levels to U$300m. More than enough. And if that all works out as planned, the current 312.1m
shares out and U$4.98 share price gives EQX a market cap of U$1.55Bn.
EQX: Book Value per share (USD)
With a book value/share of an IKN Estimated U$7.53 (and we’ll find out how close that is on
Tuesday evening), the new profile of EQX with 850,000 oz annual production and a balance
sheet that remains stronger than expected through the Greenstone construction period should
see it out of the penalty box and back trading at book (at least). That’s an implied upside of
51% to this weekend and the prize we’re considering, as long as 1q23 and the guidance doesn’t
disappoint in the days ahead.
With your cards marked, it only remains to say that EQX is likely to make its debut on next
weekend’s Stock to Follow list. The question is whether it becomes part of the Watch List of
whether I actually buy some. Until next weekend.
Stocks to Follow
Five winners out of 18 covered stocks had a winning week (MAI.v, SOLG.to, MIRL.cse, GSHR.v
MENE.v) and just one remained unchanged (NCAU.v), which means 12 losers and while there
were a couple of heavier losses on the list in the shape of Aldebaran (ALDE.v down 14.9%),
Orefinders (ORX.v down 12.5%) and AbraSilver (ABRA.v down 9.3%, most of the losers were
small without busting out of tight trading ranges. To the upside, while Minera IRL (MIRL.cse up
40.0%) and Goldshore Resources (GSHR.v up 18.6%) were the two big percentage winners,
the one to care about is the penny added to Top Pick Minera Alamos (MAI.v) as without that, it
would have been a losing week.
We currently have 18 open positions, two below the self-imposed maximum and I personally
own 14 of them. Nine are in the green, two are unchanged, seven are in the red and Newcore
is still underwater.
55.3
66.5 96.5 07.5 89.5 91.6
28.7 57.7 85.8 43.8 78.7 55.7 66.7 35.7
10.0
9.0
8.0
7.0
6.0
5.0 4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1
EQX: Shares Out P/BV
source: TSX, EQX filings
34.011 95.011 90.311 4.311 54.311
2.612
87.932 78.142 53.242 48.242 54.003 36.003 33.103 22.303 98.303 60.503 73.703
1.213
400
350
300
250
200 150
100
50
0
81q4 91q1 91q2 91q3 91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1
source: company filings
serahs
fo snoillim

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$0.415 97.6% $0.75 first tgt, #1 idea
RECOMMENDED STOCKS
Amerigo Res ARG.to STR BUY C$1.36 12-Dec-21 C$1.61 18.4% Main Cu trade, top fundies
SolGold SOLG.to STR BUY C$0.265 19-Feb-23 C$0.325 22.6% Cu in Ecuador, M&A tgt
QC Copper&Gold QCCU.v SPEC BUY C$0.265 25-Apr-21 C$0.165 -37.7% MRE now due 2q23, annoying
Faraday Copper FDY.to BUY C$0.79 26-Mar-23 C$1.02 29.1% Latest Cu exploreco, IKN723
AbraSilver Res. ABRA.v BUY C$0.36 4-Dec-22 C$0.34 -5.6% added for last time Mar'23
Western Explor. WEX.v BUY C$1.87 9-Apr-23 C$1.83 -2.1% new trade, Au spec in NV USA
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$0.205 -75.3% Cheap on permit probs, appeal
SPECULATIVE TRADES
Orefinders ORX.v.v SPEC BUY C$0.04 20-Nov-22 C$0.035 -12.5% build position at 4c
Chesapeake Gold CKG.v SPEC BUY C$3.07 20-Feb-22 C$2.70 -12.1% Au leverage, small trade so far
Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v BUY C$0.72 16-May-21 C$0.74 2.8% drill assays now coming
Minera IRL MIRL.cse avoid C$0.195 22-Jul-12 C$0.035 -82.1% 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$0.155 63.2% Cheap Yukon neighbour play
Rugby Resources RUG.v WATCH C$0.06 26-Mar-23 C$0.055 -8.3% new on watchlist, Cu in Col
Goldshore Res GSHR.v WATCH C$0.165 26-Mar-23 C$0.255 54.5% return to list, possible flip
Contango Ore CTGO WATCH U$23.25 2-Dec-22 U$29.90 28.6% Manh Choh finance happening
LONG-TERM NON-MINING HOLD
Mene Inc. MENE.v adding C$0.63 6-Dec-20 C$0.33 -47.6% 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.
2015 to 2022 annual closed positions in appendices below, 2009 to 2014 closed positions in editions IKN553 or earlier
Now for notes on some of the covered companies:
Western Exploration (WEX.v): ADDED again. It’s still thin stuff and will likely stay that way
until the upcoming financing opens and closes, but at least the bid and ask got close enough to
each other to make picking off a thousand or two shares possible. We await the financing and
the beginning of its marketing roll-out.
Minera Alamos (MAI.v): The Top Pick traded
lightly last week, as seen in this hourlies chart vs
the GDXJ. You could argue a little relative
strength on the week, but the small volumes
make it an academic point. Minera Alamos should
report tomorrow May 1st and then report its 1q23
at the end of May. Those two reports will give us
a better handle on its progress, its financial
position and the timeline to Cerro del Oro.
It’s fair to assume another modest quarter from
the 4q22 production numbers, but I’ll be watching
the financials more.
SolGold Plc (SOLG.to) (SOLG.L): Up a penny and a half on the week, mostly because it got
its drop out of the way the Friday before last. But that’s being slightly unfair, as SOLG traded
okay on its main London listing and better than most of the bigger volume copper explorecos as
8

the metal went into a swoon. Bargain hunters assume the China deal will happen and I do too,
highly unlikely to sell any of these before the M&A fun starts.
Goldshore Resources (GSHR.v): Last week’s notes
finished by nodding at the potential of the 25c warrant
overhang stopping the rally in GSHR and with this
sentence: “If I miss the boat, so be it.” This weekend…
…I watch from the jetty as the ship sails gracefully toward
the horizon. The speculation ramped up in the stock and
on Friday it blew through the supposed 25c ceiling to
close at 25.5c, leaving your author with a Pyrrhic victory
at most (i.e. nothing). We’ll continue to watch GSHR from
the sidelines, but at some point we may have to drop it
from the Watch List as one that got away.
Newcore Gold (NCAU.v): Unchanged on the week, NCAU filed its 2022 YE numbers on Friday
evening and within normal margins of error, their
numbers matched our expectations closely
enough. Just three charts with updated data
offered to remind readers of the state of play, as
the reason to own this stock at this price lays in
the future and bears little relation to a set of
numbers that were out of date four months ago.
Cash treasury (which is virtually the same as its
working capital) came in at C$3.586m, compared
to our guesstimate of C$3m and includes the
C$3m NCAU has in an interest-bearing deposit
account (which pays a couple of bills, we like to
see efficient cash management). Our estimates for
the next four quarters remain unchanged and include a placement to add working capital at
some point this quarter (they may wait until 3q23, we’ll see).
NCAU.v: Expenses breakdown
1.9
1.7
1.5
1.3
1.1
0.9
0.7
0.5
0.3
0.1
-0.1
-0.3
-0.5
9
91q1 91q2 91q3 91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
NCAU.v: Cash treasury per qtr
C$m
other exp
IR &marketing
Share based comp
Mgmt fees
source: company filings
Expenses came to a net $0.284m in 4q22, with a forex gain reducing the paper losses and
share based payments (to the drillers, a regular event) of C$0.132m keeping cash burn down.
Indeed, cash used in operations was less than $200k on the quarter, NCAU kept it tight during
this non-drill quarter while waiting for the
3rd party compilers to (fail to) deliver in
time. Then shares out as at end 2022 came
to 138.377m, very close to our model and
we still assume this moves to 170m and
NCAU runs a classic-type equity placement
to raise the cash it needs for a year or so of
operations. Bottom line: No surprises in
425.0 591.0
899.2 380.2
212.31
775.8
867.3
888.8
525.5
742.3
128.1
220.5
685.3
1
5
3 5.1
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
source: company filings
srallod
fo
snoillim
200 NCAU.v: Shares Out
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
81q4 91q1 91q2 91q3 91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 tse32q1 tse32q2 tse32q3 tse32q4
source: company filings
serahs
fo
snoillim

