Publisher’s Note: As of September 13, 2017, our resource

market investment publication, Resource Stock Digest Premium,

changed its name to Junior Mining Monthly.

This report was produced before the name change.

Everything else is the same: same editor (Gerardo Del Real),

same analysis, same style investments, and same sector.

To your wealth,

Nick Hodge

Publisher, Junior Mining Monthly

March 2017

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In This Issue

• Central Bank Chess?

• Interview: The Best Man in Coins and Collectibles

• The Critical Metals Race Heats Up

• New Recommendation: Mariana Resources

• Portfolio News

• Closing Thoughts

Central Bank Chess?On March 15, 2017, the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage point, the third such hike since the financial crisis.

“The simple message is the economy is doing well,” Yellen said in a press conference. “We have confidence in the robustness of the economy and its resilience to shocks.”

The hike produced a somewhat counterintuitive reaction. The Dow rose 120 points, and gold, silver, and oil all rallied.

The dollar took a hit, and as of Monday morning, the dollar index had broken below the important 100 level.

In the short term, the rally is understandable, but in the long term it’s not sustainable.

Low interest rates have helped government but have put a major strain on pensions.

Higher rates will help pensions but will set off a budget crisis. Either way central banks around the world are headed towards a day where very difficult decisions will have to be made...

The kinds of decisions where each central bank desperately tries to prop up its own interests.

Since the decision to hike here in the U.S., rate announcements have followed from the People’s Bank of China, the Bank of Japan, the Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of England.

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Capital flight is already a major issue in China. The most recent attempt to crack down on Bitcoin and the decision to boost its interbank rate is an attempt to keep up with U.S. rates in hopes that capital flight is contained.

The Chinese leadership recently outlined its top economic priority: dealing with financial risks, including soaring corporate debt and an out-of-balance housing market.

The result has been short-term borrowing costs moving higher. Last week the closely watched three-month interest rates at which banks lend to each other reached levels not seen in nearly two years, making it more expensive for small banks to borrow.

This balancing act has thus far been aided by discord among and within both major political parties here in the U.S., discord that has many doubting how much of President Trump’s economic policy will actually be enacted.

The Bank of Japan left its policy unchanged. It favors a weaker yen. The Swiss and English central banks also left policy unchanged.

The U.K., meanwhile, is very proactive about stimulating exports and therefore also has less of an incentive to maintain a strong currency.

With the exception of China, the trend appears to be that most central banks will either maintain current policy or move towards weakening the currency.

Which brings us to what I believe is the most important catalyst for a much stronger dollar: Europe.

The European Central Bank (ECB) recently hinted at scaling back its stimulus. This has contributed to a higher euro.

The ECB is scheduled to cut the pace of its bond purchases, which it has used to try (and failed) to stimulate economic growth by a quarter to 60 billion euros a month from April.

Reuters published a report warning that the European banking sector may face even higher bad loan risks if the ECB begins to scale back its monetary stimulus programs, something it has already begun.

Wolfstreet.com recently reported that the total stock of non-performing loans (NPL) in the EU is estimated at over €1 trillion, or 5.4% of total loans, a ratio three times higher than in other major regions of the world.

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Currently 10 (out of 28) EU countries have an NPL ratio above 10%. Among the Eurozone countries where the ECB’s policies have an immediate effect, the NPL ratios are particularly concerning.

Ireland has an NPL ratio of 15.8%, Italy 16.6%, Portugal 19.2%, Slovenia 19.7%, Greece 46.6%, and Cyprus 49%.

Be honest: when I started with Ireland at 15.8%, you probably thought I was starting with the worst of the bunch, right?

Italy’s €350 billion accounts for approximately one-third of Europe’s entire bad debt.

Here’s how Wolfstreet.com explains one potential solution:

In February ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio called for the creation of a whole new class of government-backed “bad banks” to help buy some of the €1 trillion of bad loans putrefying on bank balance sheets. Constancio’s idea bore a striking resemblance to a formal proposal put forward by the European Banking Authority (EBA) for the creation of a massive EU-wide bad bank that, in the words of EBA president Andrea Enria, would “make it much easier to achieve critical mass and to create a well functioning market for (impaired) assets.”

Here’s how it would work, according to Enria (emphasis added):

The banks would sell their non-performing loans to the asset management company at a price reflecting the real economic value of the loans, which is likely to be below the book value, but above the market price currently prevailing in illiquid markets. So the banks will likely have to take additional losses.

The asset manager would then have three years to sell those assets to private investors. There would be a guarantee from the member state of each bank transferring assets to the asset management company, underpinned by warrants on each bank’s equity. This would protect the asset management company from future losses if the final sale price is below the initial transfer price.

One of the biggest advantages of launching an EU-wide bad bank is that it would avoid the sort of public “resistance” that would occur if it was done at a national level, says Enria. Italian lenders would presumably be able to continuing pricing bad loans at or around 40 cents on the euro on average, even though their real value — i.e. the current value priced by the market — is often much lower. The difference between the market price, if any, and the price the banks end up receiving for their bad debt will be covered by Europe’s taxpayers.

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If given the green light, the scheme would pave the way to the biggest one-off bail out of European banks in history. It would be Euro-TARP on angel dust, with even fewer checks and balances and much less likelihood of ever recovering taxpayer funds. According to a banker source cited by Reuters, while Germany has not yet endorsed the EBA plan, the EU documents describe the development of a secondary market for NPLs as a priority. According to Enria, the EBA hopes to finalize matters “at the European level” in the Spring.

The documents also include proposals for a wider “restructuring of banking sectors” as states address the NPLs problem. This “could lead to mergers among EU banks after they offload their bad loans,” a banking industry official said.

In other words, EU taxpayers would have to spend potentially hundreds of billions of euros saving yet more banks from the consequences of their own acts and bail out their bondholders and potentially their stockholders too, with funds desperately needed in other areas. Those banks, once saved and their balance sheets cleansed, would then be handed on a platter to much bigger banks. In return, taxpayers would end up with an even more concentrated, consolidated, interconnected financial system that is even more prone to abuse, corruption, and excess.

The ECB’s policy isn’t about creating inflation but about keeping a financial system and a currency union from collapsing upon each other.

Can you imagine the blowback from another taxpayer-funded bailout? Do you imagine a world where the euro comes out of that a stronger currency?

Whether or not the solution floated by ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio is enacted, the writing is on the wall for the euro. The currency is doomed. I’ve already outlined the significant political challenges the zone faces.

