The KE Report KE Report

Dana Lyons, Fund Manager and Editor of The Lyons Share Pro, joins us to review the recent pullback in most market sectors, and how he is trading the volatility in US equities, copper, gold, and silver.  With regards to the overall health of the general US equity markets he notes that most of the weakness has been in the weighted indexes and larger cap stocks.  When reviewing the better market breadth and that the small-cap and mid-cap stocks held up better the end of this week, he sees that as a constructive sign of underlying market strength. Technically their models have not changed to bearish and Dana is still constructive for higher levels in the medium-term. 
 
Pivoting over to the commodities weakness this we saw all week long, we touch on the pullback in copper, gold, and silver, and in particular, where he would look to start scaling back in based on technical signals and Fibonacci retracement levels.  When looking at the volatility in silver, Dana shares his thoughts on how this can be an opportunity for swing-traders and position-traders, but feels despite the consolidation of the recent gains, that he’d be looking to accumulate anywhere down near where the breakouts started. 
 
Click here to visit The Lyons Share Pro website to follow along with what Dana is investing in.

Marc Chandler, Managing Partner at Bannockburn Global ForEx and Editor of Marc To Market, joins us to discuss the upcoming crucial two weeks in global markets. We explore the anticipated central bank meetings, including likely rate cuts from the European Central Bank and Bank of Canada.
 
The conversation also highlights major political events, such as elections in South Africa, India, and Mexico, and their potential impacts on local markets and currencies. Additionally, Marc emphasizes the importance of forthcoming U.S. economic data, including job reports and CPI figures, in shaping Federal Reserve policy and market expectations.
 
The discussion further delves into the implications for currency movements, commodity trends, and the bond market, addressing the interconnectedness and potential volatility driven by these diverse factors. Finally, Marc shares his outlook on sectors and regions that might benefit amidst these market dynamics.
 
Click here to visit Marc's website - Marc To Market.

Segun Lawson, President and CEO of Thor Explorations (TSX.V: THX) (AIM: THX) (OTC: THXPF), joins me to review the Q1 2024 financial results and operations at the Segilola Gold Mine, and provides a gold exploration update for Segilola,  the Thor Lithium claims in Nigeria, and increased land and exploration at the Douta Project in Senegal.
 
Financial Highlights
 
17,420 oz of gold sold with an average gold price of US$2,033 per oz.
Cash operating cost of US$418 per oz sold and all-in sustaining cost ("AISC") of US$632 per oz sold. [In Q1 2024, lower cost medium and high grade stockpile was fed through the mill resulting in a lower than expected cash operating cost and AISC].
Q1 2024 revenue of US$33.3 million
Q1 2024 EBITDA of US$23.3 million
Q1 2024 net profit of US$12.4 million
Cash and cash equivalents of US$2.8 million as at March 31, 2024
Senior debt facility reduced to US$15.2 million as at March 31, 2024.
Net debt of US$14.3 million as at March 31, 2024.
 
 
Segilola Production
 
Gold recovered for the Period totalled 19,589 ounces.

Mill feed grade was 2.85 grammes per tonne gold with recovery at 90.71%
The process plant maintained the Q4 2023 productivity levels, higher than design, throughput rates with all the main operating units continuing to perform better than expected.
A leach circuit tank upgrade aimed at reducing the gold in circuit through 2024 was completed in the Period.

 
Segilola Near-Mine Exploration
 
Exploration during the Period has prioritised working up near mine drill targets as well as carrying out structural studies aimed at designing drill programmes for the Segilola Underground Resource in Q2 2024. The Company is aiming to define an updated underground resource before the end of 2024.
10,000 metres of drilling expected to commence in June 2024, with a likely increase to the size of the drilling programme should there be successful drilling results.
 
Douta Exploration
 
In the post period, the acquisition of the Douta-West Licence (announced April 3, 2024) was completed. The license lies contiguous to the Company's existing Douta Permit and contains advanced exploration targets.
Thor's strategy is to combine both licences and scale up the size of a combined Douta Project for the Douta Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS"). The Douta PFS workstreams continue, alongside the growth of the oxide component of the resource across both licences.
This growth will add to the existing mineral resource estimate ("MRE") that currently comprises of a total of approximately 1.78 million ounces ("Moz") of gold.
A 15,000 meter drilling program commenced after the Period and is targeted at growing the current oxide component of the resource from approximately 250,000 oz to over 500,000 oz over the next six months.
 
If you have any questions for Segun regarding the ongoing work at Thor Explorations, then please email me at  shad@kereport.com.
 
