Agoracom Blog

Esports Entertainment Group $GMBL – #Hershey is gravitating toward opportunities in #Esports $TECHF $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $FDM.ca $TNA.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:41 PM on Thursday, June 27th, 2019
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GMBL: OTCQB

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Hershey is gravitating toward opportunities in esports

  • Twitch, the No.1 streaming site for gamers, touts 15 million unique daily visitors, and over 2.2 million creators who live stream their gameplay.
  • The global esports audience is projected to hit 600 million by 2023 — up from 281 million just three years ago, per Business Insider Intelligence estimates.
  • And revenue will rise with it: Global esports revenue is forecasted to reach $2.96billion by 2022, up from $869 million in 2018.

Mariel Soto Reyes

The Hershey Company is looking to reach non-traditional audiences through esports, per Digiday. Hershey has traditionally allocated the bulk of its media spend to traditional TV advertising, but it’s increasingly diversifying its media spend beyond traditional TV and into more digital spaces. The esports phenomenon has opened up a channel to reach hundreds of millions of eyeballs worldwide.

Business Insider Intelligence

Hershey is increasingly investing in esports as it looks to tap into audiences its traditional buys likely miss — in particular millennial and Gen Z males under age 25. Hershey decided to ramp up its commitment to the fast-growing space after seeing younger audiences flock to streaming sites like Twitch and YouTube to engage with gamers live-streaming their sessions.

Twitch, the No.1 streaming site for gamers, touts 15 million unique daily visitors, and over 2.2 million creators who live stream their gameplay. The global esports audience is projected to hit 600 million by 2023 — up from 281 million just three years ago, per Business Insider Intelligence estimates. And revenue will rise with it: Global esports revenue is forecasted to reach $2.96billion by 2022, up from $869 million in 2018.

There are three primary methods for brands to advertise in esports:

  • Event sponsorships. While brands can reach esports viewers by advertising on streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube, they can also reach millions of esports event attendees and viewers by sponsoring major live competitions. For instance, 200million viewers tuned into the League of Legends World Championship in 2018 — nearly double the number that watched the Super Bowl that year, which clocked in at about 98 million viewers. That same event sold 23,000 tickets in under four hours, with game owner Riot releasing an additional 3,000 to meet the overwhelming demand.
  • Direct advertising on sites like Twitch. Many brands have taken to running ads on alongside gaming content on the top video streaming platforms for live gameplay. For instance, Wendy’s designed an interactive ad-campaign which ran on Twitch, and Nike has even debuted new shoes on the site.
  • Influencer brand partnerships. Gaming influencers inspire intense trust and loyalty among their followings: If a gaming influencer recommends hardware, their fans are likely to purchase that gear, and if they recommend food or eat something while playing, their fans might also follow suit. In fact, Hershey’s first foray into esports was a partnership with top gamers “Ninja” ( 5 million Twitch followers), and “DrLupo” ( 3.4 million Twitch followers) to launch its Reese’s Pieces candy bar at gamer event TwitchCon (like Comic-Con, but for video games). Likewise, Axe partnered with “Cizzorz” — part of the popular FazeClan esports team — to run a promotional contest where fans could upload a live-action clip of themselves gaming to Instagram or Twitter and be entered to win a feature on the gamer’s channel and the opportunity to attend VidCon with him.

As the global esports market explodes, I expect opportunities for brand partnerships and advertisements to trace a similar path. And it’s likely that brands get increasingly creative with their attempts to win a piece of the space. Already, brands like Kellogg — which launched a new cereal dubbed “Lucio-Oh’s,” based on a popular Overwatchcharacter — are experimenting with their approaches to the gaming world.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/hershey-gravitates-to-esports-opportunities-2019-6

North Bud Farms Inc. $NBUD.ca – #Cannabis industry expects bump in sales for #Canada Day long weekend $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $TRST.ca $OGI.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:00 PM on Thursday, June 27th, 2019

SPONSOR: North Bud Farms Inc. (NBUD:CSE) Sustainable low cost, high quality cannabinoid production and procurement focusing on both bio-pharmaceutical development and Cannabinoid Infused Products. Learn More.

NBUD: CSE

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Cannabis industry expects bump in sales for Canada Day long weekend

  • Canada Day long weekend is no longer mostly the preserve of the liquor industry, say some of the country’s cannabis retailers.
  • More of the pie for that flag-waving party is being carved out by legal pot sellers as the first post-legalization national birthday approaches, says an online cannabis information resource.

By: Bill Kaufmann

The Canada Day long weekend is no longer mostly the preserve of the liquor industry, say some of the country’s cannabis retailers.

More of the pie for that flag-waving party is being carved out by legal pot sellers as the first post-legalization national birthday approaches, says an online cannabis information resource.

A survey commissioned by Leafly Canada suggests 25 per cent of Alberta adults plan to embark on a cannabis buzz this long weekend, among the highest in the country.

“That’s one in four compared to one in five (nationally),” said Jo Vos, managing director of Leafly Canada, which commissioned the poll of 1,513 people conducted last week by Maru/Blue.

