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The IKN Weekly
Week 763, December 31st 2023
Contents
This Week: Fe errata In today’s edition, Bare bones #3 of three, The market week.
Fundamental Analysis: The New Copper Basket List, The New Producer Basket List, The New
TinyCaps Basket List.
Stocks to Follow: Surge Copper (SURG.v), Pan Global Resources (PGZ.v), Adventus Mining
(ADZN.v), Argonaut Gold (AR.to), SolGold (SOLG.to), Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v).
The Copper Basket: Overview, Western Copper & Gold (WRN.to), Regulus Resources
(REG.v), Libero Copper (LBC.v).
Producer Basket: Overview.
The TinyCaps Basket: Overview.
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
Fe errata
I know I’m prone to typos, but some are more painful than others. In last week’s write-up of
Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v) and its positive news on the EIA permit, I wrote the following to start the last
bullet point, down at the foot of the piece:
Therefore, the ball is not firmly in the company’s court
That should of course have been:
Therefore, the ball is NOW firmly in the company’s court
My apologies
In today’s edition
 Today we wrap up the three baskets for 2023, present the changes made for 2024 and
run through some of the rationale for throwing out the companies we threw, keeping
the companies we kept and adding the companies we added to the Copper, Producer
and TinyCaps baskets. Hopefully that latter one will improve measurably from its 2023
insignificance
 Not much more in this edition.
Bare bones #3 of three
Happy New Year to all readers of these words, may your 2024 bring you good health, along
with happiness and prosperity. This is the last of the three bare bones editions covering the
holiday period and as from Tuesday I’m back to work and doing serious business things more
often in my day. Next week’s edition of the Weekly, IKN764, will return to its normal format. I’ll
also share some personal news with this audience, which is nothing particularly earth-shattering
or about to affect your life, but as far as I’m concerned I think it better that you get it straight
from the horse’s mouth. Until next week.
The market week
The mobbing finger writes, and having writ moves on. We remind readers that tomorrow
Monday January 1st markets are closed for business, but as from Tuesday the world gets back
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to work and on Friday we have a significant macro moment to consider, when the US BLS
releases the Employment Report for December. It’s one of the noisy ones and includes
temporary jobs boosts, but the underlying numbers are what matter and according to
Calculated Risk (1), the consensus headline forecasts are for +158k NFP jobs and
unemployment rate of 3.8%, up one tenth from November. We shall see.
Fundamental Analysis of Mining Stocks
The new Copper, Producer and TinyCaps lists
As usual with our abridged New Year’s edition, today’s main event covers the content and
make-up of the 2024 tracking baskets. Today we refresh and re-jig the Copper Basket,
Producer Basket and TinyCap Basket by removing some of the companies in the 2023 lists and
adding new names. There are always diverse reasons for the changes and depend on the list,
its components, its purpose etc, but in general terms the job is to provide a representative
selection for each sub-sector and allow us to better gauge what’s going on in our main focus of
attention, i.e. our open trades of the Stocks to Follow list.
So without further ado we present the changes, the additions and the new lists for the 2023
Copper Basket, Producer Basket and TinyCaps basket.
The New Copper Basket List
Before we dive in, first and foremost please remember (and this is going in bold-typed all-caps)
that THE COPPER BASKET IS NOT A LIST OF RECOMMENDED STOCKS, it’s a
representative mix of what there is in the junior copper exploration world and is built to try and
represent how the copper explorecos are doing as a whole. Second important point is that once
again, we’ve deliberately chosen non-producers for this list. Time was when we’d mix in miners
with production and top line revenues, but the supply of reasonable explorecos and developers
has now improved and it makes better sense to remain focused, as we did last year. Third and
final, we keep all picks to Canadian listed stocks and all are priced in Canadian dollars, to keep
things simple. As for the mix, as usual there are the large and the small (even the tiny) and this
year even have a Billion-Plus market capper to head the table, but above all the plan is to run a
basket that shows how the group does against the market, the underlying metal and even the
copper producers (via the COPX ETF, for example). And as well as a wide range of market caps,
we also get representative by covering the length and breadth of our sample geography in The
Americas. This year the country mix is reasonably good, here’s a breakdown of country
locations for our 15 representatives for 2024:
Canada: Three companies
USA: Three companies
Peru: Two companies
Chile: Two companies
Argentina: One company
Chile and Argentina: One company
Ecuador: One company
Mexico: One company
Jamaica: One company
It would have been nice to have something from Colombia and perhaps more than one-and-a-
half from the newly fashionable Argentina, but on the whole it’s not a bad mix and with extra
from the two major North American countries, also emphasizes the industry’s preference for the
most stable and low-risk political jurisdictions (no matter what Canadian or USA citizens reading
this might think about their local political leaders). So without further ado, here’s our 2024
Copper Basket list, as always presented as a market cap league table:
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company ticker price 1/1/24 Shares out Market Cap current pps gain/loss%
1 NGEx Minerals NGEX.v 7.16 186.824 1337.66 7.160 0.0
2 Solaris Res SLS.to 4.13 150.74 622.56 4.130 0.0
3 Los Andes LA.v 11.80 29.53 348.45 11.80 0.0
4 Marimaca Cop MARI.to 3.43 93.11 319.37 3.430 0.0
5 Hercules Silver BIG.v 1.38 231 318.78 1.380 0.0
6 Arizona Sonoran ASCU.to 1.75 109.17 191.05 1.750 0.0
7 Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v 0.89 169.819 151.14 0.890 0.0
8 Faraday Copper FDY.to 0.63 175.97 110.86 0.630 0.0
9 Oroco Res OCO.v 0.375 222.86 83.57 0.375 0.0
10 C3 Metals CCCM.v 0.61 61.885 37.75 0.610 0.0
11 Kodiak Copper KDK.v 0.58 63.93 37.08 0.580 0.0
12 American Eagle AE.v 0.26 108.87 28.31 0.260 0.0
13 QC Copper QCCU.v 0.12 173.7 20.84 0.120 0.0
14 Element 29 Res ECU.v 0.18 106.25 19.13 0.180 0.0
15 Camino Min COR.v 0.07 206.66 14.47 0.070 0.0
NB: All stocks in CAD$ Portfolio avg 0.00%
Last year we swapped out seven stocks, the most changes we’ve ever run in one year, and this
year gets close to that by removing and replacing six, so we begin by naming the leaders and
giving a very quick line as to why (feel free to mail for deeper debate on any case, happy to
expand on the thought process).
The six leavers:
 Western Copper (WRN.to): It’s been a Copper Basket stalwart for many years, but 2024 looks set for
another “spin the wheels” year for WRN so we’re ringing the changes a little. A couple of extra thoughts
on WRN in The Copper Basket, below.
 Hot Chili (HCH.v): Overhyped and overly expensive, we saw the reality of HCH when it was pumped
into the resource update, only to fall back once the reality of marginal economics became apparent to
the serious end of the market. Now it has to do the heavy lifting and convert inferred into M+I, as well.
It was easy to choose Marimaca (MARI.to) over this one for the 2024 basket.
 Regulus Resources (REG.v): Another basket stalwart for many years, my patience has run out with
this story. More on REG in The Copper Basket notes section, below.
 Pan Global Resources (PGZ.v): This one leaves the list for good reasons, rather than negative ones.
As noted in today’s Stocks to Follow section below, PGZ is now part of the Watch List as I’m increasingly
interesting in owning some of these shares. Due to that, we’re leaving its space on The Copper Basket
open for a different stock.
 Atacama Copper (ACOP.v): Something of a disappointment last year, we added ACOP as one of the
tinycap examples to the 2023 list but it did nothing before running a corporate re-organization in Q4 and
remaining halted for the rest of the year. Its new emphasis includes projects coming in via its merger
with the Mexican privco TCP1 and are more precious metals oriented, so that means it’s not so relevant
for a copper-focused list. We replace this tinycap with another.
 Libero Copper (LBC.v): It was already bad in 2022, but its 2023 was an unmitigated disaster. A
broken company, we add a few more words on LBC in today’s Copper Basket notes, below. Good
riddance to bad rubbish.
So with the old gone, it’s time to present the 2023 components but before we get to the
newbies and in no particular order, a brief word on why these nine companies remain on the
list from the 2023 basket.
The Nine Remainers:
 Solaris Resources (SLS.to): It was a $1.8Bn market capper at the end of 2021 and too
expensive for the list (at the time), it had already started its drop by the start of 2023 when
it came back to The Copper Basket and last year, things went from bad to worse for SLS as
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the CSR issues (that we’ve flagged non-stop for years, please add subtle coughing sound
effect) became increasingly apparent to the market. We’re leaving it in this year as the
Ecuador representative, a bellwether on political risk for the country and to see if it can find
that elusive Chinese buyer.
 Marimaca Resources (MARI.to): MARI is now in the heavy lifting phase to bring its
Project to bankable stage, as a result it’s lost a little of its market protagonism in recent
weeks. I like this one A LOT and it’s still high on my personal shopping list if copper-the-
metal gives the right signals. High quality advanced copper project in LatAm’s best
jurisdiction.
 Oroco Resource Corp (OCO.v): OCO got hit hard by its disappointing 43-101 PEA and it’s
now in the position where it needs to raise capital for infill drilling to advance what is at best
a box standard project to PFS level. This stock got plenty of my attention over the year and
we’re leaving it in to keep an eye on its progress (or lack of), as it may offer a trade window
if, as I suspect, the selling continues.
 Arizona Sonoran (ASCU.to): One of the most disappointing stocks on the list in 2023,
ASCU started with a bang and then proceeded to fade for the rest of the year, despite being
propped and promoted by a suspiciously long list of newsletters and analysts. It retains its
place as there is still a large copper resource being developed in a good location, but it’s
going to need to show better overall economics for the plan than so far. There are also
some question marks about metallurgy now coming to the fore.
 Aldebaran Resources (ALDE.v): Given the choice between the Black/Heather stocks, it
was easy to keep ALDE and dump REG and not merely because I’m a shareholder in this
one. ALDE is now well into its latest drill program at Altar and while it may lack eye-catching
grade, the scale of the system makes it interesting and the type of project that will
eventually appeal to even the biggest of the world’s mining companies. Good corporate
sponsors and in a good location, ALDE is the Argentina copper stock that hasn’t set alight
yet.
 Faraday Copper (FDY.to): I bought and owned some, eventually sold and haven’t
regretted that round trip yet. FDY has a simple plan to put together a big copper resource
and then get bought out by an operator and according to the company the second part of
that plan can happen as from 2024. Lacks scale and the two-stage development plan that
first sees open pit and then underground mining isn’t the most straightforward, it’s up to the
company to show robust economics are possible.
 QC Copper & Gold (QCCU.v): Another I sold last year, but this time after holding and
waiting far too long. QCCU has kept on failing to live up to its own timelines on its MRE
update for Opemiska, but we understand that the new resource is now all-but ready and I
suspect that the team, with the media-aware Stephen Stewart at the helm, has been waiting
for the New Year to unveil the new resource and start a promo push.
 Element 29 Resources (ECU.v): I was very close to cutting ECU from the list but it
survived, mainly because I wanted its representation of the Peru region now that REG.v has
been axed. After a long delay at Flor de Cobre in the South of the country, we may see
drilling there in 2024 and that could change this game.
 Kodiak Copper (KDK.v): Also very close to cutting the highly disappointing KDK from the
list, but it’s okay to have mediocre performers in a representative list of a sector that often
gives us disappointing companies. Its place as part of the Discovery Group makes it
interesting, as it guarantees KDK will never lack for a sycophantic commentator or
newsletter writer.
You now have a few extra words on nine of the stocks on this year’s list, we now check out the
six new arrivals (all Canadian tickers, of course). Please find below brief overviews on the six
new components, along with a 12-month price chart for each stock to give context. We do
these in descending market cap order:
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The Six New Arrivals:
NGEx Resources (NGEX.v): Its market cap it’s bigger than I’d prefer for this list, but we’re
now at the point where any reasonable
representative basket of copper stocks and especially
junior exploreco/developers needs to have one of
“The Lundin Companies” because without one, it
misses out on too much of the money moving
through the sector. As this small screenshot from a
Lundin Group presentation shows (right), there is
some choice but at C$1.337Bn, NGEX.v is the
smallest (least big) of the reasonable options. We go
for this one.
There are two main reasons to like NGEX into 2024:
1) Its majority owned and large Los Helados copper resource in Chile, which recently got a
resource update as seen in this NR (2), from which I’ve ripped this table:
At its baseline 0.33% CuEq cut-off Los Helados boasts an indicated resource of 18.4Bn lbs
copper along with gold and silver by-products, plus another 8.2Bn lbs Cu inferred. This project
has been around for a long time and since 2020 its 31% minority partner has been Japanese
smelting company JX Nippon, part owners of the nearby producing Caserones mine. No massive
logical leaps are needed to suppose Los Helados becomes the next feed stage of that mining
complex, but the issue that’s stopped it from going into development up to now is the relatively
low grade. The cut-off of 0.33% compares to the CuEq grade of 0.51% and that’s using a
relatively elevated copper base price of U$2.90/lb. All that point us in a clear direction: higher
copper prices required for this as a standalone mine.
2) Its nearby Luanhuasi exploration target, which by dint of modern history is in San Juan
Argentina rather than in Chile. As seen on this second
map inset from Lundin literature (right), the Vicuña Camp
projects of NGEx, Filo, Josemaria etc are all close to each
other and that, in theory at least, might make NGEx and
its very large low grading Los Helados more interesting
as a true development than before. The regional upside
is now focused on Lunahausi, which returned very
promising discovery intersect last year of 60m of 7.52%
CuEq and later 90m of 4.05% CuEq. Drills have been
running on site since October and the next set of results
are due, so the New Year may start with a bang if NGEx
can repeat or even improve on those first holes.
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The Lundin Group can seemingly do no wrong at the moment and their work in the Vicuña has
yielded world class results, as seen at both Filo and Josemaria (now under construction). We’ll
follow their progress this year and while the Vicuña cluster is bigger than the normal scope of
The IKN Weekly, I’ll be rooting for its success.
Los Andes Copper (LA.v): I’m a well-documented bear on this stock and its Vizcachitas
copper project in Central Chile, but Queen’s Road Capital disagrees with me so with the worst
of the left-wing knee-jerk in Chile now behind us, it’s time to watch this advanced stage project
more closely. LA.v markets its flagship as “…one of the largest copper deposits in the Americas
not controlled by a major mining company, which is a lot of words required to qualify a
superlative but to its credit, it does contain around 11Bn lbs CuEq and that’s not a small one.
The issue with Vizcachitas is local community and environmental opposition, which comes on
several fronts. The project has already bumped up against the same type of flora/fauna issues
that delayed Rio2 at Fenix, but in this case that’s the tip of the iceberg as it’s one thing to build
a big mine in Chile at Altitude where nobody lives and very little grows, quite another in a low
lying valley zone close to established populations that really like their bucolic lifestyle and have
shown resolute opposition to any mine being bujilt on their relative doorstep for many years.
And in this case, we can add in a historic angle as the valley in question had a key role in the
early history of the country and was used by one of its military heroes as an access pass en
route to battles and victories that decided the geographical boundaries of Chile.
LA.v had major issues to secure even drilling permits and have had to adapt and cut back on
their latest drill program in order to accommodate rules and courtroom decisions against the
resource development. Under such circumstances, it remains to be seen whether the company
can attract the one thing it needs to return a win for its backers; a buyer for the project.
Hercules Silver (BIG.v): Though it has “silver” rather than “copper” in its corporate title, this
company is included due to (quite literal) overwhelming demand from you people out there,
I’ve never had so many requests or suggestions for a stock to be included in any of the Baskets
in any given year than received in the last six weeks for BIG.v.
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As you’ll see below in its 12 month chart, BIG.v has
become a full scale hotpot of a company in the last few
weeks. Its focus is the 100% owned Hercules project in
Idaho USA and until this year, it was considered a silver
exploration project but around mid-year, the company
started talking up the potential of a larger copper (and
other metals) porphyry at deeper levels of the same
target. Then on October 10th came the first reason for
its price explosion, via this NR (3):
Hercules Silver Intersects 185 Meters of 0.84%
Cu, 111 ppm Mo and 2.6 g/t Ag, including 45
Meters of 1.94% Cu in First Deep Hole Drilled at
Hercules
The first hole sunk into the theoretical target was a
serious hit and while the width at 185m is good-not great
for a porphyry, the grade shows a very strong system
and if the company can add tonnage and scale at that
grade, they’d be onto something very big. This visual
included in the NR (right) shows the target is indeed at
depth and far below the previously targeted
mineralization at Hercules.
The second price catalyst came four weeks later on
November 6th:
Hercules Silver Corp. (“Hercules Silver” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: BIG) (OTCQB:
BADEF) (FWB: 8Q7) today announced that it has entered into an agreement with
Barrick Gold Corporation (“Barrick”) whereby Barrick has agreed to purchase
21,265,370 units of Hercules Silver (the “Units”) in a non-brokered private placement
(the “Placement”) at a price of C$1.10 per Unit for gross proceeds of C$23,391,907.
Each Unit consists of one common share of Hercules (each a “Hercules Share”) and
0.32 of a common share purchase warrant (each a “Warrant”). Each Warrant will have
a term of two years and each whole Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase
one Hercules Share for a price of C$1.32 per Hercules Share.
The Placement will result in Barrick owning 12.33% of the issued and outstanding
Hercules Shares on a non-diluted post-transaction basis and 15.02% of the
outstanding Hercules Shares on a partially-diluted post-transaction basis, assuming
exercise of all Warrants.
When a bigboy player such as Barrick moves this quickly on a junior with a single discovery
hole, the speculation as to why runs riot and the share price did what it did.
At its current C$300m market cap, BIG has run from nowhere and become an expensive stock,
but that’s what explorecos do on occasion. We’ll follow its fate in 2024 and see whether
expectations are overdone, or whether they can outline a real new world class copper porphyry
and leave the current valuation in the dust. For what it’s worth, I err to the skeptical side on
this trade and wouldn’t risk any of my personal capital at this price, but wouldn’t mind being
made to look foolish by the drillbit, the mining world needs a couple of big wins.
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C3 Metals (CCCM.v): We dropped C3 Metals (CCCM.v) at rightly so, as its Peru exploration
project had run through the promotional cycle and shown what it was really worth (i.e. a
project picked up cheaply on option from Hochschild, who would have made it into a mine
already if it had promise). However, all the time this company created out of a previous
incarnation called Carube Copper had kept hold of its exploration stage copper projects in the
island state Jamaica and in 2023, has managed to create a little momentum with news from the
projects. That wouldn’t have been enough to merit its return, but the end of 2023 saw CCCM
run a close an C$8m financing under its new CEO, Dan Symons, who arrived at this company
after being fired from Argonaut Gold on the Magino
costs overrun debacle. That’s a big financing to run
and close in a tough market and, along with its
recent 13-to-1 share rollback, has piqued my interest
enough to include it again and keep tabs at what
happens at its Jamaica drill targets.
Be clear that I don’t trust this company, its
Jasperoide project in Peru was way overhyped and
the arrival of Symons as CEO does nothing to
improve its corporate image, but there might be
something of worth at Bellas Gate and Arthur’s Seat
Jamaica and while they’ve had to go a long and
roundabout way to raise required drill capital to find
out, we’re now at that point where the Truth Machine can judge.
American Eagle (AE.v): The only drawback to including AE in this year’s Copper Basket is the
amount of Ore Group companies now featured on these pages, what with QCCU.v, my previous
holdings in QCCU and ORX, and add to the list the decision to add ARIC.v to the TinyCaps list
below. I’m aware of an apparent over-dependence on companies connected to Stephen Stewart
and while that’s not a great look for a supposedly independent analyst, all that happens today
is an acknowledgement of its existence and a promise that I’m not going to buy Baselode
(FIND.v) on a wing and a prayer.
We’ve followed AE and its flagship NAK project in BC Canada for some time and we also know
its next set of drill assay results are due published. But we’ve also seen a consolidation of
corporate interest in the company recently via 1) the deepening of the JV relationship with
Teck, 2) the recent purchase of a 19.9% by its lead geological advisor and 3) the re-purchase
of its minority ownership from Orecap that consolidates 100% of NAK in AE. With results
pending and a lot of exploration, resource expansion and delineation drilling ahead and a full
treasury, AE is now primed as a company, all it
needs to do is deliver assays that meet
expectations…what could possibly go wrong?
With $4.5m in treasury, AE has its 2024 drill program
fully covered and enough money to get it well into
2025 before having to go to market again. We know
there’s a large porphyry at NAK, now all eyes will be
on the upcoming assay grades and it would take just
one hole with significantly higher grade to see this
share price run hard. At this market cap, there’s
plenty of leverage potential.
Camino Minerals (COR.v): The last new company this year is the Copper Basket minnow for
the year and while I’m not a big fan of its Chapitos project in South coastal Peru, COR also has
a suite of early stage projects in Peru including the Maria Cecilia project in the North of the
country that is permitted for drilling and has recently raised funds to get the rigs turning. The
main story at COR is still Chapitos, however. In mid-2023 COR closed a strategic sponsorship
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deal with Japan’s Nittetsu Mining Co on Los Chapitos, a staged deal in which Nittetsu funds up
to three years of development at Chapitos for a maximum of just over $10m in order to earn
35% of the project. That’s a good deal for COR and allows it to deploy funds to other places
and it doesn’t really matter what I think of the
project personally when you have a sponsor paying
the bills like this.
Will COR ever get to the stage of owning a serious
project with designs on emulating Marcobre, the
mine just North of Chapitos that has recently gone
into production? Unlikely, but at under $15m you get
plenty of leverage and as the 12 month chart here
shows, COR has been volatile and along with its
reasonable volume, that makes it tradable on small
scales.
And that’s the 2024 Copper Basket, with old names swapped out and headed by big Andean
porphyry projects, but with presence in North, Central South America. We’re 100% explorecos
for the second year running and that should help gauge the sub-sector compared to the wider
market.
The New Producer Basket List
This list is comprised of ten precious metals producers, all Tier 1 or Tier 2 and with a nominal
minimum market cap of U$1Bn but for the second year running we’re making a small exception
for the smallest cap play on the list. Primarily, this list keeps tabs on what’s happening among
the big players while The IKN Weekly gets on with its focus on junior mining stocks, but in this
case we also play a semi-serious side game and try to choose 10 stocks that, on a flat-weighted
10% per company, I believe will out-perform the benchmark GDX ETF over the year. So, once
again this is a basket of stocks designed to represent a sub-sector, but in this case we add an
edge of competition.
For 2024, we’ve swapped out four of the 2023 component stocks and added new or returning
names in their place:
company ticker price 1/1/24 Shares out MktCap(U$Bn) current pps gain/loss%
1 Newmont NEM 41.39 1152.6 47.71 41.39 0.0%
2 Barrick GOLD 18.09 1761.54 31.87 18.09 0.0%
3 Agnico Eagle AEM 54.85 496.54 27.24 54.85 0.0%
4 Franco-Nevada FNV 110.81 192.119 21.29 110.81 0.0%
5 Pan American PAAS 16.33 364.439 5.95 16.33 0.0%
6 Lundin Gold LUGDF 12.64 237.68 3.00 12.64 0.0%
7 Hecla Mining HL 4.81 617.768 2.97 4.81 0.0%
8 Eldorado Gold EGO 12.97 202.472 2.63 12.97 0.0%
9 Dundee PM DPMLF 6.43 183.278 1.18 6.43 0.0%
10 Wesdome Gold WDOFF 5.83 148.95 0.87 5.83 0.0%
All prices and stock quotes in U$ Port. avg 0.00%
The four new entries are (in market cap order):
 Franco-Nevada (FNV)
 Pan American Silver (PAAS)
 Lundin Gold (LUGDF (the USD pinksheet ticker, rather than its main LUG.to listing)
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 Dundee Precious Metals (DPMLF (the USD pinksheet ticker, rather than its main DPM.to
listing)
That also means six remain on the list from last year. So in the same style as The Copper
Basket, now for brief notes on the leavers and the remainers for the 2023 Producer Basket:
The Four Leavers: Unimportant notes on why WPM, KGC, AGI and BTG have been removed:
 Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM): A victim of its own success, I prefer FNV and will swap like
for like
 Kinross Gold (KGC): Special K was 9th out of ten in 2022, then came 2nd just behind the out-
performing EGO in 2023. It’s had a good run but it’s not a company to trust with long-term
investments, so I’m going to rest on my laurels.
 Alamos Gold (AGI): The best performing gold stock over the last two years has begun to look
tired, as the improvements in its Mexican operations and the solid results from both Young-
Davidson and Island in Canada are now largely baked in.
 B2Gold (BTG): This one has disappointed for too many years and with Back River now a
capex yoke around its neck, along with the extra risk faced by the key Fekola mine, I’m not
making the same mistake again.
The Six Remainers: Now for a quick line on the six stocks that carry through from 2023 to
2024:
 Newmont (NEM): It’s difficult not to include the world’s biggest publicly traded gold miner
and with the Newcrest acquisition now consummated, its backers will want a better
performance from it in 2024 to justify the pain of 2023.
 Barrick (GOLD): Like it or not, Barrick is another must-include name in any reasonable gold
mining tracker and its the other automatic entry for each and every year.
 Agnico-Eagle (AEM): AEM didn’t have a great 2023 and I thought about leaving it out this
year, but once I’d decided on the other swaps it became clear I needed at least one more big-
end market cap stock to balance things out a little and this was the obvious choice. I’m fairly
neutral on its prospects in 2024 and would settle for a “market perform” type of year
 Hecla Mining (HL): It was always going to be a volatile choice and was included in 2023 on
the speculation that silver would do better than it did. That didn’t work out, then the fire at
Lucky Friday that closed the mine for operations in Q4 was the proverbial cherry on the cake.
Long story short, HL had a rotten year and was a heavy burden on the basket average, but on
the assumption of goes around/comes around we’re going to give the name a second chance.
Along with PAAS (below), it’s also underscores that I’m looking to silver to out-perform in the
year to come,
 Eldorado Gold (EGO): This was my best new pick for 2023 and while on the same goes
around/comes around criteria there’s logic in retiring the stock, I truly believe EGO is more
likely to do what AGI did and put together two strong years.
 Wesdome Gold (WDOFF): A damp squib of a year from WDO, largely due to the continued
slow progress on getting to the high grade mineral of Kiena Deeps. I suspect the “market
perform at best” performance will continue in 1q24, but as from mid-year and as long as the
company delivers on its new timeline to get Kiena fully operational by the start of Q3, WDO
can show us the delayed re-rate. It’s also an obvious buyout target due to location and having
just two medium-sized but profitable mines, at some point its board will get the offer it cannot
refuse and that may be this coming year.
The Four New Arrivals: Now for the tweaks and adjustments that I think will be enough to
beat the GDX benchmark for the eighth time in nine years (see the Producer Basket section
below for more). One obvious pick, one potential surprise and two smaller precious metals
operators that mark a different strategy compared to previous years, we include two 12 month
10

