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The IKN Weekly
Week 785, June 2nd 2024
Contents
This Week: In today’s edition, US Employment report on deck.
Fundamental Analysis: The State of the Top Pick: Minera Alamos (MAI.v).
Stocks to Follow: SilverCrest (SILV) (SIL.to), Red Pine Exploration (RPX.v), Pan Global
Resources (PGZ.v), Aldebaran Resources (ALDE.v), Orecap Inv Corp (OCI.v), Provenance Gold
(PRG.v), Western Copper & Gold (WRN.to), Contango ORE (CTGO).
The Copper Basket: Overview, Element 29 (ECU.v), QC Copper & Gold (QCCU.v), Los Andes
Copper (LA.v), Faraday Copper (FDY.to).
The Producer Basket: Overview, Agnico Eagle (AEM) and Barrick (GOLD), Hecla (HL),
Newmont (NEM).
The TinyCaps Basket: Overview, Viva Gold (VAU.v), Palamina Corp (PA.v), Surge Copper
(SURG.v).
Regional Politics: Mexico has its first ever female President, Colombia’s Supreme Court rules
in favour of mining companies (for once). Ecuador: More trouble brewing, Argentina: More
RIGI.
Market Watching: IMPACT Silver (IPT.v) 1q24 financials, Bluestone Resources (BSR.to): A
wild ride and still an obvious short, Testing myself on 35 exploration stage copper companies
(Part Two).
I remind subscribers that no part of this newsletter can be copied, reproduced or
given to any third party without the express permission of the author.
This Week
In today’s edition
 It’s been a while, but today we run the ruler over our Top Pick srtock Minera Alamos
(MAI.v) in light of its two recently filed quarters, plus a backdrop that tonight confirms
Claudia Sheinbaum will follow in the footsteps of her Morena party colleague AMLO and
become the next President of Mexico. That’s today’s main fundies section.
 The copper weakness continues and while so far I’m not too concerned, as we’d
previously sketched out a scenario where copper would retrace in previous weeks, I
wouldn’t like to see the price sink much lower than it is this weekend.
 Other things, too. There are always other things.
US Employment report on deck
No big intro this week, instead a quick heads-up on the main macro event in the days to come
and then straight into the busy ness. Inflation rates come and inflation rates go, but this week
features the data set that really matters. On Friday morning The US BLS releases its
Employment Report for May 2024 and according to Calculated Risk (1), the current consensus is
for 180,000 non-farm payroll jobs added and the headline rate to stay at 3.9%. Please note,
any weakness in this month's report will signal the market toward faster and more frequent rate
cuts and there's a chance we get the psychological effect of seeing a 4-handle for the first time
in a long time.
1

Fundamental Analysis of Mining Stocks
The State of the Top Pick: Minera Alamos (MAI.v)
As promised (or threatened) in recent editions, the advent of the 1q24 financials last week (2)
coincidentally timed with the Mexico Presidential (and Senate and Local) election this weekend
(see Regional Politics below) brings an overdue catch-up on our Top Pick stock and #1 idea for
junior mining investment, Minera Alamos (MAI.v). As we waited until today, this update also
incorporates the 2023 YE results into our tracking charts for the first time and while we’ve
covered a the company’s news updates in 2024, mostly in the Stocks to Follow notes, we’ll also
do an update of what we can expect from the various moving parts at the company. We then
put a bow on it in the discussion and conclusion wrap up, including a price target for 2024. So
without further ado…
Financials update
We’ll check a better look at production numbers and what we can expect from MAI in the
quarters to come in a moment, here we add some simple context by noting sales of just 660 oz
gold in 4q23 and 907oz in the quarter just closed, 1q24, signifiying a Santana that remained in
tickover mode while the company decided what to do about the lack of leach pad expansion
permit forthcoming from the government of Mexico.
MAI.v: Revs, COGS and Gross margin
2
61.5 552.2 509.2 962.7 952.3 10.4 490.9 734.4 756.4
602.0
695.3
93.3-
487.6 298.3 298.2 80.3 744.3
763.0-
97.1
209.1
211.0-
667.1 473.3
806.1-
64.2 715.2
750.0-
C$m Revenues
10 COGS
9 "gross profit"
8 7 6 5
4
3
2
1
0
-1
-2 source: MAI filings, IKN ests -3
-4
1q22 2q22 3q22 4q22 1q23 2q23 3q23 4q23 1q24
That made for sales of C$1.766m in 4q23 and a slightly improved C$2.46m in 1q24. As for
costs, 4q23 had a one-time charge to pay and the recent 1q24 COGS of C$2.519m is more
indicative of the state of costs at Santana, which made for a “gross loss” of C$57k. That figure
that does not include depreciation, exploration/evaluation, G&A, salaries and other sundries.
When we factor those in, MAI returned a mine operating loss of C$4.39m in 4q23 and
C$2.997m in 1q24.
MAI.v: financial results
61.5
136.3
925.1
962.7
196.4
875.2
490.9
411.7
89.1
602.0
390.5
788.4-
487.6
458.5
39.0
80.3
726.5
645.2-
97.1
96.6
9.4-
667.1
651.6
93.4-
64.2
854.5
899.2-
Revenues C$m total exp
10 mine op inc
8
6
4
2
0
-2
-4
-6 source: company filings
1q22 2q22 3q22 4q22 1q23 2q23 3q23 4q23 1q24
When it comes to bottom line, GAAP-compliant classic net losses, MAI returned more crowd-
pleasing numbers, with a 4q23 loss of just C$0.496m and by the power of accountancy, a small
net profit of C$0.528m in 1q24. That’s all about two consecutive positive forex adjustments as
the strength of the Mexican Peso (MXN) did wonders for the MAI asset book in Canadian Dollar
terms. That’s a long way of saying “We Don’t Care About The Net Number” and as such, we’re
not showing that chart. The better yardstick at MAI continues to be the mine operating income
number and those have seen four modest losses in a row.

However, it’s not all bad news as the balance sheet items show. The modest financial losses
taken by MAI haven’t made much of a dent in the bits that really matter. Within a margin of
normal fluctuation, assets have remained steady and the only real change in liabilities is the
arrival of the C$5m from the first tranche of the Auramet loan, which shows up as those yellow
bars on the last two quarters on the right.
MAI.v: Assets
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
On that subject, the terms of the deal is another C$10m on receipt of the Cerro de Oro permit
and that is due by end October, on receipt of the permit. If the permit isn’t forthcoming by then
(and we’ll see what the Sheinbaum administration has to say about that later) MAI has the right
to roll over the debt deal for another six months (price, $300k), else Auramet has the right to
call in the original C$5m. However, all this is technical as the relationship MAI has with Auramet
is very good and it would be a serious surprise to see that house get picky on terms and
conditions.
The main current asset of cash has held up reasonably well, with C$11.844m as at end 1q24
and considering the string of “tickover at best” ops at Santana as well as permitting progress at
Cerro de Oro, that’s a good result.
The other moving part of current assets is inventories and they also provide a window on
what’s going on at Santana. These two tracking charts, with ounce on pad (below left) and
dollar value of inventories (below right) suggest a minimum of dirt moving activity at the mine
for the last two quarters. On conversing with MAI President Doug Ramshaw this week, I
learned that the uptick in activity at the mine will mean a re-upping of inventory, particularly
leach pad ore count.
3
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
$m MAI.v: Liabilities per qtr
inventories 16
fixed
other current 14
cash 12
10
8
6
4
2
0
source: company filings
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
source: company filings
srallod
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snoillim
LT liabs
current liabs
MAI.v: Cash treasury per qtr
267.1
673.7
381.11 792.32 119.91 188.61 642.61 963.21
340.7 701.6 230.9
527.41 451.31
2.01 472.8 375.6
457.31 448.11
26
24
22
20
18
16
14 12 10 8
6 4
2
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
source: company filings
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MAI.v: Working Capital per qtr
42.1 865.6
449.11 653.42 255.22 186.02 887.91 496.41 24.41 654.51 805.71 562.22 482.81 198.91 816.02 866.91 869.91 942.81
26
24
22
20
18
16
14 12 10 8
6 4
2
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
source company filings
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MAI.v: Santana on-pad Au Oz inventory, per qtr
0596 9865 6445 7336 4495 3835
MAI: Inventories
Oz Au
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000 3000
2000
1000
0
4q22 1q23 2q23 3q23 4q23 1q24
source: company filings
694.5 337.6
780.9
96.7 320.6 647.5 495.5 782.6 78.5 295.5
C$m supplies
10 work in progress
leach pad ore 9
8
7
6
5
4 3
2
1
0
4q21 1q22 2q22 3q22 4q22 1q23 2q23 3q23 4q23 1q24
source: company filings

The next quarters
And on that subject, we move to what we can expect from MAI in the quarters to come and we
begin with this statement from the company filings, one of the outlook bullet points from the
MD&A:
That 20,000 ounce gold number is a nice one to read, especially after a string of quarters
producing less than 1,000 oz gold. However some context is needed, as for one thing the
deployment of contractors has to happen and that’s only going to be fully in place by the end of
this current quarter, 2q24. Next, it’s one thing to have 20,000 oz gold “defined”, another to dig
it out the ground, place it on pad and extract it from the rock. Those things take time and
there’s also the small point of the approx 75% average recovery rate, so it’s going to take time
and we won’t see MAI sell them all. So after due consideration and bouncing some ballpark
numbers off company president Ramshaw, here’s how we see production/sales developing in
the quarters to come:
MAI: Santana sales and forecast, per qtr
4
104 8512 9213 6324 0582 5762 1701 636 066 709 0001 0002 0004 0054 0054 0054
6000
5500
5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500 2000 1500
1000
500
0
12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1 tse42q2 tse42q3 tse42q4 tse52q1 tse52q2 tse52q3
Oz Au
source: MAI data, IKN ests
The current quarter, 2q24, won’t see much change from the recent low production levels but as
from 3q24 production under the revised mine plan, taking full advantage of the current heap
leach space without the need for any extra permits, should see a move up through 3,000 oz/qtr
and then to an approximate production of 4,500/oz qtr. The above totals 17,000oz future gold
and that sits well enough with the outlook as seen in the 1q24 MD&A. This repeat of one of the
above charts adds our estimates for the financials around the next four quarters and the 1q25
columns offer a template for all 2025 quarters.
MAI.v: Revs, COGS and Gross margin
80.3
744.3
763.0-
97.1
209.1 211.0-
667.1
473.3
806.1-
64.2 715.2
750.0-
1.3 5.2
6.0
2.6 4 2.2
4.21
6 4.6
41
5.6
5.7
C$m
16
14 Revenues
12 COGS
10 "gross profit"
8 6 4
2
0
-2
source: MAI filings, IKN ests
-4
2q23 3q23 4q23 1q24 2q24est 3q24est 4q23est 1q25est
Thanks to the rise in the price of gold, the current quarter should see another “breakeven
approx” quarter but as from Q3, whatever happens at Cerro de Oro, La Florida or the new chat
building around Minera Copper (see below), MAI should move back into cash generation mode.
Then as from Q4 the company should be able to earn some more significant profits, enough
even to fund the eventual Cerro de Oro build-out.

