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Gen2 PUREVAP™ Proof of Concept Test Demonstrates Capacity to Produce Spherical Nano Powders From Silicon Metal for the Lithium-Ion Battery Market – $HPQ.ca Silicon Resources $FSLR $SPWR $CSIQ $PYR.ca $XMG.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:09 AM on Wednesday, January 15th, 2020
  • PUREVAPTM Gen2 reactor was modified to test if it could produce Nano-powders
  • A key milestone was reached when the proof of concept test successfully produced spherical nano-powders from silicon metal as raw material, with a primary size <500 nanometre (<0.5 µ)

MONTREAL, Jan. 15, 2020 —HPQ Silicon Resources Inc.(“HPQ” - “The Company”)TSX-V: HPQ; FWB: UGE; Other OTC : URAGF; (“HPQ”) would like to update shareholders on progress made by HPQ and PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (TSX-V: PYR) (“PyroGenesis”) regarding manufacturing Silicon Metal (Si) nano-powders for next generation Lithium (Li-ion) Si batteries.

GEN2 PUREVAPTM USED TO SYNTHESIZE SPHERICAL NANO POWDERS (SIZE <0.5 µ) FROM SILICON (Si)

The PUREVAPTM Gen2 reactor was modified to test if it could produce Nano-powders.  A key milestone was reached when the proof of concept test successfully produced spherical nano-powders from silicon metal as raw material, with a primary size <500 nanometre (<0.5 µ).

Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images taken of the spherical nano-powders produced by the GEN2 PUREVAPTM

Image A is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e54d3d4f-276e-473a-b2f3-b336cdeb0698

Image B is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d8c8a42a-3c2b-4e5e-86e3-d958f60c2523

SPHERICAL NANOSCALE SILICON POWDERS KEY TO HIGHER ENERGY DENSITY LI-ION BATTERIES

Spherical Silicon Metal Nano-Powders have been identified as a key factor that will allow the manufacturing of high-performance Li-ion batteries using Silicon Metal (Si) anodes needed to deliver on the research promises of an almost tenfold (10x) increase in the specific capacity of the anode, inducing a 20-40% gain in the energy density of Li-ion batteries.  Current manufacturing methods for Silicon Metal Nano-Powders are expensive, not very scalable and not commercially feasible with US$ 30,000/kg1 selling prices.  HPQ and PyroGenesis are working to change that with our new approach.

MASSIVE ENERGY STORAGE DEMAND CANNOT BE MET UNLESS SILICON ANODES REPLACE GRAPHITE

The Li-ion battery is the dominant technology in energy storage while graphite, a fairly low energy density material compared to other anode materials, is the dominant anode material in for Li-Ion batteries.

A graph accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a443d48f-5db8-4da0-8072-dd53ea4317e3

Present anode technology limits the use of Silicon Metal (Si) powders to a blended form with graphite, resulting in less than 10 wt% Si in Li-ion batteries.  This explains the limited performance improvement achieved to date.

A recent report by Wood Mackenzie Power projects that energy storage deployments are estimated to grow 1,300% from a 12 Gigawatt-hour market in 2018 to a 158 Gigawatt-hour market in 2024.  This is why, even at these low content levels, demand for Silicon Metal powders is estimated to represent an addressable market of US $ 1B by 20222 expanding at a CAGR of 38.9% between 2019 – 2024.

HPQ AND PYROGENESIS WELL POSITIONED TO ASSUME FIRST MOVER ADVANTAGE IN THE MARKET

Building upon the success of the modified Gen2 PUREVAP™ proof of concept test, PyroGenesis is designing additional process improvements to the modified Gen2 PUREVAP™ Reactor in order to demonstrate the commercial potential of the high yield, low cost process we are developing to produce Spherical Silicon Metal (Si) nano-powders for the Li-ion batteries markets.

This represents a unique multibillion-dollar business opportunity that could subsequently lead to the wide scale adoption of our Material in the battery market.  If this occurs, HPQ and PyroGenesis would then be well positioned to assume a dominant market position.  In Q1 2020, the plan is to have the fully modified Gen2 PUREVAPTM reactor operational to validate that our approach both works and is scalable while also producing samples for industry participants and research institutions.

“PyroGenesis has a long the track record of taking high-technology projects from proof of concept to global commercial scalability, so if anybody has the knowhow to use the silicon metal produced by HPQ PUREVAP™QRR and make spherical Silicon Metal (Si) nano-powders for use as high-capacity anode materials in the next generations Li-ion batteries, it is them,” said Bernard Tourillon, President and CEO HPQ Silicon. “Silicon Metal’s potential to meet energy storage demand is undeniable and generating massive investments, as well as, serious industry interest, so our timing could not be better.”

“We are delighted by the PUREVAP™ Gen2’s recent test results from which it has established a very important proof of concept for the production of spherical nano powders for the Lithium-ion batteries market,” said M. P Peter Pascali, President and CEO of PyroGenesis Canada Inc. “The success of this testing paves the way for an interesting business opportunity for both PyroGenesis and HPQ. The goal is to significantly increase the performance of Li-ion batteries, currently in demand, using silicon metal (Si) anodes, at a competitive cost. The potential from the battery and energy storage markets alone is estimated, on first review, to be quite significant.”

About Silicon Metal

Silicon Metal (Si) is one of today’s strategic materials needed to fulfil the renewable energy revolution presently under way. Silicon does not exist in its pure state; it must be extracted from quartz, one of the most abundant minerals of the earth’s crust and other expensive raw materials in a carbothermic process.

About HPQ Silicon

HPQ Silicon Resources Inc. (TSX-V: HPQ) is developing, with PyroGenesis Canada Inc. (TSX-V: PYR), a high-tech company that designs, develops, manufactures and commercializes plasma base processes, the innovative PUREVAPTM “Quartz Reduction Reactors” (QRR), a truly 2.0 Carbothermic process (patent pending), which will permit the One Step transformation of Quartz (SiO2) into High Purity Silicon (Si) at prices that will propagate its considerable renewable energy potential.  The Gen3 PUREVAPTM QRR pilot plant that will validate the commercial potential of the process is scheduled to start during Q1 2020.

HPQ, working with PyroGenesis, is also developing a process that can take the High Purity Silicon (Si) made by the PUREVAPTM and manufacture Spherical Silicon Metal nano-powders for Next Gen Li-ion batteries.  During Q1 2020, the plan is to validate our game changing manufacturing approach using a modified Gen2 PUREVAPTM reactor to produce spherical Silicon Metal (Si) nano-powders samples for industry participants and research institutions’.

Concurrently, HPQ is also working with industry leader Apollon Solar to develop a manufacturing capability that uses the High Purity Silicon (Si) made with the PUREVAP™ to make Porous silicon wafers needed for solid-state Li-ion batteries.  The first Silicon wafer should be ready to be ship for testing to a battery manufacture (under NDA) during Q1 2020.

Finally, with Apollon Solar, we are also looking into developing a metallurgical pathway of producing Solar Grade Silicon Metal (SoG Si) that will take full advantage of the PUREVAPTM QRR one-step production of Silicon (Si) material of 4N+ purity with low boron count (< 1 ppm).

All in all, HPQ focus is becoming the lowest cost producer of Silicon Metal (Si), High Purity Silicon Metal (Si), Spherical Si nano-powders for Next Gen Li-ion batteries, Porous Silicon Wafers for Solid states Li-ion batteries, Porous Silicon Powders for Li-ion batteries and Solar Grade Silicon Metal (SoG-Si).

This News Release is available on the company’s CEO Verified Discussion Forum, a moderated social media platform that enables civilized discussion and Q&A between Management and Shareholders. 

Disclaimers:

The Corporation’s interest in developing the PUREVAP™ QRR and any projected capital or operating cost savings associated with its development should not be construed as being related to the establishing the economic viability or technical feasibility of any of the Company’s Quartz Projects.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words “may”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “expect”, “in the process” and other similar expressions which constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current expectation and assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the acceptance of our products by the market, our strategy to develop new products and enhance the capabilities of existing products, our strategy with respect to research and development, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, and uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and other risks detailed from time-to-time in the Company’s on-going filings with the security’s regulatory authorities, which filings can be found at www.sedar.com. Actual results, events, and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

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.

