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The IKN Weekly
Week 868, week of January 11th 2026
Contents
This Week: Trade heads-up, In today’s edition, US data and SCOTUS heads up, Feeling wobbly about
copper.
Fundamental Analysis: Mayfair Gold (MFG.v) and an interesting gold project.
Stocks to Follow: Overview, Amerigo Resources (ARG.to), American Eagle (AE.v), Electrum Discovery
(ELY.v), Wesdome Gold (WDO.to), Valkea Resources (OZ.v), Minera Alamos (MAI.v), Orecap Inv (OCI.v),
Tiernan Gold (TNGD.v).
The Copper Basket: Overview, Los Andes Copper (LA.v), Fitzroy Copper (FTZ.v), Hot Chili (HCH.v), Algo
Grande Copper (ALGR.v), Surge Copper (SURG.v).
The Producer Basket: Overview, Agnico Eagle (AEM), B2Gold (BTG) (BTO.to).
The TinyCaps Basket: Overview, Electrum Disc Corp (ELY.v), Sranan Gold (SRAN.cn), Silver Wolf
Exploration (SWLF.v).
Regional Politics: Ecuador suddenly more expensive for new mines, Bolivia is still going downhill, Colombia:
Right favoured over left in round two.
Market Watching: West Red Lake Gold (WRLG.v) 4q25 production.
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
Trade heads-up
Three trades planned for the week ahead:
 Selling American Eagle (AE.v): Taking profits
 Selling Electrum Discovery Corp (ELY.v): Taking profits
 Partial sale of Amerigo Resources (ARG.to): Taking profits on approximately 20% of the current trade
The first two were planned as near-term trades and while the sale decisions have come earlier than even I
expected, locking in a couple of modesty wins was an easy decision. As for Amerigo Resources (ARG.to), its
run has been exceptionally good but with my nerves now rising about a near-term reversal in copper and the
profits shown, it’s time to take some of the money off the table. See the notes in Stocks to Follow for more
on all three decisions. See the intro, too.
In today’s edition
 The first sales of the year planned, with profits taken in two of our fliptrades (AE.v) (ELY.v) and a
partial sale planned in one of the big winners of the last year, Amerigo Resources (ARG.to). It’s a
combo of reasons, with ELY coming under offer, plus AE and ARG allowing a way to cut down on
copper exposure.
 Regarding copper and those planned trades, today’s Copper Basket commentary is supplemented by
the main intro piece in which I lay out my concerns that the metal is now flying too-high-too-fast. Fact
is, our ballpark scenario is for weakness in January and February before the bullish sentiment kicks
back in, so in effect the sale of AE and partial profit-take in ARG are a case of putting money where
mouth is.
 Our main fundies section marks cards on an interesting development project, as Mayfair Gold (MFG.v)
delivered the PFS (or at least the NR on the PFS, which will hit SEDAR later) on its Fenn-Gib asset in
Timmins, Ontario, Canada. The share price took a hit on the news and I get why that might have
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happened, but I also like the “serious” nature of this project and the stance being taken by its
management team and (most importantly) backers.
 As well as selling Electrum Discovery (ELY.v), the fact that it’s come under offer so early in the year
and is about to be mergered out of existence means I’m going to retire it from the TinyCaps list and
replace it with another smallcap that should provide better representation through the upcoming year.
The vote goes to Sranan Gold (SRAN.cn), one that was suggested by a couple of readers (you know
who you are) and has plenty about it to like, at least as a speculative risk trade on gold.
 Other things, too. There are always other things.
US data and SCOTUS heads up
The main US data event this week is on Tuesday, when we get the latest inflation reading and according to
the good Mr. McBride (1)…
8:30 AM: The Consumer Price Index for December from the BLS. The consensus is for 0.3%
increase in CPI, and a 0.3% increase in core CPI. The consensus is for CPI to be up 2.7% year-over-
year and core CPI to be up 2.7% YoY.
…so now you know. Then on Wednesday we get PPI (expected 0.3% headline, 0.2% core) as well as another
potential market mover in November Retail Sales, which is forecast at 0.4%.
Meanwhile, we need to keep an eye on the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) as they are close
to handing down a ruling on the Trump Tariffs and if you’re looking for a Black Swan event that might affect
copper, to borrow from court parlance ‘we present Exhibit A’. There was a flurry of opinion last Friday
January 9th (happy birthday to my sister) when SCOTUS announced it would publish on one of its pending
cases, that turned out to be another issue and not the tariffs ruling, but since then it’s said it will announce
more of its decisions on Wednesday January 14th and while they don’t say which ones, that batch may
include the highly anticipated Tariff ruling. Here’s some context from this report (2):
The challenge to Trump's tariffs marks a major test of presidential powers as well as of the court's
willingness to check some of the Republican president's far-reaching assertions of authority since he
returned to office in January 2025. The outcome will also impact the global economy.
During arguments in the case heard by the court on November 5, conservative and liberal justices
appeared to cast doubt on the legality of the tariffs, which Trump imposed by invoking a 1977 law
meant for use during national emergencies. Trump's administration is appealing rulings by lower
courts that he overstepped his authority.
Trump has said tariffs have made the United States stronger financially. In a social media post on
January 2, Trump said a Supreme Court ruling against the tariffs would be a "terrible blow" to the
United States.
This is just in case you need another reason to hedge your copper bets. More on that below.
Feeling wobbly about copper
The repetition may be boring, but this is money not literature. All through 2025, the phrase “Keep dancing
until the music stops” kept me out of trouble and exposed to this bull market for metals. Most prominently
gold, but as true on the industrial metals side for the portfolio’s exposure to copper. However, I’m the first to
admit that along the way, roughly midyear in the July and August period, my resolve got weak and wobbly
for a while and that moment, above all, was when I was happy to have taken my own advice on the need to
keep dancing. Sitting at this end of a metals and mining newsletter and dishing out advice to an audience is
easy, living it is another so I’m keenly aware how listenng to “Long Term Vision Mark” was the right move
and rejecting “Near Term Neurotic Mark” and his intrusive thoughts would have been a costly error last year.
That’s the backdrop, now the statement: I don’t think copper can continue to run higher. That’s not anew
position, six or seven weeks ago I proposed copper looked ready to peak at the start of 2026, then retrace
for a while, but it’s now at the point, after a seriously good run in a bunch of copper stocks, that the juniors
are far more likely to take a sharp drop along with copper if the price run breaks. So, after humming a
hawing and with the clear warning that I may be making the mistake that I managed to avoid in July and
August, I’m going to do something about it and take profits on some of my copper positions.
This is the point where I justify my near-term bearish position with evidence of copper’s overbought status,
so here goes with that before the final admission so you know exactly where I’m coming from:
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1) Everyone’s singing in the shower: You’re hard pressed to find a bearish voice on copper these
days, from the industry’s experts to recently arrived generalists. Instos have made copper the
epitome of the crowded trade. Check this out from early last week, for example (3):
Copper Surges to Fresh Record as Inventories ‘Locked in the US’
Copper surged past $13,000 a ton, with three-month futures reaching a record $13,253 in London on
Tuesday, fueled by a tighter global market and fears of US tariffs on refined metal. Li Xuezhi of Chaos
Ternary Futures said US stockpiles have removed the usual inventory buffer, forcing global scramble,
while demand optimism from renewable energy, data centers, and power grids supports bullish
sentiment. Kostas Bintas of Mercuria called it “the big one” for bulls, and Goldman Sachs expects
strong pricing to persist, noting Chinese downstream sectors show no orderbook disruption despite
high prices.
We’ve known for weeks, nay months about the US/Comex Roach Motel for copper inventory but now
Wall St has discovered the fact and is using it to justify its bullish stance. I’m getting a nasty case of
“Why am I reading about this now?” And what is “orderbook disruption” anyway, Mr Vampire Squid?
That same orderbook is the one that goes through its slack period right now, so the only way it can
be disrupted until the start of the Lunar New Year is to the upside.
Or how about the reception for that S&P report last week that predicted a 10m tonne shortfall in
copper by the year 2040? Using today’s parameters for supply and demand, then adding in the EV
revolution, yes in fact I agree, but this is hardly the first time a big name desk has come out with this
type of forecast. The difference is the reaction from the audience, not the action from the analysts
and the unalloyed buying spree it set off in the first days of 2026 about a market that’s set to go into
deficit in 2028 earliest (according to the very same report) is a market that’s treating copper as an
asset class or a store of value. It’s not, it’s a commodity and like it or not, its price will react to near-
term supply and demand as much as longer-term trends.
2) Inventories signaling slack supply: We track world inventory data on a weekly basis and know that
sometimes it will offer a signal that affects the market price, but it’s normally a neutral. Therefore it’s
not the be-all/end-all of fundamentals on which to hang a bear case for copper prices, but there are
times when signals get louder and clearer, that’s what we have today. There’s the strange situation
at Comex, where Trump Tariff threats have seen copper housed and trade in The USA offer a clear
arb premium for nigh on a year (and a highly profitable one in the peak tariff worry period). Comex
warehouses have seen an influx due to that, but we must now add in the SHFE which this weekend
hit its highest stocks level for any Week 2 of any year since 2018 (and the second highest on record).
3) Buyers now walking away: See today’s Copper Basket for more on this too, but we’re now getting
reports of buyers refusing to pay up for copper. As one of the analysts interviewed said, at some
point they’ve have to buy again but the initial reticence in paying up for new stock is a classic sign of
a price top. Add that to the way copper inventory is now stacking up at the docks in Asia and the
timing is right for a speculative bear attack on the copper marketplace, which leads us to the fourth
point.
4) They don’t ring bells at the top. No market trend lasts forever, bear markets become bull markets,
and bull markets become bear markets. When that flip happens is precisely because the market
doesn’t react in the way expected. A market gets tired of good news and refuses to move higher
when the next set of bullish data appear, that’s what we (or at least I) have been seeing since
copper arrived at the U$6.00/lb line.
There you go, four carefully reasoned lines to explain why copper now looks overbought and ready for a
pullback. However, I cannot leave it there and say “OK FOLKS, NOW YOU KNOW WHY I AM A BRILLIANT
CONTRARIAN AND ABOUT TO SELL SOME OF MY SHARES AT THE TOP AND GET AMAZING APPLAUSE FOR
MY CALL IN A MATTER OF DAYS” because that’s not what this is about. I’m under no illusions, least of all
timing, as the natural propensity for the contrarian (or bear) to see into the future, come to a logical
conclusion and then project it to the near term, the phenomenon of “If a guy as dumb as me can see what’s
going to happen, then surely everyone can see it too.” So even after listing a whole bunch of reasons why
copper looks toppy now, it’s only right to state to this audience that I know it may be a mistake to sell a
bunch of copper stocks this week. I’m aware that “Long Term Calm Keep Dancing Mark” has been right for
over a year and if I get this timing exactly right, it’s more luck than judgment. However and after due
deliberation, I cannot escape the feeling that copper’s about to drop. Be clear, there’s no pretending here, I
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can dress it around data and evidence until the cows come home but when it comes down to brass tacks it’s
just a feeling. It’s also one I’m going to act upon.
Quick Venezuela update
Thanks for the messages and the concern. We’re fine, shopping is back to normal with no long lines of people
or lack of produce, the streets have calmed and as a measure of the latter, all schools in the country have
confirmed they are back to normal classes after the typical one month break over the Holiday Season. That’s
the most telling data point I could offer you, as this society would never allow their school kids to hit the
streets and travel between points A and B without calm streets. A couple of extra notes:
 There’s still a high risk of problems down the line, with one growing issue a split at the highest level and
a potential power struggle. Be as clear-eyed about that as we are.
 The directive from the USA for its citizens to leave the country, emitted Friday January 9th, was dryly
amusing. For one thing it also told its citizens to “avoid road travel” due to the bands of “Colectivos”
(unofficial government thugs) who are mounting road checks and looking for anyone who in their opinion
may be suspicious. In other words, The USA told its citizens to leave a country with no international air
travel available and not to use the country’s roads. I suppose the ports are open for business, but small
fast boats out of those may get a different sort of “welcome” from the US fleet.
 Near the end of last week’s intro note on the subject, we wrote this on the signal that an eventual re-
opening of the US Embassy in Venezuela might give:
Before wrapping up, please note that The USA has no embassy, consulate or ambassador to
Venezuela. Therefore if we’re about to see 1) an influx of FDI from mega-cap US oil companies and
2) a regime government that decides to be compliant with White House wishes (or else), a logical
signal to look out for is the re-opening of an US Embassy in Venezuela. Unlikely to happen within
days, but give it a couple of months and the subject should at least be on the table
My mistake was to assume it would happen later rather than sooner. Last week saw unconfirmed by
reliable news that The USA is already on the case and would re-open its Embassy in Caracas in the near
future. Indeed, at one point last week (Thursday?) an unmarked US military transport place landed here
and while its payload was not explained, it’s widely understood to be the wherewithal needed for an
embassy.
 As for the US plans for Venezuela, there’s an awful lot of noise and opinion from all sides, but once you
filter that out and get to what matters it’s clear that 1) The USA is giving clear directives to the President
Delcy executive (on an “or else” basis), that The USA considers the current leadership a “transition
government” and its timeline to establishing a more permanent government is one year (or so). It’s also
obvious that Marco Rubio is calling the shots and on all those counts, I’m on board and happy to see how
things develop without trying to second guess too much. I’ll add just one extra opinion, as it seems to me
we’re not witnessing some sort of ad hoc plan that’s being made up at the spur of the moment, instead
there’s a clear strategy unfolding and that’s no bad thing at all. What many people on the outside fail to
capture is the high risk if they rip out the dictatorship government at the first opportunity. Instead,
allowing it to falter and fade in the public gaze allows a better chance of Venezuela moving back to a real
and representative government without excess bloodshed. I think we’re going to witness that in 2026 and
that’s Marco Rubio’s main strategy line from here.
That’s enough non-mining stuff, let’s do something that matters a little more to this audience.
Fundamental Analysis of Mining Stocks
Mayfair Gold (MFG.v) and an interesting gold project
Today’s main fundies note is less a close look at a project, more a scene-setter on the company behind the
development and the way its corporate level strategy is appealing to the retail player (you and I). It’s
triggered by the news last week of a PFS and once we have the full document we’re likely to take a much
closer look.
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Mayfair Gold (MFG.v) and its Fen-Gibb project hasn’t had much mention on these pages. In fact, the only
time we put any real focus on the stock was back in 2024, firstly in the Market Watching section of IKN775
dated March 2024, when Muddy Waters Capital announced itself as a large shareholder of MFG and that it
would contest the upcoming AGM, running a proxy slate and explaining why it had lost confidence in the C-
suite and board as stood at that time. Muddy Waters is of course, the more-famous-than-most fund created
and run by Carson Block that made its name in a series of high profile short selling trades on overpriced
stocks, mostly with a connection to China. Block and Muddy Waters’ arrival and proxy slate against MFG was
a Big Thing at the time, so in the intro section of IKN786, dated June 9th 2024 we followed up on the story,
reporting that Muddy Waters had been successful in its boardroom fight and was duly taking control of MFG.
Feel free to look back on those editions for more (I went on a bit of rant in the second, entitled “The self-
entitled Canadian mining club”) but it’s less about the project and more about what was going on in the
boardrooms. Since then Muddy Waters and allies have settled on the C-suite and board they prefer, including
the Chair Darren McLean, who on the company website (4) is presented as a “consultant to Muddy Waters”
but is in fact much more than that. At one of his previous gigs, K2 Capital McLean was the architect of the
deal that saw Newmont (NEM) buy out GT Gold back in 2021 and during that deal, got Muddy Waters
involved on the long side and made Carson’s company a lot of money. McLean is also the one who identified
Fen-Gibb as a project worth chasing and though we’ll never know for sure, was along with company founder
Henry Heeney probably the driving force behind the proxy slate and the successful strategy to take control of
MFG. And for the record, McLean and your author used to correspond quite regularly back in the pre-Covid
days (I haven’t chased up on that contact recently) and know he’s one of the smartest cookies in the
Canadian corporate mining world.
It’s mostly due to McLean that I’ve kept one eye on MFG and Fen-Gibb since 2024, though once the
corporate turmoil was done MFG went into quiet mode as the team got down to doing hat they complained
the previous management hadn’t done, i.e. the hard yards of real exploration and development work to move
the project forward meaningfully. This included around 27k metres of definition drilling and then publication
of a technical report in October 2025, then last week the announcement of a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) on
Fen-Gibb that will be filed to SEDAR in the required 45 days. They’ve also been openly supportive of the
company stock and in the recent round of marketing that’s accompanied the PFS announcement, they’ve
made a point of declaring to one and all in the literature (5), the new corporate presentation and last week’s
webcast conference call on the PFS (see their website for links) that insiders have bought $15.4m of shares
on the open market since 2024, thereby aligning with shareholders. On that subject, we run standard
corporate structure topbox:
Shares out: 66.798m
Options: 1.05m
Warrants: 0.681m
Fully diluted: 68.529m
Share price: C$5.32
Market Cap: C$355.37m
Approx cash per S/O: C$0.60
All prices Canadian Dollars unless stated, forex CAD$1 = USD 0.72
The company recently enacted a two-for-one share split, which partially accounts for the tight structure as
seen. By way of small but interesting sidebar, that share rollback was run to make qualification for a full
NYSE or Nasdaq listing easier to achieve, something we should expect from this company in 2026. The other
reason for the tight structure is corporate strategy, as I’ve been told directly by people close to the company
that MFG is very keen on keeping the structure tight and avoid equity dilution as much as possible in
development phase. Obviously, for a non-producer with a development track to work on and cash to burn,
that doesn’t mean zero shares between now and then but the team is clear that they want to get to the
moment of financing to project and the eventual build-out with as tight a structure as possible, their objective
is to make their money from the equity price rise and that’s good news for us, the little retail grunts. For the
time being they’re good for cash, with a reported C$40m in treasury which is enough to see them through
2026 and well into 2027. As the eventual construction decision on Fen-Gibb is slated for 2028, that means
another modest financing is likely before the eventual capex package is assembled.
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As for major holders, #1 is Muddy Waters with over 18m shares, Heeney Capital has over 12m (CIO Henry
Heeney, who has his fingers in many mining pies and founded MayFair Gold in 2019, specifically to buy Fen-
Gibb out of Pan American Silver) and director Sean Pi, also of Heeney Capital, owns 8m shares. A recent
arrival is Oaktree Capital, a large fund that's been aggressively buying into mining companies and stories for
the past year and took 9m (4.5m post split) shares of the 24m (12m post split) share financing during 3q25.
In total management, insiders and instos hold nearly 53% of shares out and as most of the insto holdings are
understood to be long-termers, that makes for a very tight structure indeed.
Regarding that, here below is the two year price chart of MFG.v with a little red ink. As things have turned
out, the timing of the 43-101 compliant technical report in 4q25 was fortunate with the accelerated run in the
price of gold and as this two-year chart shows MFG shares have woken up from their slumber and have
added roughly 50% in the last three months.
The Fen-Gibb project
Located in the prolific Timmins mining region of Ontario, Canada, Fenn-Gib is one of the more interesting
open pit projects in the area. We’re not going deep into the weeds on its resource and the spreadsheet work
will wait until the full 43-101 PFS is filed to SEDAR, but it’s only right to offer an overview today and we begin
with the current resource count, as per the October 2025 Technical Report:
That bare bones table hides a lot of extra factors: To begin, the 0.3 g/t cut-off grade assumes a 94%
recovery rate (known from previous workings at the locality), mining costs that total C$20.75/tonne and a
modest U$2,000/oz gold price. While the former is likely to rise, the change in gold price in the last year
compared to the U$2k/oz used in the 43-101 more than makes up for that and implies there may be more to
add and lower grade rock previously considered waste may now run. Next please note the high level of M+I
compared to inferred, as this project has seen plenty of drilling and exploration work done over the years and
is a largely known quantity. Finally in this little list a lot of that resource is contained in identified higher grade
zones, something that MFG has taken advantage of in its PFS plan.
Regarding that, this table taken from last week’s NR outlines the PFS parameters and while the reception
given to the plan by the market wasn’t the greatest (the stock sank by just over 10% by the Friday close), its
contents really caught my eye and made the project stand out from the crowd. Notes below:
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The main point: Instead of incorporating the entire 4.3m oz gold resource into the PFS, MFG has taken
another route. Instead, it has focused its efforts on 25m tonnes of higher grading mineralization that’s now
been drilled out to a probable reserve standard. Here’s that reserve count:
From that, it has delivered a PFS that runs a mill at an average of 4,800tpd, giving the 25m tonnes a 14.3
year mine life (LoM). In the first six years, it aims at the highest grade zones of the reserve and expects to
produce 71,300 oz per year, with years seven to finish running at just under 59,000 oz per year, for an
average of 64,100 per year over the 14.3 year LoM.
There are at least two reasons to go this way: Firstly, the capex hurdle to start the mine is lower, with the
PFS slating initial capex at C$450m. Now that more expensive that an equivalent open pit heap-leacher in the
Andea (e.g. Rio2 at Fenix) but it’s not an eye-poppingly exorbitant sum in this day and age, it’s also the first
foot to a large resource and would make expansion to a larger operation more cost effective (and paid for
from cash flow).
Secondly both the new corporate presentation (screenshot of the relevant slide right) and last week’s
webcast went into detail about the far easier permitting track this plan allows. I recommend you read that
slide carefully, I further recommend you
tune into the webcast replay and listen to
CEO Nicholas Campbell explain the
strategy in detail, but in a nutshell by
restricting throughput to under 5,000tpd,
Fen-Gibb only needs provincial level
permitting that would take between two
and three years to achieve, instead of full
scale Federal level permits that are
estimated to take between 7 and 9 years.
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That’s a big difference and while the permitting track does not allow the company to run concurrent
applications for both sizes of operation, it’s fair to say that once the 4,800tpd op gets its green light and
construction begins, they would be able to apply for the larger mine permit and presumably get those papers
during the first six years of the smaller scale operation. That strategy makes a lot of sense and, with gold
price doing what they’ve been doing, the margin on even 70k oz per year would still be company-changing.
The bottom line: There’s no decision or buy call on Mayfair Gold (MFG.v) today, instead consider this a
heads-up on the company and its investment opportunity. That word “investment” is carefully chosen as well,
this doesn’t have the aspect of a spec trade on gold and anyone who likes what they see as much as I did
last week would do well to approach it as a longer-term opportunity. This is a good resource being runn by a
quality team with strong financial backing, people who are highly unlikely to want to pump the stock price for
pumping’s sake or even entertain dealmaking or selling out to the eventual operator. Instead, these people
look set to make a company by taking a project and turning it into a mine to benefit backers ov3er a longer
period of time. They have access to capital, the brains trust and via this PFS, have put together a smart plan
that makes use of the resource’s potential and advantages of an easier permitting track. When the PFs lands,
expect a closer look at the project.
Stocks to Follow
Another great week for anyone with a portfolio of junior mining stocks, with the Stocks to Follow list doing
just fine as well. Just four of our 21 featured companies were losers on the week (MAI.v, RPX.v, OZ.v,
TNGD.v) and as one of those is on the Watch List, it’s an advantage to see that one lower rather than higher.
Three others remained unchanged (AMC.to, OCI.v, MIRL.cse) which leaves fourteen week-over-week gainers
so you’re not getting all those tickers in a line, instead we tip our hat to the biggest wins as seen in Electrum
Discovery (ELY.v up 33.3%), Amerigo Resources (ARG.to up 16.7%), Blue Moon Metals (MOON.v up 14.3%)
and Wesdome Gold (WDO.to up 13.2%). The WDO move in particular was both welcome and timely.
We’ve swapped out Patagonia Gold for Tiernan Gold as planned, so there are still 21 open positions on our
Stocks to Follow list which is one over our normal, self-imposed maximum. That’s going to be down to 19 by
this time next week, as long as everything goes to plan. Eighteen of the stocks are in the green, three are in
the red and hey look at this, five of those winners are at least 200% up.
company Ticker this week Avg Price Reco date Current PPS Gain/Loss% Notes
TOP PICKS
Rio2 Ltd. RIO.v STR BUY C$0.80 22-Apr-18 C$3.46 332.5% Re-rated to new $4.13 tgt
RECOMMENDED STOCKS
Minera Alamos MAI.v HOLD C$2.10 13-Oct-19 C$5.15 145.2% $7.00 tgt, selling early 2026
Amerigo Res ARG.to BUY C$1.54 28-Jul-24 C$5.23 239.6% Core copper position
Marimaca Copper MARI.to STR BUY C$3.05 14-Jan-24 C$11.77 285.9% Quality Cu dev, M&A tgt
Gold Royalty Co GROY STR BUY U$1.40 9-Mar-25 U$4.42 215.7% 2nd target U$5 in 2026
West Red Lake WRLG.v STR BUY C$0.88 20-Jul-25 C$1.04 18.2% re-rate trade, $1.44 tgt
Wesdome Gold WDO.to STR BUY C$22.42 30-Nov-25 C$24.59 9.7% 2026 M&A tgt trade
Blue Moon MOON.v STR BUY C$4.18 30-Nov-25 C$5.60 34.0% New trade, LT view
Aurion Res AU.v BUY C$1.07 21-Sep-25 C$1.44 34.6% Agnico will buy more Finland
Red Pine Expl RPX.v STR BUY C$0.12 8-Sep-24 C$0.16 33.3% Added more Sep & Oct'25
Arizona Metals AMC.to SPEC BUY C0.69 5-Oct-25 C$0.76 10.1% TLS trade, near-term view
American Eagle AE.v SELLING C$0.495 14-Dec-25 C$0.63 27.3% TLS trade, near-term view
Valkea Res OZ.v SPEC BUY C$0.36 29-Dec-25 C$0.365 1.4% TLS trade, near-term view
Electrum Disc ELY.v SELLING C$0.075 9-Nov-25 C$0.10 33.3% under offer, take quick profit
Salazar Res SRL.v BUY C$0.08 5-Jan-25 C$0.24 200.0% Ecuador buyout trade
Latin Metals LMS.v BUY C$0.19 10-Jun-25 C$0.22 15.8% proj.generator, Organullo spec
XXIX Metal XXIX.v STR BUY C$0.11 27-Aug-25 C$0.12 9.1% v good PEA Oct'25
Orecap Inv OCI.v BUY C$0.06 4-May-24 C$0.105 75.0% top fundy value, illiquid
8

