| | Bottom-Fish Action Report for Week of November 1-14, 2009
Gold Shines while the Market Gapes
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During the past couple weeks volume and value traded on the TSXV flagged but the TSXV Index recovered from its October downtrend. This pattern was mirrored in the Bottom-Fish 2009 Index which is almost back to the September high though daily value traded is less than half. The junior market faces a wall of worry with regard to the commodity sector. Although the United States reported 3.5% GDP growth for Q3 of 2009, unemployment has continued to rise and American business remains reluctant to hire full time employees. There should be no surprise about this reluctance because most of the fiscal stimulus created by the Obama administration has not gone towards legacy investment. Instead it has gone towards bailing out Wall Street and the banking industry which is gearing up to pay out big bonuses once again, particularly by firms which used the liquidity injection and very low interest rates to trade the equity market. Other programs such as the Cash for Clunkers and First Time Home Buyers Credit have merely served to move existing inventory. The former helped stimulate purchases of foreign cars whose reputation for fuel efficiency and reliability was hard for the crippled American car industry to counter. Further resistance to American cars arose from concern that domestic carmakers might not be in a position to service warranties and parts replacement needs down the road. The First Time Home Buyers Credit merely helped banks unload foreclosed homes and handed a bonus to buyers who were likely to buy a home with or without the credit.
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The big shoe still to drop in the American economy is the large reset looming for the jumbo, equity line and Alt A mortgages tied to the higher end American residential real estate priced at $500,000 or higher. These are scheduled for reset about the middle of 2010, about the time that the Federal Reserve will have to start increasing its prime lending rate to stave of inflation. This is another train wreck coming because these homes are owned by the white collar middle class of which only a small minority are likely to participate in this year's round of financial sector bonuses, and the majority of whom have no real job security in an economy that is still caught in the globalization trap. The modest reversal of the downtrend in US household net worth reflects the fact that lower end real estate has hit bottom, equities have enjoyed a stunning rally since April, and the higher end real estate has not really washed out, in part because there were few qualified buyers, and in part because the owners have other assets they can use to make the payments needed to keep these loans from defaulting. Unless the Obama administration comes up with an economic vision that defines what the basis of productive economic activity will be for the United States during the next decade, the heart of American consumption will fail, and this constitutes a problem for China, which has maintained a tight peg with the US dollar since July 2008 when the financial meltdown in the wake of the Fannie Mae failure began.
China maintained a peg between its renminbi and the US dollar from late 1997 when the Asian currency crisis unleashed a currency devaluation "race to the bottom" which China resisted until late July 2005 when it succumbed to US pressure to let its currency rise. From July 2005 until July 2008 China allowed its currency to appreciate 17.5% against the US dollar even as it continued its policy of shipping its trade surplus dollars back to the United States in exchange for US denominated debt which included the securitized mortgage debt the United States government has since been buying back. As the financial meltdown started in July 2008 China decided to re-peg its currency to the US dollar, which had been under severe pressure since late 2001, declining against almost all currencies. During the financial crisis the US dollar soared against all currencies as borrowers scrambled for dollars, and major asset classes, including gold, declined sharply as the world deleveraged itself. But once the situation had stabilized in April 2009 the US dollar began to decline against other currencies as the world realized that the US economy did not have the wherewithal to sustain the global economy in the long run. China, however, has maintained its peg, much to the chagrin of Europe and Japan who have watched their competitive edge erode with regard to exports to China and the United States. While the decline of the US dollar has helped the export economy of the United States, it has not helped with regard to exports to China where the China Price, although rising as China's emerging middle class insists on better working and environmental conditions, still has a major competitive advantage for manufacturing. This has complicated the green component of the Obama administration's fiscal stimulus plan involving transformative infrastructure renewal.
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There are now reports coming out that the majority of funds earmarked for "green" projects has gone to purchase "green" goods manufactured in China, with US jobs linked only to installation and shipping, as companies figure a way around "Buy America" provisions. This makes good economic sense because the China Price still yields the lowest cost, and why should taxpayer money be wasted on expensive goods manufactured in the United States? It is no surprise that the United States reported a record trade deficit in October. Green investment, however, involves a long term strategic logic which clashes with short term focused economic logic premised on short term exploitation of existing energy infrastructure. It is just plain stupid to let a commitment to free trade guide the procurement of goods for projects subsidized by the taxpayer on premises such as climate change goals which a free market economy would never adopt. But rather than put in place explicit trade protection measures, the Obama administration would prefer China to allow its renminbi to float against the US dollar.
Gold has been rising in part because of the expectation that China will break the peg to the US dollar, which is expected to result in further declines in US dollar exchange rates. However, China has maintained its peg by using its trade surplus dollars to purchase foreign currencies such as the euro and yen in an understandable bid to diversify its foreign exchange reserve holdings. Should China allow its currency to once again appreciate against the US dollar, it will probably be done in a way that does not result in further declines by the US dollar against other currencies. It will, however, fuel higher prices in raw materials and equities, especially if as part of the unofficial deal the United States agrees to lower its resistance to the purchase of US corporate assets by Chinese entities. Not only would this support the equity markets, and avert the dreaded post dead cat bounce decline that ushered in the Great Depression of the thirties, but it would inject "discretionary" dollars into the American economy. The Japanese and Europeans do not want the US dollar to keep declining against their currencies, giving what is still the world's biggest economy a further export advantage; they want the Chinese renminbi to rise against all currencies so that the advantage enjoyed by the China price diminishes. Ironically, gold is being bought by countries such as India, which recently bought 200 tonnes of the 403.3 tonnes the IMF has for sale, as a way to keep their currency from appreciating in the short run while securing a long term asset that will help hedge against a future time when that country's currency is under siege. So rather than seeing further declines in the US dollar, we can expect the US dollar to be stable or rise somewhat against all currencies except the renminbi.
The recent price action in gold, which kicked off the new week in Asia with a move to $1,130, is an upward move against all currencies. We are now seeing the price of gold head into new real high territory, using $400 in 1980 as a base and adjusting for US CPI inflation, which would put gold at $1,009 today. Although there are beliefs that an inflation bubble is in the pipeline that will hit within a year or two, the current gold price gains are occurring in an environment of minimal inflation. Gold has been among the best performing asset classes this year, unless you happen to be a Canadian or Australian whose commodity producer based currencies have appreciated so much against the US dollar this year that the gold price in local currency terms has been flat. But as the chart above shows, this has changed during the past month, which is good news for Canadian and Australian producers who have watched both sides of the cash flow equation remain unchanged even as gold soared. Gains in the price of gold from here onward will have a leveraged impact on the potential value of companies with pre-development ounces in the ground, and a major impact on the cash flow gold producers.
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The market, however, has had a muted reaction to the record high gold price in real terms, probably because it does not trust the staying power of this trend. With regard to base metal prices there is deep suspicion that a massive carry trade has evolved where US dollars are borrowed at low interest rates and invested in commodity stock-piling. This carry trade follows the logic that because the United States is doing nothing to reindustrialize its economy its currency will remain under pressure with the result that US dollar denominated raw materials will continue to rise in value. China itself has encouraged a form of dispersed stock-piling by allowing Chinese manufacturers to borrow funds for the purchase of raw materials such as copper well in excess of the amounts the "just-in-time" inventory philosophy would dictate as reasonable. This "stock-piling" has even trickled down to the level of the individual whose purchases are symbolized by the "copper kettle", a durable good which has utility in a way that gold and silver do not. The anxiety about the short term copper trend is evident in the chart above which shows LME warehouse stocks rising along with the copper price. In contrast zinc stocks have been flat to slightly lower during the past six months which has enabled zinc to creep higher, with the spot trend suggesting stronger price optimism compared to that indicated by the 15 month futures trend. Copper, however, and not zinc, is regarded as the bellwether of the global economy, and thus the suspicion is deep that the apparent strength shown by the copper price is an illusion. It remains to be seen if China's infrastructure development program will foster domestic consumption which China will allow foreign countries to supply by loosening its peg to the US dollar. Ironically, the rising gold price is telling us that the global economy is on a real expansion track, not falling apart. This, in my view, is the new reality behind growing investment demand for gold, which is focused on the uncertainty associated with long term structural changes in the global economy, not a "flight to safety" in response to a problem implicitly understood as a short term matter. That is why I think we are heading into a tremendous bull market for resource juniors.
