Posted by AGORACOM
at 11:13 PM on Thursday, March 12th, 2020
Vertical Exploration is developing its St. Onge Wollastonite as a soil additive for optimizing marijuana growth. Recently engaged AGRINOVA’s Phase 1 Reseach program also demonstrated Wollastonite can potentially become BNQ certified for agricultural use in Quebec. Recently signed distribution agreement with AREV Brands International to Supply St-Onge Wollastonite to the Cannabis and Hemp Industries. Click Here for More Info.
Definitive
distribution agreement to partner on the sale of Vertical’s
wollastonite from its world-class St-Onge Deposit in place.
Supplying the fast growing cannabis and hemp industries.
Vertical’s high quality Wollastonite has been shown to be beneficial to cannabis plants in a variety of ways
In every case the most optimal results occurred with an admixture rate of 10% to 15% wollastonite to the growth medium.
The
high-grade St-Onge Wollastonite deposit has pit-constrained mineral
resources of: 7,155,000 tonnes Measured@ 36.20% Wollastonite &
6,926,000 tonnes Indicated@ 37.04%
B.C. Buds Testing Confirmed Wollastonite is critical to marijuana growers
Engaged
AGRINOVA over the past year to conduct research and testing of
Vertical’s St-Onge wollastonite on a range of important agricultural end
uses.
WOLLASTONITE
St-Onge-Wollastonite
Deposit located approximately 90 kilometres Northwest of the city of
Saguenay, in St-Onge township, in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region of
Quebec, Canada.
Research and testing in the Phase 1 program for use in cannabis growth was managed and monitored by AGRINOVA, a highly-regarded Center for Research and Innovation in Agriculture in Quebec
Posted by AGORACOM
at 3:00 PM on Thursday, March 12th, 2020
SPONSOR: Mota is seeking to become a vertically integrated global CBD brand. Mota is looking to establish sales channels and a distribution network internationally through the acquisition of the Sativida and First Class CBD brands. Low cost production, coupled with international, direct to customer sales channels will provide the foundation for the success of Mota. Combined total sales of almost $29,000,000 with a EBITDA of approximately 12.5% (2019) . Click Here for More Info
These countries are expected to account for virtually all of the legal marijuana sold globally in five years
Marijuana is one of the fastest growing industries on the planet.
Legal weed sales have more than tripled between 2014 and 2018, and
they’re on track to roughly quadruple between the $10.9 billion
generated in licensed cannabis stores 2018 and the projected $40.6 billion in worldwide licensed store sales
by 2024. That’s according to the 2019 “State of the Legal Cannabis
Markets†report released earlier this year by Arcview Market Research
and BDS Analytics.
Yet, what you might find intriguing about this rapid growth is that
it’ll wind up being attributed to just a select few countries. Even
though more than three dozen countries around the world have legalized
medical marijuana, five countries are forecast by Arcview and BDS to
account for $38.2 billion of this aforementioned $40.6 billion in
licensed-store sales by 2024. Note, licensed-store sales doesn’t include
general retailers selling cannabidiol (CBD) products, or
cannabinoid-based drug developers selling pot-derived pharmaceuticals.
1. United States: $30.1 billion in cannabis spending by 2024
As should be no surprise, the U.S. projects as the leading marijuana
market in the world by sales in 2024. In fact, the $30.1 billion in
licensed-store revenue should comprise almost three-quarters of global
licensed sales. According to Arcview and BDS, $9 billion of these sales
are expected to come from the medical side of the equation, up from $4
billion in 2018, with the remaining $21.1 billion derived from
recreational marijuana, up from $5.9 billion last year.
The thing about the U.S. is that cannabis stocks can still thrive even if the federal government doesn’t change its classification of marijuana
from Schedule I. As long as Congress and the president continue to
respect the right of states to make their own choices on cannabis, the
industry could have plenty of runway.
One of the fastest early stage growers looks to be multistate dispensary operator Cresco Labs (OTC:CRLBF).
Cresco, which holds the licenses to more than four dozen retail
locations in 11 states, made a bold move in April when it announced an
all-stock deal to acquire Origin House (OTC:ORHOF).
Origin House is one of only a few companies to hold a cannabis
distribution license in California, the state responsible for a quarter
of all U.S. marijuana spending by 2024. Thus, Cresco Labs’ purchase of
Origin House will give it access to more than 500 Californian
dispensaries, and over 700 nationwide. Cresco and its vertically
integrated peers appear well-positioned to take advantage of this huge
growth opportunity.
2. Canada: $5.18 billion by 2024
Despite being the first industrialized country in the world
to legalize recreational weed, Canada looks to take a distant second to
the United States by 2024 in terms of sales. Arcview and BDS are
projecting that $4.8 billion in sales will come from the recreational
market by then, with the remainder made up of medical cannabis sales.
It’s not uncommon for the medical industry to get cannibalized when
adult-use marijuana is legalized, because it means patients no longer
have to wait for a doctor’s approval and prescription to buy weed.