The economic challenges, as always, are intertwined, and they are the gas that will light the fire that sends capital rushing out of the euro and back to the dollar.

It doesn’t take much looking ahead to understand the predicament the banks are in.

Consider this: Deutsche Bank recently raised capital at a 35% discount. 35%! That’s a discount worthy of a junior resource stock, not a money-laundering banking giant with a €33 billion ($35.7 billion) market cap.

The currency war debate has only fallen out of the headlines recently due to the temporary weakness the dollar is experiencing. That won’t last.

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Interview: The Best Man in Coins and Collectibles

I’ve had several subscribers write in asking about coins and collectibles, and there’s simply no one better in that space than Van Simmons. I had the recent pleasure of sitting down again with Van Simmons of David Hall Rare Coins. As a founder of Professional Coin Grading Service (PSGC), Van literally wrote the book on the value and quality of rare and precious coins. He’s also an expert on many collectibles, including sports memorabilia, art, taxidermy, and more. Van is a friend of the publication, and there’s no one we trust more in the business.

Feel free to click on the picture or link to go to the Outsider Club website to listen to an audio recording, or simply read the transcript below.

(Click to Play)

Gerardo Del Real: This is Gerardo Del Real with Outsider Club. Joining me today is Van Simmons, Partner and President of David Hall Rare Coins, one of the largest and most respected rare coin companies in the country. Van specializes in portfolio construction, set building, and helping clients acquire the worlds finest rare coins and collectibles. Van has been a rare coin collector since age 12 and a rare coin dealer since 1979. As one of the founders of Professional Coin Grading Service, PCGS, the largest rare coin grading service in the world, he has helped revolutionize the rare coin market. Van has over 1,350 dealers that sell his product. PCGS has graded and certified over 30 million coins over the last 30 years.

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In addition, Van was also a co-founder and holds a seat on the board of directors of Collector’s Universe, a publicly traded company, which trades on the NASDAQ exchange. Collector’s Universe has several different companies that it owns. Along with PCGS, they also own PSA, Professional Sports Authority. PSA grades and authenticates sports cards and currently has over 1,200 authorized dealers within its network. I could be here for a long time listing Van’s many accomplishments, hopefully you get the idea. Bottom line is, there is nobody in the coin and collectible universe that we trust more than Van Simmons and David Hall Rare Coins. Van, thank you so much for your time today.

Van Simmons: My pleasure, thank you. You make me sound pretty important. 

Gerardo Del Real: Everybody that I respect and think is pretty important respects you and thinks you’re pretty important, so I think that.

Van Simmons: I appreciate that.

Gerardo Del Real: Now we spoke a few months ago and we talked about how you help people preserve and enhance their wealth. In my lifetime, I’ve never seen such a coordinated effort to intrude on people’s rights by governments. Whether it’s the war on privacy or the war on cash, there seems to be a coordinated effort on a global scale to restrict people’s freedoms. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. James Dines recently and he spoke at length about how he encourages people to use coins to help protect against that effort. I know you’re a student of history Van, in your experience have you ever seen such an effort to restrict and monitor the movement of cash and people?

Van Simmons: No, never. Let me start off, Mr. Dines, I’ve been a big fan of his work forever, 35, 40 years I’ve read his stuff, so he’s going to forget more about this than I’m ever going to learn. Going back to your question, there is a war on currencies, there’s a war on gold. I mean you can even go back to Anthony Sutton’s original book, The War on Gold, which explains quite a bit of it and that was written I think in the 70s, maybe early 80s. No, 70s. Going back, when Ross Perot was running for president, one of the reasons I did not vote for him was he was in favor of building more and more larger computers that could follow and track every cent that everybody spends, and buys, and makes, and everything else. Even he was talking back then about going to a cashless society and going to an all-credit society. It’s interesting, there’s a lot of countries, as you and I have spoken about, that are eliminating cash, certainly cash in large size bills.

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I’ve talk to lot of clients who live in some of these countries, and I talked to one about two months ago and I said, “Do you use much cash?” He goes, “Never, everything goes on the debit card.” I said, “What does that mean,” he goes, “Everything.” I said, “Well you must carry some cash.” He goes, “Van, I haven’t had more than five dollars in my pocket in a year or two,” he goes, “Just everything goes on there.” I said, “Aren’t you afraid of the government watching everything you do?” He goes, “Well they know everything,” he goes, “what’s the difference? The government knows everything you do.” I tend to disagree because there’s a lot of product you can buy that the government can’t track or doesn’t track.

It is a war, they’re going after everything that we do no matter what your political favor is, whether you’re republican or democrat, conservative or liberal, there’s so much intrusion into everything we’re doing and the way we live our lives. One of the things they’re going to continue to do is monitor and restrict how we spend our money.

Gerardo Del Real: Agreed, I mean we’re seeing it in India, we’re seeing it in Europe. Here in the U.S. we’ve had Larry Summers doing the college tour as I call it, floating it out to think tanks and talking about how only criminals would oppose the restriction of cash or the doing away of large denomination bills. I think it’s definitely an interesting time. I imagine, you mentioned the client that hasn’t had more than five dollars in his pocket for a year or two, I image that with the scope of clients that you serve that you have a firsthand experience and perspective of how clients globally might be positioning themselves to counter some of those intrusive government policies. What do you see on that front Van? Have you seen an active movement whether here in the U.S. or abroad, of people maybe hedging themselves and buying some protection on that front?

Van Simmons: Yeah, quite a bit. Part of it is it’s a worldwide phenomenon where people are striving for privacy. I, last month had to fly to Paris for a day, meaning I flew out of here on Sunday, got there Monday night, and had a meeting all day Tuesday with a client and flew back Wednesday morning. The client had a couple of original bags of $20 gold pieces and he wanted to have them graded. We have a grading company in Paris, which we’ve had for about seven years and I wanted to go over and see it. It was a good opportunity to see the office and get to know this client. I said to him, I go, “What’s the deal with the $20 gold pieces?” He goes, “Well, where else can I hide my money?” He goes, “I’m not hiding it because I did anything wrong,” he goes, “I just want my own privacy.”

There’s a large base of people around the world who are looking for havens to place money that not everybody’s aware of. I just Googled a friend of mine’s name on

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the internet and I found out how much he paid for his home, how much he paid for his vacation home, everything. I called him and I said, “I didn’t know your first wife’s middle name was this and that.” He was laughing, he goes, “How did you get that?” I said, “Well, there’s these websites you can go to and you can track everything everybody does.” I think what we’re starting to see is there is a group of, whether you want to call them libertarians, or anarchists, or conservative republicans, or conservative democrats who just don’t want everybody prying into their business. A lot of them are buying certainly gold. That seems to be one of the better vehicles as long as they don’t outlaw it someday or tax it to death.