the NCAU YE numbers, which is how it should be.
AbraSilver Resource Corp (ABRA.v): My only dedicated silver play has spent the last two
weeks reminding me just why I only have one dedicated silver play, but on Friday dipped
sharply as sellers showed up, as seen on this comparative chart with the main silver producer
ETF (SIL):
The reason for the selling was almost certainly this:
We saw insiders exercising their derivatives all last week and that’s a good thing, we’ll surely
find out soon enough how much those have added to treasury and from the look of the insider
trades files, they haven’t sold any. However, it’s clear that at least some holders of those 27c
warrants that expired on Wednesday must have made their shares whole and sold into the
market and at ABRA, traded volume is much lower than its float. The result is that when larger
chunks show up the market cannot digest them easily; we saw the effect when SILJ trimmed its
position recently and we saw the same last week.
ABRA should bounce back from this somewhat artificial low, then again it’s a silver stock and
predicting its next move is probably a fool’s game. And as I own some, that tells you something
about your author .
Faraday Copper (FDY.to): Down 7c on the week but still closing above a Loonie, zero
complaints about the way FDY is trading around the weaker copper price. A reminder, however,
that I am not wedded to this trade and first and foremost, I’m here to see how its expected
newsflow for drill assays and first pass resource count affects the share price. If the catalysts
do their job and push the price higher, I’d take profits without much prompting.
Aldebaran (ALDE.v): On Monday 24th, ALDE announced a new IR deal with Adelaide Capital
(3) at the cost of $10,000/month. Then on Tuesday 25th, ALDE’s John Black along with country
manager Javier Robedo met with the San Juan Province Minister of Mining, Carlos Astudillo (4),
at which they told the minister that the four rigs currently turning on site were already over
10,000m for this season, drilling would continue through May (and until weather conditions
changed) and the camp currently had 80 workers on-site.
Then on Wednesday, traded volume suddenly picked up, ALDE did over 80k shares that day
and over 160k on the Thursday, the share price dived under the 80c line for the first time in
three months and kept on diving until it closed at a new 2023 low of 74c on Friday.
10

In the case of ALDE, with the addition of Adelaide Capital it now has at least three entities
billing the company for IR work. Now, I don’t mind paying for IR as long as its effective, but in
this case it takes a guy like me to tell you the company had potentially important meetings with
local politicos last week, we hear nothing about these positives from the people on the
company dime. What’s more, the share price action shows that the latest promo contract it
seems to have had the reverse effect. We often hear about the past success of Antares when
talk turns to either ALDE or its sister company, Regulus Resources. One thing you don’t hear
about is the drumtight G&A that Antares used to run compared to the expansive G&A bills now
getting run up by these new iterations, that’s a distinct change in the way things are now run
by this team and if all we get for the bloated office bills is a share price performance like last
week’s why should these people expect us to sponsor their operations when they come around
for the next placement?
Orefinders (ORX.v): Just before its AGM that rubber-stamps ORX’s new role as the
“investment hub” of the Ore Group companies, the new strategy started its roll-out when ORZ
announced a $1.5m investment in Awalé (ARIC.v), an early stage exploreco hunting on a big
IOCG prospect in West Africa (8). This is fine by me and it’s good to see the company deploying
some of its capital in third party projects, rather the normal incestuous relationships inside Ore
Group (e,g, CEP Stephen Stewart told me ORX will not take any of the current placement being
run by sister company Mistango this time). CEO Stewart underscored his belief that now is the
time to seed small and prospective explorecos and after the necessary DD, chose ARIC and
timed the entrance to coincide with the exit of its CEO Greg Parsons so let’s assume one of
those “slate cleaning” moments that happens occasionally in the tinycap world and leave it at
that. ORX finished down at 3.5c on the week, likely due to it deploying capital to buy share sin
a risky third party. That’s okay by me, these small betas re the ones that must speculate to
accumulate.
The Copper Basket
After seventeen weeks of 2023, The Copper Basket shows a gain of 5.16% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/23 Shares out Market Cap current pps gain/loss%
1 Solaris Res SLS.to 6.44 114.56 798.48 6.97 8.2%
2 Marimaca Cop MARI.to 3.22 88.028 360.91 4.10 27.3%
3 Western Copper WRN.to 2.41 151.597 350.19 2.31 -4.1%
4 Arizona Sonoran ASCU.to 1.92 105.96 183.31 1.73 -9.9%
5 Faraday Copper FDY.to 0.54 175.2 178.70 1.02 88.9%
6 Oroco Res OCO.v 0.91 207.034 171.84 0.83 -8.8%
7 Hot Chili HCH.v 0.78 119.455 118.26 0.99 26.9%
8 Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v 0.78 139.007 102.87 0.74 -5.1%
9 Regulus Res. REG.v 1.10 124.509 98.36 0.79 -28.2%
10 Pan Global Res PGZ.v 0.46 212.145 73.19 0.345 -25.0%
11 Kodiak Copper KDK.v 1.12 56.2 42.15 0.75 -33.0%
12 QC Copper QCCU.v 0.165 162.815 26.86 0.165 0.0%
13 Element 29 Res ECU.v 0.16 86.966 19.57 0.225 40.6%
14 Libero Copper LBC.v 0.155 93.869 12.67 0.135 -12.9%
15 Atacama Copper ACOP.v 0.16 34.373 6.19 0.18 12.5%
NB: All stocks in CAD$ Portfolio avg 5.16%
The basket average gains for 2023 were chopped in half last week, down 5.26% with just two
week-over-week winners from the 15
The Copper Basket 2023, weekly evolution
components. Two others were unchanged 14%
12%
(MARI.to, ECU.v) and that leaves eleven losers
10%
so I’m not doing the list, we’ll just go with the
8%
biggest drops seen by Aldebaran (ALDE.v down 6%
14.9%), Oroco (OCO.v down 12.6%), Arizona 4%
2%
11
0%
-2%
-4%
ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03
source: IKN calcs