charts with each pick, one for the stock alone and the other showing the comparative
performance against GDX:
Franco-Nevada (FNV): This is the obvious pick. The world’s biggest royalty/streamer
company had a torrid 2023 due to its heavy dependence on the Cobre Panama mine for its top
line revenues, but in the opinion of this desk (and many others), the selling in FNV was
overdone and even if First Quantum (FM.to) doesn’t recover, there’s every reason to see FNV
outperforming peers and if FM reaches some sort of settlement with the incoming government
of Panama after the May election, FNV gets to recoup all its 4q23 losses.
Pan American Silver (PAAS): This one may surprise you, but there’s method behind the
madness of picking PAAS to out-perform the field in 2024. Some bullet points:
 These days, it’s mostly a gold company. The company’s image means it will get the
benefit from a rising silver price (if that happens), but the underlying financials are all
about gold and that will show at every quarterly report.
 Its YE financials are likely to show an improved balance sheet, its weak point this year
 It got the mediocre 43-101 economics of La Colorada out of the way this month, thereby
baking in the bad news before 2024 begins. As it’s way too expensive to build what’s
essentially a zinc mine with a silver kicker this year, expect it to “go into optimization
review” while the company concentrates on harvesting cash
 There’s an outside chance that Escobal in Guatemala could come out of the deep freeze.
Certainly not holding my breath on it getting an immediate permit, but the round table
talks have been going more fluidly and the government, company and Xinka locals have
already agreed on a program of talks for the first half of 2024.
As larger cap stocks go, PAAS has been a bit of a laggard recently and is due a better year. This
desk places a small gentleman’s wager on that turnaround coming in 2024-
The two final choices represent a slight departure from the normal strategy used as we aspire
to beat the GDX over the year. Inspired by the decision to include Wesdome last year (and this)
11