For further information contact
Bernard J. Tourillon, Chairman, President and CEO Tel (514) 907-1011
Patrick Levasseur, Vice-President and COO Tel: (514) 262-9239
http://www.hpqsilicon.com Email: [email protected]

1 Source: Quotation from a producer (Confidential), Media article
2 Source Marketandmakerts.com 

Image A SEM X 75000 Resolution

Nano-powder picture taken with a SEM and a resolution X 75,000
Image B SEM X 100000 resolution

SEM Image of Nano-powders taken with X 100,000 resolution
IMAGE C – Energy density of anode materials

Graph representing The Energy Density of anode materials for batteries

Source: GlobeNewswire (January 15, 2020 – 8:00 AM EST)

News by QuoteMedia
www.quotemedia.com

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Posted in Featured, HPQ-Silicon Resources Inc. | Comments Off on Gen2 PUREVAP™ Proof of Concept Test Demonstrates Capacity to Produce Spherical Nano Powders From Silicon Metal for the Lithium-Ion Battery Market – $HPQ.ca Silicon Resources $FSLR $SPWR $CSIQ $PYR.ca $XMG.ca

Dollar Weakness Could Be the Catalyst Commodities Are Looking For SPONSOR: Affinity Metals $AAF.ca $SII.ca $TUD.ca $GTT.ca $AMK.ca $OSK.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 3:57 PM on Tuesday, January 14th, 2020

Sponsor: Affinity Metals (TSX-V: AFF) 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. Recent sampling encountered bonanza grade silver, zinc, and lead with many samples reaching assay over-limits. Further assaying of over-limits has been initiated, results will be reported once received. Click Here for More Info

By: Frank E. Holmes, Chairman/CEO/CIO of U.S. Global Investors, Inc.,

 — Published: Tuesday, 14 January 2020 | 

Near the start of every year, I share our ever-popular Periodic Table of Commodity Returns, now updated to reflect the final results of 2019. To view the interactive table and download a copy of your own, click here.  

  • Having broken above $2,000 an ounce last week, palladium in now forecast by Citi analysts to hit $2,500 by the middle of this year.

Commodities as a whole had a mostly positive 2019, returning 16.53 percent as measured by the S&P GSCI. This far surpasses commodities’ five-year average return of about negative 11.52 percent, between 2014 and 2018.

Precious metals were responsible for much of the growth. For the third straight year, and for the fourth time in six years, palladium was the top-performing commodity. The metal, used widely in the production of catalytic converters, increased an incredible 54.21 percent to end 2019 at $1,912 an ounce, a slightly higher price than gold’s all-time high set in September 2011.

As was the case in past years, palladium benefited from mounting global demand to curb emissions from gasoline-burning engines. It’s also among the world’s scarcest precious metals, mined primarily in Russia and South Africa, which means supply will potentially remain in deficit for years to come.

Having broken above $2,000 an ounce last week, palladium in now forecast by Citi analysts to hit $2,500 by the middle of this year.

Gold Price Up in Four out of Every Five Years

Gold, meanwhile, had its best year since 2010, climbing as much as 18.31 percent. The yellow metal’s role as an exceptional store of value shined brightly in the second half of the year when the pool of negative-yielding debt around the world began to skyrocket, eventually topping out at around $17 trillion in August. On the news last week that Iran launched a counterstrike against U.S.-occupied military bases in Iraq, the safe haven briefly broke above $1,600 an ounce for the first time since April 2013.    

In the past two decades, gold has helped investors limit market volatility and portfolio losses. Between 2000 and 2019, the precious metal’s average annual price was down in only four years. Put another way, gold was up on average in four out of every five years—a remarkable track record.

Safe haven-seeking investors around the world piled into gold-backed ETFs in 2019, making it the best year on record for gold holdings. Assets under management (AUM) in gold bullion ETFs expanded 37 percent from the previous year, adding $19.2 billion, or 400 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). During the fourth quarter, total holdings hit a jaw-dropping 2,900 tonnes, the equivalent of 102 million ounces, which is the most on record.

As of the end of last week, gold looked slightly overbought on a relative strength basis, meaning a correction wouldn’t be such a bad thing and in fact expected.

Has the Greenback Peaked?

Short of escalating tensions in the Middle East or a pullback in stocks, the catalyst for higher gold prices—and, indeed, commodity prices in general—may very well be a substantial weakening of the U.S. dollar. On Tuesday, the U.S. Dollar Index experienced a “death cross,” a bearish signal that takes places when an asset’s 50-day moving average crosses below its 200-day moving average. We haven’t seen this from the greenback since May 2017.

Other firms and analysts have recently made the case that the dollar is ready to decline in 2020, which would give gold and other hard assets the room to gain momentum. Below are just three such forecasts from the past couple of weeks:

“Our view is that the dollar is ready to decline in 2020 and will be encouraged to do so as negative interest rates abroad turn less negative while the Fed holds pat (or cuts)… In the event of an unlikely recession in 2020, U.S. fiscal and monetary policy will turn sharply expansionary, the dollar will decline further, and gold will do well.”

                ~Murenbeeld & Co., January 3

“We expect that U.S. dollar weakness will likely characterize global financial markets throughout 2020… A weaker dollar is always good news for commodity prices. We are particularly bullish gold at this point. Gold is a direct play on a weaker dollar and could also benefit from any major flare-up in geopolitical tensions.”

                ~Alpine Macro, January 6

“Starting 2020, the key setup from a macro perspective is the confirmed top in the U.S. Dollar Index as well as the U.S. Trade-Weighted Broad Dollar Index… The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has broken below the 97 support to trigger the bearish implication of the June-December topping pattern (head-and-shoulders top) and the U.S. Trade-Weighted Broad Dollar Index has broken below the early-November 2019 low as well as the 200-day moving average to confirm a similar topping pattern to the DXY.”

                ~CLSA, January 7

Bitcoin as a Safe Haven Asset

Gold isn’t the only asset that responded positively to geopolitical uncertainty involving Iran. The price of bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap, surged on the news that President Donald Trump had ordered a strike on Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, before commenting that the U.S. was targeting as many as 52 sites in Iran.

From January 2, the day before the strike, to January 8, when Trump announced that Iran appeared to be “standing down,” bitcoin traded up as much as 21 percent to its highest level in six weeks. In addition, there were reports that local bitcoin sellers in Iran were charging three times the market rate in response to the threat of war with the U.S.

Google searches for “bitcoin” were also up. Cointelegraph reports that the search term “bitcoin Iran” exploded more than 4,450 percent in the seven days through January 8.

All of this tells me that bitcoin continues to mature as an asset, and that investors and savers increasingly trust it as a store of value in times of uncertainty.

Looking for the inside scoop on mining companies? Click here to read U.S. Global Investors portfolio manager Ralph Aldis’ interview with MoneyShow and get his favorite mining picks for 2020!

Source: http://news.goldseek.com/USFunds/1579015085.php

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Posted in Affinity Metals, All Recent Posts | Comments Off on Dollar Weakness Could Be the Catalyst Commodities Are Looking For SPONSOR: Affinity Metals $AAF.ca $SII.ca $TUD.ca $GTT.ca $AMK.ca $OSK.ca

Applied BioSciences $APPB: CBD vs THC – Full Spectrum, Broad Spectrum and Pure Isolate 2020 Comparison Guide $APH.ca $GBLX $PFE $ACG.ca $ACB.ca $WEED.ca $HIP.ca $WMD.ca $CGRW

Posted by AGORACOM at 2:34 PM on Tuesday, January 14th, 2020

SPONSOR: Applied BioSciences is a vertically integrated company focused on the development and commercialization of novel, science-driven, synthetic cannabinoid therapeutics / biopharmaceuticals; targeting the endocannabinoid system to treat a wide-range of diseases across multiple therapeutic areas. Click Here for More Info

A properly updated 2020 guide on CBD versus THC along with a complete review of the entourage effect differences and health benefits of using a full spectrum, broad spectrum or pure isolate CBD-infused product.

HealthMJ is actively mapping out the entire CBD ecosystem, from the best CBD oils, gummies, skincare, salves/balms, drinks/beverages and pet products – we got you covered; and one of the most popular questions we receive from our attentive audience is how CBD vs THC works; more specifically the differences between full spectrum CBD, broad spectrum CBD and pure isolates.

As the rapidly shifting landscape of medicinal cannabis continues to unfold in 2020, hemp and marijuana plants are both spectacles to watch in their own right given the prominent cannabinoid community of compounds, namely in THC and its cousin phytocannabinoid CBD.

With all of the new information coming out about CBD and its potential health benefits, it’s only fair that you might question how CBD compares to marijuana or THC-infused products and so forth. Many individuals continue to be concerned about CBD, and while there are many risks and dangerous concerns to address, research says maybe you should consider the options to get ahead of the curve and know the variations best available for you.

