6 The IKN Weekly, issue 810 — Nov 25, 2024
The IKN Weekly
Week 810, November 24th 2024
Contents
This Week: In today’s edition, Giving thanks, Gold did well, Second call for 2025 Basket Cases
Fundamental Analysis: Minera Alamos (MAI.v): On Notice.
Stocks to Follow: Red Pine Exploration (RPX.v), Aftermath Silver (AAG.v), Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v),
Eldorado Gold (EGO) (ELD.to), Aldebaran (ALDE.v), Orecap Inv (OCI.v), Libero Copper (LBC.v),
Marimaca Copper (MARI.to), IMPACT Silver (IPT.v).
The Copper Basket: Overview, Solaris Resources (SLS.to), American Eagle (AE.v), NGEx
Resources (NGEX.to), Arizona Sonoran (ASCU.to).
The Producer Basket: Overview, Barrick Gold (GOLD) (ABX.to).
The TinyCaps Basket: Overview, Palamina Corp (PA.v), Aston Bay Holdings (BAY.v), Awalé
Resources (ARIC.v).
Regional Politics: Argentina: Milei gets a tailwind, Chile: The right wing takes control, A
Peruvian mining postcard, Panama: Cobre Panama story continues.
Market Watching: A reminder of your author’s chronic weakness via SilverCrest (SILV)
(SIL.to), From bad to worse at New Found Gold (NFG.v) (NFGC), Fitzroy Minerals (FTZ.v)
reopens for trading.
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
Today’s main fundies section is either an essay, an analysis or a rant on the news out
of Minera Alamos (MAI.v) last week, the unexpected bought deal offering that brought
retailers like me to the edge of outright rebellion.
The copper market made some odd moves last week, with the metal failing to rally and
dropping back but the stocks, and particularly the explorecos, finding no end of buyers.
We chew it over and wonder why in today’s Copper Basket, we also chew over the big
moves made by basket companies and point out Arizona Sonoran (ASCU.to) as a name
that you might want to trade in the near-term (if brave enough).
Suitably impressed by the moves made in several owned and covered companies, the
notes in Stocks to Follow expound on the pleasures of owning Aldebaran, Rio2 and
Eldorado among others.
In Regional Politics, Milei gets a boost in Argentina, the right wing makes ground across
the continent and Peru is far worse shape than it looks from the outside.
Giving thanks
A reminder that US markets will be closed for the country’s Thanksgiving Day this coming
Thursday, November 28th, and that markets also close for business early on Friday 29th.
Gold did well
We cover the dynamics of the fast and welcome recovery in the gold price in The Producer
Basket below, today’s intro will keep it brief and note (by request) that even GLD vault
tonnages of gold managed to put in a rebound (below left). However, the long-term
1
inventory/price ratio underscores how out of favour gold continues to be among the financial
elite
GLD: Inventory/Price Ratio, 2016 to date
9.0
8.5
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
Second call for 2025 Basket Cases
We ran this last week, you see it again this week and to make sure you get completely bored to
tears, it’s probably appearing next week as well. So for the second time of three run our annual
call to you out there, esteemed subscribers of The IKN Weekly, for nominations, suggestions,
ideas and thoughts on the companies we should include in the 2025 Copper Basket, the 2025
Producer Basket and the 2025 TinyCaps Basket. Also, a big thank you to those readers who
have already submitted suggestions and views. I’m not going to get back to you until the final
choices are made (it’s fair to all that way) but I will say that a couple of tickers that I’d not
considered are already on the shortlists. Once again, thank you and thanks in advance for any
mails arising from today’s segment. Now for an exact repeat of last week’s intro:
Every November/December, your author puts together a long list (then a short list) of stocks for
our three tracking baskets for the year to come, namely The Copper Basket, Producer Basket
and TinyCaps Basket. Year-end will see those lists refreshed, with companies leaving and being
replaced by others and as usual, my long-list is already in place for all three lists. However,
every single year without exception, when I ask for your ideas and suggestions I get ideas that
are better than mine and the final make-up of the tracking baskets is always an amalgam of
brains. We therefore throw the subject out to the collective mind of readership today, asking for
suggestions and here’s the framework required for each category, as the baskets are somewhat
different in make-up:
For The Copper Basket: We look for a group of 15 stocks that as a whole represent the
junior copper mining world. The maximum market cap is normally $1Bn (it can go
higher, e.g. NGEX.to this year) but preferably I like them lower to better reflect our
sector of interest. We welcome tinycaps, as a cross section is required. As we’re not
trying to beat the street and want a faithful reflection of the sector, always happy to
include bad copper companies or dog stocks if they bring something to the table (e.g.
this year we deliberately included CCCM.v and COR.v, both doing “as expected”).
For The Producer Basket: There is no upper limit in market cap size, but we normally
require a minimum market cap of U$2Bn. For this list, I’m looking for suggestions for
precious metals producers that will out-perform in 2024, as we also try to beat the GDX
benchmark. That’s a semi-serious competition but, as The IKN Weekly has managed to
out-perform the GDX in seven of the eight years we’ve run this segment, there’s more
than a little pride involved in the picks as well these days.
For The TinyCaps: First and foremost, for this list we try for a maximum market cap of
$20m, as The TinyCaps tracks market moves of the smallest companies. However, at
this level of market cap there are many broken stocks and dead companies with
projects going nowhere. They are not interesting, as although we cannot expect
operational or managerial perfection at this level the company still needs to “have a
pulse” and be a reasonable trade or speculative alternative.
2
61/4/1 61/32/3 61/01/6 61/92/8 61/51/11 71/6/2 71/62/4 71/41/7 71/2/01 71/91/21 81/21/3 81/03/5 81/61/8 81/2/11 91/42/1 91/21/4 91/2/7 91/91/9 91/6/21 02/72/2 02/51/5 02/4/8 02/12/01 12/11/1 12/13/3 12/61/6 12/2/9 12/91/11 22/9/2 22/92/4 22/02/7 22/6/01 22/32/21 32/61/3 32/1/6 32/12/8 32/7/11 42/92/1 42/71/4 42/8/7 42/42/9
GLD gold holdings 2024 YTD
900 (metric tonnes)
890
880
870
860
850
840
830
820
810 source: SPDR data, IKN calcs
800
42/1/2 42/1/21 42/1/22 42/2/1 42/2/11 42/2/12 42/3/2 42/3/21 42/3/22 42/4/1 42/4/11 42/4/12 42/5/1 42/5/11 42/5/12 42/5/13 42/6/01 42/6/02 42/6/03 42/7/01 42/7/02 42/7/03 42/8/9 42/8/91 42/8/92 42/9/8 42/9/81 42/9/82 42/01/8 42/01/81 42/01/82 42/11/7 42/11/71
mt
source: SPDR GLD data
I normally look to change between three and five companies on each list, so if you have a good
candidate for the Producer, Copper or TinyCap list, be they companies you own or not (or if it’s
a doggish type of idea, perhaps “owned”) please drop a line the usual addresses.
Fundamental Analysis of Mining Stocks
Minera Alamos (MAI.v): On Notice
After three re-writes and a decision to edit today’s main fundamentals note down to as few
words as possible, here we go with thoughts and a decision regarding last week’s
announcement from Top Pick Minera Alamos (MAI.v) that it was running a bought deal
placement to raise C$8.5m. However, even this abridged and tightened analysis (or op-ed, or
rant, or screed) may be too many words for some of you, so far the TL:DR in the audience:
The news last week went down like a lead balloon among long-suffering shareholders and
quite right too, you can also count me in on that sentiment as it made me queasy. Last
week is the first time that management seemed truly out of alignment with its retail
shareholders and considering its long-term holders are built firmly on that platform, it’s no
small matter.
However, after exchanging with management I do understand the rationale behind the
raising and that my initial suspicion of it being directly connected with the recent
announcement to but out Sabre Gold was incorrect.
I’m going to continue to hold my Minera Alamos shares, however the company is now on
notice: It needs to deliver as expected in Q4, then clean up its Auramet debt in Q1, then
show clear improvement in Q1 and into Q2, else I will make a partial sale and drop the
company down the rankings here at The IKN Weekly. No more surprises.
We begin with the contents of last week’s NR, the top paragraph enough for our purposes (1):
Toronto, Ontario – (November 20, 2024) Minera Alamos Inc. (TSXV: MAI; OTCQX: MAIFF)
(“Minera Alamos” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an
agreement with National Bank Financial Inc. (“NBF”) as lead underwriter and bookrunner, and on
behalf of a syndicate of underwriters (collectively, the “Underwriters”), pursuant to which the
Underwriters will purchase 28,333,000 common shares (the “Shares”) of the Company at a price
of C$0.30 (the “Offering Price”) per Common Share, on a “bought deal” private placement basis,
with a right to arrange for substituted purchasers, pursuant to the listed issuer financing
exemption (“LIFE”), for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of approximately C$8.5 million
(the “Offering”). The Company has also granted NBF an option exercisable at any time up to 48
hours prior to the closing of the Offering, to purchase for placement up to an additional 5,000,000
Shares at the Offering Price, for additional gross proceeds of up to C$1.5 million.
