6 The IKN Weekly, issue 762 — Dec 25, 2023
The IKN Weekly
Week 762, December 24th 2023
Contents
This Week: In today’s edition, Bare bones #2 of three.
Fundamental Analysis: Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v) wins its appeal.
Stocks to Follow: Argonaut Gold (AR.to), Minera Alamos (MAI.v), Equinox Gold (EQX)
(EQX.to), Fortuna Silver (FSM) (FVI.to), Contango ORE (CTGO), SolGold (SOLG.to) (SOLG.L).
The Copper Basket: Overview, Oroco Resource Corp (OCO.v), Atacama Copper (ACOP.v),
Libero Copper (LBC.v).
Producer Basket: Overview, Kinross (KGC) and Barrick (GOLD).
The TinyCaps Basket: Overview, Viva Gold (VAU.v).
Regional Politics: Deferred.
Market Watching: Deferred.
I remind subscribers that no part of this newsletter can be copied, reproduced or
given to any third party without the express permission of the author.
This Week
In today’s edition
We consider the Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v) EIA permit approval news and what it means to the
company.
We run another “don’t believe all the hype” segment on copper in today’s Copper
Basket, as I want to be as bullish as the new market sentiment but still see near-term
issues to overcome.
Our new trade in Argonaut Gold (AR.to) is off to a bright start, we’re also seeing the
gains envisaged in the proposed near(ish) term trades in Equinox Gold (EQX) and
Fortuna Silver (FSM). With luck, we’ll harvest all three for cash gains before the end of
January.
And a few other items, but it’s a the second of our Bare Bones Christmas editions, I’m
still on vacation and you’ll have to excuse the lack of normal content.
Bare bones #2 of three
Merry Christmas to one and all! Today’s is the Christmas Bare Bones edition and as the calendar
has it, falls right on top of the holiday. However and due to the newsflow from this week it’s not
totally empty, as we do the Rio2 (RIO.v) events and also add some extra on the way the
copper market is shaping up.
Next weekend is the final curtailed holiday season edition, but will also announce the changes
in component stocks for the 2024 Copper Basket, Producer Basket and TinyCaps Basket
sections. Out with the old and in with the new, as 2024 and its associated madness beckons.
1
Fundamental Analysis of Mining Stocks
Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v) wins its appeal
While it’s unlikely to be new news to you, we have glad tidings of great joy to report in this
Christmas edition. Our long-suffering investment in Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v) got a big boost and just
about the best possible news when, on Wednesday and in the words of the company NR (1),
this happened:
VANCOUVER, B.C., - Rio2 Limited (“Rio2” or the “Company”) (TSXV: RIO; OTCQX:
RIOFF; BVL: RIO) reports that its wholly owned Chilean subsidiary, Fenix Gold
Limitada, has been successful in being granted approval of its Environmental Impact
Assessment (“EIA”) for the construction and operation of its Fenix Gold Project (“Fenix
Gold” or “the Project”) located in the Atacama region of Chile.
Rio2 welcomes the decision in Chile by the Committee of Ministers to approve the EIA
for the Fenix Gold Project, which now allows the Company to advance the Project
through statutory permitting, financing, and the currently planned recommencement of
construction activities during 2024.
Alex Black, Executive Chairman, stated: “Finally, after many months of patiently
waiting, we welcome the decision of the Committee of Ministers to support our
advancement of the Fenix Gold Project. We have designed Fenix Gold as an example
of the very best of modern mining bringing not only significant investment and jobs to
the Atacama region, but also extensive protection of the environment with a particular
focus on flora and fauna in the area we will be operating. I sincerely thank our
shareholders for the patience and support they have shown over the past 18 months
during this difficult process, and I particularly would like to thank the first-class
management team at Rio2 and Fenix Gold for never giving up on our mission to
vindicate the work completed for the Fenix Gold EIA.”
That’s the entire body of the NR, including a diplomatically worded “At Last” from company
Executive Chair and main man, Alex Black. So before we go any further, the other link that
RIO.v longs (or prospective longs) should check out is this one (2), a 40 minute interview from
Crux Investor with Alex Black entitled “Rio2 (TSXV:RIO) - Back on Track with Fenix Gold
Project”. It covers a lot of ground and as usual, Black is as open and honest as possible. The
only pulled punches come when he addresses the role played by the government of Chile, as
while he gripes a little he surely wants to say a lot more than he does.
We’ll come back to some of the points made in the interview in a moment, first let’s consider
the market reaction to the news via this 10-day chart:
Up 65.2% from this time last week and on big volumes the day of the announcement (which
came under halt), that’s what classes as a good week
for an equity. It also fits with our recent coverage,
because before we go any further it’s worth noting
that somebody, somewhere seems to have bet big
on the appeal and its eventual success and to see
that, here’s a three month chart of RIO.v (right). Like
many other explorecos, RIO.v had a tough time of it
2
in October and November but then volume and a price improvement came in the first week of
December.
We noted as much in IKN760 dated December 10th, in the ‘Stocks to Follow trading notes.
There was a surge in volume that week in the market, including traded volumes of around 600k
shares on Monday December 4th, 1.8m shares on Tuesday December 5th and 500k on
Thursday the 7th, at prices ranging from 20c to 21c. That day we also reported that “…while I
didn’t find out anything exact, there’s now talk of a Ministerial Appeals Committee (Comité de
Ministros) meeting the week after next, in the run up to Christmas. Be clear, that’s not
confirmed. If so, then we do know that Fenix is high on the
list of pending cases and it’s long past time the appeal were
heard”, as well as a few more details and thoughts. Then last
weekend in IKN761 dated December 17th, we again noted
that although there was “…still no official confirmation,
there’s now reliable talk of Chile’s Comité the Ministros
holding a meeting this coming week and hearing appeals on
“more than one” of the pending cases before it. There’s no
confirmation of the agenda, but we know that the Rio2 Fenix
Gold appeal is one of the most pending and delayed on its
books and if the Comité is looking to process more than one,
it makes sense that Fenix is up.” We also offered a link to
this is the website to watch (3) and look out for a
“Convocatoria N°8 Ordinaria”. Sure enough, late last Monday
this document (right) duly appeared, the first time we’d had
a public announcement of the Comité meeting. However as
you can see, the document is dated December 5th, rather
than Monday December 18th and the day it first appeared in
the public realm. So we now add one more small detail to the
timeline and put two and two together:
On December 5th, RIO.v shares suddenly became
popular. They were bought at between 20c and 21c
on no apparent news.
