I’ve had a nasty cold for the last three weeks. So Talking My Book has been on a little break. But I probably would not have written much in any event. The little silver run, cut short by the second coming of Trump.
I don’t do politics on this Substack but the knock on effects of Trump’s very convincing win blew the US Dollar to new strength, goosed the already buoyant major American markets, and knocked nearly $200 USD off the price of gold. (Of course, silver followed. Both are recovering.)
The junior resource market was very much Cinderella before the fairy godmother showed up. Mainly flat with tax loss season upon us and lots and lots of tax losses to harvest. Nice if you have gains to set them off against, less nice if you are going to carry them forward with hopes of a rally.
Most of my holdings went down a little in the last month. But not a lot which is a mercy. Several of them, Eloro (ELO.T), Bayhorse (BHS.V), and Canadian Critical (CCMI.V) were doing financings. CCMI did a $950,000 flow through share financing at $0.05. Eloro raised $3,780,000 in a private placement at $0.90 with lead investor Crescat Capital placing a lead order and three company insiders taking $590,478.
For CCMI the flow through raise gives the company a bit of cash to continue with its permitting process. Combined with the sales from its now crushed stockpile, the financial way is clear to a fully permitted, operational copper mine in 2025. It will also hold shares in QC Copper and Gold (QCCU.V) as the result of the pending sale of its interest in the Thierry Mine copper project. Those shares are worth around $3.2 million and 10% of those shares will be free trading upon the close of the transaction. CEO Ian Berzins is lining up his financial ducks and 2025 may see a significant re-rating of CCMI.
At Eloro, Tom Larsen has positioned the company to complete the infill drilling required for a Preliminary Economic Assessment report expected in 2025, ideally in Q1, more likely in Q2. As I have said before, the problem ELO has is that its Bolivian deposit, Iska Iska, is huge. So big that it might make a lot of sense to split the tin domain from the silver zinc domain as both are shaping up to be world class deposits. But more drilling is needed to get a tighter fix on the grades and structure of Iska Iska. Having the money to finance the drilling is crucial to advancing the project.
My friend Graeme O’Neill raised money as well. $604,000 in the first part of what became a two part private placement at $0.04. O’Neill himself sold BHS shares privately and took 60% of the offering. It is safe to say he’s committed.
Committed enough to take a 45 hour door to door trip into the mine from Thailand.
There are a hundred details to attend to but with the help of the mine manager and a drilling contractor O’Neill hopes to have the drill turning well before the end of the month. In fact, if things go even a little smoothly - never a sure thing with drilling - there is a good chance BHS will pierce the VTEM-indicated anomaly by the end of the month.
The geological logic here is that the VTEM anomaly may be similar to the copper porphyry Hecules Metals (BIG.V) has been trying, with mixed success, to drill at Cuddy Mountain. Both the Bayhorse Mine and the silver showings at Cuddy Mountain are found where rhyolite has intruded. One of Bayhorse’s consulting geologists posits that the Cuddy Mountain, Mineral and Bayhorse mineralization were caused by a regional magmatic episode. The sutures along the Izee/Olds Ferry terranes offered structures into which the magma, and we hope, mineralized fluids could flow.
Whether the Bayhorse anomaly is a copper porphyry or a massive sulphide structure is the question the Bayhorse underground drill will be answering in the next couple of weeks.
The wait will soon be over.
(Disclaimer: I hold small positions in Hercules Metals, Canadian Critical Minerals and Eloro. I own shares in Bayhorse Silver and may purchase or sell at any time. This is not investment advice. Do your own due diligence. Call the CEO.)