When it comes to terms like CBD, THC, full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, and isolates; it’s hard to know and fully understand what these terms mean and just what the differences are between them or how they compare to one another. But our CBD vs THC guide is designed to do just that; remove the clutter, simplify the terminology and showcase each advantage they all have independently as well as talk about the ‘entourage effect’.

The thing is, there is a lot of varying CBD and THC-infused product information available, and it is so very important to educate yourself before passing any judgment on these products. Making an effort to be in the know will not only increase your knowledge base but just might present you with life-changing information given your occupation, bodily needs or desired medicinal effects.

Understanding that “knowledge is power,” we put together a guide the will detail each of these items in turn (CBD, THC, full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, and isolates) as well as compare them and explain to you how each of these factors might relate to the other.

We will share with you various statistics, studies, definitions, and a ton of valuable information for each subject. To begin, we will break down each subject separately, and then we will come back and tie some information together for your reference.

We hope you will tune into this CBD and THC overview breakdown and the valuable information presented within our cannabis oil-infused product guide for buying the best full-spectrum, broad-spectrum or pure isolate option for you.

CBD: All the Rage, None of the High

CBD products have taken the world by storm. While it has quickly become the most popular best-selling herbal extract in the health and wellness industry last year, many are still on the fence whether or not to use a CBD-infused supplement. Have you tried them yet? Are you scared to take that step and open the door to the possibilities of what CBD can provide for you? CBD products were initially quite controversial as they are instantly associated with marijuana.

The truth is, CBD really is not comparable to marijuana and, in fact, many times contains no THC (which is the property that typically enacts psychoactive responses in use of marijuana) or a minuscule percentage.

Additionally, CBD products are heavily regulated as to how much THC can legally be in them for over-the-counter distribution. It is no secret by now CBD has become a go-to option for many men and women looking for a natural and potentially reliable solution for issues such as pain relief, anxiety, irritation, and the like. Before choosing a CBD product, it is important to understand the difference between the three of the most common-types of formulas, which are full-spectrum (with THC), broad-spectrum (no-THC) and isolate (pure CBD). Fortunately, this post is here to help.

Are you curious yet? Let’s dive a bit deeper.

What Exactly is CBD?

CBD is short for cannabidiol. This cannabidiol is otherwise known as a phytocannabinoid. These cannabinoids come directly from the cannabis plant. Cannabis plants contain more than 100 cannabinoids in them.

When minerals are extracted from the cannabis plant, CBD accounts for approximately 40% of the extracts, which results in CBD being readily available for processing. CBD can be obtained from hemp without THC in the extraction.

What does that mean? THC is the property that often gives cannabis a bad name. It is THC that produces the “high” that is associated with some cannabis usage, particularly smoking cannabis. However, you should know that THC is either extremely limited or completely non-existent in CBD when it is produced.

In fact, many manufacturers of CBD products extract the cannabidiol with an extreme process specifically for the purpose of delivering a pure product and reducing THC levels. In this manner, the CBD then does not make you high and formats to legal regulations as well.

The Benefits of CBD

Studies have shown that CBD products can produce a significant number of health benefits, many of which you may not have ever been aware of. Research has been increasing, but there is also still a lot to learn about CBD.

There are many benefits that have been discovered through studies and trials thus far. Here are a few of the most common and well-known benefits of CBD products:

  • Pain Relief
  • Anti-inflammatory properties
  • Anxiety relief
  • Cancer treatment and relief
  • Epilepsy and seizure disorder treatments
  • Alzheimer’s treatment
  • Migraine relief
  • Fight acne
  • Fights neurological symptoms and disorders

You might be able to pick out a few of the items on this list that have been primarily untreatable with everyday medication. When there is medication available, it can have extensive side effects.

But consider a safe and legal treatment to things like cancer, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s – amongst other hard to treat diagnoses. Does this mean CBD will help your body heal from these disorders, or will it simply help relieve the symptoms?

Research and studies are still new and not fully conclusive. It is hard to say whether CBD could essentially eliminate any of the disorders listed, but if it can help fight or treat the associated symptoms, it is certainly worth consideration.

To give you an idea of how CBD works with these various disorders, let’s break a few of them down further.

CBD and Alzheimer’s Treatment

Alzheimer’s has long been a disorder that is primarily untreatable. Of course, there is medication to help those with Alzheimer’s, but it does little by way of reducing symptoms or slowing the process of the disease.

Alzheimer’s is primarily a brain disorder that progresses rather slowly at most times. It can move quickly though in some people. Alzheimer’s causes the victim to lost memories, history, and even the memory of how to complete specific skills necessary to care for themselves.

As Alzheimer’s progresses, many people revert to old memories and don’t know the people closest to them when they see them. They forgot how to do basic tasks and ultimately become unable to care for themselves safely.

All of these effects of Alzheimer’s are functionally related to the brain suffering from inflammation. This inflammation often causes excessive oxygen to build-up, which in turn leads to the effects we are familiar with as Alzheimer’s. The brain cells become blocked and therefore decline.

In comes CBD products, recent studies show that CBD can reduce this inflammation, allowing that oxygen that has built up due to brain cell blockage to seep out and therefore decreasing many Alzheimer’s symptoms.

This systematic process from CBD acts as an antioxidant for the brain cells by reducing or eliminating the inflammation that causes blockage and therefore causes the disease to take full form. With this relief, the effects of Alzheimer’s are greatly reduced and slowed.

This is not to say CBD cures Alzheimer’s but rather that it can reduce the process and provide relief of many of the symptoms, straight from the root cause.

CBD and Epilepsy Treatment

Epilepsy and other seizure disorders have been studied for health benefits related to CBD treatment. Epilepsy is another neurological disorder in which the sensory processes in your brain are triggered, which then leads to seizures.

Epilepsy has been challenging to treat through the years and at times, is left untreated. There are medications available, but there is no guarantee they will work. They may reduce seizures or the intensity of seizures, but the results vary on individuals, and, of course, the results are only as good as the medicine available.

CBD, also, may not be effective for every user. However, it has been found in studies to dramatically reduce the number of seizures as well as the length of seizures in those affected by the disease.

In 2018, the FDA approved Epidiolex to be used for epilepsy treatment in certain situations. There are two forms of epilepsy it has been approved to treat and an age requirement as well. Epidiolex is a formula of CBD that is purely plant-based but has been studied and researched for its effectiveness in regards to epilepsy treatment.

CBD Pain & Anti-Inflammatory Relief

For a number of years, chronic pain has been treated with pain relievers. Pain relievers that can cause dependency and addiction for the user and often produce side effects that far outweigh the relief of the pain.

Not only can pain relievers lead to addiction but essentially, they can become ineffective because of the dependence effect they tend to have on the user. This is an unfortunate effect for those who are simply seeking relief.

We’ve grouped Pain relief and anti-inflammatory properties together here because they are often related. Chronic pain is typically directly related to inflammation, as are various diseases and disorders that lead to common pain, fibromyalgia, sclerosis, lupus, etc.

Research is still quite limited on CBD’s abilities to reduce pain or inflammation, and therefore, there is no FDA seal of approval yet, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t information available for review.

It is believed through current studies that CBD directly communicates to your ECS or endocannabinoid system. This system signals cells to emit pain signals to your body when an area is damaged. CBD interacts with ECS to improve the quality of these signals, relieving the feelings of pain or inflammation within your body.

CBD and Anxiety Relief

Anxiety has become one of the fastest rising disorders. Anxiety continues to become a common diagnosis, but it shouldn’t be. In this frantic world that is constantly changing and evolving, anxiety is the last thing we should be worried about, and clearly, it is all about “worry.”

Again, research is just beginning, and the results are currently limited. The results of these studies continue to be tested, but for now, we work with what limited information we have available. Studies are showing that CBD can dramatically reduce anxiety and the effects of anxiety.

How does that work? CBD enhances calming properties through the brain. CBD somehow is able to bind to those brain receptors that trigger the anxiety response from your brain, and therefore, your anxiety is reduced, and you remain calmer and more reasonable rather than anxious and concerned.

Do You See a Connection?

Many of the disorders and symptoms you see above have something in common, they are triggered by cells or brain receptors that essentially lead to the disease or disorder. CBD appears to work quite well with disorders that essentially start with brain function.

Studies are still limited and are still taking place. Results are varied, and there is not yet enough evidence to truly rely on CBD, but there are positive results and signs thus far. While many of the disorders we specifically discussed are brain-related, CBD can have positive effects on other ailments as well.

