- November 24, 2023
- Posted by: John Arcena
- Category: Uncategorized
It was a different trading week with US markets closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and closing early on Black Friday. The traditional start of the holiday shopping season is upon us, and trading has been mild.
Canadian markets finished the week without much gain but are at a level not seen for over 2 months. The US markets are just a shade away from making a new high for the year but fairly quiet, expected with the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend coming.
This week Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem declared that excess demand in the economy was gone, and rates are likely restrictive enough to get inflation back down to two percent. ECB (European Central Bank) President Christine Lagarde said the ECB is now at a point where it can pause after a final reading of Germany’s economic growth in the third quarter confirmed a contraction. But as central banks around the world hold rates in place, investors are flocking to equities, and shoppers to the malls.
The US dollar continues to weaken, giving back most of the gains of this year. Precious metals are showing strength, with gold over $2,000/oz this morning, and silver is over $24/oz. Analysts have said that seasonal factors could play a bigger role in the near-term price action, which would be extremely bullish for the precious metals. Base metals failed to make any gains this week, despite the lower dollar that would be expected to buoy them up. Battery materials drifted lower with lithium, at $ 18.70/kg, trading at the lowest price since September 2021. Have we seen peak Lithium?
Uranium bounced up to over $80/lb., up by 170% since the market turned up in July 2021. Demand is much greater than global production, and the deficit is likely to remain as few new mines are coming on. Look into those explorers growing resources in established areas, or better yet, those companies building new mines.
Oil has been holding steady at $76.30 this morning ahead of next week’s delayed OPEC+ meeting, which could bring some kind of agreement on output cuts in 2024. U.S. inventories and production are at record levels and U.S. supply is posing a problem for OPEC+, as the U.S. appears to be taking market share away and has raised some concerns over a demand slowdown in the coming months.
It has been a productive week for our clients, and we are pleased to present to you our round-up of their news released between November 20-24, 2023.
On November 21, 2023, Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SIC) (OTCQB: SICNF) announced a non-brokered private placement of flow-through units for gross proceeds of up to CAD$3,000,000. The Private Placement is expected to close on or before November 30, 2023.
The Private Placement is priced at $0.065 per FT Unit, each FT Unit consisting of one flow-through common share of the Company entitling the holder to receive the tax benefits applicable to flow-through shares in accordance with provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada), and one-half of one common share purchase warrant, each full Warrant being exercisable for one additional common share of the Company, not a flow-through share, at an exercise price of $0.13 for 12 months from the date of issue. All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month and one-day hold period.
The Company will use an amount equal to the gross proceeds to incur eligible “Canadian exploration expenses” that qualify as “flow-through mining expenditures” as both terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada) on or before December 31, 2024
The Company intends to spend up to 75% of the funds on its flagship Moosehead Gold project and approximately 25% on the Fleur de Lys Gold project.
On November 22, 2023, Electric Metals (USA) Limited (TSXV: EML) (OTCQB: EMUSF) announced that it has entered into an option and acquisition agreement with Altair Resources Inc. for the sale of up to 100% of its Nevada silver assets, including the Corcoran Canyon gold-silver project, the Belmont gold-silver project and the Belmont North gold-silver project, located in the Tonopah District in Nye County, Nevada.
Altair will have the right to acquire up to a 100% interest in the Assets through the acquisition of EML subsidiary, North American Silver Corporation (“NAS”), by making payments to EML and its subsidiary of cash and common shares of Altair, and the expenditure of funds on the Project, as per the following payment schedule (all currency references are to Canadian Dollars):
- Within 30 days of announcing the Option Agreement – $440,428 cash payment.
- On or before 1st anniversary of the Option Agreement $617,072 in Project expenditure, $472,500 cash payment and $500,000 in Altair Shares.
- On or before 2nd anniversary of the Option Agreement $2,400,000 in Project expenditures, approx. US$96,343 cash payment and $1,500,000 in Altair Shares.