Now for a ten-day price chart and you can probably tell which day that news dropped:
In fact, MAI rose the day before the news was announced 36c in slightly strange, low volume
Tuesday trading that made me think the stock was firming and sellers were drying up. That
3
made the Wednesday pre-bell NR was that much more depressing. Readers would have already
noticed a slight change in this desk’s attitude toward its Top Pick and largest single position in
the last few weeks, as although the Sabre Gold transaction announcement was mostly
applauded by the commentariat, I wasn’t convinced and said as much in a couple of recent
editions, centering on the Stocks to Follow comments in IKN808 two weeks ago when I
downgraded the near-term sentiment call to “buy” from “strong buy”. The deal implied another
fallow period while it closed, then further potential share price weakness as long-term Sabre
Gold bagholders potentially made for the exits. In so many words, the carrot of “At Last Good
Production and Free Cash Flow From Santana In Q4” as per the “Plan B” workaround enacted
by MAI at Santana this year, felt as though it was dangling a little further out. We, the long-
suffering loyal retail holder, had been given a clear timeline to improvement in MAI, we’ve been
mentally prepared for a final weak quarter in 3q24, but as from 4q24 and into 2025 we’d begin
to see some fruits for our patience.
The Sabre Gold deal was new, disruptive and meant the plan might have changed at the last
moment. So it was into this wary discomfort that the news of an $8.5m bought deal at a
discount to market was dropped. And it really, truly annoyed me at the time. The feeling was
new for this stock, one of non-alignment with management and a little like Charlie Brown must
have felt, trying to kick a field goal with Lucy on duty as ball holder.
“What?!?!! After two fallow years in which we stay loyal to the company, they run a
discounted placement and let all the Johnny come-latelies in at the last minute! At this
price! How dare they!”
Context is required: It felt rotten because MAI isn’t just any old trade, speculation or
investment. Sadly, I’m not wet behind the ears when it comes to the wonderful world of junior
mining and know all too well that grubby and shady things go on all the time. As a rule I’ll avoid
the worst of the managerial bunch (mostly because you never really know when they’re going
to pull the rug out from under you), but there are plenty of exceptions to that rule and I’m
certainly not against running trades in the shadier junior stocks, as long as the set-up is right
(e.g. witness my current long position in Libero Copper (LBC.v), run by the type of self-serving
sharks that give our sector the reputation it sadly deserves). But there’s a world of difference
between a specific trade on clearly defined reasons and when you go in and write “Top Pïck”
next to a stock. That’s when all the ducks have to be in-line, not just a few or most of them and
for me, one of the fundamental elements to consider is the stakeholder wealth that is (or would
be) created by the company of project in question. We all have to benefit, from local
community to government to we the shareholders sponsoring the project (I’m no Commie) and
if that’s out of kilter, it’s not a Top Pick (e.g. note the time Rio2 was demoted, even though I
didn’t sell a share of my holding). Or as I put it to Doug Ramshaw last week while still wholly
annoyed about the news, “I’m the weird one of the bunch who’ll tell you that it’s not about the
money and mean it.” The low-level discomfort about the Sabre Gold deal had multiplied and
this bought deal on the heels of that announcement was surely no coincidence! Even this 86/14
deal that looks reasonable on paper sees MAI biting off more than it can chew and all at the
worst possible time, snatching the retail victory away from us at what seems like the last
moment and handing at least some of the cash (and more of our invaluable time) to whatever
insto decides to fill up on this bought deal. Which brings us to Wednesday evening when, after
exchanging a few text messages, MAI President Doug Ramshaw and I had a 28 minute
telephone call, with the first 13 minutes covered by a Doug Ramshaw monologue that went a
long way to assuaging my worst fears about this deal. Firstly and importantly, he made it clear
that Minera Alamos would have run this bought deal with or without the move to buy out Sabre
in its all share deal. Here are three bullet points we then get to the meat:
We know that the MAI “Plan B” involves accelerating operations at Santana, partially in Q”
but mainly in Q3 and Q4. The dynamics of a heap leach operation means there is a lag
between the heavy lifting and increased gold production, which is why Q4 was always
targeted as the quarter in which operations go free cash flow positive.
4
That means a drain on funds in Q3 and while this desk had taken that into consideration,
the guidance given on the phone Wednesday indicated that while MAI wasn’t about to run
out of cash in the near-term, it might get too tight for comfort in the period between
production/gold shipment and when the payment cheques arrive.
Add this to the mindset that runs the company, as President Ramshaw (who runs the
corporate side of things, letting CEO Darren Koningen get on with the job of running the
ops) gets uncomfortable if his company, now an operator rather than a limited level
exploreco, sees treasury drop below $10m. This mindset is not new and it’s one of then
reasons I like this company, they go about the job of mining the right way and are keen on
risk management, rather than taking a risk with treasury and having to run an emergency
financing at truly distressed levels if just one more piece fails to fall into position at the
right time (there are many examples of disasters that have occurred due to over-confident
C-suites).
However and most importantly, the phone call made it clear that MAI management was still
aligned with its shareholder base and for two main reasons. For one, the decision to run this
bought deal was all about securing the medium to long-term future of the company, something
we all want and however annoying it might be to see the Q4 prize disrupted at what feels like
the last moment, something that matters more. Secondly and most tellingly, President
Ramshaw was candid about stating that he’d misread sentiment and while he wasn’t expected
a hearts’n’flowers reception for the news, had been taken aback by the vehement rejection he’d
received from retail backers. As he saw it, a modest C$8.5m bought deal (which next to a
C$130m market capper is a fair viewpoint) in order to cover a key period in the company’s
development and pre-empt any future issues, although somewhat dilutive, was a small price to
pay for financial security. For another, it was the first time in 2½ years that MAI had gone to
market for funding and he thought his reputation capital was in good stead. By the time we had
our phone call, he’d realized his mistake and I made 100% sure he understood the annoyance
felt by retail (his lifeblood shareholders and not the people he should be angering) was wholly
justified. We’d remained loyal, we’d even sucked up the Sabre Gold news, and all because of
the imminent payoff from Plan B but now, even that was being diluted away from us and
handed at a deep discount (30c!!!) to whoever had watched on the sidelines through 2023 and
2024. It felt like mockery and that’s not a pleasant feeling at all, especially when it’s not just
money involved but reputation as well. To his eternal credit, during the phone call President
Ramshaw didn’t shy away from the fact that he’d made a mistake, at the very least in
messaging and the last thing he anted to do was alienate the people who’d seen MAI through
two rather long and fallow years. There’s power in hearing “I was wrong”, it restored a lot of
faith I’d placed in this company. Unlike 99% of the people in this sector, Doug Ramshaw is a
person who’s word is his bond and is totally trustworthy (which was part of my dismay on
reading the NR Wednesday morning, the feeling of “that’s what a normal scummy CEO would
do, not Doug” was unavoidable and uncomfortable)
We’ll get to find out the exact financial position of MAI.v at the end of its 3q24 when the
company files its quarter, due at the end of this week (Nov 29th). However, the bought deal
placement is a LIFE (listed issuer financing exemption) offering and that brings a couple of
extra wrinkles. For one there will be no 121 day holding period on the newly minted shares but
more interestingly, the offering documents
give us details about the company’s current
financial position. You can download your
own copy from here (2) and if you do, you’ll
see this table (right) laying out what MAI
plans to do with the funds. Please note that
the “assuming minimum” is the C$8.5m
basic bought deal amount, while the
maximum column assumes that MAI and its
brokers sell the extra C$1.5m worth of
overallotment shares, as per the deal terms:
5
As you can see, line item E gives us company working capital as at end October 2024, of
C$8.05m. That’s a big drop from the C$14.481m registered at the end of 2q24 and for two
reasons:
1) The acceleration of operations at Santana
2) The Auramet loan moving to current liabilities. That happened on the anniversary of the
deal and this section of the offering document gives the necessary details:
The Company’s working capital as at its most recent month end has declined significantly from its most
recent audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 as a result of the inclusion of
$6,500,000 in current liabilities in connection with the Company’s debt owed to Auramet International Inc. and
Auramet Capital Partners LP (“Auramet”) pursuant to the US$15,000,000 secured credit facility provided by
Auramet to the Company in accordance with a loan agreement dated as of October 27, 2023 between the
Company and Auramet, as amended on October 26, 2024 (the “Auramet Debt”). The Company intends to
refinance the Auramet Debt, which would result in the Auramet Debt being re-classified as long-term debt. If
the Auramet Debt were re-classified as long-term debt, the Company’s working capital as its most recent
month end would be adjusted to $14,550,000. Any failure of the Company to successfully refinance the
Auramet Debt is not expected to affect the Company’s business objectives and liquidity requirements for a
period of 12 months following the closing of the Offering. The Company has no current intentions to use more
than 10% of the available funds following the closing of the Offering to reduce or retire indebtedness incurred
within the two preceding years
On asking President Ramshaw about this, he said that yes, this was a weight on the current
working cap position and one factor in the decision to run this bought deal, however it wasn’t
the main issue. According to Ramshaw, the working relationship with Aurament is in good
shape and both sides would almost certainly reach agreement to refi the small loan, at which
point it would return to long-term liabilities and its weight removed from working capital. That
makes sense, as Auramet are long-term supporters of MAI and also a great business partner.
When pressed on timing, Ramshaw said that sue to minor technical details the refi probably
won’t happen until early 2025, which means it’s going to stay on the books through 4q24 and
that means it will show on the RegF quarter end snapshots.
So with the new information and assuming the minimum C$8.5nm is raised by the bought deal
(sidebar: we heard from a separate source that the book was closed to retail on Friday, which
means things are going well and it will indeed fill at 30c, no problems), here’s how we’re now
modeling the balance sheet items for the next four quarters. We’re running there charts from
1q22, apart from the cash treasury and share count charts that go back a little further to give
some extra perspective:
Assets and liabilities look like this, with the main change in assets a dip in 3q24 as cash is
spent. That gets topped up by the bought deal in Q4, then in 2025 we assume free cahs flow
from Santana starts to work its way into the books. As for the liabilities, the main difference is
in 4q24 when the Aurament U$5m (CAD$6.9m) moves to the current liabilities for one quarter,
then gets refi’d back from where it came in 1q25 and beyond.