| Above Bottom-Fish Range |
Within Bottom-Fish Range |
Below Bottom-Fish Range |
Recently Closed Out |
| Updated this Week |
New 2 Year High |
New 2 Year Low |
New Bottom-Fish High |
New Bottom-Fish Low |
Bottom-Fish Recommendations made from November 1-14, 2009
| Company |
Date |
|
Price |
Recommendation |
Action |
Net
Cash |
Net
Stock |
Gain |
New Status |
| Dome Ventures Corp (DV.U-V) |
11/2/2009 |
 |
$0.47 |
Confirm BF MP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
|
$0 |
5,263 |
147% |
BF MP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
New Comments
| Company |
|
Volume |
High |
Low |
Close |
Chg |
Status |
| Brett Resources Inc (BBR-V) |
 |
3,794,000 |
$1.490 |
$1.080 |
$1.450 |
$0.330 |
BF TP Buy $0.50-$0.75 |
| Dome Ventures Corp (DV.U-V) |
 |
740,300 |
$0.500 |
$0.450 |
$0.450 |
$0.000 |
BF MP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Gleichen Resources Ltd (GRL-V) |
 |
5,130,100 |
$1.390 |
$1.100 |
$1.250 |
$0.050 |
BF Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Hudson Resources Inc (HUD-V) |
|
2,313,200 |
$0.690 |
$0.440 |
$0.630 |
$0.160 |
|
| Jaguar Mining Inc (JAG-T) |
|
4,951,400 |
$11.320 |
$8.840 |
$11.310 |
$2.260 |
|
| Lithic Resources Ltd (LTH-V) |
|
8,387,100 |
$0.230 |
$0.080 |
$0.195 |
$0.075 |
BF X Buy below $0.10 |
| Peregrine Diamonds Ltd (PGD-T) |
|
4,645,700 |
$2.470 |
$1.920 |
$2.000 |
($0.350) |
BF TP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd (WDO-T) |
|
3,924,000 |
$2.790 |
$1.980 |
$2.300 |
$0.270 |
BF TP Buy $0.76-$1.00 |
Bottom-Fish Action Report for November 1-14, 2009
Bottom-Fish Comment - November 2, 2009: AngloGold decides to proceed with grassroots gold play in Gabon
 Dome Ventures Corp came alive on October 30 after announcing that AngloGold Ashanti had decided to proceed with exploration of gold licenses in Gabon that had been generated by Dome's exploration team during the past four years. On May 28, 2009 Dome had announced a heads of agreement with AngloGold which involved a new 829,500 hectare reconnaissance license called Ogooue and deals on the Ndjole and Mevang licenses. AngloGold, however, suspended work when President Omar Bongo died on June 8, 2009 after ruling Gabon for 41 years during which he presided over the rise of a tiny financial elite whose wealth blossomed as a result of the country's mineral and oil production while the rest of the 1.3 million people lived in squalor. Gabon is a former colony of France which has maintained such close ties with Gabon's financial elite that a French appeals court threw out in late October a judicial probe launched by Transparency International seeking an explanation of the significant assets the leaders of Gabon and two other oil producing nations, Congo Republic and Equatorial Guinea, had amassed. AngloGold had pulled back because of concern that a succession battle would unleash a civil war in Gabon. The leading contender was Ali Ben Bongo, the 50 year old son of Omar Bongo who has been foreign minister and more recently defence minister, and who had an overwhelming campaign financing advantage. On August 30, 2009 he was elected president with 42% of the vote compared to 26% and 25% for his main rivals, which is considerably less than what his father typically tallied. The results were of course disputed by the losers, and the people of Gabon generally believe the election was rigged, but a resigned acceptance of the continuation of the Bongo dynasty appears to have set in. Optimism that stability will be maintained in Gabon prompted AngloGold to proceed with the joint ventures, which it has asked Dome to operate.
 The map above portrays the exploitation and exploration licenses as they stood on August 21, 2008, whereas the smaller inset map includes the 8,295 ha Ogooue license which AngloGold has since acquired. AngloGold will spend the first US $3 million on the Ogooue license after which AngloGold and Dome will form an 80:20 joint venture. AngloGold has earned 20% of each of the 2,000 hectare Ndjole and Mevang licenses by paying Dome US $400,000, and has the right to increase its stake in both projects to 60% by paying US $300,000 and spending US $3.7 million over 3 years. After vesting for 60% AngloGold has the option to boost its stake to 70% by spending an additional US $5 million over 2 years. AngloGold has budgetted $300,000 for the rest of 2009 and $1.9 million for 2010. Dome continues to hold 100% of the 2,000 ha Mitzic license to the north 100% for its iron potential which it had tentatively sold in 2008 to an Australian group before the Crash of 2008 torpedoed that deal. AngloGold's target consists of shear controlled mesothermal deposits within greenstone belts hosted by Archean and Proterozoic rocks. No significant deposits have yet been discovered, though Lonmin has intersected modest gold mineralization on its Koumba license which Dome's Ogooue license nearly surrounds, and past sampling work by BRGM has identified anomalous geochemical gold values over large areas.
Dome Ventures Corp was recommended a medium priority bottom-fish buy in the $0.10-$0.19 range on December 24, 2008 because it was a well structured junior whose principals Brian Edgar and Bill Rand, who normally work on behalf of the Lundin empire, have nursed the company along since 2000, consolidated ownership in 2008 by buying out a hedge fund, brought new players on board through a $0.35 private placement, and developed a grassroots exploration strategy for Gabon, one of Africa's least explored countries. Although the timeline for a major development is uncertain, Dome's management has indicated that it is on the lookout for a major new project. A long term chart reveals that Dome has been an eternal bottom-fish, but the situation appeared to change in 2008 as outlined in our May 29, 2008 Blog Comment. Among the changes was the arrival of Matt Mason, Tim Young and Tim Barry who joined the company as directors (Mason and Young) and as chief geologist (Barry) after taking down a private placement of 2.3 million units at $0.35 (the 2.3 million warrants at $0.40 expire in June 2010). This happens to be the price at which Bill Rand and Brian Edgar bought out the Circle T funds after the death of manager Seth Tobias in late 2007. That bottom-fishers were able to accumulate Dome below $0.30 earlier this year reflects the fact that Rand and Edgar have been busy fighting fires associated with the Lundin empire that broke out during the Crash of 2008. Since the news came out on Friday Dome stock has been the focus of aggressive buying by one brokerage firm, National Bank, which bought 279,500 shares of the 523,804 shares that traded Friday and Monday. This type of action is very unusual for Dome because the Gabon joint venture news merely kicks off a grassroots exploration campaign which may take years to deliver a meaningful discovery. I suspect the true significance is that after years of groundwork in Gabon Dome has effectively handed further exploration to a major gold mining company, and although its chief geologist and exploration team will for the time being operate initial exploration, management is now free to pursue other projects. The National Bank buying may thus be premised on more than optimism about a grassroots exploration play in a somewhat troubled country. At the same time the scale of the project is such that it does offer potential for a world class gold discovery, so there is a speculative reason for the stock price to move higher. A higher price, in turn, may enable management to pull a much more advanced project into the company, which Brian Edgar has for years threatened to do, and which Bill Rand has confirmed management is finally ready to pursue aggressively. We confirm Dome Ventures Corp as a medium priority bottom-fish buy in the $0.10-$0.19 range, and, given that insiders paid $0.35 for their positions when the company was still cleaning itself up, we would regard buying the stock in the $0.30-$0.49 range as good bottom-fishing. Note late-breaking news: on November 13 Dome announced that it would merge with AMEX listed Metalline Mining, owner of a Mexican project that hosts separate zinc and silver deposits. The deal requires Dome to take down a $3 million private placement in Metalline, raise US $16 million, and then merge with Metalline in exchange for 52.4 million shares. The ratio received by Dome shareholders will depend on how much stock is issued after Dome completes its financing. This is a convoluted way for somebody to invest in Metalline, which spiked above $5 in 2006 but crashed below $0.20 in 2008, and it basically wastes the shell Brian Edgar and Bill Rand have nurtured for the past decade. Bill Rand would not tell me who is going to put up $16 million other than to confirm it is a party separate from Lukas Lundin, and to hint that Dome does not now have to go around cap in hand for a financing. He was not in a position to tell me the price of the financing, but it is likely $0.46, the same price of Dome's investment in Metalline, and the price the stock was trading at on Friday. Rand did indicate that the 52.4 million figure was fixed so that Metalline had the degree of dilution it must suffer nailed down. I thus conclude that this is a done deal with the mystery being who is behind the financing, why they did not approach Metalline directly, and why they think a project on which Metalline has labored for a decade only to see its stock trashed in 2008 is special. My suspicion is that US financing rules are more complicated than Canadian rules and that this method is a way for a strong group to bankroll Metalline and salvage the AMEX listing which is in jeopardy when the stock trades below $1. This outcome was not what I expected, but I reserve judgement until I can learn more about the underlying logic of this deal.