If you look at the central banks of the world, Central Bank of India, Central Bank of China, Central Bank of Russia, they all have millions of ounces of gold on their books and they don’t have it there by a mistake. You look at Putin who continued to buy gold all last year, whether you’re a fan of Putin or not, I mean he’s certainly a smart, tactical player in this world and if he’s building up his supply of gold there’s a reason. I just think that there’s different vehicles that people choose to use. Some people use art and paintings, and I collect old pocket knives and coins, and a bunch of different things. It’s just a nice asset to have that nobody pays attention to.

Gerardo Del Real: Absolutely. Now, the last time that we spoke you were kind enough to offer some advice on some of the better risk/reward opportunities in the coin space. Could you share a few of the more compelling opportunities that you’re seeing in the coin space right now Van?

Van Simmons: Well, when you’re talking about coin, let’s talk about gold bullion and silver bullion.

Gerardo Del Real: Perfect.

Van Simmons: We can go to rare coins later if you want because a lot of people will classify these as rare coins. A lot of people call in and they’ll say, “I want to buy some gold, I want to buy bars.” Well I haven’t sold a bar in decades, everybody buys one ounce coins. The majority of the coins I’ve sold over the last 30 years have been $20 gold pieces and U.S. Gold Eagles. I don’t sell many Krugerrands or Maple Leafs because in the early 80s, both of those traded on the COMEX exchange. If you wanted to sell me back 20 or 25 Maple Leafs or Krugerrands I’d have to fill out a 1099 form and mail the IRS on you. If you wanted to sell me back $20 million worth of Gold Eagles, I don’t have to report anything, or $20 million worth of $20 gold pieces. It’s your responsibility to report what you need to report, but I don’t have to go out and fill out a bunch of forms.

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One of the biggest windows that you see right now is the old circulated $20 gold pieces, which is the most widely traded gold coin universally around the world for the last 100+ years. Almost, well I wouldn’t say almost, all of them that we get in to my office, which is every single day come from Europe or South America because when they outlawed gold in ‘33, starting in the early 20s they kind of all went over to Europe as bank depositories, and bank hordes, and personal business hordes, and things like that. Now they’re all being repatriated back to the United States. Typically, and I’m not talking about high grade rare coins as a rare coin collector, I’m talking about circulated coins that could’ve been drug behind a truck or something, normally trade at 50 to 100% over the spot price of gold and right now you can buy them for less money than a Gold Eagle.

If they were priced where they are today they should be about $2,500 a coin and you can buy them for $1,275 or $1,295 or something, a small percentage over the spot price of gold, which is just to me almost, not laughable, but you sit there and you scratch your head and think, “Well how long’s this game going to last?” Because it’s not going to last forever. At some point the premium will come back like it has been there for 40 or 50 years. The other thing, I’m not talking about a premium that was one year or two years, I mean I had a couple of families on the east coast who bought $20 gold pieces all through the 90s. During the 90s the price of gold ranged from $265 to $285 an ounce. If you look at what they paid for the coins, they were paying $575 to $625 a coin for old, circulated $20 Liberties and $20 St. Gaudens. Now you can buy those for a few percentage points over the spot price of gold.

If you were my brother and you had Gold Eagles I’d say, “Gerardo, trade them for $20 gold pieces right now.” It’s almost an arbitrage where if gold goes up they’re going to go up, but if the premium goes up they’re going to go up even more. It’s a very logical trade right now.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent, excellent. That’s phenomenal insight Van. Now, you’re always pretty keen to remind me that you’re as happy to help people with a $50 a month budget to people that have unlimited budgets like your friends in Paris, right? How can people get in touch with you if they have questions or would like to get started in the coin and collectibles space? Or if they’re just simply high net worth individuals that are looking to preserve their wealth in these very interesting times that we live in?

Van Simmons: Well there’s a couple different ways. You can email me at Van@DavidHall.com or you can call me at 1-800-759-7575. It’s pretty easy, I buy and sell gold all day long, I buy and sell rare coins. I mean they have a certain amount of gold and they think, “Okay, I want to buy some- ... “ I just got off the phone with a client

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who’s been a client for 15, maybe 20 years and he’s bought a lot of rare coins and a lot of gold. He just sent me a big check and said, “Well, okay, let’s do more rare coins,” and I go, “What are you looking for?” He goes, “I’m looking for something that is going to be saleable no matter what the currency of the realm is 10 or 25 years from now. If the dollar goes to zero,” he goes, “I want something that people are going to collect worldwide.” He’s going to look at a couple of rare coins because they’re very desirable.

I buy and sell a lot of things. I don’t have any commission salespeople working for me, my office is only four or five people. An accountant, an inventory person, a couple of assistants who help me, but I don’t have people who are going to call you and try to talk you into anything. It’s a matter of what you’re looking to do. Certainly, as you know, we give advice to a lot of people, a lot of the newsletter writers and financial analysts of the world, we spend a lot of time helping them, figuring out what to recommend and what’s undervalued. That’s the biggest thing, the easiest thing to do in any market is spend money. The hardest thing to do is buy something that’s value. If people think of themselves like myself, I try to be a value investor in stocks, or a value investor in real estate. It’s the same thing in gold, or silver, or rare coins, or any collectible, it’s like, “Where’s the real value?”

I collect certain types of art and I look at artists that are very famous that may be under priced. That’s sort of the way I look at a lot of these things.

Gerardo Del Real: Wonderful. Now can I pick your brain and if the dollar did go, let’s say it didn’t go to zero but it was devalued by 90% between now and two or three decades, and the euro doesn’t exist anymore, what would you recommend in the rare coin space for a scenario like that?

Van Simmons: You mean if it does what it did the last 30 years? Is that what you’re saying, devalues 90%?

Gerardo Del Real: Exactly, if history repeats itself?

Van Simmons: Well, the rare coin market, there’s a couple of things that stand out quite a bit. The gold commemoratives, in fact I have a small article if someone wants to email me I’ll be glad to forward it to you, that my business partner just wrote up. The U.S. mint right now is over 60 million people, which is what I’ve heard, on their mailing list that buy these new commemorative gold coins and silver coins that they make, and palladium coins. What a lot of people don’t realize is from 1903 to 1926 they made 11 different types of gold commemoratives and a small percentage of the people who are buying the modern ones are starting to realize that there were

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these older coins that have had a collector base since 1903. It’s like looking at an old pair of running shoes and saying, “There’s a pretty good track record here on these coins as far as desirability, collectibility.”