- On or before the 3rd anniversary of the Option Agreement $2,750,000 in Project expenditures and $2,000,000 in Altair Shares.
- On or before the 4th anniversary of the final approval of the plan of operations for the Project $3,000,000 in Project expenditures and $2,500,000 in Altair Shares.
If Altair elects to execute all Option Agreement tranches, EML will receive over $1.0 million in cash and $6.5 million in Altair shares. Additionally, Altair will have invested nearly $9 million in project expenditures.
On November 23, 2023, Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SIC) (OTCQB: SICNF) announced that Piedmont Lithium Inc. (NASDAQ: PLL) (ASX: PLL) has provided notice to exercise its Initial Earn-In Right to acquire a 16.35% voting and participating interest in Killick Lithium Inc.
Pursuant to this exercise notice, Piedmont issued to each of Sokoman and Benton, shares of its common stock having an aggregate subscription price of CAD$2.0M based on Piedmont’s ten-day volume weighted average price up to the date of the Initial Interest exercise notice, amounting to 26,099 Piedmont shares issued to each company.
Killick Lithium Project relative to Piedmont’s asset portfolio
In addition, as part of its Initial Earn-In Right, Piedmont will fund work expenditures in the total amount of at least CAD$6.0M within a 30-month period following the Initial Earn-In Right exercise notice.
On November 24, 2023, Save Canadian Mining founder Terry Lynch hosted an online seminar titled “Defend Your Investments: Black Friday Short Selling Emergency Session” featuring Eric Sprott, Wes Christian, David Wenger, and Tom Ronk. View Replay.
Predatory short selling is becoming front-page news and Save Canadian Mining is making efforts to raise public awareness of an unfair capital market system that allows predatory short selling practices to proliferate. They wish to expose the trading activities of some large hedge funds and the effect they continue to have on small businesses trying to raise capital, hire and contribute to the economy.
In 2012 IIROC and CSA removed a trading rule known as the “tick test”, which restricted short selling to neutral or sales to positive price changes at the time of the sale. These changes were applied not only to the main listing venue of TSX Venture Exchange, but are equally applied across all Canadian trading venues, of which there are 14 today, reducing TSX Venture’s ability to effect any change. Since removal of the tick test, the Canadian markets have evolved, and there now exists a dynamic where short selling activities, high frequency trading, and algorithms are exploiting the lack of a tick test to the detriment of Canada’s junior markets.
Research shows a strong correlation between the repeal of the tick test regulation and the steady and widening decline of investment in Canada’s junior mining sector, even as commodity prices increase. The TSXV is at its lowest level since the pandemic, and yet commodities are at solid prices, why the disconnect?
Save Canadian Mining’s advocacy objective is endorsed by organizations representing both the mining industry and the investment community. Among these supportive organizations are: The Ontario Mining Association, the Ontario Prospectors Association, Sprott Mining Inc., McEwen Mining Inc., Osisko Mining, The TSX Venture Exchange; other junior mining companies and their investors need to get informed and involved.
Save Canadian Mining.
On November 24, 2023 – Visionstate Corp. (TSXV: VIS) announced, subject to regulatory approval, a private placement to raise $400,000 for the issuance of 20,000,000 units at $0.02 per unit, with each unit consisting of one common share and one full warrant exercisable at $0.05 for two years.
The funds raised will primarily be allocated to expand the Company’s product marketing efforts in the United States, where Visionstate IoT Inc., the Company’s main operating division, has already established a strong presence with several prominent customers. The targeted focus will be on resellers of the WANDA™ product, a cutting-edge facility management application designed to track cleaning and maintenance activities.
In addition to fortifying its position in the US market, Visionstate Corp. will allocate resources to enhance its ViCCi 2.0 product. Set to launch in the first quarter of 2024, ViCCi 2.0 represents a significant evolution from its predecessor, leveraging artificial intelligence and conversational interfaces to provide advanced virtual customer assistance in bricks and mortar settings.