Spec Value Hunter Comment - November 3, 2009: Jaguar acquisition expands potential for near-term production boost
 Jaguar Mining, recommended as a Good Relative Spec Value Buy at $4.05 on December 17, 2008 in Express 2008-06 (KBFO Gold Indices confirm sectoral uptrend) on the basis of the company's organic growth strategy involving its Iron Quadrangle projects in Brazil and a then-emerging uptrend in gold producers, announced on November 2, 2009 that it intends to acquire from Kinross Gold the Gurupi project in Brazil's Maranhao state which has a measured and indicated resources of 1.5 million gold ouncesl for US $39-million. The transaction had been to some degree telegraphed to the market, for in the company's September 9, 2009 announcement of a plan to issue a US $110 million note offering (subsequently increased to $150 million on September 10 and boosted to $165 million with the overallotment) it had described the intended use of funds as the repurchase of its outstanding 10.5-per-cent secured notes and "to finance the exploration and predevelopment of a gold property that has yet to commercially produce gold for which Jaguar is in exclusive negotiations." The $39 million purchase price is to be paid in Jaguar stock based on the 5 day weighted average NYSE price prior to closing. If the acquisition were to result in Jaguar issuing greater than 5 per cent of its outstanding shares as of closing to Kinross, then Jaguar would have the option to limit the share issuance to 5% and to provide the balance in cash. With Jaguar currently trading around $9.00 in New York, and with the price of gold moving up over $1080 on November 3, the movement of Jaguar's share price in the month before the expected closing date bears watching.
The Gurupi project, located in Brazil's Maranho State, is a 100% controlled Kinross project where a 2005 feasibility study by AMEC outlined a measured and indicated (M&I) resource of 1.56 million ounces grading 1.35 g/t gold. Kinross acquired the project through a three-way merger with Echo Bay Mines and TVX Gold in January, 2003. Kinross completed a feasibility study but never made development of Gurupi a priority. Jaguar is effectively paying $25 per measured and indicated gold ounce, but it is also getting a right of first refusal on an adjacent property which suggests Jaguar believes there exists meaningful exploration potential. A key feature of the acquisition is that Gurupi's M&I resources will increase Jaguar's M&I gold resources by 45% upon closing. Jaguar is conducting a pre-feasibility study expected in December 2009, with a final feasibility study expected in mid-Q1 2010. The apparent plan to rapidly advance Gurupi supports Jaguar's strategic vision of producing between 620,000 ounces and 700,000 ounces of gold per year by 2014.
Overall 2009 has been a strong year for Jaguar, with the stock price up over 125% since our December recommendation. Production for the first three quarters of 2009 was 115,211 ounces of gold at an average cash operating cost of $444 per ounce, compared with 77,130 ounces at an average cash operating cost of $450 per ounce during the first nine months of 2008. The 49% production increase has been accompanied by slightly lower cash costs, though these were negatively affected by the ongoing strength of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar. Whether recent government steps to restrain the surging real that included proposals for a 2% tax on foreign purchases of Brazilian local bonds and equities will be effective remains to be seen. With a gold price appearing to look increasingly more comfortable above the $1000 level, Jaguar's considerable growth potential may become more important to the market than somewhat higher costs of production. Jaguar has also managed during 2009 to raise funds to repurchase the company's outstanding 10.5% secured notes due March 23, 2012 by raising US $165 million through the sale of 4.5% senior convertible notes due 2014, thereby cleaning up its balance sheet and reducing interest payments. This financing, however, which involved a US $12.75 per share conversion price, killed Jaguar's uptrend in early September which had taken the stock as high as CAD $12.24, and the stock has since underperformed the KBFO Intermediate Gold Producer Index and the price of gold. The trend divergence was likely the result of shareholders selling stock to purchase the convertible debenture which pays 4.5% while maintaining exposure to capital gains upside if the stock price should exceed $12.75 which is very likely if the company continues to grow and/or gold maintains its uptrend.
With development of Jaguar's Caete project continuing, and commissioning of the Caete plant expected in Q3 2010, the acquisition of Gurupi is a positive event for the company which will likely bring Jaguar's stock price trend back in line with that of the Intermediate Producer Index. Finally, with Kinross soon to be acquiring as much as 5% of Jaguar's outstanding stock, a new twist is introduced into the ongoing perception of Jaguar as a takeover candidate. While Yamana, which has considerable exposure to Brazil, has frequently been mentioned as the most likely suitor for Jaguar, the completion of the Gurupi transaction would give Kinross a visible stake in the company that could serve, if nothing else, to raise the price any other company would have to offer in order to acquire Jaguar. From a different perspective, a 5% Kinross stake in Jaguar may actually serve to ensure that the company remains independent, an outcome which likely offers the greatest prospect of gains for Jaguar shareholders. Given the positive corporate developments and uptrend in the price of gold we continue to rank Jaguar among the best members of our KBFO Intermediate Gold Producer Index, which consists of companies producing 100,000-500,000 ounces gold annually. In the short term, the rising gold price and the desire to boost Jaguar's share price above $10 U.S., the threshold at which a 5% stake in Jaguar would equate to the $39 million Gurupi share price and allow the company to avoid making a cash payment to Kinross, also presents the prospect of more immediate short-term gains. We thus confirm Jaguar as a Good Relative Spec Value Buy at the current price and recommend that Spec Value Hunters continue to hold Jaguar as both a gold growth story and a play on higher gold prices. --BD
Bottom-Fish Comment - November 4, 2009: Gleichen prices US $200 million special warrant offering a CAD $1.00 per unit
 Gleichen Resources Ltd announced on November 4, 2009 that it will conduct a US $200 million financing in the form of a special warrant offering at CAD $1.00 per unit, with each unit consisting of 1 share and 1/4 warrant exercisable at $1.30 for 2 years. The offering, which is led by Macquarie, BMO and GMP, with Dundee, Scotia and Jones Gable acting as syndicate members, is expected to close on November 12. The offering includes a 15% over-allotment option. If we assume a 1.0631 CAD:USD exchange rate and completion of the entire offering plus the overallotment, the additional dilution would be about 306 million shares, bringing Gleichen's fully diluted to 345,694,630 shares. Of the proceeds US $150 million will be used to purchase a 78.8% interest in the 3.85 million ounce Morelos gold deposit from Teck. At a $1 stock price this represents an implied project value of $439 million, or CAD $113 per oz. This transaction is not cheap, but the ounces are open-pittable ounces with a fairly high grade of 3.2 g/t which represents a rock value of US $112 per tonne at $1,092 gold, and the project has significant resource expansion potential. The special warrant will convert into free trading stock after four months or earlier if a final prospectus qualifying the offering is filed and accepted by the regulators. We expect the stock to do well once the financing has closed because the 28 million existing shares are well held and represent a small float relative to the scale of the asset. We maintain a Spec Cycle Hold 100% recommendation for this bottom-fish initially recommended as a low priority buy in the $0.10-$0.19 range on December 24, 2008 when the company was still a shell.