This desk checked sources in Chile and heard there was talk of a Comité de Ministros
meeting taking place before Christmas
This rumour gathered pace and was then confirmed on December 18th in an official
government communiqué.
However, the communiqué had clearly been doing the rounds inside the Chilean
government before then, as it was dated December 5th even though it was not made
public.
The final little nugget; Rio2 people heard there was going to be a meeting on
Wednesday 20th at some time during the day on Monday 18th, the first time they or
their lawyer team had been informed by the government.
Therefore and considering that certain circles inside the government of Chile had been aware
that a meeting was going to happen, it’s also fair to say they probably knew what the decision
would be. And somebody, somewhere inside the Chilean government who understood what this
news event would do to the RIO.v share price decided to use their privileged position and non-
public information to make themselves a nice Christmas bonus. Ultimately, I don’t know
whether this is a big deal or not and it’s hardly the first time a South American government has
been the centre of suspected ill-gotten gains. But considering that even this desk had heard
rumblings of movement inside the Chilean corridors of power, it seems more than likely that
someone cashed in with some remarkably well-timed purchases in the first week of December.
But insider trades by Chilean public servants or not the meeting was called, duly happened and
RIO.v at Fenix was indeed awarded its Environmental Impact Permit (EIA) on appeal and
what’s more, we even got our ballpark price prediction last weekend was right. Perhaps more
luck than judgment, but signing off the IKN761 update with, “It would take one good news
3
week to move this back to 40c, so it would be great if it were this coming week” and then
seeing trades revolve around that price was a pleasant surprise and given the circumstances, it
was a reasonably fair level to see.
Summing up so far, the news of the appeals hearing was overdue, the jungledrums had been
rumbling, somebody inside the Chilean system seems to have known something beforehand but
on Monday, the company people got to hear about the appeal sitting, then the news came, the
appeal Wednesday gave us the right result and the stock price duly flew to 40c (and spiked
slightly above for a few minutes) before settling to a Friday close of 38c. All good, so from here
on we consider what lays ahead of RIO.v via a few disparate subjects.
Permitting: We begin with the subject of further permits and the bureaucratic track facing
Fenix. To frame the subject, here’s a question
Q: When is fully permitted not fully permitted?
A: When it’s a mine project in Chile.
In the aftermath of the news Wednesday, one of the thoughts I tweeted was this (4):
As for the future of RIO.v & Fenix, i'd like to see 1 of 2 things:
1) a strong strategic partner taking a 15% to 19.9% equity position
2) a buyout. Fully permitted multimillion Oz in Chile is an obvious target for a Tier2, esp
when the junior in question needs to raise capex
In fact (and as pointed out by Alex Black in his Crux Investor interview, last week’s EIA award is
not the end of the permitting track for Fenix per se as from here, RIO.v at Fenix has to apply
for and receive a set of permits to move the project forward. But in real terms, every forward
permit is predicated upon the EIA that’s just been awarded and as long as the company is seen
to be sticking to the terms of the EIA (and you can bet dollars to donuts that it will), all
subsequent permits are all-but automatic in nature.
Bottom line to permits: Effectively Fenix is now fully permitted and while it needs to get other
permits along its construction and development track at specific stages, those will come. The
big moment happened last week, as once you have your EIA in-hand in Chile, you’re mine is
going to happen.
Development timing: Permits are less of an issue now, but what RIO.v has to do is raise
capital and build a mine. For this we refer you to the Crux Investor video (link above), as Chair
Blakc does a good job in laying out an approximate timeline. One issue is that due to the delay
in the EIA award, the company isn’t going
to be able to start construction until 3q24
earliest, as the Andean winter at that
altitude is not conducive to laying concrete
and doing the major preliminary earth
movements required of this project.
However (and as also pointed out by Alex
Black in the Crux interview), this also
allows RIO.v the necessary time to put
together its financing package. It still
expects to build Fenix via a combination of
debt and equity, there’s also the
streaming deal with Wheaton in the
wings, but we all know that financing
conditions have changed substantially in
the last 18 months and it’s going to take
time to market the mine plan, receive
proposals and decide on the best way
forward. We know the following:
4
According to the October 2023 43-101 technical report (table insert above), Fenix needs a
little under U$117m to build its Stage One production facility so, when you take contingency
into account, they’re going to need to raise at least U$130m (and some sort of financial
device that allows it to extend to U$150m if necessary wouldn’t be much of a surprise.
At the base case U$1,750/oz gold price, Stage One returns a U$210m NPV at a 5% discount
rate. That’s out of whack for two reasons, as a discount rate closer to real cost of capital
these days, e.g. 12%, cuts that NPV literally in half and brings it down to $105m. However,
plus U$2,000/oz gold into the model and the baseline U$210m becomes over U$335m, so
you pays your money and you takes your choice. Effectively, I’m not so worried about the
12% capital cost as that resulting low NPV only applies if Stage One remains Stage One for
the whole 17 year mine life of the starter project. Again in real terms, RIO at Fenix will
become much bigger than that once established and the capital cost will dilute accordingly,
so over the long term a higher gold price is far more important.
We also know RIO wants to raise perhaps U$80m of its capex via debt. For that it is using
established merchant banks and is in a consulting partnership with Endeavour Financial out
of London.
Next up, the deal with Wheaton Precious Metals. We know the original deal was for U$50m
in return for a staged stream in which WPM gets 6.0% of gold production and pays 18% spot
until 90,000oz are delivered, then 4.0% until 140,000oz are delivered, then 3.5% on life of
mine. WPM paid the first U$25m and was about to fund the second tranche when the
permitting hammer fell in 2022 and as such, the deal is technically lapsed. However, it
wouldn’t be a big surprise to see it resurrected on the same (or near) terms and that would
bring U$25m of the cash required.
Finally, we know RIO will have to raise some of the funds via equity and as things stand, that
could be something in the region of U$30m to U$50m. The best way that could happen
would be via a new strategic partner that takes one of those 15% or 19.9% positions, but we
will likely see a public funding round of some shape or form as well.