MAI.v: Assets
60
55 50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
The better place to see the need for this financing and its effects are in the working capital
chart (below left). We assume working cap drops to C$13m as at end 3q24 (September 30th),
then the spending continues in October, plus the Auramet loan moves to currents in 4q24. If
6
22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1 42q2 tse42q3 tse42q4 tse52q1 tse52q2
inventories MAI.v: Liabilities per qtr
$m f o ix th e e d r current 16
cash 14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
source: company filings
22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1 42q2 tse42q3 tse42q4 tse52q1 tse52q2
source: company filings
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LT liabs
current liabs
you consider that by the end of 4q24 we assume MAI would have received its C$8.5m gross
proceeds from the bought deal, we see that without the placement working cap would have got
very thin. In the mindset of Doug Ramshaw, the situation was survivable but just one more
glitch would have been enough to cause serious financial problems, up to and including a cash
crunch. In this light, the bought deal is understandable. Then in 2025 as the Auramet loan
moves back out of working cap and the cash flow, working cap is expected to climb quickly
MAI.v: Working Capital per qtr
The cash treasury chart shows the expected low point is end 3q24, then with the placement
cash MAI moves back into Ramshaw’s comfort zone of $10m and above. Finally, share out
move to 499m and change, assuming the bought
deal closes at C$8.5m. That’s an approximate 6%
dilution and on the straight math, I’m inclined to
agree with President Ramshaw that it’s a minor
issue, certainly not as bad as many of the deals
juniors run and dilute out backers. As a result I’ve
dropped my formal price target on the stock from
75c to 70c, though that’s more of a milestone to
achieve on the way to greater and longer-term
things than a place to sell…as long as the
company can fulfill its promise, of course.
However, be it 6%, 2% or 10% the math does
nothing to dilute the negative optics caused by
last week’s announcement.
The bottom line: I’m not a seller of Minera Alamos and I’m not at the end of my tether over
the stock, but we’re now at the point where this Top Pick stock goes on notice: We have some
specific catalysts and milestones in the near future and it’s about time the company started
delivering on its promises, instead of delivering unwelcome surprises because as much as I now
understand the mindset and reasoning for the currently open bought deal (and that it’s
unrelated to the Sabre Gold buyout). Minera Alamos needs to do the following:
File a reasonable 3q24 financial report. We’re not expecting much from Santana this
quarter, but no more surprises.
Close the bought deal in good order
Show us the promised production improvement and free cash flow from Santana in
Q4, as advertised
Reach a mutually acceptable refi deal with Auramet in Q1
Clsoe the Sabre Gold deal in Q1
Do all those (especially the free cash flow in Q4) and we’ll be back on track with this trade, but
we’re now at the point where any further disappointment would mean I’d look to reduce my
holding (not sell out completely, but liquidate a percentage of shares) and drop the company
back down from Top Pick to the main Recos section. Patience is a virtue, but there are limits
and even if MAI comes up short on that list for good ostensible reasons, there comes a point
when personal risk management takes preference. Last week I feared we’d reached that
7
654.51 805.71
562.22
482.81 198.91 816.02 866.91 869.91 942.81 184.41 31 11 02 12
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12 10 8 6 4
2
0
22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1 42q2 tse42q3 tse42q4 tse52q1 tse52q2
source company filings
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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 2.01 472.8 375.6 457.31 448.11 806.8
7
11 41 51
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 42q2 tse42q3 tse42q4 tse52q1 tse52q2
source: company filings
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MAI.v: Shares Out
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 89.264 7.074
30.994 30.994 30.994
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 42q2 tse42q3 tse42q4 tse52q1 tse52q2
source: company filings
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moment already, the reasons behind the placement assuaged the worst of my doubts and for
the time being, I’m holding the full position.
That ends an analysis that was more of a rant than anything else.
Stocks to Follow
The basic headcount was split down the middle last week, with eight of our 16 open and
tracked positions week-on-week winners (RIO.v, EGO, ARG.to, MARI.to, OCI.v, ALDE.v,
MIRL.cse, PAU.cse) and the other eight losers (MAI.v, RPX.v, LBC.v, IPT.v, PGDC.v, AAG.v,
MENE.v) and no unchanged prices. The big moves had a roughly even balance too, with the
biggest winner Orecap (OCI.v up 25.0%) and the biggest loser IMPACT Silver (IPT.v down
23.4%), those moves escorted by the decent results in Rio2 (RIO.v up 9.7%), Provenance
(PAU.cse up 9.3%) and the particularly pleasing rally in Eldorado Gold (EGO up 8.9%), while
the not-so-greats were Patagonia (PGDC.v down 12.5%), Minera Alamos (MAI.v down 9.4%)
and Aftermath Silver (AAG.v down 8.8%).
We continue with 16 stocks on our list, four less than our self-iposed maximum (that wew
sometimes break, but not for long). Treasury cash is healthy and I’ll be buying more exposure
soon (however long that time period might be). Ten stocks are in the green, one is unchanged
since inception, five are in the red.
company Ticker this week Avg Price Reco date Current PPS Gain/Loss% Notes
TOP PICKS
Minera Alamos MAI.v BUY C$0.21 13-Oct-19 C$0.29 38.1% $0.70 first tgt
Rio2 Ltd. RIO.v STR BUY C$0.80 22-Apr-18 C$0.68 -15.0% Now building Fenix, will re-rate
RECOMMENDED STOCKS
Eldorado Gold EGO STR BUY U$16.55 11-Aug-24 U$16.56 0.1% undervalued midcap gold
Amerigo Res ARG.to BUY C$1.54 28-Jul-24 C$1.74 13.0% Core copper position
Marimaca Copper MARI.to STR BUY C$3.05 14-Jan-24 C$4.81 57.7% Quality Cu developer
Red Pine Expl RPX.v ADDING C$0.105 8-Sep-24 C$0.115 9.5% New sm position, will build
Libero Copper LBC.v SPEC BUY C$0.34 20-Oct-24 C$0.385 13.2% spec trade on Mocoa drilling
Pan Global Res PGZ.v SPEC BUY C$0.19 19-Feb-24 C$0.095 -50.0% Cu jr, may add post financing
Orecap Inv OCI.v BUY C$0.06 4-May-24 C$0.075 25.0% top fundy value, illiquid
SPECULATIVE TRADES
Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v HOLD C$0.72 16-May-21 C$2.00 177.8% Nice recent move,hold to1q25?
IMPACT Silver IPT.v SPEC BUY C$0.30 14-Apr-24 C$0.245 -18.3% Silver spec, added IKN783
Minera IRL MIRL.cse avoid C$0.195 22-Jul-12 C$0.02 -89.7% leaving list soon (good)
A WATCHLIST OF POTENTIAL TRADES. NB: I DO NOT OWN
Patagonia Gold PGDC.v WATCH C$0.02 4-Aug-24 C$0.035 75.0% Rio Negro trade op, watching
Aftermath Silver AAG.v WATCH $0.46 10-Nov-24 C$0.465 1.1% Silver exploreco, nice project
Provenance Gold PAU.cse WATCH C$0.085 8-Oct-23 C$0.295 247.1% Idaho gold drill play
LONG-TERM NON-MINING HOLD
Mene Inc. MENE.v adding C$0.48 6-Dec-20 C$0.11 -77.1% 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
8
Western Copper WRN.to July'24 C$1.57 26-Feb-24 C$1.53 -2.5% Sold on regional risk
Contango Ore CTGO Sep'24 U$18.70 30-Jul-23 U$20.23 8.2% Port rebalance sale
Florida Can. Gold FCGV.v Oct'24 C$0.63 21-Jul-24 C$0.71 12.7% failed trade with a lucky win
Bear Creek Min BCM.v Oct'24 C$0.35 10-Jun-24 C$0.67 91.4% took profits on spec trade
American Eagle AE.v Oct'24 C$0.43 21-Jul-24 C$0.69 69.8% taking profit on NT flip
SilverCrest Met SILV Nov'24 U$6.90 31-Mar-24 U$9.76 41.4% sold on CDE buyout
Newcore Gold NCAU.v Nov'24 C$0.205 23-Oct-22 C$0.32 56.1% sold on advisor appt
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:
Red Pine Exploration (RPX.v): MAY STILL ADD, BUT.... Stated clearly, I was tempted to
add last week when the lows showed on Thursday, my greed glands got the better of me.
I stared at RPX for a long time last week, but eventually
decided to wait and see what happens as thoughts of
Tax Loss Season mega-bargains superseded. Even if I
get it wrong and have to add at higher prices, it’s not as
if I’d be killing myself at these low levels and even 15c
would be darned cheap in the long-run. The meditation
on RPX crystallized my mind on the wider market and in
the run-up to Christmas and the culmination of the TLS
season, it will need an exception circumstance to make
me into a buyer, not just a good one. In the case of
RPX, it certainly is a good price and if you see the near-
term market differently, it’s an opportunity to beat me
at my own game and make me look stupid. Again. Hardly the first time.
Aftermath Silver (AAG.v): Now established on our Watch List, AAG once again traded largely
as expected under the circumstances and dropped back after the SILJ buying of two Friday’s
ago. To enter into details, it dropped further than I expected to a low on the week of 43c, that’s
the kind of price that I’m considering for an entry but, being greedy and thinking about the
time of year, cannot help but wait on “very cheap” and hope for “stupid-no-brainer-cheap” to
show up (see also today’s Red Pine Exploration (RPX.v) comments, below).
Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v): The first flush of any PM miner move is usually concentrated in the Tier 1
or 2 stocks and while the juniors and explorecos can move at the same time, it’s not
guaranteed. Seeing the Stocks to Follow basket headcount at 8 vs 8 (above) didn’t come as a
big surprise, but the pleasant news is that RIO.v now has its Big Boy Pants on and runs with
the first movers, that’s a big change from just a few short months ago. Up 9.7% and we’ll see
how long this new 60c-70c range lasts when the development news at Fenix starts rolling in.
Eldorado Gold (EGO) (ELD.to): On the other hand, EGO is the sort of stock that should run
at the forefront of any PM rally with no excuses, so the 8.9% it added was better than the GDX
and the right type of move. I could go with the
glass-half-empty approach today and point out that
EGO’s share price is still low compared to
expectations and that in real-world terms I’m not
showing any profit from opening the trade when I
did. But no, not today because I thoroughly enjoyed
watching this rally last week (right). The fun
included the initial snap-back on Monday morning,
the near-constant buying pressure all week and the
cherry on the top of this particular cake, it managed
to close one with my trade one cent in profit. We’re
also back above the price quoted in IKN807 dated
November 3rd, the edition with the main fundies
9
note entitled, “Eldorado Gold (EGO) (ELD.to) 3q24 earnings: To die on a hill.” This week goes
down as a small victory. Onward.
Aldebaran (ALDE.v): Made it to the two-handle. In the
main tracking table above, I’ve altered the notes slightly to
“Nice recent move, hold to 1q25?”, including that question
mark because the recent rally as the MRE comes over the
horizon and into near-term view means ALDE may be at a
decent selling price before the fun and game of January.
Add the asthenia in copper-the-metal into the mix (see
Copper Basket, below) and the gameplan I first laid out in
IKN808 two weekends ago in the main fundies section note,
“A clear strategy for Aldebaran Resources (ALDE.v).”
Orecap Inv (OCI.v): It wasn’t by much and on a single
late Friday buyer, but OCI at 7.5c this weekend means
it’s above the 7c line for the first time since that almighty
rush-up in ARIC shares at the end of Q1. This 12-month
comparative chart shows the stock in a different way this
weekend, with the two major influences on OCI’s share
price mapped against our own holding (right). It’s a bit
busy, but you can probably make out that OCI’s recent
rally is mostly about the run in American Eagle (AE.v, see
Copper Basket below), plus a dash of relief rally in ARIC.
Our regular pro-forma table of contents on OCI gives a
more granular look:
OCI.v: PRO FORMA Marketable Secs, Investments in Assocs, Cash
ticker shares owned(m) PPS valueC$m Cents/share
AE.v 11.68 1.06 12.39 5.0
AE.v warrant 0.10 0.76 0.08 0.0
ARIC.v 7.39 0.500 3.70 1.5
ARIC.v warrant 4.17 0.300 1.25 0.5
QCCU.v 39.10 0.13 5.08 2.1
MIS.cse 24.71 0.04 0.99 0.4
subtotal 23.48 9.5
Est.cash 1.50 0.6
Total 24.98 10.1c
At 247.714 S/O
Our liquid-ish assets count comes to 10.c this weekend, which means that even after OCI’s very
decent run last week (including reasonable, almost-not-quite tradable volume at 7c) there’sa
34.7% arb this weekend. Lots of room for 8c and above if its holdings keep doing what they’ve
been doing.
Libero Copper (LBC.v): This promo momentum trade has gone off the boil somewhat in the
last couple of weeks, but that’s okay and as we’re in at a reasonable price, it’s easy enough o
wait for (what we expect to be) the second leg of this pumpjob. That’s when the assay results
start coming from Mocoa and that’s also when I plan to sell and get off this particular vehicle,
while it’s in motion.
Marimaca Copper (MARI.to): A rollercoaster of
a trading week for the MARI share price.
Observers of this company (your author included)
have known that its thin volume and very tight-
handed ownership roster means that if anyone of
even moderate insto size wanted to open a
position, they’d need to pay up. That’s what
happened on Tuesday and while there may have
10
been a little bit of fat-finger with the buyer, I doubt they could have filled for much under the
average price they showed that day. We also see that once the buyer were done (or had been
told not to be so freakin’ stupid about the buy pattern by some corner office suit), MARI quickly
dropped back under the C$5 line however, consider this is nothing less than a prelude for the
price that MARI will command once the PFS is with us and the company begins the shopping
process to the highest bidder.
IMPACT Silver (IPT.v): To the surprise of absolutely
nobody, IPT.v couldn’t hold the artificial price printed last
weekend on the back of that SILJ buying spree and
returned from whence it came. If you took advantage of
the 26c and 27c prices I don’t blame you, personally I’ll
continue to hold this small position for its “leverage to
silver” aspect. However, I’m definitely not a buyer of any
more and if the day comes to add silver equity exposure
soon, it’s far more likely to be via Aftermath (AAG.v) or
maybe even a way-too-cute return to Bear Creek (BCM.v),
as that has dropped right back since our luckily-timed sale.
The Copper Basket
After forty-seven weeks of 2024, The Copper Basket shows a gain of 37.40% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/24 Shares out Market Cap current pps gain/loss%
1 NGEx Minerals NGEX.to 7.16 186.824 2447.39 13.10 83.0%
2 Solaris Res SLS.to 4.13 161.833 734.72 4.54 9.9%
3 Marimaca Cop MARI.to 3.43 93.11 447.86 4.81 40.2%
4 Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v 0.89 169.819 339.64 2.00 124.7%
5 Arizona Sonoran ASCU.to 1.75 159.33 224.66 1.41 -19.4%
6 Los Andes LA.v 11.80 29.519 224.34 7.60 -35.6%
7 Faraday Copper FDY.to 0.63 204.72 184.25 0.90 42.9%
8 American Eagle AE.v 0.26 150.07 159.07 1.06 307.7%
9 Hercules Metals BIG.v 1.38 231 113.19 0.49 -64.5%
10 Oroco Res OCO.v 0.375 236.911 66.34 0.28 -25.3%
11 Element 29 Res ECU.v 0.18 119.31 58.46 0.49 172.2%
12 Kodiak Copper KDK.v 0.58 63.93 26.21 0.41 -29.3%
13 QC Copper QCCU.v 0.12 173.7 22.58 0.13 8.3%
14 C3 Metals CCCM.v 0.61 76.381 19.48 0.255 -58.2%
15 Camino Min COR.v 0.07 206.66 8.27 0.04 -42.9%
NB: All stocks in CAD$ Portfolio avg 37.40%
By a distance, last week was the most interesting week we’ve had for the copper exploreco
sub-sector all year. In fact, I’d go as far as to say the most interesting one since the fiun and
games of February and May of 2021. To make the point, this weekend we present our normal
information deck back-to-front, beginning with the ten-day price chart for copper-the-metal:
11
On the week, copper rallied into the first couple of days and the near-dated futures contract
(HGZ24) peaked on Tuesday/Wednesday at U$4.17/lb (and change), before reverted and
dropping through Thursday and Friday to close at U$4.08/lb or so. In other words, a
reasonable-not-eye-popping 2% gain that was duly handed back to the market, leaving a small
net positive on the week. The kind of action we get when the market tends not to know what
to do or where to go, with disparate fundamentals pulling on copper in different ways (China,
the USD, geopolitics, a bit of fundamental cost data thrown in for fun, etc).
Which makes the results from our 15 exploreco 50% The Copper Basket 2024, weekly evolution
even more impressive than the raw numbers 45%
40%
imply. The basket average rose 11.7%, its biggest 35%
30%
one-week gain of the year and smashed straight
25%
through upside resistance to close nearer 40% 20%
15%
than 30% (chart right). This impressive display 10%
5%
was thanks to big gains across the board, with
0%
just four week-over-week losers (LA.v, OCO.v, -5%
-10%
CCCM.v, KDK.v) and one unchanged stock from
our 15 and no big drops registered. Meanwhile,
six out of our ten winners were double figure
percentage moves, led by Solaris (SLS.to up
35.1%) and followed by American Eagle (AE.v up 21.8%), Camino Minerals (COR.v up 14.3%),
Hercules Metals (BIG.v up 12.2%), NGEx Resources (NGEX.to up 11.4%) and Element 29
(ECU.v up 10.1%) and there’s a valid argument for adding Arizona Sonoran (ASCU.to up 9.3%)
as a seventh big shifter.
It all begs the question as to why: It’s not impossible to see copper-the-metal move one way
and its stocks to move the other, but the size and momentum behind a lot of the moves lastw
eek was telling. It was also concentrated in “hot explroeco plays” such as NGEX, AE, BIG and
yes, I’d even include SLS in that as it has the Warke marketing machine behind it. Which brings
me to a best guess and while I’m the first to admit this is conjecture, the combo of…
Markets rallying on the Trump win
Instos looking for 2025 plays
Copper tipped as the “next big thing” (again)
High season for mining
…looks telling to me. The last few days have seen a lot of conferences and gathering on this
very subject, with CRU/CESCO Hong Kong the week before last probably the biggest, but
followed this week by large metals and mining gatherings in London, Zurich, Dubai and New
Orleans, to name but four on the circuit and we know that a lot of the messaging from assorted
speakers, gurus, experts and those touting the Next Big Thing has been aimed at copper. If
that were the case and the message has fallen into the ears of relative newcomers and/or
financial generalists in these days of November, for one thing they wouldn’t care too much
about positioning during a soft few days for copper (primed as they are for Moon-Per-Pound
copper prices in 2025) and for another, you’d expect them to focus on the biggest, well-known
plays with the bandwidth and brokerage followings to match. Again, we tick off SLS, NGEX, AE
and BIG as obvious candidates. Bottom line: If what we saw fits my conjectured scenario, last
week was dumb money entering copper stocks. I’ll be watching this week for further patterns
to confirm or deny this loose theory.