and cover it using the USD pink sheet ticker to keep it all in USD, as well as aiming to benefit
from the leverage from lower market cap companies on an equal weighted rating, I’m adding
the main listed Canadian gold producers Lundin Gold (LUG) and Dundee Precious Metals (DPM)
to the list.
Lundin Gold (LUGDF): This is the major success story out of Ecuador and has turned into a
bona fide cash machine. Low costs, rock solid balance sheet and production from Fruta del
Norte in 2023 that beat guidance by a nautical mile, LUG is hardly a secret these days but
surprisingly for some (including me), the stock hasn’t managed to rally in quite the same way
as other less attractive peers.
While Ecuador is obviously a trappy jurisdiction for permitting and so forth, LUG is past the
major issues of getting permission to operate and convincing the key stakeholders in the
country, i.e. the locals, that mining for gold can be a net positive for all. It has an excellent CSR
relationship and indeed it’s notable that when CONAIE or any other anti-mining group in
Ecuador goes after its target, Fruta del Norte is always left off their agenda.
One of LUG’s tasks now is to try to do what several other companies have tried and failed to do
and find a new deposit of the same ilk in the locality. That’s not easy considering the pull apart
basin style of this gold deposit but the company is now dedicating a significant exploration
budget to do so and if they hit something, the share price will see immediate upside. All the
same, LUG’s immensely profitable mine is all we really need to see better share prices in the
year ahead and while its price isn’t at its lowest ebb, it looks like a great value entry point
Dundee Precious Metals (DPMLF): Our last pick is Dundee and it gets the nod for three
main reasons:
1) The company had a great 2023, showing significant improvement in operations and
financials
2) At just over U$1Bn, it’s the right size to add leverage to our basket of ten stocks
compared to the GDX benchmark
3) Its recent announcement to buy Osino caused the stock to drop and while we can
debate as to whether DPM is overpaying for the junior, the bad news for the share
price is now baked in and once the deal closes (due March) we’re likely to see a re-rate
wherever the gold price is at that time. However, if gold does what we’d like it to do
and move higher still in Q1, DPM is going to look smart for having moved on a deal to
add a big project to its books at the right time.
So despite begin a strong out-performer in 2023, my bet is that we’ll see a repeat performance
from the company. It doesn’t need its frozen project in Ecuador (Loma Larga) to show
corporate progress either, as its Namibian and Bulgarian operations are now running well and
are strongly profitable.
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The bottom line to this year’s Producer Basket: The plan is to add smaller market cap stocks
(LUG, DPM) and a little extra silver exposure (PAAS) in order to take advantage of our forecast
bullish market for precious metals. Those moves, plus the logical decision to swap out WPM for
the unlucky-in-2023 FNV, round out our bets to beat the street in 2023.
The New TinyCaps Basket List
A reminder of the rules that I’m going to break this year. TinyCap stocks should have a market
cap of $20m max and in this case, as with The Copper Basket, we’re not trying to be clever and
beat the street. Instead, the plan is to pick a representative bunch of stocks from the microcap
end of the juniors market and use is as a barometer for the health of the wider sector.
This year I’ve swapped out five stocks and left five from the 2023 in the list and thanks to you
the kind readership of The IKN Weekly, three of the five newbies are suggestions from the
floor. So without further ado, here’s the 2024 list with notes and thoughts below:
company ticker price 1/1/24 Shares out Mkt Cap current pps gain/loss%
Aston Bay BAY.v 0.065 221.5 14.40 0.065 0.0%
Awalé Res ARIC.v 0.135 67.27 9.08 0.135 0.0%
District Metals DMX.v 0.170 106.98 18.19 0.170 0.0%
Endurance Gold EDG.v 0.18 150.136 27.02 0.180 0.0%
Kirkland LDC KLDC.v 0.100 88.625 8.86 0.100 0.0%
Latin Metals LMS.v 0.075 71.476 5.36 0.075 0.0%
Palamina Corp PA.v 0.130 71.285 9.27 0.130 0.0%
South Star STS.v 0.750 48.8 36.60 0.750 0.0%
Surge Copper SURG.v 0.090 219.21 19.73 0.090 0.0%
Viva Gold VAU.v 0.120 118.384 14.21 0.120 0.0%
Prices in CAD$, data from TSXV basket avg 0.00%
The Five Leavers: First up, the quickest of words about the five stocks leaving the list:
 Aurelius Minerals (AUL.v): Disappeared without trace after a CTO.
 Coast Copper (COCO.v): It had its chance to shine, but has done very little aside from
some corporate deals on non-core properties. Near-complete disinterest from the market
for its shares.
 Manitou Gold (MTU.v): One of the rare success stories of the tinycap space in 2023, MTU
was bought out at a 2023 premium by long-time sponsor and neighbour, Alamos Gold
(AGI) (GDP.v). Alamos got a valuable land position around its Island Gold mine at a
deep discount to previous years’ prices, MTU shareholders got a cash print.
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 Nine Mile Metals (NINE.cse): We included it in 2023 as an example of the vacuous promo
pump vehicles we often get at this end of the market and sure enough, NINE didn’t
disappoint and threw sequins into the eyes of its retail followers at any given opportunity.
Do not feed the animals.
 Precipitate Gold (PRG.v): There may be a trade in PRG one of these days, as Barrick
(GOLD) may eventually buy it out for its land position around the Pueblo Viejo mine.
However, that’s just about all PRG has going for it these days and even that’s a maybe
rather than a probably, all with uncertain timing. It’s been on the TinyCaps list three
years, that’s long enough.
The Five Remainers: With five stocks gone, that means five stocks stay on from the 2023 list.
They are the following and each gets a few words on why they made the cut:
 District Metals (DMX.v): After a highly successful first half of 2023 in which MX made
progress on its non-uranium projects in Sweden as well as got preliminary green lights for
eventual exploration for uranium in the country, DMX went off the boil somewhat in the
second half and basically trod water. That’s not taking away from its success of course and
its +126% year is a success by any measure. We’re going to let this one ride, as it covers an
area of the world that we often overlook.
 Latin Metals (LMS.v): I had a long internal debate on whether to retain LMS on the list
this year, eventually deciding that it stays because it covers a sub sector of tinycap project
generators that had a rough time in 2023, but could improve rapidly if land assets come
back into fashion. It’s recently re-taken 100% control of the La Esperanza copper project in
Argentina because the optioner, Libero Copper (LBC.v), couldn’t get a drill permit. The latter
made a thinly veiled accusation that LBC had hoodwinked it into taking the option and that
permitting is now impossible due to local politics, but if LMS can prove LBC wrong (and I’d
back LMS’s repected and respectable CEO Keith Henderson over LBC’s liar-in-chief and
industry pariah Ian Slater any day of the week) and get La Esperanza permitted, they’d have
a very valuable asset to shop to another third party. This alongside the Peru projects (Jacha,
Lacsha) and other Argentine projects (Cerro Bayo, Organullo) LMS is also looking to farm
out to third parties in typical project generator style.LMS is now cash poor and may need to
dilute its share count in order to raise working capital, so this isn’t anyone’s idea of a riskless
trade even at this new low price point. But on due consideration, I’m good about giving it
one more chance and one more year to show us something. Likeable stock if things go well.
 Palamina Corp (PA.v): A fallow year for PA.v, but things are looking more interesting for
2024 and for two reasons. Firstly, the law suit award win by its sister company and
subsequent cash distribution means PA is cashed up for the year ahead without the need to
go to market. Secondly, it now has drill permits in hand for one of the most interesting
targets of its Usicayos project in the Puno Orogenic Belt (so they call it), South Peru. Those
drills will start turning once the rainy season is done (March, I suppose) and we’ll get real
newsflow from this company at last.
 South Star (STS.v): On this stock, I’m breaking my own rules into a thousand pieces but I
don’t care. Its C$36.6m market cap going into 2024 is nearly double the self-imposed limit
but that’s because 1) it did well in 2023 and 2) it’s managed to raise cash at a good price by
selling shares. With production now expected from its Stage One in Brazil and the US Govt
willing to sponsor development of its USA assets, STS looks like a minnow with the potential
to grow if graphite remains hot into the year ahead.
 Viva Gold (VAU.v): I hummed and hahed as to whether to continue with VAU, but as it’s
now just cashed up for 2024 and there’s nothing broken about its story, I’m going to give it
one more year. Still likeable if it drills and hits.
The Five New Arrivals: We get to the business end of the 2024 TinyCaps List and the five
new stocks chosen for the annual ride. One is a refugee from another list in 2023, one is my
own choice but three are suggestions gratefully received from you guys out there (and they are
14