The development projects
Some life and expansion from a re-worked Santana will be good news and we should also
applaud MAI for keeping itself financially solid
through its extended, unexpected and wholly MAI.v: Shares Out
unwelcome fallow period, but when you have 463m
shares out trading for C$0.39 each, you need more
to justify a C$180.5m market cap than 20,000 oz of
gold production, be it profitable or not. That’s our
cue to consider the development potential at the
company and today there are four main prongs:
1) Expanded Santana: When those elusive pad
expansion permits are awarded, Santana will still be
able to ramp up in the way we expected it to do
over the last couple of years (and punch me in the
face if need be, but there is some solace in being able to sell the undersold ounces at
C$3,100/oz and above, instead of C$2,400/oz or below. Cash flow, be damned.
2) Cerro de Oro: The main development project, on checking in this weekend with the company
this desk was told the company was “going through the process”. The permits were originally
scheduled to come out of the SEMARNAT system at some point in the second half of this year,
but we also know that Mexico has been notoriously reticent in awarding permits for any mining
activity since AMLO put his de facto moratorium on the sector. With the arrival of Claudia
Sheinbaum we still think the permitting situation is going to see a thaw (see below, IKN777 and
two months from now, at which point things should start happening and with Cerro de Oro’s
application maturing at the right time, it could be one of the first to benefit.
3) La Fortuna: Laying fallow behind Cerro de Oro, La Fortuna is still very much part of the plans
and will at some point bring itself to bear on development plans and production upside, but
clearly it’s going to have to wait its turn.
4) Minera Copper: We’ve tracked the existence of MAI’s plans to create a copper spin-off for six
quarters, but the last few weeks have finally seen significant movement on the plan. We’ve had
two NRs in the last few weeks on “Minera Copper”, dated April 26th and May 3rd (3) (4)
announcing the purchase of a privco that in practical terms doubles the size of the project and
should start the ball rolling on development, though at this stage it’s going to be mostly early-
stage geological work. However and despite any impressions to the contrary, we don’t expect
MAI to spin out Minera Copper at any point in the near-term and MAI will be better served by
incubating its copper sideline as part of the company before monetizing (and the management
know this). There’s also the potential of being able to use the “strategic metal” angle of a
copper development as a showhorn to get permits flowing to the other projects inside MAI, as if
the new Mexico government is as keen on its sustainable energy policy as President-Elect
Sheinbaum has made out, adding copper to the mix may turn out to be a masterstroke.
Discussion and conclusion
As you are well aware, I wish there were more progress and development to report around our
Top Pick than there is this weekend, we’re now deep into 2024 and all we have to show are
quarters with gold production of less than 1,000 ounces. It’s been a painful process to this point
and while Santana is about to ramp up its alternate plan that should see some decent cash flow
reach its coffers, we’re still a world away from the original timeline that would have seen
quarters of 10,000 oz on a regular basis by now and a Cerro de Oro under construction, with
commissioning in the near future. The permit bottleneck has hurt MAI, but we’re now at a point
where we can expect real change and the good news is that MAI.v share price upside potential
is still fully intact.
That’s because the company has taken care of its corporate structure. It would have been
impossible for me to have kept MAI at the top of the house recommendation list if the share
5
93.673 64.704 24.014 83.634 35.934 45.144 49.144 51.644 2.644 84.844 32.944 86.754 88.164 88.164 88.164 88.164 88.264 88.264
550
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
source: company filings
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snoillim

price had blown out, or the balance sheet deteriorated to the point where it would cap its
upside potential. That hasn’t happened and it’s the true saving grace of this company, it’s also a
direct fruit of the attitude that CEO Koningen, President Ramshaw and all the team has had
since the start; the alignment with shareholders is exemplary (let’s note Ramshaw has
continued to build his share position with open market purchases this year) and gives a little
guy like me every reason to remain loyal to a company that is set for big upside as soon as the
permits begin to flow.
You can call my loyalty to a stock such as Minera Alamos an advantage or a disadvantage, a
good thing or a bad thing, a feature or a bug, but it’s the way I go about managing my junior
mining portfolio and when there’s deep value to be had and a good team to sponsor, delays
such as the one suffered by MAI are not enough to blow me off my position. Such loyalty can
be misplaced, but as seen in recent events it also pays dividends:
 Rio2 Ltd caused pain and suffering for my portfolio for a year and a half, languishing at under
20c for most of that time as it went through its permit appeal process in Chile.
 Newcore Gold (NCAU.v) was another that sent my “value purchase” into entended purgatory,
but this year has brought redemption and while there’s still plenty of upside, we’re now at
levels that better reflect what we’ve seen at Enchi for over two years.
I am convinced it’s the turn of Minera Alamos (MAI.v) to get out of its own share price
doghouse and while moderate improvement at Santana ops is welcome as 2024 becomes 2025,
the true upside explosion happens as soon as the permits begin to flow. First among equals will
be approval for Cerro de Oro and as the incoming Sheinbaum government has pledged to
honour all concessions, open pit or not, talk of cancellations doing the rounds as a “Socialist
heir to AMLO’s throne” is pigeonholed by the western press is frankly silly. As laid out in IKN777
and IKN779, Sheinbaum has to play her cards carefully in the transition period and will surely
be 100% respectful toward AMLO until his last day in office, but once she takes over the
presidency she will have her own mandate and made it clear during the campaign mining is
part of Mexico’s future.
As for a price target, there are reasonable grounds to hike the current 75c thanks to the sharp
rise in the price of gold, but for the time being the more prudent course is to leave things the
way they are. The Santana production upside from Q3 onward will likely provide a boost, as will
any developments from the Minera Copper initiative, but the true catalyst will be permits and
once they start to show, we can offer a better assessment of MAI’s upside potential. Therefore
and for the time being, we’ll stick at 75c but once that target is reached (and it will be), there’s
all sorts of upside adjustment available for a company that still has a great plan to add value to
its own shares via organic production growth onto a solid balance sheet. Still a top pick and
you’ll want to own all the 40c shares you can before the new President takes office. I’ll leave
you with the most representative price chart I came across for MAI after playing around on
Bigcharts for a few minutes this weekend, as the
six month timescale laid against sector benchmark
GDXJ shows how MAI lagged the field during the
first flush of gold’s run in March and April, bnut
has done well to play catch-up in May. Momentum
is on its side and with the right papers showing
out of Semarnat, the sky is the limit. But until such
time, MAI will continue to be a compact and
excellently run small gold mining company and
that combination, negligible downside risk and
explosive upside potential, is what we look for in a
junior.
6