*In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Thor Explorations at the time of this recording.
 
Click here to read over the recent news out of the Company.

Peter Krauth, author of the book The Great Silver Bull and editor of the Silver Stock Investor newsletter, joins me for a wide-ranging discussion the recent breakout in silver prices, the supply/demand fundamentals driving this move higher in silver, and some pro tips on stacking silver and investing in the silver stocks.
 
We start off noting the recent breakout higher, and why Peter believes this is the beginning of a sustained move higher in the sector, why we should appreciate silver prices in the $30s along the journey, the $50 silver target, and even potentially higher prices this cycle.  We review the supply and demand factors moving silver higher from both the precious metals side and the industrial side, and how those may develop over time. Peter provides some great advice and the things to be cognizant of when accumulating physical silver through custodians, and when investing in electronic forms of silver.  He points out that with regards to spectrum of PM ETFs that his preference is for the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (PSLV).
 
Shifting over into the silver stocks, we cover general comment on the whole spectrum of companies  from the larger to mid-size producers like Endeavour Silver (EDR.TO) (EXK) and First Majestic (FR.TO) (AG), down to the developers with ounces defined in the ground for optionality, and then some of the opportunities sprouting up in the junior explorers.
 
Click here to visit Peter’s site and follow along with his analysis of the silver sector
 
 

Jeff Christian, Managing Partner at the CPM Group joins us to focus on the recent volatility in silver.
 
The discussion covers a broad spectrum of factors influencing silver prices, including technical momentum, investor demand, and industrial applications. Jeff explains the erratic price movements observed in 2023, noting that silver prices have fluctuated significantly due to economic uncertainty and investor sentiment.
 
We then look to at the Commitment of Traders (CoT) reports, highlighting the dynamics between commercial and non-commercial entities. Jeff touches upon the concept of market congestion and clarifies the difference between a short squeeze and price congestion. He emphasizes that while technical charts, industrial demand, and investment interest collectively drive silver prices, the fundamental economics of silver supply and demand act as overall limiting factors.
 
Finally, Jeff speculates on short-term price movements driven by open interest in futures contracts and concludes with cautionary advice for investors based on the historical behavior of the silver market.
 
Click here to visit the CPM Group website to keep up to date with Jeff's metals commentary.

Leif Nilsson, CEO & Director of Surge Copper (TSX.V:SURG – OTCQX:SRGXF), joins me for a comprehensive update on the ongoing exploration and development work at the flagship copper-molybdenum-silver-gold Berg Project in British Columbia.
 
We start off having Leif outline the key economic metrics from the PEA released last summer, for a sense of the size and scale of the Project, and how it stacks up to other large copper development assets in Canada. 
 
Base case after-tax NPV8% of C$2.1 billion and IRR of 20% based on long-term commodity price assumptions of US$4.00/lb copper, US$15.00/lb molybdenum, US$23/oz silver, and US$1,800/oz gold plus foreign exchange of 0.77 USDCAD
30-year mine life with total payable production of 5.8 billion pounds (2.6 million tonnes) of copper equivalent (CuEq), including 3.7 billion pounds (1.7 million tonnes) of copper
Updated mineral resource estimate includes combined Measured & Indicated resource of 1.0 billion tonnes grading 0.23% copper, 0.03% molybdenum, 4.6 g/t silver, and 0.02 g/t gold, containing 5.1 billion pounds of copper, 633 million pounds of molybdenum, 150 million ounces of silver, and 744 thousand ounces of gold, plus an additional 0.5 billion tonnes of material in the Inferred category.
 
This leads into a discussion on how the economics would change with sensitivities to current metals prices, and we’ll also include a table that demonstrates this optionality down below this interview.  We also mention that the critical minerals component of the copper and moly mineralization gives the company some optionality when looking at raising capital for the development of the project down the road.
 
Next we dig into to the news released to the market on April 10th, about the planned technical work programs in support of an upcoming Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), which are expected to commence in the coming weeks and extend through the summer field season. Leif outline some of these initiatives for further derisking the Berg Project through metallurgical testing, environmental baseline studies, geochemistry and geotechnical work, and then more surface mapping and sampling to advance the high-priority Berg SW Target.  We also reviewed the  announced strategic investment by African Rainbow Minerals Limited (“ARM”), and the recent sidecar private placement to cash the company up for these work programs.
 
If you have any follow-up questions for Leif regarding Surge Copper, then please email them to me at Shad@kereport.com.
 
In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Surge Copper at the time of this recording.
 
Click here to follow along with the latest news from Surge Copper