three from many, so thanks to all for the ideas and sadly I can’t use them all). Here we go in no
particular order:
1) Surge Copper (SURG.v): We don’t need to write up too much about SURG.v today,
because it’s one we’ve followed for a while on the Watch List due to its prospective copper
projects in BC Canada, mainly the Berg and Ootsa targets that sit close to one another. SURG is
getting moved from the Stocks to Follow Watch List and we’ll follow its progress here, rather
than up there, in 2024 until and unless it becomes a live prospect and a personal purchase at
which point, it would be on both lists. Still likeable enough to follow here, but as noted above I
presently prefer Pan Global (PGZ.v) as a potential trade.
2) Awalé Resources (ARIC.v): There’s plenty to like about this C$9m market capper and it
was already on my Long List for the 2024 basket before no fewer than three of you nice
subscribers mentioned it as a good option (you know who you are, thank you) which made it
into something of a no-brainer to include and follow more closely this year.
ARIC.v has a suite of concessions in its focus geography but also has a clear flagship, the
Odienné Copper/Gold project in Northwest Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast for old-timers like me) in
West Africa, where it’s already generated three targets on the large concession area.
Importantly, ARIC has a big name strategic partner in the shape of Newmont (NEM), which has
recently upped its participation to 15.48% and has an option to earn up 51% of Odienné by the
end of next year (will certainly happen) and that can move up to 65% if NEM funds the Stage
Two (likely to happen).
This year ARIC brought in another new strategic partner in the shape of Stephen Stewart’s Ore
Cap (he’s now a director) and also changed its executive management team at the same time.
The trade reminds this desk a lot of the Newcore Gold Enchi property, with the potential to
define a large, near-surface open pit gold resource.
The combo of sufficient cash treasury, a big name sponsor funding 2024 exploration and
development, a prospective looking target, the right metal, a reasonable location (and certainly
on the right side of the border in Côte d’Ivoire) and all at a market cap of under C$10m that
would allow lots of equity leverage under the right circumstances is a good combination and
more than enough to deserve its place on the 2024 TinyCaps list.
15