The Legalities of CBD

CBD-infused product supplementation was the number one most trending ingredient in 2019. They have become more pronounced and popular in recent years as people discover just what CBD can offer for health benefits. There are a number of benefits and things still being discovered about CBD and what it has to offer.

It seems like everywhere you go, you can find CBD products from oils, gummies, sprays, and lotions to even CBD pet products. But is it really legal? How do you know it won’t cause you legal issues in the end?

Cannabis is certainly not new, but it still has limited legality for sales, use, and distribution. It cannot be openly sold in many states. Only a few states have passed bills allowing recreational or medicinal use of marijuana in a legal capacity.

However, in 2018, the Farm Bill was passed/updated, and restrictions on CBD specifically were removed from various legal restrictions if the CBD is extracted from a hemp plant. It is now legal to produce, buy, and sell CBD products IF they contain less than .3% THC.

The primary statement here is the products must fall into the guidelines of following the THC level guidelines. Many CBD companies simply meet the minimum guidelines while others take it even farther and purify their CBD or even produce a formula with 0% THC.

SOURCE: https://www.healthmj.com/cbd/thc-full-spectrum-broad-spectrum-isolate/

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From the #AI arms race to adversarial AI – SPONSOR: Datametrex AI Limited $DM.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:01 PM on Tuesday, January 14th, 2020

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From the AI arms race to adversarial AI

  • The AI arms race is on, and it’s a cat and mouse game we see every day in our threat intelligence work
  • As new technology evolves, our lives become more convenient, but cybercriminals see new opportunities to attack users

(Image credit: Pixabay) By Michal Pěchouček

The AI arms race is on, and it’s a cat and mouse game we see every day in our threat intelligence work. As new technology evolves, our lives become more convenient, but cybercriminals see new opportunities to attack users. Whether it’s trying to circumvent antivirus software, or trying to install malware or ransomware on a user’s machine, to abusing hacked devices to create a botnet or taking down websites and important server infrastructures, getting ahead of the bad guys is the priority for security providers. AI has increased the sophistication of attacks, making it increasingly unpredictable and difficult to mitigate against.

Increased Systematic Attacks

AI has reduced the manpower needed to carry out a cyber-attack. As opposed to manually developing malware code, this process has become automated, reducing the time, effort and expense that goes into these attacks. The result: attacks become increasingly systematic and can be carried out on a larger, grander scale.

Societal Change and New Norms

Along with cloud computing services, the growth of AI has brought many tech advancements, but unless carefully regulated it risks changing certain aspects of society. A prime example of this is the use of facial recognition technology by the police and local government authorities. San Francisco hit the headlines this year when it became the first US city to ban the technology.

This was seen as a huge victory – the technology carried far more risks than benefits and question marks over inaccuracy and racial bias were raised. AI technology is not perfect and is only as reliable and accurate as the data that feeds it. As we head into a new decade, technology companies and law makers need to work together to ensure these developments are suitably regulated and used responsibly.

Changing the way we look at information

We’re now in the era of fake news, misinformation and deep fakes. AI has made it even easier to create and spread misleading and fake information. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that we increasingly consume information in digital echo chambers, making it harder to access unbiased information. 

While responsibility lies with the tech companies that host and share this content, education in data literacy will become more important in 2020 and beyond. An increasing focus on teaching the public how to scrutinise information and data will be vital.

More Partnerships to Combat Adversarial AI

In order to combat the threat from adversarial AI, we hope to see even greater partnerships between technology companies and academic institutions. This is precisely why Avast has partnered with The Czech Technical University in Prague to advance research in the field of artificial intelligence. 

Avast’s rich threat data from over 400 million devices globally have been combined with the CTU’s study of complex and evasive threats in order to pre-empt and inhibit attacks from cybercriminals. The goals of the laboratory include publishing breakthrough research in this field and to enhance Avast’s malware detection engine, including its AI-based detection algorithms.

As we head into a new decade AI will continue to impact and change technology and society around us, especially with the increase in smart home devices. However, despite the negative associations, there’s a lot more good to be gained from artificial intelligence than bad. 

Tools are only as helpful as those who wield them. The biggest priority in the years ahead will be cross-industry and government collaboration, to use AI for good and prohibit those who attempt to abuse it.

Source: https://www.techradar.com/nz/news/from-the-ai-arms-race-to-adversarial-ai

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Top #edtech trends to rule India’s virtual learning space in 2020 SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:54 AM on Tuesday, January 14th, 2020
SPONSOR:  BetterU Education Corp. aims to provide access to quality education from around the world. The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.

Top edtech trends to rule India’s virtual learning space in 2020

  • Today’s educators are completely aware of the fact that the 21st-century student is no longer receptive to the practice of offline learning, which limits them to textbooks and classrooms
  • Rather, they prefer online channels that are easily accessible and give them a much wider choice of self-learning. According to a recent KPMG report, the online education industry is anticipated to gain a user base of 9.6 million by 2021 as compared to 1.6 million in 2016

By Akhand Swaroop Pandit, Founder and CEO, Catalyst Group, Online Learning Platform.

Since time immemorial, we have been acclimatised to attain our educational goals through classroom-based learning, which is majorly based on a theoretical exam-driven system. From the very childhood, this archaic system pushes us to focus on scoring well, instead of practically understanding the concepts. However, now that this belief is changing with the advent of various online learning tools, educators are rapidly adopting online learning pedagogies, which involve the right mix of offline as well as online learning techniques.

Today’s educators are completely aware of the fact that the 21st-century student is no longer receptive to the practice of offline learning, which limits them to textbooks and classrooms. Rather, they prefer online channels that are easily accessible and give them a much wider choice of self-learning. According to a recent KPMG report, the online education industry is anticipated to gain a user base of 9.6 million by 2021 as compared to 1.6 million in 2016.

In fact, the scope of online learning is not only limited to school and competitive exams but has gone beyond these boundaries. A large number of online players have forayed into upskilling – helping job seekers acquire new skills and prepare for today’s evolving job market. That said, the education system in India is surely reshaping by leaps and bounds and is turning into a student-friendly ecosystem that focusses mainly on fostering effective learning.

On the back of this transformation, the education industry is witnessing several trends, and this is just the beginning! Here’s an outlook on the top trends that India is likely to witness in 2020:

Personalised learning

For ages, it has remained a challenge for educators to assess each and every student in the classroom. Even the practice of parent-teacher meeting has not been much of a success. However, players in the online learning space are highly focused on addressing this challenge. With the kinds of online tests these players conduct and the way they leverage the digital footprints of users, it has become both easy and efficient to cater to the needs of students as emphasising on their strengths and weaknesses that they would need to work upon.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Although not every new to the human ears, AI is certainly redesigning the path of online education by automating and making the process more engaging than ever. The integration of AR and VR in the online space significantly adds an audio-visual factor to the overall learning process with elements such as 3D designs, animations, and sign languages, among others – making learning fun for both students and educators. It is clear how education has come out of the textbooks and is leaving digital imprints on the minds of learners, which was not the case a few years ago.

Gamification

While video games were one of the major causes why children once got scolded by parents, gamification has emerged as a new kind of learning technique that is widely being adopted and accepted by educators. A large number of players in this space are gamifying different concepts that can help students enhance their problem-solving power, retain information and improve their overall performance in a very engaging and fun-learning manner. Even in schools, this technique has been adopted by educators to teach valuable skills that they will need to fit into future job roles.

Mobile-based learning

With smartphones becoming an all-time tool for students to gain and collect information from the internet, edtech players are rapidly developing mobile-based content and online study materials that are easily accessible, anytime and anywhere. By leveraging tech advances, these new-age educators are able to expand their reach even to the rural geographies, where imparting education has majorly been an age-long challenge.

Video-based learning

Gone are the days when coaching classes were only seen as offline tutoring sessions. With mentors and educators coming online, students are now enabled to access the same offline sessions through online platforms, on their smartphones. The best part about video-based learning is that it can be replayed an infinite number of times, which naturally eliminates the probability of missing anything associated with the subject. Not only do students get access to live online lectures, but they also have the choice of watching a wide variety of rich and well-researched videos related to their respective subjects.

With the rise of technology disruptions, the future of online learning seems promising and filled with a barrage of opportunities for edtech players to innovate further. Not only are these new-age platforms ensuring quality education to student masses, but also making sure that learning reaches to every corner of the country. The aforementioned trends are gaining wider adoption and are already being implemented by several educational institutions across the country. Besides, it is anticipated that these advances will slowly but surely help India turn into a digital-first nation and make its citizens smart enough to secure future jobs, which would be largely driven by technology.

