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#Palladium rising while gold remains flat – SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 3:19 PM on Thursday, February 13th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

Palladium rising while gold remains flat

Gary Wagner

It is a well-known rule of thumb that the safe haven asset class which includes gold typically trades with an inverse correlation to equities. There is an exception to that rule, and that is when the Federal Reserve eases their monetary policy with low rates and the accumulation of assets on their balance sheet to provide liquidity. This is because that action is considered bullish for both gold and U.S. equities. It seems that in this instance there is a unique divergence in the way gold and U.S. equities have reacted to statements made today by the Federal Reserve’s Chairman Jerome Powell.

In the run-up of 2008 to 2011 we had both U.S. equities and gold running to all-time record highs in unison as the Federal Reserve began their quantitative easing programs. Statements made by Chairman Jerome Powell up until today have been emphatic in his explanation of the slow and steady accumulation of $60 billion in assets each month not being a new round of quantitative easing.

That defensive posture and explanation by the chairman changed today when Chairman Powell said that the “central bank would use quantitative easing as a tool against the next economic downturn.” Although he did not go as far as saying that the recent asset accumulation was in any way a form of quantitative easing, today’s statement opens the door to increase asset accumulations aggressively if needed.

According to MarketWatch, “In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Powell said the Fed had two recession-fighting tools; buying government bonds, known as QE, and communicating clearly with markets about interest-rate policy, routinely considered as “forward guidance. We will use those tools — I believe we will use them aggressively should the need arise to do so.”

His testimony occurred on the same day that the U.S. Treasury announced that they recorded a $33 billion budget deficit in January. Analysts at Reuters forecasted that the deficit would only increase by 11.5 billion last year. More alarming than the underestimate by analysts was the fact a year ago the treasury announced a budget surplus of $9 billion.

U.S. equities all traded in record territory today is a direct result of data suggesting that there is a slowdown in the number of new cases of the coronavirus, now labeled as COVID-19 by the CDC. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 275 points today, and closed at a new all-time record high of 29,55.42. The NASDAQ composite also surged to a new all-time high of 9725.96, and the S&P 500 get a new record high at 3379.75.

At the same time, we saw gold trad fractionally lower on the day. As of 5 PM EST is currently trading down $1.30 and fixed at $1569 per ounce. With the exception of palladium all the other precious metals did close lower. However once again palladium was able to buck the trend as it gained over $63 in trading today and is currently fixed at $2329.

According to a report by Johnson Matthey one of the largest precious metals refiners in the world said that the palladium market “was in a supply/demand deficit of more than 1 million ounces in 2019, and the shortage is expected to be even worse in 2020.”

If the report by Johnson Matthey is accurate it could signal much higher prices and the possibility of palladium reaching as high as $2700 per ounce this year.

For those who would like more information, simply use this link.

Wishing you as always, good trading,

Source: https://www.kitco.com/commentaries/2020-02-12/Palladium-rising-while-gold-remains-flat.html

#PGM demand, prices likely to remain high this year #Palladium #Platinum SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:46 AM on Wednesday, February 12th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

PGM demand, prices likely to remain high this year

By: Marleny Arnoldi

  • After resurgent demand pushed the platinum market into deficit in 2019, with the total volume of platinum under investment coming in at a record 3.4-million ounces at the start of this year, speciality chemicals company Johnson Matthey says the platinum market could move back into surplus this year unless investor appetites are sustained.

Last year, more than one-million platinum ounces were added to exchange-traded fund holdings, outweighing a contraction in global industrial and automotive demand, as well as a double-digit drop in the Chinese platinum jewellery market.

Johnson Matthey notes in its latest ‘Platinum Group Metals (PGM) Market’ report that demand for platinum this year will be supported by rising PGM loadings on heavy-duty trucks in China and India, where stricter emissions legislation is due to be implemented.

However, it notes that this will be offset by a further erosion in platinum jewellery demand and a drop in purchases by the glass sector.

“With weaker primary supplies balanced by further growth in autocatalyst recycling, investment will again be the primary factor which determines the direction of market balance.

Platinum supplies in 2020 could fall below six-million ounces for the first time in six years, reflecting the impact of ongoing rationalisation programmes in South Africa, a lower contribution from the release of excess pipeline stocks and the depletion of PGM-rich surface materials that have supported PGMs output at Norilsk Nickel’s operations in recent years.

AUTOCATALYST DEMAND

Johnson Matthey explains that while autocatalyst recycling is expected to rise again this year, it will, at best, offset the decline in primary supplies.

Recent growth in platinum recoveries reflects the dramatic expansion in platinum use in diesel catalysts that occurred between 2000 and 2007.

Platinum consumption in light-duty vehicles peaked at around 3.5-million ounces in 2006 and 2007, but fell steeply during the global financial crisis in 2008; thereafter demand was also affected by falling diesel vehicle registrations and increased use of palladium in diesel catalyst systems.

Platinum recycling volumes are expected to reach a plateau in the next few years.

Combined platinum demand in the autocatalyst, industrial and jewellery sectors is not expected to change much this year. On balance, Johnson Matthey believes combined demand in these “consuming” applications is more likely to fall than to rise, but this will depend on factors such as vehicle production volumes and the timing of industrial platinum purchases for new chemical, glass and petroleum refining plants.

“In the light-duty diesel market, production volumes will be the principal factor determining the direction of platinum demand,” Johnson Matthey notes.