SPECULATIVE TRADES
Minera IRL MIRL.cse avoid C$0.195 22-Jul-12 C$0.015 -92.3% leaving list soon (good)
A WATCHLIST OF POTENTIAL TRADES. NB: I DO NOT OWN
Tiernan Gold TNGD.v WATCH C$6.90 29-Dec-25 C$6.32 -8.4% new Chile gold jr
LONG-TERM NON-MINING HOLD
Mene Inc. MENE.v adding C$0.45 6-Dec-20 C$0.16 -64.4% LT bet, adding slowly
CLOSED TRADES IN 2025 date closed close price
none yet
2015 to 2025 annual closed positions in appendices below, 2009 to 2014 closed positions in editions IKN553 or earlier
Now for notes on some of our covered stocks, starting with the one that is most likely to surprise.
Amerigo Resources (ARG.to): SELLING A FEW SHARES. I know this one is going to upset a few
people, so I’ve chosen that sub-header carefully to underscore that this isn’t a rejection or a walk away from
the stock. Instead, this is a partial sale, perhaps 20% of the total or 25% tops and all about portfolio
management and reason #1 is that ARG is now a big part of the overall portfolio and a little rebalancing is in
order. So please don’t get this round the wrong way, I’m still going to be mightily long ARG once the planned
sale goes through, but at +240% for what was supposed to be a defensive, dividend reaping trade on copper
is too much to ignore any longer. It’s also a decision predicated partly on my view that copper-the-metal is
now over-extended in the near term, so while I reiterate my medium-term and long-term bullish stance on
copper it’s not a bad time to reap some profits from a highly successful trade to date.
Why 20%? That’s simple enough When ARG went through C$3.08 and gave me a 100% win on the trade I
was feeling very pleased with the world. At those times, it’s a reasonable moment to sell half the shares and
get a free ride on what’s left, but the momentum was strong and there was no reason to sell as far as I could
see. Here we are, a few months later and ARG has added another 40% to the price at that time, so
effectively the plan is to take half the profit of the move between then and now.
I will be happy if ARG keeps going up, but I’ll also have a decent slug of cash in my portfolio by this time next
weekend and that’s a good thing. As for last week, at least part of the outsized gains was due to ARG being
tipped as a Top Pick by Rick Rule when he appeared as the Monday evening guest on Canadian biznews
network BNN’s “Market Call” hour (along with B2Gold (BTG), see below). The market is the market, it moves
on the word of the influential and if Rule’s revelation of ARG to a new audience offers little me a better sales
price during copper’s high price period, I’ll take it.
American Eagle (AE.v): SELLING. Three basic reasons for this decision:
1) It’s up. As a near-term position with specific parameters, I’m okay about taking a modest profit in a
short period of time and as I won’t take the very first price available this coming week, we may even see
a few extra pennies on the AE.v share price as the copper bull continues.
2) Taking profit is never a bad thing. For sure it can come with regrets further down the line, but at this
point in time I have zero cash in the account and would like some. AE’s move is enough to justify the
trade plan, even though we haven’t seen any of the promised drill results yet (which is another thing
about very-near-term fliptrades; if they don’t tick all your expected boxes it’s best just to shrug it off).
The idea was to run a profitable trade using the TLS
period and “pay for the turkey”, I’m not CEO Moreau
looking to fund my retirement from this company.
3) My aforementioned copper wobbles. If there’s
substance behind my concerns about copper and the
disconnect between the market price action and what
we’re seeing from end-user demand data, copper simply
will not be able to hold that big price spike we’ve seen in
the last five weeks or so. Speculation is exactly that and
a lot of stocks of all sizes have moved along with the
metal, so if its breaks we should expect the equal and
9