Sonoran (ASCU.to down 10.8%) and Hot Chili/Costa Copper (HCH.v down 10.8%), those
followed just under the 10% line by Pan Global (PGZ.v down 9.2%). There wasn’t much escape
last week in the copper space and that’s largely due to what you see in the next visual, below.
We mentioned Chinese Manufacturing PMI in the intro above (49.4 wouldn’t be so bad if it
weren’t for the 51.4 expectation), also how Dr. Copper seems to have pre-empted the negative
reading seen this weekend. FWIW I put this chart together on Friday evening, before
Saturday’s negative newsflow, and the red note comments speak for themselves. It’s not the
first time we’ve seen copper dip under U$4.00/lb this year but on that first occasion we saw the
market keen to buy up the bargain price.
At the time in IKN722 dated Sunday March 19th, we reported on the trading in copper just past
and here’s a chunk of the script from that weekend:
“…Fear Trade took precedence and copper swooned on the implied recession
fears from a newly volatile financial backdrop. To risk a little
anthropomorphism, copper clung valiantly onto the U$4.00/lb line until early
Wednesday, but the weight of orthodox trade money that began pricing in
doom scenarios and discarding once and for all the “no landing”/”soft landing”
scenarios for The US economy put paid to that particular line in the sand.”
Indeed, Dr. Copper made its move that day on a new round of US recession fear. Therefore we
cut to the following weekend in IKN723 dated March 26th and consider the notes on the
immediate rebound:
“From under U$3.90/lb this time last weekend, the Comex near-dated futures
contract for copper (HGZ23) and most liquid place in The Americas to trade
the metal climbed above U$4.10/lb before settling Friday at a healthy looking
U$4.08/lb and change. That would be a good performance in any week, it
was great considering that the week included a contentious FOMC and all the
volatility it implied, as well as the growing arguments about The USA heading
toward a hard landing as the year progresses. To see one of the world’s
major commodities trade up into headwinds that would normally knock it
sideways tells us that something different is going on around Dr. Copper and
hey, it’s not as if the reason hasn’t been laid out for all to see on these pages
a thousand times already:
China
China
China
Etc
The country that uses 55% of all copper produced in the world every year is
not slowing down, it’s accelerating again and its use of copper isn’t about to
drop just because its main customer for plastic widgets is about to have a
rough quarter or two. China puts its copper to use internally and that’s not
12

going to let up, at some point the world will realize this and potentially, that
point is right now.”
Long story short, in March copper dropped on US Recession concerns but was bought up by a
market that saw Chinese economic strength that would more than make up for the slack. Let us
now return to the present and consider our new scenario for late April and early May (starts
tomorrow Monday). We’ve witnessed copper prices losing the U$4.00/lb line but this time,
buyers did not appear and sub-U$3.90/lb prices consolidated as Tuesday became Friday.
We know that in 1924, JM Keynes wrote that, “The inactive investor who takes up an obstinate
attitude about his holdings and refuses to change his opinion merely because facts and
circumstances have changed is the one who in the long run comes to grievous loss.” There’s
more debate about the exact origin of the pithier quote often attributed to him, “When the facts
change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” but no matter, the message is the same and
clear enough for this readership. I was enthusiastic about the data coming out of China in 1q23,
it behooves me to recognize the playing field is in the process of changing.
 We’ve seen a drop in the price of Dr. Copper followed by trading weakness when bargain
hunters failed to show up and move the price back to U$4.00/lb. That’s a first for 2023 and
the Good Doctor, with his PhD in economics and his supposed ability to signal the market,
may well be telling us something.
 Thanks to China OMI we now have a quantitative reading on China’s economy indicating
things aren’t as strong as they were in Q1, with the supposition that the country’s stimulus
move in late 2022 has lost its effect.
 There’s also the latest COT report to consider and while its normal balance of commercial
longs and shorts don’t get much attention on these pages, a sharp change at the same time
as the other indicators is worth a line because according to CTFC as at last Tuesday, managed
copper shorts rose by 58% while managed longs fell by 19%. It’s unfair to reads too much
into the commercial industrial metals positions as they are normally used by real physical
traders to lock in guaranteed prices (their margin) in a moving market, this isn’t some sort of
gross speculative manipulation method. But what it means is that copper traders have decided
to guarantee their profits in case of a spot price drop and the way the bets moved last week
suggests further price weakness, at least in the near-term.
 Added to those factors, we also have the near future and next week, data may add to market
fears of a USA recession and move us away from the soft landing scenario preferred by equity
bulls. We have a financial world duly concerned about the next actions of the US Federal
Reserve, what it does with base rates on Wednesday and how it signals forward policy. Then
after that US BLS Jobs number on Friday, if weak, could set off a new round of selling as
more recession assumptions get baked in.
Even though I’m a fundies-based investor with a medium/long term outlook on most of my
trades, I don’t like being bearish on copper, not even for a temporary period over the near-
term, if only because it getrs me looking at the significant exposure my portfolio has to copper
at the moment and wondering whether it would be better to ignore any potential price
weakness in the near-term or perhaps sell down a portion of the portfolio and sit on some extra
cash. For the moment I’m not making any moves, for one thing because I may be over-playing
the bearish near-term for the metal. I may fear a poor reading from the US BLA on Friday, it
may turn out to be stock bullish. We may get a dovish. The one month of mediocre Chinese
PMI data may turn out to be an anomaly for 2023. All those and more, but above all because of
basic risk management parameters for a retail portfolio and that to take advantage of near-term
weakness you have to be right twice about the same trade, with the only variable being time.
Sounds easy, but too many times ducking out of a position only to buy back later turns out to
be a wash at best, or a small gain hardly worth the headaches and extra commission expenses.
I will, therefore, remain a deer in the headlights of this potential near-term copper weakness
for a while longer. However there will be a stop loss limit and if we see copper the metal drop
below U$3.80/lb on the spot market, it will be time to take action.
A final word on this subject: A fundies guy at heart, the supply/demand mismatch over the
13

medium and long-term is what will drive my investment decision on copper and I’m hardly
alone in that, as seen by the new round of M&A activity as big players move to snap up copper
supply and other big, famous mining personalities make all the noises you’d ever want to hear
about copper’s bright future. We’ve also seen the depletion of inventories in 2023, no matter
what they might or might not have done or shown in the last seven days (see below). But the
ultimate indicator is price and, when you see the world talking up copper for sound and logical
fundamental reasons, it pays to heed the market and its message when the price continue to
drop, no matter how “illogical” it might be.
Moving on, it’s the end of another month and time for the long-term copper inventory tracking
charts and while there’s not that much difference in the data compared here at the end of April,
we can at least note there hasn’t been any further deterioration in the tight implied supply
situation. In fact and arguably, warehoused copper has now flatlined for the past year with just
the change in location, from LME to SHFE warehouses, the only real change. That may be as
much about the Ukraine war and the new trade route for Russian produced copper as anything
else, indeed we’ve already noted on a few recent occasions that LME Rotterdam stocks have
been particularly low; that was the normal route for Russia copper until 2022 changed things.
Key Cu inventory aggregate, 2012 to date
1000000
900000
800000
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
14
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
Meanwhile the percentage breakdown chart shows the start of the normal annual pattern
beginning to form for 2023, albeit from a higher ceiling for SHFE stocks. We ‘d expect SHFE
warehouses to deplete somewhat for the next half year compared to LME and the balance to tilt
back toward LME as top dog.
Copper inventories: percentage held per exchange
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
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
LME Shanghai Comex source: Cochilco
So, the long-term charts show a copper market with the same overall tight supply dynamics as
we’ve noted on many occasions in the past few months. However, as we move to the regular
weekly look at the world inventories for copper there’s reason to suspect a slowdown in
demand starting to show in its main market. As always, data from Cochilco:
 We saw net gains in the aggregate total of copper inventories held in the three official
world systems last week, the total up 5,722 metric tonnes (mt) on the week to close at
226,726mt. Still very tight by historic standards, however there was a change to note
on the week.
 We expect SHFE inventories to deplete at this stage in the year and deplete they did
last week, down 8,921mt to close at 137,095mt, with the dedicated charts below giving
you the visual.
 The big change was at the LME and for two reasons, or three if you include the way
cancelled warrants are now down to a bare bones minimum of just 1,475mt set to