There’s a lot of competition in Canada right now, so it’s still unclear which company will be Canada’s kingpin. However, Aurora Cannabis (NYSE:ACB) is a relatively good bet to be near the top of the pack solely based on its production potential.
Aurora is already leaps and bounds ahead of its next-closest
competitors with an annual run-rate output of 150,000 kilos as of the
end of March, and plans to be producing at least 625,000 kilos on a
run-rate basis by the end of June 2020. With most of this production
located in Canada, and the company sporting a number of large-scale grow
farms, Aurora Cannabis should be able to take advantage of economies of
scale to drive down its growing costs per gram.
Of course, the real near-term excitement revolves around the upcoming launch of derivative products
(e.g,, edibles, vapes, topicals, concentrates, and infused beverages)
by mid-December. Derivatives have much better margins and pricing power
than dried cannabis flower, which is why Aurora Cannabis and its peers
have been busy beefing up their product offerings over the past year in
preparation for this upcoming launch date.
3. Germany: $1.35 billion by 2024
Even though Arcview and BDS are not expecting Germany to legalize
recreational cannabis, the company’s highly permissive stance toward
medical marijuana, and the fact that health insurers cover medical weed
in the country, should allow sales to soar from $79 million in 2018 to
$1.35 billion by 2024.
Interestingly enough, Canadian cannabis stocks were actually big-time
winners of the German cultivation licensing process. Both Aurora
Cannabis and Aphria (NYSE:APHA) were awarded licenses to grow cannabis in Germany.
For its part, Aphria plans to have an 8,000-square-meter facility in
Germany that’ll begin supplying the country with medical marijuana in
the early part of 2020. In addition to growing cannabis, Aphria
introduced CannRelief in Germany, which is a CBD-based nutraceutical and
cosmetics product line.
As for Aurora Cannabis, its approval to construct a growing facility
will allow the company to supply the German market with 4,000 kilos of
marijuana over four years, with shipments expected to commence October
2020. Of course, this production capacity is liable to be bumped up if
patient demand merits it.
4. Mexico: $1.02 billion by 2024
Arguably one of the oddest “legality†situations concerning marijuana
right now is with Mexico. The nation’s Supreme Court has ruled five
times since 2015 that imposing a ban on recreational cannabis is
unconstitutional. That’s important, because when Mexico’s Supreme Court
reaches five similar decisions on an issue, it becomes the standard throughout the country.
Or, in layman’s terms, the Supreme Court has essentially affirmed the
legality of recreational marijuana and is simply waiting for lawmakers
in the country to hash out the details.
According to Arcview and BDS, Mexico will have legalized adult-use
cannabis by 2024, although the ramp-up of legal sales could be slow. By
2024, recreational weed sales are only expected total $582 million, with
an additional $441 million in medical spending, for a combined $1.02
billion. Mexico’s considerably larger population than Canada makes for
an attractive market opportunity, but it’s unclear how well legal
industries will fare with the noted presence of illicit producers.
One company that hasn’t been shy about its push into Mexico is Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC:MJNA), the very first publicly listed pot stock. Southern California-based Medical Marijuana was the first company to import CBD-rich oils
into Mexico in 2016, giving it a head start on building important
relationships with the country’s medical community. You’ll note that
even with recreational legalization likely on the horizon, medical
spending should continue to grow in Mexico. That gives Medical Marijuana
and its RSHO-X hemp oil a real shot to continue penetrating the
Mexico’s medical cannabis market.
5. United Kingdom: $546.9 million by 2024
Although it may not be on track to tip the scales at $1 billion in
sales by 2024, the U.K. is poised to be one of the fastest growing
countries in the world based on cannabis spending. After only $9.9
million in medical spending last year, Britain is forecast for almost
$547 million in medical marijuana revenue by 2024, representing a
compound annual growth rate of 95.2%.
This sudden push to legalize and normalize medical pot use in the U.K. can be partially attributed to the success of GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:GWPH), the cannabinoid-based drug developer that had the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approve the very first cannabis-derived drug last year.
GW Pharmaceuticals’ CBD-based oral solution known as Epidiolex dazzled
in late-stage studies and wound up reducing seizure frequency for
patients with two rare forms of childhood-onset epilepsy by 30% to 40%.
Additionally, GW Pharmaceuticals’ Sativex, an oromucosal spray
containing both CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is approved in more
than a dozen markets in Europe (but not the U.S.).
Britain’s citizens and its government have seen what the U.K.-based
GW Pharmaceuticals can do with cannabinoids, and its government has been
open to the possibility of expanding access to marijuana-based products
for medical patients.