Almost all rare coin collectors will collect gold commemoratives. They’re a coin that’s been way oversold and selling at steep discounts to what historically they were 15 or 20 years ago. I think those are a tremendous value. The other thing is just the type coins, or one of each variety of the gold coins that the U.S. mint made. Some people collect a four-piece set, a $2.50 Liberty, a $5 Liberty, a $10 Liberty, and then a $20 Liberty. Some people will collect, or clients will collect and eight-piece set, which is four of the Liberties and four of the Indian coins, which includes a $2.50 Indian, $5 Indian, $10 Indian, and then a $20 St. Gaudens. Then other clients will include a $3 gold piece, which is a very limited production coin and a couple of the gold dollars, there’s three different types of gold dollars.

You can put together a set of four coins, eight coins, ten coins, twelve coins, whatever you want in the gold type coins. There again, some of those coins are just l- ... I just got off the phone with a guy and he just mailed me a check for a quarter of a million dollars to buy gold and he goes, “You know what? I like your idea about the gold type coins. Let’s put some of the high grade, brilliant, uncirculated, MS65 gold type coins.” We’re putting some of the money into that, and it wasn’t that I talked him into it, he’s just read a couple of things that I’ve written and it just seems ridiculous how inexpensive some of them are. The big thing is look for value, just like you would in a stock or anything else.

Gerardo Del Real: Excellent, fascinating. Van, it’s always a real pleasure. Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to being back and touch and hopefully getting some more of your insights here in the following months.

Van Simmons: All right Gerardo, thank you.

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The Critical Metals Race Heats UpLast month I explained the domination of the rare-earths market by China and, as a result, the vulnerable position the rest of the world finds itself in.

Not only because it forces Europe, Japan, and the U.S. to secure most of its rare earths from China, but because it forces the rest of the world to turn over sensitive intellectual property — some with national security implications — to China at a time when China continues to flex its economic and geopolitical muscle.

Here’s an excerpt from that article that provides a brief summary:

Rare earth elements (REE) and other specialty metals are critically needed by many major industries, especially in the U.S. defense sector.

Although used in small amounts, they give irreplaceable function to many weapons and defense systems used by our armed forces. REE supply has never been more firmly in the hands of China than it is today, with all legal Chinese production controlled by state-owned enterprises.

Neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, and terbium within high-strength permanent magnets are ubiquitously employed in all vehicle and airborne platforms — improving efficiency and lowering operational weight and size.

The guidance systems employed by missiles and smart bombs rely on the florescent properties imparted by terbium, europium, and yttrium oxides.

Display systems, optical systems, and night vision all rely on glass containing or prepared with REEs such as cerium and lanthanum. High-tensile-strength ceramics and next-generation armor plating apply to the properties of the REE’s yttrium, ytterbium, and scandium.

China’s attempt to consolidate its REE sector into six consolidated producers reignited fears of increased influence. Influence that makes America dependent on China for even America’s most advanced weaponry and defense systems.

There have been several important developments since then.

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As I mentioned in the alert I sent out earlier this month, on March 7, 2017, The Nordic Business Insider reported that Peter Carlsson, former VP of Tesla’s Supply Chain, has announced his plans to launch his own “gigafactory” in Sweden, in order to provide cheap, high-quality batteries.

The announcement isn’t a new one, as Mr. Carlsson made his intentions known last year.

What is new are the details. And the details are important.

The project is called Northvolt.

The estimated price tag for the factory: 40 billion Swedish krona (~$4.5 billion).

The article quotes Carlsson and outlines the vision:

“It may sound like a hefty sum, but you need to remember that it will be spread out over several years, until 2023,” Carlsson Dagens Industri in conjunction with the project launch in Stockholm yesterday.

Another reason for the sizable sum is Northvolt’s plan to take control of the whole supply chain.

“The problem today is that batteries are very expensive. By scaling up the battery production and taking control of the entire [value] chain, from raw material extraction to the finished product, we think we achieve a competitive business model,” said Paolo Cerruti, COO at Northvolt, formerly Carlsson’s colleague at Tesla, to Di.

Carlsson’s aims to employ 2,600 people in his humongous factory, and in total some 10,000 when counting the suppliers. Northvolt’s parent company, SGF Energy, is already hiring for more than a dozen key jobs.

“When fully built, we think our factory building will be bigger than the entire Old Town in Stockholm,” he says.

Here’s the most important part of the article.

The factory’s location hasn’t yet been decided. According to Cerruti, the Swedish location brings the benefits of clean energy to the very energy-intensive process of producting batteries. Most of today’s major battery factories today are in Asia, where energy is both expensive and dirty.

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Moreover, according to Cerruti, up to 60 percent of battery production costs come from raw material; and Northvolt is going to extract its share mostly in Europe, including Finland and Sweden.

So far, Carlsson has attracted around 120 million SEK ($13m) investment, from Vattenfall, Vinnova, Stena, EU and the Swedish Energy Agency.

Moreover, the Swedish financier Harald Mix has recently bought a major stake in Northvolt through his investment company Vargas, according to Breakit.

Northvolt aims to take control of the entire supply chain.

The plan comes after recent announcements that a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Duncan Hunter, introduced legislation to require the U.S. military to obtain rare earth elements (“REEs“) that are produced in the U.S., even if it means subsidizing those industries.

That announcement last month was also followed by reports that lenders including Investec Plc, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., and Prudential Financial Inc. are looking to finance large-scale energy storage projects from California to Germany.

According to Bloomberg, a handful of lenders have already backed storage deals.

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Prudential helped finance two 20-megawatt systems in 2015 that Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. built in Chicago. CJF Capital LLC and SUSI Partners AG backed a 12-megawatt portfolio of storage projects last year in Canada. More are planned.

“As you get into the latter half of this year, you’ll start to see a pick-up of activity,” Ric Abel, a Prudential Capital Group managing director, said in an interview.

The new crop of battery suppliers includes companies with more resources and deep pockets. Tesla Inc., LG Chem Ltd., Samsung SDI Co., and Panasonic Corp. are stepping up with significant investments, giving lenders the confidence necessary to finance large-scale projects.

Meanwhile, the number of projects being proposed around the globe is providing lenders with the options necessary to ensure capital is allocated where it’s going to be treated best.

According to a Bloomberg report, battery costs have declined 40% since 2014 and regulators are mandating storage technology be added to the grid.

