Categories: General Market Commentary
Topics: General Market Commentary

Resource Stock Digest Coffee Talk

This is Gerardo Del Real, your Resource Stock Digest editor. I wanted to just reach out and share some of what I'm looking at as we begin the week. 

It's been an exciting Monday with a lot of very significant resource news starting with Atco Mining (CSE: ATCM)(OTC: ATMGF). Atco — which has a market cap of just C$2.5 million — has signed an LOI to acquire up to a 75% interest in the drill-ready, fully-permitted Atlantic Uranium Project in Canada’s Athabasca Basin from Standard Uranium. Of course, the timing is excellent with the uranium spot price surging past the US$100/lb level and, in my opinion, headed much higher. At that level of market cap and with drilling imminent, Atco Mining presents one of the better speculations in the junior resource space.

Dolly Varden (TSX-V: DV)(OTC: DOLLF) released news from its ongoing step out drill campaign at the Homestake Ridge property located in the Golden Triangle of British Columbia, Canada. Hole-389 has intersected a new gold-rich zone — highlighted by 79.49 grams per tonne gold over 12.45 meters, including 1,335 grams per tonne gold over 0.68 meters — to the northwest of the Homestake Silver Deposit. To me, Dolly Varden is a prime takeout target. I’m in the process of tracking down CEO Shawn Khunkhun for a chat and will bring you that interview as soon as it happens.

Also today, Alaska Energy Metals (TSX-V: AEMC)(OTC: AKEMF) significantly increased its 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate at its 100%-owned Eureka deposit (Nikolai Nickel Project) over in my old stomping grounds of Alaska. The update increases the nickel metal content of the deposit to over 8 billion pounds, or more than 3.7 million tonnes. The grade is a bit lower but the scale most definitely helps offset that. Clearly, something to watch for there as I believe the market has been underestimating the potential scale of the project. I’m also looking forward to chatting with CEO Gregory Beischer.

One of my favorite gold exploration companies — Headwater Gold (CSE: HWG)(OTC: HWAUF) — today reported drill results from initial drilling at its Midas North project in Nevada. I'll be talking with CEO Caleb Stroup tomorrow about that program and the multiple programs the company has planned for 2024. I’ll have that interview posted by Wednesday at the very latest. 

In terms of the metals, gold continues to trade firmly above the US$2,000 per ounce level where it appears to be building strong resistance. And copper looks very interesting to me at the current US$3.65 per pound level. I believe both metals will trade substantially higher in 2H 2024… so positioning early will be key.

We noted uranium’s strong push above US$100 per pound. Hence, I’d be remiss not to mention that F3 Uranium (TSX-V: FUU)(OTC: FUUFF) today announced an exceptionally high-grade intercept of 66.8% U3O8 over 0.5 meters within 42.4% U3O8 over 2.0 meters at the JR Zone (PLN Uranium Project) in the Athabasca Basin. I’ll have more on that later this week as well.

On an aside, I’m curious to see, once the Chinese Lunar New Year passes, if there will be additional stimulus pumped into the Shanghai Stock Exchange and how that might relate to China’s economy, which, of course, is the biggest driver of resource commodity prices in the world.

We’ve entered a 2024 resource market that should be incentivizing everyone to get their due diligence list taken care of and to start adding to positions in key metals such as uranium, gold, silver, copper, and lithium, among others, in whatever stage of the exploration, development, or production cycle you prefer to dabble in.

I cover all this and more in detail in my other publication, Junior Resource Monthly, click here to learn more.

Let's get it!

Gerardo Del Real
Editor, Resource Stock Digest