Sean Williams has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Origin House. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 12:54 PM on Thursday, March 12th, 2020
SPONSOR: Labrador Gold – Two successful gold explorers lead the way in the Labrador gold rush targeting the under-explored gold potential of the province. Exploration has already outlined district scale gold on two projects, including a 40km strike length of the Florence Lake greenstone belt, one of two greenstone belts covered by the Hopedale Project. Recently acquired 14km of the potential extension of the new discovery by New Found Gold’s Queensway project to the south.Click Here for More Info
Gold is known as the safe-haven asset, and whenever we see a
meltdown in the equity markets or prospects of loose monetary policy,
its price begins to explode to the upside.
Currently, the gold price has a strong negative correlation with the
equity markets meaning when the equity markets fall; investors pour
money into gold and vice versa.
Gold and SPX chart shows negative correlation
The fact is that the current sell-off in the global equity markets is
only a start because there is a lot more to come. After all, the
economic weakness isn’t fully baked into economic data, let alone in
earnings. Thus, there is no better time to buy gold.
Why?
First, the equity markets are in major turmoil as a 1000 point move for the Dow Jones
index has become the norm. Secondly, the Coronavirus has pushed the
Federal Reserve into a corner, and it’s being forced to keep its
monetary policy on the dovish side. The Fed cut the interest rate by 50
basis points only a couple of weeks ago, and yet the market expects
further cuts.
Gold which is up nearly 10% year-to-date
is likely to score serious gain in the coming weeks. The reason is that
we have a situation where monetary policy itself isn’t enough to calm
the markets; however, governments are trying to provide support on the
fiscal front as well. For instance, Donald Trump has pitched the idea of
no payroll tax for this year to soften the blow of Coronavirus. So far,
we have not seen a green flag which is why investors are still nervous.
Donald Trump may achieve some of his goals, but it won’t be enough, the
economic damage is too considerable, and the Coronavirus is still
nowhere close to coming under control.
Going back to the monetary policy action and why there is serious
potential for the gold price to increase; at present, traders and Wall
Street are expecting further interest rate cuts from the Fed during
their meeting next week. An interest rate cut of 50 basis points is the
minimum that investors expect, and according to bigger banks like
Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, we can expect 75 basis points and a full
percentage point.
Regarding the price action, an interest rate cut isn’t priced in at
all, if it had been, the price would have been trading much higher.
Currently, it’s trading near $1,661.
The Play
If the Fed cuts the interest rate by 50 basis points, this could push
the gold price above 1700 again. Anything more than 50 basis points,
especially a whole percentage point, could pump the price to 1750 or
higher.
The Flow
If we look at the total gold ETF holding data, it supports our thesis
that the gold price is likely to increase because the total holding in
ETFs is sitting at a record level, and the inflow continues to rise. It
appears that investors are discounting this current price weakness and
using this opportunity to buy more.
The chart shows all gold ETFs holding at a record high level
The Bottom Line
The current retracement in the gold price is an enormous opportunity
for traders to get back in the game or add to their position, similar
to the institutions. If for some reason, the Fed doesn’t cut the
interest rates during the meeting, it will create more panic in the
equity markets, which would be a positive sign for the gold price.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 11:35 AM on Thursday, March 12th, 2020
Sponsor: Affinity Metals Corp. (TSX-V: AFF) is a Canadian mineral exploration company building a strong portfolio of mineral projects in North America. The Corporation’s flagship property is the drill ready Regal Property near Revelstoke, BC where Affinity Metals is making preparations for a spring drill program to test two large Z-TEM anomalies. Click Here for More Info
With silver one hundred times cheaper than gold, the
silver-gold-price ratio is close to an all-time high. The obvious trade
is to sell gold and buy silver, says Dominic Frisby. But is that a wise
move?
Silver’s value has plummeted since it stopped officially being money
A friend sent me a screenshot from his phone earlier in the week. It
showed the gold price at $1,666/oz and silver at $16.66/oz. In other
words an ounce of gold is 100 times the price of an ounce of silver. Or,
to use the correct terminology, the gold-silver ratio has gone above
100 – which is almost unheard of.
According to my data, the gold-silver ratio has only ever gone above
100 once before. It didn’t happen in the financial crisis of 2008, the
dotcom crash of 2000, or the Long Term Capital Management Fund Crisis of
1998. It happened in 1991. Silver was $3.50/oz at the time and gold
was, of course, $350. (Actually, it was closer to $370 and the ratio
touched 105).
Apart from 1991 the ratio has never been as high as it was on Monday.
Not once in history. It’s one of the extraordinary extremes that the
coronavirus panic has caused.
The obvious trade here is to sell gold and buy silver. But on the
basis of ratios alone, you should also be selling gold and buying oil,
base metals, stocks, just about anything. To be clear, now is not the
time to be selling gold, particularly with all the fiscal stimulus
that’s coming.
A gold-silver ratio of 15 is but a distant memory
The gold-silver ratio is an odd one. Really, it should be somewhere
around 15. Silver is only 15 times as abundant as gold – there is about
15 times more silver in the earth’s crust as there is gold.
And, historically, the relative price of the two ranged between
around 15 and 20. Until 1875 the USA was a bi-metallic standard – both
silver and gold were money, in other words – and the exchange rate
between the two metals was 15, more or less.