THE CASE FOR PALLADIUM

All-time highs were recorded in the palladium price last year as the market deficit widened to more than one-million ounces – demand reached an all-time high of 9.7-million ounces, despite demand for palladium falling in industrial applications.

Johnson Matthey says that intensifying use of palladium in gasoline cars in Europe and China pushed auto demand to a record level, despite lower vehicle output. It adds that the tightening emission legislation and stricter vehicle testing regimes are driving up the PGMs content of three-way catalysts in most major vehicle markets.

The palladium deficit is likely to deepen this year, as an increasing number of Chinese and European vehicles meet China 6 and Euro 6D legislation, respectively. This is expected to drive up global average loadings on gasoline catalysts and could lift world automotive demand above ten-million ounces.

Although secondary recoveries from spent catalytic converters will continue to rise, primary supplies may fall slightly, reflecting rationalisation at South African mines and the depletion of palladium-rich surface materials at Norilsk Nickel.

Johnson Matthey notes that while the market remains in significant deficit, prices are likely to remain strong, stimulating efforts to thrift and substitute palladium where possible, and incentivising the mobilisation of market stocks.

RHODIUM

Rhodium moved into a modest deficit last year, as a small rise in combined supplies was not enough to meet a 10% increase in total demand.

Global consumption of rhodium on autocatalysts leapt by nearly 15% in 2019, following a step-change in loadings in Chinese vehicles.

Johnson Matthey says car companies in other regions also used more rhodium, in response to tighter emissions standards and more stringent testing.

“These gains offset a sharp fall in rhodium use in the glass industry, as capacity expansion slowed after two years of exceptionally strong activity.

“Although combined primary and secondary supplies rose by 2%, this was not enough to prevent the market moving into deficit,” the chemicals company explains.

The outlook for 2020 is a deepening market deficit with further strong gains expected in autocatalyst demand, albeit at a slower rate than last year.

Source: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/pgm-demand-prices-likely-to-remain-high-this-year-2020-02-12/rep_id:3650

#Palladium, #Tesla and the Imposition of Electric Vehicles #EV SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 12:15 PM on Tuesday, February 11th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

Palladium, Tesla and the Imposition of Electric Vehicles

  • What underlies the tremendous runup in the price of Palladium and now the giant spike in Tesla stock? They are connected.
  • Tesla stock has spiked despite its self-driving cars doing strange things like running people over and spontaneously combusting.

By: Clive P. Maund

What underlies the tremendous runup in the price of Palladium and now the giant spike in Tesla stock? They are connected. Tesla stock has spiked despite its self-driving cars doing strange things like running people over and spontaneously combusting. The reason for this is the relentless drive towards electric cars which will result in a massive increase in demand for palladium and electric car manufacturers like Tesla becoming mainstream.

The elites have a Master Plan to push ordinary motorists off the road and back onto public transport, and they will realize this by using the environmental scare to effectively outlaw petrol driven cars and force a transfer to expensive electric cars, which will be out of reach of many motorists because of their cost. Greta is a pawn in this game. The means by which they will outlaw petrol (and diesel) driven cars is to class carbon dioxide as an emission, which they have already done, and then make the emissions standards tighter and tighter until petrol driven cars are forced off the road. Since anything that burns anything creates carbon dioxide, which is essentially an inert natural gas, it is clear that petrol driven cars cannot reduce their carbon dioxide emissions to zero, so their fate is already sealed. You may be asking what is the motivation for doing this. There are a number of reasons. One is to reduce the profligate consumption of oil by the masses for their personal transportation and the resulting pollution. Another is control – a public who lack personal transportation and the freedom it brings are of course easier to control and direct. Lastly it will free up the roads for the elites, who will suffer less from delays caused by traffic congestion resulting from the masses on the move, since they, the elites, will always be able to afford private vehicles, no matter what they cost. The masses will not resist this transformation of their lives. First of all they are ignorant and have no idea of the plans for them that are already at an advanced stage. Secondly, they are too cowed and docile to do anything about it even if they did know. Now that you know what is set out above, you should be able to readily appreciate why the price of palladium, and of Tesla stock, have been soaring. Let’s now proceed to look at their extraordinary charts. Starting with palladium, we see on its long-term 20-year chart that after essentially tracking sideways for many years, the phase of accelerated advance really didn’t begin until mid-2018, and it was only later in 2018 that it broke out above its highs way back in 2001. So the dramatic acceleration in its rate of advance has been going on for 18 months or less.


We can see the period of accelerated advance in more detail on the 5-year chart, and how the point of origin of the accelerating parabolic uptrend is at the start of 2016. The price only cleared the resistance at the 2001 highs in the $1080 area as recently as late 2018 and it is only over the past 6 months or so that we have seen dramatic acceleration. This chart makes clear that as the price has now run way ahead of its parabolic supporting uptrend, there is plenty of room for it to correct back or consolidate without breaking down from the uptrend, although it could well spike even higher from here, with speculation now rampant.


On the 6-month chart we can see that at the recent peak volume became really heavy, which puts us on notice that even if this wasn’t the top for this run, a top may not be far off.


Turning now to Tesla, we can see that it has suddenly gone vertical in recent weeks, which implies that the age of the electric vehicle is almost upon us. Even so, this move looks extreme, especially on long-term charts and suggests that a reaction back or period of consolidation is now likely over the short-term.