Those are the basic moving parts and we’ll have to wait until 2024 to see how they fit together,
but we also know it’s going to take some time to nail down the entire funding package. That’s
why the enforced delay to the start of construction is something of an advantage and we see a
2024 in which RIO.v runs around getting its corporate deal ready in the first half of the year,
then swings into action in the second half of 2024.
Which brings us to the last subject today, an overview of the current financial state of affairs at
RIO.v starting with the main balance sheet items:
RIO.v: Assets breakdown, per qtr 300
250
200
150
100
50
0
One of the most laudable things at RIO.v during 2022 and 2023 is how they’ve managed to
keep the company’s financial affairs in order and not blow out the share structure or get into
serious financial trouble. Assets (above left) have held together and of the total $35m or so in
liabilities, most of that is covered by the first Wheaton staged payment of U$25m which is a
deferred liability that comes off as and when the gold gets delivered (and we assume WPM will
want to continue with the original deal and add the second $25m as well). More importantly, by
5
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3
U$m total assets fixed 50 RIO.v: Liabilities overview
other current
45
cash+ST
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
source: company filings
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3
U$m
LT liab
current liab
source: company filings
hook or by crook RIO.v has kept enough cash treasury to be able to go about its business, pay
the key C-suite and Chile legal/lobby team and remain liquid. It’s done this via various routes,
including the clawing back of some of the long-term lead item payments made in early 2022, by
drastically cutting office staff, by getting Sales Tax (IVA) due to it turned into hard cash, by
selling U$5m of non-core royalties to Roosen over at Osisko and by partially paying the
RIO.v: Working capital
remaining C-suite in shares, instead of cash. But
the upshot is in these charts, below:
It’s a remarkable achievement for what’s
essentially still an exploreco with no ostensible top
line revenue to have kept the share count to
within 4m shares of where it was in 3q21, a
tribute to the smarts at managerial level. Add to
the visual overview the expenses breakdown chart
(below), which also shows how RIO.v was
beginning to ramp up its expenditures in late 2021
and into 2022 as it prepared to go into full mine
building mode, only to get hit by the permit refusal in mid-2022. As a result, it had to slam on
the brakes. Once redundancy payments had happened, it brought its burn down to the
minimum in 2023, paying its legal team and essential upkeep bills, but that’s about all.
U$m RIO.v: Quarterly expenses breakdown
6
5.5 employ. costs prof fees
share comp Expl. Costs
5
G&A other
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1q202q203q204q201q212q213q214q211q222q223q224q221q232q233q23
source: company filings
With that and without doing much in the way of quant valuations on the stock today, it’s time
to tie together the pieces and draw a strategy-level conclusion. We’ll go the bullet point route:
Last week was wholly positive news and the stock deserved to move the way it did. Also,
be clear that before we move through the other talking points, I personally am holding
on to all my shares and look at RIO.v today in the same way I’ve always done, as a real
wealth creation opportunity and a company to hold for the long-term. Long story short,
I’m not selling.
The 40c-or-abouts at which RIO.v traded last week was a reasonable and fair trading
range. It allowed speculators to cash out, it allowed those who see the value that can be
created by this project to buy in at a discount. That makes for a healthy market and let’s
6
69.31
92.9 19.9
64.1 60.3 80.0-
68.22
54.91
63.52
11.11
78.0 97.3 16.3 11.7 21.5
30
27.5
25
22.5
20
17.5 15
12.5 10 7.5 5
2.5
0
-2.5
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3
U$m RIO.v: Cash treasury, per qtr
source: company filings
297.41 47.9 579.9 434.3 535.3 554.1
560.32
543.12
966.33
416.31 282.5 627.4 320.4 365.7 605.5
40
35
30
25 20
15 10
5
0
02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3
U$m
source: company filings
RIO.v: Shares out
49.201 20.301 42.811 42.811
87.081 34.181 34.181 83.281 71.091 17.091 95.991 78.991
43.452 43.452 96.652 15.752 15.752 65.752 46.752 83.852 57.852
300
275
250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
81q3 81q4 91q1 91q2 91q3 91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3
M s/o
source: company filings
hope the good traded volumes continues in the days to come.
While the Stage One project still needs certain permits, they are all dependent on the key
EIA awarded last week and will come on a near-automatic basis to a good corporate
citizen. To all intents and purposes, Fenix is now politically de-risked and in one fell
swoop, has moved from the “permit penalty box” to “permitted to production”, no small
matter in this day and age.
The current project is economically robust at U$1,750/oz gold, but the real prize is on the
expansion prospects for Fenix and the company is already talking up its real potential
(again, see that Crux interview link). This table from the recent 43-101 is a reminder of
the 5.7m oz gold all categories already defined (and the expansion prospects are very
strong) and this was calculated using recent cost inputs and U$1,800/oz gold, which
provides plenty of economic leeway compared to our new gold price deck as 2023
becomes 2024.
However, be clear that RIO.v also has its work cut out to raise the capital for the Phase
One project. This weekend’s 38c share price means RIO.v’s market cap is C$98.3m, then
current forex puts us at U$73.7m. That means RIO.v has to raise double its market cap
in order to build its mine, that’s not a straightforward task (and the ratios get worse on
an EV basis, as WPM has already forwarded U$25m that’s on the books). There’s a plan
in place and this go-getting team with a strong track record for construction and
operational success will be able to open doors that other companies cannot, but the cost
of capital is going to be a key point as RIO moves to secure the capex in 1q and 2q 2024.
Therefore, the ball is not firmly in the company’s court. The RIO team needs to show
they are capable of putting the corporate deal together and in a way that’s beneficial to
current shareholders, else see the stock price start to retreat again. How they go about
maximizing value is up to them, though personally I’d be very much in favour of seeing a
new strategic shareholder (e.g. a large operating miner) or even a sale to a cashed-up
entity that can realize the project and bring RIO.v holders along for the ride (as long as
the terms are good, of course). Raising up to U$150m when your market cap is
essentially half the total can put a strain on project economics and while we know the
company wants to do all it can to limit share dilution, this is still a difficult market and
financiers will also want the best deal they can muster (their pound of flesh, if you like).