However, in the 20th century, as we all know, countries abandoned
their ties to gold and silver and so money and metal went their separate
ways. That ratio of 15 has become an ever-more distant memory.
It did hit 15 briefly in 1981 as the Hunt Brothers tried to corner
the silver market. But this was an extraordinary situation. It wasn’t
typical. The typical broader trend is that silver is losing its value
relative to gold.
One day we will get back to 15, say the most diehard silver bugs.
This was something I was convinced of in the ardent silver-fanatic days
of my investment youth. I’m not so convinced today.
In fact, you could go one stage further. The gold-silver ratio should
be lower than 15. Silver gets used, gold does not – all the gold that
has ever been mined, pretty much, still exists somewhere. But silver,
with its numerous industrial applications, gets consumed. The ratio
between the two should be closer to ten. And yet here we are with that
ratio ten times higher – and silver ten times too cheap.
The sad fact for silver bugs is that since silver no longer has any
official monetary use, its relative value has plummeted. Some blame
shenanigans on futures exchanges for the low price of silver – I blame
the evolution of money.
Is the world going to go back to some sort of metallic standard as a
result of coronavirus? I doubt it. Money is getting more and more
digital; metal is too physical. But I can see one scenario where it
might.
Get ready for epic debasement
The authorities’ reaction to the crisis will be to debase currency:
slashing rates (we got a dose of that from the Bank of England just this
morning), bailouts, money printing (which will be given some new name
that is even more obfuscatory than quantitative easing), infrastructure
spending (I gather the chancellor is to announce plenty of that in his
Budget later today).
Gold bugs have long been waiting for that loss-of-faith moment when
faith in fiat money will be lost. Might all the monetary manipulation
that is already in place be the long-awaited trigger? The ensuing loss
of faith sees us going back to metal.
It’s a possibility, I suppose, but I think I’m too long in the tooth to see that really happening.
I own some silver. I love silver. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to
be holding in this time of crisis. If it wasn’t so “precious†it would
have been dragged down a lot more – like energy and base metals. It’s
certainly cheap. But so are a lot of other things at the moment.
The gold-silver ratio hit a low at 30 in 2011 when silver touched
$50. It has been in an uptrend ever since. Plenty of us – me included –
have tried to call the top in the ratio and it has kept grinding higher.
The likelihood is that it will pull back a little from the extremes,
perhaps even as far as the 80s. But the reality of our modern fiat age
is that, as far as the gold-silver ratio is concerned, it will take a
fairly extreme change in circumstances for us even to get back to 50. 50
is the new 15.
Sell gold and buy silver as a trade, by all means, but make sure you
reverse the trade – or at least start moving up the stops if we ever get
back to the 80s, 70s or 60s.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 11:07 AM on Thursday, March 12th, 2020
SPONSOR: ZEN Graphene Solutions: An emerging advanced materials and graphene development company with a focus on new solutions using pure graphene and other two-dimensional materials. Our competitive advantage relies on the unique qualities of our multi-decade supply of precursor materials in the Albany Graphite Deposit. Independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada confirm this. Click here for more information
The first demonstration of graphene double quantum dots in which it
is possible to control the number of electrons down to zero has been
reported in Nano Letters. Far from an abstract academic stunt,
the results could prove key to future implementations of quantum
computing based on graphene. “Having exact information and control over
the number of electrons in the dots is essential for spin based quantum
information technology,” says Luca Banszerus, a researcher at RWTH
Aachen University in Germany and the first author of the paper reporting
these results.
Although this level of control has been demonstrated in single quantum dots, this is the first demonstration in graphene double quantum dots,
which are particularly useful as spin qubits. “Using a double dot
heavily facilitates the readout of the electron’s spin state and the
implementation of quantum gates,” Banszerus adds.
Less edgy quantum dots
The idea of using graphene in quantum dots dates back almost as far
as the first reports of the material’s isolation in 2004. Graphene has
almost no spin-orbit interaction and very little hyperfine coupling,
which would suggest that spin lifetimes can be extremely high.
Unfortunately, quantum dots physically etched from larger graphene
flakes run into problems due to the disorder at the dot’s edges
disrupting the material’s behavior. As a result, the transport behavior
of these quantum dots is dominated by localized states at the edges.
“This leads to an unknown effective quantum dot size and an occupation
of typically many electrons,” says Banszerus.
Instead, Banszerus and colleagues at RWTH Aachen and the National Institute of Materials Science in Japan work with bilayer graphene,
which can be tuned to be a semiconductor. A voltage applied to specific
regions of a bilayer graphene flake can switch those regions to behave
as insulators, electrostatically defining a quantum dot that has no edge
states nearby.