Modern cars have become a nightmare of over-regulation and control and it’s going to get a lot worse. They got rid of ignition keys so that you now have a push button start and have to pay for very expensive key fobs. All modern cars look the same because of draconian regulations regarding impacts and safety, and they are all designed in the same wind tunnel. For unknown reasons – probably bigger profits for the manufacturers – most cars are the same standard colors. “You can have any color you like sir, as long as its black, red, silver or white.” The core of the car is too heavy for safety reasons and is compensated for by flimsy bodywork, in order to meet fuel consumption targets. Bumpers, which used to be designed to take impacts with no damage or resulting cost, are now made of delicate painted structures which cost a fortune to fix after even the slightest impact, but that’s no problem because the insurance covers it, except that this means raised insurance premiums. You can’t turn the engine off and open the door and listen to the radio on a hot day, because either it switches it off or starts making stupid bleeping noises. Some new cars switch the engine off every time you come to a stop, and you have to be at a dead stop to put it in gear etc. Your location is always known because the car is computerized and online, which incidentally means that it is theoretically possible to hack the car remotely and cause it to crash, by say, locking the brakes. For this reason also you can never be sure that any conversation you have in the car is private – they could be broadcasting it live in the Superbowl stadium. Even for a 100 meter trip down the road the baby or child has to be strapped into a child seat. The list is endless and the future is going to be even worse. Rear view mirrors are going to be swapped for cameras that display on the central screen, so if anything goes wrong with it you have an expensive replacement of the entire system. There are going to be cameras mounted on /in the dash that monitor your facial expressions and if you look drunk or tired, the onboard computer will seize control of the car and force it to pull over. Likewise your days of breaking speed limits are over, since the car won’t let you. No wonder teens are not interested in cars anymore – you won’t hear any of them saying told my girl I had to forget her, rather buy me a new carburetor.

Source: https://www.clivemaund.com/article.php?id=5261

#Palladium Wave Analysis For 10 February, 2019 SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:58 PM on Monday, February 10th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

Palladium Wave Analysis 10 February, 2019

  • Palladium reversed from support area
  • Likely to rise to 2400.00

Palladium recently reversed up from the support zone located between the key level 2155.00 (low of the previous short-term correction 4), lower daily Bollinger Band and the 38.2% Fibonacci correction of the pervious upward impulse 3 from December.

The upward reversal from this support area created the daily Japanese candlesticks reversal pattern Hammer.

Palladium is likely to rise further toward the next resistance level 2400.00 (top of the pervious impulse waves 3 and (i)).

Source: https://menafn.com/1099682466/Palladium-Wave-Analysis-10-February-2019

Palladium Is Soaring And Offers A Few Other Investment Opportunities SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM at 3:00 PM on Friday, February 7th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

Summary

  • The palladium market will remain tight and pressure prices higher.
  • Sibanye Gold with the Stillwater Mine has plunged back into SA.
  • The Aberdene palladium ETF and Canadian palladium juniors are the best proxies.

Palladium has been the best performing commodity in the past two years or so, jumping over 100% and there is more to go. This palladium bull market is much different than the last one. The bull market from 1997 to 2000 was about 3 years and then palladium dropped giving up most of the gains in less than a year. There was a nice bump up from the 2008 crisis and then the price traded sideways for several years. The price bottomed at the end of 2015 with the severe bear market in precious metals. Since then, the price has been going steadily higher with a major break out in 2016. This bull market is not going to end anytime soon for the reasons below.

Palladium is mostly used in the auto industry for pollution control with catalytic converters. Electric vehicles will be a long time coming to replace any significant amount of gasoline/diesel driven vehicles. Meanwhile, pollution standards are being tightened that will keep demand high. China has been gobbling up palladium since their China 5 pollution standards took effect in 2013. China 6 will now be coming into effect that will increase loads per vehicle of palladium. Many analysts have been commenting that China has been secretly stock piling the metal and is driving prices.

Palladium demand by Sector

There is no doubt the demand will remain strong, but the real story is on the supply side. This next graphic illustrates the supply deficit since 2016.

It is obvious to expect an increased demand from China as pollution regulations are tightened with ‘China 6’.

This next graphic of global mine production is very important because of the palladium supply is in a very unstable region.

The Russian supply from Norilsk Nickel has always been quite stable and is of no concern, but as investors, we cannot participate there. South Africa is the other big producer and that country is becoming very unstable and more worrisome, that is where most of the future reserves are.

The world’s largest PMG reserves are in South Africa, precisely in the Bushveld Complex (in the central-Northern part of the country) which alone accounts for about 50% of the world’s palladium resources, but, overall, South Africa has reserves of 63 million kilograms which represent over 91% of the worldwide availability.

South African (SA) mines have always been plagued with labour issues, strikes, and high costs. To make matters worse, the country is now facing an energy crisis with rolling blackouts shutting down mines. The country will probably become much more unstable, with unemployment hitting 10-year highs. Half of their youth are unemployed and the company that provides 95% of the electricity (when it can) is reporting record financial losses. This is a country teetering on the brink of chaos that will likely be very disruptive to PGM mine supply. I am avoiding palladium and platinum investments there.

With all the issues in SA, Sibanye Gold (SBGL) began diversifying out of the country and acquired the Stillwater PGM mine in the US. That use to be my favourite stock to play palladium bull markets. However, they jumped right back into the fray, acquiring Lonmin in 2019, a struggling SA, PGM producer. They promptly cut 5,000 jobs at the mine and it now appears Sibanye is moving more into PGMs from gold. According to what was released in the acquisition news, Sibanye PGM production will increase from around 1.7M ounces per year to 2.8M ounces/year. This compares to about 600,000 ounces/year at the US Stillwater complex plus about 700,000 ounces produced through the recycling unit, noted from the 2018 annual report.