That’s encouraging utilities to offer longer contracts, and developers are expected to build $2.5 billion in systems globally this year.

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Ralph Cho, Investec’s co-head of power for North America in New York, said in an interview, “We see an opportunity in the space, we’re attempting to be a first mover.”

It is clear that only a few companies will be able to actually deliver the important metals that go into these energy storage systems.

As the race for critical metals heats up, I hope you’re starting to understand the reason Leading Edge Materials is an important part of the portfolio.

I expect more news from the company in the coming months that will make the path towards production much clearer.

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New Recommendation: Mariana ResourcesMariana Resources (TSX-V: MARL)(AIM: MARL)(OTC: MRLDF) is a prospect-generator with an extensive portfolio of gold, silver, and copper projects in South America, Turkey, and Ivory Coast.

Mariana’s most advanced asset is the Hot Maden gold-copper project in northeast Turkey, which is a joint venture with Turkish partner Lidya Madencilik (30% Mariana and 70% Lidya) and which is rapidly advancing to development.

The Hot Maden project is one of the most exciting discoveries in recent memory, with grades and potential economics that make it a prime takeout candidate.

On January 17, 2017, Mariana released the results of a Preliminary Economic Study (“PEA”), which demonstrated exceptional potential economics for the Hot Maden Project (after-tax NPV and IRR of USD 1.37B and 153%, respectively) based on a development scenario incorporating a 1Mtpa underground mining / processing operation and the production of two saleable concentrates (a copper-gold concentrate and a gold-pyrite concentrate).

I’ll get into the details of the PEA in a bit, but an IRR of 153% on a growing asset that has three drills turning with blue sky exploration upside makes Mariana a must-own.

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I’ve had my eye on Mariana for a long time but have been hesitant to recommend it because of the run-up in the stock (a justified run-up) and the political risk — real and perceived — that Turkey presents.

While there are genuine concerns, it’s important to note that there are many producing companies operating without issue, including Alacer Gold, which I believe may ultimately buy out Mariana’s 30% interest.

Alacer has partnerships with project operator Lidya, and it seems like a natural fit.

It’s also important to note that Lidya — Mariana’s partner and JV operator on the project — is very experienced and well connected locally.

Mariana owns 30% of a growing asset that already has an NPV of US$1.37 billion. In this market, the market cap deserves to be higher than the C$115 million/US$89 million it currently commands. In a better market like the one that’s on the way, Mariana will trade much higher.

As of the latest reporting period, Mariana has approximately 124.6 million shares outstanding and approximately 151 million fully diluted.

The fully diluted total brings the market cap to C$140 million/US$107 million.

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Significant shareholders include Sandstorm Gold, which owns approximately 7.2%; Exploration Limited Partners 2014 (Sprott Group), 5.5%; AngloGold Ashanti Holdings, 3.9%; Resource Capital Funds 2.9%; and skin in the game for directors and management with 4.8%

Another reason the recommendation makes sense now is I like buying things on sale. Shares of Mariana have a 52-week high of C$1.50/US$1.12 and currently trade at C$0.94/US$0.71.

That’s a pretty substantial discount on an asset that gets better every time they put out a news release.

Management

Glen Parsons

CEO

Glen Parsons has over 20 years international experience in corporate finance, treasury, operational, and general management. The most recent role was as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Development of Neptune Minerals Plc. He has built new profitable businesses and divisions within both large and small organizations. Glen was an executive director of RFC Corporate Finance Ltd, a specialist minerals resources investment bank and fund manager.

Eric Roth

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Eric Roth is Santiago based and was most-recently CEO of Aegean Metals Group Inc., President & CEO and then Director of Extorre Gold Mines Ltd until Extorre was acquired by Yamana Gold Inc in June 2012. Prior to Extorre, Eric was engaged as a consultant on South American gold projects for Exeter Resource Corp. and Kinross Gold Corp.

From January 2002 to March 2008, he was employed by AngloGold Ashanti Ltd, initially as the Lima-based Peru Project and South American Opportunities Manager and subsequently as the Johannesburg-based Global Head of Greenfields Exploration. He is also principal of consulting firm ER Global Consulting SA.

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John Horsburgh

NON EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

John Horsburgh, a graduate of the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London is a geologist with more than 40 years experience in exploration, project development, and company management. He was a co-founder of Solomon Pacific Resources NL, which achieved success with the discovery and development of the Brocks Creek gold mine in the Northern Territory in Australia.

As Executive Chairman he was involved in the acquisition, exploration, and financing of the project. Prior to this, he was Exploration Manager for SE Australia with Getty Oil Development (minerals division). Before Getty, John gained extensive exploration experience with Billiton and the RTZ Group in Australia, South America, and Europe. He has been involved in a number of lead-zinc and gold discoveries in Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia. He is a director and a co-founder of Cullen Resources Ltd, which is a partner in the Mt Stuart Joint Venture, a new iron ore development project in the West Pilbara, Western Australia.

The team is rounded out by a very qualified group that includes CFO Sharon Cooper and head of investor relations Karen Davies.

Hot Maden gold-copper project (30% Mariana and 70% Lidya)

Hot Maden is globally one of the highest-grade gold-copper discoveries made in recent years. The deposit boasts a known gold-copper resource (3.43 Million oz AuEq in Indicated Category and 0.43 Million oz AuEq in Inferred Category; 100% basis) within a central 800m long portion of the Hot Maden Fault Zone (HMFZ).

The Hot Maden project is located 1,050 km E of Istanbul and 130 km NE of Erzurum in northeastern Turkey, within the Eastern Pontides metallogenic bet. The project consists of 4 licenses (1 operating and 3 exploration) totaling 7,394 Ha (approximately 73 square kilometres).

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High-grade gold-copper mineralization at Hot Maden is multiphase and occurs dominantly within sub-vertical, quartz-sulphide (pyrite-chalcopyrite) +/- hematite/jasperoid breccia bodies and locally massive sulphides (pyrite-chalcopyrite). The discovery drill holes, HTD-04 and HTD-05, were completed in January 2015.

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The grades were and continue to be spectacular.

HTD-04 intersected 103m @ 9 g/t Au + 2.2% Cu from 25m, associated with silicified andesite breccias and massive sulphides (pyrite-chalcopyrite). This intersection included a significantly higher grade massive sulphide zone averaging 18.3 g/t Au + 3.3% Cu over 33.4m from 79.8m downhole.

HTD-05: Collared 100m SE of HTD-04, HTD-05 returned another impressive intercept with 82m @ 20.4 g/t Au & 1.9% Cu from 147m downhole, including a bonanza 13m @ 88 g/t Au & 2.5% Cu from 150m.