The Aachen researchers strip single flakes of bilayer graphene from
graphite (mechanical exfoliation) and handle it using a dry pick-up
technique that hinges on van der Waals interactions. They encapsulate
the bilayer graphene in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) crystal. They then
place the structure on a graphite flake, which acts as the bottom
electrode, and add chromium and gold split gates and finger gates
separated from the split gates by a 30-nm-thick layer of atomic layer
deposited Al2O3.
They were able to control the number of electrons on the quantum dots
by applying a voltage, which also affected the tunneling coupling
between the dots. As a result, once the total occupation of the two
quantum dots exceeds eight electrons, they begin to behave as one single
quantum dot, rather than a double quantum dot. Transport measurements
also revealed that the number of electrons loaded on the quantum dot
could be controlled down to zero electrons.
The idea of defining quantum dots in bilayer graphene
electrostatically in this way is not new. However, although different
groups have attempted this approach since 2010, the process required
recently discovered tricks of the trade, such as better encapsulation in
hBN and the use of graphite flakes as gates to get a clean band gap.
Banszerus says these developments came as quite a surprise and revived
interest in graphene quantum dots in 2018. He hopes the capabilities
they have now demonstrated will further spark activity in this field.
Coupling control
“Even though being able to control the number of charges in a
graphene double dot is a huge step forward, there are still many
problems to be solved on the road toward spin-based quantum information technology in graphene,” says Banszerus. Next, he hopes to tackle the problem of controlling the coupling between the quantum dots and the reservoir, which he hopes to achieve by adding an additional layer of interdigitated finger gates on top.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 10:55 AM on Thursday, March 12th, 2020
SPONSOR: American Creek owns a 20% Carried Interest to Production at the Treaty Creek Project in the Golden Triangle. 2019’s first hole averaged of 0.683 g/t Au over 780m in a vertical intercept. The Treaty Creek property is located in the same hydrothermal system as the Pretivm and Seabridge’s KSM deposits. Click Here For More Info
Tudor Gold said it had discovered a significant new copper-silver horizon within the Goldstorm system.
The newly discovered copper-rich CS 600 Horizon is a very important feature of the Goldstorm System.
Presence of copper and silver mineralization gives this discovery a true polymetallic nature yet it remains a gold-dominant project.
Tudor Gold Corp. [TUD-TSXV, TUC-Frankfurt] has released the results
of gold-equivalent calculations for all drilling completed at the
company’s Treaty Creek project, which is located in British Columbia’s
Golden Triangle region.
These calculations are posted on the company’s website and include
credit for previously analyzed values for copper and silver. Geological
analysis and reinterpretation of all the drill holes to date exposed a
new copper horizon (CS 600 horizon) as well as significant silver and
copper mineralization through the Goldstorm system, the company said in a
press release, which was issued just after the close of trading on
March 3, 2020.
On Wednesday, Tudor shares eased 4.0% or $0.02 to 48 cents on volume
of 309,585. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 26
cents and $1.08.
Tudor Gold holds a 60% stake in the Treaty Creek joint venture and is
the project operator. The other partners are American Creek Resources
Ltd. [AMK-TSXV] and Teuton Resources Corp. [TUO-TSXV, TUC-Frankfurt],
each of which hold a 20% stake in the project. American Creek and Teuton
are both fully carried to a production notice. At that point, each of
the two is required to contribute their respective 20% share of
development costs.
Until that happens, Tudor is required to fund all exploration and
development costs. The property is also subject to 3% net smelter return
royalties.
The 17,913-hectare Treaty Creek Project borders Seabridge Gold Inc.’s
[SEA-TSX, SA-NYSE] KSM property to the southwest and borders Pretium
Resources Inc.’s [PVG-TSX] Brucejack property to the southeast. The
past-producing Eskay Creek mine lies 12 kilometres to the west.
Exploration of the Treaty Creek area over the past 30 years by
various junior companies has resulted in the discovery of a number of
surface mineral showings, some with very high gold and silver values.
There have been over 150 diamond drill holes completed on the
property from 1987 to date, in eight different mineral zones. However,
it is only recently that drilling revealed the potential for a
large-scale porphyry-style gold deposit at the Copper Belle and
Goldstorm zones, which are located on trend and just five kilometres
northeast of the KSM deposits.
In a press release on December 16, 2019, Tudor Gold said it had
discovered a significant new copper-silver horizon within the Goldstorm
system.
The newly discovered copper-rich CS 600 Horizon is a very important
feature of the Goldstorm System, the company has said. It said presence
of copper and silver mineralization gives this discovery a true
polymetallic nature yet it remains a gold-dominant project.
“We are very encouraged to see that the silver copper mineralization
has made an important impact to the gold equivalent results from our
recent drilling as well as the historical drilling,’’ said Ken Konkin,
vice-president of project development at Tudor Gold.
“The next step is to plan the drill hole program for the 2020
exploration season,†he said. The company’s goal is to design a diamond
drill program that will fast-track the exploration program for 2020 with
the objective to begin mineral resource estimate work as soon as
possible.