Sibanye is now predominantly a SA PGM and gold producer. In their H1 2019 production update ending June 2019:

  • SA PGM production was 627,991 ounces (this will increase significantly with Lonmin acquisition)
  • SA gold production was 344,752 ounces (this amount is well below normal because of mine strike)
  • US PGM production was 284,773 ounces
  • US PGM recycling was 421,450 ounces

The stock has done well with the rising palladium price, but at these stock prices and the move back to SA, it has become too risky. I would suggest selling at these prices.

To highlight risks further, the Q1 2019 financial report highlights a -63% decline in SA gold production in Q1 2019 compared to Q1 201 because of the labour strike. This news out on February 2nd states that 19 attacks on SA gold facilities nearly doubled from last year. On December 15, 2019, attackers took hostages and plundered the smelting plant at Gold Fields Ltd.‘s South Deep mine. “Mining companies are being attacked by thugs and armed gangs and there is a lack of police response,” said Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye Gold Ltd., which repelled an attack on its Cooke mine two weeks ago.It eventually has a knock-on impact into society, it’s lawlessness, it’s anarchy.”

There is the Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium ETF Trust (PALL). The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of palladium, less the expenses of the Trust’s operations. The ETF Trust physically holds palladium in JPMorgan vaults in London and Zurich. PALL tracks the movements in palladium spot prices fairly well and is the best direct exposure to palladium. Aberdeen purchased the fund effective October 1, 2018, from ETF Securities. The Aberdeen website is terrible, it just diverts you to something else they are trying to sell. You can find some more info at etf.com.

One disadvantage, as a Trust it will often trade at a discount to NAV, so short term may not always reflect palladium movements precisely.

The chart of PALL reveals quite a jump in volume on the last rally. I do not find this alarming, but shows it is really the first time the palladium market has caught retail interest.

If we compare to the short-term chart on palladium below, it is easy to see that PALL has tracked the palladium price very well. After a needed correction, the price jumped higher on Monday. This is probably a start to the next rally.

There is also Sprott Physical Platinum and Palladium Trust (SPPP), but it is split 50/50 between the two metals.

Canada is the third-largest producing country, so an obvious place to look. A lot of the palladium production comes from major miners in the Sudbury nickel/copper complex as a byproduct. Obviously, this is a good area to look and there was an excellent proxy for investors called North American Palladium that was operating the Lac Des Isles palladium mine. Unfortunately, for us, investors, it was bought out last year by SA producer Implats. The area had a number of discoveries back in the last bull market around the year 2000, and I visited a number of those projects back then. I believe the best one in this area is Canadian Palladium that acquired the East Bull project last year. There is also Palladium One that is not Canada but not in SA either.

Palladium One Mining (OTC:NKORF) – PGM project is in Finland.

Shares outstanding 111 million, 185 million fully diluted

Their LK project is located in north-central Finland, approximately 40 km north of the company’s exploration office in the town of Taivalkoski. The property is 160 km (by road) east-southeast of Rovaniemi and 190 km northeast of the port city of Oulu. Finland is a very stable jurisdiction and has a viable mining sector.

The company is run by CEO/President, Derrick Weyrauch, CPA, CA who is an experienced mining executive and corporate director. Mr. Weyrauch’s background includes finance, risk management, corporate restructuring and turnarounds, coupled with M&A strategy development, execution and post transaction integration. He is the co-founder of Magna Mining Corp. and is a former corporate director of a number of companies including Eco Oro Minerals Corp., Jaguar Mining Inc., and Banro Corp. and is a former CFO of Jaguar Mining Inc. and Andina Minerals Inc. Currently, he is a non-executive director and at Cabral Gold Inc.

The LK Project is 100% owned by Palladium One Mining Inc.

Palladium One released a mineral resource estimate for the Kaukua deposit within the 100-per-cent-owned Lantinen Koillismaa (LK) project.

Highlights:

  • An optimized pit-constrained mineral resource, at a 0.3-g/t palladium cut-off;
  • 635,600 PdEq (palladium equivalent) ounces of indicated resources grading 1.80 g/t PdEq contained in 11 million tonnes;
  • 525,800 PdEq ounces of inferred resources grading 1.50 g/t PdEq contained in 11 million tonnes.

Neil Pettigrew, VP, exploration, commented:

Significant potential exists to expand the historic Haukiaho deposit along strike both to the east and west. For example, 1960s-era historic drilling by Outokumpu about two km east of the historic 2013 Haukiaho inferred resource returned up to 36.36 m grading 0.20 per cent Cu and 0.19 per cent Ni from 1.64 m to 38.00 m downhole in hole R692 (no PGE analysis was conducted). Reconnaissance prospecting by Palladium One in the vicinity of this historic drill hole returned up to 0.51 per cent Cu, 0.33 per cent Ni, 0.19 g/t Pt, 0.56 g/t Pd and 0.21 g/t Au (0.96 g/t PGE) (see press release dated Aug. 12, 2019). Palladium one recently applied for the Haukiaho East reservation (see press release date Sept. 5, 2019), which, if approved, the company would control about 24 km of the favourable Haukiaho basal contact.”

The company plans to conduct a 75-line-kilometre induced polarization (IP) geophysical program, along with a diamond drilling program of up to 5,000 metres, at the LK project. Both drilling and geophysics contractor are expected to be mandated soon.

The Tyko Ni-Cu-PGE project, i65km northeast of Marathon Ontario, Canada.