leave. That suggests a lack of outflow in the weeks to come. But the real changes were
the headline total of 64,550mt, up a cool 12,675mt from the historic low set last week,
plus the location of the deliveries as it all arrived in the LME Asia warehouses.
Specifically, South Korea LME had a 5,425mt inflow, Malaysia LME a 5.750mt inflow and
Taiwan LME a 3,550mt inflow (the difference being the small outflows in Europe and
The USA). That’s the sound of copper arriving in Asia and not having an immediate
buyer, which is the first time that’s happened for a while.
 Finally, Comex copper stocks rose again by 1,968mt to close the week at 25,081mt, its
stealth re-stocking continues and tonnages held by Comex are up over 11,000mt since
its own historic low set in mid-March.
The dedicated SHFE charts show the slight return to stock depletion, but at some point we need
to consider the way that 2022 stocks dropped of a cliff at this time last year but eventually
managed to hold the line and supply China with the copper it needed, all at sub-U$4.00/lb
prices until 4q22 came along.
Shanghai Futures Exchange Warehouse Stocks, 2014 to date
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
15
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
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
But back to the LME numbers and while there’s nothing to point to specifically, the latest data
does point another small arrow in the same direction as the near-term bearish signals listed
above. If the voracious appetite for copper was still running at full speed in China, we wouldn’t
see inflows into Asia LME warehouses and we would be less likely to see cancelled warrants
down to a minimum level. SHFE stocks are dropping for sure, but that’s the normal pattern for
this time of year and, so far at least, there hasn’t been the rush to secure every single available
tonne of SHFE stocked copper in the same way we saw this time last year when the Ukraine
war was casting shadows over normal world supply chains, left right and centre. Now for some
notes on some of our basket component stocks:
Oroco Resources (OCO.v): All fun and games at OCO. Last weekend we took time to
consider the company’s best drill hole ever, the 353 M of 0.93% Cu Equivalent at Santo it had
just report from Santo Tomas, this week and on a trading halt, OCO announced (5) a
“correction” of that news. Due to a “data transfer error (that) occurred in the transfer from one
system to another in the calculations conducted by a third-party consulting firm”, it turns out

that stellar hole wasn’t so great:
So much for the CEO and his emphatic statements about the hyper-charged the enthusiasm
levels of his team, what’s more they even managed to get the new numbers wrong and had to
correct their correction later in the day. Not was I
impressed with a CEO that thinks the buck stops
somewhere else, rather than his own desk. The
result was predictable:
This is the type of own-goal that erodes confidence
in a management team and I’d venture to say it’s
made worse when a CEO decides to blame others.
20/20 hindsight is easy of course, but one would
think that if a drill assay comes back that’s literally
double the previous best hole from the same area of
a disseminated porphyry, the least one could do
would be to check data before announcing. Instead
and in the rush to impress an audience, OCO turns what would have been positive news
(0.42% Cu and 0.46% CuEq is still a good hole for Santo Tomas) into a net negative. Last
week’s note ended with “I still see no reason to own for the time being”, that’s underscored.
Hot Chili/Costa Copper (HCH.v): A reminder that
the Canadian ticker for HCH is basically an arb trade
on its main Australian listing and as that market
closes before Canada opens, there’s always going to
be a desk willing to sell you shares at a quick margin
profit. In other words, there’s no need to overpay in
Loonies if you like this stock.
Regulus Resources (REG.v): On Friday, the
operator of the Coimolache SA mine and
“collaborative partner” of Regulus, Buenaventura
(BVN), filed its 2022 annuals and down among the notes, here’s what it had to say about its
“Coimolache Sulfuros” project, which is currently planned as a small standalone copper/gold
sulphide project on its wholly owned concession area (rather than going into JV with REG and
incorporating AntaKori). First this made the overview notes of the annual report:
In the Coimolache Sulfuros project, in Cajamarca, we resumed the explorations
campaign. The audited resources will be presented by the end of this year. In 2023, we
will finish the aforementioned explorations campaign and will define the mining
designs. The prefeasibility stage will begin by 2024, associated with our social
strategies and the purchase of lands for the development of basic engineering.
Further down, BVN gave a little more detail:
The Coimolache Sulphides Project consists of a flotation plant for the treatment of
copper sulphides lying under the Coimolache gold mineral that is currently being
exploited.
During 2022, the unfinished 2021 exploration campaign with diamond drillings was
resumed, executing 6793m and 14,895m, respectively. This campaign will be
completed by February of 2023 and the audited resources will be presented by the end
of the current year. Therefore, the inventory of those resources audited by SRK_2019
16

is maintained:
 Inferred Resources: 933 mt with 0.32% Cu,
 0.18 g/t Au, 7.89 g/t Ag, representing 3 MT
 Cu and 5.4 M oz Au.
In 2023, we are to complete the infill drilling campaign within the economic PIT Phase1
(lowering of the THY2 pit), a high-grade copper, gold, silver area. Its economic
assessment will allow us to define the mining designs in the Pit, underground, and start
the pre-feasibility stage for 2024, related to social strategies and land acquisition that
will allow us to develop the basic engineering.
The Coimolache oxides gold mine used to be a 110k oz to 120k per annum operation. That
dropped to 85k oz in 2022 and guidance for 2023 is 65k oz, so the depletion of the oxide
material is clearly taking a grip as the mine moves into its last period of operations in its current
set-up. However, BVN clearly isn’t in any hurry to make a decision on the next sulfuros stage
and the PFS, which BVN last said it would deliver in “mid-2023” (and has seen previous delays
on many occasions, fwiw it was first mooted for 2020 in its 2019 financials) has been put back
by what looks like another six months.
Arizona Sonoran (ASCU.to): Along with PGZ, this
is the stock that has most disappointed me on the
Copper Basket list so far in 2023 and it again showed
somewhat surprising weakness last week as soon as
copper spot prices went South. I know I’m happy to
have chosen FDY over this stock for my own money.
The Producer Basket
After 16 weeks of 2023, the Producer Basket shows a gain of 16.16% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/23 Shares out MktCap(U$Bn) current pps gain/loss%
1 Newmont NEM 47.20 799 37.87 47.40 0.4%
2 Barrick GOLD 17.18 1761.54 33.54 19.04 10.8%
3 Agnico Eagle AEM 51.99 488.9 27.74 56.73 9.1%
4 Wheaton PM WPM 39.08 451.963 22.32 49.38 26.4%
5 Kinross Gold KGC 4.09 1256.1 6.34 5.05 23.5%
6 Alamos Gold AGI 10.11 393.1 5.08 12.93 27.9%
7 B2Gold BTG 3.57 1074.567 4.23 3.94 10.4%
8 Hecla Mining GFI 5.56 603.86 3.65 6.05 8.8%
9 Eldorado Gold EGO 8.36 185.73 2.05 11.05 32.2%
10 Wesdome Gold WDOFF 5.53 142.287 0.88 6.20 12.1%
All prices and stock quotes in U$ Port. avg 16.16%
Our basket average beat the street, rose half a point wile GDX dropped a tenth and we’re back
to within 1% of the benchmark, thanks to the score of six winners (AEM, WPM, KGC, AGI, EGO,
WDOFF) versus four losers ((NEM, GOLD, BTG, HL).
The 2023 Producer Basket: Weekly performance and
comparative to GDX control
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
17 -5%
-10%
ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03
The 2023 Producer Basket: Percentage difference
between GDX benchmark & basket (negative = IKN ahead)
4.0%
3.5%
ikn 3.0%
gdx control 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 ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03
source: IKN calcs, NYSE data