Source: https://www.how2shout.com/technology/top-edutech-trends-to-rule-indias-virtual-learning-space-in-2020.html

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#KABN North America and Torino Power Announce Definitive Agreement for Proposed Reverse Takeover of Torino Power by KABN North America

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:28 AM on Tuesday, January 14th, 2020
  • Announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement dated January 13, 2020 with respect to the previously announced proposed reverse takeover of Torino Power by KABN North America
  • Proposed Transaction will be structured as an amalgamation of KABN North America and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company whereby the shareholders of KABN North America will receive post-Consolidation common shares of the Company in exchange for their common shares of KABN North America

Toronto, Ontario–(January 14, 2020) –  KABN Systems North America Inc. (“KABN North America“) and Torino Power Solutions Inc. (CSE: TPS) (the “Company” or “Torino Power“) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive agreement (the “Definitive Agreement“) dated January 13, 2020 with respect to the previously announced proposed reverse takeover of Torino Power by KABN North America. The Definitive Agreement outlines the terms and conditions pursuant to which KABN North America and the Company will effect a business combination that will constitute a fundamental change of the Company and will result in a reverse takeover of the Company by the security holders of KABN North America (the “Proposed Transaction“). The Definitive Agreement was negotiated at arm’s length.

KABN North America is a Canadian FinTech company that specializes in continuous online Identity Verification, Identity Management and Monetization and is currently in development to launch a digital banking and financial services platform. It is developing a financial services platform in North America (the “KABN NA Platform“) that consists of:

  • KABN ID: a blockchain and biometrically based, patent-pending, EU General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) compliant, “always on” ID validation and verification process at its core.
  • KABN Card: new types of financial and related services through a payment card-approved, digital currency-linked prepaid card and mobile banking wallet program for a variety of digital currencies and multi-currency fiat transactions.
  • KABN KASH: a robust loyalty and customer engagement platform.

KABN North America is the exclusive licensee in Canada and the United States of America of the intellectual property (the “Licensed IP“) that is comprised in the KABN ID, KABN Card and KABN KASH programs. KABN North America’s key shareholders are KABN (Gibraltar) Limited and Crypto KABN Holdings Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which are the licensors of the Licensed IP.

Summary of the Transaction

The Proposed Transaction will be structured as an amalgamation of KABN North America and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company whereby the shareholders of KABN North America will receive post-Consolidation common shares of the Company (“Torino Shares“) in exchange for their common shares of KABN North America (“KABN Shares“).

Completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including receipt of all necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals, including approval of the existing shareholders of the Company, and conditional approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the “CSE“) for the listing of the common shares of the resulting issuer (the “Resulting Issuer“) following completion of the Proposed Transaction.

In connection with the Proposed Transaction, the Company will be required to, among other things: (i) change its name to a name requested by KABN North America and acceptable to applicable regulatory authorities (the “Name Change“), (ii) consolidate its outstanding Torino Shares on a basis of ten old Torino Shares for one post-Consolidation Torino Share (the “Consolidation“) and (iii) replace certain directors and officers of the Company on closing of the Proposed Transaction with nominees of KABN North America.

Management and Board of the Resulting Issuer

Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, it is anticipated that the persons identified below will serve as directors and officers of the Resulting Issuer:

Houssam (Sam) Kawtharani – Director

Mr. Kawtharani is a director of KABN North America and the co-founder of Corl Financial Technologies Inc., a fintech that offers data-driven growth capital to startups. Prior to co-founding Corl Financial Technologies Inc. Mr. Kawtharani was the Head of Product at IOU Financial Inc., a publicly-listed online lender, where he supported the company in originating over $500 million in loans across the United States of America and Canada through continuous product development and innovation Mr. Kawtharani is also the founder and director of Sam Kay Consultancy Inc. o/a FinBlox Labs, a fintech and blockchain advisory services firm for startups, enterprises and financial institutions. Mr. Kawtharani is also currently an advisor at KABN, AuBit International, EzyStayz Holiday Rentals Pty Ltd., OmniPsarx PBC and Trusted Inc. Holdings Limited. Mr. Kawtharani has a Bachelor of Science in computer science and business administration from the American University of Beirut and a Masters in Engineering from Concordia University.

Benjamin Kessler – Director, Interim Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Kessler has over 20 years of account management, business development, marketing and partnership experience in the financial services sector. Mr. Kessler is currently Chief Executive Officer and a director of KABN North America, as well as Chief Executive Officer of KABN (Gibraltar) Limited. Most recently, Mr. Kessler served as Managing Director, Payments Solution Group – Banc of California from January 2016 to 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Kessler served as Vice President, Global Account Management at Earthport North America TLC from 2013 to 2015. Mr. Kessler has also served as Vice President, Emerging Verticals at Mastercard Worldwide from 2006 to 2011. Mr. Kessler has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University and a Master of Business Administration from the New York University Stern School of Management.

David Lucatch – Director, President

Mr. Lucatch has more than 30 years inventing technology and business solutions in the international marketing arena and over 20 years of that developing and taking to market internet and mobile based platforms. Mr. Lucatch has held senior management posts and directorships at both private and public media and technology firms and is currently President and a director of KABN North America. Mr. Lucatch has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in commerce and economics from the University of Toronto.

J. Patrick Mesina – Director

Mr. Mesina is currently a director of the Company, KABN North America and Cortland Credit Group Inc., as well as a director and audit committee member of TSX Venture Exchange-listed Brockton Ventures Inc. Mr. Mesina presently works as a director with a Canadian based institutional investment firm, Cortland Credit Group Inc. Mr. Mesina had served as Vice President with a Toronto based institutional investment firm AIP Private Capital Inc. from March 2012 to September 2017. Since September 2017 he has been a consultant for several companies, including Vive Crop Protection Inc. and Northern Lights Partners Inc. Mr. Mesina has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from the University of Toronto.

Craig McCannell – Interim Chief Financial Officer

Mr. McCannell is currently the Chief Financial Officer of KABN North America, Chief Executive Officer of KABN (Gibraltar) Limited, and the Chief Financial Officer of Pegasus Fintech Canada Inc., a full service blockchain, technology and growth accelerator advisory firm. Mr. McCannell had served as Chief Financial Officer at two publicly traded companies and was a senior manager at Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. McCannell has an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfred Laurier University and obtained his Certified Professional Accountant (Chartered Accountant) designation in 2002.

Ravinder Mlait – Director

Mr. Mlait has served as director of the Company since February 2015 and Chief Executive Officer of the Company since December 2015. From December 2013 to present, Mr. Mlait has served as Chief Executive Officer of Cannabix Technologies Inc., an early stage technology company listed on the CSE. Mr. Mlait has served as director and officer of Brockton Ventures Inc., a capital pool company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange since February 22, 2018. From June 2010 to present, Mr. Mlait has served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Rockland Minerals Corp., a mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Mr. Mlait obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree (Economics) from Simon Fraser University in 1999 and obtained his Masters of Business Administration from Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia in 2010.

Torino Shareholder Meeting

It is anticipated that a special shareholder meeting of the Company (the “Special Meeting“) will take place in Q1 of 2020 to approve, among other matters: (i) a special resolution authorizing the Name Change; and (ii) an ordinary resolution authorizing the fundamental change of the Company resulting from the Proposed Transaction. Assuming completion of a contemplated private placement of approximately 13 million shares by KABN North America prior to completion of the Proposed Transaction, the shareholders of Torino Power following the Proposed Transaction will hold approximately 9.3% of the shares of the Resulting Issuer and the shareholders of KABN North America will hold approximately 90.7% of the shares of the Resulting Issuer.

Other Conditions Precedent

Other conditions to completion of the Proposed Transaction include, but are not limited to:

  • The representations and warranties being true and correct in all material respects as of the closing of the Proposed Transaction.
  • No material adverse change prior to completion of the Proposed Transaction.
  • The Company not having undertaken any business, other than in connection with the completion of the Proposed Transaction, from and after November 21, 2019.
  • Conditional approval by the CSE of the listing of post-Consolidation Torino Shares.
  • Cancellation of the stock options of the Company held by certain officers and directors (and former officers and directors) of the Company.
  • Resignation of certain directors and officers of the Company and its subsidiaries without payment by or any liability to the Company, its subsidiary and KABN North America.
  • KABN North America having raised aggregate gross proceeds of at least $750,000 prior to and in connection with the Proposed Transaction through issuances of KABN Shares and share purchase warrants to purchase KABN Shares.
  • No order or decree restraining the Proposed Transaction.