3) Aston Bay Holdings (BAY.v): A exploreco that’s been around for a long time, BAY.v is run
by its CEO Thomas Ullrich, one of those well-connected career junior mining company
geologists who has done very well out of being a geologist in juniors, despite not managing to
share much of his financial success with sponsoring shareholders.
Its main assets these days are the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc projects in Nunavut, far North
Canada, on which BAY.v as owner entered into an optioning-in deal with Australia’s American
West Metals (AW1) that has its wrinkles and terms, but the bottom line is that AW1 now pays
for everything and BAY.v gets a 20% free ride on exploration and development until a build
decision is made, at which time the JV would go pro-rata.
As for the rationale to include BAY in the 2024 TinyCaps list, it revolves around something its
price did last year so check out the 12 month chart
below. Back in August, the company got pumped in
fine Vancouver style when the first drill results of its
summer campaign at Storm came back and the
leverage from the results moving the Aussie partner
stock up did the same for BAY.v. This desk was
always sceptical, as Storm has always been one of
those properties capable of returning a splashy hole
but failing to put together a reasonable sized
resource (it needs to be big and with good grades to
justify its location). So it proved, as follow-up holes
failed to show the same mineralization continued at
depth and back down it dropped. However, a 2024
campaign that manages to find better grades in more
than one zone of Storm would be enough to zoom the stock higher again (burned fingers in
2023 or not) and .it’s why we’re going to track its progress on the TinyCaps list this year.
Kirkland Lake Discoveries Corp (KLDC.v): This is a rebooted and re-named iteration of a
company we’ve featured on these pages previously, as KLDC used to be called Warrior Gold
(and before that War Eagle). The brains behind it is President and CEO Danièle Spethmann,
who has kept her excellent reputation as an
economic geologist despite swinging and missing so
far at the big concession owned by KLDC North of
the prolific Kirkland Lake zone (Kirkland Lake mine,
Macassa mine etc, see map below)
As at end 3q23 KLDC had slightly under C$5m in
treasury and had burned C$2m or so in the two
quarters since its corporate reorganization, including
a drill program that didn’t return any market moving
holes. That leaves it with enough money to do things
for perhaps two or three quarters of 2024 before
needing to finance again, so it has its explorers’
chance in a zone that’s often been written off by
prospectors for what KLDC call “dogmatic” reasons,
apparently there local lore is how there’s no
economic gold “above the break” that separates the company’s concession area from the
established happy hunting ground to the South.
It makes the list because it’s a decent, well-run tinycap that’s had no luck so far in its search for
a big drill hit on a big property. I’m not about to buy into the stock, but it’s representative of a
section of the juniors world, it’s run well by geologists with executive experience and integrity
and as we saw with Great Bear a few years ago, the “Don’t drill there you won’t find anything”
16

naysayers are not always right. It would only take one good assay to change this company
forever.
Endurance Gold (EDG.v): There were plenty of stock ideas on the short-list for this year’s
basket before the final cut was made and one of the criteria, as always, is the $20m market cap
upper limit. This caused a bit of a problem, as a couple of stocks that would have made it to
the list had to be cut due to the rally in many (not all) precious metals stocks as gold climbed
back over the U$2,000/oz line in November and December. For example, one that almost made
the list was Galway Metals (GWM.v), suggested by reader ‘RL’ (thank you, sir) and below the
limit price when he suggested it, only to move substantially above it as the year ended.
That intro is designed to make excuses for this new stock for the 2024 list, Endurance Gold
(EDG.v), which was just about eligible when reader JH suggested it (thank you, sir) and after a
couple of hours of checking it out I found myself agreeing. In JH’s words, “An excellently run
company with a solid active project (amongst others they hold). Very tightly held” and while I
have no reason to disagree, my own reason is that its main Reliance project is exactly the type
of gold project that may be out of fashion at the moment, but if the market decides it’s time to
revalue economic gold deposits in low risk jurisdictions it could run fast and far. This company
makes the list because it’s good in its own right, but also because it’s an example of a beaten
down exploreco sub sector that could catch fire if gold continues to climb the way it’s been
doing in the last six weeks or so and if EDG goes up, so do others of its ilk (including stocks
such as PAU, NCAU, etc)
That wraps it up for the 2024 baskets, which swoing into operation as from next weekend.
Meanwhile, please see below for the final results of the 2023 Copper, Producer and TinyCap
baskets along with a couple of extra thoughts on what to expect in the year to come.
Stocks to Follow
17

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
The Hollow Men, T.S. Eliot
There was no rousing finish to The IKN Weekly Stocks to Follow list in 2023, instead a quiet
week with relatively little movement. There were seven winners (ARG.to, AR.to, CTGO,
SOLG.to, RIO.v, MARI.to, SURG.v), eight losers (MAI.v, FSM, EQX, ALDE.v, MIRL.cse, ERO.to,
SOMA.v, MENE.v) and two unchanged stocks (NCAU.v, PAU.cse) among the 17 open positions
from this time last week and while there were a couple of double figure percentage winners in
SolGold (SOLG.to up 12.9%) and Surge Copper (SURG.v up 12.5%), along with a big
percentage loss in Minera IRL (MIRL.cse down 50%) after its recent fake news run, most of the
others were small changes and of little long-term consequence.
With the addition of Pan Global (PGZ.v) and Adventus (ADZN.v) to the Watch List this week,
then the removal of Surge Copper (SURG.v) which is getting re-planted to the TinyCaps list, we
now have 18 stocks on our table, two under our self-imposed limit. Eight are in the green, two
are unchanged, eight are in the red nd for the record, TS Eliot is an anagram of toilets.
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$0.32 52.4% $0.75 first tgt, #1 idea
RECOMMENDED STOCKS
Amerigo Res ARG.to hold C$1.36 12-Dec-21 C$1.39 2.2% Cu price better, will hold
Fortuna Silver FSM hold U$2.92 13-Aug-23 U$3.86 32.2% Finally moved, still want flip
Equinox Gold EQX STR BUY U$4.46 30-May-23 U$4.89 9.6% Leverage trade at U$2k/oz Au
Argonaut Gold AR.to SPEC BUY C$0.42 17-Dec-23 C$0.47 11.9% Near-term, want quick profit
Contango Ore CTGO BUY U$18.70 30-Jul-23 U$18.11 -3.2% FY24 production, now moving
SolGold SOLG.to hold C$0.265 19-Feb-23 C$0.175 -34.0% 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$0.40 -51.8% Permit approved, rebounding
SPECULATIVE TRADES
Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v SPEC BUY C$0.72 16-May-21 C$0.89 23.6% drilling again
Minera IRL MIRL.cse avoid C$0.195 22-Jul-12 C$0.025 -87.2% leaving list soon (good)
A WATCHLIST OF POTENTIAL TRADES. NB: I DO NOT OWN
Marimaca Copper MARI.to WATCH C$3.65 26-May-23 C$3.43 -6.0% Likely buy,cheap entry showing
Ero Copper ERO.to WATCH C$18.94 22-Oct-23 C$20.95 10.6% High quality Cu prod, cheap
Soma Gold SOMA.v WATCH C$0.66 26-Nov-23 C$0.61 -7.6% small gold prod in Colombia
Pan Global Cop PGZ.v WATCH C$0.23 31-Dec-23 C$0.23 0.0% tinycap Cu in Spain
Adventus Mining ADZN.v WATCH C$0.27 31-Dec-23 C$0.27 0.0% Ecuador permit re-rate trade?
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$0.30 -52.4% 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.
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
18