However and to reiterate, I’m most definitely a holder of my shares. I wouldn’t blame anyone
for cashing out on this news, but there’s significant upside here as long as RIO can execute in
2024 and move to start physical construction by this time next year. There’s also a policy point
to my holding through, as in general (and with exceptions) I’m in this weird world of juniors not
just to flip in and out of stocks, but to create true wealth and aim for the big win along the way.
Rio2 at Fenix has that promise and with its key EIA now in-hand, has taken a big step forward
in realizing its potential.
Stocks to Follow
The IKN Weekly Stocks to Follow list got its own little Santa Rally last week, via wins registered
in 13 of the 17 stocks currently on the list. Not listing them all, instead we note the biggest
percentage moves that start with the false flag Minera IRL (MIRL.cse up 100.0%), but then get
serious with the big and genuine move by Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v up 65.2%) and is backed by the ups
in Surge Copper (SURG.v up 14.3%), Argonaut gold (AR.to up 11.4%), SolGold (SOLG.to up
10.7%) and while we’re her, let’s note the moves in Equinox (EQX up 8.3%) and Aldebaran
(ALDE.v up 8.3%), too. Two stocks remained unchanged on the week (PAU.cse, MENE.v) and
that leaves just two week-over-week losers (CTGO, MARI.to)
7
We still have 17 stocks on the list, that’s three under our self-imposed limit. Seven of those are
in the green, one is unchanged and nine are still in the red.
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$0.335 59.5% $0.75 first tgt, #1 idea
RECOMMENDED STOCKS
Amerigo Res ARG.to hold C$1.36 12-Dec-21 C$1.36 0.0% Cu price better, will hold
Fortuna Silver FSM hold U$2.92 13-Aug-23 U$3.96 35.6% Finally moved, still want flip
Equinox Gold EQX STR BUY U$4.46 30-May-23 U$5.09 14.1% Leverage trade at U$2k/oz Au
Argonaut Gold AR.to SPEC BUY C$0.42 17-Dec-23 C$0.44 4.8% Near-term, want quick profit
Contango Ore CTGO BUY U$18.70 30-Jul-23 U$17.50 -6.4% FY24 production, now moving
SolGold SOLG.to BUY C$0.265 19-Feb-23 C$0.155 -41.5% Cu in Ecuador, M&A tgt
Newcore Gold NCAU.v SPEC BUY C$0.205 23-Oct-22 C$0.14 -31.7% Showing signs of life
Rio2 Ltd. RIO.v BUY C$0.83 22-Apr-18 C$0.38 -54.2% Cheap on permit probs, appeal
SPECULATIVE TRADES
Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v SPEC BUY C$0.72 16-May-21 C$0.91 26.4% drilling again
Minera IRL MIRL.cse avoid C$0.195 22-Jul-12 C$0.05 -74.4% leaving list soon (good)
A WATCHLIST OF POTENTIAL TRADES. NB: I DO NOT OWN
Likely buy, cheap entry
Marimaca Copper MARI.to WATCH C$3.65 26-May-23 C$3.41 -6.6% showing
Ero Copper ERO.to WATCH C$18.94 22-Oct-23 C$22.00 16.2% High quality Cu prod, cheap
Soma Gold SOMA.v WATCH C$0.66 26-Nov-23 C$0.64 -3.0% small gold prod in Colombia
Surge Copper SURG.v WATCH C$0.11 18-Jun-23 C$0.08 -27.3% tinycap Cu in BC Canada
Provenance Gold PAU.cse WATCH C$0.085 8-Oct-23 C$0.095 11.8% Idaho gold drill play
LONG-TERM NON-MINING HOLD
Mene Inc. MENE.v adding C$0.63 6-Dec-20 C$0.31 -50.8% LT bet, adding slowly
CLOSED TRADES IN 2023 date closed close price
Altiplano Metals APN.v jan'23 C$0.31 17-Setp21 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.
Chesapeake Gold CKG.v may'23 C$3.07 20-Feb-22 C$1.75 -43.0% Closing on legal action news
Amerigo Res ARG.to may'23 C$1.36 12-Dec-21 C$1.48 8.8% sold 20% to raise cash
Amerigo Res ARG.to oct'23 C$1.36 12-Dec-21 C$1.21 -11.0% sold 10% raise to cash
QC Copper&Gold QCCU.v oct'23 C$0.265 25-Apr-21 C$0.12 -54.7% sold raise to cash
Faraday Copper FDY.to oct'23 C$0.79 26-Mar-23 C$0.68 -11.4% sold raise to cash
AbraSilver Res. ABRA.v oct'23 C$0.36 4-Dec-22 C$0.28 -22.2% sold raise to cash
Orecap inv OCI.v oct'23 C$0.04 20-Nov-22 C$0.03 -25.0% sold raise to cash
Western Explor. WEX.v nov'23 C$1.87 9-Apr-23 C$0.60 -67.9% poor trade, cutting loss
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 our covered companies:
Argonaut Gold (AR.to): POSITION OPENED. As flagged last weekend and after tracking it
on the Watch List fro several weeks, I opened a real position on Argonaut Gold (AR.to) last
week, , at 42c average, I paid slightly more than expected or wanted. But that’s okay.
8
We also got an update from the company on December 18th (4) which was one of those “trying
hard to be transparent but holding back” affairs. It’s worth a careful read (and re-read) to get
the feel so don’t take my abridged thoughts here as definitive, so to condense the NR we go
with the three main headings:
Increased Mill Head Grade: In this, AR tells us its head grade is improving after the first
months of (largely test) production, which frankly is nothing unusual. In fact, it would
have been seriously bad news if Magino hadn’t improved on the 0.77 g/t processed grade
as reported in 3q23, compared to the original guidance of 1.3 g/t to 1.35 g/t processed
grade for 2023.
Technical and Operational Improvements: In this, AR informed on initial results of a test
campaign using something called “OREPro3D” technology, designed to improve blast
accuracy and improve mined grade. The test was small and used on a block of high-
grade ore and they managed to get the 1.53 g/t average to the mill at 1.50 g/t. That’s
impressively low mine dilution and a good start for this technology, so we now wait to
see if it can improve mine-level production in the same way.