The Tyko project is an early stage, high sulphide tenor, nickel focused project with recent drill hole intercepts returning up to 1.06 Ni over 6.22 m including 4.71% Ni over 0.87m in hole TK-16-010 (see press release dated June 8, 2016). On January 21, 2019, Palladium One reported prospecting samples with assay results of up to 0.74% Ni, 4.09% Cu, and 2.51g/t PGE on the Tyko Nickel-Copper-PGE Property. This project has some palladium, but if it is developed to a resource, it will be more like the Sudbury copper and nickel mines with PGMs as a byproduct.

The company is well financed, closing a C$3,786,180 private placement at C$0.06 per unit issuing 63,102,999 units. Eric Sprott took down 20,000,000 units. While funding is required, this is quite a bit of dilution.

Currently, the stock is priced around $0.18 so all the warrants and options are well in the money. So is appropriate to use the fully diluted shares outstanding for valuation.

Market cap – $20 million. Market cap fully diluted Cdn $33.3 million

Subtracting $3.8 million financing from the market cap, it values their 635,600 PdEq indicated resource at C$25 per ounce and fully diluted at C$46 per ounce. This is a quite low valuation.

The stock mostly trades on the TSXV symbol (PDM), so I used the C$ chart. Support is around 16 cents and 12.5 cents. If 16 cents holds, the stock could begin a leg higher.

Canadian Palladium

Shares outstanding 100.3 million approx.

All warrants and options are at 30 cents and higher.

What I consider one of the most important highlights is the company is run by Wayne Tisdale. In the last 10 years, he has advanced three juniors and sold them for large profits for their shareholders. He helped start and finance the Rainy River project which was sold to NewGold in 2013 for $310 million. He developed US Cobalt and, in 2018, sold it to First Cobalt in a transaction worth $150 million to his shareholders’ delight. Going back further, he helped finance oil & gas company Ryland Oil that was bought out by Crescent Point in 2010 for a $121.8 million valuation. Mr. Tisdale has a keen eye to find projects that can quickly be advanced further to make them prime acquisition targets. Canadian Palladium only has a market value now of about C$20 million, and I have little doubt that Mr. Tisdale is going to do it again with Canadian Palladium.

Highlights:

  • Company run by Wayne Tisdale
  • Low market valuation – C$31 per ounce
  • East Bull with 43-101, 523,000 inferred palladium equivalent resource
  • East Bull can open to depth and along strike
  • Widely spaced drilling only needs infill drilling to upgrade and expand resource
  • Close to Sudbury complex where ore can be processed

Projects – East Bull, Ontario Canada

East Bull was drilled by Freewest and Mustang Minerals back in the 2000 era and now has a 43-101, 523,000 ounces inferred palladium equivalent resource. A private company, Pavey Ark Minerals had the property and in 2017 they twinned old drill holes and completed the work to bring the project to 43-101 standards. Canadian Palladium (formerly 21C Metals) acquired a 100% option on the project last February.

This graphic from their presentation is a good summary and shows the location

In the 1999, 2000 period, Freewest drilled 27 holes for a total of 2,902 meters and carried out extensive surface trenching. Work by Mustang on the eastern part of the Property (claim 1227910) included 11 drill holes for a total of 1,766 meters. The work by Freewest and Mustang forms the majority of the data for the current resource estimate. Additionally, Pavey Ark reviewed and re-sampled drill core from the 27 BQ and NQ holes from the Freewest drilling program. Pavey Ark’s exploration results in 2017 included;

  • hole EB17-01 that intersected 12.0 m at 2.87 g/t PGM+Au, 0.23% Cu and 0.13% Ni and
  • hole EB17-03 that intersected 7.0 m of 3.21 g/t PGM+Au, 0.16% Cu and 0.07% Ni.

(Note: Au = gold, Cu = copper, and Ni = nickel.)

In 2019, BULL completed their initial exploration program at East Bull and reported results Sept. 17, 2019. These are highlights from the first sampling program on the East Bull palladium project and field program on the Agnew Lake project:

  • Seventy-three grab samples were selected to help identify the palladium-bearing rock types of the mineralized trend. Grab samples are used to determine the presence mineralization and may not be indicative of the overall grade of the zone
  • Sampling successfully defined locations for channel sampling and the higher grades could indicate potential zones within the mineralized zone for higher-grade starter pits
  • Range of palladium assay sample results were 37 samples below 0.1 g/t palladium, 17 between 0.1 and 0.5 g/t with 14 above 1 g/t. Nine of these ran between 2 and 6.5 g/t
  • Geological mapping and review of the Freewest diamond drilling in 2000, indicates the northeast-trending faults are composed of multiple intrusions of mafic to diabase dikes. Left lateral movement on the dikes is measured to be up to 100 metres

This graphic gives a good snapshot of the current resource and expansion potential. Mineralization starts at surface and the system appears to be about 30 meters wide. This would be an open-pit operation.

Agnew Lake property

It is located 80 kms. west of Sudbury, Ont., home of Glencore and Vale’s Canadian nickel-copper-platinum-group-elements mining and smelting operations. The Agnew Lake property comprises over 260 claims (about 6,000 hectares) and is part of the larger East Bull Lake-Agnew Lake mafic-ultramafic complex.

The Agnew Lake magmas have major element compositions that are very similar to the model parent liquids proposed for the mafic portions of the Stillwater and Bushveld complexes. The Agnew intrusion and the East Bull Lake intrusion are also considered to host significant PGE-Cu-Ni mineralization in marginal rock units (Peck & James, 1990; Peck et al., 1993a, 1993b, 1995; Vogel et al., 1997).