That’s due largely to the proliferation of pot shops in Alberta that now number up to 136, leading the nation by a wide margin, she said.

“Alberta and Atlantic Canada are leading the country in plans to consume this weekend,” said Vos.

Among millennials surveyed — those aged 22 to 37 — a whopping 33 per cent said they plan to toke up or consume edibles on Canada’s 152nd anniversary weekend.

The latest Statistics Canada figures on cannabis consumption suggest 15 per cent of Canadians reported using pot in the past three months, with 19 per cent planning to consume it over the next three months.

“That was a similar percentage to what was reported before legalization,” states StatsCan.

Those numbers rise to 33 per cent among those aged 18 to 24.

Cannabis information clearing house Leafly is confident legalization is pushing cannabis use into the mainstream when weekends approach, said Vos.

“We believe consumption patterns will continue to shift and there’s a broader awareness of cannabis as an option,” she said, adding those follow the lines of booze consumption.

“We know there are behaviour patterns very similar to alcohol in the lead-up to weekends.”

There are even “very compelling” indications that cannabis could displace some alcohol use, added Vos.

It was illegal but now there’s a freedom,Mark Goliger

Some statistics on alcohol sales in Canada show they haven’t decreased since pot legalization, but some predict that might happen when cannabis-infused beverages come on the market at year’s end.

Vos acknowledged marketing the newly legalized product is a much tougher task than that facing the alcohol industry, whose wares can be promoted openly on a host of platforms, including newspaper ads and street signage.

Legalization has grown Canadian cannabis demand “but not exponentially,” said Mark Goliger, CEO of National Access Cannabis (NAC), which operates 15 stores in Alberta.

But he said the first summer long weekend following prohibition’s end will likely see a spike in people consuming pot, and those who do should feel no stigma.

“It was illegal but now there’s a freedom,” said Goliger.

“Long weekends are a time for people to relax and enjoy more of everything, whether it’s food, friends, drinks, cannabis and, hopefully, sunshine.”

NAC recently announced revenues of $40 million since legalization, through its NewLeaf Cannabis stores in Alberta and other outlets in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

“We’d love to have been further ahead but with the (now-ended) moratorium on new stores in Alberta, supply problems, with Ontario going to a lottery system for new stores and B.C. not going as fast as we’d like, it’s impacted things,” he said.

Cannabis retailers expect to sell plenty of the green stuff on the first Canada Day long weekend since legalization.Ryan Remiorz / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Source: https://calgarysun.com/cannabis/cannabis-business/cannabis-industry-eyes-long-weekend-sales-with-survey-claiming-25-usage-rate/wcm/2f66cd9e-628c-421c-bfec-e1d8da91fa9d

CLIENT FEATURE: ZEN Graphene Solutions Awarded $1,000,000 Grant for Graphene-Infused Concrete Applications Research $ZEN.ca $CVE.ca $DNI.ca $LLG.ca $FMS.ca $NGC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM at 1:11 PM on Thursday, June 27th, 2019
https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1429/44629_6275cec444a4a8f1_logo.jpg
  • Grant will accelerate ZEN’s graphene-enhanced concrete research and development project.
  • Potentially help the Company achieve its goal to provide innovative cement-based composite products to the Ontario market.
  • ZEN is currently developing a graphene-enhanced concrete additive in collaboration with the University of Toronto and University of British Columbia-Okanagan

About ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd.

ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. is an emerging graphene technology company with a focus on development of the unique Albany Graphite Project. This precursor graphene material provides the company with a competitive advantage in the potential graphene market as independent labs in Japan, UK, Israel, USA and Canada have demonstrated that ZEN’s Albany Graphite/Naturally PureTM easily converts (exfoliates) to graphene, using a variety of simple mechanical and chemical methods.

ZEN Graphene Solutions Hub on Agoracom

FULL DISCLOSURE: ZEN Graphene Solutions is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp

New Age Metals $NAM.ca Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment for the River Valley #PGM Project in Sudbury $WG.ca $XTM.ca $WM.ca $PDL.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:31 AM on Thursday, June 27th, 2019
New age large
  • Life of mine (LOM) of 14 years, with 6 million tonnes annually of potential process plant feed at an average grade of 0.88 g/t Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) and process recovery rate of 80%, resulting in an annual average payable Pd production of 119,000 ounces
  • Pre-Production capital requirements: $495 M
  • Undiscounted cash flow before income and mining taxes of $586M
  • Undiscounted cash flow after income and mining taxes of $384M

June 27th, 2019 – Rockport, Canada – New Age Metals Inc. (NAM) (TSX.V: NAM; OTCQB: NMTLF; FSE: P7J.F) Harry Barr, Chairman & CEO, stated; “We are pleased to update our shareholders and interested parties as to the results of the initial Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the company’s 100% owned River Valley PGM Project in Sudbury, Ontario Canada. The PEA has been developed by various independent consultants – P&E Mining Consultants Inc. (P&E) was responsible for the open pit mining, surface infrastructure, tailings facility, and project economics; DRA Americas Inc. (“DRA”) was responsible for all metallurgical test work and processing aspects of the Project; and WSP Canada Inc. (“WSP”) was responsible for the Mineral Resource Estimate. The PEA demonstrates positive economics for a large-scale mining open pit operation, with 14 years of Palladium and Platinum production.”