Investment in Exploration and Expansion: In this section, AR is trying to point us toward
the longer-term at Magino and the section is best summed up by the CEO comment from
Richard Young: “The goal is to build Magino into a 200,000 to 250,000 ounce per year
gold mine. Through the year, we have strengthened our team, processes, and
technology, all of which are critical to building Magino into a large, low-cost, long-life
gold mine.” That’s fair enough, as long as it’s not used as an excuse for a poor 4q23
production number come 2024.
With the company now coming out of its shell and informing the market of its progress, it’s
almost certain to give us a preliminary 4q23 production number early next montb (as if it
doesn’t, it will look suspicious). With Magino improving, they’ll be able to give an upbeat early
2024 guidance and we’re also looking to Florida Canyon to deliver a good number. Final
reminder; This is a near-term trade set-up so if things go to plan, I’m going to sell sooner
rather than later and take profits while wishing longer-term holders the best of fortune; If I
leave money on the table for someone else, so be it.
Minera Alamos (MAI.v): A small rally, but enough to put some distance between the stock
and that horrid 30c level. We note company President Doug Ramshaw has added 55,000 shares
to his own holding in December again last week and now owns nearly 9.2m shares of MAI, all
bought on the open market. That’s serious alignment with us retail minnows and one of the
reasons this is still a Top Pick (for now), despite the company’s thoroughly disappointing 2023.
Equinox Gold (EQX) (EQX.to) and Fortuna Silver (FSM) (FVI.to): This time last weekend
we were scratching our heads about the recent discrepancy in trading between these two, with
EQX suddenly lagging for unknown reasons. We expected that to unwind and sure enough, EQX
put in a good +8.3% week while FSM slightly under-performed.
Given the right sort of Santa Rally continuation and/or January bounce to the right price, I’m a
seller of both of these. FSM at U$4.20 or above would be good, while EQX has a habit of
making very sharp rallies and that could happen if gold continues to climb. Nice trading vehicles
at the moment, these.
Contango ORE (CTGO): To repeat; there is no injunction placed against Manh Choh or the
Peak Gold LLC JV and we believe the law suit brought against the project and its trucking plans
to be spurious and of no merit. So far, the courtroom agrees.
SolGold (SOLG.to) (SOLG.L): The AGM came and went, with the most contentious point
being the re-election of Nick Mather who only got 62.6% of votes. Notably, Scott Caldwell got
99% of votes and that means BHP is happy with his work…odd, to say the least. SOLG rallied
on the week and if that continues, I may find a place to jump off this loser.
9
The Copper Basket
After fifty-two weeks of 2023, The Copper Basket shows a loss of 18.00% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/23 Shares out Market Cap current pps gain/loss%
1 Solaris Res SLS.to 6.44 148.15 614.82 4.15 -35.6%
2 Marimaca Cop MARI.to 3.22 92.882 316.73 3.41 5.9%
3 Western Copper WRN.to 2.41 151.597 280.45 1.85 -23.2%
4 Arizona Sonoran ASCU.to 1.92 105.96 186.49 1.76 -8.3%
5 Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v 0.78 169.819 154.54 0.91 16.7%
6 Regulus Res. REG.v 1.10 124.509 110.81 0.89 -19.1%
7 Faraday Copper FDY.to 0.54 175.2 105.12 0.60 11.1%
8 Hot Chili HCH.v 0.78 119.455 103.93 0.87 11.5%
9 Oroco Res OCO.v 0.91 216.13 84.29 0.39 -57.1%
10 Pan Global Res PGZ.v 0.46 242.74 48.55 0.20 -56.5%
11 Kodiak Copper KDK.v 1.12 56.2 30.91 0.55 -50.9%
12 Element 29 Res ECU.v 0.16 106.25 20.19 0.19 18.8%
13 QC Copper QCCU.v 0.165 162.815 19.54 0.12 -27.3%
14 Atacama Copper ACOP.v 0.16 35.94 7.55 0.21 31.3%
15 Libero Copper LBC.v 0.155 119.58 2.39 0.02 -87.1%
NB: All stocks in CAD$ Portfolio avg -18.00%
The Copper Basket had a relatively quiet week The Copper Basket 2023, weekly evolution
15%
with a balance of seven winners (SLS.to, WRN.to, 10%
ALDE.v, HCH.v, PGZ.v, REG.v, FDY.to), three 5%
0%
unchanged stocks (QCCU.v, LBC.v, ACOP.v) and
-5%
five losers MARI.to, OCO.v, ASCU.to, KDK.v,
-10%
ECU.v). Most of the moves in either direction were -15%
small, with the biggest winner Aldebaran (ALDE.v -20%
up 8.3%) and biggest loser Kodiak (KDK.v down -25%
-30%
6.8%). In other words, not the fireworks we saw
in the gold space.