Financial/Summary

Last financial statements show just over $400,000 cash. The company just closed a $4 million financing at 12 cents per share. Eric Sprott bought 12.5 million shares of that financing.

Wayne Tisdale has been successful in financing and increasing the value of properties and dealing them off for large profits. I believe he will do it again and also has a loyal following of shareholders from his past success. BULL just acquired the property last year and there has been little exploration and no drilling so it has been under the radar until the recent financing. The discovery is on the surface, so will be cheap to mine and is close to the Sudbury complex where refiners can recover PGMs. There is a couple other palladium exploration plays in Canada, but they are mostly old stale stories and I believe none have the short-term potential that the East Bull project has.

The current market cap is $20.1 Million less the $4 million financing gives an enterprise value of C$31 per ounce on their 523,000-ounce Pd-eq inferred resource. Part of the reason for the low value is the resource is only inferred. If drilling success starts to prove larger potential and the resource moves up to the measured and indicated category it could easily increase the value potential.

Only exploration news last year was sample results that came out last September just when the junior market started heading south. The stock made a decent move higher than just drifted lower until a typical year-end bottom. The stock took off when it hit 12 cents on good volume. This is when they began marketing a financing that was way oversubscribed in one day. Probably spill over buying drove the stock up to the 23-cent level. The stock then came back to support around 16 cents and bounced off higher. Drill news will likely cause the next move higher with the old highs around 27 cents last year as the first major resistance.

Conclusion

A recent update on palladium by TD Securities highlights tightening emission controls and South Africa as I have, but most interesting is the lack of speculative trading positions. TD comments positions held by traders are below average. This rally has room to move and if excessive speculation builds it could go way higher.

Regardless of whether palladium is $1,200 or $2,400 per ounce, palladium discoveries and deposits will be worth premium valuations, especially in stable jurisdictions. The potential for discoveries in South Africa is very good but the political risks are rising. Ivanhoe Mines (OTCQX:IVPAF), Eastplats, and Platinum Group Metals (PLG) have projects in SA, and if I had to pick one there, it would be Platinum Group Metals because they have the most leverage to platinum and palladium prices.

The best direct related investment to palladium is the PALL ETF, but it does not offer any leverage. There are not any 2 times or 3 times palladium ETFs. This leaves the best leverage to junior palladium companies and there are few. I prefer those outside of SA like Canadian Palladium and Palladium One. I prefer Canadian Palladium because of the CEO’s track record, their resource is on surface, near PGM smelters and likely cheaper exploration costs in Canada vs Finland. For diversification, owning more than one palladium play is not a bad idea.

Disclosure: I am/we are long DCNNF. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Additional disclosure: Canadian Palladium is a paid advertiser at affiliate playstocks.net

SOURCE: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4322038-palladium-is-soaring-and-offers-investment-opportunities

Anglo American chief ‘surprised’ by #palladium bull market – SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:48 PM on Tuesday, February 4th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

Anglo American chief ‘surprised’ by palladium bull market

Neil Hume in Cape Town

  • The bull market in palladium has come as a surprise to the chief executive of Anglo American, one of the world’s biggest producers of the metal.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mark Cutifani said he had not anticipated the barnstorming performance of palladium, which has surged 75 per cent over the past year to around $2,400 an ounce.

“Am I surprised prices have risen to this degree? Yes. And the reason is I thought there would be more substitution [from carmakers] back to platinum,” he said. “It will still happen over time. I have not changed my view. What I underestimated, very clearly, was the focus on the automakers have on making sure they manage emissions.”

In March 2018 Mr Cutifani said the rapid rise in the precious metal’s price has created a “bubble” but that its value was likely to remain high for some time. At that point palladium was trading at around $1,350 an ounce. The price subsequently rose as high as $2,555 before dropping back to about $2,400 today.

Palladium is a vital ingredient in catalysts for petrol and hybrid cars that convert toxic emissions such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide to carbon dioxide, water and nitrogen. Demand for the metal has increased due to tightening emission standards in the automotive industry, particularly in China, that require more of it to be used in car catalysts.

“The way I put it, the CEO of an auto company won’t get fired for spending $20 on a vehicle on a bit more palladium. What they might get fired for is not meeting their emissions targets. That’s the critical issue,” said Mr Cutifani. After nearly a decade of undersupply the market is now critically short of palladium and scrambling to find new sources of supply.

It has also sparked a crime wave with thieves in London jacking up cars to steal the catalytic converters, which are then sold to scrap metal dealers for cash. Production of palladium is constrained because it is mined as a byproduct of platinum and nickel — commodities where new projects have been few and far between.

“What people are learning is that you can’t just turn its [supply] on and off. It’s not a flick of the switch. Mines take a long time to develop. Now, are we reacting, yes . . . but it takes a bit of time.” Additional reporting by Harry Dempsey in London.

Source: https://www.ft.com/content/61e14260-4737-11ea-aeb3-955839e06441

Eric #Sprott Announces Investment in New Age Metals Inc. $NAM.ca $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:24 PM on Monday, February 3rd, 2020
  • Eric Sprott announces that, today, 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation which is beneficially owned by him, acquired ownership of 14,000,000 units of New Age Metals Inc.,
  • At a price of $0.05 per share for aggregate consideration of $700,000

Toronto, Ontario–(February 3, 2020) – Eric Sprott announces that, today, 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation which is beneficially owned by him, acquired ownership of 14,000,000 units of New Age Metals Inc., pursuant to a private placement, at a price of $0.05 per share for aggregate consideration of $700,000. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share at an exercise price of $0.10 per share for a period of two years.