Stocks to Follow
With both copper and gold down since last weekend and the mining sector largely flatlining, it
could have been a painful week for the Stock to Follow list but as things turned out, it wasn't
that bad. Of the 16 stocks currently open, there were five week-over-week winners (SILV,
MARI.to, CTGO, MIRL.cse, RPX.v), four unchanged stocks (MAI.v, RIO.v, OCI.v, PAU.cse) and
seven losers (PGZ.v, WRN.to, NCAU.v, ALDE.v, IPT.v, ERO.to, MENE.v) and of those, the
biggest hits were taken by Mene Inc (MENE.v down 18.4%) and Pan Global (PGZ.v down
10.0%). To the upside, Contango ORE (CTGO up 18.0%) was particularly impressive.
We have 16 open positions on the list, I have shares in 13 of those and the other three are on
the Watch List as possible trades. Nine of the sixteen are in the green, one is unchanged since
inception and six are in the red. It is what it is.
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$0.39 85.7% $0.75 first tgt, #1 idea
RECOMMENDED STOCKS
Rio2 Ltd. RIO.v BUY C$0.80 22-Apr-18 C$0.53 -33.8% Momentum now building
SilverCrest Met SILV STR BUY U$6.90 31-Mar-24 U$8.92 29.3% Quality Ag/Au, U$12.96 tgt
Pan Global Res PGZ.v BUY C$0.19 19-Feb-24 C$0.18 -5.3% 3 adds,big position,cheap Cu
Marimaca Copper MARI.to BUY C$3.05 14-Jan-24 C$3.97 30.2% Quality Cu developer
Western Copper WRN.to BUY C$1.57 26-Feb-24 C$1.82 15.9% M&A trade, gone off boil
Orecap Inv OCI.v BUY C$0.06 4-May-24 C$0.06 0.0% Exposed to several good jrs
Contango Ore CTGO STR BUY U$18.70 30-Jul-23 U$23.92 27.9% Production re-rate in Q3
Newcore Gold NCAU.v SPEC BUY C$0.205 23-Oct-22 C$0.36 75.6% Cheap Au in West Africa
SPECULATIVE TRADES
Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v SPEC BUY C$0.72 16-May-21 C$1.10 52.8% into FY24 news season now
IMPACT Silver IPT.v SPEC BUY C$0.30 14-Apr-24 C$0.275 -8.3% Silver spec, added IKN783
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
Ero Copper ERO.to WATCH C$18.94 22-Oct-23 C$29.02 53.2% Hi-quality but no longer cheap
Red Pine Expl RPX.v WATCH C$0.08 4-May-24 C$0.095 18.8% Special situation, poss trade
Provenance Gold PAU.cse WATCH C$0.085 8-Oct-23 C$0.075 -11.8% Idaho gold drill play
LONG-TERM NON-MINING HOLD
Mene Inc. MENE.v adding C$0.63 6-Dec-20 C$0.20 -68.3% LT bet, adding slowly
CLOSED TRADES IN 2024 date closed close price
Amerigo Res ARG.to Jan'24 C$1.36 12-Dec-21 C$1.34 -1.5% reduced Cu exposure
Fortuna Silver FSM Jan'24 U$2.92 13-Aug-23 U$3.09 3.4% Time ran out on NT trade
Argonaut Gold AR.to Jan'24 C$0.42 17-Dec-23 C$0.395 -6.0% NT specflip closed on poor Q4
Equinox Gold EQX May'24 U$4.42 30-May-23 U$5.57 26.0% Took sm.profit, disappointing
Adventus Mining ADZN.v May'24 C$0.305 7-Jan-24 C$0.445 45.9% bot out, nice win
SolGold SOLG.to May'24 C$0.22 19-Feb-23 C$0.165 -25.0% ran out of patience
2015 to 2023 annual closed positions in appendices below, 2009 to 2014 closed positions in editions IKN553 or earlier
Now for notes on some of our covered companies:
SilverCrest (SILV) (SIL.to): Our preferred silver
play has slightly under-performed peers in the last ten
days, but that’s okay because it’s effectively the first
time since silver-the-metal started running that other
silver stocks have done better than this one. It’s also
understandable, as silver over U$30/oz allows more
7

marginal producers and developers to show strong economics and attract speculative cash.
Red Pine Exploration (RPX.v): On Wednesday pre-open, RPX made its first attempt to put a
line under the recent assay tampering controversy with this NR (5) entitled “Red Pine Intercepts
Significant Mineralization at the
Wawa Gold Project, including 5.58
g/t gold over 18.44 m including
72.20 g/t gold over 0.88 m” and you
can put your mortgage on those
assay numbers concurring with those
sent by the lab.
Here’s one of the drill maps provided
with the NR and I’ve added a black
highlight around the headline
intercept (and an arrow on the collar
name), showing the decent cut came
from a zone where you’d expect to
find mineralization. There’s never
been any doubt that Wawa has gold
and the 20g headline assay is a good
one, the issue is stringing together
disparate areas into the mineable resource and that, in essence is why Michael Michaud is
coming in. RPX also took time in the NR to outline
the improvements it has made in QA/QC and the
chian of control for assay and data, sorely needed
of course.
The news saw RPX pop from 9c to 10c on some
early volume, but nowhere near the intensity of
recent trading and the rest of the week saw it
bounce between 9c and 10c, settling at a fair 9.5c.
The good news is that so far at least, it hasn’t
received any formal complaints from large
stakeholders such as Merk or Alamos and this NR
may well be about testing those waters as much as
showing new results.
Pan Global Resources (PGZ.v): The frustratingly poor trading continues in PGZ, which in the
case of this week is at least understandable as copper dropped further (see The Copper Basket
for more on that) but it’s still losing ground from very low levels and mediocre market interest.
Aldebaran Resources (ALDE.v): The Investor Day happened on schedule and this link (6)
takes you to the replay available on YouTube. It was an excellent presentation and while best
appreciated by those who don’t know much about the Altar story, there was enough for closer
watchers of the company to keep it interesting. I particularly appreciated the segment by Javier
Robeto and while he spun the RIGI law bill a little too optimistically for my taste (see Regional
Politics below), it was still reasonable. We also had confirmation on the timing of the two big
catalysts over the next 12 months, with the resource update expected in the second half of this
year and the PEA set for the first half of 2025. Both of those have the potential to surprise a
market that is still under the impression that Altar’s grade is low.
Orecap Inv Corp (OCI.v): A quiet week for OCI, but there was no sign of anything under 6c
and if anyone wanted in they had to pay 6.5c. that makes sense considering the underlying
value in the stock, as even after modest re-traces in the main holdings AE.v, ARIC.v, QCCU.v
and MIS.cse…
8

OCI.v: Marketable Secs, Investments in Assocs, Cash
value
ticker shares owned(m) PPS C$m Cents/share
AE.v 11.68 0.65 7.59 3.1
AE.v warrant 0.10 0.35 0.04 0.0
ARIC.v 8.33 0.65 5.42 2.2
ARIC.v warrant 4.17 0.05 0.21 0.1
QCCU.v 5.06 0.16 0.81 0.3
MIS.cse 24.71 0.03 0.74 0.3
subtotal 14.81 6.0
Cuprum 1.475 0.6
subtotal 16.28 6.6
Est.cash 1.50 0.6
Total 17.78 7.2
At 247.714 S/O
…there’s still 7.2c of liquid value in OCI.
Provenance Gold (PRG.v): Same as many other explorecos, PAU filed its 1q24 last week and
the weak point in its story isn’t difficult to spot, so despite the small liabilities position…
PAU.cse: Assets, per qtr
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
…the lack of cash treasury at PAU (as well as just 5k worth of “other”) means working cap has
dipped into the negative:
This explains why PAU is running the placement it announced at the start of May, intending to
sell 15m units at 8c a shot (unit = share + full warrant priced at 12c with a 3 year shelf life).
However and slightly worrying is that PAU also stated in the NR that, “The Company anticipates
the closing of the placement within the next two weeks.” As
that soft deadline came and went two weeks ago, it doesn’t
augur well for the popularity of this raising.
PAU is on the Watch List because of this type of situation
and frankly, these are the type of companies that tempt me
into becoming an activist or a public promoter of stocks.
PAU has a great looking project and while the address
9
02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
C$m fixed PAU.cse: Liabilities per qtr
other current 0.55 cash 0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
source: company filings
02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
C$m LT liab
current liab
source: company filings
PAU.cse: Cash treasury per qtr
430.0 84.0
982.0
118.0
155.0
611.1
467.0
894.0 683.0 301.0 630.0 795.0
362.0
730.0
1.2
1.1
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4 0.3
0.2
0.1
0
02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
C$m PAU.cse: Working cap
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
source: company filings
02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
C$m
source: company filings

makes some people leery, the specific locality of the Eldorado project in Oregon is much better
than the message that State name normally gives mining people. But above all, these people
have zero zip nada no idea how to go about raising market interest or momentum, the only
reason this hasn’t raised the money it needs to green light its drill program. You’ll also note that
the biggest trade of the week was on Tuesday, when somebody with 180,000 shares threw in
the towel for 6.5c, that’s less than C$12k.
Western Copper & Gold (WRN.to): If there’s a more annoying copper developer in the
whole wide world I want to know its name. I’m not expecting copper to go much lower (see
Copper Basket, below) but a fool rules out that possibility completely, so if the copper price
breaks down any further and I feel over-exposed, WRN will be the first position to get the chop.
Meanwhile, we continue with radio silence and zero jungledrums on any type of deal, with or
without the NEM disposal of the neighbouring Coffee project, and that’s likely to stay that way
until the other side of the AGM. Momentum lost.
Contango ORE (CTGO): Last week’s “Running the
numbers on the cusp of production” may or may not have
been the reason behind this (right), but either way I
welcome first and foremost the improved volume getting
traded through CTGO. The 292k shares traded Tuesday,
once US markets re-opened after the long weekend, was
nothing short of excellent and meant cash turnover of
around U$7m…how many Canadian juniors do you know
that do C$8.5m in a day? Even the 34k shares it did Friday
was a reasonable and tradeable amount for the average
retail player. However, CTGO is still a long way from the
price I’d take in the near-term on the expected re-rate into production. Give me a 3-handle and
I might be tempted to take profit.
The Copper Basket
After twenty-two weeks of 2024, The Copper Basket shows a gain of 14.98% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/24 Shares out Market Cap current pps gain/loss%
1 NGEx Minerals NGEX.to 7.16 186.824 1817.80 9.73 35.9%
2 Solaris Res SLS.to 4.13 179.221 811.87 4.53 9.7%
3 Marimaca Cop MARI.to 3.43 93.11 369.65 3.97 15.7%
4 Los Andes LA.v 11.80 29.53 293.53 9.94 -15.8%
5 Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v 0.89 169.819 186.80 1.10 23.6%
6 Hercules Silver BIG.v 1.38 231 184.80 0.80 -42.0%
7 Arizona Sonoran ASCU.to 1.75 109.17 169.21 1.55 -11.4%
8 Faraday Copper FDY.to 0.63 204.72 167.87 0.82 30.2%
9 Oroco Res OCO.v 0.375 222.86 95.83 0.43 14.7%
10 American Eagle AE.v 0.26 116.75 75.89 0.65 150.0%
11 Kodiak Copper KDK.v 0.58 63.93 34.52 0.54 -6.9%
12 QC Copper QCCU.v 0.12 173.7 27.79 0.16 33.3%
13 C3 Metals CCCM.v 0.61 61.885 24.75 0.40 -34.4%
14 Element 29 Res ECU.v 0.18 106.25 23.38 0.22 22.2%
15 Camino Min COR.v 0.07 206.66 12.40 0.06 -14.3%
NB: All stocks in CAD$ Portfolio avg 14.98%
The Copper Basket average lost a little over 1.5% on the week and, all things considered, that
could have been a lot worse. There were six winners to prop up the averages (NGEX.to, SLS.to,
10