Meanwhile, the most interesting copper fundies news came from Cochilco at the beginning of
the week, when it published its semiannual report on costs in the country’s copper industry. It
surveys 21 of the biggest producers in the biggest producer nation in the world and covers 94%
of the country’s copper production by tonnages, so we have a decent benchmark here for the
price paid to make copper. The PDF report (3) is Spanish language, but even if that’s not a
strong point it’s worth downloading as the charts and tables are straightforward to understand,
here’s one of the overview charts:
12
ts1naJ ht7naJ ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4bef ht11 ht81 ht52 dr3raM ht01 ht71 ht42 ts13 ht7rpA ht41 ts12 ht82 ht5yam ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2nuj ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht7luj ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4gua ht11 ht81 ht52 ts1pes ht8 ht51 dn22 ht92 ht6tco ht31 ht02 ht72 dr3von ht01 ht71 ht42
source: IKN calcs
The comparative that matters is “1er semester 2023” (first half of 2023) versus “1er semester
2024” (first half of 2024) and while net costs rose from U$2.999/lb to U$3.081/lb due to higher
capex and sustaining capex expenditures, the “Cochilco Cash Cost” blue line dropped
considerably, from U$2.00/lb to U$1.906/lb copper produced.
That’s good news, ladies and gentlemen readers. The report goes into detail about the change
in line items over the period, with this flow chart showing that costs have dropped in key areas
such as material supplies (6.7c/lb), wages (4.0c/lb), electricity (3.7c) etc. To the downside,
interest rates have become more expensive and managerial costs have risen. In the words of
the report summary (translated), “The Cochilco Cash Cost average dropped, mainly due to
favourable market factors such as lower prices in supply materials, energy and fuel. However, it
remains higher than the average levels in the 2015 to 2021 period.” In a world where we’ve got
wearily used to hearing about the inevitable rise in baselinecosts for mining, this fundamentally
established and respected report says that copper opex has finally topped out.
Now for our weekly look at the moves in world copper inventories, data from Cochilco:
The world copper stock aggregate inventory keeps doing what it should be doing at the
back end of a Q4, this time the drop totaled 10,149 metric tonnes (mt) over the three
systems, with a grand total of 473,147mt under roof this weekend.
For the third week running the SHFE dominated tonnage movements, with a net
10,229mt leaving its stores on the week, this Friday’s total being 120,236mt. As seen
below in the dedicated SHFEW tracking chart, we’re again in the realms of normality for
this size of move at this time of year.
A small add at the LME, with copper stocks up 650mt to close at 272,525mt. No biggie
this week.
The Comex dropped 570mt to close at 80,386mt, no biggie part deux.
The dedicated SHFE chart shows another week’s worth of 2024 tracking 2019 closely. Probably
a good thing.
SHFE copper inventory levels, 2019 to 2024
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
Now for some notes on a couple of our basket stocks:
13
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
Solaris Resources (SLS.to): The biggest mover of the week created its own luck by
announcing this development (4):
November 20, 2024 – Quito, Ecuador – Solaris Resources Inc. (TSX: SLS; NYSE: SLSR)
(“Solaris” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the final steps to complete its emigration by
year-end following the Company’s previous announcement to position the Company to maximize
returns for shareholders and protect the interests of stakeholders by aligning with regulators in
Ecuador as Warintza completes the permitting process (see the Company’s news release dated
September 9, 2024).
In connection with the emigration, the Company is pleased to announce the appointment of
Matthew Rowlinson as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective January
1, 2025, to be based in a new office in Zug, Switzerland, with further appointments in this office
to follow. Mr. Rowlinson is uniquely well positioned for this role having most recently served as
the Head of Copper Business Development for Glencore, one of the world’s largest copper
miners.
The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Matthew Rowlinson, Mr.
Rodrigo Borja, and Mr. Hans Wick to the Company’s board of directors effective January 1, 2025.
The Company’s directors in Canada, Mr. Daniel Earle, Ms. Poonam Puri, Mr. Kevin Thomson
and Mr. Ron Walsh will resign from their roles on the board effective January 1, 2025.
The NR continues with details of the corporate moves, check it all out at your leisure but it’s
one of those “We said we would and we were serious” moments. SLS had previously told the
market that due to the new Canadian rules on metals deemed strategically important that limits
sales of mines/projects/etc to China, it would move out of Canada and redomicile. It’s doing so
in no uncertain terms by moving to the capitalist dreamland of Zug in Switzerland and at the
same time, ditching ineffective CEO Dan Earle
(who’s bound to remain in Richard Warke’s
employment somewhere else in his empire) and
bringing in an Ex-Glencore guy to conduct the sale
of Warintza to the highest bidder, almost certainly
Chinese money and most likely the previous
interested suitor Zijin.
We know that at the back end of last year Zijin
was willing to pay C$4.55 for 15% of the
company, the deal that Canada’s heel-dragging
apparently stopped (though we should note that it
was never formally blocked, with SLS and Zijin
withdrawing the plan rather than wait any longer).
We also know that due to its awful CSR situation, SLS has backed itself into a corner over the
years and these days, a Chinese concern is the only logical buyer for Warintza. We also know
that Warke wants out and has been shopping the company for at least 18 months, to no avail.
With the entire set-up moving to a jurisdiction that is famous for not caring where the money
comes from as long as it comes (those numbered Zurich bank accounts, those Nazi painting
and bullion storage services and you may also recall the Swiss sold their watches to both sides
during WW2), the market quickly surmised that a sale would follow this re-dom and bought up
the stock accordingly. The bet is now on Warke the Rainmaker to make it rain and, as he’s
managed to do so on several occasions (Rosemont, Ventana, Hermosa etc), the bigger money
piled on with this development. Me? I’m all-too aware of how many times these Warke plays
have left the buyer holding a bag sue to unforeseen permitting or CSR issues and it’s notable
how none of the above projects have managed to get off the ground yet. So with Warintza’s
plainly awful community issues in plain sight, there’s more risk to this than meets the eye. You
never know, one day even the Chinese may work this out.
American Eagle (AE.v): Off it runs again:
AE wasn’t the only copper stock to hit a run of
sustained buying, but it was one that got it at the
very end of the week and over half a million shares
traded on Friday brought up its first Loonie-Plus
14
close. All on no news and in a period when we’re expecting assay NRs to drop regularly, so the
week ahead may be able to confirm whether AE has a leaky boat or not.
NGEx Resources (NGEX.to): Another of the week’s big copper winners on no news and
perhaps the biggest hint that we have new money positioning in exploreco-stage copper
companies, the $13+ finish marks a new ATH for NGEX and the Lundin train rolls on.
Arizona Sonoran (ASCU.to): If you put a gun to my head for the name of one copper
exploreco stock to rally in the week ahead, it would be this one.
If we run with my loose theory that insto or larger cash positioning in copper exploreco stories
for 2025 is the reason behind the sub-sector’s rally last week, then the 9.2% added by ASCU is
likely the first upmove of its run. The 12 month chart shows plenty of technical upside available,
this stock is covered by all the sell side brokerages, it’s suspiciously loved by nearly all the high
traffic newsletters despite its rotten performance compared to peers over the last two years, it’s
recently got new money in that would be happy to see a round of marketing pump, it has the
right attributes to attract the casual observer with location, grade, management, development
path, even the “Trump Benefit” of potentially easier permitting, all playing into its story.
A quick $1.40 to $1.70 move represents a 20% fliptrsade opportunity and nobody would bat an
eyelid seeing this stock do what it’s already done on several occasions recently.
The Producer Basket
After 47 weeks of 2024, the Producer Basket shows a gain of 33.65% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/24 Shares out MktCap(U$Bn) current pps gain/loss%
1 Newmont NEM 41.39 1152.6 50.00 43.38 4.8%
2 Agnico Eagle AEM 54.85 497.971 41.98 84.30 53.7%
3 Barrick GOLD 18.09 1748.05 31.85 18.22 0.7%
4 Franco-Nevada FNV 110.81 192.119 23.76 123.69 11.6%
5 Pan American PAAS 16.33 364.439 8.23 22.58 38.3%
6 Lundin Gold LUGDF 12.64 238.883 5.68 23.79 88.2%
7 Hecla Mining HL 4.81 617.768 3.41 5.52 14.8%
8 Eldorado Gold EGO 12.97 204.909 3.39 16.56 27.7%
9 Dundee PM DPMLF 6.43 180.051 1.71 9.52 48.1%
10 Wesdome Gold WDOFF 5.83 148.95 1.29 8.67 48.7%
All prices and stock quotes in U$ Port. avg 33.65%
Last week all ten losers, this week all ten winners and thanks to the rally led by gold and the
Tier 1 companies, we’re back to pure green on the table again. The biggest winners on the
week were Lundin Gold (LUGDF up 11.4%) and Wesdome Gold (WDOFF up 10.3%), but the
real laurels belong to the majors Agnico (AEM up 9.8%), Barrick (GOLD up 9.4%) and yes,
15
even staid old Franco-Nevada (FNV up 8.6%) as the larger money decided that gold’s here to
stay and this isn’t the same market that reacted to Trump in 2016.
