Value Microcaps Junior Miners

[Lone Clone]

TUO, ARK, EDV, RRI

If Teuton Resources aka TUO felt any trepidation when the company now known as Blackwolf Copper and Gold bought our Optimium Ventures, their JV partner on the Harry prospect in BC's Golden Triangle, they can relax. OPV had been very gung ho on Harry, and judging by their latest PR, BWCG is just as enthusiastic.

What got them going the most from the 2023 exploration was the identification of 'Brucejack-style remobilized coarse electrum veins' at Harry. Brucejack is the Newcrest-run high grade mine located further north along the same mineralizing trends. Identifying more of these high-grade at surface veins will be the focus of the coming 2024 exploration programme.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=34542506

Arras Minerals aka ARK has continued to re-assay historical core drilled on its extensive landholdings in Kazakhstan. This time we hear about three of the nineteen holes drilled into the Berezski East deposit on their Elemes property. Note that the holes were shallow and usually ended in mineralization.

Intersections like 108.0m grading 0.94% CuEq or 1.33 /t AuEq (1.30 g/t Au, 0.19% Cu, and 1.5 g/t Ag) starting at surface, including 30.8m grading 2.21% CuEq or 2.66 g/t AuEq (3.14 g/t Au, 0.39% Cu and 3.0 g/t Ag) starting at surface, are being interpreted by ARK's geologists as evidence of part of a gold-rich porphyry copper-gold system, which forms part of a far larger porphyry-epithermal system within Elemes. Between the various targets, they have now defined Intense alteration and widespread surface mineralization across a 5-km strike Length, open in multiple directions.

The company's focus at Elemes remains the main Berezski Central deposit, but defining other nearby minerlaization certainly enhances the overall project. Note that Elemes is not part of the exploration alliance with Teck over a number of their other landholdings.

https://irp.cdn-website.com/8c0a7d35/files/uploaded/22%20January%202024_Arras%20Minerals%20Berezki%20East%20Re-Assays_FINAL.pdf

In the wake of the recent firing on their longtime CEO for malfeasance, West African gold miner Endeavour Mining aka EDV needed some good news, which they delivered with the release of their Q4 results. Although Q4 production was flat from Q3 at 280k oz Au, this allowed them to meet or beat annual production guidance for the 11th straight year, and they were able to lower costs in Q4, propelling annual costs to the top end of guidance, the best among gold large caps.

They also released 2024 guidance. They plan to increase production by 18% to 1130-1270k oz Au thanks to mine startups in Q2. Thanks to the strong financial performance they ended 2023 with a cash stash of $517M in spite of construction and exploration costs plus spending $100M on dividends in H2 and $26M on share buybacks in Q4. I expect the cash to continue to build in 2024 unless they undertake a new transaction. It also wouldn't surprise me to see a dividend increase, though I would also like to see them start paying down debt.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=34545223

Prospect developer Riverside Resources aka RRI has extended its move into British Columbia by announcing the acquisition of two adjoining gold prospects in the southeast corner of the province. They can essentially be considered as one project; indeed, I am going to enter them into my notes as just Deer Park. BTW, last year they acquired a similar project not fr away.

Deer Park has already had considerable exploration including driving a number of adits. RRI are not 'close-ologists' who acquire properties just to use for promotional purposes; before completing the acquisition they carried out enough exploration to identify two prospects named Viking and Cougar Ridge which generated grab samples of up to 7.07 and 3.92 g/t Au, respectively. There are also BM targets on the property. Exploration and analysis are continuing with the goal of generating drill targets in 2024.

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=34545314

FWIW, Scotia revised their PM price deck, moving their long term gold price from $1700 to $1800. As well, they increased their 2024 gold price by 5% to $2000 and the 2025 gold price by 15% to $1950, while increasing silver prices marginally and adjusting a number of PM stock price targets, mostly upward.

Among the stocks I usually talk about here:
- BTO was kept at Sector Outperform (SO) while raising their target to $7.50
- EDV stayed at SO but the target was dropped to $37
- IAU stayed at SO but the target price was dropped to $4
- OGC was kept at SO but the target was raised to $4.25.