opposite result, one that will not reflect “the great fundamentals” or the “dirt cheap valuation” of pounds
in the ground or impressive drill assays.
There are a couple of other thoughts besides those, such as the way AE’s price action was seemingly capped
in 2025, how disgruntled longer-term holders may be ready to sell and move on, also how I own two other
Ore Group stocks at the moment (OCI.v, XXIX.v) and don’t want to over-expose my portfolio to a single
stable. But those are minor, what really matters are the three numbered thoughts and of those, it’s probably
#3 that tips the balance to get me to sell this early. So, may luck in timing decide my exit price; it’s perfectly
possible we get lucky and snag a price over 70c in the days ahead but if not, the 63c close as seen this
weekend will do nicely.
Electrum Discovery (ELY.v): SELLING. We touched on it briefly last week, but we now have a few days
between us and the “merger of equals” deal between ELY and Australian small cap MinRex Resources
(MRR.ax). The market has calmed for MRR, the arb has been decided upon and after some volatility early
week, ELY shares are now trading at 10c.
Which is enough for me. This is a small trade, it had a near-term if outlook and was predicated on ELY
offering up a more interesting level of newsflow in 2026 than last year. I’d expected that to come from drill
work, instead it’s a merger deal and if that’s the way it’s going down, then so be it.
Wesdome Gold (WDO.to): Aside WRLG above, the other
stock to watch for production NR is WDO and if last week’s
price action is anything to go by, it’s something fellow longs
should look forward to. This time last week I was mildly
complaining about its underperformance but a nice recovery
early week has brought WDO back to the sector median and
I’ll also opine as a close tape watcher last week that there
seemed to be plenty of….how can I put this?....confidence…
about the way the shares were bought.
Bring on the numbers, CEO Bath.
Valkea Resources (OZ.v): Underperformed on the week. We’ll see what happens this week. These things
happen.
Minera Alamos (MAI.v): As noted in IKN867, the 10-for-1 rollback is now complete and here’s how the
new share count chart looks:
MAI.v: Shares Out
10
26.44 848.44 329.44 867.54 881.64 881.64 881.64 881.64 882.64 882.64 892.64 70.74 309.94 247.75 180.85 180.85
97.501 40.801
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
50
40 30
20
10
0
12q4 22q1 22q2 22q3 22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1 42q2 42q3 42q4 52q1 52q2 52q3 tse52q4 tse62q1
source: company filings
serahs
fo
snoillim
As for trading last week, MAI did what your author (and many others) thought it would do once the
consolidation happened and not for the first time in recent years, it under-performed. However and to be fair
to the stock and its new management team, it’s done well enough in recent weeks and this two-month chart
shows that even after last week’s lackluster performance it has just about held its own versus the market in
the period, which may surprise some of its long-term holders.