Go-Forward Plan: In order to enhance the Project, the PEA has outlined a phased work approach to completing a Pre-Feasibility study. This includes advanced metallurgical testing to improve / confirm process recoveries and more accurately estimate concentrate grades, geotechnical logging of drill core, with new geotechnical holes to create a 3D geomechanical block model and estimate pit wall angles, hydrogeological studies that will estimate water inflows to the open pits and generate a site water and management plan. The Pre-Feasibility study will update the Project study to a higher level of precision.

NAM plans to continue to improve the River Valley Project’s value proposition by drill testing geophysical anomalies found during the 2018 geophysics campaign, continuing the geophysical program throughout the 16 kilometres of the contact mineralization adding significant potential to find new deposits, drilling near the defined open pit shells to increase the mine life, drilling deeper to test the open-ended Deposit at depth, and re-assaying existing drill core for Rhodium in order that Rhodium may be added to the Project’s metal suite.

Technical Report: For readers to fully understand the information in this news release, they should read the PEA Technical Report in its entirety which the Company expects to file in accordance with NI 43-101 within 45 days from the date of this news release on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and it will also be available at that time on the New Age Metals website, including all qualifications, assumptions and exclusions that relate to the PEA. The Technical Report is intended to be read in its entirety, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context.

PEA Highlights (CDN$ unless otherwise noted):

  • – Life of mine (LOM) of 14 years, with 6 million tonnes annually of potential process plant feed at an average grade of 0.88 g/t Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) and process recovery rate of 80%, resulting in an annual average payable Pd production of 119,000 ounces
  • – Pre-Production capital requirements: $495 M
  • – Undiscounted cash flow before income and mining taxes of $586M
  • – Undiscounted cash flow after income and mining taxes of $384M
  • – Average unit operating cost of $19.50/tonne over the life-of-mine
  • – LOM average operating cash cost of $971 per ounce (US$709/oz) and all-in sustaining cash cost of $972 per ounce (US$709/oz) at a 1.37 CDN: USD exchange rate.
  • – A mining contractor will be engaged for the open pit mining
  • – Pre-tax NPV (5%): $262M, After-tax NPV (5%): $139 M
  • – Pre-tax IRR: 13%, After-tax IRR: 10%
  • – Assumed metal prices of US$1,200/oz Pd, US$1,050/oz Pt, US$1,350/oz Au, US$3.25/lb Cu, US$8.00/lb Ni, US$35/lb Co
  • – Using a + 20% Pd price sensitivity (to the base case of US$1,200/oz Pd) US$1,440 /oz Pd returns a pre-tax IRR of 19% and an after tax-IRR of 15%. Palladium price as of June 25, 2019 is US$1,510/oz Pd, which would return a pre-tax IRR of 21% and an after-tax IRR of 16%.
  • – River Valley process plant feed will be treated by a conventional sulphide flotation process plant to produce a single saleable PGM concentrate that will be transported to the Sudbury area for smelting/refining
  • – Potential for up to 325 jobs at the peak of production

PEA Summary

The PEA parameters are summarized in Table 1.

(*) Cautionary statement NI 43-101: The PEA was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). Readers are cautioned that the PEA is preliminary in nature. It includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. All currency is stated as CDN$ unless stated otherwise.

Table 1: PEA Summary Parameters

Assumptions
Palladium Price (Base case) US$/oz 1,200
Exchange Rate US$:CDN$ 1.37
Production Profile
Total Tonnes Processed 78,100,000
Process Plant Head Grade PdEq g/t 0.88
Mine Life (years) 14
Daily process plant throughput (tpd) 16,440
Palladium Process Plant Recovery 80%
Total Payable Palladium Equivalent Ounces 1,600,000
Average annual Palladium Production Ounces 119,000
Operating Costs
Unit Operating Costs (per tonne processed) 19.50
Mining Costs 10.20
Processing Costs 8.44
G&A 0.90
LOM Average Cash Cost US$/oz 709
Capital Requirements
Pre-Production Capital Cost $495.1 M
Sustaining Capital Cost (Life of Mine) Including Salvage $1.0 M
Project Economics
Royalties 3% (Buy down to 1.5% with $1,500,000 payment)
Royalty Payable After $1.5M Payment $39.7 M
Taxes $202.3 M
Pre-Tax
NPV (5% Discount Rate) $262 M
IRR 13%
Payback (years) 6.6
Cumulative Undiscounted Cash Flows $586 M
After-Tax
NPV (5% Discount Rate) $139 M
IRR 10%
Payback (years) 7.0
Cumulative Undiscounted Cash Flows $384 M

Operating Cost

Table 2: Operating Cost Summary.