However, all moves were rather modest on the week with the biggest loser BTG dropping 3.9%
and the biggest winner EGO improving by 3.5%. Most others were under 1% either way in
what turned out to be a relatively quiet week, especially considering the amount of news flow
through the quarters posted by Newmont, Agnico, Alamos and others.
The stability in the price gold as we approach a potentially important FOMC decision this
Wednesday was behind the low volatility in the big producer stocks, though it’s still somewhat
surprising to see one of the biggest earnings weeks of the year pass without larger moves to
show for it all. Here follows the crib notes on what we’ve seen so far, plus a look forward a
couple of days (or for WDOFF and BTG a week and a half) to the most interesting basket
components left to report Q1:
 Newmont (NEM) 1q23 production came in on the low side, but it was given a pass by the
market as it expects production to pick up in the second half of the year. As costs remained
stable, AISC rose due to the low-end ounce count. The market had already baked in the
production guidance given by Barrick (GOLD) on low Q1 production from Nevada Gold Mines,
the JV its runs with majority control with Newmont, so with GOLD reporting this coming week
we should hear the anal yst community call “in line with expectations” with one voice.
 Newmont’s current quarry Newcrest (NCM) also returned a lighter than expected March
quarter for both gold and copper production (its 3q23 in typical Australian financial year style)
but also reiterated annual guidance and said it expected to close the year with strong
production to make up any deficit.
 Agnico (AEM) put in a good quarter, but queered its pitch somewhat when announcing it had
awarded Chair Sean Boyd a $20m bonus payment, including $10m just for the merger with
Detour.
 Alamos had an excellent quarter, but that was largely as expected and the results had already
largely been baked in. Now up 28% on 2023 after being by far the best performer of its peer
group in 2022 (up 31.5% last year when most others didn’t even make it to breakeven), the
reception to AGI’s quarter may have been somewhat muted but there can be no complaints
from any of its sponsors.
 Eldorado (EGO) posted an in-line quarter, with production of 112,533oz up compared to 1q22
but down on the later quarters of 2022 for normal seasonal factors. The driving story here
continues to be the development decision for Skouries (the reason we included EGO on this
year’s list) and it’s turned out to be the right decision so far.
Oz Au Olympias
EGO: gold production breakdown, per qtr
Efemcukuru
160000
Lamaque
140000 Kisladag
11408
1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25828 13437 12934 2 1 3 3 3 7 0 4 5 5 15523 15779 16123 2 1 1 5 3 4 6 3 2 5 17561
23298 23473 22631 8996 22793 22473 19928
80000 44168
37369 21057
60000 28835 35643 51354 42454 51349 37884
46917
33377
40000
20000 56816 46172 44016 51040 33136 29779 27973 37741 40307 37160
0
4q20 1q21 2q21 3q21 4q21 1q22 2q22 3q22 4q22 1q23
source: company filings
As for the future, we have to wait another
WDO: Gold production vs sales, per qtr
week for the two basket companies I’m most
interested in at the moment, B2Gold (BTG)
1q23, due out May 9th and Wesdome
(WDO.to) (WDOFF) on May 10th. Of the two,
BTG is likely to be the most upbeat due to its
recently closed acquisition of Sabina. Over at
18
56522 75422 57303 00582 44392 00003
95514
44573 11652 00082 04272 00062 38822 00572 61153 00513 86382 00003
50000
45000
40000
35000
30000
25000
20000 15000
10000
5000
0
12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1
Ozt Au
Production
Sales
source: company filings

WDOFF, we know production was in line and sales boosted by delayed deliveries from 4q22, so
it’s all about the costs. A week and a bit to wait, though.
In the meantime Equinox will keep me busy, but so far at least the major producer numbers for
1q23 have either pleased the market or have been given grace and a pass for any slight miss
on production or costs. It’s unusual to see capital markets be so forgiving to the PM producers,
sentiment is benign and that’s not a bad thing.
The TinyCaps List
After 17 weeks of 2023, the TinyCaps show a gain of 38.06% 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 2.49 0.05 -28.6%
Coast Copper COCO.v 0.045 64.001 3.20 0.05 11.1%
District Metals DMX.v 0.075 86.891 8.25 0.095 26.7%
Latin Metals LMS.v 0.13 69.962 12.94 0.185 34.6%
Manitou Gold MTU.v 0.02 344.568 20.67 0.06 200.0%
Nine Mile Metals NINE.cse 0.29 57.025 15.97 0.28 -3.4%
Palamina Corp PA.v 0.08 65.285 11.75 0.18 125.0%
Precipitate Gold PRG.v 0.075 130.367 9.13 0.07 -6.7%
South Star STS.v 0.55 32.755 16.71 0.51 -7.3%
Viva Gold VAU.v 0.14 91.608 15.57 0.17 21.4%
Prices in CAD$, data from TSXV basket avg 38.06%
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.
I’m happy with the component parts and overall signal of this 2023, it and they are doing a
good job of representing the tinycap sector with its
highs and lows, hit and misses. We’re back up to +38% TinyCaps, 2023 weekly tracker
50%
for the year and as you can see, that overall result is 45%
based firmly on the out-sized performance of two 40%
35%
stocks, Manitou and Palamina. But please note, earlier
30%
this year it was still ahead, though at that point based 25%
20%
on the moves put in by District and Latin Metals. These
15%
stocks run and return, pop and drop and the volatility is 10%
5%
why we’re here watching them, after all.
0%
Anyway, on the week we saw just two losers (AUL.v,
STS.v) and two UNCH stocks (COCO.v, PRG.v), which
leaves six winners (DMX.v, LMS.v, MTU.v, NINE.cse, PA.v, VAU.v) and of those, Palamina Corp
(PA.v up 20.0%) ruled the roost sizewise, with Manitou (MTU.v up 9.1%) close behind as its
buyout from Alamos (AGI) gets close to completion.
Aurelius Minerals (AUL.v): The bad news came in waves last week, as first the director
19
ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03
source: IKN calcs, TSX data

appointed from previous backer Northfield Capital (the Northfield CFO, as a matter of fact)
resigned from the AUL board and then a day later, the company announced it would late file its
annuals and asked for a Management Cease Trade Order to be applied to its stock. That’s poor
form, embarrassing for a company that had showed so much promise three or four years ago
and probably marks the end of its serious escapades in this iteration. Roll back, refi and
potentially a new project, if not the NEX beckons.
Palamina Corp (PA.v): The rally continues. Company CEO Andrew Thomson sent me over
video shot by his team of their arrival at Juliaca airport, as it marked the occasion of the
airport’s official re-opening after being shuttered due to the protests in December, January and
February. The show (with locals dressed in ceremonial dance garb and dancing in the car park)
was aimed more at the important and lucrative tourist trade in the region, to show that the
Puno zone was back open for business etc, but it’s also good news for PA.v (and its sister
company Winshear (WINS.v) as they get back to work at Usicayos, a couple of hours’ drive
from the airport.
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
Chile recession beckons
While the North frets over Chile’s “Commies Taking Over Lithium”, the real hard Left wing of
the Boric government alliance are up in arms about their President’s steady move to the
political centre, they’ve even started calling him a traitor to the cause and accused him of
selling out to big business even as the lithium plans roll out and keep the rest of the world
distracted. The reasons behind his move to the centre are prosaic enough and we’ve mentioned
them before, it’s less about ideology and more about good old economic necessity. Friday saw
the latest Industrial Production Index reading for March and the headline number came in at
negative 5.9% compared to March 2022. This seasonally adjusted chart of the last ten years of
IPI is perhaps the best visual of the dataset (from here () and the INE gives you plenty to
choose from) as we normally get a seasonal lift as the country goes back to work (and the kids
back to school) after its summer break but, this time around, the move has been insipid and is
quickly back into negative territory. The Boric government has enough on its hands just to
stave off the worst of the recession in the pipeline and those are the moments when political
preferences are left to one side and the practicalities of making money and remaining a popular
government take a front seat.
Chile: Industrial Production Index (IPI)
(seasonally adjusted, per month)
10
8
6
4
2
0
-2
-4
-6
-8
20
21-cid 31-ram 31-nuj 31-pes 31-cid 41-ram 41-nuj 41-pes 41-cid 51-ram 51-nuj 51-pes 51-cid 61-ram 61-nuj 61-pes 61-cid 71-ram 71-nuj 71-pes 71-cid 81-ram 81-nuj 81-pes 81-cid 91-ram 91-nuj 91-pes 91-cid 02-ram 02-nuj 02-pes 02-cid 12-ram 12-nuj 12-pes 12-cid 22-ram 22-nuj 22-pes 22-cid 32-ram
source: Chile INE
emas
morf
egnahc
%
raey
suoiverp
fo
htnom
These data are particularly concerned with mining and specifically, copper mining. To
understand the importance of copper to the overall economy of Chile, the line item “extraction
and processing of copper” covers 39.6% of the total IPI number in the country (i.e. including all
other mining activity, all other manufacturing production and all supply of gas, electricity and
water). Last month its copper line item dropped by 9.0% due the the low production from its