We’re now looking for MAI’s first production NR from Pan, which could be the missing spark to push the stock
to where I think it’s likely to go. My selling target is 70c but I won’t be too sniffy and as from 65c or so I’ll
probably start the selling process. It’ll get there.
Orecap Inv (OCI.v): Not only does our standard OCI liquid-ish assets tracking table give a good idea of the
breakup value of OCI at any given moment, it’s also an easy one-stop way of keeping tabs on how other
companies in the Ore Group stable are doing:
OCI.v: Marketable Secs, Investments in Assocs, Cash
value
ticker shares owned(m) PPS C$m Cents/share
AE.v 10.72 0.63 6.75 2.7
ARIC.v 7.39 0.64 4.73 1.9
ARIC warrant 4.17 0.44 1.83 0.7
XXIX.v 23.637 0.12 2.84 1.1
AUME.v 42.75 0.075 3.21 1.3
MERG.v 1.025 0.75 0.77 0.3
MERG warrant 0.5125 0.30 0.15 0.1
ZIGY.cse 4.942 0.34 1.68 0.7
KLDC.v 40.040 0.29 11.61 4.7
subtotal 33.57 13.5
Est.cash 0.03 0.0
Total 33.60 13.5
At 248.332 S/O
The 13.5c valuation gives plenty of arb to the current market price and while that gap isn’t likely to close (or
if it does, hold for long), its real beauty is to indicate the low downside risk for anyone buying at these levels.
OCI is a simple way of getting risk-adjusted exposure to a whole host of small companies, any one of which
could land us a big win.
Tiernan Gold (TNGD.v): Brand new on the Watch List, it was interesting to see how TNGD traded in a
volatile week for gold stocks as its story is
clearly not out there yet and the marketing
push has hardly started. Starting the week
trading at and around C$7, it chopped down
to under $6.30 and then spent most of the
rest of the week trading bits and piece at
C$6.50 or so. I’m sorely tempted to take a
small foothold at that price and turn the
only remaining Watch List stock into a
starter trade, with the sales expected this
coming week that might even happen.
11

The Copper Basket
After one week of 2026, The Copper Basket shows a gain of 13.4% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/26 Shares out m Market Cap current pps gain/loss%
1 Faraday Copper FDY.to 2.73 252.88 718.18 2.84 4.0%
2 Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v 3.67 169.914 654.17 3.85 4.9%
3 Los Andes Copper LA.v 9.20 29.56 369.50 12.50 35.9%
4 Pecoy Copper PCU.v 1.32 209.49 303.76 1.45 9.8%
5 Hot Chili HCH.v 1.33 177.36 274.91 1.55 16.5%
6 Hercules Metals BIG.v 0.74 289.41 228.63 0.79 6.8%
7 Surge Copper SURG.v 0.475 345.41 210.70 0.61 28.4%
8 Element 29 Res ECU.v 1.20 155.51 185.06 1.19 2.5%
9 Fitzroy Min FTZ.v 0.48 278.07 152.94 0.55 14.6%
10 Andina Copper ANDC.v 0.56 224.67 148.28 0.66 17.9%
11 American Eagle AE.v 0.56 172.877 108.91 0.63 12.5%
12 Copper Giant CGNT.v 0.49 149.57 73.29 0.49 0.0%
13 Metal Energy MERG.v 0.64 36.03 27.02 0.75 17.2%
14 Algo Grande Copper ALGR.v 0.53 31.95 21.73 0.68 28.3%
15 Kobrea Exp KBX.cse 0.51 35.622 18.52 0.52 2.0%
NB: All stocks in CAD$ Portfolio avg 13.40%
A rocket start to the year for copper stocks of all shapes and sizes, with our 2026 Copper Basket focused on
the smallcap and midcap explorers joining in the fun in no uncertain terms. Just three stocks were down on
the week (FDY.to, ECU.v, CGNT.v), the other twelve were winners and amongst them were very sizeable
moves, with no fewer than ten stock making dpuble figure percentage gains.
Here’s the list of fame:
 Los Andes Copper (LA.v) up 35.1%
 Kobrea Exploration (KBX.cn) up 30.8%
 Algo Grande Copper (ALGR.v) up 28.3%
 Surge Copper (SURG.v) up 25.8%
 Fitzroy Copper (FTZ.v) up 22.2%
 Andina Copper (ANDC.v) up 17.9%
 Hot Chili (HCH.v) up 17.4%
 American Eagle (AE.v) up 14.6%
 Pecoy Copper (PCU.v) up 12.4%
 Metal Energy (MERG.v) up 10.3%
That’s a great start to the year by any measure and was fuelled by the early week bullishness in copper.
As for trading in the metal, we forecast continued chop and volatility and we got exactly that in the first week
of the year. It shot higher from the getgo last weekend, the March’25 Comex contract reaching U$6.10/lb
and a new all-time high for the metal. Then came the reversal and to allow bulls to worry a little more, it
came on no negative news (the standard media
line used the bland “profit-taking”), but bulls
returned and Friday was upbeat and positive
trading, with our chart of choice ending at
U$5.90/lb.
For our carefully curated copper commentary
clause this week*, we start with this one from
Bloomie (6) that goes with the headline
“Chinese Demand for Copper Vanishes After
Prices Hit Record”, making the point we’ve been
making for the last five or six weeks, but more
loudly. Here’s how it starts…
12

(Bloomberg) -- A significant chunk of Chinese copper demand has all but evaporated after the metal’s
stunning surge to record levels.
…and here’s the quote from the suit:
While real-world buyers typically take time to adjust to such sharp increases, what’s notable in this
case is the extent to which industrial users in the biggest market are scaling back purchases.
“It is surprising how much price rejection is taking place. The Chinese are just not buying copper, it’s
true,” Kostas Bintas, head of metals at trading giant Mercuria Energy Group Ltd., said in an interview.
“But it’s finite — at some point you need to buy.”
Hold that thought, as we now move to more of the same from house mancrush Andy Home and his weekly
Reuters column. Obviously a note under the title “Nickel gluts to zinc deficits: LME shadow stocks tell the
story” (7) is less about copper and to provide context, here’s how he begins:
“Nickel's turbo-charged rally was snuffed out on Wednesday by a super-sized delivery of the battery
metal on the London Metal Exchange (LME).
The warranting of 20,760 metric tons was the largest single-day inflow of nickel since December
2019.
By the end of the day the LME three-month nickel price had fallen from a 19-month high of $18,800
per metric ton to $17,895.”
We note in passing how inventory data matters to price discovery, even though the nickel sector is smaller
and more volatile than that of Dr. Copper. After all, it’s why we track the copper stocks situation on a weekly
basis. Anyway, the segment in which he mentions copper came later:
LME combined registered and off-warrant copper inventory fell by a third to 214,900 tons last year.
However, any bullish signal should be tempered by the fact that so much metal has been shifted to
the U.S. to profit from the tariff arbitrage between CME and LME prices.
LME stocks may have fallen in 2025 but CME inventory rose by 367,000 tons to a multi-year high of
451,838 tons.
The gravitational pull of units towards the U.S. is even evident in LME off-warrant stocks. Shadow
inventory in Baltimore and New Orleans rose from just 1,900 tons in April to 18,100 tons at the end of
December.
In other words, he underscores the same point that copper stocks are running at highs, no matter what
might be happening at LME. And Bloomie tells us Chinese buyers have stopped buying at this price level. And
this desk agrees of course, because the data back it up.
*To be honest “clause” is a little weak but hey, alliteration is fun.
Talking of which, time for our regular weekly look at the movements in world copper inventories via the
weekly data from Cochilco, but before diving in we need to make a correction from last week. The combo of
Cochilco publishing one day early due to the holidays and a late week influx of copper into SHFE means the
Shanghai inventory number noted last weekend, 111,703 metric tonnes (mt), was short by nearly 35kmt and
that’s a lot. It should have been marked at 145,333mt. Add the second big increase to stocks as seen this
weekend and it’s fair to say the SHFe system re-stocking has started early this year. Now on with the show:
 The world aggregate copper inventory total added another big chunk of copper last week, rising
b y 45,339mt to close at 786,679mt and as last week’s was the biggest total since 2018, that’s a
new record again (the absolute record is a touch over 900kmt, way back in 2013).
 The most notable move on the week was at the Shanghai SHFE, which saw 15,898mt added and
a Friday total of 111,703mt. If the bottom is in this early, your author’s concerns about a bearish
January for copper get fundamental backing.
 Three weeks of draw downs for LME and a 9,250mt drop, of which 8,900mt came from its Asia
warehouses and may account for the SHFE inventory hike as arbitrage. This weekend’s total is
145,325mt.
 And the Comex rolls on, adding another big chunk to its record inventory levels. This week’s was
16,802mt, the total is now 451,833mt and the day this is let out onto the open market is the day
the bull run for prices comes to a shuddering halt.
We go with both of our dedicated SHFE charts this week to show the big picture, with the first chart showing
that sharp rise in stocks we mentioned above on the right-hand side of the chart…
13