OPERATING COST   LOM ($/t)
Mining Cost $/t material 2.28
Mining Cost $/t feed 10.20
Processing Cost $/t feed 8.44
G&A $/t feed 0.90
Unit Operating $/t feed 19.50

Capital Cost

Table 3: Capital Cost Summary

Development Capital Initial (Y-2, Y-1) ($ M) Sustaining ($’ M) Total LOM ($’ M)
Mine Pre-Stripping 17.3   17.3
Process Plant Incl. Indirects 401.3   401.3
TMF 8.0   8.0
Mine Site Infrastructure 10.0   10.0
Office, Warehouse, Shops 10.0   10.0
Owner Cost 5.0   5.0
10% Contingency 43.4   43.4
Initial Project Capital 495.1   495.1
Sustaining Capital    
Closure Bond   26.0 26.0
Salvage Value   -25.0 -25.0
Total Sustaining Capital   1.0 1.0
Total Capital 495.1 1.0 496.1

Project Economics and Sensitivities

The economic results of the PEA are summarized in Table 4 on an after-tax basis. The sensitivities and the impact of cash flows have been calculated for +/- 20% variations against the base case.

Table 4: Project Economics Sensitivity.

Project Sensitivity Analysis         
Pd Price Sensitivity          
% -20% -15% -10% -5% Base Case +5% +10% +15% +20% Spot
US$/oz 960 1,020 1,080 1,140 1,200 1,260 1,320 1,380 1,440 1,510
NPV (CDN$ M) -23 16 59 98 139 179 220 260 300 347
IRR (%) 4 6 7 8 10 11 12 13 15 16
OPEX Sensitivity          
% -20% -15% -10% -5% Base Case +5% +10% +15% +20%  
Cost Per Tonne 16 17 18 18 19 20 21 22 23  
NPV (CDN$ M) 212 194 175 157 139 120 102 83 68  
IRR (%) 14 12 11 10 10 9 8 7 7  
CAPEX Sensitivity          
% -20% -15% -10% -5% Base Case +5% +10% +15% +20%  
CAPEX (CDN$ M) 397 422 446 471 496 521 546 570 595  
NPV (CDN$ M) 284 248 212 175 139 102 64 28 -6  
IRR (%) 14 13 12 11 10 8 7 6 5  

River Valley Project Site Plan

See the image below that shows a site plan from the River Valley PEA. The map shows all of the 14 open pits that have been used in the engineering design of the Project as well as the proposed process plant site, low-grade stockpile, waste rock storage facilities, tailings storage facility and site infrastructure.


Click Image To View Full Size

Mineral Resource

The pit constrained Mineral Resource Estimate which formed the basis of the PEA, is set out in Table 5 and was prepared by WSP under the supervision of Todd McCracken, P. Geo., an “Independent Qualified Person”, as defined in NI 43-101. The effective date of this Mineral Resource Estimate is January 9, 2019. The Mineral Resource database contains 710 boreholes with 106,554 assays records in the database, and 2,642 surface channel samplings. The Mineral Resource Estimate update was completed on the Dana North, Dana South, Pine, Banshee, Lismer, Lismer Extension, Varley, Azen, Razor, and River Valley Extension Zones, using the ordinary kriging (OK) methodology on a capped and composited borehole dataset consistent with industry standards. Validation of the results was conducted thought the use of visual inspection, swath plots and global statistical comparison of the model against inverse distance squared (ID2) and nearest neighbour (NN) models.

Table 5: Pit Constrained Mineral Resource Estimate for River Valley PGM Project – Effective January 9, 2019.


Click Image To View Full Size

Class PGM + Au (oz) PdEq (oz) PtEq (oz)
Measured 1,394,000 1,701,000 1,701,000
Indicated 983,000 1,166,000 1,166,000
Meas +Ind 2,377,000 2,867,000 2,867,000
Inferred 841,000 1,059,000 1,059,000

Notes:

  1. 1.CIM definition standards were followed for the Mineral Resource Estimate.
  2. 2.The 2018 Mineral Resource models used Ordinary Kriging grade estimation within a three-dimensional block model with mineralized zones defined by wireframed solids.
  3. 3.A base cut-off grade of 0.35 g/t PdEq was used for reporting Mineral Resources in a constrained pit and 2.00 g/t PdEq was used for reporting the Mineral Resources under the pit.
  4. 4.Palladium Equivalent (PdEq) calculated using (US$): $950/oz Pd, $950/oz Pt, $1,275/oz Au, $1,500/oz Rh, $2.75/lb Cu, $5.25/lb Ni, $36/lb Co.
  5. 5.Numbers may not add exactly due to rounding.
  6. 6.Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have economic viability

7. The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration.

Mining and Processing

The PEA is preliminary in nature, and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the Preliminary Economic Assessment will be realized.

The River Valley Project is expected to be mined by a contractor. Initial mining will occur at the northwest end of the Deposit, close to the proposed process plant site. A series of 14 open pits will be mined, and will progress in a southeasterly direction. Pit numbers 1 to 4 contain the bulk of the mineralized process plant feed.

Annual process plant feed of up to 6 Mtpy (0.5 Mtpm) is planned, at an average strip ratio of 3.6:1 over the life-of-mine. It is anticipated that a fleet of 221 t haul trucks, 29 m3 excavators and 254 mm diameter hole rotary drills will be utilized, following industry standard conventional open pit mining techniques.