mines, the shortfall including the country’s biggest operations such as La Escondida and
Chuquicamata. Mining matter in this country as without it, Chile would quickly revert to the
South American median. Boric has learned that quickly.
Chile: More lithium politics
Last weekend was the long note and covered most topics, so this weekend just a brief addition
to the subject via two wire reports out of Chile last week. First up, plenty of media channels
covered the press conference held by the great and the good of Chile’s mining public sector on
Thursday but fortunately for me, this English language report saves me a job of translating (7):
Chile’s new lithium strategy, based on public-private partnerships with majority state
control, has aroused interest in accelerating the development of an industry that is
sustainable, with added value and environmental responsibility, the mining and
economy ministers told a press conference on Thursday.
However, there are certain issues that raise concern.
One of these is the protection of the Chilean salt flats, or salars. Mining minister
Marcela Hernando said that "an industry will be developed recognizing that the salt
flats are fragile environments … and very complex. Each one has its particularities, in
addition to their enormous importance for peoples and cultures."
Another focus of attention is the search for added value. Economy minister Nicolás
Grau said there is the possibility of producing key components for batteries, such as
cathodes, in Chile.
"We have had talks with private companies that make us think that in the future we
could produce batteries for electric storage in Chile," said Grau.
In this line, creating a public institute for lithium and new technologies will bolster
knowledge by studying the salt flats and developing new technologies for the direct
extraction of lithium that allows for an increase in production without neglecting the
ecosystems, he said.
José Benavente, head of state development agency Corfo, said that through joint work
with the science ministry they already have the design of the institute and will consider
the participation of academia as well as local and foreign private sector companies.
What should be noted here is that the ostensible audience for the presser was Chile, rather
than foreign business or capitals looking in. the Boric government is working on getting the
public support it requires for its proposals (e.g. they need to get their plans for a State Lithium
Company through Congress) and so plenty of talk about adding value by developing secondary
industry demand for the mined lithium (a long way of saying “let’s build battery factories”) was
on the agenda. As noted last weekend, this part of the Boric plan is likely to get a favourable
reception in Chile, even from a sizeable proportion of his political opposition on the right.
Second up, here’s EFE on its meeting with Karla Flores on Friday (8)
Chile expects an “ambitious investment process” in the industry lithium between 2025
and 2030 and is already in talks with foreign private companies interested in exploiting
the country’s mineral, Karla Flores, director of the state foreign investment promotion
agency InvestChile, told EFE on Friday.
In the last four months, InvestChile has met with 46 investors from 12 different
countries, including Germany, Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, South Korea, the
United States, France and Japan.
“They are all large lithium extraction and production companies and there are some
dedicated to the development of batteries,” said Flores, a week after the president,
Gabriel Boric, announced on a national channel his strategy to exploit one of the most
coveted raw materials in the world for its massive use in electric batteries
…
“Investment decisions will be announced by Chilean private and public companies
when they deem appropriate,” added Flores.
A couple of notes:
 Wire agency EFE covers LatAm (and the world) but also has a clear Lefty slant, so take that
into consideration. However, its editorial line means it often gets access to stories that other
agencies miss, it’s a knife that cuts both ways.
 The “46 investors” will include upstream lithium companies, as a stated part of the plan is to
add value to the mine product inside Chile’s borders. It also includes both current lithium
21

producer companies in the country, SQM (SQM) and Albemarle (ALB), as both the companies
and the Chilean government stated last week that there have already been informal and
formal talks between both sides (and that’s as you’d expect). But it also clearly implies there
are other lithium mining companies interested in JVing with Chile on lithium.
And that’s enough about Lithium in Chile, except to thank you for the feedback on the extended
note last week. I didn’t know how the edition would be received but according to the mailbox, it
went down well enough. The basic idea was to allay the nightmare scenarios being conjured up
in the North by the “Commies Nationalizing Lithium Stealing Everything Run Away” voices out
there. I’m not saying it’s a perfect world in Chile’s Li sector on the back of this news, I am
saying that it’s not as bad as the prophets of doom would have you believe.
Argentina’s mining growth plans
It wasn’t exactly Argentina trolling its neighbour and rival Chile, but it was the best headline to
come out of the Expomin Trade Fair in Santiago Chile last week and reminded those present of
the new pro-mining/pro-investment aura around Argentina these days, compared to the
Expomin host nation’s recent announcement on lithium. Advertised as LatAm’s biggest mining
trade fair (rather than conference) with a reported 8,000 attendees at the 2023 edition,
Expomin attracted a large contingent from Argentina including its Chancellor (i.e. Foreign
Minister) Santiago Cafiero. Here’s the money line from his prepared keynote address after
opening his country’s stand at the exhibition (9):
“Mining is growing in our country. The companies here are links in the chain of
production that add technology and development, and is part of the productive cahin
that our country needs to grow. The forecasts we have for the sector are very positive,
they are strategies we need to nurture. Last year 2022, mining exports (from
Argentina) totalled U$3.6Bn. With the developments we now have coming forward in
Argentina we now forecast that in seven years’ time, in 2023, we’ve get to U$19Bn of
exports.”
We again underscore that no matter who wins the upcoming Presidential election, the incoming
administration will run pro-mining policies. Other factors may play for/against the mining sector
depending on who wins (e.g. FDI usually favours right wing fiscal policies) but in 2023 there’s
much less friction against mining in Argentina as long as you choose your province carefully. On
this, credit should be given to the Alberto Fernández government for its change of policy away
from the Macri “One Nation” strategy and toward allowing those provinces (e.g. San Juan,
Santa Cruz, Jujuy etc) to attract mining companies unfettered from the policies of the anti-
mining provinces (e.g. Chubut, Rio Negro, Mendoza).
Mexico’s mining law sails through the upper house
We noted last weekend the way in which Mexico’s lower house of deputies put AMLO’s mining
reform bill onto the fast track and by that weekend, had approved its passage and sent it to the
upper house (Senate). This weekend and in a rare Saturday session, The Senate continued the
fast tracking of this law bill (along with handful of other AMLO-sponsored law projects covering
other, non-mining issues) and voted the law bill up. It only remains for the executive to sign off
on the law and to publish it in the country’s official gazette and it becomes the new law (10).
The reform should not spook those companies who go about mining and exploring the right
way. The law requiring prior consultancy before concessions are explored is not retroactive,
new concessions are now awarded for a maximum of 55 year (long enough) and most of the
good companies already have CSR budgets and social programs that cover most if not all the
10% in EBIT the law requires to be returned to local communities by mining companies. And if
all else fails, there will also be the inevitable raft of lawsuits from companies who refuse to pay
and cite the country’s Constitution as their defence.
Colombia: Petro lurches left
Last week saw President Gustavo Petro run a cabinet re-shuffle the eight ministers changed is
seen by nearly all political observers in the country as a clear move to the Left. Notably, the
controversial Minister for Mining Irene Vélez kept her job and will continue to promote her
thinly veiled anti-mining agenda from within the ministry. However other changes, particularly
22