Termination Rights

The Definitive Agreement may, with certain exceptions, be terminated prior to the closing of the Proposed Transaction:

  • by mutual consent of TPS, its subsidiary and KABN North America;
  • by a party if a condition in its favour or a mutual condition is not satisfied by April 30, 2020;
  • by the Company or KABN North America if:
    • there has been a breach of any of the representations, warranties, covenants and agreements on the part of the other party, which breach has or is likely to result in the failure of the conditions precedent set out in the Definitive Agreement and is not cured within ten business days following receipt by the breaching party of written notice of such breach by the non-breaching party;
    • any permanent order or decree preventing the consummation of the Proposed Transaction has become final and non-appealable;
    • the other party (or the board of directors or any committee of such party) withdraws or modifies in a manner adverse to the initial party its approval of the Definitive Agreement or its recommendation to shareholders to vote in favour of the resolutions necessary to the completion of the Proposed Transaction; or
    • the Proposed Transaction is not completed by April 30, 2020.

Trading Halt

Trading in the Torino Shares will remain halted until all the requirements of the CSE have been met and the resumption of trading is approved by the CSE.

For more information, please visit www.torinopower.com or contact Bryan Loree at 604-808-2225 or [email protected].

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Torino

“Rav Mlait”

CEO and Director
Torino Power Solutions Inc.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of KABN North America

“David Lucatch”

President and Director
KABN Systems North America Inc.

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

As noted above, completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions. The Proposed Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained in respect of the applicable matters. There can be no assurance that the Proposed Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or listing statement of the Company to be prepared in connection with the Proposed Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Proposed Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of Torino should be considered highly speculative.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities under the KABN Financing in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company’s beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company’s control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “will continue”, “will occur” or “will be achieved”. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to, information concerning the Proposed Transaction, expectations regarding whether the Proposed Transaction will be consummated, including whether conditions to the consummation of the Proposed Transaction will be satisfied, the timing for holding the special meeting of shareholders of the Company and the timing for completing the Proposed Transaction, expectations for the effects of the Proposed Transaction or the ability of the combined company to successfully achieve business objectives, and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, the Company is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, the Company has made certain assumptions. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: the ability to consummate the Proposed Transaction; the ability to obtain requisite regulatory and shareholder approvals and the satisfaction of other conditions to the consummation of the Proposed Transaction on the proposed terms and schedule; the potential impact of the announcement or consummation of the Proposed Transaction on relationships, including with regulatory bodies, employees, suppliers, customers and competitors; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; changes in applicable laws; compliance with extensive government regulation; and the diversion of management time on the Proposed Transaction. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward- looking information and statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for release publication, distribution or dissemination, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, in or into the United States.

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#Visa to acquire #crypto-serving fintech unicorn #Plaid for $5.3B SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital $IDK.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:54 AM on Tuesday, January 14th, 2020

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Visa to acquire crypto-serving fintech unicorn Plaid for $5.3B

by Yogita Khatri

  • Payments giant Visa is set to acquire Plaid, a crypto-serving fintech unicorn, for $5.3 billion.
  • Announced Monday, Visa said the acquisition would help it enter into new businesses and enhance its existing card business
  • The deal is expected to close in the next 3-6 months, pending regulatory approvals.

Plaid helps users to connect their bank accounts to apps, such as PayPal’s Venmo, to conveniently share their financial information. The startup also serves crypto firms, including Coinbase and Abra wallet.

Visa would pay $4.9 billion in cash and around $400 million of retention equity and deferred equity, according to a presentation deck. The payments giant is paying a significant premium over Plaid’s valuation which recently hit over $2.5 billion.

“The combination of Visa and Plaid will put us at the epicenter of the fintech world, expanding our total addressable market and accelerating our long-term revenue growth trajectory,” said Al Kelly, CEO and chairman of Visa.

The deal has the potential to help Visa add 80-100 basis points to its revenue growth by 2021, per the deck.

Both Visa and Mastercard invested an undisclosed sum in Plaid recently. Founded in 2012, the startup has raised over $350 million in venture capital funding to date.

Source: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/52914/visa-to-acquire-crypto-serving-fintech-unicorn-plaid-for-5-3b

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Posted in Blockchain stocks, Canadian Blockchain Stocks, ThreeD, ThreeD Capital | Comments Off on #Visa to acquire #crypto-serving fintech unicorn #Plaid for $5.3B SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital $IDK.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

12-Year Breakout in Mining Stocks Relative to Gold – SPONSOR: American Creek Resources $AMK.ca $TUD.ca $SII.ca $GTT.ca $AFF.ca $SEA.ca $SA $PVG.ca $AOT.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:40 PM on Monday, January 13th, 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.

Excerpts from Crescat Capitals November Newsletter:

Precious Metals

Precious metals are poised to benefit from what we consider to be the best macro set up we’ve seen in our careers. The stars are all aligning. We believe strongly that this time monetary policy will come at a cost. Look in the chart below at how the new wave of global money printing just initiated by the Fed in response to the Treasury market funding crisis is highly likely to pull depressed gold prices up with it.

The imbalance between historically depressed commodity prices relative to record overvalued US stocks remains at the core of our macro views. On the long side, we believe strongly commodities offer tremendous upside potential on many fronts. Precious metals remain our favorite. We view gold as the ultimate haven asset to likely outperform in an environment of either a downturn in the business cycle, rising global currency wars, implosion of fiat currencies backed by record indebted government, or even a full-blown inflationary set up. These scenarios are all possible. Our base case is that governments and central banks will keep their pedals to the metal to attempt to fend off credit implosion or to mop up after one has already occurred until inflation becomes a persistent problem.

The gold and silver mining industry is precisely where we see one of the greatest ways to express this investment thesis. These stocks have been in a severe bear market from 2011 to 2015 and have been formed a strong base over the last four years. They are offer and incredibly attractive deep-value opportunity and appear to be just starting to break out this year. We have done a deep dive in this sector and met with over 40 different management teams this year. Combining that work with our proprietary equity models, we are finding some of the greatest free-cash-flow growth and value opportunities in the market today unrivaled by any other industry. We have also found undervalued high-quality exploration assets that will make excellent buyout candidates.

We recently point out this 12-year breakout in mining stocks relative to gold now looks as solid as a rock. In our view, this is just the beginning of a major bull market for this entire industry. We encourage investors to consider our new Crescat Precious Metals SMA strategy which is performing extremely well this year.

Zero Discounting for Inflation Risk Today

With historic Federal debt relative to GDP and large deficits into the future as far as the eye can see, if the global financial markets cannot absorb the increase in Treasury debt, the Fed will be forced to monetize it even more. The problem is that the Fed’s panic money printing at this point in the economic cycle may hasten the unwinding of the imbalances it is so desperate to maintain because it has perversely fed the last-gasp melt up of speculation in already record over-valued and extended equity and corporate credit markets. It is reminiscent of when the Fed injected emergency cash into the repo market at the peak of the tech bubble at the end of 1999 to fend off a potential Y2K computer glitch that led to that market and business cycle top.
After 40 years of declining inflation expectations in the US, there is a major disconnect today between portfolio positioning, valuation, and economic reality. Too much of the investment world is long the “risk parity” trade to one degree or another, long stocks paired with leveraged long bonds, a strategy that has back-tested great over the last 40 years, but one that would be a disaster in a secular rising inflation environment.

With historic Federal debt relative to GDP and large deficits into the future as far as the eye can see, rising long-term inflation, and the hidden tax thereon, is the default, bi-partisan plan for the US government’s future funding regardless of who is in the White House and Congress after the 2020 elections. The market could start discounting this sooner rather than later.
The Fed’s excessive money printing may only reinforce the unraveling of financial asset imbalances today as it leads to rising inflation expectations and thereby a sell-off in today’s highly over-valued long duration assets including Treasury bonds and US equities, particularly insanely overvalued growth stocks. We believe we are in the vicinity of a major US stock market and business cycle peak.