The process plant is designed to produce a single saleable PGM concentrate using conventional sulphide flotation techniques. The concentrate will be trucked to a smelter/refinery in the Sudbury area.

The Run-Of-Mine (ROM) feed from the mine will be crushed in a single primary jaw crushing stage prior to the grinding circuit. The crusher discharge will be conveyed to a live stockpile, which will provide an operating buffer between the crushing and grinding circuits.

The grinding circuit will consist of a SAG mill in closed circuit with a pebble crusher and two ball mills in parallel.

The process plant design considers three stages of cleaner flotation and is designed to process 21,920 tpd (6.0 Mtpy) of ROM feed.

The flotation circuit configuration and design are based on the locked cycle tests conducted by SGS Canada in 2013.

Concentrate and tailings products will be dewatered using high-rate thickeners and the concentrate will be further dewatered by conventional plate and frame vacuum filtration.

Process water will be recovered from the concentrate and tailings thickener overflow. Raw water is assumed to be sourced from the local environment and will be used as makeup water. It is assumed that 10% of the raw water requirement will be recycled from the tailings pond.

Conventional tailings deposition techniques will be utilized.

A 230 kV transmission line is located passing through the village of Warren, approximately 22 km from the Project. A 115 kV transmission line passes through the village of Field, located approximately 15 km to the east of the Project. It is assumed that electrical power will be provided by the local utility via either of these overland power lines. Diesel generators will be used to supply emergency power.

Project Enhancement Opportunities

The PEA demonstrates that River Valley has the potential to be economically viable. The PEA also outlines several opportunities to enhance Project value. Additional opportunities include:

Area of Focus Opportunities to Explore Management Target
Geotechnical study – Geotechnical logging of drill core, with new geotechnical holes to create a 3D geomechanical block model and estimate pit wall slope angles – Estimate pit wall slopes
Hydrogeological study – Estimate water in-flows to the open pits and generate a site water management plan – Site water management plan
Increase the Project Mineral Resource base – Additional drilling in the footwall to expand the Mineral Resource. After the ground proofing and surface exploration program conducted in Summer 2018 which followed up on the most recent induced polarization geophysical survey by Abitibi, NAM management has designed a 3-phase 5,000 metre drill program to test the new geophysical anomalies. See the map figure below which shows these new geophysical anomalies and potential targets for the next stage of drilling at River Valley superimposed over the upper 4 kilometres of the project map.
Click Image To View Full Size – Drilling near the defined open pit shells to increase the mine life. – Drilling deeper to test the open-ended deposit at depth. Average drill hole depth is 220 metres below surface.
– Increase tonnes, grade and mine life of Project – Continue to drill recent footwall discoveries – Add additional Mineral Resources to the Project.
Mineral Resource – In-fill drilling to convert Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated Mineral Resources – Improve Mineral Resource classification
Mineral Resource – Step-out drilling to increase the Mineral Resource Estimate – Increase the size of the Mineral Resource Estimate
Metallurgical testing – Advanced metallurgical testing to confirm or potentially improve process recoveries and more accurately estimate concentrate grades produced – Achieve a process recovery equal or greater than 80%.
Geophysical surveys – Continue with induced polarization geophysical surveys over the 12.5 kilometres of the contact / footwall that has not been surveyed in the 2017 and 2018 programs conducted on the Project. This work can be carried out in phases as funding is available or until the contact / footwall is covered, see the map figure below that shows a proposed scenario for how to phase the work.
Click Image To View Full Size
– Outline new targets highlighting new potential footwall discoveries over the entire Project
Advanced sampling for Rhodium – Re-assaying existing core for Rhodium. Rhodium has been identified, however, insufficient assaying in the past has not allowed for Rhodium’s inclusion in the Mineral Resource Estimate. – Quantify the amount of Rhodium in the Project and add this to the existing Mineral Resource Estimate
Pre-Feasibility study – Updated Mineral Resource Estimate, optimize the mine plan, process plant design, and Project economics. Address environmental aspects. – Update the Project study to a higher level of precision

Qualified Persons and NI 43-101 Disclosure

The PEA was prepared under the supervision of Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. The Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared by Todd McCracken, P.Geo. of WSP Canada Inc. Metallurgical testwork and process plant design and cost estimates were prepared by Jim Kambossos, P. Eng. of DRA Americas Inc. All three are independent Qualified Persons in accordance with NI 43-101. Mr. Puritch has reviewed and approved the technical information in this release. Michael Neumann, P.Eng. Managing Director for NAM is the company Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Harry Barr”

Harry G. Barr, Chairman and CEO

For further information on New Age Metals, please contact Harry Barr and/or Anthony Ghitter, Business Development at 613-659-2773, or [email protected]

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

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

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Posted by AGORACOM at 10:46 AM on Thursday, June 27th, 2019

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Marijuana Company of America’s $MCOA #hempSMART™ Brand Continues European Expansion with Netherlands Launch $AERO $CBDS $CGRW $APH.ca $GBLX $ACG $ACB $WEED.ca $HIP.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:30 AM on Thursday, June 27th, 2019
15233 mcoa
  • Continued the expansion of its wholly owned subsidiary, hempSMART, Ltd., into Europe, with its latest launch in the Netherlands.
  • As a result of the positive feedback received during its United Kingdom launch in March, the Company made a strategic decision to offer its hempSMART™ CBD product line and expand its European footprint further by holding an event on June 15, 2019, in the Netherlands.

