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Analyst directs investors south for the Latin American Mining Round-Up 2017
The grim years from 2011 to early 2016 produced a wholesale retreat to “close to home” locations in the mining sector. Stories that were in either Canada or Australia fared better than those in edgy locations, like Africa or Latin America. We had predicted that when the turn came there would be some feelers go out to these areas but that capital would not flow in substantial amounts until the recovery was robust. This has proven to be the case. However the one exception is the Lithium boom which sent companies scurrying to locations they had hitherto eschewed and produced somewhat of a staking boom, particularly in Argentina.
The countries that miners retreated from in 2011 are not necessarily the same territory when they return in 2017. Politics have changed, attitudes have changed, metals have come into or gone out of fashion and domestic priorities/needs have altered. This makes it an ideal time to revisit Latin America which had become a strong preserve of Canadian players from 2005 to 2011 and now is experiencing somewhat of a thaw in investors frosty outlook to the region.
Argentina
For many years Argentina had a paradoxically self-declared pro-mining government that miners loved to hate. The Kirchner regime did not make things easy. It was happy for miners to mine but then seemingly didn’t want the miners taking the profits back to their mothership (wherever that might be). All that ended with the overthrow of Kirchner by Mauricio Macri in late 2016 and the arrival of a pro-business government. Frankly Argentina didn’t miss all that much in the 2011-15 period as not much was happening in pro-mining OR anti-mining jurisdictions in Latin America. Indeed the timing of Macri’s appearance with the revived mining sector around the same time (particularly the Lithium boom) was very timely. Deals are starting to be done like the Golden Arrow Resources (TSXV: GRG | OTCQB: GARWF)/Silver Standard combination. We would expect to see more deals, or at least fluidity in the ownership of assets that have long been in the freezer.
A weather eye should be kept upon the upcoming elections for the Congress where Cristina Kirchner is putting herself forward as a wannabe legislator. This will be a litmus test of where things might be heading in the next Presidential elections, which nevertheless are still a long way away in 2020.
Brazil
The country that is always “promising” but never delivers may not be true anymore but Brazil’s attempts to move into the global big leagues have been hampered by repeat own goals. It wants to be a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council but has had two Presidents indicted for corruption in the space of one year!
The most positive side effect of the political wobbles and moreover the economic slowdown, now that easy money has ended, is the decline in the Real against the dollar which has been a healthy kicker to those already producing or looking at kickstarting projects in Brazil.
The political environment has not harmed mining though as much as metals prices have, with large scale projects (most dependent upon iron ore) no longer dominating the airwaves (which is probably a good thing). Smaller projects in niche metals seem to be getting more of an airing with developers of Manganese and Nickel projects having crossed our desk in recent times. This trend will continue as metals prices trend back up and indeed we suspect that we will hear Brazil linked to more and more minerals with which it has not been traditionally associated. As for gold in Brazil, pretty blah..
Ecuador
This country has been the inevitable beneficiary of cycles and a dose of reality. The falling oil price also focused minds in government(s) that had believed that oil would always provide and mining was an unnecessary evil. As we have observed before, oil provides way less jobs than mining and does not necessarily move the broader economy forward in the way that mining can.
The shift of Fruta del Norte out of the deathly grip of Kinross has electrified the local scene. It caused us to dig out and dust off our Intierra map for Ecuador circa 2008 and review the long lost names and their concessions. This country is enormously prospective and if it can get its act together it might actually be what Colombia promised to be and did not deliver.
Watch this space..
Mexico
This country chugs along as the tried and true investment country of choice in LatAm. The main difference in recent times is that miners are finally ‘fessing up that cartels and crime are a problem. For years investors asked the question and were told “that’s another part of the state” now the truth (as much as can be) is being told. However from what we have seen it hasn’t precluded any investment in the country.
Otherwise Mexico is still very much open for business and is riddled with great projects waiting to be sparked into action by either metals prices or financings. The likes of Chesapeake Gold’s (TSXV: CKG | OTCQX: CHPGF) Metates project, Southern Silver’s Cerro la Minitas and Azure Minerals’ Alacran project spring to mind as some awaiting the appropriate trigger.
The problem for us is the producing companies that investors stuck with through the grim days who still aren’t giving up a dividend. We have a special part of hell reserved for these companies (you know who you are). Ironically that makes the Mexican-owned and -listed companies (e.g. Peñoles, Frisco) more attractive than many of the TSX-listed ones. To the offenders…. must try harder..