Source:”Running Hot”

Courtesy of Crescat Capital: https://www.crescat.net/running-hot/

Thanks to

Kevin C. Smith, CFA
Chief Investment Officer

Tavi Costa
Portfolio Manager

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Posted in All Recent Posts, American Creek Resources Ltd. | Comments Off on 12-Year Breakout in Mining Stocks Relative to Gold – SPONSOR: American Creek Resources $AMK.ca $TUD.ca $SII.ca $GTT.ca $AFF.ca $SEA.ca $SA $PVG.ca $AOT.ca

Tartisan #Nickel $TN.ca – Battery markets charge up for 2020 $ROX.ca $FF.ca $EDG.ca $AGL.ca $ANZ.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:00 PM on Monday, January 13th, 2020

SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE)  Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information

Tc logo in black

Battery markets charge up for 2020

  • Our main area of focus is what we see as the critical minerals and metals in the battery supply chain – lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel
  • There are a lot more minerals and metals that are used in the EV supply chain, but we focus on those four because they’re going to experience the most considerable growth from the emergence of EVs over the coming years

by Canadian Mining Journal

Why we’re headed toward a ‘tipping point’ for EVs

According to the International Energy Agency, in 2018, the global stock of EV passenger cars surpassed 5 million, a rise of 63% over the previous year. Nearly half of those EVs – 45% – were in China.

The growth over the past decade has encouraged investment in battery minerals and metals – lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel. But interest in new projects has waned as prices have fallen – largely in response to a scale back of subsidies for EV’s in China and an oversupply of battery minerals.

To understand the disconnect between expected growth in the battery minerals markets and current prices, Canadian Mining Journal spoke with Andrew Miller, head of price assessments with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a consultancy and advisory firm that provides independent pricing and market data on battery minerals, in December.

Canadian Mining Journal: Which minerals and metals are considered EV minerals and metals – which ones does Benchmark track?

Andrew Miller: Our main area of focus is what we see as the critical minerals and metals in the battery supply chain – lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel. There are a lot more minerals and metals that are used in the EV supply chain, but we focus on those four because they’re going to experience the most considerable growth from the emergence of EVs over the coming years. They’re susceptible to volatility because of the huge growth that they’re facing and the rigid supply structure in each of those markets. As you’ve seen with lithium and cobalt over the last three to four years, you have an extremely volatile pricing situation. So those are the four that we see as really critical in this supply chain and areas that are really going to have to develop to support electrification.

CMJ: Can you give us a sense of how big and fast–growing the EV market is right now?

AM: To date, the market has been driven by adoption of batteries in heavy duty vehicles, e-buses for instance have seen considerable growth. But we’re only in the very early stages of what’s really going to drive the market over the coming decade, which is the adoption of electric vehicles for passenger applications. We’re seeing considerable growth, particularly in the Chinese market.

China’s been very dominant in the supply chain because of some of the incentives they had in place to promote electrification and we’re now entering what we think is going to be a tipping point for that electric vehicle industry outside of China, as Western OEMs are committing a huge amount of their future fleet to electrified models. Ultimately, what that’s going to mean is the rampup of these OEMs and their electrification plans is really going to drive the battery sector forward outside of China and Asia.

The lithium-ion battery market right now is producing around 200 GWh and we’re forecasting it will grow to around 1,800 GWh by 2028, so that gives you some idea of scale – almost 10X growth in terms of battery output in the coming decade.

CMJ: At The Northern Miner’s Progressive Mine Forum in the fall, you forecast that we could see a deficit in cobalt in 2020 and lithium and graphite by 2022. That’s obviously not far off. What are the key factors that could swing those forecasts either way?

AM: With some of the cutbacks in cobalt production, there’s definitely going to be a tighter cobalt market going into the new year. (Glencore recently announced that it’s closing its Mutunda mine, a large cobalt producer, for two years.) Around that 2021/2022 time horizon, we’re expecting others – lithium and graphite for instance – will also become tighter markets.

The big factor in terms of demand in the short term, as I mentioned, is what’s been happening in China. And although you’ll hear a lot said about what slowing Chinese growth actually means, in reality, China’s still growing at quite a healthy rate – double digit growth in terms of its EV production. So it’s not bad, it’s just not as much as in previous years. And the reason for that is they’re phasing out their subsidies, which is forcing some liquidity issues and some consolidation along the supply chain.

Chinese policy can swing things quite considerably one way or the other, but as I mentioned, we’re entering a market in the next two to three years where demand isn’t so China-focused. Although China will remain an important driver of growth, we’re also going to see significant growth in Europe and North America, and that diversity of demand is going to see this story accelerate in terms of consumption numbers.

You’re also seeing some very pro-electrification policies being put in place in Europe at the moment, which are expected to have a positive impact and could see things grow at a faster speed. China is due to bring their subsidies to an end by next year – I think that’s already built into a lot of people’s demand models, but if Chinese growth dries up in the short term that still has a meaningful impact on global demand.

So I think there’s more on the upside in terms of where that outlook could go wrong, particularly when you look at the market balance of these raw materials and you consider that we’re really in a period where to support the growth of 2022, money needs to be going into those markets now. And investment has dried up because of the negative price environment for all of these key materials – investment has actually dried up at a time when it’s incredibly important that new supply is brought into the market. So things have a chance of becoming more fragile rather than less fragile over the coming years.

CMJ: There seems to be a bit of a disconnect between, as you say, that negative price environment and the actual projected increases in demand in the relatively near future – what’s causing that disconnect?

AM: It’s a short-term effect. What we saw around 2015/2016, particularly in the cobalt and lithium markets with the rapid increase in pricing that occurred, was a wave of investment that was based on the market at that point and the more considerable growth that was expected in the future. That led to this sort of transition period that we’re in in the moment where there’s still double-digit demand growth across all of these markets from the battery sector, but because we’ve been able to introduce some new supply that’s accelerated above the rate of new demand, you have this imbalance that is driving a correction in pricing. The spike in pricing and the highs in pricing we saw several years ago weren’t sustainable, but equally now, pricing we’re seeing in areas like lithium are unsustainable to allow for new supply in the future.

So unfortunately, the correction that’s happened because of this new supply is only making the longer-term outlook that much more fragile.

CMJ: In addition to that difficult market, many battery minerals are specialty minerals that are finicky to produce in a quality and specification that battery manufacturers need. What do new producers have to do to be successful in this market?

AM: I think it’s really an issue of time. Even the most established producers in the market, to expand their production of these refined materials takes time, even if you have the investment and infrastructure in place. So whether you’re an existing producer or a development stage project, you’re going to need time because it’s not a commodity game – it’s not just taking it out of the ground and worrying about the logistics, it really is more an issue of refining that product, working with the end user to make something they can use.

On that note, I think any type of partnership with your customer or any way of working with them in order to understand their requirements is helpful. That can be quite difficult in itself because we’re still in this period where people are trying to figure out what is the most cost-effective type of anode and cathode material to use and how much energy density can we squeeze out of this material. But the closer the relationship with their end user the better the chance of success for new companies, particularly as they introduce new suppliers.

So I think it’s a combination of time, expertise, knowing your market and your product and then coupling that with a strong relationship with the people that will ultimately be using your product.

CMJ: What is the dominant type of chemistry or lithium-ion battery in the EV market right now?

AM: On the anode side, it’s a bit more clean cut – you’re either using natural or synthetic graphite, and more typically now a combination of the two materials to maximize the cost/energy performance requirements of the anode.

It’s a little more varied on the cathode side. What was driving the market around the mid-2000s was the rise of consumer electronics, which required LCO (lithium cobalt oxide) cathodes, which is a cobalt-intensive cathode. What you’re seeing for electric vehicles and what’s really going to drive the market going forward is the use of either NCM (nickel cobalt manganese) or NCA (nickel cobalt aluminum) cathode types. Tesla use NCA.

These are more nickel-intensive cathode chemistries that still do use cobalt but in a lower intensity than LCO. For more heavy duty vehicles, like buses and trucks, you have LFP – lithium iron phosphate, a cathode that’s really grown to a lot of people’s surprise this year and continues to grow. It’s a lower-cost type of cathode – you get less energy density from it, but for some of the larger vehicle applications, it’s a very stable, reliable chemistry.

CMJ: Are there any advances that are happening in the EV battery space that you’re watching that could affect the market?

AM: There are a lot of exciting things that are happening in the EV market that you have to keep tabs on, particularly on the technology side. We’re reaching a point with the electric vehicle market where it’s really about fine tuning the existing chemistries – that’s going to be the real development that you see rather than a major overhaul or anything that could disrupt the future projection. Because if you look at the time to commercializing any of these technologies, to overcome the consistency, quality, performance and safety issues – it takes a huge amount of time to tick all of those boxes and to bring something new in.

CMJ: You’ve outlined a big supply challenge that looks like perhaps it can’t be met – we can’t necessarily speed up permitting to get projects developed faster, even if prices rise dramatically in the near term. How do you see that being resolved?