Bottom-Fish Comment - November 9, 2009: Resource Capital Fund sells Lithic position
 Lithic Resources Ltd, which is normally a quiet trader, had its biggest volume day ever on November 5 as 7,150,400 shares traded in a range of $0.08-$0.14, with most of the stock trading at $0.08. The selling apparently was by Resource Capital Fund which was liquidating one of its older funds and simply wanted to get rid of a non-core position even though Lithic is very close to publishing a new resource estimate for the Crypto zinc-indium project in Utah. In a September 28 Bottom-Fish Comment I alerted bottom-fishers to this upcoming milestone which could turn Lithic into a major zinc-indium play whose special hook is that the indium is recoverable and has an unusually elevated grade. Because global indium supply is mainly a by-product of zinc conentrate smelting operations, and its recovery from tin deposits is problematic, there is no easy way to ramp up indium supply in response to demand growth from sectors such as the type of solar cells which need indium. Smaller scale zinc dominated deposits such as Crypto, which would normally not be of development interest for anybody optimistic about the long term price of zinc, but which have a meaningful indium component, would be of significant interest to end-users worried about their indium supply. Although Lithic management received word of RCF's intent to sell on very short notice, it was able to round up buyers for the block of stock among groups that have been sympathetic to Lithic's story during the past two years and are plugged into the indium twist. So while some of the stock ended up in the hands of possible punters, much of it appears to have ended up in supportive hands. If this is correct, RCF's decision to sell is a positive development for Lithic, because it eliminates the largest single voting block, relieves Chris Staargaard of any obligation to worry about what RCF might think of his plans, and gets rid of a major indifferent shareholder. Staargaard's plans include raising US $6-8 million for the next stage of work on Crypto whose primary purpose would be to upgrade and possibly expand the resource for development as a zinc-indium producer. However, we need the upcoming resource estimate and metallurgical study reports to assess whether or not this is a story with staying power. At current prices Lithic continues to be an interesting buy for speculators, but a green light for a major spec cyle that could take the stock well above $1 still hinges on the upcoming reports which Staargaard has indicated he now expects to publish during the third week of November.
Bottom-Fish Comment - November 12, 2009: More Chidliak micro diamond results
 Peregrine Diamonds Ltd released additional micro-diamond results for its Chidliak project on November 12, 2009 which continue to support the idea that Chidliak is major new kimberlite field. On September 21 Peregrine had released results for two samples A and B from the CH-6 pipe representing a uniform volcaniclastic phase (A) and a more variably textured volcaniclastic phase (B) which were spectacular, suggesting a macro grade in excess of 500 cpht for the CH-6A material. The latest news provides micro diamond results for the 170.3 kg of magmatic material (CH-6C) recovered from hole #5 drilled in a southeast direction from the drill setup on CH-6. The curve plots up slightly better than that of CH-6A and includes two large diamonds of 0.42 ct (white translucent aggregate) and 0.361 ct (yellow transparent distorted crystal). This is good news because it suggests that the magmatic phase present in the pipe is related to the volcaniclastic phase and that together they may constitute significant tonnage for what appears to be a small but very high grade kimberlite. A number of people have asked if words like "aggregate", "distorted" and "off-white" used to describe some of the larger diamonds imply that the CH-6 diamonds will prove to be low quality. In fact some of the diamonds have been described as "white transparent octahedra", which generally refers to high quality gem diamonds whose overall value contribution to a pipe far exceeds the volume contribution they make. Seeing some of these diamonds present is much more important than the fact that the majority of the diamonds from a small sample appear to be of low quality. It is in fact very unusual to see any macro diamonds (ie greater than 1.18 mm sieve) in samples this small (ie less than 500 kg), and, except for very rare cases such as the Victor pipe in northern Ontario, high gem quality diamonds tend to be a minority of the stones in economic diamond pipes. It is thus too early to draw any conclusions about the quality of diamonds in a new kimberlite prior to collection of a large enough sample that yields a parcel of at least several hundred carats. Peregrine also reported that the CH-9 and CH-11 kimberlites are only marginally diamondiferous, but the CH-10 and CH-12 kimberlites did yield encouraging micro diamond curves that will require followup. The CH-10 kimberlite is a small body just north of CH-6 and is part of a "string of pearls" running north of CH-6 that may be blows on a dyke system. On October 21 Peregrine released micro diamond results for a 178.8 kg core sample taken from CH-1 earlier this year which yielded a curve weaker than that for the CH-1B phase but better than that for the CH-1A phase. The market shrugged off the latter result because it is waiting for the results from a 50 tonne sample excavated from CH-1 and still enroute to the SRC dense media separation lab. Still to come are micro diamond results for pipes CH-13 to CH-16, which Eric Friedland expects during the first week of December. Beyond the final micro diamond results for the 2009 season and the CH-1 mini bulk sample results we can look forward to the results of the till sampling program, in particular Peregrine's 100% owned Qilaq project, which management hopes to have in hand during February 2010. The stock seems to be settling into the $2.00-$2.50 range from which a breakout will require exceptional news during the short term. We are thus back to being patient. Note: On Friday after I published this comment Thursday night Peregrine stock came under heavy selling pressure which appears to be largely liquidation by a single institutional shareholder whose identity has not yet come to light. It does not reflect any changes in the fundamental outlook for Peregrine that I am aware of. But it does demonstrate that stocks which have done well this year are in a precarious position as shareholders grow anxious about another major drop in equity markets, or sell stock to raise money for other plays, of which those in the gold sector would be an obvious current destination.
Bottom-Fish Comment - November 12, 2009: Recommendation Strategy for Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd
 Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd was initially recommended as a Good Relative Spec Value Buy at $0.89 on December 18, 2008 and recommended as a top priority bottom-fish buy in the $0.76-$1.00 range on December 24, 2008 based on its status as a competent Ontario and Quebec based underground gold producer focused on small scale medium to high grade Archean greenstone hosted lode gold deposits. On the one hand we liked management's conservative approach, which has enabled Wesdome to produce more than 1 million ounces since 1987 through 5 mines, of which 2 remain operational, and on the other hand we have for some time held the belief that the gold price is on an uptrend which will deliver higher real prices that will prove particularly beneficial to companies with a track record of profitable production during the past decade when gold's uptrend merely tracked inflation and its impact on US dollar exchange rates. Using our $1.00 bottom-fish buy limit as a cost base, Wesdome at $2.40 is up 140%, which is pretty good for an operating company, but short of our bottom-fish expectations. Nevertheless, we believe gold is heading higher in real price terms, which would have a direct impact on Wesdome's cash flow and generate a premium value for management's track record as a successful underground gold producer, and we recognize that Wesdome is having success delineating new high grade gold resources at its Kiena project which should lead to significantly higher gold production when the Kiena mill is brought to full production with higher grade ore from the Wesdome zone and eventually the new Dubuisson discovery. Wesdome is also very close to graduating from the 33 member KBFO Junior Gold Producer Index (primary annual gold production of 25,000-100,000 ounces) of which it has been a member since its inception on January 2, 2007. Based on Q3 results for 2009 Wesdome could squeak past 100,000 ounces, making it eligible for the Intermediate Gold Producer Index (100,000-500,000 ounces), which has tracked the gold trend better than the JGPI. We are thus converting the bottom-fish buy into a Spec Cycle Hold 100% recommendation with a target in the $5-$10 range over the next year. With regard to the slightly earlier Spec Value Buy at $0.89, which is up 170%, the objective of capturing a short term gold-related rebound from last year's crash has been achieved, and we are closing out that recommendation.