Bay Street billionaire Eric Sprott recently increased his stake the company to 14.1% by investing in a non-brokered private placement of 4.2 million shares that raised $2.93 million. The shares are priced at 70 cents each.
About American Creek
American Creek holds a strong portfolio of gold and silver properties
in British Columbia. The portfolio includes three gold/silver
properties in the heart of the Golden Triangle; the Treaty Creek and
Electrum joint ventures with Walter Storm/Tudor, as well as the recently
acquired 100% owned past producing Dunwell Mine. Other properties held
throughout BC include the Gold Hill, Austruck-Bonanza, Ample Goldmax,
Silver Side, and Glitter King.
For further information please contact Kelvin Burton at: Phone: 403 752-4040 or Email: [email protected]. Information relating to the Company is available on its website at www.americancreek.com
Posted by AGORACOM
at 10:42 AM on Thursday, March 12th, 2020
SPONSOR: Lomiko Metals is focused on the exploration and development of minerals for the new green economy such as lithium and graphite. Lomiko owns 80% of the high-grade La Loutre graphite Property, Lac Des Iles Graphite Property and the 100% owned Quatre Milles Graphite Property. Lomiko is uniquely poised to supply the growing EV battery market. Click Here For More Information
Automaker plans to launch several electric vehicles with lower-cost batteries within the next three years.
“Accepted the challenge to transform product development at GM and position our company for an all-electric future”
Detroit, Michigan – General Motors (GM) is promising a wide array of
less-expensive electric vehicles (EVs) thanks to battery technologies it
is developing, improved product design processes, and plans to scale EV production to the size of its truck business.
“Our team accepted the challenge to transform product development at
GM and position our company for an all-electric future,†said GM
Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. “What we have done is build a multi-brand,
multi-segment EV strategy with economies of scale that rival our
full-size truck business with much less complexity and even more
flexibility.â€
The heart of GM’s strategy
is a modular propulsion system and a highly flexible, third-generation
global EV platform powered by proprietary Ultium batteries.
“Thousands of GM scientists, engineers, and designers are working to
execute an historic reinvention of the company,†GM President Mark Reuss
said. “They are on the cusp of delivering a profitable EV business that can satisfy millions of customers.â€
Ultium batteries use large-format, pouch-style cells that can be
stacked vertically or horizontally inside the battery pack. By avoiding
rigid, cylindrical cells, GM engineers can optimize pack shapes and
layouts for each vehicle.
Energy options range from 50kWh to 200kWh – enough for 400 miles of
range on the larger battery side. Motors designed in-house will support
front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, and performance
all-wheel drive applications.
Ultium-powered EVs are designed for Level 2 and DC fast charging.
Most will have 400V battery packs and up to 200kW fast-charging
capability. Trucks will get 800V battery packs and 350kW fast-charging
capability.
Developed with LG Chem, GM’s joint venture partner on a battery cell plant in Ohio,
upcoming cells reduce use of expensive cobalt, a development the
companies believe will drive cell cost to less than $100/kWh. At
$100/kWh, GM’s 200kWh batteries would cost $20,000, before considering
the cost of the rest of the vehicle, so lowering cell costs is critical
to affordable EVs.
Reuss said engineers are designing future vehicles and propulsion
systems together to minimize complexity and part counts compared to
adapting gasoline-powered vehicles for electric drive. GM plans 19
different battery and drive unit configurations initially, compared with
550 internal combustion powertrain combinations.
GM’s technology can be scaled to meet customer demand much higher
than the more than 1 million global sales the company expects
mid-decade.
Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, and Buick will all be launching new EVs starting this year.
2021 Bolt EV, launching in late 2020, updating GM’s first mass-market all-electric
2022 Bolt EUV, launching summer 2021, larger crossover version of
the Volt will be the first non-Cadillac GM to get Super Cruise
semi-autonomous driving
Cruise Origin, self-driving, electric shared vehicle, debuted at shows but no production plans announced
Cadillac Lyriq SUV unveiling set for April 2020
GMC HUMMER EV debuted in Super Bowl ads, more details coming May 20, production to begin fall 2021
Posted by AGORACOM
at 3:36 PM on Wednesday, March 11th, 2020
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Tesla shares dropped by over 13% yesterday, amid continuing concerns
about the coronavirus outbreak and a steep drop in oil prices.
Musk’s announcement comes at a time when several large automakers are making moves into the electric vehicle sector.
Tesla has
produced 1 million electric vehicles, according to the firm’s CEO Elon
Musk, who congratulated the “Tesla team†on the milestone via a tweet.
News of the landmark figure came after Tesla shares dropped by over 13% yesterday,
amid continuing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak and a steep
drop in oil prices. The Nasdaq Composite index, on which Tesla is
listed, fell 7.3 percent on the day. In extended hours trading Tuesday,
Tesla shares were over 10% higher
Currently, Tesla offers four models of electric vehicle: the Model 3
and Model S, which are sedans, and the Model Y and Model X, which are
types of SUV. Deliveries of the Model Y are due to start by the end of
this quarter.