Now for notes on some of our covered companies:
Surge Copper (SURG.v): GOES FROM WATCH LIST TO TINYCAPS LIST. As noted above
and in other places in today’s edition, SURG is being moved from the Watch List and put in the
2024 TinyCaps list, where we can still keep an eye on it. We got news from SURG last week
when the company announced (4) it had purchased the 15% of the Berg property that it didn’t
already own from Centerra in exchange for 21.22m shares, bringing its share count to an IKN
estimated 219.21m once closed.
This is a smart deal for SURG and as well as valuing just the Berg property at an implied
C$11.3m (Oosta aside, so compare that to its market cap of C$19.7m), makes the junior more
attractive as the full owner of a live copper project. SURG is still cash poor and will need to run
some sort of financing in the near future in order to fund a Northern summer 2024 drill
campaign, so we’ll see how that goes and at what price they raise money. But if things start to
happen, we’ll be watching closely from the TinyCaps list and can always buy a chunk, at which
point it would return to this section. But in the meantime there are other small copper plays we
prefer, such as…
Pan Global Resources (PGZ.v): ADDED TO WATCH LIST. Up 15% on the week and the
beneficiary of a very decent December rally, PGZ.v is a stock we followed all last year and then
began to follow more closely when its price collapsed to 20c and below. It looked good value at
that price and we said as much on several occasions, but silly me didn’t take advantage of
prices around 16c and 17c. So here we are back at 23c after a post-Christmas rally and while
there is a warrant overhang at this current level that will likely stop it moving any higher in the
near-term, PGZ is one that interests me more than SURG and as such, it makes sense to
remove it from the Copper Basket list and watch it here.
A lot depends on the dynamics of the copper price (of course), but PGZ is a certainty to provide
plenty of development and drilling newsflow from Escacena next year and if the copper market
gets bullish, this is one I’d buy quickly as a speculative option on the metal. Good team, good
project in a good address and offering a cheap entry point, 20c or below would be very
tempting.
Adventus Mining (ADZN.v): Added to Watch List. The other main change to the Stocks to
Follow list as we enter 2024 is the addition of this junior to the Watch List, result of the
favourable permitting scenario now opening up for the company and its Curipamba/El Domo
project in South Central Ecuador. We’ve kept an eye on this story over time and while my
issues with the long-term prospects of any mining company or project haven’t suddenly gone
away, it’s now fairly obvious that it’s going to get a re-rate on permitting approval in the near
future and last week’s news (5) was a clear step forward:
TORONTO, Dec. 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Adventus Mining Corporation ("Adventus") (TSXV:
ADZN) (OTCQX: ADVZF) and Salazar Resources Limited ("Salazar") (TSX-V: SRL)
(OTCQB: SRLZF) (collectively the "Participants") are pleased to announce that the
Ministry of Environment, Water, and Ecological Transition of Ecuador ("MAATE") has
completed the final consultation phase of the environmental consultation process for
the El Domo - Curipamba project in central Ecuador (the "Project"), on December 15,
2023.
The NR went on to explain that 98% of those in the direct area of influence voted in favour of
the project, which is the same move made by every Canadian junior in contentious jurisdictions;
they get the small number of locals next to the mine onside (using that most basic tool, money)
and try their very best to ignore the protests of the larger community and cultural opposition.
Nevertheless, we’re now on track to see El Domo/Curipamba get its formal permit award from
the national government of Ecuador and let us all recall, one of the backers of this project is the
investment arm of the Noboa family, the same family who now has its scion Daniel as country
President. For sure there will be protests and perhaps even a violent reaction once this project
gets environmental approval, but those will now be post-facto and whatever happens, they’ll
19

have the piece of paper in-hand in 2024, 2025 and beyond. That’s cause for a re-rate and with
ADZN down at 27c, there’s plenty of room for a sharp share price run on the news.
Next weekend I’ll run a more detailed analysis of ADZN (as well as its partner stock Salazar),
the project and its potential in the main fundies section, in the meantime please note that as
from today, it’s part of the Watch List for very good reasons as I think there’s a near-term trade
here.
Argonaut Gold (AR.to): So far so good and even though I didn’t get my 40c-or-below price,
we now up almost 12% (ex-commish) even before we get 4q23 production numbers. If they
come, they’ll likely show in a couple of weeks’ time from now.
SolGold (SOLG.to) (SOLG.L): A long overdue rally in SOLG last week and as early Janaury
ids a classic moment to see stocks run, I’m going to watch for a couple of weeks before making
a decision as to whether to continue here or take my loss.
Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v): I thought RIO.v did very well to hold on to its gains of the week before last
and consolidate this new 40c level. There are clearly buyers who see the long-term value in this
stock and are looking to accumulate these levels. Augurs well for 2024.
The Copper Basket
After fifty-three weeks of 2023, The Copper Basket shows a loss of 16.14% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/23 Shares out Market Cap current pps gain/loss%
1 Solaris Res SLS.to 6.44 150.74 622.56 4.13 -35.9%
2 Marimaca Cop MARI.to 3.22 93.11 319.37 3.43 6.5%
3 Western Copper WRN.to 2.41 151.597 265.29 1.75 -27.4%
4 Arizona Sonoran ASCU.to 1.92 109.17 191.05 1.75 -8.9%
5 Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v 0.78 169.819 151.14 0.89 14.1%
6 Regulus Res. REG.v 1.10 124.509 148.17 1.19 8.2%
7 Faraday Copper FDY.to 0.54 175.97 110.86 0.63 16.7%
8 Hot Chili HCH.v 0.78 119.455 107.51 0.90 15.4%
9 Oroco Res OCO.v 0.91 222.86 83.57 0.375 -58.8%
10 Pan Global Res PGZ.v 0.46 242.74 55.83 0.23 -50.0%
11 Kodiak Copper KDK.v 1.12 63.93 37.08 0.58 -48.2%
12 QC Copper QCCU.v 0.165 173.7 20.84 0.12 -27.3%
13 Element 29 Res ECU.v 0.16 106.25 19.13 0.18 12.5%
14 Atacama Copper ACOP.v 0.16 35.94 7.55 0.21 31.3%
15 Libero Copper LBC.v 0.155 149.34 2.24 0.015 -90.3%
NB: All stocks in CAD$ Portfolio avg -16.14%
Another relatively quiet week for The Copper
Basket, but there were a couple of larger moves The Copper Basket 2023, weekly evolution
15%
that between them, were enough to add nearly 10%
2% to the average. We saw an even split of 5%
0%
seven losers (SLS.to, WRN.to, OCO.v, ASCU.to,
-5%
ALDE.v, ECU.v, LBC.v), two unchanged stocks
-10%
(QCCU.v, ACOP.v) and six winners (MARI.to, -15%
HCH.v, PGZ.v, REG.v, FDY.to, KDK.v) and while -20%
-25%
most were modest moves, there was one big
-30%
percentage loser in Libero (LBC.v down 25.0%)
and two big winners in Regulus (REG.v up
33.7%) and Pan Global (PGZ.v up 15.0%).
So ends the year and while copper tried and failed to reach the U$4.00/lb line again, its retreat
to a spot close of U$3.82/lb (or here in our chart, the March ’24 Comex futures contract closed
20
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 ts13
source: IKN calcs

at U$3.89/lb) wasn’t a disaster by any means. This six-month version of the chart shows the
impressive rally in copper since mid-October and along the way, some dips that were worth
buying. We may be seeing the start of another small downmove, which shouldn’t concern bulls
as long as we get another higher low (with the red line estimating a floor at around U$2.85/lb
for this HGH24 contract and you never know, that might be right)
We now wrap up the year with some charts and chat, starting with the final comparative
snapshot of our 15 basket stocks for 2023:
The 2023 Copper Basket after 52(3) weeks
21
%3.13 %7.61 %4.51
%1.41 %5.21
%2.8
%5.6
%9.8-
%3.72- %4.72-
%9.53-
%2.84- %0.05-
%8.85-
%3.09-
60%
40%
20%
0%
-20%
-40%
-60%
-80%
-100%
v.POCA ot.YDF v.HCH v.EDLA v.UCE v.GER ot.IRAM ot.UCSA v.UCCQ ot.NRW ot.SLS v.KDK v.ZGP v.OCO v.CBL
13 wks 26 wks
39 wks
52 wks
source: TSX, IKN calcs
It’s testament to the poor returns in the copper space that the best of our 15 representative
stocks this year was Atacama Copper (ACOP.v), a thinly traded tinycap that made a pre-
announcement move of a re-vamped corporate structure and new assets in Mexico recently but
has stayed under CTO for the last couple of months while the deal closes. As for the rest, the
best “real” stock was Faraday Copper (FDY.to) but even that has gone from better to worse all
year, as the quarterly snapshot columns amply demonstrate. In fact, it’s difficult to make a solid
case for any of the nominal 2023 “winners”, as they’re either fading from early gains or they’re
thinly traded and only there for longer-term investors.
Meanwhile, it was some sort of carnage to the downside. Stocks such as ASCU, ACCU, WRN
and KDK have been poor all year, while others such as SLS, OCO and LBC have seen
precipitous drops in recent weeks, notably on significant news of either necessary and
shareholder-unfriendly financings or on resource updates that fell flat (e.g. OCO.v). No point in
sugaring the pill here, it was a poor year for copper juniors and while there were always
exceptions (this is exploreco world, after all) that prove small cap juniors can return multiple
bagger wins (e.g. Hercules Silver), the average copper junior developer or exploreco fared
much worse than its larger copper producer cousins.
Moving on, it’s the end of the month as well as the year and as a result, we dial up the long-
term copper inventory tracking charts:

