| | | KRR, BTO, CKG
Karora Resources aka KRR released an updated Resource Report for the gold in its Bent Hunt mine in Australia. (There is also a significant nickel resource at Beta Hunt.)
Although the market didn't agree, I thought this was a positive update, with M&I increasing by 20% to 1.35M oz Au and Inferred increasing by 34% to 1.05M oz Au, while the P&P Reserve increased by 12% to 535k oz Au. Maybe the punters didn't like that much of the increase was to Inferred resources, but given the history of Beta Hunt, these will soon be upgraded as exploration continues, plus KRR has already identified new areas of mineralization to be drilled up at Western Flanks Deeps and other zones. (Note also that the P&P and M&I numbers are net of what has already been mined.)
2023 exploration at Beta Hunt will have several focuses. First, they will continue to upgrade the existing resource by upgrading Inferred to M&I, and M&I to P&P. Second, they will focus on defining new resources at a number of targets including at the Fletcher, Cowell, and Mason zones. Bottom line; just at Beta Hunt, KRR remains set for years of production even as the mining and milling rates increase as planned.
Message 34189649
The market surprised me again by reacting negatively to B2Gold aka BTO's announcement that they will be carrying out a friendly takeover of Sabina Silver & Gold to obtain its shovel-ready fully permitted Back River gold project in Nunavut. I think this is a good fit for BTO, reducing their country risk by getting them production outside Africa and the Philippines. If I was part of BTO management, at this point my main worry would be that a competitor might come in with a bid higher than BTO's $1.1B. Note that BTO's offer is all shares, so another company might not have to go too much higher if some cash was included.
Assuming this goes through, I think it will go well, as BTO has a strong background in developing new mines. In addition BTO has extensive tax pools which will be useful with respect to the financial requirements for building the mine in Nunavut.
Message 34189675
FWIW, TD issued a new analyst report on BTO which called to purchase Positive, while keeping them at Action List Buy (their highest rating) with a target of $8.50.
The IKN newsletter this weekend covered a webinar from Chesapeake Gold aka CKG concerning its large but low grade Metates gold deposit in Mexico. We will get an Updated Resource Report this quarter, and undated PEA by the end of the year. Metallurgical testing is ongoing.
For those of you interested in platinum, Saville's newsletter on the weekend pointed out that the charts indicate that its price may be bottoming, at the same time as a shortage is developing due to problems with the power supply in South Africa which are probably going to continue for at least the next two years. Add in growing demand from Evs...
As well, Saville is maintaining the low $1800 as the target for a correction in the price of gold and $21.50 as the analogous target for silver, along with 215-225 for HUI and $27-28 for GDX. He expects that reaching these targets will set the stage for a big rally in all four. |
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