The highest grade Au-Cu intersection to date was hole HTD-34, which returned an incredible 82 meters of 32.7g/t Au, 1.9% Cu from 55 meters.

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PEA

As I mentioned, the Hot Maden project has a resource in place of (3.43 Million oz AuEq in Indicated Category and 0.43 Million oz AuEq in Inferred Category;) within a central 800m-long portion of the Hot Maden Fault Zone (HMFZ).

The 3.43 million AuEq ounces in the Indicated category have a AuEq grade of 36.9 g/t consisting of 32.7 g/t Au and 3.5% Cu.

The grade has contributed to some very favorable potential economics. Here are the highlights from the PEA:

Highlights of the Study (100% Project Basis)

• Conceptual development for Hot Maden assumes an all underground mining operation from a decline and utilizing mechanized transverse and longitudinal long hole open stoping with engineered fill mining methods. Mining and processing rates of 0.8 million tonnes per annum (“Mtpa”), 1.0 Mtpa, and 1.2 Mtpa were considered, with the base case mining scenario being established at 1.0 Mtpa.

• Total metal production of 2.6 Million ounces (“Moz”) of gold and 142,000 tonnes (“t”) of copper over a total project life of 9 years for the base case mining scenario. Metallurgical testwork, through flotation and concentration, completed to date on the high grade Main Zone mineralisation has indicated high recoveries of both gold and copper. A variable processing recovery, dependant on grade, has been applied in the PEA resulting in a project weighted average recovery of 88% Au and 90% Cu. The current Hot Maden plant flow sheet assumes the production of two concentrates on site - one standard copper-gold concentrate, and a second gold-bearing pyrite concentrate.

• Post-tax discounted NPV for the base case mining scenario (1.0 Mtpa) of US$1.37 billion (“B”) excluding pre-development exploration costs (8% discount rate).

• Post-tax IRR for the base case mining scenario of 153% excluding acquisition costs.

• Total Capex (Initial + Sustaining) of US$261M

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The project will be bought out. The Capex of US$261 million for a project that has an NPV of US$1.37 billion and pays back in approximately 2.1 years, including underground mine development, is good enough to solicit an offer once a pre-feasibility study (PFS) is complete, but those numbers will be better by then.

Exploration Upside

In addition to excellent grades, metallurgy, and potential economics the project also provides the luxury of significant exploration upside.

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There are currently two drill rigs turning at Hot Maden, with a third rig having arrived on site.

The 20,000-meter drill program has three purposes:

1) To develop greater confidence in the resource area at Hot Maden for the purposes of completing the Preliminary Feasibility Study ( “PFS”). A pFS that I believe will be a catalyst — much like Almaden Minerals — to inspire a takeout.

2) The second drill rig is focused on the New Southern Zone extensions.

3) The third rig will be deployed over various targets, including the undrilled Russian Mine Zone.

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100%-owned Ergama project

Not only is the market assigning a discounted value to Mariana shares — for the Hot Maden project — but it’s not giving any value to any of the exciting exploration projects in the portfolio.

An example of those prospective projects is the 100%-owned Ergama gold-copper project in Balikesir province, western Turkey.

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The Ergama project license covers an area of 2,168 Ha (21.6 km2), and is located 90km SE of Teck-Pilot Gold’s Halilaga Au-Cu project in the highly mineralized Biga Peninsula, and 230 km west north west of Eldorado Gold’s Kisladag gold mine (2016 production of 211,000 oz gold).

To date, three of the seven proposed drill holes (ERD-01 to ERD-03, for a total of 1,522m) have been completed, with assays having now been received for the first two holes.

Targets to be tested in this initial drill program include the northern margins of two porphyry gold-copper targets (the Main Porphyry Target and Porphyry Target B), in addition to a high-grade, vein / fault-hosted epithermal gold-silver target.

Initial assays were not the blockbuster results that Hot Maden has delivered and frankly it’s not fair to expect that but the results were encouraging and showed the presence of a mineralized copper-gold porphyry system.

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Highlights as presented by Mariana in the February 14th news release included:

• Drill hole ERD-02 returned a downhole average of 626.4m @ 0.18 g/t Au and terminated in the highest-grade interval to date (56.4m @ 0.33 g/t Au + 0.12% Cu from 570m downhole). Other better grade intercepts include (Table 1):

• 141m @ 0.23 g/t Au from 57m downhole.

• 56m @ 0.22 g/t Au from 274m downhole.

• 156.4m @ 0.25 g/t Au from 470m downhole, including 56.4m @ 0.33 g/t Au + 0.12% Cu from 570m downhole.  

• A 1m interval from 621m downhole in ERD-02 close to bottom of hole at 626.4m assayed 0.79 g/t Au + 0.15% Cu (Figure 5).

• Drill hole ERD-01 returned the following mineralised intercepts:

• 66m @ 0.22 g/t Au from 43.8 m downhole.

• 88m @ 0.19 g/t Au from 117.8m downhole.

• 22m @ 0.25 g/t Au from 215.8m downhole.

Chief Executive Officer Glen Parsons today commented:  

“The first two holes of the initial scout drilling program at our 100% Ergama Project in Western Turkey are encouraging and indicate the presence of a mineralised gold-copper porphyry system. 

“The positive results from holes 1 and, particularly, 2 show strong stockworking on the margin in the phyllic zone with grades increasing at depth to the south and potentially closer to the main potassic zone.  This main zone appears to be further south and close to the centre of the 1km2 chargeability anomaly as shown in Figure 2.  Drill permitting is currently in process to allow testing of this main zone to the south as can be seen in Figure 3.  

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“What is encouraging are the initial grades from our first two holes on the margin of the system are similar to reported resource grades for other projects in the area and we still have yet to test the main zone.

“I look forward to updating the market with assays pending for hole 3 and the high grade gold silver vein targets currently being drilled, as well as further updates from Hot Maden and our portfolio in general.”

The company is in the process of permitting drill holes to the south of the current drilling area where the company believes the most metal-rich part of the system may be located.

Diverse Portfolio

In addition to the Hot Maden project and the 100%-owned Ergama project Mariana has also acquired interest in several exciting prospective gold projects in areas that have been very under-explored.

On October 7, 2016, Mariana announced the signing of a binding Term Sheet to acquire an indirect 80% interest in Ivory Coast-focused private exploration company Awalé Resources SARL (“Awalé”). 