Shanghai Futures Exchange Warehouse Stocks, 2018 to date
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
14
8102
ht7naj
8102
ht4ram
ht92 8102
ts1yluj
ht62 ts12tco ht61 ht01 9102
ht7rpa
9102
dn2nuj
ht82 dn22 9102ht71von 0202ht21naj ht8 0202dr3yam ht82 dr32 ht81 0202ht31ced 1202ht7beF 1202ht4rpa ht03 ht52 ht91 ht41 ht9 2202ht6ram 1.yam ht62 ts12 22ht61tco ht11 ht5beF dn2rpA ht82 dr32 ht71 ht21 4202ht7naJ dr3raM ht82 dr32 ht81 ht31 ht8 dn2beF ht03 ht52 ht02 ht41 ht9 6202ht4naJ
Mt Cu
|
source: Cochilco
…then the annual comparative chart, using the same data, shows that this week one (or two, to be pedantic)
SHFE inventory number is the highest since 2018 and the second highest Week 2 number ever (2016 just
shades it out).
SHFE copper inventory levels, 2018 to 2025
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 01 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 02 12 22 32 42 52 62 72 82 92 03 13 23 33 43 53 63 73 83 93 04 14 24 34 44 54 64 74 84 94 05 15 25
MT Cu 2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
source: Cochilco data
Now for some notes on basket stocks and as we have new arrivals, they get top billing this week:
Los Andes Copper (LA.v): Interesting how
Chilean exposed copper explorecos are suddenly
doing so well and none more so than LA, justifying
its re-incorporation into the Copper Basket with a
stellar week one performance. In fact as the two-
month chart shows (updated to include today
Monday and the last day sell-off), the change in
sentiment has been notable.
It can only be one thing: The Kast Factor has found
momentum. We now have a market that isn’t just
speculating that permitting for environmentally
difficult mining stories gets easier under Kast, it’s
assuming it and baking it into the price.
Fitzroy Copper (FTZ.v) and Hot Chili (HCH.v): The Chile feelgood has reached these stocks as well, with
FTZ up 22.2% and HCH up 17.4% on the week. Our decision to weight the Copper Basket more toward the
Southern Cone this year seems to be on the pulse.
Kobrea Exploration (KBX.cn): I’m again kicking myself for not picking up some cheap shares when they
were available. KBX is another copper exploreco on a new year’s tear as the world looks around and grabs at
anything with a story. The story for most here is that KBX is now putting in its access road and will soon drill
terrain that’s similar to San Juan (Vicuña etc) but has only just opened up for exploration, being located in
Mendoza. The story for me includes those things, but adds the presence of Paul Johnson as I know the guy

and know he wouldn’t get involved with any old tripe. Second to none when it comes to Andean geology, he
must have seen something he likes here.
Algo Grande Copper (ALGR.v): Even this one, which shot out of the stalls on Monday and has now
doubled its share price since changing its name from Kenadyr, which is even more impressive when you
realize the change happened in Christmas week. We got a NR from ALGR on Friday (8) and here are the
bullet points from the top of the shop:
 Confirmation of Adelita as a large porphyry–skarn mineral system with vertically extensive feeder structures
 Identification of 32 priority exploration targets (18 targets via combination of geology, geophysics and
geochemistry and 14 with machine learning models) (see Figure 7)
 Evidence for significant expansion potential beyond the known Cerro Grande skarn zone into Mezquital, Cerro
Grande NW, Cerro Potrero, and Las Tablas
 Commencement of a high-definition ground magnetic survey over the Cerro Grande skarn zone and extension
zones
 Appointment of João Rocha (EurGeol) as Vice President of Exploration, strengthening technical leadership as the
Company advances the Adelita Project
 Drilling at the Cerro Grande Skarn zone is ongoing with 1,000m completed in 2025 and is planned to continue in
the month of January and February
In so many words, some arm-waving on its main Adelita project and “hello we exist” as well as announcing
the arrival of a new VP Exploration, a young guy getting his first break at officer level. Fair enough, wishing
him luck and will watch progress, we included Adelita because it may be behind other on the development
track, but it’s a genuine target and there’s clearly potential.
Surge Copper (SURG.v): On the subject of stocks with momentum, another example of how these days, it
only takes one high traffic social media influencer to move
a smallcap like this. Two months ago this was a 21c and
25 stock, it’s now tripled and that’s mostly due to Paulo
Macro on Twitter, who has a good reputation among the
financially literate and a big following. Those looking for a
copper spec trade latched on to his idea at the start of
December and even those who paid the 45c top price that
day are looking good now and it seems only right to wait
until the Monday close to use the chart with another new
high finish (right).. The main fundamental catalyst for the
stock this year is the upcoming PFS for the Berg part of its
large concession area, but at the moment solid fundies
play second fiddle to momentum and market radar in any
trade, let alone this one that’s build up a real head of steam. My thoughts go back to when I bought SURG at
8c and 10c and how it couldn’t get a bid to save its own life.
The Producer Basket
After one week of 2026, the Producer Basket shows a gain of 7.44% to level stakes:
company ticker price 1/1/26 Shares out MktCap(U$Bn) current pps gain/loss%
1 Newmont NEM 99.85 1108 120.92 109.13 9.3%
2 Agnico Eagle AEM 169.53 502.579 96.06 191.14 12.7%
3 Barrick B 43.55 1705.994 81.56 47.81 9.8%
4 Wheaton PM WPM 117.52 454.02 56.63 124.74 6.1%
5 Lundin Gold LUG.to 114.02 241.433 20.55 116.58 2.2%
6 Alamos Gold AGI 38.58 420.68 17.59 41.81 8.4%
7 IAMGOLD IAG 16.49 594 10.22 17.21 4.4%
8 Eldorado Gold EGO 35.92 201.275 7.70 38.28 6.6%
9 B2Gold Corp BTG 4.51 1330.134 6.08 4.57 1.3%
10 Americas G & S USAS 5.11 318.26 1.85 5.80 13.5%
All prices and stock quotes in U$, except share price of LUG (in CAD$) Port. avg 7.44%
15

The first real week of trading in 2026 and as group, the PM producers got off to a flying start, with
benchmarks all strongly higher (GDX up 8.0%), GDXJ up 7.7%), GLD up 4.1%). Our Producer Basket
followed suit, with all ten of our stocks for 2026 and a basket average that sits just half a percent behind the
GDX in 2026 YTD, but its’ very early days. However, even though all were green there was a wide range of
results, with the best from Americas Gold & Silver (USAS up 13.5%) and Agnico Eagle (AEM up 12.1% and
the least best from B2Gold (BTG up 1.6%) and Lundin Gold (LUG.to up 4.2%). Couldn’t have asked for much
more from the PM complex in Week One of 2026, it would surely be nice to see it continue.
Agnico Eagle (AEM): The world’s #2 gold mining company by market cap shook off whatever funk it was
under in Q4 and has zoomed out of the starting gate in 2026, up 12.1% on the week, 12.7% on the year and
now less than 5% away from being the next U$100m market capper in our sector. Last week’s out-
performance is potentially due to Bank of America, as its mining analysis team last week called AEM its Top
Pick in the precious metals space. For context, they also went with top picks for Freeport (FCX) in the
industrial metals and Cameco (CCO) in Uranium/Energy metals, these are bigboy sized companies and a
target audience of the large, US-based funds and managers. As for why AEM, BofA wrote (8), “For AEM, we
like management's track record of meeting or exceeding targets, suite of attractive growth projects,
substantial exploration upside potential, and recent relative share price underperformance”, and that’s fair
enough. The visual today (below) is a two-for-one, showing how well aWEM did compared to Basket List
laggard B2Gold (BTG), which gets more words underneath.
B2Gold (BTG) (BTO.to): At the other end of the scale, BTG continued to under-perform and continue its
poor form of Q4, despite being touted by Rick Rule as one of his Top Picks when he appeared as the Monday
evening guest on Canadian biznews network BNN’s “Market Call” hour (along with Amerigo Resources
(ARG.to), see above).
These days BTG doesn’t pre-announce quarterly production (got out of that habit in 2024) so we’re going to
have to wait until mid-February to find out how Goose is going. Results from its other assets will also matter
of course, but most eyes are trained on Goose as it declared commercial production at the start of 4q25 and
from now on, there are no more excuses. For what it’s worth, the Rick Rule line of thinking is straightforward
enough and used Equinox (EQX) as a comp, paraphrased it’s “EQX had issues with its new mine during
construction, but once Greenstone went commercial the stock doubled”. Yeah true, but it also doubled
through the rocket run of gold and B2 had that exact same advantage. A smooth run through the gears and
towards full nameplate production levels will certainly see BTG re-rate, but the market is dragging its heels
for some-or-other reason. We mortals get to find out whether the lag is justified next month.
The TinyCaps List
After one week of 2026, the TinyCaps show a gain of 13.44% to level stakes:
16

company ticker price 1/1/26 Shares out Mkt Cap current pps gain/loss%
Auriginal Min AUME.v 0.07 264.51 19.84 0.075 7.1%
Canex Metals CANX.v 0.215 166.95 37.56 0.225 4.7%
Electrum Disc ELY.v 0.07 122.36 12.24 0.10 42.9%
Enduro Metals ENDR.v 0.155 76.04 14.07 0.185 19.4%
Latin Metals LMS.v 0.21 133.01 29.26 0.22 4.8%
Precore Gold PRCG.cn 0.26 32.003 8.00 0.25 -3.8%
Radius Gold RDU.v 0.14 115.7 19.09 0.165 17.9%
Silver Wolf SWLF.v 0.135 62.18 9.95 0.16 18.5%
Trifecta Gold TG.v 0.195 47.7 11.45 0.24 23.1%
Viva Gold VAU.v 0.19 171.677 32.62 0.19 0.0%
Prices in CAD$, data from TSXV basket avg 13.44%
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 $25m They have to be tiny. In one cases I’ve stretched the window a little and allowed
sub-U$25m market capper in, 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 2026. 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.
A flying start here as well, with a 13.4% move in the overall basket thanks to seven out of our ten stocks
being winners on the week (ELY.v, ENDR.v, LMS.v, PRCG.cn, RDU.v, SWLF.v, TG.v), one unchanged
(AUME.v) and just two losers (CANX.v, VAU.v). The biggest moves came from Electrum Discovery Corp
(ELY.v up 33.3%) thanks to its buyout offer, but the moves in Enduro (ENDR.v up 23.3%), Silver Wolf
(SWLF.v up 23.1) and Trifecta (TG.v up 20.0%) were also noteworthy.
Electrum Disc Corp (ELY.v): REMOVING ELECTRUM DISCOVERY FROM THE TINYCAPS LIST.
Written in nice big bold caps so that you might stop if you normally scroll straight over this segment (they say
“know your audience”). With just one week gone in the TinyCaps List, our first stock comes under offer and
as the buyer company is Australian listed (and the resulting entity will be literally double the size), it’s best to
swap this one out and use one of the other shortlisted stocks for our 2026 representative list. Therefore, as
well as disappearing from my own portfolio (selling this coming week, see above) ELY will disappear from this
section as well, with the decision on replacement being…
Sranan Gold (SRAN.cn): NEW TINYCAPS LIST STOCK AS FROM NEXT WEEK. It was between
incorporating SRAN and leaving Viva Gold (VAU.v) in, so with the buyout of ELY you now get both smallcap
goldies on the list. SRAN.CN was mentioned by a couple of readers as a potential pick and I agreed, its
market cap (around C$20m this weekend) and profile a good fit for what we need, what’s more its flagship
project is in Latin America. However, Suriname is lesser trodden territory, with the bets known operation in
the country being the Rosebel gold mine, once owned by IAMGOLD (originally owned by Cambior) and sold
to China’s Zijin mining in 2023 for U$360m in cash.
As for Sranan, it’s a John Williamson company (which is a double-edged sword, but at least we know it’s
going to be run professionally and get sector radar), has 60.4m shares out and at its Friday closeing price of
C$0.325, a market cap of just under C$20m. Its focus is the “Tapanahony Project, essentially an open pit
gold mine currently being worked by artisan miners at surface level that has seen some interesting drill
assays, showing the resource continues at depth and looks highly likely to support a more formal, larger-scale
operation. In this sort of play, local knowledge, contact and community support isn’t just important, it’s
absolutely vital and as well as the 10,000m drill program planned for thiis year, the CSR and co-operative side
of the project needs to be watched with eagle eyes. Theoretically, there’s a small to medium scale open pit
17