Nearly all the sector companies showed gains on the week of course, with GDX rallying 7.8%
and GDXJ 7.2% (another indicator of the top-down direction of money coming in, the rotation
to lesser companies comes later). In that light, the 6.0% added by Newmont (NEM) was a bit of
an under-performance, though the only real laggard of our ten last week was Hecla (HL), up
just 0.4% since IKN809.
The 2024 Producer Basket: Weekly performance and
60% comparative to GDX control
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
-10%
-20%
Overall, we beat the GDX by a modest amount and our lead over the benchmark is back above
10% again, which is good.
Barrick Gold (GOLD) (ABX.to): No big producers’ section this week, just a word on the
decent rally put in by Barrick after we’d pointed at it as one of the oversold companies most
likely to rally last week. For sure it wasn’t difficult to pick a
winner among the large gold producers, but GOLD didn’t
better than most and it’s not very often that the biggest
companies beat out the GDX median.
With that, GOLD is back in the green for the year but I
think there’s plenty more to come from this stock in the
last five weeks of 2024…as long as gold remains bullish,
that is.
The TinyCaps List
After 47 weeks of 2024, the TinyCaps show a gain of 31.90% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/24 Shares out Mkt Cap current pps gain/loss%
Aston Bay BAY.v 0.065 252.95 16.44 0.065 0.0%
Awalé Res ARIC.v 0.135 86.798 43.40 0.50 270.4%
District Metals DMX.v 0.170 106.98 37.98 0.355 108.8%
Endurance Gold EDG.v 0.18 150.136 21.02 0.14 -22.2%
Kirkland LDC KLDC.v 0.100 88.625 3.55 0.04 -60.0%
Latin Metals LMS.v 0.075 96.476 8.20 0.085 13.3%
Palamina Corp PA.v 0.130 71.285 8.55 0.12 -7.7%
South Star STS.v 0.750 52.64 28.95 0.55 -26.7%
Surge Copper SURG.v 0.090 284.79 27.06 0.095 5.6%
Viva Gold VAU.v 0.120 118.384 19.53 0.165 37.5%
Prices in CAD$, data from TSXV basket avg 31.90%
16
ts1naJ ht7naJ ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4bef ht11 ht81 ht52 dr3raM ht01 ht71 ht42 ts13 ht7rpA ht41 ts12 ht82 ht5yam ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2nuj ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht7luj ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4gua ht11 ht81 ht52 ts1pes ht8 ht51 dn22 ht92 ht6tco ht31 ht02 ht72 dr3von ht01 ht71 ht42
The 2024 Producer Basket: Percentage diff. between
GDX benchmark & basket (negative= IKN ahead)
2%
0%
ikn -2%
gdx control
-4%
-6%
-8%
-10%
-12%
-14%
source: IKN calcs -16%
ts1naJ ht7naJ ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4bef ht11 ht81 ht52 dr3raM ht01 ht71 ht42 ts13 ht7rpA ht41 ts12 ht82 ht5yam ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2nuj ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht7luj ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4gua ht11 ht81 ht52 ts1pes ht8 ht51 dn22 ht92 ht6tco ht31 ht02 ht72 dr3von ht01 ht71 ht42
source: IKN calcs, NYSE data
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.
TinyCaps, 2024 weekly tracker
Overall, a marginally negative week for the TinyCaps 100%
basket as it begins the regular limping-into- 90%
80%
Christmas period these stocks tend to go through. 70%
The average dropped by 1.79% (small), and there 60%
50%
were an equal number of winners (ARIC.v, DMX.v, 40%
EDG.v, KLDC.v, VAU.v) and losers (BAY.v, LMS.v, 30%
20%
PA.v, STS.v, SURG.v) on the list, with the biggest 10%
moves to the downside (PA.v down 17.2%, LMS.v 0%
down 15.0%) making the difference.
Palamina Corp (PA.v): With the dust now fully settled on the recent run-up/run-down of PA
shares, here’s the YTD chart to consider what happened:
Ever wanted a role model price chart for “buy the rumour and sell the news?” Exhibit A.
Aston Bay Holdings (BAY.v): And on the subject of dropping out of favour…
…it seems the Australian-led pump. In this case, we offer the 2-year chart as BAY.v shares have
seen a couple of big moments; in 2023 the arrival of the Oz money into the type of splashy drill
results we’ve always associated with the high-grading though remote, Storm. Then this year a
more sustained effort that culminated in recent results that even this cynical desk appreciated
17
ts1naJ ht7naJ ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4bef ht11 ht81 ht52 dr3raM ht01 ht71 ht42 ts13 ht7rpA ht41 ts12 ht82 ht5yam ht21 ht91 ht62 dn2nuj ht9 ht61 dr32 ht03 ht7luj ht41 ts12 ht82 ht4gua ht11 ht81 ht52 ts1pes ht8 ht51 dn22 ht92 ht6tco ht31 ht02 ht72 dr3von ht01 ht71 ht42
source: IKN calcs, TSX data
as somewhat more interesting than the norm from the project. However, reversion to the mean
is now underway and maybe the momo chasers have worked out that geography really does
matter as much as geology on this trade.
Awalé Resources (ARIC.v): Up 7.5% on the week, which looks good enough but it also fits
closely with our updated strategy call on ARIC stock: The new numbers out of Odienné are
good enough to bring price support, but it’s going to need results that really catch the market’s
imagination to blast higher in the way it did in March.
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
Argentina: Milei gets a tailwind
We’ve followed the ups and downs of Argentina’s President Javier Milei and his government
closely in national opinion polls, because it’s a key element that will tell us not only how his
deep reforms are going, but his chances of eventually succeeding. The most recent update saw
Milei’s popularity slipping somewhat, but this time around things are looking a little better.
Unlike many other LatAm states, Argentina has a constant slew of opinion polls and that might
be due to its higher literacy standards and culture of debate, but is just as likely due to the
feeding of its innate neurosis and constant introspection as a country (you have to experience
it, nobody does Argentina love/hate more than an Argentine). That means there’s no end of
data to choose from and the job of the discerning commentator is to pick the poll that has its
finger on the pulse, rather than dump a dozen results on their reader. Today we’re going with
the consultancy company Isasi Burdman and its November poll (5). First and foremost, it gives
Milei a 53% approval rating, with 40% against him and 7% remaining neutral. That’s up a little
but importantly it’s up, the first uptick since Q2 and evidence that he’s managing to hold on to
his so-called Honeymoon Period longer than the average Argentine head of state. And let me
add here on a personal basis, we’re coming up to a year in office and he’s managed to stay
popular longer than I expected…good for him and one of those occasions when I’m happy to be
wrong. The same survey included this (translation to English by this desk):
The 2025 elections referenced are the Legislatives of late October 2025, in which nearly 50% of
seats in the lower House of Congress (deputies) and one third of the upper house (Senate)
seats are up for grabs in a provincial election process that’s traditional and very important in
the country’s election cycle, normally viewed as a “mid-term” by the world and a referendum on
how the current national government/president is doing. Therefore, it’s no small matter to see
those candidate that support Milei’s policies receive a clear opinion advantage among the
18
electorate at this stage. Over and above the personal approval uptick of a point or two, Milei
and his team are bound to be very happy about that specific data point.
And before leaving, it’s likely Milei is getting some reflected glory from the Trump win in The
USA, what with the strong mutual support between the two. There’s more than just the future
of The USA at play in the next four years and those on the outside looking in are keenly aware
for that.
Chile: The right wing takes control
I’m a little late to covering this. At the time I wasn’t sure whether it was a story worth noting in
a mining publication but on due consideration, and taking into account what’s happening in
other regional countries, a quick word is in order.
Four weeks ago, Chile held its municipal and regional elections to elect representatives for each
region well as for the 246 or so communidades (municipalities) in the country. Without going
into too much depth, it’s fair to broad brush the results by saying the political right did very well
and that augurs positively for whoever the right decides to put forward as its candidate or
candidates) for the Presidential election, due November next year. As a result and although
very early in the process, latest opinion polls handicap the race to take over from left wing
Gabriel Boric as follows (6):
Evelyn Matthei (right) 24% voter intention
José Antonio Kast (hard right): 14% voter intention
Michelle Bachelet (centre left): 6% voter intention
Tomás Vodanovic (left): 4% voter intention
After those comes a gaggle of present government left wing politicos on 2% and please recall,
sitting President Gabriel Boric is ineligible as there’s no consecutive re-election allowed in Chile.
You’ll certainly recognize two-time President Michelle Bachelet and you’ll probably know the
name José Antonio Kast, losing candidate from the match-up with Boric. As for the current early
frontrunner, Evelyn Matthei comes from the orthodox right wing and is current the mayor of
one of the regions. So at this stage, Chile seems ready to decide “what kind of righty”, rather
than a straight left vs right battle and a lot will depend on the dynamic between the top two.
We fully expect Kast to run for President without compromise, but that decision may put him in
direct conflict with Matthei and let the left in via the back door (e.g. the moderate lefty
Bachelet), if only to the second round run-off. We stress it’s early days in the Chile process but,
once again, we’re seeing South America shift to the right after the high-water mark left by
Petro in 2022 (Lula in Brazil notwithstanding, he got in because his opponent, the incumbent
Bolsonaro, was roundly hated).