Awalé is a private exploration company focused on high-grade gold projects in Côte d’Ivoire, a country which hosts some of the most prospective, yet under-explored Birimian greenstone belts in West Africa. World-class orogenic gold deposits hosted within the Birimian include Anglogold Ashanti’s Obuasi mine in Ghana, Resolute Mining’s Syama mine in Burkina Faso, and Iamgold/Anglogold Ashanti’s Sadiola mine in Mali

Côte d’Ivoire is a jurisdiction that hosts some 35% of West Africa’s known greenstone belts yet remains largely under-explored in comparison to neighboring Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Mali.

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Through the transaction Mariana will gain an immediate foothold in an established exploration portfolio with known gold mineralization and artisanal gold workings.

Early-stage exploration is on the way with a more advanced program planned for later in the year.

Lastly, Mariana has three gold-silver projects in the mining-friendly province of Santa Cruz that may see drilling later this year.

Summary & RecommendationMariana Resources is a prospect generator with a 30% stake in an exciting discovery with a PEA that outlines an NPV — using today’s gold and silver prices — of US$1.37 billion with substantial exploration upside, ongoing drilling, an expected PFS later this year, and local partners that will likely buy the project or partner with another local entity — like Alacer Gold — to buy the project.

In addition, the company has 100%-owned projects in Turkey and Argentina that could also provide meaningful catalysts that could send shares much higher.

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Let’s assume the worst. Let’s assume that discovery drilling doesn’t turn up a thing.

The bottom line is that the company owns 30% of a project worth US$1.37 billion. The 30% share equals approximately US$411 million. Current market cap is approximately C$140 million/US$107 million.

The recent 40% pullback in shares provides an excellent entry point. There will be plenty of catalysts and news flow to offset the summer doldrums that typically see a lack of news and drifting share prices.

Buy Mariana Resources (TSX-V: MARL)(AIM: MARL)(OTC: MRLDF) up to C$1.15/US$0.82.

Mariana should be considered a core part of the portfolio, meaning that before you buy the riskier, earlier-stage exploration companies, buy some Mariana.

Expect to hold the position for six months to two years, although I doubt the company will be around by then. If it is it won’t be at these prices.

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Portfolio NewsAlmaden Minerals (TSX: AMM)(NYSE: AAU)

Nothing to report here other than I believe we may get the pre-feasibility study (PFS) that we’ve been expecting while this issue goes to the people who make my grammar acceptable.

I expect the PFS to be a catalyst that sends shares higher and inspires the suits to get their checkbook ready. Maybe not right away but someone will buy Almaden Minerals at higher prices.

This was the motivation behind the alert advising you to double down on Almaden.

Stay tuned.

Fission Uranium (TSX: FCU)(OTC: FCUUF)

Last month I explained Fission announced it was doubling the drilling and that there will be a focus to make new discoveries.

One month later we have a new discovery. On March 20, 2017 Fission announced that its exploration drilling has resulted in the discovery of a new high-grade zone —R1515W — at its PLS property, host to the Triple R deposit.

The zone is located along the western strike extension of the Patterson Lake Corridor, west of both the Triple R deposit and the R840W zone.

The discovery of the new high-grade zone is marked by hole PLS17-539, which intersected 32.0m of total composite mineralization, including a 31.0m-wide continuously mineralized interval including a total composite of 0.77m of radioactivity >10,000 cps (with a peak of 22,300 cps).

The hole is located on line 1515W, approximately 510m west of the western-most mineralized hole on the high-grade, near-surface R840W zone.

Ross McElroy, President, COO, and Chief Geologist for Fission, commented;

“We are thrilled with the discovery of a new zone at PLS along the very prospective Patterson Lake Corridor and with the increase of half a kilometer to the high-grade mineralized trend, which now stands at 3.14km in strike length. This success is

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the validation of a key objective during the winter drill program: to discover new, shallow and high-grade occurrences on the prolific PLS project. Having successfully encountered anomalous radioactivity with our drilling in a 625m step out from R840W (see news release Feb 27, 2017), and subsequently seeing anomalous radioactivity in several core and RC holes over 180m of strike length, we were confident we were in the right area. With substantial mineralization in hole PLS17-539, we now have confirmation. The next step for this area is to begin growing the zone, just as we have done so successfully with every zone at PLS and we will also continue to pursue our other exploration hot spots on the property.”

The discovery of a new shallow-high-grade zone is important. Although it’s early, Fission has a history of zeroing in quickly. I spoke with president, COO, and chief geologist Ross McElroy about the new discovery and the successful extension of the mineralized trend.

You can listen to that here.

With the uranium space coming back into favor, slowly but surely, Fission needs to be a core position in your portfolio.

Expect more news next month.

Nevada Sunrise (TSX-V: NEV)(OTC: NVSGF)

What a difference a month makes, huh? After months of the share price basically flatlining shares are up 40% in the past month.

In part due to a recommendation by legendary newsletter writer James Dines and in part because the company has a tiny market cap relative to the upcoming catalysts and slowly but surely the market is starting to wake up to that.

It continues drilling — successfully — for lithium in Nevada with partner Advantage Lithium and soon it’ll be drilling at Roulette, its 100%-owned early stage — but very prospective gold property.

There’s also been some interesting whispers behind the scenes surrounding the lithium portfolio. Just whispers at this point, so that’s all I’ll say for now, but they’re interesting enough to make me wonder if the surge in share price and volume isn’t also due in part to the rumors.

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Millrock Resources (TSX-V: MTO)(OTCQX: MLRKF)

On March 2, 2017 Millrock announced it had entered into an option to JV with Kinross Gold to explore the Liberty Bell project in Alaska.

In order to earn a 70% joint venture interest, Kinross must, at its option:

• Provide US$5.0 million in exploration funding and property maintenance over 5 years;

• Pay up to US$145,000 in management fees if Millrock manages exploration programs throughout the duration of the Agreement; and

• Pay Advance Minimum Royalty (“AMR”) payments totalling US$145,000 over the 5 year period.

Gregory A. Beischer, Millrock’s President & CEO, commented:

“We are pleased that Kinross will enter another joint exploration effort with Millrock. This will be the third such collaboration between the companies. We are hopeful that this one will result in the discovery of a gold ore body”.

The combination of partners — Centerra in Mexico and now Kinross in Alaska — will provide some potential catalysts if the companies can execute a successful drill campaign.

Millrock has executed the project generator model very effectively but the elusive discovery has been just that.

I spoke with CEO Greg Beischer about the new JV. You can listen to that here.