The Copper Basket 2024, weekly evolution
25%
MARI.to, ASCU.to, CCCM.v, ECU.v) and while 20%
most of those were small moves, Element 29 15%
(ECU.v up 15.8%) had a very good week. Two
10%
stocks were unchanged (BIG.v, FDY.to) and that
5%
leaves seven losers (LA.v, ALDE.v, OCO.v, KDK.v,
0%
AE.v, QCCU.v, COR.v), a list with just one double
-5%
figure percentage loser in American Eagle (AE.v
-10%
down 11.0%).
The weakness in the shares came from the
obvious place, weakness in the price of copper.
Today’s chart shows the recent “Trafi Peak” (to coin a name) and then the retrace to where we
were last week, then the plateau at around the U$4.80/lb line early last week
At that point we had headlines such as “Copper gains on prospects of better China demand” (8)
and at that point, reporters were reaching for reasons such as “China’s latest measures to
support its ailing property sector have boosted copper demand prospects. Some of the
megacities, including Shanghai, have lowered the minimum downpayment ratios for home
buyers and relaxed some restrictions.” Then came the latest round of ChinaFEAR! As from the
middle of last week with reasons such as (7)…
Copper stumbles as funds liquidate amid rate worries
…and (8)
Copper extends losses after weak factory data from China
Quite a reversal from the narrative of just a day or two previously, but the price drivers of the
last few weeks are the same as in other weeks. China…funds…demand…supply…China…China,
more China…and of course demand…from China and from funds. Facetious, moi? More
seriously we need to examine just why we’re getting this sudden reversal in the copper price
because last week’s drop took us under the U$4.70/lb Higher Low line sketched out last week
and that opens the door for further downside. It’s not just the Jeff Currie factor (he has a nasty
habit of ringing the bell at the copper top by predicting stupid high targets over multiple media
channels), this is much more about demand in China.
However, we also know that China demand isn’t that bad at all. So something else is going on
and when we factor in what we know about the unseasonal rise in copper inventories in Asia,
all arrows point toward the Chinese end user. There seems to be some brinkmanship going on
between the copper importers and speculators, betting on copper and that well-announced
supply deficit in the future, and the buyers in China that are not stepping up and buying when
the price moves higher. At some point something will have to give, but for the time being
buyers seem to be content with running down bought stocks instead of purchasing copper at
any old price.
On that subject, it’s the end of the montha we update the long-term copper inventory charts
and as at this weekend, world stocks are at their highest point since the Covid crisis. As the
second chart shows, nearly all that copper is in Asia.
11
ts1naJ ht7naJ ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4bef ht11 ht81 ht52 dr3raM ht01 ht71 ht42 ts13 ht7rpA ht41 ts12 ht82 ht5yam ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2nuj
source: IKN calcs

Key Cu inventory aggregate, 2012 to date
1000000
900000
800000
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
12
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 32naj ram
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 32naj ram
LME Shanghai Comex source: Cochilco
We move on, time for the weekly rundown of world copper inventories data from Cochilco but
before we get down to this week’s numbers, please note there was a mistake in last week’s
data as I was exactly 9,944mt light on the SHFE data and it was my fault entirely. The correct
total for SHFE inventory last week was 300,964mt, not the 291,020mt as published. With that
said, let’s get to some correct and carefully checked data:
 The three world official systems again added significant copper inventory to their
warehouses, up an aggregate total of 24,916mt to close the week at 455,674mt. It’s
worth underscoring, once again, this is highly unusual for the time of year.
 Impressively, the SHFE has again managed to buck against what is normally a strong
seasonal trend of de-stocking and added another 20,731mt on the week, its total now
321,695mt. More thoughts around the dedicated SHFE charts, below.
 The LME also saw an inventory rise that points to slack Asia demand, with 5,450mt
added to reach a total of 118,125mt this weekend. And in much the same way as last
week, it was tonnage leaving the LME New Orleans USA warehouse (-900mt) and
tonnage arriving in its Asia warehouses (+4,575mt) that made the difference.
 Finally, the Comex once again signaled strong demand in The USA and that may be all
about that market disturbance caused by the Trafi short squeeze a couple of weeks
ago. The Comex dropped another 1,345mt to close the week at 15,854mt.
The dedicated SHFE chart shows the continuation of the stockpile in its warehouses. This
weekend’s 321,695mt sees the squiggly line moving in the opposite direction to previous years
and when it comes to a metals cycle, different is rarely good.
SHFE copper inventory levels, 2019 to 2024
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 01 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 02 12 22 32 42 52 62 72 82 92 03 13 23 33 43 53 63 73 83 93 04 14 24 34 44 54 64 74 84 94 05 15 25
MT Cu 2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
source: Cochilco data

Shanghai Futures Exchange Warehouse Stocks, 2014 to date
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
13
31'13ceD dr32 ht51 ht7 ht03 dn22 ht71 ht9 ts1von ht42 ht71 ht01 dn2tcO 7102ts1naJ ht62 ht81 ht01 dr3ced ht52 8102ht72rpa ht91 ht11 9102
dr3bef
9102ht82rpa ts12 ht31 0202ht5naj 0202ht92ram ts12 ht31 0202ht6ced ht82 dr32 ht51 ht7 2202ht03naj 22ht42rpA ht71 22ht9tco 3202
naJ
ht62 ht81 ht01peS dr3ceD ht52beF ht91
Mt Cu
|
source: Cochilco
We’ve underscored the weak demand in China for most of the year, that’s now hitting a critical
moment as copper prices rise and stymie purchase even further. It’s one thing to point to
smelters virtually giving away furnace space to mining companies by charging near-zero
TC/RCs, quite another dfor those smelters to find buyers of the end product at U%5lb+ prices.
It seems the world is not yet ready to pay the prices Jeff Currie thinks we’re going to get.
Now for notes on some of our basket stocks:
Element 29 (ECU.v): As with any big price move in a small
exploreco, the first place to look is the volume traded and in
the case of ECU.v (right), there’s not much there to help
instill confidence that it might stick. The implication of “no
sellers” is fair enough, but time and again we’ve seen this
type of move fall flat and until proven otherwise, the 50k
shares traded on Tuesday aren’t nearly enough to get me
interested.
QC Copper & Gold (QCCU.v): A 16c close and the jury is still out, but at 15c line now looks
interesting:
I’m not going to take this further, as three weeks musing about a potential price breakout is
enough for any exploreco. So the two year chart (right) shows how 15c was once a floor,
became a stubborn ceiling and was broken last month. So QCCU has a new line in the sand and
if 15c shows next week, you the risk-tolerant junior flipper could find a quick profit.
Los Andes Copper (LA.v): Mentioned in passing at the end of that long note on Solaris
Resources (SLS.to) and its travails, Los Andes Copper (LA.v) last week reported its quarter (the
2q24 period, as its financial year ends September 30th).

The good news: The company still has plenty of cash, with C$30m in treasury, essentially zero
on the liabilities ledger and low cash burn.
The bad news: The company still has plenty of cash, with C$30m in treasury, essentially zero
on the liabilities ledger and low cash burn…wait…because at this stage we don’t want it to
hoard its funds, instead it should be spending its way into the PFS. Sadly that’s not the case
and the reason is/are ongoing legal cases against the Vizcachitas project. A summary of the
main three can be found in the MD&A in the section “Environmental Permits for Drilling and
Subsequent Litigation”, which wraps up with the latest development:
The three cases have been consolidated into one and presented to Chile’s Environmental Court
in a case that started in April and is expected to last “from eight to twenty-four months” and if
similar cases at other companies are anything to go by, we need to assume the long end of that
timeline. A look at the cash burned on drilling (note, this does not include the ancilliary spend
around any drill program such as camp, labs, transport etc, this is strictly the money spent on
direct metres put into the ground by the rigs):
Los Andes Copper (LA.v): Drilling expenses, per qtr
14
0
360.0 937.1
889.3
582.0 633.0 284.0 171.0 880.0 41.0 390.0 210.0
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5 1
0.5
0
12enuj 12pes 12ced 22hcram 22enuj 22pes 22ced 32hcram 32enuj 32pes 32ced 42hcram
C$m
source: company filings
This despite promising a five rig drill program for 2023 (and beyond) in the Outlook section of
its 2022 year-end filings. As noted in an other place last week (9) in an odd way the ongoing
delay to development isn’t the worst possible situation for LA.v. While development is
suspended its burn remains low and it can keep powder dry for further down the line, when
most signposts point toward a win for the right wing in the next Presidential election with the
current front-runner, the very right wing José Antonio Kast. A new right shift for Chilean politics
would be viewed as FDI and mining friendly by the outside world and would likely come with a
relaxation of permitting requirements, all things that suit LA.v. That’s a scenario for a lot further
down the line and I don’t want to get into too much conjecture over that, but will say that
Vizcachitas is always going to be a tough sell, no matter who resides in the Palacio de La
Moneda. Communities in Chile have a lot of veto power and the hatred for the Vizcachitas in
Putaendo makes for a serious blocking point.
Faraday Copper (FDY.to): On Thursday May 30th FDY announced (10) the closure of its
bought deal with full overallotment, which means gross proceeds of C$23m and 28,750,000
shares added to the shares out count (and no warrants, we like that). President and CEO
Harbridge mentioned in the CEO comment that the funding came “…with strong institutional
support and key partners, including the Lundin family, Murray Edwards, and Pierre Lassonde”
and to that end, we found out the same day The Lundins were C$10m of the total 23, via this
NR (11). Via their main holding companies, Nemesia and Zebra, that family now owns
“…approximately 11.75% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Faraday post-closing.
Considering the 1,125,000 Share purchase warrants held by Zebra the current holdings
represent a total of 11.69% on a fully diluted basis.” So now you know.