Key Cu inventory aggregate, 2012 to date
1000000
900000
800000
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
22
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 yam luj pes von
Mt Cu
Comex
Shanghai
LME
source: Cochilco
Copper inventories: percentage held per exchange
90
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 yam luj pes von
LME Shanghai Comex source: Cochilco
Nothing much has changed since the November snapshot and while the overall percentage of
copper stocks held in the LME has dropped from its all-time record, it’s still over 77% and
dominating like never before. Shanghai stocks are now at their low ebb for the year and we can
expect them to climb during Q1, while Comex remains a bit part player.
We move to our regular weekly check on world copper inventories with data as usual collated
from Cochilco:
 After the big drop of the week before last, there was a slight rebound in the copper
held by the three world systems and an aggregate add of 2,187 metric tonnes (mt) to
close out Friday’s at 214,729mt.
 The main improvement was at Shanghai SHFE, copper inventory moving up by 2,187mt
to close at 30,950mt. We’re now at the bottom and as January 2024 unfolds, we’ll see
stocks quickly rising again so expect at least 200,000mt added by March and maybe
more.
 The LME added just 625mt overall to close globally at 167,300mt, but once again we
saw arbitrage of stocks and a drop in the recently bloated New Orleans tonnages (down
3,350mt to close at 69,625mt) while Asia saw a small overall add (Singapore +2,000mt
on the week).
 The Comex system added 160 tonnes and closed the week at 16,524mt. No biggie.
The dedicated SHFE shows the return to record lows, we now await the quiet season and re-
stocking in exchange warehouses. Now for notes on three basket stocks getting something of a
swan song, as all three are being cut from the 2024 Copper Basket list:
Shanghai Futures Exchange Warehouse Stocks, 2014 to date
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
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 22ht42rpA ht71 22ht9tco 3202
naJ
ht62 ht81 ht01peS dr3ceD
Mt Cu
|
source: Cochilco

Western Copper & Gold (WRN.to): With RTZ booting the decision on whether to double
down or fold on WRN into the future (again) and the company seemingly content to spin its
wheels and embark on another round of technical investigation holes while filing its apparently
complicated environmental and social submission to YESAB, Western Copper (WRN.to) (WRN)
looks set to spin its wheels again in 2024 and it’s about time we switched this one out.
So no WRN in the 2024 list, but that doesn’t necessarily
mean we’re predicting a bad year for the stock; this is
still clearly and interesting “leverage to copper” type of
play and if the red metal catches light, it’s bound to
move this share price back up through the 2-handle and
potentially back to thr C$3+ if things really get hot.
However, that would happen to a lot of other
companies as well so for this coming year, I’m going to
prefer one that has a little more to offer than merely
being a sector play, destined to rise and fall on the
metal price tide.
Regulus Resources (REG.v): For the second year running, REG gets some blatant window
dressing into year end and if I had to guess, it would be someone inside main backer Route
One making sure their books look better than the cruel
reality for advertising and marketing purposes early
next year. After all, it didn’t take more than 130k shares
on Friday to zoom REG by 29.4% and Route One owns
27.16m shares, so if it were Route One they added
around C$7.3m to the insto’s year-end AUM filings for
less than $150k in shares. That’s capitalism for you.
Newsflow and development at AntaKori this year was
slow, even by the poor time management track record
of John Black and Kevin Heather, who seem not to care
much about offering official news releases when they
can feed social media via unofficial back channels. It’s a
tired marketing policy and it’s not working, so why wait around for another year of nothing
from this company with a fate that’s ultimately controlled by Buenaventura, not REG or its
board of directors.
Libero Copper (LBC.v): The last instalment for the “joke company doing joke things”, as we
succinctly put it last weekend. LBC closed down another 25% on the week after announcing it
had a 21.3% take-up of its 2c rights offering announced in November, with exactly 26,277,071
new shares emitted to bring the new count to a little over 149m. Before we leave, here’s how
we announced the arrival of LBC to the 2023 Copper Basket this time last year and, after its
subsequent 90% drop, it’s fair to say +this opinion has stood the test of time:
6) Libero Copper (LBC.v): As stock designed to rip off retail fools, which is why it’s
included this year (we need to represent the full gamut of what’s out there, after all ).
No bones about LBC, it’s not one I’ll ever own or recommend to readers of The IKN
Weekly. Instead, it’s on the 2023 list to track how badly things can get for a company
that serially hoodwinks its own share base. LBC took on the troubled but excellent
grading Mocoa project in South Colombia knowing exactly what it was getting itself into
and rather than improving local CSR, things have got worse under this new
management. That doesn’t stop LBC from telling the market and its naïve shareholders
the exact opposite, of course, as butter apparently doesn’t melt in the mouths of these
people. Aside from Mocoa LBC has other assets on its books, most interesting of
which the Big Red porphyry gold/copper project in BC’s Golden Triangle, but if you are
lied to about one project what makes you think they’ll tell you the truth about what’s
going on anywhere else? So we include LBC in the 2023 list because 1) its share price
has already dropped like a stone and is cheap, 2) it could get a lot cheaper, but 3) it
could also get a head of steam from a retail market pump at any given moment, what
with its management penchant for the the pay-to-play social media stock promo model,
as they seek out influencers happy to earn their $10k fees by writing bunkum for idiots.
23

The Producer Basket
After 53 weeks of 2023, the Producer Basket shows a gain of 14.15% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/23 Shares out MktCap(U$Bn) current pps gain/loss%
1 Newmont NEM 47.20 1152.6 47.71 41.39 -12.3%
2 Barrick GOLD 17.18 1761.54 31.87 18.09 5.3%
3 Agnico Eagle AEM 51.99 488.9 26.82 54.85 5.5%
4 Wheaton PM WPM 39.08 451.963 22.30 49.34 26.3%
5 Kinross Gold KGC 4.09 1256.1 7.60 6.05 47.9%
6 Alamos Gold AGI 10.11 393.1 5.30 13.47 33.2%
7 B2Gold BTG 3.57 1074.567 3.40 3.16 -11.5%
8 Hecla Mining GFI 5.56 610.491 2.94 4.81 -13.5%
9 Eldorado Gold EGO 8.36 185.73 2.41 12.97 55.1%
10 Wesdome Gold WDOFF 5.53 147.526 0.86 5.83 5.4%
All prices and stock quotes in U$ Port. avg 14.15%
The Producer Basket ends 2023 with a losing week and while all ten component stocks were
losers, they’re weren’t any drastic losses and we again witnessed a sector and components that
moved with the tide. The worst losses were taken at the bottom of the list by the lower market
cap companies, an indication of the market moving away from risk but even so the hits taken
by Wesdome (WDOFF down 3.6%), Hecla (HL down 3.4%), Alamos (AGI down 3.3%) and
B2Gold (BTG down 3.1%) weren’t that heavy.
The Producer Basket vs GDX, annual result
The GDX benchmark did ever so slightly better than
12%
us on the week, but as we had a big lead it doesn’t 10% 9.46% 9.05%
matter and the final result for the year is a win for
8%
the home team, as we beat out the GDX by 5.95% 5.95%
6%
and that’s a reasonable beat and better than the
4% 2.10% 2.49%
most recent years. As this chart shows (and for the 2% 1.01%
nerdy record), since we changed the format and -1.80% 0.05%
0%
decided to be competitive against the GDX starting
-2%
2016, we’ve only had one losing year. On the other
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
hand, the “wins” haven’t been much to write home source: GDX data, IKN data
about recently so my glass-half-full-rose-tinted-specs
say that 2023 represents something of a return to form and a new level we’ll aim to beat next
year with the new basket.
The 2023 Producer Basket: Percentage difference
between GDX benchmark & basket (negative = IKN ahead)
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
-2.0%
-4.0%
-6.0%
-8.0%
-10.0%
As for the relative performances of our ten picks, I’m fully happy with all the numbers returned
by the top four in this chart. Eldorado (EGO) turned out the be the star turn of the year, my
decision to keep Kinross in after a poor 2022 paid off, Alamos (AGI) managed a second
successive year of outsized returns (no mean feat in this trappy sector) and as
royalty/streamers go, Wheaton did better than most in its sub-sector and particularly well
considering its market cap size.
24
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 ts13
The 2023 Producer Basket: Weekly performance and
comparative to GDX control
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
-5%
source: IKN calcs, NYSE data -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 ts13
ikn
gdx control
source: NYSE, IKN calcs