That despite the generally constructive price
action in copper-the-metal, which traded up in
classic “anti-dollar” style. Commodities weren’t
a complicated place last week, most stayed
put as the USD dropped in value and copper
was no exception. In macro news, the
December Press Release from the
International Copper Study Group (ICSG), a
body that’s suddenly in fashion and driving
much of the bullish copper narrative, was
released on schedule Wednesday and here are
the - of its three main news sections:
Preliminary data indicates that world
copper mine production increased by
approximately 1% over the first ten months of 2023
Preliminary data indicates that world refined copper production increased by about
5.5% during the first ten months of 2023
Preliminary data suggests that world apparent refined copper usage grew by about 4%
over the first ten months of 2023:
The first two cover production, noting a difference between mine supply to the
smelting/refining world and the refined supply to market. The report notes production
constraints and how “…world growth was limited by operational issues in Chile, China,
10
ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht7yam ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4nuj ht11 ht81 ht52 dn2yluj ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht6gua ht31 ht02 ht72 dr3pes ht01 ht71 ht42 ts1tco ht8 ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5von ht21 ht91 ht62 dr3ced ht01 ht71 ht42
source: IKN calcs
Indonesia, Panama and the United States…” to excerpt unfairly, so see the whole report here
(5) for the details. However, refined production from scrap has increased by 8% YoY to take up
the slack. Meanwhile, demand is up by around 4%, that’s in line with 2023 guidance. As for the
trade balance, here’s how those segment headers have evolved as the year has gone on,
starting with the June press release with each release offering data on a two month lag:
June Monthly Press Release: Preliminary world refined copper balance in the first four months of
2023 indicates an apparent surplus of about 384,000 t:
July Monthly Press Release: Preliminary world refined copper balance in the first five months of
2023 indicates an apparent surplus of about 287,000 t:
August Monthly Press Release: Preliminary world refined copper balance in the first half of 2023
indicates an apparent surplus of about 213,000 t:
September Monthly Press Release: Preliminary world refined copper balance in the first seven
months of 2023 indicates an apparent surplus of about 215,000 t:
October Monthly Press Release: Preliminary world refined copper balance in the first eight
months of 2023 indicates an apparent surplus of about 99,000 t:
November Monthly Press Release: Preliminary world refined copper balance in the first nine
months of 2023 indicates an apparent surplus of about 17,000 t:
December Monthly Press Release: Preliminary world refined copper balance during the first ten
months of 2023 indicates an apparent deficit of about 51,000 t:
There’s a clear trend, with the balance turning from surplus to deficit as the year has
progressed, but before bulls jump on this as another data point to support higher prices,
pleased note that the October reading just announced is also very much in-line with 2023
estimates from the ICSG, as published way back in April:
KMT Cu ICSG refined copper balance estimates, 2023
500
384
400 330 332
287
300
213 215
200 134
99
100
17 0
0
-100 -51
source: ICSG
-114
-200
J
an 20 2 3 f eb m ar apr m ay j un J ul au g s e p oct no v de c est
In its annual review, ICSG estimated 2023 to show an overall deficit of 114,000 metric tonnes
and while that may be a little short, the trend is clearly its friend. In fact, what you see above is
another way of visualizing the standard copper cycle. We’ve said it before and will say it again,
demand is about to slack off as China’s manufacturing sector is now mostly re-stocked and we
head into its New Year quiet period.
As for 2024, a lot has been made of the way the estimated 467kmt surplus has been wiped
away by the stoppage at Panama Cobre and the adjusted FY24 guidance from Anglo’s copper
division, two weeks ago. However, please be clear that there’s going to be a surplus of copper
to market in the first months of 2024, whatever happens later on. Also and in real terms,
467kmt isn’t really that much compared to an overall market of over 27 million tonnes as
expected next year.
We move to our regular weekly check on world copper inventories with data as usual collated
from Cochilco:
The overall aggregate copper inventory in the three world systems lost a big number,
considering how thing stocks are in Asia currently. The total dropped byt 13,812 metric
tonnes (mt) to close out Friday’s at 211,364mt.
The Shanghai SHFE warehouses dropped back to the near-record lows by shedding
5,678mt and finishing at 28.718mt. A small surprise, but still not out of seasonal norms.
11
Another notable draw down at the LME this time losing 8.875mt on the week and
closing Friday at 166,675mt. Once again, the action was via the normally sticky New
Orleans warehouse system, which dropped a cool 8,675mt. Let’s note before moving on
that LMA Asia holds just 10,225mt of the total and over half of that is in Singapore.
The Comex system added 741 tonnes and closed the week at 15,971,t. No biggie.
The dedicated SHFE shows the return to record lows, we now await the quiet season and re-
stocking in exchange warehouses.
SHFE copper inventory levels, 2018 to 2023
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
12
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
Now for notes on a couple of basket stocks:
Oroco Resource Corp (OCO.v): I’ve tried to avoid commenting too much in recent weeks, as
it begins to look vindictive and it’s not; OCO is simply
an avoid. However, there was a dearth of interesting
things happening in other Copper Basket stocks last
week and it’s worth noting that OCO attempted a
rally at the start of December after its drop on the
43-101 PEA release that we covered in multiple
editions as from IKN753, dated October 22nd. The
attempted rally got the stock close to 50c, but no
further and this weekend sees it back under the 40c
line. This desk’s opinion has not changed over the
last two months, it’s still overvalued compared to
peers and to what it offers, 30c is my idea of fair
value but even that wouldn’t tempt me in. If it went
severely oversold there may be a trade, but until
such time OCO is an easy pass.
Atacama Copper (ACOP.v): The revamp of ACOP got another boost last week when the
company announced an upsize to its (re)funding placement (6):
“…the Company intends to increase the size of its previously announced brokered private
placement (the "Concurrent Financing") to up to 66,666,667 subscription receipts of the Company
("Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.18 per Subscription Receipt for aggregate gross
proceeds of up to $12,000,000.”
That’s an extra $2m raised at the re-boot placement price, the kind of thing that happens when
you get Pierre Lassonde on board. ACOP also announced the first $7m of the placement as
closed and banked, with the final closure expected in January.
Libero Copper (LBC.v): Via a couple of NRs last week, LBC announced it is selling some of its
land holdings in the North, dropping the La Esperanza project in Argentina (cannot get a
permit) and concentrating on its Mocoa project in Colombia. In other words, a joke company
doing joke things. This will not be in the 2024 Copper Basket.
The Producer Basket
After 52 weeks of 2023, the Producer Basket shows a gain of 16.63% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/23 Shares out MktCap(U$Bn) current pps gain/loss%
1 Newmont NEM 47.20 1152.6 48.48 42.06 -10.9%
2 Barrick GOLD 17.18 1761.54 31.99 18.16 5.7%
3 Agnico Eagle AEM 51.99 488.9 27.04 55.30 6.4%
4 Wheaton PM WPM 39.08 451.963 22.53 49.86 27.6%
5 Kinross Gold KGC 4.09 1256.1 7.74 6.16 50.6%
6 Alamos Gold AGI 10.11 393.1 5.48 13.93 37.8%
7 B2Gold BTG 3.57 1074.567 3.50 3.26 -8.7%
8 Hecla Mining GFI 5.56 610.491 3.04 4.98 -10.4%
9 Eldorado Gold EGO 8.36 185.73 2.47 13.28 58.9%
10 Wesdome Gold WDOFF 5.53 147.526 0.89 6.05 9.4%
All prices and stock quotes in U$ Port. avg 16.63%
For the second week running we saw nine winners out of ten, with the odd man out Wesdome
(WDOFF), that closed the week unchanged. As for the others, we again saw the goldies move
up on the same tide, market action typical of when top-down money moves in via GDX/J and
the biggest stocks (NEM, GOLD etc). Most moves were between 2% and 3%, the best of our
ten being the 4.8% added by EGO. All this kept us in the same rough lockstep with the GDX
benchmark as seen since mid November and with one week to go, The IKN Weekly will almost
certainly book a 6% win for 2023. That’s a good result but it’s somewhat fortunate, as it all
depended on the dive took by Franco-Nevada. We picked Wheaton for our basket this year and
that made all the difference.