A Peruvian mining postcard
It’s time to catch up with the political background in Peru as pertains to mining, one of the big
players in LatAm’s mining world and with plenty of moving parts to consider, as the macro tides
are now affecting the world of mining reform and may end with country’s legislature kicking out
the current Minister of Energy and Mining, Romulos Mucho, basically because he’s too honest
and is trying to improve the country. We begin with two recent opinion polls that offer a harsh,
but wholly but accurate, snapshot of the popularity of President Dina Boluarte and her
government. Last weekend, reliable polling company Datum published a voter approval poll
commissioned by Peru’s newspaper of record, En Comercio (7):
Approval: 3%
Disapproval: 94%
No reply/no opinion: 3%
This weekend (8), the equally established pollster CPI for Peru’s main news radio station, RPP:
Approval: 5.1%
Disapproval: 89.5%
No reply/no opinion: 5.4%
19
These are all-time record lows for Peru (and arguably any democratic country) and the
contempt is almost as deep for her cabinet (e.g. Prime Minister 6% approval) and the current
Congress (8% approval), a body in cahoots with her and allowing her to stay in office as long in
exchange for they want, i.e. money.
If that wasn’t enough, this week the courts handed down an order to arrest and remand
President Dina Boluarte’s brother, Nicanor Boluarte, into custody for 36 months while the
charges against him for “Influence trafficking” (i.e. pay to play political corruption) are
investigated. The ex-lawyer of Dina Boluarte also got 24 months remand, however both have
fled from arrest and are hiding out in undisclosed locations (9). And yes, before you ask, these
pay-to-play escapades are directly related to deals cut with his sister, who is immune from
prosecution while in office (but will get the full treatment as soon as she leaves). This goes a
long way to explaining why Boluarte allows Congress to do what they want and when they want
it, because that’s the only body between her and a forced resignation, which would be followed
almost certainly by her own arrest and incarceration.
We’re also seeing the continued rise in illegal gold mining’s political power in the country, a
subject we last broached in IKN801 dated September 22nd in “Peru: The growing problem of
illegal mining” and then in IKN802 dated September 29th in “Peru: More on illegal mining”. At
the centre of the issue is the government’s attempts to bring its informal mining scene under
control, via a new law package under the acronym MAPE (La Ley de la Pequeña Minería y
Minería Artesanal, if you care enough) which seeks to replace the current REINFO law that’s full
of loopholes and allows informal/illegal miners to sign on to the process and then ignore it
indefinitely. Peru’s current Minister of Energy and Mining, Romulo Mucho, is behind the law
change and due to that, he’s facing fierce pushback. On the one hand, last week saw
widespread roadblocks in the South of the country by mining concerns that don’t want to be
brought under the formalization umbrella (and face paying taxes, adhering to environmental
laws, paying standardized wages etc). On the other, Señor Mucho is now under charge from
the Congress for not doing his job right as regards this law and will likely face censorship soon.
That’s because a large swathe of members of Congress are bribed by illegal mining concerns
and Mucho is a threat to their lucrative games. Indeed, a study out of the Peruvian Institute of
Economics (Instituto Peruano de Economía (IPE)) last week (10) estimated that illegal mining in
the country is worth U$6.84Bn (with a B) per annum and is now responsible for 44% of all
illegal gold production in South America (with Colombia in second place). Luciana Cáceda, the
economist leading the study, did a round of interviews on the study last week and along the
way, had this to say about the Peru government’s REINFO formalization program (translated):
“What REINFO does is cover informal miners, legally protecting them under REINFO
and absolving them from any legal responsibility. This therefore encourages illegal
miners to get involved with REINFO, pretend they’re in the formalization process but in
actual fact, they’re still operating illegally. REINFO needs to close down and replaced by
formalization measures with strict time limits and that do not absolve operators from
legal penalties.”
This is what Minister Romulo Mucho is up against. He’s watched REINFO be abused over the
years and successive governments place a time limit on the formalization processes it covers,
only to extend them again and again in a Groundhog Day process that’s gone on for 20 years,
basically as long as this desk has been covering the mining industry in Peru (which may or may
not be a long time, but it sure feels like it). Minister Romulo Mucho is keenly aware of this and
it’s the driving force behind swapping REINFO for MAPE and has already said that he’ll resign
before getting kicked out by this corrupt Congress. In his translated words (11), “My resignation
will not solve the problem. This isn’t something that has started recently; this comes from
problems of 20 years ago.” However, by now you’ve probably worked out that it’s in the best
(worst) interests of Peru’s corrupt Congress to stop any sort of reform for informal mining and
due to the hold that body of thieves has over President Boluarte, she will do nothing about it
and can offer scant political protection to her minister
Bottom line: It’s difficult to put into words just how dysfunctional Peru has become as a
country, not least because from the outside looking in it seems rather quiet, controlled and a
20
good place to do business. The REINFO/MAPE issue is a serious problem and shows how
difficult real and positive reform is in the country, but it’s hardly the only one (as anyone who’s
used tried to build in Lima or use its public transport system will know, self-serving mafia
groups control much of what happens and without what’s normally known as “contributions”
(they use “the word “vaccinations” in Colombia, same thing) you can’t get ahead. One fine day
the country will explode and take a lot of investment dollars with it, when it does people on the
outside looking in will scratch their heads and wonder why. And to repeat a previous forecast,
as stands a likely inflection point is still Q1 and Q2 2026, when the next Presidential election is
due to happen.
Panama: Cobre Panama story continues
We’ve kept our eye on the rumbling story around the First Quantum (FM.to) Cobre Panamá
mine in the eponymous country this year, with notes in IKN781 dated May 5th, IKN790 dated
July 7th and IKN791 dated July 14th, among others. Our ballpark scenario was laid down in
IKN781 and adjusted slightly in IKN790, but remains largely on track:
Panama runs its enviro audit on the mine site, reports back in 2025
The audit offers no red flags to its re-opening
Mulino tests to political waters and gauges opposition to re-opening
The new President opens the debate on mining,
He allows the 120,000mt or so of copper concentrate stored on site at Cobre Panama
to be exported, breaking the port blockade.
President Mulino points to the severe financial penalty Panama would suffer if it lost
the ICSID/CIADI international tribunal, then attempts to bring parliament around to a
negotiated settlement with FM.
In the “enviro vs economy” argument, the new strict controls on the company (at least
new in the eyes of the general public) are enough to tip the balance
Mine re-opens
None this will happen overnight and in our scenario, 2025 was always going to be more
important than this year. Therefore, the comments made last week by Mulino were right on
track with our expectations (12) (13):
Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has strongly condemned the previous government for its
mismanagement of the crisis surrounding First Quantum Minerals’ (TSX: FM) $6.5 billion Cobre
Panama copper mine.
The operation, First Quantum’s flagship mine, was shut down a year ago following a Supreme
Court ruling that declared its concession contract unconstitutional.
Mulino attributed the closure to widespread public dissatisfaction with former President
Laurentino Cortizo’s administration.
“The mine paid the price for accumulated national discontent, under a government with only 25%
popularity and overwhelming public rejection,” stated Mulino, who took office in July, according to
BNAmericas. “They couldn’t manage such a critical issue, let alone in the manner they
attempted.”
The decision to invalidate the mine’s permit followed mounting protests. Critics accused the
Cortizo government of failing to address long standing legal and environmental concerns tied to
the project, which accounted for nearly 5% of Panama’s GDP.
It’s a cute twist to blame the Cortizo government, what with Mulino coming directly from the
Cortizo ranks and one of his strongest political supporters, but that’s what politicians do at
times like these. Mulino was indeed testing the waters last week and all sides will note the
comparative lack of pushback from the anti-mine enviro lobby, plus the “we need the
jobs/money” support from its backers. All this is prelude to the next real milestone moment,
that’s the environment audit now currently taking place and due to report back in Q1 2025 and
as we put it in IKN791, “…do not be surprised at all, as in AT ALL, when the results come back
and the country is informed that it’s possible to re-open the mine under new and stringent
enviro controls, avoid that massive international tribunal lawsuit and bring jobs and hard dollars
into the country, etc etc
21
Market Watching
A reminder of your author’s chronic weakness via SilverCrest (SILV) (SIL.to)
Or that should be “one of your author’s chronic
weaknesses”. After deciding to cash in on SilverCrest
Metals (SILV) in IKN808 and doing so at U$9.76, we
reported on the closed position last weekend in IKN809
and while profitable enough, I couldn’t help but feel I’d
found another way of leaving value on the table. Sure
enough (right) SILV managed to rally last week without
me, up 7.7% and trading solidly over the U$10 line all
week. I suck at micro-timing and you, kind reader, should
not forget that.
From bad to worse at New Found Gold (NFG.v) (NFGC)
I don’t want to start rubbernecking this car crash on a regular basis, but the way New Found
Gold (NFGC) (NFG.v) traded last week merits a quick
addition comment to the ones we made last weekend
in IKN809:
Despite the rally in gold, despite the money coming
for precious metals companies and stories of all types
and despite making a positive early pop itself into the
opening bell on Monday, NFG ended the week down
another 11.8% and the word seems to be out that
there’s a cadaver to be picked over. The next serious
move will have to come from the company, as we
know it wants to raise more capital for the year
ahead. Telling times, indeed.
Fitzroy Minerals (FTZ.v) reopens for trading
An erstwhile member of the Stocks to Follow Watch List before its recent announcement to
merge with a privco on dubious terms that greatly favour company insiders and their friends
(see “Dropping Fitzroy Minerals (FTZ.v)” in IKN806 dated November 3rd), Fitzroy Minerals
(FTZ.v) has been on trade halt since the announcement as Canadian authorities investigated
the deal. As expected, there were no red flags to stop the deal from going ahead (do not
confuse the legally permissible with morally vacuous), but there were stilla few declarations that
the insiders had to provide in order to get the halt lifted, such as disclosing finder’s fees that
they would have preferred to keep out the public view….another and minor layer of this scam.