Musk’s announcement comes at a time when several large automakers are making moves into the electric vehicle sector.
Towards the end of last year, the German company announced that 500,000 of its electrified cars had been sold.
At the time, CEO Oliver Zipse said that the business “was stepping up
the pace significantly†and aiming to have one million electric vehicles
on the road “within two years.â€
China’s electric car market is the biggest on the planet: a little
over one million electric cars were sold there in 2018, according to the
IEA, with Europe and the U.S. following behind.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 3:02 PM on Wednesday, March 11th, 2020
Sponsor: Loncor, a Canadian gold explorer controlling over 2,400,000 high grade ounces outside of a Barrick JV. The Ngayu JV property is 200km southwest of the Kibali gold mine, operated by Barrick, which produced 800,000 ounces of gold in 2018. Barrick manages and funds exploration at the Ngayu project until the completion of a pre-feasibility study on any gold discovery meeting their Tier One investment criteria. Newmont $NGT$NEM owns 7.8%, Resolute $RSG owns 27% Click Here for More Info
Maurice Jackson of Proven and Probable speaks to Bob Moriarty of
321gold about his thoughts on the current financial markets and
investment opportunity
Excerpt:
Maurice Jackson:……Staying in the Southern Hemisphere, let’s visit the Congo, where you just introduced Loncor Resources (TSX:LN). Sir, who is Loncor Resources, and what is the opportunity they present to the market?
Bob Moriarty: Here’s what’s absolutely amazing, I’m
glad you brought that up. Loncor Resources approached me, I had never
even heard a whisper of the name, I had no clue as to who they were. I
went looking into it, they have an incredibly massive land position, in
the Democratic Republic of Congo, the DRC.
Barrick Gold has several gold mines there, in the Greenstone Belt,
and across the border in Tanzania. Barrick Gold has some of their other
really giant mines. Loncor has, in their wholly owned properties,
resources of about 2.4 million ounces. They’ve got joint venture with
Barrack, on a big piece of their property, like 3000 square kilometers,
which is a really big project. Barrick is funding it to feasibility,
they’re paying everything. Barrick runs the project, and Barrick spends
the money. There are no particular limits on what Barrick can spend,
they can spend anything they want to. They’ve got a drill program that’s
literally starting right now.
If you look at any stock, you want to figure out what the basement
is, what is the lowest price the stock can go to? If you ignored the JV
with Barrick, which would be a foolish thing to do, but if you ignored
it, you’re buying ounces of gold, in the ground, for $19 an ounce, U.S.
So, I don’t think there’s any downside to it. Approximately 70% of
shares are in the top three or four shareholders. I think Loncor
Resources is a great stock, because if you like gold, and I think after
all of the things that I’ve said over the last 15 years, anybody who
doesn’t like gold right now is economically illiterate.
Maurice Jackson: You know, you said that lightly, $19 an ounce.
Bob Moriarty: Yeah, yeah. How can you go wrong? At the stage they’re operating, they should be getting $50 or $60 bucks an ounce.
Now, one of the things that we haven’t gotten into, and we need to
get into is, one, the T-bond, and, two, what I see happening to gold and
gold shares. The T-bond Daily Sentiment Index (DSI), on Friday, hit 98.
That is the highest rating I’ve seen, on the Daily Sentiment Indicator
for any commodity, ever. Therefore, the T-bond’s going to crash, it’s
probably going to take gold with it. Gold had a DSI of 96 a couple of
weeks ago.
Everybody hates it. They act like, “Oh my God, you say that gold’s
going down. My God, I hate you!” The corrections are perfectly normal,
and we’re going to have a correction in gold, and we’re going to have a
correction in palladium, and we’re going to have a correction in
rhodium. We’re going to go into the biggest financial crash in world
history, and most asset classes are going to get sold off. That’s not a
bad thing, that creates opportunity, but you’ve got to be flexible, and
hopefully liquid.
Now, I am not saying, “Go out and sell everything you’ve got.” Every
time I say we’re going to have a correction, “Oh my God, you told me to
sell everything.” Well, that’s not what I said, not at all. I said we’re
going to have a correction. At the end of the correction, gold and
silver and platinum are going to be a lot more valuable. We’re going to
do exactly what we did in 2008. A lot of stocks were down 70% or 80%.
Most of the big ones, the ones that I like, Lion One Metals, Novo Resources, Irving Resources, Barksdale Capital, these stocks are down 30 or 40% since the first of the year, when I said, “Beware of the stock market.”
I’m not saying something’s going to change on Monday with gold shares, gold shares have been going down for two months.
Maurice Jackson: You referenced Jake Bernstein’s work on the Daily Sentiment Index. What are the parameters that you referenced regarding buy and sell indicators?