The 2023 Producer Basket: Weekly performance and
comparative to GDX control
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
-5%
-10%
Kinross (KGC) and Barrick (GOLD): Back in May 2022, Mark Bristow dismissed any talk of
Barrick moving on Kinross and buying out the smaller company after Special K beat it to the
Great Bear deal. To quote the GOLD CEO, “You don’t buy Great Bear by buying a whole load of
other cow shit” (7), referring to his opinion of the rest of the Kinross asset suite. He was
particularly scathing about Tasiast, calling it tired and “with no juice left to squeeze.” Here’s the
comparative progress of KGC versus GOLD since then:
13
ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht7yam ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4nuj ht11 ht81 ht52 dn2yluj ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht6gua ht31 ht02 ht72 dr3pes ht01 ht71 ht42 ts1tco ht8 ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5von ht21 ht91 ht62 dr3ced ht01 ht71 ht42
The 2023 Producer Basket: Percentage difference
between GDX benchmark & basket (negative = IKN ahead)
4.0%
ikn
2.0%
gdx control
0.0%
-2.0%
-4.0%
-6.0%
-8.0%
source: NYSE, IKN calcs -10.0%
ts1naJ ht8naJ ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5bef ht21 ht91 ht62 ht5raM ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2rpA ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht7yam ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4nuj ht11 ht81 ht52 dn2yluj ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht6gua ht31 ht02 ht72 dr3pes ht01 ht71 ht42 ts1tco ht8 ht51 dn22 ht92 ht5von ht21 ht91 ht62 dr3ced ht01 ht71 ht42
source: IKN calcs, NYSE data
And here’s a reminder of the first bullet point of the Kinross 3q23 financial report:
“Tasiast achieved record quarterly production and sales, significantly exceeding the
previous record achieved in the second quarter.”
Does this make Barrick quantifiably worse than cow shit? It would be nice to hear how Bristow
fields this question on the next ConfCall.
The TinyCaps List
After 52 weeks of 2023, the TinyCaps show a gain of 16.69% 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 1.00 0.02 -71.4%
Coast Copper COCO.v 0.045 64.001 2.88 0.045 0.0%
District Metals DMX.v 0.075 86.891 14.77 0.17 126.7%
Latin Metals LMS.v 0.13 69.962 5.25 0.075 -42.3%
Manitou Gold MTU.v 0.02 344.568 18.95 0.055 175.0%
Nine Mile Metals NINE.cse 0.29 57.025 7.41 0.13 -55.2%
Palamina Corp PA.v 0.08 65.285 7.18 0.11 37.5%
Precipitate Gold PRG.v 0.075 130.367 7.82 0.06 -20.0%
South Star STS.v 0.55 40.129 28.89 0.72 30.9%
Viva Gold VAU.v 0.14 106.721 12.81 0.12 -14.3%
Prices in CAD$, data from TSXV basket avg 16.69%
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.
It’s largely irrelevant, it only has one week to go, the TinyCaps, 2023 weekly tracker
50%
2024 refresh should bring it back into the realms of 45%
the useful but until then, there are still a couple of 40%
35%
stocks in this year’s TinyCap basket worthy of
30%
attention. This week saw five unchanged (AUL.v, 25%
20%
COCO.v, LMS.v, MTU.v, PRG.v), three downers
15%
(NINE.cse, STS.v, VAU.v) and two uppers (DMX.v, 10%
5%
PA.v) and an overall average that’s set in its ways.
0%
Biggest move was the 18.8% lost by Nine Mile Metals
as that December pumpo finally peaked.
Viva Gold (VAU.v): We got this from VAU on Wednesday (8):
“…the Company issued an aggregate of 11,663,061 units (the "Units") at a price of
CDN$0.12 per Unit for gross proceeds of CDN$1,399,567, provided that the closing on
5,989,744 of the Units placed with Company insiders, representing approximately 51%
of the Offering, will remain in escrow pending the final acceptance of the TSX Venture
Exchange.”
The original plan was to sell C$2m worth of units at the 12c price (unit = share + full warrant
marked at 18c). In other words, if we set aside the C$0.7m raised from insiders VAU only
14
ts1naJ ht51 ht92 ht21 ht62 ht21 ht62 ht9 dr32 ht7yam ts12 ht4nuj ht81 dn2yluj ht61 ht03 ht31 ht72 ht01 ht42 ht8 dn22 ht5von ht91 dr3ced ht71
source: IKN calcs, TSX data
managed to fill a little over half of its target. Make no mistake, it’s still a tough market for
explorecos, Q4 gold rally or not.
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
Deferred
Market Watching
Deferred
Conclusion
IKN762 is done, we end with bullet points:
Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v) is back. The decision to award Fenix its EIA permit is a major step
forward, it’s now up to the company to find the best way to add shareholder value.
Fenix is big, its mine plan is robustly economic and it’s now politically and
environmentally de-risked, all in what is still South America’s #1 jurisdiction for mining
despite the recent travails. That makes it attractive and that’s why I’m holding and
expected more, much more, from my shares than this weekend’s 38c. However, the
devil will be in the details and it’s now up to the company to raise capital as quickly and
efficiently as possible.
I like the way the Argonaut Gold (AR.to) trade has begun, even if I had to pay above
40c and slightly more than desired. Along with Fortuna (FSM) and Equinox (EQX), I’m
happy about the level of cash I have exposed to near-term gold upside.
Once again I’m banging the “I want to believe, but…” drum on copper and while the
medium and long term look good, near-term price weakness wouldn’t come as a
surprise. I’m again mulling over selling Amerigo (ARG.to) as a result, but feel it would
be way too cute to try and sell just to harvest 10% here or 15% there.
A reminder that in the next two to three weeks, I’ll also make some sort of decision on
what to do with my out-sized holding in Minera Alamos (MAI.v). I’m not an outright
seller, but if the permit drought is set to continue and there’s no more price rebound, it
may be time to pare down the position and drop it from Top Pick to plain vanilla
“recommended”.