AM: It’s a big concern for the industry and ultimately you’ll have to see a huge influx of investment going in in quite a short amount of time. These projects do take time and it’s not going to be something that resolves itself overnight. There’s the potential for some of these industries to become major bottlenecks to the expansion of the electric vehicle market. On that note, I do think that’s being realized at the moment and even though investment may not be coming into the sector from public markets, you are seeing more joint venture partnerships in companies downstream, getting involved with the raw material supplies to ensure that that supply availability is there, so I think that will continue.

One area that we still haven’t seen come to maturity is battery recycling – bringing some of these materials back out of the battery and being able to use them again. In the longer term, though, these issues will be resolved because, with the possible exception of cobalt, these aren’t scarce materials geologically, it’s just getting them out of the ground and refining them in the right way.

There are definitely going to be some real teething issues over the coming years because you need continued and sustained investment to support this new production and at the moment it’s just not being forthcoming at the speed that’s required. But the hopeful side of that is we saw in 2015 and 2016 how quickly the prospect of this major battery growth can attract investment into the sector. It didn’t provide everything that was needed, but when prices start going up again and when there’s a tighter market, parties can turn their attentions to this very quickly, particularly when you’re moving into the real growth that we’re expecting come the mid-2020s.

Source: http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/features/battery-markets-charge-up-for-2020/

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It has been a week of surprises since the last updates were posted. First, I had not expected Iran to retaliate following the murder of its top General by a US drone, but it did, despite the risks, as it was politically necessary to assuage the extreme anger of its population who demanded revenge. The next surprise was that Israel and the US did not use this retaliation as an excuse to bomb Iran back to the Stone Age, which is what they really want to do. As we know, the long-term goal of Israel and the US is to subjugate Iran, and they will not stop until they attain this goal, and so it goes on. It appears that there was a bit of theater involved in Iran’s retaliation, as it clandestinely signaled its intentions which allowed US forces to get out of harm’s way. Perhaps US forces did not then launch a blitzkrieg out of consideration for this courtesy.

Regardless of the muddled and unpredictable fundamental situation, which included the accidental downing of a passenger plane by Iranian defensive missile batteries, the charts allowed us to make a reasonably accurate prediction regarding what was likely to happen to the gold price. The call for a near-term top in the PM sector made on the site on Monday looked incorrect the following evening when gold suddenly surged about $35 on news of the retaliatory Iranian missile strike, but when it later became apparent that there were, strangely, no US troop casualties and no further action against Iran, gold and silver reversed dramatically and dropped quite hard as the tension then looked set to ease, at least over the short-term. Technically what happened is that gold pushed quite deep into heavy overhead resistance, becoming very overbought at a time when COTs were showing extreme readings, and was thus vulnerable to a sudden reversal. The action around this time illustrates an important point, which is that when gold rises due to sudden geopolitical developments, the gains tend not to stick – what really matters and is the big driver for gold at this time is the insane monetary expansion that is going on, which is being undertaken in a desperate attempt to postpone the systemic implosion that is baked in for as long as possible. As we have already observed in these updates in recent weeks, gold is already in a raging bullmarket against a wide variety of currencies, and it won’t be all that long before it’s in a raging bullmarket against the dollar too, as the Fed sets the stage for hyperinflation.

There are two big and compelling reasons for the US government to tank the dollar. One is that it makes US exporters more competitive, and the other is that it can use the mechanism of inflation to wipe clean its colossal debts, by paying them off in devalued coin, printing vast amounts of money to pay them off, in the process legally swindling the foolish creditors out of their dues. This is precisely what the Weimar Republic in Germany did in 1923 to eliminate the unfair reparations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, which were unfair also because Germany didn’t start the 1st World War – it was tricked into it by the allies, because the British Empire was scared of Germany’s rising industrial and military might and wanted to destroy it, 100 plus years of propaganda lies about Germany being responsible for the 1st World War notwithstanding.

We’ll look at the dollar a little later. First we will review gold’s charts, starting with the 10-year chart.

On the 10-year chart we see that gold is now a bullmarket, even against the dollar, and is currently challenging the heavy resistance arising from the 2011 – 2013 top area. The second attack on this resistance in the space of few months got further because of the Iran crisis, and if this cools any more short-term, it will probably lead to gold settling into a trading range before it mounts a more successful attack on this resistance. A point to note here is that while the resistance up to the 2011 highs in the $1800 area looks like a major obstacle, it’s not such a big deal as many think, given the rate at which the dollar is now being debased.


This week it’s worth also taking a quick look at a 3-year chart for added perspective. This chart shows us that since the bullmarket started in mid-Summer, we have seen 3 sharp runups punctuated by 2 bull Flags. While the 2nd of these Flags targets the $1800 area, we have to factor in that gold now has much more overhanging supply to contend with than on the 1st runup, and this, coupled with quite extreme COT readings, inclines to the view that this will need to be worked off. Hence the interpretation that it will probably need to consolidate for a while before it makes significant further progress, although it obviously won’t if the US starts a serious bombing campaign against Iran. The Fed’s increasingly manic money printing will eventually drive it higher, of course


On the 6-month chart we can see the interesting price action around the Iran crisis over the past week or so. A bearish “shooting star” appeared on the chart last Monday, which we took as a sign that gold was forming a short-term top, but then overnight on the 7th to the 8th it surged briefly above $1610 when Iran lobbed missiles at US bases in Iraq, which had many concluding, not unnaturally that this would trigger a major Israel – US bombing campaign. When it became apparent that there were no casualties from the Iranian attack and no US counter strike, tensions quickly cooled and gold lost ground fast the next day, putting in a big high-volume reversal candle, approximating to another “shooting star”. Normally such action is followed by a retreat at least for a while, and some stocks, like silver stock Coeur Mining (CDE), that we ditched a while ago, got clobbered. This is why gold is expected to settle down into a trading range for a while before mounting another attack on the resistance.


Another factor suggesting that gold will consolidate / react back for a while is the latest COT, which shows still very high Commercial short and Large Spec long positions…

Click on chart to popup a larger, clearer version.


What about Precious Metals stocks? The latest 10-year chart for GDX shows that we still have most everything to look forward to, for despite the rally from the middle of last year, it still hasn’t broken out of the giant complex Head-and-Shoulders bottom that has been formed since way back early in 2013. A breakout above the nearby resistance should lead to a rapid ascent to the next resistance level at the underside of a large top pattern, and thereafter it will have to work its way through continuing resistance up to its highs. The strength of the volume indicators in the recent past are a sign that it “means business”.


Now we turn our attention to the dollar, which is looking increasingly frail as we can see on the latest 6-year chart for the dollar index. It is rolling over beneath resistance and appears to be breaking down from the 16-month gentle uptrend shown. This is of course the main reason that gold, shown at the top of this chart, has been breaking higher again. If it fails to hold up here it could be targeting the lower boundary of the bullhorn pattern, which would involve a heavy drop from the current level that would “light a fire” under the Precious Metals, and many other commodities, notably copper.


A chart that really gives the game away and calls time on the dollar is the 6-year chart for dollar proxy UUP. As we can see, unlike the dollar index itself, this has risen up to the upper boundary of its giant bullhorn pattern and appears to be on the point of breaking down. Its Accumulation line has been very weak. This chart suggests that the dollar could be in for a very rough ride before long, which is hardly surprising considering the lengths to which the Federal Reserve is going to destroy it. While other countries and trading blocs, most notably the EU, are making a valiant attempt to destroy their own currencies, they will be hard put to keep up with the Fed.


And now, for the benefit of anyone who still doubts that gold is in a bullmarket, I have pleasure in presenting the following 6-year chart for gold against the Japanese Yen…


Still think gold might be in bearmarket? – no – didn’t think you would.

It’s always good to end on a positive note, and we’ll do so by looking at a stock with a supremely bullish setup, which we happened to buy right before it broke out about a week ago, and it may well have been our buying that triggered the breakout…


Although you can never be 100% sure of anything with these smaller issues, I am sure that you will agree with me that this chart is not suggestive of a sector that is going anywhere but up.

Conclusion: although last week’s reversal candle and the current rather extreme COT structure mean that gold may react back more near-term, the overall picture is strongly bullish, which is hardly surprising as the fiat money system is fast approaching its nemesis, with the line of least resistance leading to hyperinflation. Our general approach therefore is not to sell PM sector investments, except on a case by case basis where they become critically overbought, but instead buy or add to positions on dips.

https://www.clivemaund.com/gmu.php?art_id=68&date=2020-01-12

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