ESCONDIDO, Calif., June 27, 2019 — via NetworkWire – MARIJUANA COMPANY OF AMERICA, INC. (“MCOA” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: MCOA), an innovative hemp and cannabis corporation, has continued the expansion of its wholly owned subsidiary, hempSMART, Ltd., into Europe, with its latest launch in the Netherlands.

As a result of the positive feedback received during its United Kingdom launch in March, the Company made a strategic decision to offer its hempSMART™ CBD product line and expand its European footprint further by holding an event on June 15, 2019, in the Netherlands.

“The Netherlands launch was a complete success, with people traveling from other parts of Europe to witness the excitement around our hempSMART™ CBD product line,” said Mr. Ian Harvey, Global Sales Director of hempSMART, Ltd. “The event featured our CEO, Don Steinberg, unveiling our wellness products via video link and educating people about the benefits of our prime quality botanical ingredients. Our products sold out at the end of the event, and we engaged new marketing associates for hempSMART™ as evangelists to the brand that will help spread our vision.”

“Our high-quality CBD products combined with our compilation of highly knowledgeable hempSMART™ team members have effectively increased the Company’s footprint into the compelling European market,” said Mr. Steinberg.

The Brightfield Group, a predictive market intelligence firm focused on the legal CBD and cannabis industries, opined on March 26, 2019, that the European CBD market was estimated at $318 million in 2018 and is expected to grow over 400 percent by 2023. Brightfield’s assessment was based on its opinion that CBD is just starting to take hold in Europe, and presents a great opportunity for developed brands to enter and expand into.

About Marijuana Company of America, Inc.
MCOA is a corporation that participates in (1) product research and development of legal hemp-based consumer products under the brand name hempSMART™, which targets general health and well-being; (2) an affiliate marketing program to promote and sell its legal hemp-based consumer products containing CBD; (3) leasing of real property to separate business entities engaged in the growth and sale of cannabis in those states and jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized and properly regulated for medicinal and recreational use; and (4) the expansion of its business into ancillary areas of the legalized cannabis and hemp industry as the legalized markets and opportunities in this segment mature and develop.

About Our hempSMART Products Containing CBD
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized CBD as a safe and effective drug for any indication. Our products containing CBD derived from industrial hemp are not marketed or sold based upon claims that their use is safe and effective treatment for any medical condition as drugs or dietary supplements subject to the FDA’s jurisdiction.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” that are not purely historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of new business opportunities, and words such as “anticipate,” “seek,” intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “plan” or similar phrases may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition and the Company’s reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.sec.gov.

Contact:
[email protected]
888-777-4362

Corporate Communications Contact: 
NetworkNewsWire (NNW)
New York, New York
www.NetworkNewsWire.com
212.418.1217 Office 
[email protected]

For more information, please visit the Company’s websites at:
MarijuanaCompanyofAmerica.com
hempSMART.com

INTERVIEW: Advance Gold $AAX.ca 3D Model Shows Large Cluster Of Mineralized Veins

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 6:02 PM on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019

BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca – #Edtech firm #Unacademy raises $50 mn in Series D from Steadview, others $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:21 AM on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019
SPONSOR:  Betteru Education Corp. Connecting global leading educators to the mass population of India. BetterU Education has ability to reach 100 MILLION potential learners each week. Click here for more information.
BTRU: TSX-V

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Edtech firm Unacademy raises $50 mn in Series D from Steadview, others

The online education firm said it is seeing unprecedented growth and engagement from learners in smaller towns and cities

  • Raised $50 million Series D funding round from Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures.

Peerzada Abrar 

Unacademy, an online learning platform, has raised $50 million Series D funding round from Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Nexus Venture Partners and Blume Ventures. Aakrit Vaish, co-founder of tech firm Haptik and Sujeet Kumar, co-founder of business-to-business online marketplace Udaan also participated in the round, along with Unacademy founders, Gaurav Munjal and Roman Saini.

“By leveraging technology and high-quality educators, we aim to move closer to our mission of democratising education at all levels, starting with test prep,” said Gaurav Munjal, co-founder and chief executive of Unacademy. “We are seeing unprecedented growth and engagement from learners in smaller towns and cities, and are also very humbled to see that top-quality educators are choosing Unacademy as their primary platform to reach out to students.”

The company now has more than 400 top educators from across the country taking live classes every day on Unacademy Plus. This is available to every student, irrespective of their location said the company.