mine to build at Tapanahony, though logistics are not easy and the country risk will always put off a host of
players.
The Other thing about SRAN is its share price and we’re using the two-year variety to give required context:
The marketing on the back of some very sexy trench, channel and grab samples started in late 2024 and by
mid-2025, it was a 50c and 60c stock but as from September, that got cut to a price that allows us to make it
part of the TinyCaps this year. The reason was the first assay result from the initial drill program at
Tapanahony and while 11.5m of 3.64 g/t Au would normally impress the world, the surface samplings from
the project from several spots were typically double that grade. That took the air out of the speculation, but
one hole does not make a resource and with the level of grade that’s been typical from the artisan work, we
could easily see better grades reported from depth as the program rolls out.
Bottom line: Difficult location, sketchy political risk, interesting prospect and unlike most explorecos these
days, a value entry point. A welcome addition to the list as from next week, replacing ELY.
Silver Wolf Exploration (SWLF.v): Let’s note and feature one of the new arrivals as Silver Wolf (SWLF.v)
also had an excellent Week One, up 23.1% on reasonable
volume and the 12c prices available during Christmas
week have disappeared.
Whether this move is a breakout or a spike-and-drop will
depend on the next few days. Also, it’s up for debate
whether SWLF is moving for company specific reasons or
simply because it has the right metal name in its corporate
title. Time will tell and when it comes right down to it, it’s
why this type of stock is a good one to include in a
microcap tracking basket.
A final word: I got an interesting mail from A. Reader last
week (not even the initials given, on request) that had a
negative opinion on company head honcho Chair & CEO David Wolfin. The message came with anecdotal
evidence and while I’m not in a position to corroborate the criticisms made of CEO Wolfin in this specific
matter, the mailer in question is someone with a good reputation in the industry and wouldn’t write what
they did without good reason. For what it’s worth, I’ve never looked closely but have heard a few negatives
about Wolfin over the years from others, but I’d also quickly point out that the TinyCaps segment is not a list
of recommended stocks, instead it’s supposed to be representative and if they include a couple with sketchy
and/or untrustworthy C-suite members, then fair enough it’s part of the field.
NB: Please be clear that The TinyCaps list is NOT a list of recommended tinycap stocks. It is a list of companies with market caps of
under $25m 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.
18

Regional politics
Ecuador suddenly more expensive for new mines
Without much fanfare on December 31st, President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador signed executive decree 273
into law that made belated headlines in Ecuador last week, when the contents revealed a couple of significant
changes to the way the country will treat mining projects that want to move into production. There are
several changes to the current law, with four that matter to us, FDI backers of formal projects owned by
public listed companies:
1) More accountability to the State’s ARCOM environmental and permit control body (Agencia de
Regulación y Control Minero (ARCOM), which gets more powers to regulate and control mining
operations. It also means concession holders must by law report any activity of illegal miners on their
property (which could cause friction with locals)
2) Strict control of initial exploration time window: In Ecuador, you have four years from the granting of
initial permits to complete the initial exploration phase. That will now be more strictly adhered to and any
company that drags its heels on getting its exploration permit once a concession is granted will lose its
rights (i.e. this is a clampdown on “concession squatting). No wonder Keith Barron pivoted to France .
3) New rules to calculate royalties. Until now, each project had to enter a separate negotiation process
with the State to decide on its royalty burden for operations. This has now been tightened up and will run
on an established formula (which is complicated and published in the edict, find your PDF of the entire
thing here (9)). This is probably a good thing, as it establishes a level playing field for all companies.
4) The big one, which has seen some English language coverage but this local report (10) (translated)
explains it well:
One of the most significant adjustments is in the energy sector. From now on, all concession holders are
required to meet their entire energy demand through their own generation systems, without exceptions or
dependence on the public grid. Energy self-sufficiency becomes an operational requirement, which
mandates the incorporation of energy infrastructure from the project design stage and reduces the mining
sector's strain on the national grid.
I do enjoy translating chunks of formal Spanish. That’s seriously bad news for any company looking to
bring its new project into operation, it no longer has the right to the country’s established electrical grid
and must generate its own power. That could be standalone diesel generators, or building its own power
station or whatever else, but if you consider what it means for a very-large scale project such as Cascabel
or Warintza, the consequences could add hundreds of millions of dollars to initial capex.
That said, the decree may also be a case of near-term or medium-term political posturing as the country’s
energy shortage is a hot topic and this decree comes at the same time as the government boasting (11) how
it’s brought 250Mw of power generation back to the grid in 2025 and expected to add another 154Mw this
year (mostly by re-commissioning thermoelectric power plants). Also, the December 31st law change is an
executive decree, not an organic law and that means it can be challenged more easily in the courts further
down the line. However, that won’t matter to mining companies in 2026 and any project that expected to
hook itself up to the local power line needs to think again and add costs to its capex estimate.
Bolivia is still going downhill
It’s remarkable that Rodrigo Paz has only been President for a little over two months, seems like much
longer. We keep a close eye on Bolivia, currently getting pumped in the markets of North America as the
most recent country to make its right turn. However, mining speculators are told far less about the increasing
political turmoil since Paz took charge, so that’s what we’re here for and there are three main developments
to report, none of them good:
 As at Friday evening, there were 57 roadblocks reported by Bolivian authorities, all of which due to
striking protesters against the recent “gasolinazo” law passed by the Paz executive. The map below
(taken from here (12)) shows the locations of each and while someone unversed in Bolivia may think
they are localized and not a nationwide issue, those roadblocks are on all the major thoroughfares of the
country and everywhere that matters (hardly anybody lives in Beni). The protests are growing, not
subsiding and the main COB miners’ union remain at the forefront of the actions.
19

 This makes sense in the mondo bizarro of Bolivian politics, but won’t to many others outside. Last week,
Bolivia’s Vice President Lara presented a law project to parliament to reverse the “gasolinazo” executive
decree of his own President. Lara and Paz have been at
loggerheads since November (see IKN Weeklies passim) and
the fight has flared up in public again.
 This one made international news (13). One Mauricio
Aramayo, close associate of President Rodrigo Paz, was
gunned down and killed while driving in his home city of Tarija
on Thursday. Apparently a “plata o plomo” (money or lead)
type assassination, as made infamous by Pablo Escobar in
Colombia, Aramayo is in charge of one of the public offices in
Tarija and the unofficial word is that he refused to accept a
bribe from some or other group.
To call Bolivia unstable at the moment is an understatement.
This desk remains with the default position it’s had before and
after the Paz election win, Bolivia is a wait and see, risk is high
and with mining such an important part of its economy and
social structure, those speculating on Bolivian exposed
companies accompanying the current rally (let alone showing
Beta) need to understand more than they’re being told on the
average pro-mining channel.
Colombia: Right favoured over left in round two
Semana Magazine is one of Colombia’s major political/current affairs media channels and the new edition
dated Saturday January 10th (this weekend) has this as its front cover (14):
It commissioned a voter intention poll from AtlasIntel, the survey taken from over 4,520 people, online
between January 5th and 8th (i.e. it’s caught the effects of Maduro’s arrest and incarceration), with a
purported margin of error of +/- 3% and a confidence level of 95%. Find the entire 55 page survey here
(15), we’re going to stick to the Semana report on its results because it covers what matters to FDI.
20

First up, we’re still five months away from a result (Round one May 31st,
Round two June 21st) but as the cover shot shows, the vociferous right
winger Abelardo de la Espriella has his early lead and polls 28%, the left
winger and dauphin of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, Iván Cepeda, sits
at 26.5%, then centre-right establishment politico Sergio Fajardo is third on
9.4%. For more, here’s a visual from the report (right) with a longer list and
in theory, anyone down to Peñalosa at 2.3% will still fancy their chances of
picking up momentum and making a run. Also, that 28% number for de la
Espriella shouldn’t be considered bombproof, he’s done well to hoist his
name high in the early stages thanks mostly to a smart online campaign, but
he’s still a new name in the political world and anything can happen once
proper campaigning gets into full gear.
Those caveats understood, things get better for the right side of the political
spectrum when considering the replies given to “who would you vote for in a
run-off?” We understand that a second round run-off is a virtual certainty (to
win in round one, a candidate needs 50% +1 vote, not going to happen)
and we understand Iván Cepeda on the left has a clear run on his side of the
spectrum, having secured the primary win late last year and with no serious
lefty to dilute his vote. That’s the context, these visuals from the Semana
report show how Iván Cepeda would fare against Abelardo de la Espriella in
round two (below left) and Sergio Fajardo in round two (below right):
As you can probably make out (the Spanish isn’t too demanding), in both cases Cepeda loses to the Righty in
the second round, be it Fajardo (by 7.5 points) or de la Espriella (by 9.3 points). That sounds correct to this
desk and fits with the opinion we voiced in IKN865 dated December 21st and the Regional Politics note
“Colombia: The 2026 election field and the recent Invamer opinion poll”. Here are a few words from the end
of that piece:
“…I still believe the most likely result in the 2026 Presidential election in Colombia is a return to the right
wing and a country that follows the recent trend in South America. However, there’s a difference
between “likely” and “certainty”, there’s also a clear difference to your author’s views on how this election
might pan out compared to the recent and far easier prediction on what went on in Chile in 2025.”
That jibes with this latest poll (please note both Invamer and AtlasIntel are respected pollsters in Colombia
with no particular political affiliation), so put a gun to my head and I’d call a right winger, be that de la
Espriella, Fajardo or a late surging outsider, as a 80% probable next Head of State in Colombia, but Cepeda
is the other 20%, the lefties are not out of this one yet and this is LatAm politics, where anything can happen
and often does.
21