Advantage Lithium (TSX-V: AAL)(OTC: AVLIF)

Advantage Lithium and JV partner Nevada Sunrise drilled the best hole to date at Clayton NE in Clayton Valley, Nevada. On March 1, 2017 the company announced Hole CNE-17-04, drilled to a total depth of 609.6 meters (2,000 feet), has intersected multiple aquifer formations, including a total composite of 426.72 meters of brine-producing strata averaging 243.44 milligrams per litre (“mg/l”) lithium between a depth of 140.21m to 609.6m meters, including a higher-grade interval averaging 274.6 mg/l lithium over 79.2 meters from a depth of 530.35 meters to 609.6 meters.

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Here are the highlights from the release.

Highlights

• Continued 100% Drilling Success Rate with Strong Lithium Brine Results. Hole CNE-17-04 has intersected multiple aquifer formations:

• Total composite of 426.72m of brine producing strata at an average grade of 243.44 mg/l lithium, including:

• 274.6 mg/l lithium over 79.2 metres (530.35m to 609.6m)

• Extension of mineralized brine trend to 4.46km. The highly-successful Phase 1 program defined a 3.43km mineralized trend. The results of Phase 2 drilling to date has extended this trend length to 4.46km.

• Drilling deeper into potentially untested aquifers. Phase 2 holes are targeting possible deeper aquifers that may not have been intersected by previous drilling in the Clayton Valley. Previous hole CNE-16-03, from the Phase 1 program, was one of the deepest boreholes drilled in the Clayton Valley and, based on results obtained, may have hit a previously untested aquifer.

• Permits/waivers obtained for future development of a lithium brine resource and wells. In November 2016, waivers were received from the Nevada Division of Water Resources for 5 of the 6 permitted holes, which allows for reaming a borehole to a larger diameter well, pump testing, and flow rate determination in order to provide the necessary technical information for development of an initial lithium brine resource at Clayton NE.

The bottom line is the stock hasn’t performed the way I expected yet but it will. The demand for lithium is real. Advantage is one of the few juniors that will be in production within a few years to help meet some of that demand and drilling at the flagship Cauchari in Argentina starts in April.

I expect good results from Cauchari and shares to trade higher.

I spoke with Advantage Lithium director and technical adviser Ross McElroy about the results. You can listen to that interview here.

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Closing Thoughts That’s it for this month. I’ve had some questions regarding exploration results and allocation.

Mining.com recently published an article called “Making the grade: understanding exploration results” that’s brief but makes for a good read. You can read that here.

I’m also working on an educational series on mining that Resource Stock Digest Premium readers will be the first to see.

It’s being put together by one of the best geologists in the resource space and I’m excited to be able to bring that to you.

As for asset allocation, everybody’s situation is different, so it’s really difficult to give a one-size-fits-all answer.

I strongly suggest, however, that if you’re going to speculate in this risky but rewarding sector you buy stocks as a portfolio. Do not bet the ranch on one or two names.

That doesn’t mean you must own every pick but you should most definitely have a combination of core companies, for example Midas, Almaden, Fission, Cordoba, Mariana, and Leading Edge mixed with some of the higher risk and more speculative early-stage explorers like Nevada Sunrise, Millrock, Gainey, and Canasil.

Understand that different companies will work out at different times. Some will work out in spectacular fashion, like Orex and Canasil which were both up triple digits right after my recommendation, and then drop like a rock for any number of reasons — in this case the metallurgy reducing that particular deposit to a pile of sand not worth the land it sits on.

Speaking of Canasil and Orex. Both companies are still in the portfolio because it doesn’t make sense to sell at these levels. Both have other projects that are receiving attention, although recent results from both have failed to inspire a higher share price.

I also still believe that Sandra Escobar has potential for other deposit types and eventually the current market caps of each will prove laughable.

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For newer subscribers both companies are excellent speculations as early-stage explorers but be clear that they will both need a catalyst to make believers of the market once again.

That catalyst is likely months away and if I had to pick between Orex and Canasil as to which would provide a catalyst first I would pick Canasil.

So why not sell now? Again, at these prices it makes sense to hold and wait to see what might develop with these two. We can carry both positions into later in the year and decide which is worthy of a tax loss if neither provides news that moves shares higher.

Again, if I had to pick which will be tax loss it would be Orex.

Management seems a bit pre-occupied with everything but Orex and frankly what’s been said to me in the past hasn’t exactly matched with what’s actually happened in the real world.

Remember the drill program that commenced at Sandra Escobar that the company announced (click for NR) back on November 7th, 2016? Do you remember the news release that explained that after a couple of holes Orex decided to terminate the drilling and look at other strategic options?

Me neither, because we didn’t get one. But that’s where we’re at.

Management hasn’t lied and they’ve been gracious enough to respond to my many inquiries, but the words and the actions haven’t always matched.

I’ll leave it at that and hope Orex CEO Gary Cope pulls a rabbit out of his hat or gets his mojo back. He’s done it before.

Here’s a couple of news items to put on your radar for late March and April.

Almaden’s PFS. I sent an alert about it and reiterate that the PFS may be released in between the submission of this month’s issue and the publishing of it. It’ll be positive. Almaden will be bought out, it’s just a matter of when.

Gainey Capital. I don’t expect positive results from the other black eye in the portfolio, which is not ideal — in the words of Gary Cope when describing the metallurgy results from Sandra Escobar — but it’s early-stage exploration and comes with the territory.

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My frustration lies with the delay in getting holes drilled and announced. The property — by all accounts — is very prospective. But it needs to be drilled in a systematic way in order to unlock that value.

Gainey is still an excellent speculation at these levels. The company will need — and will find — money soon and then we’ll see what the plan for the rest of the year is.

Almadex has two drills turning. I expect a big 2017 from the company.

That’s all for this month. I’m working on another recommendation that will round out the portfolio very well.

I may have it ready for you within the next few days. Keep an eye on your inbox.

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Resource Stock Digest Premium Copyright © 2017, 111 Market Place, Suite 720, Baltimore, MD 21202. All rights reserved. No statement or expression of opinion, or any other matter herein, directly or indirectly, is an offer or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities or financial instruments mentioned. While we believe the sources of information to be reliable, we in no way represent or guarantee the accuracy of the statements made herein. Resource Stock Digest Premium does not provide individual investment counseling, act as an investment advisor, or individually advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment. Neither the publisher nor the editors are registered investment advisors. Subscribers should not view this publication as offering personalized legal or investment counseling. Investments recommended in this publication should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company in question. Unauthorized reproduction of this

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