‘Patient’ Gold: New High | Québec | Nevada

Updated Thursday May 4, 2023

Below: 'operative' info -- AZIMUT EXPLORATION 
AZM AZMTF via Jean-Marc Lulin 
ALSO: Ridgeline in Nevada | Avino Silver in Mexico
At $2,067 an ounce in Asia trading
A 5-day chart of gold futures
A 3-month chart of gold futures

Thursday follow-thru as gold reaches toward yet further new high prices.

Rationale:

“Uncertainty” was the takeaway from Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell  — the press conference is worth a view.

This is about the safety trade.

Also about reciprocal gold theory (traditional investments slide; gold gains) — see The Calandra Report/TCR report on that. Also see: 30 Years Making Case For Patient Gold

More: 

  • Gold price in dollars up 15% this year. [Gold at all-time highs in most currencies all of this year and last 2022, and 2021 … and … ]
  • Too many reasons why: U.S. debt ceilings; inflation ‘here to stay’; worldwide anxiety re: RUSSIA, SUDAN, NORTH KOREA; failing banks.
  • What (who?) is next? Money market break-the-buck ahead? Owie.
  • The spot or live gold price’s record high is said to be $2,075 set in 2020.
  • Accelerating decline in the seemingly, until now, perpetually forte USD (which generally moves opposite dollar-denominated gold price) vs. most currencies (see: DXY Index chart here). Lower dollar = higher gold.
  • Ideas: TCRs, you know my best gold (and platinum, silver) ideas for outpacing gains in miners (explorers, royalty-cos, developers). They include Osino Resources OSI OSIIF  (Namibia); Alamos Gold AGI; Victoria Gold VGCX (Yukon). I just added more WEST VAULT MINING WVM WVMDF (Tonopah, Nevada — and will view shovel-ready HASBROUCK in June for a third time).

Sticks in the mud? AZIMUT EXPLORATION AZM AZMTF — and frankly, after nearly five years, I am on the verge of losing the patience in that headline above for a stated and 43-101 compliant gold resource at ELMER, the potentially 2 million ounce project in year 4 now at James Bay, Québec.

Mais oui, after this, I reached out to Jean-Marc Lulin, scientist, geologist, economist and CEO of Azimut Exploration. He was this morning (May 4, 2023) in his Montreál office.

The (pandemic, drill-rig scarceness in Québec) delayed resource estimate, Elmer’s first, will come by the end of June, Jean-Marc says. All of the drilling is done and nearly all of the exploration targets’ assays are already press released.

Thus, geos, mathematicians, investors naturally are free to do their back-0f-envelope calculations. The investing key here for AZM shares will be the resource categories for the ounces at Elmer, which I have seen and which impressed me mightily at the time (almost 4 years ago). The first stage of a mine there in northern Québec likely would be an open pit. See update.

Jean-Marc’s Azimut is the largest metals concessions holder in Québec. It has, thanks to predictive modeling going back to the early 2000s, 33 partnerships with 19 companies: gold, copper, nickel, lithium, uranium.

 

We discussed specifics (disclosed already) and existential matters regarding explorers in Canada.
Jean-Marc was born in France and educated there and in Canada — master’s degrees and a doctorate. His Azimut declines to “promote” its half-dozen or so working programs in Québec with endless press releases. He chooses his conference appearances delicately.
He says he never will go down the route of junior explorers who spend money on “too much” in -fill drilling of targets — the intention being to keep their shareholders on the hook (my phrase) and removed from boredom.
Of interest is that J-M mentioned how Azimut is working on “the business'” of several of its concessions.
I have to believe we will see more events soon for AZM’s Rex (copper); for its nickel exploration (Wapatik with Mont Royal); for its lithium tracts at James Bay.
Those 33 agreements include 6 with majors: RTZ (3 agreements); Newmont (2); Hecla (2); IAMGOLD (2); SOQUEM (2); KGHM (1).
Trust factor: J-M Lulin is one of 3 or 4 Québec operators I back with my money — see my PDAC RELIABLE SOURCES presentation and reporting please. Another is lifelong royalty collector, prospecting geologist Glenn Mullan (Val-d’Or Mining VZZ VDOMF); Glenn chairs Azimut.
Boilerplate: AZMTF IS $95 million USD MARKET VALUE; $88 million enterprise value. ROBO-analytics (take this with a grain of salt, TCRs — I always do): AZM appears to be correcting within a longer-term bullish trend. Although its MACD is presently below the signal line, shares remain 43.5% above an upwards sloping 200-day moving average.
Jean-Marc Lulin today from Montreál — Azimut Exploration

Stick in mud I stick with: Ridgeline Minerals RDG RDGMF — cheap, just got $4.5 million CAD in bank and nonstop exploration drilling at Selena (silver, lead-zinc). It is a barebones version of I-80 Gold IAUX, which is all over Nevada and well developed, with production and beaucoup cash. I just today (May 4) bought more RDG at 19 cents USD a share.

News in waiting: EMX ROYALTY as we await a resolving of its tussle with Zijin Mining over a 0.5% royalty level at SERBIA’S Timok copper-gold deposit at Cukaru Peki.

Titles getting the cold shoulder far north (Alaska, Yukon, NWT): Western Alaska Minerals WAM WAMFF; I see someone dropped 4.5 million shares of ATAC RESOURCES  today as the Yukon/B.C. explorer awaits consummation of its Hecla Gold transaction; Canagold Resources CCM CRCUF. And Gold Terra Resource YGT YGTFF, a tiny, little known (obscure) developer in Northwest Territories and in New Brunswick, Canada.

Silver: It is a metal where I am light. Looking at Avino Silver & Gold ASM (Mexico’s Durango), whose shares in a starter stake I lightened up on a week ago at break-even. [A lesson in: get your full position or else, don’t look back.]

 

TCRs, I just re-started purchases today May 4, 2023. More to come on what looks like a consistently low-cost SILVER PRODUCER, as I stated in Zürich when I introduced Avino’s CEO,  David Wolfin, one that alas I gave short shrift to when I first met the company and its principals 6 or 7 years ago.

 

Titles getting the cold shoulder far north (Alaska, Yukon, NWT): Western Alaska Minerals WAM WAMFF; I see someone dropped 4.5 million shares of ATAC RESOURCES  today as the Yukon/B.C. explorer awaits consummation of its Kinross Gold transaction; Canagold Resources CCM CRCUF. And Gold Terra Resource YGT YGTFF, a tiny, little known (obscure) developer in Northwest Territories and in New Brunswick, Canada.

More later this week.

— Thom Calandra [Of these, I do not own Gold Terra; nor Canagold; nor Kinross.]

 

 
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Thom Calandra ​is a ​writer and an investor. Research and material are meant as editorial opinion.​ He is not a professional investment adviser. Please do not consider his reporting as a recommendation to buy or sell securities.