Market Watching
West Red Lake Gold (WRLG.v) 4q25 production
On the one hand, I had four paragraphs on West Red Lake Gold (WRLG.v) written up over the weekend,
anticipating its 4q25 production NR and potential declaration of commercial production and framing what we
were looking for from the company at this critical moment in its development, what with trading having been
lacklustre recently and shareholders apparently worried about what might be.
On the other hand, that segment of Market Watching has now been scrapped, as today Monday morning
WRLG announced what we were looking for in its NR “West Red Lake Gold Declares Commercial Production
at Madsen Gold Mine” (16). Before anything else, the most important thing disclosed by WRLG today is in
that headline, declaration of commercial production this early in the year is the best-case scenario so let’s
take a closer look at exactly what WRLG said in the NR:
“The Madsen Mine achieved commercial production as of January 1, 2026. The mill averaged 689
tonnes per day (“tpd”) in December 2025. This represents 86% of permitted throughput of 800 tpd
and meets the Company’s internal commercial production requirement of 30 consecutive days of mill
throughput at 65% or greater of permitted capacity. Operational stability, the other internal
requirement, is also in place at Madsen. Consistent strong mill recoveries, which averaged 94.6% in
December, enabled production of 3,215 ounces of gold.”
That’s reasonable. We also got this quote from CEO Shane Williams “We will continue to ramp up from this
strong base, and I anticipate Madsen will reach sustained permitted capacity by mid-2026.” That’s also
positive, as it implies WRLG won’t fall back to the 65% minimum capacity level in Q1 (i.e. this current
quarter). We may or may not see throughput adjust slightly (it’s deep winter now), but the trend is
apparently set and aiming to reach the nameplate 750tpd level by the middle of the year dovetails with its
strategy seen in 2025 of gradual and incremental improvement. Finally, we got some pre-guidance guidance
for the upcoming quarter (with WRLG promising us full 2026 guidance “during Q1”) in this segment:
For the first quarter (“Q1”) of 2026, mill feed will come predominantly from the 4447 area, the high-
grade zone in South Austin that the Company defined in 2025. Mill feed is expected to average in
excess of 6 grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au) in Q1.
We’ll come back to a forecast for 1q26 and beyond in a moment, first let’s consider the numbers offered by
WRLG for its 4q25 production and this table from the NR is the hack:
The last careful look at WRLG on these pages in IKN862 dated November 30th and the Market Watching note
reviewing its Q3 financials. Toward the end of the review, these two lines summed up what I wanted to see:
It’s still pre-production and a mine is allowed to be glitchy at this stage, but it now has to deliver strong
processed numbers at a grade inside its model average (5g to 6g per tonne) in Q4 in order to keep my
money on board. Any significant lapse in either of those would turn the yellow flag into a red one.
In that light, I’m glad WRLG added separate lines on December 2025 to show the most recent improvement.
I’d also say I was probably a little too strict in my framing, because pre-commercial glitches are allowed, the
thing to show is improvement. Grade is still at the low end of acceptable (though Q1 promises better things)
and clearly, either October or November (or both) had teething problems to work through at the mill (you
may have noted the same thing as me, how sometimes during pre-production they disclosed “tonnes mined”
and other times “tonnes milled”, but seldom gave both at the same time). That’s allowed in pre-production
(it’s called “pre commercial” for a reason, after all) but the way December went, with the new plant online
and doing its thing, bodes well enough without being a big data sample.
22

Putting the Q4 results and some forecasts together, this first chart (below left) shows the increment in milling
in Q4 compared to the previous quarter (thanks largely to December), then extrapolates 1q26 using an
average of 650tpd, 2q26 assumes it reaches 750tpd and finally, 3q26 runs at the nameplate of 750tpd.
WRLG: tonnes milled
As for gold production (above right), the 7,379oz produced in 4q25 was slightly above the Q3 result without
being particularly special. In IKN862 I wrote that a number around 9,800oz would be nice and with hindsight
that was too optimistic. Considering that October and November ran light and December ran well, this
number is definitely light, but context makes it acceptable.
Again, we underscore that the declaration of commercial production trumps anything in the rear-view mirror
and as WRLG has gone about its ramp-up in a steady and measured way, there’s every reason to expect it to
deliver on its initial guidance. On that score, by assuming that 6g/t mill head grade for Q1 as mentioned in
the NR, then 5.5 g/t thereafter (to be on the safe side), then the same 94.6% recovery rate we saw in
December, we forecast production to hit 10,500 oz in 1q26 and then 11,000 oz in subsequent quarters. That
could go higher if the grade stays at the 6g end of the scale.
Now for what Q4 might mean in financial terms and
we’re going with the two data sets we know most about,
mine operations and cash treasury. First up operations
and WRLG disclosed sales of U$30m in 4q25, that’s
around C$41.5m in its reporting currency. As throughput
didn’t rise by too much, we pitch COGS at an estimated
C$23m giving a Mine Operating Income of C$17.3m, or
approximately 4.3c/share. That’s not bad, but it’s not a
king’s ransom and another indication WRLG needs to
ramp to full production in order to justify the share price
we’re looking for from this trade.
As for its cash position, we were told this morning that WRLG “…ended 2025 with CAD$46 million cash and
gold receivables”, which means we have to guess on gold receivables which fluctuated between very little
and C$3m or so in the three quarters of 2025 during which it showed operations. Therefore we guesstimate
C$43m, then assuming nothing big changes on the liabilities side of the ledger we get a working cap of
C$22m, basically the same at 3q25. All that, if borne out in April when the financials drop, is more than
acceptable as we’d previously guesstimated cash at C$36 as at end 4q25
23
00093
26194
00585 00036 00576
mt WRLG: GEO production, per quarter
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
3q25 4q25 1q26 2q26 3q26
source: company filings, IKN ests
894
0625
5507 9737
00501 00011 00011
Oz Au
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
1q25 2q25 3q25 4q25 1q26est 2q26est 3q26est
source: company filings, IKN ests and calcs
WRLG: Mine ops
701.2 682.1 887.0
23.42
3.51
865.8
84.23
7.02
79.01
5.14
32 3.71
C$m
50
45 Revs
40 COGS
35 Mine Op Inc
30
25
20
15 10
5
0
1q25 2q25 3q25 4q25est
source: company filings
WRLG: Cash treasury & working cap
146.1 753.4
580.72 29.61 903.61
848.3
407.74
698.52
88.63
822.81 796.32
987.54
34
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
-5
22q4 32q1 32q2 32q3 32q4 42q1 42q2 42q3 42q4 52q1 52q2 52q3 tse52q4
C$m
cash&eq
working cap
source: company filings, IKN ests

As that’s better than expected and as the gold price has done what it’s done in spectacular style since then,
the cash and liquidity levels at QRLG now look sufficient to see it through the first months of commercial
production and make it to true positive free cash flow without the need to raise again.
The bottom line: We don’t get all the data in a production update such as this, so there’s still a doubt over
the inventory position that we saw deplete in Q3 (really don’t want ore stockpiles or metal in circuit to go any
lower). There’s also a doubt over the financials, as is one thing to disclose your Cash&Eq position but if it
comes at the cost of a hidden bump in financial liabilities the message changes. That said, what we got from
WRLG today was good, more than enough to keep me long the stock and focused on it hitting my price
target before having to do anything else. Despite a clearly weak production period in October and/or
November as it ironed out more glitches, the arrival of new plant and the change to storing more waste
material underground has clearly improved the amount of tonnes arriving overground, the single biggest
potential bottleneck at Madsen. The company has gone about its ramp-up period diligently and having hit its
targets in December, the declaration of commercial production doesn’t feel at all like a swing-and-hope,
instead it’s a logical and welcome progression along the list of required milestones. WRLG is coming right at
the right time and assuming the 4q25 financials don’t throw an unexpected spanner in the works (or that
inventory number highlights a company that chanced its way through Q4 and has no stockpile left to
maintain tonnage throughput), the company won’t need to go to market to raise more cash.
This NR will dissipate doubts around the stock and I expect it to start its re-rate process before the advent of
the 4q25 financials or the 1q26 production NR which, due to the way the TSXV calendar works, is likely to
arrive just before 2025 year-end filings. As a shareholder I’m aware of WRLG’s underperformance compared
to the median, but that bad period was September to November. December (and the first week of this year)
has been “in-line”, as see by this chart comparing the PPS to GDXJ. That process is now ready to change
from “in-line” to “catch-up” so if you’re not like me and have been waiting for the moment that momentum
kicks in to buy this stock and ride the re-rate, now is the time. I’m happy, and somewhat relieved, to report
that I am a happy holder of WRLG.
Conclusion
IKN868 is done, we end with bullet points:
 Call me chicken and accuse me of my nerves getting the better of me, I don’t care. Copper has run so
hard in the last few weeks that taking a few chips off the table is at the very least good portfolio
management and adding cash to a very thin treasury, allows flexibility and new trades to open going
forward.
 However, I will reiterate that in my opinion, copper looks due for a correction and with juniors running
the way they have, if it does so the chop will be extra hard in our sub-sector.
 I was suitably impressed with what I heard from Mayfair Gold (MFG.v) last week and if the team is as
good } their word, it’s shaping up to be a real wealth creation story.
24