Wesdome is a turnaround story that benefits enormously from an uptrend in the real price of gold. Our recommendations came at the end of a downtrend which began in early 2006 when Wesdome merged with River Gold Mines Ltd, continued during 2007 when Wesdome merged with a large shareholder called Western Quebec, and finally bottomed in Q4 of 2008 after the financial meltdown. In the process Wesdome consolidated land positions around its two operating mines, the Kiena Mine in Val D'Or, Quebec, and the Eagle River Mine near Wawa, Ontario, from which it is on track to exceed its projected 2009 gold production of 90,000 ounces. Wesdome's current growth strategy consists of brownfields exploration on these two land packages, with particular success occurring on the Kiena project where the high grade Dubuisson zone was discovered in late 2008. The current gold resource base (including inferred) consists of 1,245,919 ounces, more than 90% of which is attributable to the Kiena project. Of the total 74% is represented by the Wesdome zone for which a resource estimate indicating $227 rock value at $1,115 gold was published in October 2009. The Kiena mill, which has a capacity of 2,000 tpd, is currently operating at 1,000 tpd (5 day week) and processing a phase of lower grade ore from the Kiena Main zone that is running 3.9 g/t gold for a rock value of only US $140 per tonne. During the first 9 months of 2009 the Kiena mine generated $7,564,000 in operating profit from 26,708 ounces of production. Wesdome has an underground drifting program radiating out from the Kiena shaft which is designed to access the Wesdome resource and facilitate underground exploratory drilling for additional veins and lenses. The Dubuisson discovery located 3 km east of the Kiena shaft and 3 km north of Agnico Eagle's Goldex Mine is an example of gold zones that remain to be found in the heart of the Val D'Or camp.
The Eagle River Mine in contrast produced a profit of $24,484,000 from production of 48,251 ounces at an average recovered grade of 14.7 g/t with a rock value of US $527 per tonne. Most of this production came from the 808 zone which is expected to contribute most of the millfeed during Q4 of 2009. The ore is trucked about 15 km to the Eagle River mill located on the nearby Mishi-Magnacon property. The mill has been in operation since 1995 and has a capacity of 1,000 tpd but is operating at only half this capacity. The Eagle River deposit rarely has more than 100,000 ounces in reserve, with 88,583 ounces at 9.67 g/t listed at the end of 2008. The shear controlled quartz vein system has considerable downdip resource expansion potential as evident in the longitudinal section below. Wesdome's ownership of the Eagle River facility makes it the dominant player in the Mishibishu greenstone belt, which has helped it secure an option on Windarra's Pukaskwa project 15 km to the west in which it can earn 60% by spending $3 million. Windarra discovered very high grade gold mineralization during 2006 but has been unable to establish a significant resource. Wesdome thinks that based on the geological context the Middle Finger and Bonanza zones are part of a large mineralized system and is conducting a 3,000 meter 25 hole drill program expected to finish in December.
Because Wesdome's growth strategy hinges on brownfields exploration designed to feed its two mills, and optioning other nearby properties such as Windarra's Pukaskwa play, which it funds from cash flow, it has not become much of a darling for a brokerage industry fixated on generating corporate finance fees. Wesdome has only completed small flow-through financings. The company is in good shape with $27.5 million working capital as of September 30, 2009 which the company deems to be sufficient for its current needs. But at some point it will need to raise equity to accelerate development of additional production to bring its Kiena and Eagle River mills to full capacity. To do that Wesdome will need to shake the mom and pop style perception which plagues most members of Junior Gold Producer Index.
As the chart above reveals, the Junior Gold Producer Index has lagged the intermediate and major gold producer indices as well as gold itself since the bottom was achieved during Q4 of 2008, and has in fact more closely tracked the TSXV Index. An obvious explanation for why small scale gold producers would under-perform gold, whose performance so far is impressive only when compared to recent yields on short term treasury notes, is that small scale gold mines generally lose money or achieve mediocre profits, but do not have an offsetting smaller share of production related problems. In addition, junior producers are typically medium to high grade underground mining operations which spend part of their cash flow outlining the next year's production reserve. As a result these junior producers typically have less than two years of mining reserve blocked out, which means that traditional gold valuation methods such as market capitalization per ounce in the ground usually generate very high and thus unattractive numbers. Furthermore, juniors producing less than 100,000 ounces annually do not have any obvious exit strategies other than merging with other small producers to create a bigger sack of marginal small scale gold mines. However, we think that Wesdome has what it takes to go beyond this fundamental trap, in part because the company has already demonstrated its ability to operate mines profitably, but also because we are very bullish about a continuing gold uptrend in real price terms.
If we take $400 gold in 1980 as the starting price and adjust it annually to reflect the US CPI inflation rate, we end up with a price of $1,009 at the end of 2009. It is appropriate to use $400 instead of $800 because gold traded only briefly above $800 in 1980 and the 1.8 billion ounces of new mine supply which has been mobilized during the past 30 years was largely premised on gold around $400 per oz. Gold's successful push beyond the $1,000 milestone during the past month has put its price into the realm of a higher real price, and any further gains in the short term will translate into profits for unhedged gold producers. Gold's rebound from its bottom in Q4 of 2008 has been accompanied by a downtrend in the US dollar exchange rate against all currencies except the Chinese renminbi, in particular the Canadian dollar which likely before long will be at par with the US dollar, and this has restrained the profit gains somewhat for gold producers such as Wesdome whose operations and focus are exclusively in Canada. Except for a possible decision by China to drop the tight peg it has maintained with the US dollar since mid 2008 when Fannie Mae collapsed and the financial crisis exploded, we are unlikely to see further relative declines in the US dollar exchange rate. But with gold now charging to new highs that are no longer just nominal but real, at a time when mine development and operating cost structures are not increasing, companies such as Wesdome with a positive operational track record are set to flourish. For these reasons we recommend holding Wesdome in anticipation of the 500% plus target we look for when we make bottom-fish buy recommendations.
Spec Value Hunter Comment - November 13, 2009: Sarfartoq drill results confirm significicant LREE carbonatite system
 Hudson Resources Ltd released drill results on November 4, 2009 for its 9 hole 1,331 metre drill program on its 100% owned Sarfartoq project in Greenland which support the hypothesis that this large carbonatite complex has potential to host a sizable medium grade light rare earth resource. Unfortunately the three holes drilled into the ST40 radiometric anomaly, which had yielded an outcrop sample average grade of 3.1% TREO with a rock value of US $508 per tonne, failed to intersect any material approaching 3%. The highest grade interval was 0.8 metres of 2.32% TREO in hole #2 with a rock value of US $423/t (based on 4 year averages as of Feb 2009), and the best intersection was 10.22 metres of 1.36% TREO in hole #3 with a rock value of $246/t. The ST40 radiometric anomaly has dimensions of 1,000 m by 250 m, but the drilling and surface sampling was concentrated on a 125 m by 100 m "hotspot" within the anomaly. Pie charts for the REO distribution for the ST40 outcrop and core sample values are presented below.
On the plus side all three holes confirmed the neodymium weighted distribution we had observed in the outcrop sample and which was the basis for our Good Relative Spec Value Buy at $0.41 recommendation made on September 9, 2009. The mineralized host consists of an iron rich carbonatite dyke system, which in the area of the ST40 anomaly appears to have undergone multiple hydrothermal pulses. Drilling is insufficient to outline the geometry of the enriched dykes, so we cannot at this stage tell if the elevated neodymium values are just a local phenomenon with limited tonnage implications or part of something much bigger. Because the ST40 anomaly appears to be linked to the ST1 anomaly further drilling next year is justified. I am, however, disappointed that we did not get lengthy neodymium enriched high grade intervals in this first round of drilling.