Next weekend’s edition presents the components of the 2024 Copper, Producer and
TinyCap baskets.
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
15
Footnotes, appendices, references, disclaimer
(1) https://www.rio2.com/post/rio2-secures-environmental-approval-for-fenix-gold-project
(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHf2hfOLzYk
(3) https://sea.gob.cl/convocatorias-ordinarias-y-extraordinarias-0
(4) https://www.argonautgold.com/files/doc_news/2023/12/18/ar-press-release-magino-update-final.pdf
(5) https://icsg.org/press-releases/
(6) https://finance.yahoo.com/news/atacama-copper-corporation-announces-upsizing-151900505.html
(7) https://twitter.com/NiallCMcGee/status/1522219423515353088
(8) https://vivagoldcorp.com/site/assets/files/5881/nr_23-16_viva_gold_closes_private_placement_offering.pdf
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
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Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2020
Closed in 2020 closed close price
TMAC Resources TMR.to Jan'20 C$3.41 20-Dec-19 C$3.61 5.9% TLS flip play, sold new year
Regulus Res REG.v Jan'20 C$1.10 20-Dec-19 C$1.30 18.2% TLS flip play, profit taken
Bonterra Res BTR.v Jan'20 C$1.90 9-Dec-19 C$1.66 -12.6% TLS flip play, loss taken
McEwen Mining MUX Jan'20 U$1.12 2-Dec-19 U$1.18 5.4% TLS flip play, profit taken
Core Gold CGLD.v Jan'20 C$0.255 7-Apr-19 C$0.305 19.6% arb trade, profit taken
HudBay Min HBM Jan'20 U$3.56 9-Dec-19 U$3.36 -5.6% TLS flip play, loss taken
Midas Gold MAX.to Feb'20 C$0.71 5-Jan-20 C$0.57 -19.7% sm & silly trade
Warrior Gold WAR.v Feb'20 C$0.08 3-Aug-18 C$0.05 -31.3% clean out non-perf sm stocks
Contact Gold C.v Feb'20 C$0.40 19-Aug-18 C$0.18 -55.0% clean out non-perf sm stocks
Sandstorm Gold SAND Feb'20 U$3.73 17-Apr-16 U$7.21 93.3% Sold during port rebalance
NexGen Energy NXE Feb'20 U$1.20 2-Dec-19 U$1.06 -11.7% TLS flip play, loss taken
MAG Silver MAG Apr'20 U$8.95 1-Mar-20 U$10.07 12.5% Sold to cut silver exposure
Alexco Res AXU Apr'20 U$1.69 7-Sep-17 U$1.69 0.0% sold to close Ag exp. in FY20
Bonterra Res BTR.v Jun'20 C$1.62 2-Feb-20 C$1.10 -32.1% under-performer cash moved
Regulus Res REG.v Jun'20 C$0.64 6-Apr-15 C$0.79 23.4% moved $ TMQ/MIN & Au stocks
Great Panther GPR.to Aug'20 C$0.60 21-Jun-20 C$1.10 83.3% Profit taken, good trade
Jaguar Mining JAG.v Aug'20 C$0.42 21-Jun-20 C$0.65 54.8% Profit taken, good trade
Sandstorm Gold SAND Aug'20 U$7.76 10-May-20 U$9.37 20.7% Profit taken, good trade
Integra Resources ITR.v Aug'20 C$2.23 13-Aug-18 C$5.40 142.2% Profit taken, good trade
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
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Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2018
Closed in 2018 closed close price
Amarillo Gold AGC.v jan'18 C$0.38 24-Mar-17 C$0.31 -18.4% Cut away losing trade
Riverside Res RRI.v jan'18 C$0.39 27-Jun-16 C$0.31 -20.5% Cut away losing trade
Eros Res ERC.v jan'18 C$0.175 1-Mar-17 C$0.16 -8.6% CEO sudden exit, not good
Excellon Res EXN.to jan'18 C$1.54 9-Oct-16 C$1.66 7.8% 4q17 poor, one too many bad qtrs
Wesdome Gold WDO.to jan'18 C$1.68 15-Dec-17 C$2.06 22.6% Near-term trade block, took profit
Sabina G&S SBB.to apr'18 C$2.06 17-Dec-17 C$1.77 -14.1% Near-term trade, bad timing, small
B2Gold BTO.to May'18 C$2.11 12-Sep-14 C$3.67 73.9% sold 25% to reduce exposure
Lara Expl. LRA.v May'18 C$0.65 11-Feb-18 C$0.58 -13.8% Spec on Brazil didn't work
Solitario XPL June'18 U$0.72 19-Mar-17 U$0.41 -43.1% Failed trade, may return in 4q18
SolGold plc SOLG.to July'18 C$0.475 19-Nov-17 C$0.415 -12.6% cut, trade didn't perform
Pan American PAAS July'18 U$17.90 1-Jun-18 U$16.30 8.9% modest win on short position
NGEx Res NGQ.to Sep'18 C$1.01 22-Oct-17 C$1.00 -1.0% Closed to reduce Argentina exp
Sandstorm Gold SAND Oct'18 U$3.73 17-Apr-16 U$4.13 10.7% partial sale to raise cash for GTT
Aldebaran Res ALDE.v Nov'18 n/a n/a n/a n/a liquidate spin out of REG
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2017
Closed in 2017 closed close price
Continental Gold CNL.to Jan'17 C$2.68 22-May-16 C$4.17 55.6% trade closed, profit taken
Focus Ventures FCV.v Jan'17 C$0.23 1-Jul-12 C$0.05 -78.3% Give up, a disaster trade
Wesdome Gold WDO.to Feb'17 C$1.72 28-Aug-16 C$3.00 74.4% Target hit, sold, good trade
Belo Sun BSX.to Mar'17 C$0.90 30-Jan-17 C$0.90 0.0% failed near-term flip trade
Lara Expl. LRA.v Mar'17 C$1.15 8-Apr-12 C$1.05 -8.7% cut to make room for new trade
Rye Patch Gold RPM.v Apr'17 C$0.31 2-Sep-16 C$0.32 3.2% cut for doubts & new stock
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
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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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