The Producer Basket
After 22 weeks of 2024, the Producer Basket shows a gain of 19.85% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/24 Shares out MktCap(U$Bn) current pps gain/loss%
1 Newmont NEM 41.39 1152.6 48.34 41.94 1.3%
2 Agnico Eagle AEM 54.85 497.971 33.97 68.21 24.4%
3 Barrick GOLD 18.09 1756 30.01 17.09 -5.5%
4 Franco-Nevada FNV 110.81 192.119 23.78 123.80 11.7%
5 Pan American PAAS 16.33 364.439 8.02 22.00 34.7%
6 Hecla Mining HL 4.81 617.768 3.64 5.89 22.5%
7 Lundin Gold LUGDF 12.64 237.68 3.51 14.77 16.9%
8 Eldorado Gold EGO 12.97 202.472 3.27 16.17 24.7%
9 Dundee PM DPMLF 6.43 183.278 1.52 8.28 28.8%
10 Wesdome Gold WDOFF 5.83 148.95 1.21 8.11 39.1%
All prices and stock quotes in U$ Port. avg 19.85%
A good week for our Producer Basket picks for 2024, as our ten managed to add another 2.4%
to its lead over the GDX benchmark. The GDX added just 4c on the week (less than a tenth of
one percent) while we managed to add 2.52% thanks to nine winners and just one loser, the
0.1% lost by Newmont (NEM). The winners weren’t massive movers, with the best being the
“silver pair” Pan American (PAAS up 4.6%) and Hecla (HL up 4.6%), but the winner/loser ratio
is what made the difference and as the tracking charts show, we now have a significant lead on
the market median for 2024. It took 52 weeks of 2023 to beat GDX by 5.95%, we’re already
ahead of that score after 22 weeks of 2024.
The 2024 Producer Basket: Weekly performance and
30% comparative to GDX control
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
-5%
-10%
-15%
Agnico Eagle (AEM) and Barrick (GOLD): As the wider
world has now latched on to the way Agnico (AEM) has
overtaken Barrick (GOLD) as the world’s #2 precious
metals mining company by market cap*, I thought we’d
take a closer look via the year-end market cap positions of
the two stocks, plus this weekend’s reading with five
months of 2024 behind us. Here’s a chart (right):
And here’s the data:
Mkt caps: AEM vs GOLD (U$Bn)
Year AEM GOLD
end 2020 17.13 40.53
end 2021 12.98 33.8
end 2022 23.66 30.26
end 2023 26.82 31.87
2024 to date 33.97 30.01
source: NYSE
While GOLD was over double the market cap of AEM at the end of the Covid year and kept its
lead through 2021, the real comparisons begin in 2022 and the incorporation of Detour into the
15
ts1naJ ht7naJ ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4bef ht11 ht81 ht52 dr3raM ht01 ht71 ht42 ts13 ht7rpA ht41 ts12 ht82 ht5yam ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2nuj
The 2024 Producer Basket: Percentage diff. between
GDX benchmark & basket (negative= IKN ahead)
2.0%
ikn 1.0%
gdx control 0.0%
-1.0%
-2.0%
-3.0%
-4.0%
-5.0%
-6.0%
-7.0%
source: IKN calcs -8.0%
ts1naJ ht7naJ ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4bef ht11 ht81 ht52 dr3raM ht01 ht71 ht42 ts13 ht7rpA ht41 ts12 ht82 ht5yam ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2nuj
source: IKN calcs, NYSE data
Market caps: Agnico (AEM) vs Barrick (GOLD) U$Bn
45
40
35
30 AEM
25 GOLD
20
15
10
5
0
end 2020 end 2021 end 2022 end 2023 2024 to
source: NYSE date

AEM structure. As that happened fairly early into 2022 that December reading of just under
U$7Bn difference is a fair one and 2023 saw AEM eat another U$2Bn of Barrick’s lead. But the
real difference has come this year as Barrick has continued to tread water at the U$30Bn-or
abouts level for over three years, while AEM has ridden its improving operations into maturity
phase and got lucky with the timing of gold’s sharp rise. The result is the near-U$4Bn lead AEM
has over GOLD, which means an adjustment of over U$9Bn in the first five months of this year.
An astonishing reversal of fortune.
*In the publically traded world, at least.
Hecla (HL): Last weekend in IKN784 we noted the slight negative suffered by HL two Fridays
ago on the news that Phillips Baker had “suddenly been resigned” as CEO lasted exactly 24
hours, as the first trading day in The USA last week saw HL ping back and trade along with the
world of silver. So much for his influence.
Newmont (NEM): NEM was easy to buy at U$41.50 all week, with a very late Friday flurry
running it up to within 4c of UNCH by the weekend bell. Not great leadership.
The TinyCaps List
After 22 weeks of 2024, the TinyCaps show a gain of 81.20% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/24 Shares out Mkt Cap current pps gain/loss%
Aston Bay BAY.v 0.065 221.5 25.47 0.115 76.9%
Awalé Res ARIC.v 0.135 85.319 55.46 0.65 381.5%
District Metals DMX.v 0.170 106.98 41.72 0.39 129.4%
Endurance Gold EDG.v 0.18 150.136 27.78 0.185 2.8%
Kirkland LDC KLDC.v 0.100 88.625 5.32 0.06 -40.0%
Latin Metals LMS.v 0.075 71.476 7.15 0.10 33.3%
Palamina Corp PA.v 0.130 71.285 13.90 0.195 50.0%
South Star STS.v 0.750 48.8 34.16 0.70 -6.7%
Surge Copper SURG.v 0.090 275.82 51.03 0.185 105.6%
Viva Gold VAU.v 0.120 118.384 25.45 0.215 79.2%
Prices in CAD$, data from TSXV basket avg 81.20%
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 (though this year I’m making one clear exception and one rule
stretcher). 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, our task is to trawl through the TSXV and find companies that are small but with life in them. The vast
majority of tinycap stocks are broken stories, 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 2024. 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.
With seven losers (BAY.v, ARIC.v, DMX.v, EDG.v, KLDC.v, LMS.v, STS.v), one unchanged
(SURG.v) and just two winners (PA.v, VAU.v) you’d
TinyCaps, 2024 weekly tracker
have thought the basket average would drop 100%
90%
bigtime, instead it lost just 2% or so and is still 80%
flying high, up over 80% on the year. That’s 70%
60%
because the two winners were both big percentage
50%
moves in Viva Gold (VAU.v up 48.3%) and Palamina 40%
30%
Corp (PA.v up 30.0%) and we have a word or two
20%
16 10%
0%
ts1naJ ht7naJ ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4bef ht11 ht81 ht52 dr3raM ht01 ht71 ht42 ts13 ht7rpA ht41 ts12 ht82 ht5yam ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2nuj
source: IKN calcs, TSX data

on each one below. As for losers, the biggest drops came from Kirkland LDC (KLDC.v down
20.0%) and District Metals (DMX.v down 17.0%).
Viva Gold (VAU.v): the 225k or so shares traded on Friday was a decent little improvement,
but it’s tough to justify this amount of improvement, even in a tinycap:
Up 48% on the week on no news, with a final few minutes on Friday that popped the stock
from 18c to 22c with no opposition or visible sellers. If it drops back to 15c this time next week
colour me unsurprised, these are the things that happen at this end of the market.
Palamina Corp (PA.v): The May 29th NR out of PA last week (12) has a “let’s prime the
market” look about it. That can be a double-edged sword, but if they can follow up with drills
show the same numbers at least we can’t saty we weren’t warned. The headline went…
Palamina Samples 26.67 g/t Gold Over 2 Metres from the Sol De Oro Zone at
the Usicayos Gold Project
…and that’s from a channel sample from an outcropping shear zone as the company prepares
its drill pads and creates access for the rigs. While it’s tough to buy a trench, chip, grab or
channel sample with any great confidence, PA is making a clear statement of “Hey people,
we’re not joking, there are rocks with gold here” and outlining just why Sol de Oro has been at
the top of the company’s target list for drilling at Usicayos for many years. At 19.5% and the
30% upmove this week, there’s obviously less value on display and there’s no real reason to
chase up a stock on non-drill assay news, so let’s see how it settles between now and Q3. As
mentioned on several occasions recently, a potential high risk trade on the drilling program,
watching closely.
Surge Copper (SURG.v): On Friday SURG announced (13) the successful closure of its latest
placement and the official arrival of its new strategic shareholder, African Rainbow Minerals:
Under the terms of the Strategic Placement, African Rainbow Minerals Limited (“ARM”) has
subscribed for 41,373,414 common shares of Surge (the “Strategic Placement Common Shares”)
at a price of $0.095 per Strategic Placement Common Share for gross proceeds of C$3,930,474,
representing a 15.0% interest in Surge on a non-diluted basis.
At this weekend’s 18.5c ARM has a paper double on its investment, its CFO surely a happy
camper when it comes to doing mark-to-market adjustments in the ARM books at the end of
next month. SURG also used the NR to announce that it had embarked on a six month
metallurgy test program. That’s good.
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
Mexico has its first ever female President
And that is a very good thing. It’s a big country with 100m or so voters to count and plenty of
outlaying rural areas, so we’re not going to get an official numbers for several days, but unlike
some previous elections this isn’t going down to the wire and the exit polls and early fast-
17