I am, however, pleased with the results from the ST1 anomaly, though my enthusiasm is somewhat muted by the fact that so far the grades are lower than world class examples of traditional LREE dominated carbonatite deposits. The four holes drilled on the ST1 anomaly 3 km west of the ST40 target yielded much better rare earth intersections which confirm thick intervals of TREO mineralization ranging 1.5%-4.0% similar to the sampled outcrop material. Hole #4 averaged 1.0% TREO over its entire 126.1 m length with a rock value of $88/t, including 50.25 m of 2.19% TREO (rock value $189/t), which in turn included 9.55 m of 3.98% (rock value $328/t). All the holes into the 1,000 m by 500 m ST1 radiometric anomaly yielded relative REO distributions similar to the outcrop distribution, as shown in the pie charts below in which I feature the high grade 9.5 m interval. This distribution is similar to that of typical light rare earth dominated carbonatite bodies such as Bayan Obo, Mt Weld and Mountain Pass.
The ST1 holes were drilled 175 metres apart and are insufficient to clarify the geometry of the mineralized system, but the overall geological context does indicate that the Sarfartoq complex is a major rare earth system. Unfortunately the grades of the other world class carbonatite deposits are significantly higher than Hudson is achieving at Sarfartoq in the ST1 anomaly area. But this is the first pass of drilling focused on the rare earth potential; past work focused on niobium enriched parts of the complex. Hudson needs to return next year with an expanded drill program to sort out the geometry of the mineralization and identify structures that contain higher grade material and have a large enough tonnage footprint to make development as a "strategic" resource plausible. So while the first exploration pass has not delivered a no-brainer success, the Sarfartoq complex has been confirmed as a major rare earth play.
Hudson's Sarfartoq project has an implied project value of $34 million which I regard as Fair Relative Spec Value compared to the $110 million implied value for Rare Element's much more advanced and higher grade Bear Lodge deposit in Wyoming. I believe the Sarfartoq complex deserves more exploration which cannot resume until the spring thaw in 2010. Meanwhile Hudson faces a structural problem in that on Monday November 16 a private placement of 5.3 million units at $0.20 comes free trading. This financing was done by only 17 placees, so a rush for the exits is not likely. However, Hudson's Jamie Tuer is in a bit of a quandary because he now has the right to trigger accelerated expiry for the 5.3 million warrants at $0.30 which would otherwise be good for 18 months. Hudson has about $1 million working capital, but will need considerably more if it wishes to do justice to Sarfartoq next year. The trigger for accelerated expiry is that the stock must trade at an average price of $0.50 or higher for 30 consecutive days. There is no reason for the stock to head higher on fundamental terms during the next six months, but if Rare Earth Mania intensifies during the next six months, Hudson will head higher as the market gravitates towards projects where drilling can flesh out a deposit.
My immediate concern is that if Tuer pulls the trigger the placees may feel inclined to sell stock to pay for the exercise, which would put downward pressure on the stock price, perhaps to the point where the warrants expire unexercised. That, however, would eliminate the overhang and enable Hudson to develop an uptrend which capitalizes on a resumption of Rare Earth Mania during the next six months and allows Hudson to finance at a higher price. On the other hand, if the warrants get exercised even though the stock gets pressured into the $0.30-$0.40 range, Hudson will have $2.5 million working capital and represent an excellent bottom-fish buy in the $0.30-$0.49 range. But if Tuer does not pull the trigger and the stock weakens so that the 30 day average falls below $0.50, he will face an overhang in 2010 when a natural market uptrend will likely be in place, and his treasury will be weak. If I were in Tuer's shoes I would take the risk that Rare Earth Mania might evolve slower than one wishes, and pull the trigger on the accelerated expiry. I am thus converting the open recommendation to Fair Relative Spec Value, which means that I do not expect the stock to outperform the Rare Earth Index until Hudson is in a position to deliver new fundamental information about Sarfartoq's potential, and that the stock price is at the mercy of the market's mood about the rare earth sector. In addition I am warning that Hudson's stock price is vulnerable to downside pressure due to a structural problem of a temporary nature, which should be viewed as a watch alert for bottom-fishers not long the stock.
Bottom-Fish Comment - November 13, 2009: Hammond Reef preliminary economic assessment suggests substantial upside potential
 Brett Resources Inc released a preliminary economic assessment for the company's flagship Hammond Reef project in Northern Ontario on November 12, 2009 which indicates an after-tax project net present value (NPV) of US $413 million using a base case $825 gold price and a 5% discount rate. When calculated at $990 gold, a 20% increase over the base case, the project NPV nearly doubles to $811 million, showing the sensitivity of this relatively low-grade project to a higher gold price. In fact, boosting the gold price to $1,155 while holding the cost structure constant pushes the after tax NPV to US $1.2 billion. Given that gold is almost at this level and that Brett has 99 million shares fully diluted along with a 100% interest, it is not hard to visualize a $10-$12 price target if Brett can keep its funding dilution at a minimum. In that regard the company currently has $16 million working capital, and, according to Ron Netolitzky during the November 12 conference call, will only need to raise an additional $10 million to fund its plans through 2010. Brett is in the midst of a 70,000 metre drilling program, of which 60-70% is of an infill nature which management believes will shift 60% of the inferred resource into the indicated category. The rest of the drilling will test for additional mineralization along strike, on potential parallel structures located on land Brett has consolidated during the past couple years, and within the reservoir itself. The current mining plan has two scenarios, one which maintains a 20 metre standoff from the Maramon Reservoir's edge, and another which envisions construction of a 1,200 m dike in year five which would add two years and 600,000 ounces to the mine life. Based on the scoping study and the recent gold price management has decided to use 0.3 g/t as the cutoff grade in its study, which has boosted the total resource from 5.2 million ounces at a 0.6 g/t cutoff to 6.7 million ounces. Based on a 93% recovery achieved through a basic flotation-cyanidation flowsheet and pit design Brett's current mining scenario would recover 5.13 million ounces over a 14 year mine. Assuming no unusual disruptions or delays Brett believes it could be in production by late 2014 or early 2015, with a feasibility study and environmental impact assessment taking 3 years and construction 2 years. Brett, which is up 93% from the upper limit of the recommended bottom-fish buy range of $0.50-$0.75, has been a core pick for our scenario where we see gold trending higher in real price terms. In light of the scoping study and the recent strength in gold our confidence in Brett and its Hammond Reef project has increased significantly, and we are now converting the bottom-fish buy recommendation into a Spec Cycle Hold 100% recommendation with $5-$10 as the price target over the next couple years if gold can hold its current price without massive inflation that boosts the cost structure, and higher if gold continues its ascent.
The key operating parameters of the base-case scenario examined in the preliminary economic assessment were for a 50,000 tonne per day open pit operation that would produce 5,129,000 gold ounces over a 14 year mine life, with initial capital expenses of US $614 million and sustaining capital of $158 million. Gold production during years 1-6 would be 463,000 ounces annually at cash costs, including royalties, of $382 per ounce, which will be made possible by stockpiling lower grade ore. Life of mine production would be 369,000 ounces annually at cash costs, including royalties, of $442 per ounce. Gold recoveries are estimated at 93%, as reported in Brett's September 13 news release describing the metallurgical test work program carried out by SGS-Lakefield Research earlier in 2009. The project's after-tax IRR at the base case was reported as 15.2% and payback was estimated at 4.6 years. While the after-tax NPV at the base case of $825 gold is $413 million, this jumps to $811 million when gold prices are increased by 20% to $990 million. At $1,155 gold, the NPV (5%) increases further to $1,209.5 million.
