Lakeland Resources Inc. President Jonathan Armes (TSX-V:LK)
Lakeland Resources Inc. is a pure play uranium exploration company focused on the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada, home to some of the world’s largest and richest high-grade uranium deposits. The Company’s common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “LK”, on the OTCQX under the symbol “LRESF” and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “6LL”.
- Published in Mining
How close is the US to energy independence?
It has been more than a year since Citigroup Inc. published “Energy 2020: Independence Day,” outlining the impacts of progress toward North American energy self-sufficiency. For this special 4th of July edition of The Energy Report, we reached out to experts in the energy investing space for an update on how recent political events and production t…
It has been more than a year since Citigroup Inc. published “Energy 2020: Independence Day,” outlining the impacts of progress toward North American energy self-sufficiency. For this special 4th of July edition of The Energy Report, we reached out to experts in the energy investing space for an update on how recent political events and production trends in the field impact our ability to produce what we use. For Porter Stansberry, Marin Katusa, Chris Martenson, Bill Powers and Cactus Schroeder, the prospects for the future—and the associated investing opportunities—depend on the perspective.
The Energy Report: In light of the conflict in Ukraine and Iraq, is U.S. energy independence more important than ever?
Porter Stansberry: Energy self-sufficiency is a political issue, not an economic one. There is no particular advantage to being energy “independent.” Yes, it is important to have enough production capacity to sustain our economy in the event of a global or trade war, but that’s also true for many other products, such as food. What really matters for the wealth of our country and for our standard of living is that we maximize our competitive advantage in trade with other countries. If there are other places that can produce energy more efficiently (and thus, more cheaply) than we can produce it here, then we should maximize that advantage through trade.
Going forward, I believe the U.S. will be the clear leader in producing, refining and transporting natural gas around the world. We have the world’s largest natural gas pipeline system and the world’s largest functional reserves of natural gas. Given this comparative advantage, we should seek to maximize gas production by gaining access to world markets. That is happening with the huge, ongoing liquefied natural gas (LNG) build-out, and that is why Targa Resources Corp. (TRGP:NYSE), a stock I pitched not too long ago, has done so incredibly well.
Given that we consume around 18 million barrels per day (18 MMbbl/d) of crude oil in the U.S., and our domestic production is only around 8 MMbbl/d, it will be years before we will become energy independent in terms of oil. On the other hand, if you count coal exports, you could argue that we are already energy independent. In any case, even though we don’t yet produce enough crude oil to meet all of our domestic consumption needs, I do think you’ll soon see the U.S. begin to lift restrictions on crude oil exports. And I think that’s a very important move for us to make.
Why would I want to see us exporting crude if we’re not making enough to satisfy our own demand for crude? Again, you have to understand how wealth is built through trade, and the idea of competitive advantage. We can’t use all of the light sweet crude we’re currently producing in Texas because we don’t have the right kind of refineries. It would be far better for our country to sell oil to the highest global bidder than to consume it in less optimal ways. The higher profits could be reinvested in more production and new refineries here in the U.S.
Crude exports would also have important benefits for our overall economy. They’re the only likely way to solve our chronic current account deficits. Given that the U.S. Department of the Interior is an unwelcome partner in lots of oil production in the U.S., it’s good for our government’s deficit problem too.
Marin Katusa: The best thing the U.S. can do is lift the crude export ban. That will result in lower gas prices for the average American. Refineries in the U.S. have spent billions to modify those refineries to be able to treat the heavier crudes. The fracking revolution has unlocked the light oil, but that oil is trading at a discount because the pipelines are not in place to move it to play the arbitrage. Rail has picked up some of the slack, but the North American sector still needs to invest in its infrastructure. It will happen, but it will take longer than we want it to.
The U.S. will not be energy independent by the media tag line of 2020. It is still a major importer of oil. But the potential is there for the U.S. to become a major exporter of LNG and oil. Unfortunately, the government will not do what it needs to do during this administration to make that happen.
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- Published in Mining
Tauriga Sciences Announces Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement
On March 10, 2014, Tauriga Sciences, Inc., a Florida corporation (the “Company”), entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Hanover Holdings I, LLC, a New York limited liability company (the “Investor”), as described in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 14, 2014 (the “March 14 8-K”). In connection with the Purchase Agreement, the Investor agreed to place $250,000 in escrow to be released upon the closing of the Merger (as defined in the March 14 8-K).
On June 27, 2014, the Investor agreed to amend the provisions of the escrow such that the $250,000 was immediately released to the Company.
- Published in Blog
Gold exports exhibit robust growth in India
The silver jewelry exports from India remained almost flat year-on-year at $108.59 million (Rs. 644.04 Crore) in May 2014 while its gold jewelry exports surged higher by 26.84{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} year-on-year to $626.16 million, in accordance with the latest data released by the Gems and Jewelry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
According to GJEPC, country’s cut and p…
The silver jewelry exports from India remained almost flat year-on-year at $108.59 million (Rs. 644.04 Crore) in May 2014 while its gold jewelry exports surged higher by 26.84{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} year-on-year to $626.16 million, in accordance with the latest data released by the Gems and Jewelry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).
According to GJEPC, country’s cut and polished diamond exports in May reached $1,636.47 million, dropping less than 1{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} over the previous year. The country’s export of coloured gemstones plunged by 33.91{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} from $47.12 million in May 2013 to $28.88 million in May 2014. The exports of pearls too tumbled to $0.07 million from $0.33 million a year ago. The exports of synthetic stones witnessed sharp fall of 44{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} from $11.08 million in May 2013 to $6.16 million in May 2014.