Mr. Sprott now beneficially owns and controls 14,000,000 common shares and 14,000,000 common share purchase warrants of New Age Metals (representing approximately 10.2% of the outstanding shares on a non diluted basis and approximately 18.6% on a partially diluted basis). Prior to the acquisition, Mr. Sprott did not beneficially own or control any shares of New Age Metals Inc.

The units were acquired by Mr. Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario for investment purposes. Mr. Sprott has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional securities of New Age Metals including on the open market or through private acquisitions or sell securities of New Age Metals including on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors.

New Age Metals is located at Suite 101-2148 West 38th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6M 1R9. A copy of 2176423 Ontario’s early warning report will appear on New Age Metals profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and may also be obtained by calling Mr. Sprott’s office (416) 945-3294 (200 Bay Street, Suite 2600, Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2J1).

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/52058

New Age Metals $NAM.ca Closes Private Placement for $2-million $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:48 AM on Monday, February 3rd, 2020
  • Closed a fully subscribed private placement of 40 million units for aggregate gross proceeds of $2-million managed by IBK Capital Corp.

February 3, 2020 – Rockport, ON, Canada – New Age Metals Inc. (the “Company”) (TSXV:NAM); (OTC:NMTLF); (FSE:P7J) has closed a fully subscribed private placement of 40 million units for aggregate gross proceeds of $2-million managed by IBK Capital Corp. Each Unit consisted of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (“Warrant”), where each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.10 per share for a period of two (2) years from the date of closing.

In connection with the closing, the Company paid fees to IBK Capital Corp. in the amount of $104,000 in cash and issued 3,300,000 broker warrants. The Company also paid fees to Mackie Research Capital Corporation in the amount of $28,000 in cash and issued 700,000 broker warrants. Each broker warrant is exercisable into a unit under the same terms as the private placement.

New Age Metals is pleased to announce that Eric Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., has purchased $700,000 of the fully subscribed private placement. A new insider was created in connection with the financing. 2176423 Ontario Ltd. (a company beneficially owned by Eric Sprott) purchased 14,000,000 units of the Company representing approximately 18.56% of the Company’s current issued and outstanding shares on a post conversion beneficial ownership basis. Prior to his purchase, 2176423 Ontario Ltd. (Eric Sprott) did not beneficially own or control any securities of the Company. The Units were acquired for investment purposes.

Harry Barr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of New Age Metals, reports: “We are very pleased to have Eric Sprott as a partner of New Age Metals Inc. His record of success is quite simply unmatched.”

The gross proceeds of this financing will be used to develop the Company’s 100-per-cent owned River Valley palladium project, located 60 miles from the Sudbury metallurgical complex in Sudbury, Ontario.

All securities issued in connection with the private placement are subject to regulatory approval and are subject to a four month plus one day hold period expiring on June 4, 2020, in accordance with applicable Securities Laws.

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About NAM

New Age Metals is a junior mineral exploration and development company focused on the discovery, exploration and development of green metal projects in North America. The Company has two divisions; a Platinum Group Metals division and a Lithium/Rare Element division. The PGM division includes the 100% owned River Valley Project, one of North Americas largest undeveloped Platinum Group Metals Projects, situated 100 kilometers from Sudbury, Ontario as well as the Genesis PGM Project in Alaska. The Lithium division is the largest mineral claim holder in the Winnipeg River Pegmatite Field where the Company is exploring for hard rock lithium and various rare elements such as tantalum and rubidium. Our philosophy is to be a project generator with the objective of optioning our projects with major and junior mining companies through to production. New Age Metals is a junior resource company on the TSX Venture Exchange, trading symbol NAM, OTCQB: NMTLF; FSE: P7J with 96,843,766 shares issued to date.

Investors are invited to visit the New Age Metals website at www.newagemetals.com where they can review the company and its corporate activities. For further information any questions or comments can be directed to [email protected] or Harry Barr at [email protected] or Cody Hunt at [email protected] or call 613 659 2773.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Harry Barr”

Harry G. Barr, Chairman and CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements may differ materially from actual future events or results and are based on current expectations or beliefs. For this purpose, statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements include statements in which the Company uses words such as “continue”, “efforts”, “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “confident”, “intend”, “strategy”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “project”, “goal”, “target”, “prospects”, “optimistic” or similar expressions. These statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors, including, among others, the Company’s ability and continuation of efforts to timely and completely make available adequate current public information, additional or different regulatory and legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed, and other factors as may be discussed in the documents filed by the Company on SEDAR (www.sedar.com), including the most recent reports that identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review or confirm analysts’ expectations or estimates or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Copyright (c) 2020 TheNewswire – All rights reserved.

#Palladium to remain strong despite added Nornickel supply – SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 3:44 PM on Thursday, January 30th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

Palladium to remain strong despite added Nornickel supply – analysts

  • Prices are likely to remain strong despite news that Russian producer Norilsk Nickel will release three metric tons of palladium ingots from its stockpiles, traders and analysts said.

By: Allen Sykora

(Kitco News)Palladium prices are likely to remain strong despite news that Russian producer Norilsk Nickel will release three metric tons of palladium ingots from its stockpiles, traders and analysts said.