One important result of the preliminary economic assesment was that using $825 gold as the new project base-case scenario and with a better understanding of projected capital and operating costs (these are expected to be $8.90 per tonne of ore milled over the life of the mine,) the company was able to lower the economic cut-off at Hammond Reef to 0.3 g/t Au. This allows management to lower the base case resource cut-off from the 0.6 g/t Au threshold it had been using to 0.30 g/t Au. The result is that base-case inferred resources for Hammond Reef are now described as 259.4 million tonnes grading 0.80 g/t Au, totalling 6.7 million gold ounces, rather than the 155 million tonne resource grading 1.04 g/t Au and totalling 5.19 million gold ounces that management had previously considered an appropriate base-case figure. While a resource for the 0.30 g/t Au threshold had been reported on July 23, 2009 when Brett released the updated 43-101 resource calculation, the company had at that point chosen to continue to see the 0.6 g/t Au threshold as the project baseline, with the result that it described Hammond Reef as a 5.19 million ounce gold project. The new knowledge of operating costs, and decision to see $825 gold as a base-case scenario effectively increases the economic size of Hammond Reef to 6.70 million ounces, and allows the development of mine plans and economic models based upon this larger resource.
Brett's stock price has been strong during November, having moved up from $1.10 at the beginning of the month to close over $1.40 on November 12, clearly reflecting gold's recent move up through the $1,100 mark and likely expectations of strong results from the preliminary economic assessment. Despite this recent strength, when examing Brett in our KBFO Gold Resource Table Hammond Reef's 6.7 million gold ounces continue to be valued at less than $15 per ounce as we write (as seen in column 6 in the linked table). Although Brett has consistently lagged behind many of its peers on a valuation basis, we find the valuation differentials excessive, particularly in light of the increased understanding of the deposit that emerges from a perusal of the preliminary economic assessment, and expect Brett to close the gaps as the project advances. A particularly important milestone will arrive as Brett begins to convert inferred resources to indicated and then to measured and indicated categories, a goal which is one objective of the 70,000 meter drill program currently underway and that should lead to an updated resource calculation in the spring of 2010 and eventually an advanced scoping study in late 2010. Management indicated that the company's work plans for the 12 months ahead will require $10 million on top of the $16 million Brett currently has in its treasury. But with the stock trending up in light of a gold price continuing to appear as if $1,000 may be a new floor, and approximately 3.6 million $1.15 warrants that the company can choose to accelerate should the stock trade above $1.70 for 20 consecutive days that could bring in around $4 million, the company should be able to meet these requirements without excessive difficulty. While Brett has no major news events expected before the spring, the possibility of good news from ongoing drill testing of new areas outside of the known resources at Hammond Reef always exists. Most likely is that while in the interim the company can be expected both to move with the gold price and sentiment towards pounds in the grounds juniors, the company's undervalued nature also argues for it to continue to outperform on a relative basis.
New Bottom-Fish Highs
| Company |
|
Volume |
High |
Low |
Close |
Chg |
Status |
| Amarc Resources Ltd (AHR-V) |
|
960,000 |
$0.400 |
$0.290 |
$0.395 |
$0.075 |
BF MP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Boss Power Corp (BPU-V) |
 |
8,600 |
$0.165 |
$0.100 |
$0.165 |
$0.060 |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Dome Ventures Corp (DV.U-V) |
|
740,300 |
$0.500 |
$0.450 |
$0.450 |
$0.000 |
BF MP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Golden Queen Mining Co Ltd (GQM-T) |
|
991,800 |
$1.100 |
$0.900 |
$1.070 |
$0.200 |
BF MP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| James Bay Resources Ltd (JBR-V) |
 |
171,000 |
$0.500 |
$0.410 |
$0.500 |
$0.050 |
BF LP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Kiska Metals Corp (KSK-V) |
 |
1,944,500 |
$1.140 |
$0.720 |
$1.140 |
$0.420 |
Closeout Hold 0% |
| Magellan Minerals Ltd (MNM-V) |
|
783,000 |
$1.200 |
$0.750 |
$1.040 |
$0.340 |
BF Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Max Resource Corp (MXR-V) |
|
986,100 |
$0.540 |
$0.300 |
$0.480 |
$0.160 |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Metallic Ventures Gold Inc (MVG-T) |
|
1,744,200 |
$1.230 |
$1.020 |
$1.110 |
$0.080 |
BF MP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Miranda Gold Corp (MAD-V) |
|
2,063,500 |
$0.630 |
$0.430 |
$0.530 |
$0.095 |
BF MP Buy $0.20-$0.29 |
| Polar Star Mining Corp (PSR-V) |
|
1,972,000 |
$0.850 |
$0.600 |
$0.830 |
$0.180 |
BF MP Buy $0.20-$0.29 |
| Realm Energy Intl Corp (RLM-V) |
|
285,700 |
$0.410 |
$0.360 |
$0.400 |
$0.260 |
BF MP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Selwyn Resources Ltd (SWN-V) |
|
2,536,300 |
$0.175 |
$0.125 |
$0.170 |
$0.020 |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Soltoro Ltd (SOL-V) |
|
1,375,700 |
$0.500 |
$0.370 |
$0.490 |
$0.105 |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Tarsis Resources Ltd (TCC-V) |
|
1,398,900 |
$0.390 |
$0.200 |
$0.240 |
($0.005) |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd (WDO-T) |
|
3,924,000 |
$2.790 |
$1.980 |
$2.300 |
$0.270 |
BF TP Buy $0.76-$1.00 |
Top 10 Bottom-Fish Volume Traders
| Company |
|
Volume |
High |
Low |
Close |
Chg |
Status |
| B2Gold Corp (BTO-T) |
|
13,021,100 |
$0.920 |
$0.680 |
$0.880 |
$0.130 |
BF TP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Lithic Resources Ltd (LTH-V) |
|
8,387,100 |
$0.230 |
$0.080 |
$0.195 |
$0.075 |
BF X Buy below $0.10 |
| Creston Moly Corp (CMS-V) |
|
6,007,800 |
$0.250 |
$0.200 |
$0.200 |
($0.030) |
BF TP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Gleichen Resources Ltd (GRL-V) |
|
5,130,100 |
$1.390 |
$1.100 |
$1.250 |
$0.050 |
BF Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Peregrine Diamonds Ltd (PGD-T) |
|
4,645,700 |
$2.470 |
$1.920 |
$2.000 |
($0.350) |
BF TP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Linear Gold Corp (LRR-T) |
|
4,572,500 |
$2.380 |
$1.910 |
$1.960 |
($0.060) |
BF TP Buy $0.50-$0.75 |
| Quest Uranium Corp (QUC-V) |
|
4,511,600 |
$2.850 |
$1.810 |
$2.460 |
$0.690 |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Gold-Ore Resources Ltd (GOZ-V) |
|
4,345,900 |
$0.540 |
$0.460 |
$0.500 |
($0.110) |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Nevsun Resources Ltd (NSU-T) |
|
4,281,900 |
$3.300 |