counts are good enough for our cause. Here are the first exit poll numbers provided by pollster
Enkoll:
 Claudia Sheinbaum: 57.8%
 Xóchitl Gálvez: 29.1%
 Jorge Álvarez Máynez: 11.4%
Three other polling companies, namely Televisa, El Financiero and TV Azteca, have also called
Sheinbaum as the clear winner in their exit poll reading but at time of writing this (10:30pm
local time), they haven’t given hard numbers. But that’s a detail and we can now say with the
utmost confidence that the red hot favourite moving into this weekend, Claudia Sheinbaum of
the Morena party and dauphine of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has
confirmed her victory. There’s going to be a party in the Zocalo and ink spilled on no end of
subjects, so we’ll avoid all that and return to our subject of focus. Even though Sheinbaum is
the direct descendent of AMLO and from the same party and even taking into account her
academic background as a left-leaning climate scientist, we expect the incoming President to
have a more positive attitude toward mining and not to take such a hard line toward permitting.
We covered her declarations, as well as what she hasn’t said (for equal importance) in previous
issues, particularly IKN777 and IKN779. Please see those for full details, here are a couple of
reminders starting with the conclusion paragraph from “Mexico: Parsing Sheinbaum on mining”
published in IKN777 dated April 7th:
Putting it all together, there’s a distinct impression that she’s ready to back away from the more
stridently anti-mining position taken by AMLO. For sure you’re not going to hear that before the
vote, she’s not going to upset her mentor AMLO or the party line, but and if she wants to comply
with the key points of 1) promoting the energy transition and 2) making Mexico self-sufficient on
energy matters it means by definition she must allow mining to move forward. Her policy positions
for a greener future and for giving the right of decision to locals fit in with the Morena policy, but
there are clear gaps and differences with the current “No Permits For Anybody” AMLO government
and as being vague is its own message, that’s good. The bottom line, and something Mexico’s
mining world (i.e. CAMIMEX Chamber of Commerce) will know well, is that she cannot expect to
promote a greener future and a self-sufficient Mexico if mining is stopped from happening. Those
are clear policy points and the the implication of (community approved) permits once she is in
power is a logical conclusion .
And here’s the way “Mexico: Claudia Sheinbaum talks mining”, published in IKN779 dated April
21st, finished:
On Tuesday she arrived in the State of Sonora as part of her campaign trail and as that’s prime
mining country, went into some detail about her policy plans for the sector. There were plenty of
Spanish language reports on the presser and declarations but luckily for me, Ms. Paloma Duran of
Mexico Business News also covered the event in English and did a very good job with the report, so
all I have to do here is some copypaste instead of translation:
MORENA candidate Claudia Sheinbaum announced plans to enhance the extraction of strategic
minerals such as lithium and copper to support the production of electric vehicles (EVs) if she assumes
the presidency.
Mexico’s lithium reserves are mainly found in clay formations, which makes the extraction process
complex, time-consuming, and costly. Sheinbaum revealed that the Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP),
made up of the country's best geologists and geophysicists, is developing a new technology to extract
lithium from clay and that she will continue to support this venture once she becomes president.
"Lithium reserves in Sonora and other parts of the country are embedded in clay, which demands
technology for extraction and utilization that is just starting to develop. We have worked and visited
other countries where they have developed it, and we will continue to work on it," Sheinbaum said.
While underscoring lithium's importance for EVs, Sheinbaum also highlighted the critical role of copper
in their production. "The goal is to develop from primary production to electric vehicle development.
There are advances and it will be our task to continue them," she affirmed.
IKN779 back and a couple of interesting angles show from Sheinbaum’s prepared speech. Firstly,
we know she’s not a full-blown mining expert so the way she talked up how most of Mexico’s
lithium resources are clay hosted means she’s getting advised by experts on the sector…that’s
good. Secondly, her comments on copper will come as a sound for sore ears as that can only mean
she plans to allow open pit mining permits, as there’s no other way of seeing Mexico improve its
copper production base. Finally, her focus on the Energy Transition metals is a leaf straight out of
the Argentina playbook, where the pro-minng lobby in both the Fernandez and Milei governments
have seen public opinion move away from the anti-mine Greenpeace types and toward the
18

economic expansion that mining offers because these days, it comes with the greener future
narrative. Overall, what Sheinbaum said last week fits very closely with our call on her likely mining
policy a couple of weeks ago. So to recap and highlight, expect the following:
 No new concessions for open pit mining
 Prior consultancy with locals to become the norm for permitting
 Open pit mines to start seeing permits flow again, as long as locals are onside
 The government will still block controversial projects.
All in all, a lot better than the last couple of years under AMLO.
IKN785 back and since those notes, I’ve seen nothing to contradict the analyses. We shouldn’t
expect any immediate policy declarations on mining from President-Elect Sheinbaum, but come
August 1st and the start of her presidency we’ll see how the executive wants to play its cards.
Colombia’s Supreme Court rules in favour of mining companies (for once)
We’ve grown used to the ambivalent attitude toward mining of the government of Gustavo
Petro, we’ve also seen a series of legal decisions from Colombia’s Corte Constitucional, the
branch of its Supreme Court that covers corporate legal disputes, that go against the the mining
sector. However, last week brought a win for the mining sector when the Constitutional Court
(CC) ruled against the Petro government on its law bill to remove royalties as tax break. While
mostly a burden for the more developed coal industry in Colombia, Petro wanted to stop
royalties paid from being a deduction against corporate taxes but the CC royalties are a cost of
production therefore cannot be construed as a source of profit and as such are a legal and valid
manner to reduce one’s tax bill. The decision was welcomed by the mining industry with
something of a sigh of relief, for example here’s what Juan Camilo Nariño, president of the
Colombian Mining Association (ACM, Asociación Colombiana de Minería) had to say about the
ruling (14) (translated):
“We see this decision as a favourable precedent that reinforces the judicial security of our country
and represents a guarantee for the preservation of the separation of powers of State and legal
rights.”
Translating that for gist, ACM is happy the courts didn’t side with the current government for its
own political ends and actually decided to rule fairly.
Ecuador: More trouble brewing
Last weekend in IKN784 we ran “Noboa’s honeymoon coming to an end” and since then, we’ve
had more pieces fitting into place that point to his weakening approval in th country and the
alienation the lower socioeconomic strata in the country. Therefore I will continue to play the
Cassandra, up to you to allow these warnings to fall on deaf ears. Last week saw Ecuador move
on two aspects of its latest U$4Bn loan deal with the IMF, as agreed in April. This week saw the
first Billion (15) released by the IMF, all while its members heaped public praise on President
Daniel Noboa and his economic model. And that means the announcement by Ecuador’s Mining
and Energy Minister on Thursday that the country would start eliminating subsidies on fuel
prices in the coming weeks is no coincidence at all.
In fact the eliminatrion of fuel subsidies for Ecuador nationals has been “studied by Noboa”
since January, as reported by Reuters at the time who quoted him as follows (16):
“We cannot change subsidies that affect the people or the country's competitiveness. It has to be
progressive; we cannot strike at once, but rather as we generate greater efficiencies."
Subsidies will be removed gradually from gasoline, he said, adding that domestic gas and diesel
will not be affected by the change.”
No surprises to hear the change will be gradual, as every attempt of a national government to
take cheap fuel away from the rank and file has been met with mass protests and they need to
try another method. Fuel protests outright toppled governments in the 1990s and we have two
recent examples of Presidents becoming dead ducks after trying to stop cheap fuel for the
masses, the protests that made both the Lenín Moreno and Guillermo Lasso governments back
down from the plan. So even if the subsidies are lifted “gradually” this is going to cause a
serious ruckus inside the country and with battle lines already drawn, those leading the growing
protests against Noboa, e.g. CONAIE, will need no second invitation.
19

Argentina: More RIGI
There are now plenty of mining sector eyes on the ongoing debate to get the Régimen de
Incentivos para las Grandes Inversiones (RIGI) stimulus package through Argentina’s upper
house, the Senate, and last week the negotiations continued between those on the right of the
political spectrum such as ex-President Mauricio Macri who is asking Senate to approve the law
bill with no modifications, and those to the left who oppose the measure. The main argument
against RIGI from its detractors is that it puts Argentina national capital as a clear disadvantage
against foreign capital, with long-term advantages under RIGI such as a guaranteed 25%
income tax rate for the next 30 years, compared to the current national rate of 35%. They
predict a sacking of the national industrial base as foreign entities move in and take over
control (and they have a point). For example we have the words of Daniel Rosato, head of the
main Small and Medium Sized Businesses Association the “Industriales Pymes Argentinos” (IPA)
(translated) (17): “It’s unjust, unfair competition for the sector.”
That attitude has backing in the Senate too, which means negotiations to get it through and the
latest proposal is to increase royalties on mining operations to 5%, from the typical 2% to 3%
levied in the country today. This got immediate pushback from the Argentina Chamber of
Mining (CAEM) who published this communiqué on Friday May 31st that included (translated):
“Regarding the discussions on the “Bases Law” (la Ley Bases, i.e. the omnibus law including the
RIGI bill) and the possible modification of Law 24,196 on Mining Investments, we at CAEM would
like to state that an increase in the percentage of royalties goes against previous efforts to create
a more competitive environment for the country".
“Modifying this key tool would have consequences on confidence in our country as an investment
destination and would have the opposite effect to those that the RIGI intends to promote.”
That’s where we are this weekend, with negotiations among sitting members of the Senate
continuing and the sides trying to reach a deal in smoke-filled rooms. The likelihood is that the
mining sector will have to give up at least some of the proposed benefits or cede in other areas
(e.g. higher royalty payments) in order to get the bill through. The devil will be in the details,
but I will underscore that the way RIGI has been presented to the outside world recently is
something along the lines of, “Hey folks, this is miner friendly! And Milei is popular these days
so logically it’s going to happen. For sure they may be some give or take to get it passed but
they’ll get it through soon, perhaps with some minor concessions.” Sorry, but this is Argentina,
the Basket Case Country to beat them all where anything can happen and often does. As long
as this bill remains stuck in Senate without a debate, don’t even try guessing on when it might
pass. Then when a debate is set, don’t make the mistake of thinking it will be some sort of
rubber-stamping process. So yes, RIGI would be a clear positive for FDI entering Argentina and
not for nothing are the big players lobbying hard (as well as holding off on confirmation of
investment), but nothing is a given in Argentine politics.
But to wrap up with something a little more positive, a reminder of how attitudes toward mining
have changed in recent years. Pollster Poliarquia (18) has taken an occasional reading on the
subject and as this chart (right, title translated) shows, the thaw is happening faster than the
high country glaciers under climate change. In November 2016, just 37% were in favour of
mining and 39% against. That’s now 65% in
favour, 17% against and that’s all about the
combination of more jobs and development
(the classic reasons) along with the Energy
Transition argeument that has cut the legs out
from under the Greenpeace (et al) opposition to
mining activity. In Argentina under Fernandez
and now under Milei, you get to increase
mining and save the planet at the same time
and that goes down well with your average
José/Josefina living their nice life in the suburbs
of Buenos Aires.
20