As of 10:22 a.m. EST, spot palladium was up 17% so far in 2020 and trading at $2,261.10 an ounce. The metal hit a record of $2,556.95 on Jan. 20, with market watchers citing strong demand for automotive catalysts, particularly as countries like China increase regulations on emissions, which requires more use of platinum group metals.

Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of palladium, said Wednesday that its Global Palladium Fund would deliver three tons of ingots from its current stocks. A Nornickel official told Reuters that the company is concerned about higher borrowing and hedging costs, since the lack of ingots has led to higher lease rates, backwardation and market volatility.

“That [Nornickel action] would certainly lend some temporary relief … to the lease-rates markets,” said one desk trader of platinum group metals. Otherwise, he said, rates have been in the double digits.

“Along with that, you would expect to see some price reaction to the downside.”

But if so, this likely would only be temporary, he continued.

“I still believe that the long-term fundamentals – being what they are – still point to stronger palladium prices.”

The trader later added, “I think a lot of people view Russia as steady suppliers to the palladium market anyway. This is probably not too out of the ordinary in them shifting forms in how they supply the market, based on where the demand is. They’re probably getting a premium for it. So why wouldn’t they shift?”

TD Securities also sees potential for further gains in palladium prices despite the Nornickel news.

“While this will tighten the sponge discount, we do not see this reversing the years of chronic deficits in the market,” TDS said in a research note. “Considering this rally has been much more fundamentally driven, and demand is set to structurally increase … the path of least resistance remains to the upside for palladium in 2020.”

Earlier this week, analysts with Bank of America Securities said they see palladium soaring as high as $3,500 an ounce before the rally ends. At the same time, demand is strong as mine supply has been falling since 2004, Bank of America said.

Source: https://www.kitco.com/news/2020-01-29/Palladium-to-remain-strong-despite-added-Nornickel-supply-analysts.html

Why #Palladium Is on a Tear – SPONSOR: New Age Metals $NAM.ca $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca $GLEN

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:08 PM on Tuesday, January 28th, 2020

SPONSOR: New Age Metals Inc. The company owns one of North America’s largest primary platinum group metals deposit in Sudbury, Canada. Updated NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate 2,867,000 PdEq Measured and Indicated Ounces, with an additional 1,059,000 PdEq Ounces Inferred. Learn More.

Why Palladium Is on a Tear

  • Story behind palladium’s move is that a physical shortage has developed in London
  • Traders sold metal they didn’t physically possess
  • Now they are being asked to deliver the bars and they are scrambling to secure the metal needed, bidding prices higher

Clint Siegner, Money Metals Exchange

Physical palladium and rhodium markets are buzzing. Reported prices for both metals leapt higher in recent days.

The story behind palladium’s move is that a physical shortage has developed in London. Traders sold metal they didn’t physically possess. Now they are being asked to deliver the bars and they are scrambling to secure the metal needed, bidding prices higher.

It looks like bullion bankers selling paper metal are finally getting called for selling way more than they can actually deliver!

People have complained about this practice in precious metals markets for decades.

More and more contracts have been sold, but inventories of actual physical metal have not kept pace. Price discovery is broken when the paper price of metal is detached from physical supply-and-demand fundamentals.

Today, there are hundreds of paper ounces floating around for every ounce of physical metal eligible for actual delivery.

As soon as a few contract holders lose confidence in their ability to redeem the paper for actual metal, the jig is up. The rush for physical bars will drain exchange vaults quickly and anyone still holding paper when the music stops will be out of luck.

That may be happening now in the market for palladium.

Sellers with an obligation to deliver physical metal can lease bars, rather than purchase them. But that is now a very expensive proposition. Lease rates spiked to near 30% last week in London.

Lessees must promise to return the quantity leased plus 30% in additional palladium ounces.

New Cautions on Rhodium

Rhodium prices have surged along with palladium. Price discovery in rhodium works differently than for other precious metals, so investors need to be especially careful.

The “spot” price for rhodium surged to $9,985 last week. However, that price does not come from a market where regular trading produces live, real-time prices.

Rather, the rhodium ask price is simply declared by major refiners. Johnson Matthey is one of the firms which publishes a price.

The price is generally updated twice per day during the trading week.

Lately the published ask prices jumped dramatically higher. Bid prices, on the other hand, have not kept up.

The bid/ask spread in the thinly traded rhodium market has always been wider than in other precious metals, but it’s wider now than ever. Current bids are roughly $2,000 below the published ask price.

If there really are industrial users paying the refiners’ $10,000 ask price for physical rhodium, it is quite an opportunity for arbitrage. Traders could theoretically purchase bars at the bid price and sell them at a very healthy profit to anyone paying the ask price.

That isn’t happening, at least as far as we can determine. Someone may have published a $10,000 ask price, but we can’t locate anyone actually paying that sum for rhodium bars.
Despite what the surging “spot” price for rhodium may imply, the bid for physical rhodium remains weak.

Money Metals has taken dozens of calls per day from sellers trying to cash in on spot prices near $10,000/oz. Many are disappointed to find actual prices are far lower which is a result of wholesalers dropping their bids. We believe one major rhodium buyer will cease further buying soon.

The rhodium market is tiny and illiquid. Price discrepancies like the one we are seeing are common. Our advice to clients would be not to put much credence in the “spot” price they see published until the spread is much tighter than it currently is.

The true price of rhodium, like all assets, is based on what real buyers are actually paying. That is currently closer to $8,000/oz, not $10,000/oz.

Source: https://www.fxstreet.com/analysis/why-palladium-is-on-a-tear-202001281550