Anyway, to the point of today’s brief update and on re-opening for business…
22
FTZ.v dropped from the (probably artificially high) 26c to close at 19.5c on Friday. That’s quite
a drop, but I’m sure the insiders to this deal aren’t sweating it too much, their job is to promote
the 20c-plus-half-warrant placement in order to justify the merger price for the privco and
seeing trades settle around that level is a near-optimum result. The scam is still alive. By way of
a quick reminder, the fun here is watching Matthew Gordon of Crux Investor, along with fellow
Crux presenter and FTZ CEO Merlin Marr-Johnson, sell the Gordon-owned and controlled privco
Ptolemy to FTZ for the share equivalent of C$17.6m, after having spent around $1.5m on the
exploreco’s development (and getting 200k worth of “exclusivity fees” out of the pubco to
boot). This is the type of deal that gives the junior market its richly deserved bad name; this
sector is always about risk versus reward and our job, as retail investors is to find the
companies that offer an asymmetric advantage. In this case, the property and project can be as
prospective and promising as you like, but when insiders grab all the reward on an a priori
basis, they hand over all the risk to those coming in on the “opportunity”. This is what truly
sticks in the craw about this type of sordid, heads-I-win-tails-you-lose deal, as insiders reduce
their own risk to zero and when then promise you they’re “all in it together.
Bottom line: The Crux Investor team will get away with this legal larceny, filling their boots with
20c shares purchased for a fraction of the cost. At that point, work will begin on the El Buen
Retiro property and whatever happens with the drillbit and the trenching machine happens and
they may even get lucky, but the principle objective of deals such as this one is to transfer cash
from the pockets of the unsuspecting and into those of the insiders. That will happen long
before the fate of this company is decided. Avoid like the plague.
Conclusion
IKN810 is done, we end with just a couple of bullet points:
The decent gold rally was very welcome, but it’s still not a confident market for metals
and you only have to look as far as the weakness in copper for evidence.
That said, the copper juniors may do just as well this week as they did last and if so,
put Arizona Sonoran (ASCU.to) near the top of your list.
Meamwhile, Minera Alamos (MAI.v) is now on notice. A Top Pick stock is supposed to
have all its ducks in line vis-à-vis retail, its time this stock proved that and gave back
some of the love it’s been offered in 2023 and 2024.
Barrick rallied nicely, but still looks cheap.
I thank you in advance for any feedback. Our Top Pick stocks are Rio2 Ltd (RIO.v) and 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.
23
Footnotes, appendices, references, disclaimer
(1) https://mineraalamos.com/news/2024/minera-alamos-announces-c-8.5-million-bought-deal-private-placement-of-
common-shares/
(2) https://mineraalamos.com/site/assets/files/4225/mai_-_life_offering_document_conformed_65172851_1.pdf
(3) https://www.cochilco.cl/web/observatorio-de-costos-primer-semestre-de-2024/
(4) https://www.solarisresources.com/news/press-releases/solaris-announces-final-steps-to-complete-emigration-by-
year-end-including-management-and-board-changes-growth-oriented-spin-out-anticipated-in-2025
(5) https://grupolaprovincia.com/contenido/578541/encuesta-de-noviembre-que-votante-cambio-de-opinion-sobre-milei
(6) https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2024/11/18/evelyn-matthei-y-jose-antonio-kast-siguen-al-alza-en-la-
carrera-presidencial-chilena-segun-una-encuesta/
(7) https://rpp.pe/politica/gobierno/encuesta-datum-aprobacion-de-dina-boluarte-desciende-hasta-el-3-y-alcanza-record-
negativo-durante-su-mandato-noticia-1598925?ref=rpp
(8) https://rpp.pe/politica/gobierno/dina-boluarte-solo-un-51-de-peruanos-aprueba-la-gestion-de-la-presidenta-segun-
encuesta-de-cpi-noticia-1600208?ref=rpp
(9) https://rpp.pe/politica/judiciales/poder-judicial-dicto-24-meses-de-prision-preventiva-contra-mateo-castaneda-
exabogado-de-la-presidenta-dina-boluarte-noticia-1600031?ref=rpp
(10) https://www.rcrperu.com/ipe-mineria-ilegal-en-peru-genera-6-840-millones-al-ano-y-lidera-exportaciones-ilicitas-de-
oro-en-sudamerica/
(11) https://elcomercio.pe/economia/reinfo-romulo-mucho-mi-renuncia-no-resuelve-el-problema-de-la-mineria-informal-
noticia/
(12) https://www.rumbominero.com/peru/noticias/internacionales/presidente-panama-gobierno-anterior-crisis-mina-de-
first-quantum/
(13) https://www.mining.com/panamas-president-blames-previous-govt-for-first-quantum-mine-crisis/
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
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Goldshore Res GSHR.v Nov'22 C$0.18 23-Oct-22 C$0.34 88.9% Quick profit taken
Palamina Corp PA.v Dec'22 C$0.295 21-Nov-21 C$0.08 -72.9% Clear-out of underperformer
Pure Gold PGM.h Dec'22 C$0.14 26-Sep-22 C$0.015 -89.3% tiny trade on vh risk, went Ch11
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2021
Closed in 2021 closed close price
Fiore Gold F.v jan'21 C$0.98 21-May-20 C$1.17 19.4% closed as part of rebalance
Norsemont Min NOM.cse feb'21 C$1.55 6-Set-20 C$0.70 -54.8% Cut loser to reduce Au exp.
Element 29 Res ECU.v feb'21 C$0.49 7-Feb-21 C$0.54 10.2% Cut Peru exposure
Kuya Silver KUYA.cse feb'21 C$1.66 8-Nov-20 C$2.51 51.2% Cut Peru exposure
Pucara Gold TORO.v apr'21 C$0.65 4-Oct-20 C$0.26 -60.0% Cut loser, Peru risk call
Copper Mountain CMMC.to apr'21 C$1.40 22-Nov-20 C$4.18 198.6% tgt hit, profit taken
New Gold NGD may'21 U$0.76 9-Feb-20 U$2.14 181.6% Sold to buy AGC, nice win
Orezone Gold ORE.v jun'21 C$0.79 21-Jun-20 C$1.61 103.8% sold on pop, leaky boat
Wolfden Res. WLF.v sep'21 C$0.30 11-Apr-21 C$0.19 -36.7% Failed spec trade, cut loss
Cartier Res ECR.v sep'21 C$0.32 21-Mar-21 C$0.235 -26.6% Failed spec trade, cut loss
Amarillo Gold AGC.v sep'21 C$0.31 30-May-21 C$0.30 -3.2% Capex story changed: Out
Excelsior Mining MIN.to oct'21 C$0.93 10-Mar-19 C$0.53 -43.0% May return in 2022
Royal Road Min. RYR.v nov'21 C$0.155 17-Mar-19 C$0.275 77.4% Closed on Nica pol risk
Aurelius Min. AUL.v dec'21 C$0.75 28-Jun-20 0.24 -68.0% cut end 2021, failed trade
Argonaut Gold AR.to dec'21 C$2.95 25-Jun-21 C$2.15 -27.1% cut on capex blowout
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2020
Closed in 2020 closed close price
TMAC Resources TMR.to Jan'20 C$3.41 20-Dec-19 C$3.61 5.9% TLS flip play, sold new year
Regulus Res REG.v Jan'20 C$1.10 20-Dec-19 C$1.30 18.2% TLS flip play, profit taken
Bonterra Res BTR.v Jan'20 C$1.90 9-Dec-19 C$1.66 -12.6% TLS flip play, loss taken
McEwen Mining MUX Jan'20 U$1.12 2-Dec-19 U$1.18 5.4% TLS flip play, profit taken
Core Gold CGLD.v Jan'20 C$0.255 7-Apr-19 C$0.305 19.6% arb trade, profit taken
HudBay Min HBM Jan'20 U$3.56 9-Dec-19 U$3.36 -5.6% TLS flip play, loss taken
Midas Gold MAX.to Feb'20 C$0.71 5-Jan-20 C$0.57 -19.7% sm & silly trade
Warrior Gold WAR.v Feb'20 C$0.08 3-Aug-18 C$0.05 -31.3% clean out non-perf sm stocks
Contact Gold C.v Feb'20 C$0.40 19-Aug-18 C$0.18 -55.0% clean out non-perf sm stocks
Sandstorm Gold SAND Feb'20 U$3.73 17-Apr-16 U$7.21 93.3% Sold during port rebalance
NexGen Energy NXE Feb'20 U$1.20 2-Dec-19 U$1.06 -11.7% TLS flip play, loss taken
MAG Silver MAG Apr'20 U$8.95 1-Mar-20 U$10.07 12.5% Sold to cut silver exposure
Alexco Res AXU Apr'20 U$1.69 7-Sep-17 U$1.69 0.0% sold to close Ag exp. in FY20
Bonterra Res BTR.v Jun'20 C$1.62 2-Feb-20 C$1.10 -32.1% under-performer cash moved
Regulus Res REG.v Jun'20 C$0.64 6-Apr-15 C$0.79 23.4% moved $ TMQ/MIN & Au stocks
Great Panther GPR.to Aug'20 C$0.60 21-Jun-20 C$1.10 83.3% Profit taken, good trade
Jaguar Mining JAG.v Aug'20 C$0.42 21-Jun-20 C$0.65 54.8% Profit taken, good trade
Sandstorm Gold SAND Aug'20 U$7.76 10-May-20 U$9.37 20.7% Profit taken, good trade
Integra Resources ITR.v Aug'20 C$2.23 13-Aug-18 C$5.40 142.2% Profit taken, good trade
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
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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
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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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