Market Watching
IMPACT Silver (IPT.v) 1q24 financials
Anopther of our TSXV stock positions reported its quarter last week, our speculative silver trade
IMPOACT Silver (IPT.v) and while the reason for this trade is less to do with its fundies and
more about the way it tends to run hard if silver-the-metals moves up, I’m going to spend a
little space in covering the numbers from its 1q24 period because they totally sucked. Find the
cover note here (19) and while we’re not going to dwell on every nook and cranny of the
report, we should start with due context on silver production:
IPT: Silver production and sales
21
076281 275481 809231 299851 588651 981781 315041 620251 422451 980561 353151 118161 095661 982271 871451 897651 093351 788141 000551 000551 000551
200000
180000
160000
140000
120000 100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1 tse42q2 tse42q3 tse42q4
Oz Ag
Ag prod
Ag sales
source: company filings, IKN ests
At 137,291oz Ag produced and 141,887oz sold, 1q24 was the company’s worst performance
since the Covid quarter 2q20. Production was
down, operations were interrupted and grade IPT: Sales vs mine op expenses
was also lower than normal. The slightly
higher average received price for main
products silver and zinc helped prop sales to
almost the same level at 4q23, but there was
more bad news in a continued high costs
number, the company reporting higher input
costs for materials and labour (and the latter
tends not to go away). This chart shows the
breach between money in and money out, so
a loss on the quarter was inevitable.
Mine operating loss was almost C$2.3m, way off
what we expected and with the company now
moving to get its expansion project Plomosas off
the ground, their decision to raise capital made
last month and revised to a $10m placement
makes a lot more sense…they’re papering over
some nasty cracks here.
We won’t run all the balance sheet items, but
treasury and working capital show that liquidity
was getting tight and the $10m or so in new
funds will come at an opportune moment.
926.4 965.3 105.3 174.3 497.3 239.3 214.4 341.4 411.5 974.4 294.5 495.4 767.4 357.4 983.5
125.7
743.5
799.6
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
C$m
sales
op expenses
source: company filings, IKN ests for 2024
IPT: Mine Op Earnings
1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
-1.5
-2
-2.5
-3
22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1
C$m
source: company filings, IKN ests
IPT: Treasury, per qtr
24
22
20
18
16
14
12 10 8
6 4
2
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1 tse42q2 tse42q3
C$m
IPT: Working capital, per qtr
source: company filings, IKN ests
475.3
83.3
837.5
987.61 823.02 239.12 177.22 60.22 25.12 431.12 9.91 595.71 24.61 156.51
213.31 147.8 465.7 517.2 01 41
26
24
22
20
18
16
14 12 10
8 6
4
2
0
91q4 02q1 02q2 02q3 02q4 12q1 12q2 12q3 12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1 tse42q2 tse42q3
C$m
source: company filings, IKN ests

But that raising come at the cost of share dilution, with over 250m shares expected out by the
time the second tranche of the current placement closes (due this coming week).
Looking to the future, IPT will of course look to benefit from the recent rise in the price of silver
and move back to profitability in the quarters to come, it also said in its notes that the issues
experienced in Q1 would not repeat and we should see more standard quarters of production
going forward. However, it won’t be that much of a profit even at $30/oz gold and it’s not easy
to see even 4q24 coming in over C$2.5m net…that’s just a penny per share.
Overall, a poor quarter from IPT and if silver doesn’t kick higher soon and provide the leverage
it needs, I may give up on this spec trade and find another place for my silver risk bet.
Bluestone Resources (BSR.to): A wild ride and still an obvious short
In IKN780 dated April 28th we ran the Regional Politics note “Guatemala: Bluestone Resources
(BSR.to) is in trouble” that updated on the problems now surfacing Cerro Blanco, a project that
was awarded EIA permits by the outgoing government in highly irregular circumstances in
January this year. The award from the MARN enviro agency is now under investigation by the
new government of Bernardo Arevalo, a President who has vowed to crack down on
institutional corruption. To quote a very small segment of IKN780, we now have an idea of
“..the extent of the irregularities that went on when BSR was awarded its permit. An
investigation by the new Environment minister called “Red Alert” on Guatemala’s environment
agency (MARN)” and that’s now a criminal proceeding. We ended at IKN780 note with,
“Looking for a junior short candidate? Look no further than Jack Lundin’s old gig”. A couple of
notable things have happened since then; Firstly the Lundin Group appointed BSR CEO Peter
Hemstead as interim CEO of its new plaything, Fireweed Zinc (FWZ.v), signaling the likely
retreat from this investigated stock as no CEO wants to be in Guatemala when the arrest
warrants start flying and Hemstead now has a great excuse. Secondly, BSR stock has been on
a wild ride:
That move in the middle of last month came on serious volume from a paid promo campaign, a
method BSR has used regularly in order to promote its cause. However, once the bagholders
were in and whoever wanted to sell had sold, the engines were turned off and BSR is now
under the price we saw end April, despite GDXJ improving 10% in the same period. So a
rollercoaster ride for BSR and while shorting penny dreadfuls in Canada isn’t an easy task (for
retail players, insto desks have better access and funding) it got sorely tempting for this desk as
BSR rose on wishes and dreams last month. I was just too chicken, though.
All the speculative cash in the world and the sophisms used to promote this company will not
hide it from the hard truths heading in its direction in the near future. It was a short in IKN780
at 49c, it was a short at 75c and 85c mid-month, it’s a short today.
Testing myself on 35 exploration stage copper companies (Part Two)
Part one of this series, set to run through the second half of this year, came in IKN783 two
weekends ago. The idea is straightforward, we’re going to monitor the action in the now hot
copper exploreco sector more closely with a league table of 35 juniors with projects, all of them
copper targets and most of them in The Americas, be that North, Central or South. The rules:
22

 We start with the share prices as at May 17th (recent market top)
 We take a snapshot price reading on the first of each month and report in that
weekend’s edition (e.g. today)
 We calculate the percentage change since May 17th
 We put the 35 stocks in league table order, with the best performers at the top
However, before the game started I ranked the companies and projects, according to my wholly
subjectiove opinion of what they have to offer. Please see IKN783 for the stocks in colour
grouping, (with three added) but by way of a reminder, here’s how I’m rating them as
prospective Value propositions:
The colour code
Big Star Green
Star Blue
Neutral Cream
Dog Orange
Big Dog Red
Now for the updated table, in which they are ranked in order of percentage gain or loss since
the presentation two weeks ago in IKN783. As you’ll probably be able to make out, just 12 of
the 35 are in positive territory with the best performances in two weeks coming from Pampa
Metals (PM.cse) and Element 29 (ECU.v), both late write-ins on the list by popular demand.
That leaves 23 in the red and tail end Charlie after just two weeks is the Henk dog, World
Copper (WCU.v):
Putting myself to the test on 35 copper juniors
Project PPS May IKN Value June 1st
Rank Company Ticker Project Quality 17th Score % change
1 Pampa Metals PM.cse Piuquenes 5 0.25 6 38.0
2 Element 29 ECU.v FdC/Elida 4 0.16 4 37.5
3 Panoro Min PML.v Cotabambas 3 0.12 2 20.8
4 Regulus Res REG.v AntaKori 7 1.72 4 15.1
5 Libero LBC.v Mocoa 4 0.395 2 13.9
6 Cordoba Min CDB.v Alacran 3 0.47 2 8.5
7 Trilogy Met TMQ.to UKMP 4 0.65 2 7.7
8 QC Copper QCCU.v Opemiska 5 0.15 6 6.7
9 SolGold SOLG.to Cascabel 5 0.155 5 6.5
10 Atex Res ATX.v Valeriano 5 1.41 3 5.0
11 Faraday Cop FDY.to Copper Creek 7 0.80 6 2.5
12 Hot Chili HCH.v Costa Fuego 5 0.97 5 1.0
13 Northern Dyn NDM.to Pebble 2 0.415 2 -1.2
14 C3 Metals CCCM.v Jamaica 3 0.41 2 -2.4
15 Kutcho KC.v Kutcho 2 0.20 2 -2.5
16 NGEx Min NGEX.to Helados 7 9.98 5 -2.5
17 Alta Copper ATCU.to Cañariaco 3 0.71 1 -2.8
18 Marimaca MARI.to Marimaca 7 4.15 7 -4.3
19 Los Andes LA.v Vizcachitas 5 10.40 3 -4.4
20 Pan Global PGZ.v Escacena 5 0.19 8 -5.3
21 Oroco OCO.v Santo Tomas 4 0.455 4 -5.5
22 Filo Corp FIL.to Filo 10 26.66 7 -5.6
23 Arizona Son ASCU.to Cactus etc 7 1.65 4 -6.1
24 Camino Min COR.v Chapitos 3 0.065 2 -7.7
25 Aldebaran ALDE.v Altar 6 1.20 6 -8.3
26 Kodiak KDK.v MDN 3 0.60 3 -10.0
27 Hercules BIG.v Hercules 7 0.89 6 -10.1
28 Chakana PERU.v Soledad 3 0.10 3 -10.5
29 American Eagle AE.v NAK 8 0.74 7 -12.2
30 Western Cop WRN.to Casino 5 2.09 7 -12.9
31 Surge Copper SURG.v Berg/Ootsa 4 0.22 4 -15.9
32 Solaris Res SLS.to Warintza 5 5.43 3 -16.6
33 Sendero Res SEND.v Peñas Negras 5 0.095 4 -26.3
34 Copper Fox CUU.v Schaft Creek 2 0.42 2 -28.6
35 World Cop WCU.v Escalones 2 0.305 1 -29.5
source: TSX/V data, IKN calculations
23