 After putting together the revised note on West Red Lake (WRLG.v) in light of its 4q25 production
numbers and declaration of commercial production today, I’m happy with the way the stock traded.
Bought at the opening and closing bells, this 2026 YTD chart shows how it’s all-but caught back up to
GDXJ after a week of lagging, that’s what a “oh what a relief” reaction looks like from a market that
was nervous WRLG was about to drop bad news on the world. It didn’t things look fine and with
commercial production now declared, the re-rate is on. I cannot think of a more obvious way to make
30% on your money in the near-term, though in this market some other stock can add 30% in minutes
and make a big gain over a few weeks look positively pedestrian.
I wish you good trading fortune, ladies and gentlemen.
Best wishes, Mark.
Footnotes, appendices, references, disclaimer
(1) https://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2026/01/schedule-for-week-of-january-11-2026.html
(2) https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/supreme-court-set-issue-rulings-trump-awaits-fate-tariffs-2026-01-09/
(3) https://x.com/i/status/2008379846309933288
(4) https://mayfairgold.ca/
(5) https://mayfairgold.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/MFG-NRJan82026-F.pdf
(6) https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinese-demand-copper-vanishes-prices-075401948.html
(7) https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/metals/nickel-gluts-zinc-deficits-lme-shadow-stocks-tell-story-2026-01-09/
(8) https://algo-grande.com/news/algo-grande-identifies-32-high-priority-exploration-targets-at-adelita-and-commences-high-definition-
ground-magnetic-survey-and-appointment-of-jo%C3%A3o-rocha-vice-president-of-exploration
(9) https://www.primicias.ec/uploads/files/2025/12/31/Decreto_Ejecutivo_No._273_20251131160059-1-.pdf
(10) https://www.eloriente.com/articulo/noboa-redefine-reglas-de-la-mineria-en-ecuador/54825
(11) https://www.ecuavisa.com/economia/gobierno-preve-recuperar-154-megavatios-durante-2026-20260110-0001.html
(12) https://www.laradiodelsur.com.ve/bolivia-crece-movilizacion-contra-el-gasolinazo-de-paz-con-57-bloqueos-de-rutas/
(13) https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2026/01/09/latinoamerica/bolivia-matan-colaborador-rodrigo-paz-efe
(14) https://www.scribd.com/document/978772375/Encuesta-Atlas-Semana-010826-7#download&from_embed
(15) https://www.semana.com/politica/articulo/abelardo-de-la-espriella-le-ganaria-a-ivan-cepeda-en-una-segunda-vuelta-por-mas-de-9-
puntos-porcentuales-segun-una-encuesta-de-atlasintel-para-semana-asi-esta-la-intencion-de-voto/202642/
(16) https://westredlakegold.com/west-red-lake-gold-declares-commercial-production-at-madsen-gold-mine/
25

Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2025
CLOSED TRADES IN 2025 date closed close price
Arizona Sonoran ASCU.to Jan'25 C$1.39 22-Dic-24 C$1.68 20.9% nice NT trade, took profit
Libero Copper LBC.v Jan'25 C$0.34 20-Oct-24 C$0.245 -30.0% small spec loser
Barrick Gold GOLD Feb'25 U$15.70 22-Dic-24 U$18.26 16.3% taking profit on NT trade
Ero Copper ERO Mar'25 C$19.37 22-Dic-24 C$17.64 -8.9% closed badly timed trade
IMPACT Silver IPT.v Apr'25 C$0.30 14-Abr-24 C$0.195 -35.0% closed small Ag trade fail
Pan Global Res PGZ.v Apr'25 C$0.19 19-Feb-24 C$0.11 -42.1% closed sm Cu on -ve mkt turn
Aftermath Silver AAG.v Jun'25 $0.425 22-Dic-24 C$0.64 50.6% took profits, decent result
Lumina Gold LUM.v Jun'25 C$0.78 23-Feb-25 C$1.25 60.3% successful buyout trade.
Eldorado Gold EGO Aug'25 U$15.93 11-Ago-24 U$21.73 36.4% took profit, underperf'd peers
AbraSilver ABRA.to Aug'25 C$2.73 26-Ene-25 C$5.67 107.7% took profit, good result
Minera Alamos MAI.v Aug'25 C$0.21 13-Oct-19 C$0.345 64.3% lightened overweight position
Surge Copper SURG.v Sep'25 $0.105 22-Dic-24 C$0.215 104.8% took profits, good result
Provenance Gold PAU.cse Oct'25 C$0.15 27-Ago-25 C$0.265 76.7% took profits, good result
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2024
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
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 25-Aug-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
Aldebaran Res. ALDE.v Dec'24 C$0.72 16-May-21 C$2.11 193.1% closed trade, took profits
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
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Abrasilver Res. ABRA.v May'22 C$0.42 24-Apr-22 C$0.33 -21.4% sold to reduce Ag exposure
Strategic Metals SMD.v May'22 C$0.42 31-Jan-21 C$0.30 -28.6% trade flatlined 1.5 years
Discovery Silver DSV.v Jun'22 C$1.77 24-Oct-21 C$1.39 -21.5% Cutting Ag exp.& raising cash
Element 29 ECU.v Jul'22 C$0.58 6-Mar-22 C$0.30 -48.3% sold to cut Cu exposure
Superior Gold SGI.v Oct'22 C$0.95 3-Apr-22 C$0.24 -74.7% Q3 prod fail was last straw
Goldshore Res GSHR.v Nov'22 C$0.18 23-Oct-22 C$0.34 88.9% Quick profit taken
Palamina Corp PA.v Dec'22 C$0.295 21-Nov-21 C$0.08 -72.9% Clear-out of underperformer
Pure Gold PGM.h Dec'22 C$0.14 26-Sep-22 C$0.015 -89.3% tiny trade on vh risk, went Ch11
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2021
Closed in 2021 closed close price
Fiore Gold F.v jan'21 C$0.98 21-May-20 C$1.17 19.4% closed as part of rebalance
Norsemont Min NOM.cse feb'21 C$1.55 6-Sep-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
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2015 to 2019 annual closed positions in appendices below, 2009 to 2014 closed positions in editions IKN553 or earlier
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2019
Closed in 2019 closed close price
Atico Mining ATY.v jan'19 C$0.55 24-Jul-16 C$0.32 41.8% patience ran out, made room
Candente Copper DNT.to jan'19 C$0.075 3-Aug-18 C$0.05 -33.3% tiny trade, made room for new
B2Gold BTO.to feb'19 C$2.11 12-Sep-14 C$4.05 91.9% Took 1/2 profits, reduce size
Western Copper WRN.to mar'19 C$0.80 20-Jan-19 C$0.81 1.3% Spec trade that didn't work
B2Gold BTO.to mar'19 C$2.11 12-Sep-14 C$4.15 96.7% Took rest of profit.
GT Gold GTT.v mar'19 C$1.17 10-Oct-18 C$0.90 -23.1% Took loss. Story changed
NovaGold NG apr'19 U$3.84 13-Jan-19 U$4.15 -8.1% Short that didn't work, sm loss
Zinc One Z.v jun'19 C$0.47 14-Sep-17 C$0.025 -94.7% clearing out dead trade
Amarillo Gold AGC.v jun'19 C$0.24 22-Aug-18 C$0.20 -16.7% clearing out dead trade
New Gold NGD aug'19 U$1.44 31-Jul-19 U$1.23 14.6% ST short win thru Q2 earnings
IMPACT Silver IPT.v aug'19 C$0.39 21-Jul-19 C$0.46 18.0% took a quick profit
Fiore Gold F.v aug'19 C$0.34 26-May-19 C$0.56 64.7% Took profit, 2q19 avg
Chakana Copper PERU.v oct'19 C$0.84 22-Mar-18 C$0.16 -81.0% Exploreco trade fail. Want space
Wesdome Gold WDO.to oct'19 C$2.37 14-Oct-17 C$7.57 219.4% Sold half, profit taking
Superior Gold SGI.v oct'19 C$1.46 8-Apr-18 C$0.47 -67.8% Failed sm spec on Au. Moved on
Amerigo Res ARG.to nov'19 C$0.91 23-Sep-18 C$0.50 -45.1% worst trade of year, hefty loss
Guyana Goldfields GUY.to dec'19 C$0.94 14-Apr-19 C$0.56 -40.4% taking the loss, financials weak
Tethyan Res TETH.v dec'19 C$0.30 8-Sep-19 C$0.16 -46.7% tiny trade, word of probs in co
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2018
Closed in 2018 closed close price
Amarillo Gold AGC.v jan'18 C$0.38 24-Mar-17 C$0.31 -18.4% Cut away losing trade
Riverside Res RRI.v jan'18 C$0.39 27-Jun-16 C$0.31 -20.5% Cut away losing trade
Eros Res ERC.v jan'18 C$0.175 1-Mar-17 C$0.16 -8.6% CEO sudden exit, not good
Excellon Res EXN.to jan'18 C$1.54 9-Oct-16 C$1.66 7.8% 4q17 poor, one too many bad qtrs
Wesdome Gold WDO.to jan'18 C$1.68 15-Dec-17 C$2.06 22.6% Near-term trade block, took profit
Sabina G&S SBB.to apr'18 C$2.06 17-Dec-17 C$1.77 -14.1% Near-term trade, bad timing, small
B2Gold BTO.to May'18 C$2.11 12-Sep-14 C$3.67 73.9% sold 25% to reduce exposure
Lara Expl. LRA.v May'18 C$0.65 11-Feb-18 C$0.58 -13.8% Spec on Brazil didn't work
Solitario XPL June'18 U$0.72 19-Mar-17 U$0.41 -43.1% Failed trade, may return in 4q18
SolGold plc SOLG.to July'18 C$0.475 19-Nov-17 C$0.415 -12.6% cut, trade didn't perform
Pan American PAAS July'18 U$17.90 1-Jun-18 U$16.30 8.9% modest win on short position
NGEx Res NGQ.to Sep'18 C$1.01 22-Oct-17 C$1.00 -1.0% Closed to reduce Argentina exp
Sandstorm Gold SAND Oct'18 U$3.73 17-Apr-16 U$4.13 10.7% partial sale to raise cash for GTT
Aldebaran Res ALDE.v Nov'18 n/a n/a n/a n/a liquidate spin out of REG
Stocks To Follow Closed Positions 2017
Closed in 2017 closed close price
Continental Gold CNL.to Jan'17 C$2.68 22-May-16 C$4.17 55.6% trade closed, profit taken
Focus Ventures FCV.v Jan'17 C$0.23 1-Jul-12 C$0.05 -78.3% Give up, a disaster trade
Wesdome Gold WDO.to Feb'17 C$1.72 28-Aug-16 C$3.00 74.4% Target hit, sold, good trade
Belo Sun BSX.to Mar'17 C$0.90 30-Jan-17 C$0.90 0.0% failed near-term flip trade
Lara Expl. LRA.v Mar'17 C$1.15 8-Apr-12 C$1.05 -8.7% cut to make room for new trade
Rye Patch Gold RPM.v Apr'17 C$0.31 2-Sep-16 C$0.32 3.2% cut for doubts & new stock
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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