Unacademy recently launched its Plus Subscription, and since its launch, more than 50,000 learners have subscribed to Unacademy Plus. The firm said this service is available for more than 20 exam categories and provides students unlimited access to live courses by top educators across the country. Learners get a personalised live learning experience that is augmented by doubt-clearing sessions with the educators, interactive classes and live test series. More than 600 live classes are conducted every day by the educators on Plus who teach from all across the country.

“Unacademy is a very meaningful ed-tech company in the making and Sequoia India is excited to invest significantly in this round,” said Shailendra Singh, managing director, Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore. “We were thrilled with how rapidly Gaurav (Munjal) and the team converted some of our collective product brainstorming sessions into an amazing live-streaming product and a subscription business for the test prep market,” said Singh.

Unacademy was founded by Gaurav Munjal, Roman Saini and Hemesh Singh in 2015. The firm said the platform empowers educators by making it easy for them to create high-quality educational lessons on the Educator App, that learners access via the Learning App. The platform currently has more than 10,000 registered educators and 13 million learners. The company had previously raised a Series C round of $21 million in July 2018 from Sequoia India, SAIF Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, and others. In October 2018, Unacademy acquired Jaipur-based online education and career portal Wifistudy, one of the fastest growing education YouTube channels in the world.

The company said it has the largest distribution for educational videos on its free platform and YouTube and Unacademy lessons have more than 100 million monthly views across these platforms. Unacademy’s YouTube channels currently have more than 11 million subscribers, according to the company.

The global online education market is projected to reach a total market size of $286.62 billion by 2023, increasing from $159.52 billion in 2017, according to the report titled ‘Global Online Education Market.’

In March this year, another edtech company Byju’s raised an additional funding of $31 million in a financing round led by US-based growth equity investor General Atlantic (GA), along with Chinese internet giant Tencent. The investment took the valuation of Byju’s to over $5 billion, from $3.6 billion when it raised $540 million in a funding round led by South African conglomerate Naspers in December last year.

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/edtech-firm-unacademy-raises-50-mn-in-series-d-from-steadview-others-119062601035_1.html

ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – The radical idea hiding inside #Facebook $FB digital currency #Libra proposal $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:27 AM on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019

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.

Idk large

The radical idea hiding inside Facebook’s digital currency proposal

  • A major goal of the Libra Association, the nonprofit Facebook has created to manage the project’s development, is to use Libra to revolutionize the concept of digital identity.
  • Relevant passage lives near the bottom of a document meant to explain the role of the Libra Association:
  • “An additional goal of the association is to develop and promote an open identity standard.

by Mike Orcutt

Last week, after months of hype and speculation, Facebook finally revealed its plan to launch a blockchain system, called Libra. Since the launch, most of the attention has focused on Libra coin, the cryptocurrency that will run on the new blockchain.

But tucked away in one of the documents Facebook published is something that may turn out to be just as important as the coin—if not more so. A major goal of the Libra Association, the nonprofit Facebook has created to manage the project’s development, is to use Libra to revolutionize the concept of digital identity.

The relevant passage lives near the bottom of a document meant to explain the role of the Libra Association: “An additional goal of the association is to develop and promote an open identity standard. We believe that decentralized and portable digital identity is a prerequisite to financial inclusion and competition.”

But what is a “decentralized and portable digital identity”? In theory, it provides a way to avoid having to trust a single, centralized authority to verify and take care of our identifying credentials. For internet users, it would mean that instead of relying on Facebook or Google’s own log-in tool to provide our credentials to other websites, we could own and control them ourselves. In theory, this could better protect that information from hackers and identity thieves, since it wouldn’t live on company servers.

The concept (sometimes called “self-sovereign identity”) is something of a holy grail in the world of internet technology, and developers have been pursuing it for years. Big companies including Microsoft and IBM have been working on decentralized identity applications for a while now, and so have a number of startups.

But it’s more than just an internet thing. For the roughly one billion people around the world without any kind of identifying credentials at all, such technology could make it possible to access financial services that they cannot today, starting with things like bank accounts and loans.

Helping some of those people must be part of what Facebook meant when it said in the Libra white paper that the new system is intended to “serve as an efficient medium of exchange for billions of people around the world” and “improve access to financial services.” In some cases the currency itself might be able to do that, but in others it’s likely that users will need some form of identification to access a particular service. That’s probably why Libra’s developers call an open, portable identity standard a “prerequisite to financial inclusion.”

But such a digital identity could go beyond finance, too. Sharing many kinds of sensitive data using a blockchain—for instance, health information—might require some form of automated ID check. 

Facebook itself already has experience with digital identities. Facebook Connect lets users log in to third party sites using their Facebook-verified credentials (you might be using it to access technologyreview.com right now). But Facebook Connect is risky because it relies on a central authority, argues Christopher Allen, cochair of the credentials community group of the World Wide Web Consortium, the most important international standards body for the web. Trusting one entity with this responsibility is dangerous because the site could go down or the business could fail. And Facebook can revoke accounts at will.

But it’s hard to say how decentralized Libra’s new identity system would be, because Facebook hasn’t revealed anything about what it’s planning.