In theory at least, if my assessment of these 35 projects is correct you’ll see more green and
blue toward the top of the list, more orange and red at the bottom. In other words, after the
first two weeks of this tracking series my picks totally suck. But that’s okay because 1) it’s
still very early in this process, 2) the pop/drop in copper in the last two weeks makes for a
choppy market and volatility will even out after a longer period, plus of course 3) you already
know that my picks tend to suck.
More seriously, half the idea behind this big tracking table is to monitor just what type of
exploreco moves in the copper market for 2024, now that the wider financial world has its eyes
on the metal. I’ll defend my views on what constitutes both Quality (middle column) and Value
(the IKN colour code score) happily, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that low scores will
perform the worst. It may turn out to be quite the opposite, as the digs of the sector wag their
tails, and add a few cents to show stronger percentage gains than projects with obvious
chances of becoming mines. Perhaps that’s why we see Libero (LBC.v) high in the rankings this
weekend, while Filo (FIL.to) lags in 22nd place of 35 but as said, two weeks is early days for this
tracking league table and perhaps around the end of July or August we’ll have a better feel for
the dynamics. Will PM.cse and ECU.v) manage to hold their lead and will WCU.v still be stuck at
the bottom of the list come the end of June? Tune in to find out in four weeks’ time.
Conclusion
IKN785 is done, we end with bullet points:
 I’m thinking about adding extra silver exposure (so help me, Lord) and Bear Creek
Mining (BCM.v) may be the one. No decision yet and I want more time to make a call
on the financials, but I’ll have some sort of formed opinion by this time next weekend
and if it passes muster, it will at least make it to the Watch List.
 Minera Andes (MAI.v) tests my patience in the same way Rio2 tested my patience, but
2024 is shaping as the year our Top Pick finally gerts out the penalty box. There’s so
much embedded value here, all it needs is a piece of paper from the new government.
 Copper has my attention and if it sinks much further, WRN is the one that gets
jettisoned first.
 A more concise edition this week, which isn’t a bad thing.
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/2024/06/schedule-for-week-of-june-2-2024.html
(2) https://mineraalamos.com/news/2024/2024-operations-update-and-q1-financials/
(3) https://mineraalamos.com/news/2024/mineras-copper-subsidiary-acquires-suaqui-verde-copper-project-in-sonora-
mexico/
(4) https://mineraalamos.com/news/2024/minera-alamos-provides-update-on-cobre-4h-and-copper-assets/
24

(5) https://redpineexp.com/red-pine-intercepts-significant-mineralization-at-the-wawa-gold-project-including-5-58-g-t-
gold-over-18-44-m-including-72-20-g-t-gold-over-0-88-m/
(6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK6M5RuiVAs
(7) https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/copper-stumbles-as-funds-liquidate-amid-rate-worries/
(8) https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/copper-extends-losses-after-weak-factory-data-from-china/
(9) https://twitter.com/Mark_IKN/status/1796518672464494683
(10) https://faradaycopper.com/news-releases/faraday-copper-announces-closing-of-c-23-million-b-8931/
(11) https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/nemesia-sarl-acquires-shares-of-faraday-copper-corp--888076096.html
(12) https://www.palamina.com/news/2024/5/29/i5t6ked1g64bb7ia800zg0dg9qsxlj
(13) https://surgecopper.com/news-releases/surge-copper-announces-closing-of-3.9m-strategic-placement-and-
commences-berg-pfs-metallurgical-test-program/
(14) https://www.larepublica.co/economia/juan-camilo-narino-presidente-de-la-asociacion-colombiana-de-mineria-sobre-
deducibilidad-de-regalias-3869791
(15) https://ariesonline.com.ar/contenido/129121/fmi-dara-usd-1000-millones-de-forma-inmediata-a-ecuador
(16) https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/ecuador-begin-cutting-fuel-subsidies-q2-2024-01-30/
(17) https://www.lacapitalmdp.com/el-sector-minero-rechazo-la-propuesta-de-aumentar-las-regalias/
(18) https://www.losandes.com.ar/economia/mineria-cada-vez-mas-gente-a-favor-del-desarrollo-del-sector/
(19) https://impactsilver.com/investors/news/impact-silver-announces-q1-2024-financial-results-with-improved-revenue-
and-investment/
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2023
CLOSED TRADES IN 2023 date closed close price
Altiplano Metals APN.v jan'23 C$0.31 17-Set-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-Dic-21 C$1.48 8.8% sold 20% to raise cash
Amerigo Res ARG.to oct'23 C$1.36 12-Dic-21 C$1.21 -11.0% sold 10% raise to cash
QC Copper&Gold QCCU.v oct'23 C$0.265 25-Abr-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-Dic-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-Abr-23 C$0.60 -67.9% poor trade, cutting loss
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
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Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2021
Closed in 2021 closed close price
Fiore Gold F.v jan'21 C$0.98 21-May-20 C$1.17 19.4% closed as part of rebalance
Norsemont Min NOM.cse feb'21 C$1.55 6-Set-20 C$0.70 -54.8% Cut loser to reduce Au exp.
Element 29 Res ECU.v feb'21 C$0.49 7-Feb-21 C$0.54 10.2% Cut Peru exposure
Kuya Silver KUYA.cse feb'21 C$1.66 8-Nov-20 C$2.51 51.2% Cut Peru exposure
Pucara Gold TORO.v apr'21 C$0.65 4-Oct-20 C$0.26 -60.0% Cut loser, Peru risk call
Copper Mountain CMMC.to apr'21 C$1.40 22-Nov-20 C$4.18 198.6% tgt hit, profit taken
New Gold NGD may'21 U$0.76 9-Feb-20 U$2.14 181.6% Sold to buy AGC, nice win
Orezone Gold ORE.v jun'21 C$0.79 21-Jun-20 C$1.61 103.8% sold on pop, leaky boat
Wolfden Res. WLF.v sep'21 C$0.30 11-Apr-21 C$0.19 -36.7% Failed spec trade, cut loss
Cartier Res ECR.v sep'21 C$0.32 21-Mar-21 C$0.235 -26.6% Failed spec trade, cut loss
Amarillo Gold AGC.v sep'21 C$0.31 30-May-21 C$0.30 -3.2% Capex story changed: Out
Excelsior Mining MIN.to oct'21 C$0.93 10-Mar-19 C$0.53 -43.0% May return in 2022
Royal Road Min. RYR.v nov'21 C$0.155 17-Mar-19 C$0.275 77.4% Closed on Nica pol risk
Aurelius Min. AUL.v dec'21 C$0.75 28-Jun-20 0.24 -68.0% cut end 2021, failed trade
Argonaut Gold AR.to dec'21 C$2.95 25-Jun-21 C$2.15 -27.1% cut on capex blowout
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2020
Closed in 2020 closed close price
TMAC Resources TMR.to Jan'20 C$3.41 20-Dec-19 C$3.61 5.9% TLS flip play, sold new year
Regulus Res REG.v Jan'20 C$1.10 20-Dec-19 C$1.30 18.2% TLS flip play, profit taken
Bonterra Res BTR.v Jan'20 C$1.90 9-Dec-19 C$1.66 -12.6% TLS flip play, loss taken
McEwen Mining MUX Jan'20 U$1.12 2-Dec-19 U$1.18 5.4% TLS flip play, profit taken
Core Gold CGLD.v Jan'20 C$0.255 7-Apr-19 C$0.305 19.6% arb trade, profit taken
HudBay Min HBM Jan'20 U$3.56 9-Dec-19 U$3.36 -5.6% TLS flip play, loss taken
Midas Gold MAX.to Feb'20 C$0.71 5-Jan-20 C$0.57 -19.7% sm & silly trade
Warrior Gold WAR.v Feb'20 C$0.08 3-Aug-18 C$0.05 -31.3% clean out non-perf sm stocks
Contact Gold C.v Feb'20 C$0.40 19-Aug-18 C$0.18 -55.0% clean out non-perf sm stocks
Sandstorm Gold SAND Feb'20 U$3.73 17-Apr-16 U$7.21 93.3% Sold during port rebalance
NexGen Energy NXE Feb'20 U$1.20 2-Dec-19 U$1.06 -11.7% TLS flip play, loss taken
MAG Silver MAG Apr'20 U$8.95 1-Mar-20 U$10.07 12.5% Sold to cut silver exposure
Alexco Res AXU Apr'20 U$1.69 7-Sep-17 U$1.69 0.0% sold to close Ag exp. in FY20
Bonterra Res BTR.v Jun'20 C$1.62 2-Feb-20 C$1.10 -32.1% under-performer cash moved
Regulus Res REG.v Jun'20 C$0.64 6-Apr-15 C$0.79 23.4% moved $ TMQ/MIN & Au stocks
Great Panther GPR.to Aug'20 C$0.60 21-Jun-20 C$1.10 83.3% Profit taken, good trade
Jaguar Mining JAG.v Aug'20 C$0.42 21-Jun-20 C$0.65 54.8% Profit taken, good trade
Sandstorm Gold SAND Aug'20 U$7.76 10-May-20 U$9.37 20.7% Profit taken, good trade
Integra Resources ITR.v Aug'20 C$2.23 13-Aug-18 C$5.40 142.2% Profit taken, good trade
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
26

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
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
27

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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