$2.770 |
$3.200 |
$0.320 |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| MDN Inc (MDN-T) |
|
4,041,600 |
$0.620 |
$0.570 |
$0.580 |
$0.000 |
BF TP Buy $0.50-$0.75 |
Top 10 Bottom-Fish Value Traders
| Company |
|
Value |
High |
Low |
Close |
Chg |
Status |
| Nevsun Resources Ltd (NSU-T) |
|
$13,185,892 |
$3.300 |
$2.770 |
$3.200 |
$0.320 |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| B2Gold Corp (BTO-T) |
|
$10,885,567 |
$0.920 |
$0.680 |
$0.880 |
$0.130 |
BF TP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Quest Uranium Corp (QUC-V) |
|
$10,657,907 |
$2.850 |
$1.810 |
$2.460 |
$0.690 |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Peregrine Diamonds Ltd (PGD-T) |
|
$10,392,613 |
$2.470 |
$1.920 |
$2.000 |
($0.350) |
BF TP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Avalon Rare Metals Inc (AVL-T) |
|
$9,715,104 |
$3.250 |
$2.420 |
$2.660 |
$0.150 |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd (WDO-T) |
|
$9,518,412 |
$2.790 |
$1.980 |
$2.300 |
$0.270 |
BF TP Buy $0.76-$1.00 |
| Linear Gold Corp (LRR-T) |
|
$9,288,959 |
$2.380 |
$1.910 |
$1.960 |
($0.060) |
BF TP Buy $0.50-$0.75 |
| Gleichen Resources Ltd (GRL-V) |
|
$6,330,023 |
$1.390 |
$1.100 |
$1.250 |
$0.050 |
BF Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Rare Element Resources Ltd (RES-V) |
|
$5,275,538 |
$3.960 |
$2.840 |
$3.720 |
$0.760 |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Brett Resources Inc (BBR-V) |
|
$4,953,886 |
$1.490 |
$1.080 |
$1.450 |
$0.330 |
BF TP Buy $0.50-$0.75 |
Top 10 Bottom-Fish Price Gainers
| Company |
|
Volume |
High |
Low |
Close |
Chg |
Status |
| Rare Element Resources Ltd (RES-V) |
|
1,525,400 |
$3.960 |
$2.840 |
$3.720 |
$0.760 |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Quest Uranium Corp (QUC-V) |
|
4,511,600 |
$2.850 |
$1.810 |
$2.460 |
$0.690 |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Kiska Metals Corp (KSK-V) |
|
1,944,500 |
$1.140 |
$0.720 |
$1.140 |
$0.420 |
Closeout Hold 0% |
| Magellan Minerals Ltd (MNM-V) |
|
783,000 |
$1.200 |
$0.750 |
$1.040 |
$0.340 |
BF Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Brett Resources Inc (BBR-V) |
|
3,794,000 |
$1.490 |
$1.080 |
$1.450 |
$0.330 |
BF TP Buy $0.50-$0.75 |
| Nevsun Resources Ltd (NSU-T) |
|
4,281,900 |
$3.300 |
$2.770 |
$3.200 |
$0.320 |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd (WDO-T) |
|
3,924,000 |
$2.790 |
$1.980 |
$2.300 |
$0.270 |
BF TP Buy $0.76-$1.00 |
| Realm Energy Intl Corp (RLM-V) |
|
285,700 |
$0.410 |
$0.360 |
$0.400 |
$0.260 |
BF MP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Arapaho Capital Corp (AHO-V) |
|
494,500 |
$1.000 |
$0.700 |
$0.930 |
$0.230 |
BF LP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Golden Queen Mining Co Ltd (GQM-T) |
|
991,800 |
$1.100 |
$0.900 |
$1.070 |
$0.200 |
BF MP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
Top 10 Bottom-Fish Price Percentage Gainers
| Company |
|
Volume |
High |
Low |
Close |
Chg |
Status |
| Realm Energy Intl Corp (RLM-V) |
|
285,700 |
$0.410 |
$0.360 |
$0.400 |
186% |
BF MP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Lithic Resources Ltd (LTH-V) |
|
8,387,100 |
$0.230 |
$0.080 |
$0.195 |
63% |
BF X Buy below $0.10 |
| Kiska Metals Corp (KSK-V) |
|
1,944,500 |
$1.140 |
$0.720 |
$1.140 |
58% |
Closeout Hold 0% |
| Boss Power Corp (BPU-V) |
|
8,600 |
$0.165 |
$0.100 |
$0.165 |
57% |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Max Resource Corp (MXR-V) |
|
986,100 |
$0.540 |
$0.300 |
$0.480 |
50% |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Magellan Minerals Ltd (MNM-V) |
|
783,000 |
$1.200 |
$0.750 |
$1.040 |
49% |
BF Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Grayd Resource Corp (GYD-V) |
|
2,472,100 |
$0.590 |
$0.400 |
$0.590 |
48% |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Quest Uranium Corp (QUC-V) |
|
4,511,600 |
$2.850 |
$1.810 |
$2.460 |
39% |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Arapaho Capital Corp (AHO-V) |
|
494,500 |
$1.000 |
$0.700 |
$0.930 |
33% |
BF LP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Brett Resources Inc (BBR-V) |
|
3,794,000 |
$1.490 |
$1.080 |
$1.450 |
29% |
BF TP Buy $0.50-$0.75 |
Top 10 Bottom-Fish Price Losers
| Company |
|
Volume |
High |
Low |
Close |
Chg |
Status |
| Peregrine Diamonds Ltd (PGD-T) |
|
4,645,700 |
$2.470 |
$1.920 |
$2.000 |
($0.350) |
BF TP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Gold-Ore Resources Ltd (GOZ-V) |
|
4,345,900 |
$0.540 |
$0.460 |
$0.500 |
($0.110) |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| South American Silver Corp (SAC-T) |
|
338,900 |
$0.530 |
$0.390 |
$0.400 |
($0.100) |
BF TP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Nevgold Resource Corp (NDG-V) |
|
23,000 |
$0.175 |
$0.155 |
$0.155 |
($0.080) |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Olivut Resources Ltd (OLV-V) |
|
176,500 |
$0.230 |
$0.160 |
$0.180 |
($0.070) |
BF MP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Mundoro Capital Inc (MUN-T) |
|
361,200 |
$0.700 |
$0.630 |
$0.630 |
($0.070) |
BF MP Buy $0.20-$0.29 |
| Linear Gold Corp (LRR-T) |
|
4,572,500 |
$2.380 |
$1.910 |
$1.960 |
($0.060) |
BF TP Buy $0.50-$0.75 |
| Ur-Energy Inc (URE-T) |
|
3,338,000 |
$0.960 |
$0.820 |
$0.840 |
($0.060) |
BF MP Buy $0.50-$0.75 |
| U3O8 Corp (UWE-V) |
|
291,500 |
$0.380 |
$0.340 |
$0.350 |
($0.060) |
BF LP Buy $0.20-$0.29 |
| Amazon Mining Holding Plc (AMZ-V) |
|
335,500 |
$1.050 |
$0.900 |
$0.950 |
($0.050) |
BF Spec Cycle hold 100% |
Top 10 Bottom-Fish Price Percentage Losers
| Company |
|
Volume |
High |
Low |
Close |
Chg |
Status |
| Nevgold Resource Corp (NDG-V) |
|
23,000 |
$0.175 |
$0.155 |
$0.155 |
-34% |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Olivut Resources Ltd (OLV-V) |
|
176,500 |
$0.230 |
$0.160 |
$0.180 |
-28% |
BF MP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Amanta Resources Ltd (AMH-V) |
|
335,700 |
$0.115 |
$0.080 |
$0.090 |
-22% |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| South American Silver Corp (SAC-T) |
|
338,900 |
$0.530 |
$0.390 |
$0.400 |
-20% |
BF TP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Gold-Ore Resources Ltd (GOZ-V) |
|
4,345,900 |
$0.540 |
$0.460 |
$0.500 |
-18% |
Spec Cycle Hold 100% |
| Source Exploration Corp (SOP-V) |
|
178,000 |
$0.270 |
$0.200 |
$0.215 |
-17% |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Uravan Minerals Inc (UVN-V) |
|
79,000 |
$0.170 |
$0.150 |
$0.150 |
-17% |
BF MP Buy $0.10-$0.19 |
| Nevada Exploration Inc (NGE-V) |
|
328,700 |
$0.200 |
$0.160 |
$0.160 |
-16% |
BF XP Buy below $0.10 |
| Karmin Exploration Inc (KAR-V) |
|
78,900 |
$0.215 |
$0.190 |
$0.190 |
-16% |
BF MP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
| Peregrine Diamonds Ltd (PGD-T) |
|
4,645,700 |
$2.470 |
$1.920 |
$2.000 |
-15% |
BF TP Buy $0.30-$0.49 |
New Bottom-Fish Lows
| Company |
|
Volume |
High |
Low |
Close |
Chg |
Status |
| No Records |
|