the replacement of finance minister Antonio Ocampo (seen as market-friendly and a “buffer”
against Petro’s Socialist agenda) with new FinMin Ricardo Bonilla (a Petro ally and his regional
FinMin while Petro was Mayor of Bogotá) has sent a shudder of nerves down the country’s
business community. The re-shuffle has been called the “end of the coalition” of parties that got
together to get Petro elected last year, with Petro turning his back on the supporters of ex-
President Juan Manuel Santos in particular. Ex-Prez Santos commented on the news that (11)
“He (Petro) feels boxed in and his DNA tells him to become more radical. That’s a normal
reaction when politicians feel boxed in, but it’s not a good one (for the rest of us).”
In mining news, we again heard from the head of Colombia’s National Mining Agency (Agencia
Nacional de Minería (ANM)), Álvaro Pardo, who has turned into something akin to Petro’s
unofficial spokesperson on mining in recent times. On Monday he confirmed that the draft
mining law was on track and would be presented to Congress in the near future, most probably
next May (12). Its “backbone” will be the creation of a State gold mining company that will
focus on the small mining concerns and make theirs a better lot by becoming the purchaser of
choice from informal/artisan mining concerns and co-operatives. He also said that much of the
draft mining law is aimed at environmental controls and if “all goes well” in Congress, it should
become law in early 2024. We’ll have until the law project is sent to Congress for the details,
but expect devils in them.
The house position to avoid Colombia totally has been in place ever since Petro came to power
and one of the key elements of the call is his desire to reform and renew the country’s mining
laws and placing new environmental restrictions on the sector. The mining law was supposed to
be drafted by the end of last year but the way politics goes, that was eventually set back to
May. Seeing his cabinet take a clear step to the Left just weeks before a range of executive law
projects, including the one for mining, are set to be delivered to Colombia’s congress for debate
and eventual voting is another ominous signal of what’s to come. And to reiterate our most
likely victim, Aris Mining (ARIS.to) has the market cap and share price to make for a good short
candidate. It is directly in the line of fire through its association with MINESA at Soto Norte and
it may well come under pressure at its current operations. It’s telling that just last week ARIS
announced a new deal with the artisan miners and co-operatives that supply its Marmato mill
with the majority of its feed. With the rules in Colombia set to change in favour of the small
scale miners, the desire to maintain production levels will likely come with higher costs.
Ecuador: Lasso’s woes are not just for mining
It’s not just The IKN Weekly’s opinion on the fragile state of Guillermo Lasso’s presidency and
near future, either. This weekend BN Americas ran this interview (13) with Walter Spurrier,
president of local consultancy Grupo Spurrier and a well-known commentary figure in the
Ecuador business/politics world. The subject is the proceedings against President Guillermo
Lasso and the potential he’s removed from power in May, we do know that the drama is about
to come to a head and Spurrier marked the cards of the English speaking outside world. The
whole interview is worth your time, here’s a small segment:
BNamericas: How has the political crisis affected investment?
Spurrier: Investment decisions can be divided into three parts. The first has to do with investments
linked to public sector decisions, including those directed at mining, oil and public works, which are
very low due to a lack of execution in the public sector and partly due to the uncertainty on the part
of potential investors.
In second place are important projects in the private sector, which are also on hold, some due to
the political problem and others because they lack environmental permits.
In third place are the investments that companies have to make constantly to update their
machinery, keep up to date, make repairs, among other things, which have been maintained,
perhaps not with the speed seen in other circumstances, but they have been maintained.
If we look at investment as a whole, it has to be said that it's far below what it could be if there was
political stability and better execution by the public sector.
BNamericas: In May it will be known whether there is sufficient backing to remove the president.
How do you see the scenario?
Spurrier: I don't see the removal of Lasso. I believe that if the president and his team consider that
they don't have the necessary votes to throw out the impeachment, Lasso will make his defense in
the national assembly, and immediately submit the 'cross death' decree [dissolving the national
23

assembly to call early presidential and legislative elections].
I don't think he will let himself be removed because removal would make it appear like he has done
something wrong.
It's not understood internationally, and it's thought that if there is a political trial, there must be
corruption and no further investigation is done in this regard.
BNamericas: Would the cross death scenario deepen the political crisis?
Spurrier: None of the possible scenarios are good. If Lasso stays, the opposition will continue trying
to remove him.
If he stays, a lot will depend on whether his government regains governability and begins to
become more effective. So far, in these first two years, it has been very ineffective.
With the cross death scenario, there's more uncertainty, as it won't be known which government will
come next.
In the scenario that the opposition manages to remove him, it's clear that the goal of Correism [the
left populist movement that emerged under former president Rafael Correa] is to seize power, and
unless the new president is willing to accept orders from Correa, they will try to remove him or force
him to resign.
None of the scenarios are good, but the best is for Lasso to continue.
Spurrier’s position is largely in-line with this desk and though he doesn’t tyr to second-guess the
key decision of the country’s Constitutional Court (CC), who will decide whether the case
against Lasso has merit and send it back to Congress for debate and vote, he’s clearly
expecting bad things to happen next month in Ecuador. Be prepared.
Market Watching
Menē Inc (MENE.v) 4q22 and YE financials
Friday saw our “non mining” trade, Menē Inc (MENE.v), file its 4q22 financials and without
going too deeply into the numbers, we’ll run the tracking charts and show the state of play at
the company. But before the numbers the CEO comment, as MENE.v head honcho Roy Sebag
recognized 2022 as being something of a transition year for the company but now, with an
expanded production facility in The USA and plans for a better and more efficient distribution
system in its other main market of Europe, the company is looking to get back to growing its
business.
FY 2022 was another important year for Menē where the primary focus was on
running our operations sustainably. Over the course of the year, we increased
production capacity by acquiring a manufacturing facility in the US. Improved
efficiency and operating leverage will soon follow as the effects of the acquisition show
up in our financial results. Whilst this was taking place, we still managed to generate a
small increase in nominal revenue year over year and maintained both unit and weight
volumes. This is an important indicator of our brand equity as well as our customer
loyalty.
For 2023, we have an ambitious plan that involves an increase in headcount, the hiring
of new senior executives, and the preparation for resuming our target of year over
year double digit percentage growth. It was necessary to first ensure we were ready
to scale before pursuing this path and we are pleased to have reached this milestone
while preserving our tangible capital. In the coming months we will articulate our new
medium-term plan for Menē. I would like to thank all of the team members at Menē
for their valued contributions in 2022.
That sounds right to me because as we’ll see, while 2022 was focused on consolidation of a
solid business model this company will not return absolute bottom line profits without growth in
sales and revenues.
We start with the production and sales stats for the biggest quarter of the year for any
jewellery retailer in the Northern hemisphere, Q4 and the big Christmas season. With 6,495
customer orders MENE didn’t sell as much as in 4q21, its total precious metals sales by weight
were also 1kg lower than the same period of 2021. In its MD&A notes, MENE blamed higher
interest rates higher, “higher recessionary risk and decreased consumer spending” on the lack
of growth, which is a bit of a stretch for a new company that could have put on a growth spurt
given a different set of circumstances. However and to be fair, many luxury retail sectors saw a
24

