Gold and Silver miners (Jr and Exploration)

[Edge83]

PVG listed as a top 5 stock here.

3. Pretium Resources (PVG)

Pretium Resources became an active miner only this year after its high-grade British Columbian Brucejack mine was completed. The deposit contains reserves of 8.7 million toz gold and has annual production of more than 500,000 toz gold. An AISC of approximately $500 is expected over the first 8 years. Importantly, the deposit is still open in several directions, and there is a lot of potential for further growth. Moreover, Pretium owns also a much larger, but only low-grade, gold deposit at Snowfield. Little value is attributed to Snowfield at the current gold price, however, after gold climbs to the $1,400-1,500/toz area, Snowfield will start to be much more valuable.

Pretium's market capitalization is around $2.1 billion, but it has still some nice upside potential left. The main issue is one involving the complex geology of the deposit and some historical controversies regarding the suitability of the geology model used by Pretium. The reserves grade is 16.1 g/t gold, however, Pretium hasn't reported that the feed grades have approached reserves grade yet. In Q3, the feed grade was only 10.5 g/t gold. However, during August and September, it reached the 12.36 g/t level. Only several days ago, Pretium announced that it submitted an application to expand the throughput rate at the Brucejack mine from the current level of 2,700 tpd to 3,800 tpd. The expansion should cost less than $25 million.

There will be a lot of important events and potential catalysts in 2018. In January or February, the Q4 production and financial results should be announced. If the feed grades approached the projected reserve grades, the market reaction should be very positive. Positive financial results should also be an important catalyst, as Pretium will need as much cash as possible to repurchase the silver-gold stream. It can be repurchased on December 31, 2018, or on December 31, 2019. Also, a senior secured loan facility worth $350 million plus accrued interests of approximately $50 million matures on December 31, 2018, but it can be extended to December 31, 2019. Both - the repurchase of the stream, as well as repayment or refinancing of the debt - will be important catalysts. During the spring and summer months, regional exploration will progress to another phase, and several new high-priority targets will be drill-tested. Given the potential of Pretium's properties, many investors will be eagerly waiting for the results. Moreover, sometime in H2 2018, the permitting of the Brucejack expansion to 3,800 tpd should be completed. Pretium's shareholders definitely shouldn't be bored in 2018.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4134395-top-5-mining-stocks-watch-2018