The 2023 Producer Basket components after 52(3) weeks
25
%1.55
%9.74
%2.33
%3.62
%5.5 %4.5 %3.5
%5.11-
%3.21- %5.31-
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
-10%
-20%
-30%
-40%
OGE CGK IGA MPW MEA FFODW DLOG GTB MEN LH
13 weeks
26 weeks
39 weeks
52 weeks
source: NYSE, IKN calcs
Then come the disappointing picks and yes, they include the barely-above-zero AEM, WDOFF
and GOLD, but the real losers are over there on the right. I’m of a mind to forgive Hecla (HL)
for its last placed position, as for one thing it was always there as a risk/reward play that would
add leverage to the overall basket, so as that didn’t work out I cannot complain too much.
Instead, the real losers of the year are the continually mediocre B2Gold (BTG) that promised
more than it’s been delivering so far and is now feeling drag from its Sabina acquisition, then
the particularly bad display from the world’s #1 goldie by market cap, Newmont (NEM). It is in
fact the second successive year it’s come in 9th place out of the ten and there’s no excuse for
that type of chronically poor delivery.
The TinyCaps List
After 53 weeks of 2023, the TinyCaps show a gain of 21.39% 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 0.075 106.98 18.19 0.17 126.7%
Latin Metals LMS.v 0.13 71.476 5.36 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 6.84 0.12 -58.6%
Palamina Corp PA.v 0.08 71.285 9.27 0.13 62.5%
Precipitate Gold PRG.v 0.075 130.367 9.78 0.075 0.0%
South Star STS.v 0.55 41.851 31.39 0.75 36.4%
Viva Gold VAU.v 0.14 118.384 14.21 0.12 -14.3%
Prices in CAD$, data from TSXV basket avg 21.39%
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.
We wrap up the year for this basket with a chunky 5% added to the basket average, mostly
because Precipitate (PRG.v up 25.0%) got its tape painted and managed to end the year

unchanged, but also helped by Palamina Corp (PA.v up 18.2%). South Star (STS.v) was the
other small winner, there was just one small loser on the week (NINE.cse), the other six were
unchanged. It was a rather odd end for the basket,
which closed at its highest level for all of Q4 bar the TinyCaps, 2023 weekly tracker
50%
first weekend of the quarter, that’s window dressing 45%
40%
in action.
35%
30%
25%
Not a great year for The TinyCaps Basket as a 20%
market indicator, if anything it became a signal as to 15%
10%
how badly the micro-cap end of the market traded in
5%
2023. But there were a couple of individual stock 0%
performances that were worth resucing from the
mediocrity and three of those, PA.v, DMX.v and
STS.v, get to stay in the list for the year to come as
worthy component stocks.
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
IKN763 is done, we end with bullet points:
 Another good week for Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v), happy to see the shares trading well
 And for the second week running, Argonaut Gold (AR.to) trading looked good and that
one is ready for a early year pop, all it will take is a good Q4 production number and
“We’re getting there” comments on Magino.
 Next weekend we take a good, hard look at Curipamba, El Domo and Adventus
(ADZN.v), I think there’s a decent risk reward speculative trade in the offing.
 Happy New Year to one and all, I hope you have a great start to 2024 and that it
continues all year. Look after your health, people, that’s the most precious gift you
have for yourself and for your loved ones.
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/2023/12/schedule-for-week-of-december-31-2023.html
(2) https://ngexminerals.com/news/ngex-announces-updated-mineral-resource-estimate-a-122752/
(3) https://herculessilver.com/hercules-silver-intersects-185-meters-of-0-84-cu-111-ppm-mo-and-2-6-g-t-ag-including-
45-meters-of-1-94-cu-in-first-deep-hole-drilled-at-hercules/
(4) https://surgecopper.com/news-releases/surge-copper-acquires-100-interest-in-berg/
(5) https://www.adventusmining.com/news/122622
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source: IKN calcs, TSX data

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
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
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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
Lara Expl. LRA.v Mar'17 C$1.15 8-Apr-12 C$1.05 -8.7% cut to make room for new trade
Rye Patch Gold RPM.v Apr'17 C$0.31 2-Sep-16 C$0.32 3.2% cut for doubts & new stock
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Cordoba Min. CDB.v Jun'17 C$0.75 15-Sep-16 C$0.63 -16.0% closed
Constantine Metal CEM.v Aug'17 C$0.135 9-Apr-17 C$0.28 107.4% spec trade closed, good win
Red Eagle Min. R.to Sep'17 C$0.67 13-Dec-16 C$0.27 -59.7% IKN's biggest failure in years
Starcore Intl SAM.to Sep'17 C$0.61 10-Jan-15 C$0.31 -49.2% Patience ran out
B2Gold BTO.to Dec'17 C$2.11 12-Sep-14 C$3.39 60.7% sold small portion for liquidity
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2016
Closed in 2016 closed close price
Phoscan Chem FOS.to jan16 C$0.28 29-mar-15 C$0.265 -5.4% Buyout trade, bot but poor deal
True Gold TGM.v jan16 C$0.18 23-aug-15 C$0.25 38.9% okay trade, sold on pol risk
McEwen Mining MUX jan16 U$1.09 25-jan-15 U$1.20 10.1% sold due to lack of value
Lake Shore Gold LSG.to feb-16 C$1.10 07-apr-15 C$1.69 53.6% bot out, sold early in process
Atacama Pacific ATM.v feb-16 C$0.19 26-apr-15 C$0.40 110.5% sold for a double on big pop
New Gold NGD feb-16 U$2.06 24-jan-16 U$2.96 43.7% closed good near-term trade
Sandspring Res SSP.v mar-16 C$0.195 18-oct-15 C$0.32 64.1% Hit tgt, took profit
Teranga Gold TGZ.to mar-16 C$0.54 15-feb-15 C$0.60 11.1% disappointing trade
B2Gold BTG mar-16 U$0.85 13-jan-16 U$1.30 52.9% Separate trade on B2, hit tgt
Dalradian Res DNA.to mar-16 C$0.67 27-oct-13 C$1.00 49.3% Hit target, sold, good win
HudBay Min. HBM may-16 U$4.10 03-apr-16 U$4.36 -6.3% Short trade, poor timing
Nevada Sunrise NEV.v may-16 C$0.185 28-feb-16 C$0.23 24.3% V. small, no big deal either way
Richmont RIC jun-16 U$7.60 01-may-16 U$9.30 22.4% near-term trade, profit taken
INV Metals INV.to jul-16 C$0.25 03-apr-16 C$0.95 280.0% Trade closed on time
HudBay Min. HBM aug16 U$4.98 09-jun-16 U$4.80 3.6% short trade covered, no big deal
Miranda Gold MAD.v oct-16 C$0.125 03-jul-16 C$0.10 -20.0% tiny spec trade, didn't work
Avino G & S ASM nov-16 U$2.00 21-oct-16 U$1.40 -30.0% Abandon trade on bad bot deal
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2015
Closed in 2015 closed close price
Argonaut Gold AR.to jan'15 C$1.47 14-dec-14 C$2.53 72.1% Big gain small time, profit taken
Amerigo Res ARG.to jan'15 C$0.405 20-jul-14 C$0.285 -29.6% Given up on weak Cu prices
Reservoir Min. RMC.v jan'15 C$6.05 18-jun-14 C$4.12 -31.9% sold on Cu downturn
Coro Mining COP.to jan'15 C$0.075 26-jan-14 C$0.035 -53.3% sm, sold on Cu downturn
Fortuna Silver FSM mar'15 U$4.12 10-nov-14 U$3.75 9.0% Short used as hedge
GoldQuest Min. GQC.v mar'15 C$0.26 27-oct-13 C$0.085 -67.3% given up ghost
Rio Alto Mining RIO.to apr'15 C$2.30 07-apr-11 C$3.57 55.2% Top pick, bot out, big win
Timmins Gold TGD jun'15 U$0.60 19-apr-15 U$0.62 3.3% near-term trade, out of time
First Majestic AG jul'15 U$10.51 10-aug-14 U$4.55 56.7% horrible failed trade
NovaCopper NCQ.to jul'15 C$1.05 09-apr-14 C$0.50 -52.4% no more Cu exposure, sm sell
McEwen Mining MUX aug'15 U$0.695 21-jul-15 U$0.92 32.4% Closed nearterm flip for win
Midas Gold MAX.to sep'15 C$0.39 21-sep-15 C$0.35 -10.3% Sm. trade idea that didn't work
New Gold NGD oct'15 U$2.18 23-aug-15 U$3.05 39.9% trade closed, profit taken
Legend Gold LGN.v nov'15 C$0.085 01-mar-15 C$0.035 -58.8% tiny "land grab" idea, failed
Timmins Gold TGD nov'15 U$0.245 20-sep-15 U$0.15 -38.8% small near-term loser
Please note that due to space considerations closed positions 2009 to 2014 are now
available on request, or were published in any edition to IKN553 (end 2019).
Important Disclosure
The information and opinions contained within this report reflect the personal views of the author and therefore all
material within should not be construed as accurate or reliable or be utilized as advice for investment or business
purposes. Independent due diligence and discussions with ones own investment and business advisor is strongly
recommended. Accordingly, nothing in this report should be construed as offering a guarantee of the accuracy or
completeness of the information contained herein, as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any
security or as an endorsement of any product or service. All opinions and estimates included in this report are subject to
change without notice. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this report to any type of third party without the express
permission of the author.
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