downturn in 2022 so a generally UNCH result isn’t that bad.
MENE: Customer orders, per qtr
We can also consider average grams of Au (or equivalent, MENE sells a small amount of
platinum jewellery) that came to 9.44g in 4q22, just under 1/3rd oz and normal for the
company. Then below right we see the average customer order of 1.58 pieces per invoice.
All these stats are reasonably stable and
indicate the target customer is buying small
“trinket type” pieces, but typically more than
one piece and on previous data, we know
customer satisfaction is high as the company
enjoys plenty of repeat orders. However thanks
to higher average prices, for gold, 4q22
quarterly revenues were record at C$8.665m.
That was slightly under the house estimate of
C$9m but close enough not to complain much.
We expected costs (right) to rise, as MENE had
already flagged higher raw material (gold) and
labour costs in January in its preliminary
update. The final score of the two major cost
items came to (C$6.627m + C$2.156m)
C$8.783m, which means MENE once again ran
a slight operating loss (below right) even
though its gross margin was also a record at
C$2.038m (below left).
25
7514 0972 4643 4745 7605 7734 3514 4856 7045 7493 5714 5946
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000 2000
1000
0
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
MENE: Precious metals sales in Kg, per qtr
source: MENE filings
96
93
65 67 97 66 26 89 08 66 65 79
110
100
90
80
70
60
50 40 30
20
10
0
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
source: MENE filings
)tP
ronim
htiw( uA
gK
MENE: Avg grams Au per unit sold
93.01 39.7 04.9 08.8 60.01 71.9 18.9 66.9 72.01 15.9 00.9 44.9
11
10
9
8
7
6 5
4
3
2
1
0
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
source: MENE filings
uA
smarg
MENE: Units sold per order
48.1 93.1 27.1 95.1 06.1 67.1 27.1 85.1 55.1 46.1 25.1 45.1 44.1 67.1 94.1 85.1
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
91q1 91q2 91q3 91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
source: MENE data
MENE: Revenues per qtr
751.5
934.3
324.5
11.7 302.7
457.5 813.5
894.8
643.7
158.5 50.5
566.8
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
C$m
source: company filings
MENE.v: Costs breakdown
441.4
125.2
548.3 914.5 664.5 422.4 270.4
984.6
393.5 123.4 729.3
726.6
10
9
8 1.842 2.156
7
6 1.913 1.53 1.656
5 1.721 1.331 1.43 1.416 1.692 1.454
4
3 1.285
2
1
0
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
$m
COGS operating exp
source: company filings,IKN ests

Here’s gross margins development and this
is where MENE shows its need for
economies of scale to become truly
profitable. That 23.5% gross has to pay for
operations and with rising labour costs, it
will need to add extra sales in order to
become net/net profitable.
Finally, inventories of finished goods
remained good and that bodes well for
lower unit costs in the next two quarters.
MENE: Inventories per qtr
2.704.023.15 5.29 2.43 3.94
1.360.29 1.38
26
294.7
186.01
939.21 814.11
165.11
981.8
533.7
709.01 708.21
754.21
990.31
489.41
8.41 273.21
531.11
606.11
458.21
24
22
20
18
16
14
12 10
8
6
4 2
0
81q4 91q1 91q2 91q3 91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
MENE.v: Gross profit 2.4
2.2
2 1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8 0.6 0.4
0.2
0
C$m
Raw Mat. Work in Prog
Finished Goods Supplies
source: company filings
The acid test of this company, however, is still its balance sheet and why I’m happy to remain
a patient, long-term investor while Sebag and his team execute on their plans. Assets remain
strong and MENE has found the right minimum liquidity level it needs, which allows it to keep
most of its value in productive assets (inventory) or interest-bearing accounts. Liabilities rose
slightly due to a small non-cash line item from the incorporation of its new production facility,
aside that all is good and last month, sister company Goldmoney again rolled forward its loan
that allows MENE all the financial flexibility it needs (it buys its gold and platinum from
Goldmoney as well). This loan, at 3% interest, is great business for MENE and is best viewed as
an indefinite source of cheap liquidity.
81q1 81q2 81q3 81q4 91q1 91q2 91q3 91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
$m MENE.v: Operating income, per qtr
source: MENE filings, IKN ests
807.0-
763.0-
742.0
222.0-
702.0
1.0
71.0-
761.0 792.0
261.0- 133.0- 811.0-
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-0.2 -0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
C$m
source: company filings
% MENE: Gross Margin percentage
40
35
29.1
30 26.7 26.6 26.6 26.1
23.8 24.1 23.4 23.6 23.5 25 22.2
19.6
20
15
1q202q203q204q20 1q212q213q214q21 1q222q223q224q22
source: company filings, IKN calcs
MENE.v: Assets, per qtr
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
MENE.v: Liabilities Breakdown per qtr
$m 35
cash inventories ST Inv other
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
source: company filings, IKN ests
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
source: company filings/IKN ests
srallod
fo
snoillim
note payable
other liab
borrowings

Our final chart is equity (what we mining guys
would relate to as working capital) and this MENE.v: Equity per qtr
company has no issues when it comes to cash flow.
With 259.731m shares out priced at C$0.33 this
weekend, you still get a lot of company for your
U$65m as long as MENE makes good on its promise
to expand this year and turn a financially solid, self-
supporting structure into one that makes real
profits going forward. For that, we’re looking for
higher sales and the resulting drop in per-unit costs
of production. I will continue to pick off small
amounts of shares of this thinly traded entity while
it remains under radar.
Conclusion
IKN728 is done, we end with bullet points:
 With the world now falling in love with copper and close to the entire mining
commentary army bullish the metal, what better time for the shorts to attack a
crowded trade? While the long-term copper outlook is as bullish as ever, there may be
some rough waters for copper in the near-term. Watching brief.
 As much as I’d like to pretend that the metals market is immune to the effects of a
world recession, it’s not. Never has been, never will be. Here’s hoping for a soft landing
and on Wednesday, I’ll be watching the Ross Beaty EQX presentations with one eye
and the Jay Powell press conference with the other.
 MENE delivered a solid but uninspiring 2022, but with a rock solid financial model in
place and a 2023 with expansion plans it’s time to see this investment start to mature.
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-30-2023.html
(2) https://www.equinoxgold.com/news/equinox-gold-first-quarter-2023-financial-results-annual-meeting-and-chairmans-
update/
(3) https://aldebaranresources.com/news-releases/2023/aldebaran-announces-execution-of-investor-relations-
agreement-with-adelaide-capital/
(4) https://sisanjuan.gob.ar/mineria/2023-04-25/48758-avanza-la-exploracion-en-el-proyecto-altar-en-calingasta
(5) https://orocoresourcecorp.com/news/oroco-issues-correction-of-drill-results-for-drill-hole-n044---updated
(6) https://www.ine.gob.cl/ine-ciudadano/definiciones-estadisticas/economia/indice-de-produccion-industrial
(7) https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/officials-address-concerns-regarding-chiles-new-lithium-strategy
(8) https://euro.eseuro.com/world/280474.html
(9) https://cancilleria.gob.ar/es/actualidad/noticias/cafiero-en-chile-la-mineria-es-un-sector-estrategico-en-la-argentina-
que-en-2030
(10) https://mineriaenlinea.com/2023/04/ley-minera-en-mexico-senado-de-morena-respalda-reforma-presidencial/
(11) https://www.semana.com/confidenciales/articulo/santos-da-petro-para-manejar-la-crisis-que-estallo-por-reforma-a-
la-salud-el-se-esta-sintiendo-acorralado/202313/
(12) https://www.pulzo.com/economia/como-funcionara-empresa-publica-mineria-propuesta-gustavo-petro-
27
123.41
188.21 791.21 913.01
279.51 201.71 310.61 526.51 189.61 659.51 831.81 964.71
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4
source company filings/IKN ests
srallod
fo
snoillim

PP2768514A
(13) https://www.bnamericas.com/en/interviews/none-of-the-scenarios-are-good-but-the-best-is-for-lasso-to-continue
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
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
28

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
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
29

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
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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