For example, there’s the possibility that the digital identity will only work inside the Libra network, which requires permission to participate in. Unlike systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum, for which anyone with the right hardware and an internet connection can join and help validate transactions, Libra requires its validators to be identified and approved. Nearly 30 companies have already signed up to run network “nodes,” and Libra’s developers want to up that to 100 by the time the platform is supposed to launch for real next year.

Facebook’s main message with the launch of Libra and the Libra Association appears to be a response to past criticisms of how it handled personal data. The company appears to be saying “Hey, look, we’re trying to be more open. We don’t want to be this honey pot of everyone’s information,” says Wayne Vaughan, co-founder of the Decentralized Identity Foundation, a consortium of companies all working on aspects of blockchain-based identity. But if whatever identity standard they might come up with only works for 100 companies, says Vaughan, “that’s not decentralized”—it’s just a standard for 100 companies. Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.

Either way, it’s not clear how Facebook and the Libra Association would overcome some big technical challenges that have held back blockchain-based identity systems. For one, blockchains are still hard to use for many people. A problem that is particularly difficult for identity applications is that if you lose or forget your private keys, which aren’t easy to manage in the first place, it’s hard to restore them, says Allen.

Another technical challenge pertains to privacy. How will the personal identification data be kept separate from financial transactions? This piece is particularly concerning for privacy advocates in the context of Libra, given Facebook’s less-than-stellar track record. And an aversion to financial surveillance fuels much of the cryptocurrency movement.

“Where you spend your money and who you spend it with and how much you spend is some of the most private information for people,” says Vaughan.

On the whole, says Allen, though the technology of decentralized identity has advanced to the point of several serious pilot tests, it’s “not anywhere near ready” for adoption by billions of people around the world. And given what the company has revealed so far, “I don’t see how Facebook can do it,” he says.

Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613877/how-facebooks-new-blockchain-might-revolutionize-our-digital-identities/

Marijuana Company of America $MCOA Announces Successful Launch of hempSMART™ CBD Product Sales in Scotland $AERO $CBDS $CGRW $APH.ca $GBLX $ACG $ACB $WEED.ca $HIP.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:46 AM on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019
15233 mcoa
  • Announced that the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, hempSMART, Ltd., has successfully launched and generated sales from its hempSMART™ CBD product line in Scotland.
  • On June 22, 2019, the hempSMART UK team successfully sold out at its launch event, which led to the sign-up of numerous new marketing associates.

ESCONDIDO, Calif., June 26, 2019 – - MARIJUANA COMPANY OF AMERICA INC. (“MCOA” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: MCOA), an innovative hemp and cannabis corporation, is pleased to announce that the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, hempSMART, Ltd., has successfully launched and generated sales from its hempSMART™ CBD product line in Scotland.

On June 22, 2019, the hempSMART UK team successfully sold out at its launch event, which led to the sign-up of numerous new marketing associates. The Company’s launch event included an in-depth overview on the education of the CBD industry and its hempSMART products, as well as its marketing and compensation plans.

“We are delighted to report another milestone with the opening of hempSMART and our expansion into Scotland,” said Mr. Ian Harvey, Global Sales Director of hempSMART, Ltd. “There is a real demand for high-quality CBD products throughout Europe, and the success demonstrated from our sales in Scotland has confirmed this. After Saturday’s event, Scotland is an ideal location for the hempSMART brand, with future events and opportunity presentations already in place. I personally didn’t expect to ever be a part of a new company that could generate so much success and excitement in such a short period of time.”

“We are excited to finally offer our premium line of CBD products to the country of Scotland,” said Mr. Don Steinberg, CEO of MCOA. “It has always been MCOA’s goal to open sales of its hempSMART products in multiple countries around the world. Our Company anticipates additional expansions of our footprint into other EU countries moving into the second half of 2019.”

About Marijuana Company of America, Inc.
MCOA is a corporation that participates in (1) product research and development of legal hemp-based consumer products under the brand name “hempSMART™â€ and targets general health and well-being; (2) an affiliate marketing program to promote and sell its legal hemp-based consumer products containing CBD; (3) leasing of real property to separate business entities engaged in the growth and sale of cannabis in those states and jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized and properly regulated for medicinal and recreational use; and (4) the expansion of its business into ancillary areas of the legalized cannabis and hemp industry, as the legalized markets and opportunities in this segment mature and develop.

About Our hempSMART Products Containing CBD
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized CBD as a safe and effective drug for any indication. Our products containing CBD derived from industrial hemp are not marketed or sold based upon claims that their use is safe and effective treatment for any medical condition as drugs or dietary supplements subject to the FDA’s jurisdiction.

Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” that are not purely historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of new business opportunities and words such as “anticipate,” “seek,” intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “plan” or similar phrases that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company’s reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-12G, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.sec.gov.

Contact:
[email protected]
888-777-4362
Corporate Communications Contact: 
NetworkWire (NW)
New York, New York
www.NetworkNewsWire.com 
212.418.1217 Office 
[email protected] 

For more information, please visit the Company’s websites at:

MarijuanaCompanyofAmerica.com
hempSMART.com
NetworkNewsWire/MCOA