Bob Moriarty: The DSI measures sentiment. Most
investor look at fundamentals, technicals, worry about the interest
rates, worry about the Fed. That’s all bull. People buy stocks because
of emotions, and they sell stocks because of emotions. If you can
measure those emotions accurately, you’d make a lot of money.
When 98 out of 100 people say something is going to go up, and it
doesn’t make any difference what it is, or what the fundamentals are, or
what the Fed does, or what the economy does, or what interest rates do,
when 98 out of 100 people say something is going to go up, the next
move is down. That is the highest number I’ve ever seen. Anything above
90 says the top is near, and anything below 10 says the bottom is near.
98 is such an extreme measure, that I’m perfectly comfortable saying
that, you and I are talking on Saturday, and on Monday, T-bonds are
going to go down.
Maurice Jackson: Mark the words, there. Which metals have your attention, and why?
Bob Moriarty: Silver and platinum, strange enough, you sent me some information (click here).
There was a fire, an explosion at a platinum processing place in South
Africa, and the real story is the price of platinum is so far below the
cost of production, they’ve got to shut production.
Nobody wants to admit this, everybody’s got their own pet theory, but
the fact is supply and demand does work. You cannot have the price of
any commodity below the cost of production for very long, or things are
going to happen. People are going to shut down production whether it’s
wheat, whether it’s gold, or anything else. The silver gold ratio got
above 100 to 1, that’s the highest it’s ever been. I think it got up to
102, intraday, a week ago. Silver was very cheap, relative to gold, but
that doesn’t mean silver couldn’t correct. I own a lot of silver, and I
own a lot of platinum, and a little bit of gold.
Posted by AGORACOM
at 2:09 PM on Wednesday, March 11th, 2020
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Gold is testing its previous 2020 highs, but silver plunged anyway, which created a very special situation. Namely, the gold to silver ratio just jumped to the 100 level.
This may not seem like a big deal, because ultimately people buy
metals, not their ratio, but it actually is a huge deal. This ratio is
observed by investors and traders alike, as it tends to peak at the
market extremes. Moving to the 100 level might indicate that we are at a
price extreme. But what kind of extreme would that be if silver is
declining while gold moved up?
Let’s take a closer look at the gold to silver ratio chart for details.
In early July 2019, the gold to silver ratio topped after
breaking above the previous highs and now it’s after the verification of
this breakout. Despite the sharp pullback, the ratio moved back below
the 2008 high only very briefly. It stabilized above the 2008 high
shortly thereafter and now it’s moving up once again.
It previously moved up relatively slowly, but it jumped to new highs last week and today.
Anything after a breakout is vulnerable to a quick correction to
the previously broken levels. On the other hand, anything after a
breakout that was already confirmed, is ready to move higher and the
risk of another corrective decline is much lower.
The most important thing about the gold and silver ratio chart to
keep in mind is that it’s after a breakout above the 2008 high and this
breakout was already verified. This means that the ratio is likely to
rally further. It’s not likely to decline based on being “high†relative
to its historical average. That’s not how breakouts work.
The breakout above the previous highs was verified by a pullback
to them and now the ratio moved even higher, just as we’ve been
expecting it to.
The true, long-term resistance in the gold to silver ratio is at
about 100 level. This level was not yet reached, which means that as
long as the trend remains intact (and it does remain intact), the 100
level will continue to be the likely target.
We’ve been writing the above for weeks (hence we formatted it with
italics), despite numerous calls for a lower gold to silver ratio from
many of our colleagues. And our target of 100 was just hit today. It was
only hit on an intraday basis, not in terms of the daily closing
prices, but it’s still notable.
We had been expecting the gold to silver ratio to hit this extreme
close or at the very bottom and the end of the medium-term decline in
the precious metals sector – similarly to what happened in 2008.
Obviously, that’s not what happened.
Instead, the ratio moved to 100 in the situation where gold rallied,
likely based on its safe-haven status, and silver plunged based on its
industrial uses.
Despite numerous similarities to 2008, the ratio didn’t rally as much
as it did back then. If the decline in the PMs is just starting – and
that does appear to be the case – then the very strong long-term
resistance of 100 might not be able to trigger a rebound.
It might also be the case that for some time gold declines faster
than silver, which would make the ratio move back down from the 100
level. The 100 level could then be re-tested at the final bottom.
Or… which seems more realistic, silver and mining stocks could slide
to the level that we originally expected them to while gold ultimately
bottoms higher than at $890. Perhaps even higher than $1,000. With gold
at $1,100 or so, and silver at about $9, the gold to silver ratio would
be a bit over 120.
If the rally in the gold to silver ratio is similar to the one that
we saw in 2008, the 118 level or so could really be in the cards. This
means that the combination of the above-mentioned price levels would not
be out of the question.
At this time, it’s too early to say what combination of price levels
will be seen at the final bottom, but we can say that the way gold
reacted recently and how it relates to everything else in the world,
makes gold likely to decline in the following months. Silver is
likely to fall as well and its unlikely that a local top in the gold to
silver ratio will prevent further declines.