India’s did not export gold medallions coins during the month of May this year, as compared with the exports of $20.11 million (Rs. 110.63 Crores) during the same month a year ago. The export of rough diamond from the country scaled higher by 14.20{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} in May. The exports of rough diamonds during the month totaled $142.53 million (Rs. 845.35 Crore).
The figures released by the country’s Export Promotion Council demonstrate robust growth in exports of gold jewelry, whereas a sharp decline in exports of gemstones, pearls, gold medallions and coins during May ‘14.
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- Published in Mining
Geopolitical tensions placing pressure on gold and silver
The gold price looks set to post its second consecutive quarterly gain later today. It is currently hanging around its two-month high of $1,325.90. Silver is also ready to post its second-quarterly gain but has extended a drop in price.
Speaking of quarterly figures, asset in the SPDR Gold Trust have decreased this quarter, and have now fallen by…
The gold price looks set to post its second consecutive quarterly gain later today. It is currently hanging around its two-month high of $1,325.90. Silver is also ready to post its second-quarterly gain but has extended a drop in price.
Speaking of quarterly figures, asset in the SPDR Gold Trust have decreased this quarter, and have now fallen by 1.7{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} since the start of the year. Holdings currently stand at 785.02 tonnes this year.
Geopolitical tensions continue to place upward pressure on both the gold and silver price. The Iraq army have sent troops and vehicles to fight against the insurgents from the north of Iraq. In Ukraine there has been an outbreak of violence between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces.
The gold price posted a near-7{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} gain in the first quarter of the year and looks to post a 2.5{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} gain this quarter.
I suspect we will see a quiet few days at the start of the week as Thursday sees the ECB meeting and then the U.S. jobs data on Friday.
Clearing statistics released by the LBMA on Friday shows that the net volume of gold and silver transferred between member accounts fell during the month of May, however the number of transfers was overall unchanged.
Year-on-year comparisons show that there has been a fall in the number of transfers compared to May last year, it was a similar story for silver transfers.
China’s gold imports from Hong Kong fell to their lowest since January, in May. Last month only 52.3 metric tons were imported, 20{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} lower than the amount seen in April.
Getting out of the World Gold Council
In a blow for the World Gold Council, South African miners AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields will not renew their membership of the market-development organisation. ‘Members pay per ounce of metal produced and with all the cost-cutting we’ve seen, especially here at Gold Fields, we’ve had a look very carefully at our membership of all sorts of organisation around the world.’ said the GoldFields spokesman.
Shanghai spot gold
Chinese news sites are reporting that China may launch an international trading board in the fourth-quarter of the year in the Shanghai Free Trading zone. The move is part of the government’s desire to influence the international gold market. A spokesman for the new board said that it will adopt ‘Shanghai Gold,’ a spot gold trading mechanism.
South African platinum for sale
The Sunday Times reported yesterday that Anglo American Plc will sell some of its South African platinum mines, as part of its $4 billion asset sale plan. Platinum has climbed 0.3{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} an ounce and will also post a second-quarterly increase.
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- Published in Mining
What iron ore’s plunge means for miners
An extended decline in iron ore, down 30 percent this year to near a two-year low, may limit the scope of potential share buybacks by the world’s biggest mining companies BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group.
“The most pertinent question is whether Rio will be bold enough to proceed with a much mooted share buyback in early 2015 if iron ore ends 2…
An extended decline in iron ore, down 30 percent this year to near a two-year low, may limit the scope of potential share buybacks by the world’s biggest mining companies BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group.
“The most pertinent question is whether Rio will be bold enough to proceed with a much mooted share buyback in early 2015 if iron ore ends 2014 on a weak note,” Macquarie analyst Jeff Largey wrote in a report yesterday. The bank estimates BHP could buy back 5 percent of its market value and Rio 10 percent, about $19 billion of shares at today’s prices.
Waning Chinese demand coupled with an expanding worldwide glut of the steel-making material saw iron ore decline to $89 a metric ton on June 16, the lowest since September 2012. Analysts widely expect London-based Rio to bolster its cash return beyond its dividend when reporting earnings in February. BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, has also been forecast to return cash to investors as early as August.
“We question whether Rio may look to limit the scope of a potential buyback,” Largey said. “A weaker than expected iron ore price and a share buyback may limit future funding flexibility.”
Rio Chief Executive Officer Sam Walsh said in a December interview that the company’s drive to strip out more than $2.3 billion of costs since the start of 2013 would provide the board with options to return cash to investors. The board will decide on the size of any possible return prior to its full-year earnings announcement in February, he said.
$100 average
Rio Tinto’s London-based spokesman Illtud Harri and London- based BHP spokesman Ruban Yogarajah both declined to comment.
If the price of iron ore averages below $100 a ton this year BHP and Rio “may struggle to justify a share buyback program and expect to meet credit metrics,” Largey said. Still, if the price rebounds toward the bank’s second-half estimated average of $108 a ton, a buyback could be justified, he said.
Iron ore with 62 percent content delivered to Tianjin port in China, a benchmark, rose 0.4 percent to $93.70 a dry ton today, according to The Steel Index Ltd.
Rio slid 0.9 percent to 3,069 pence by 1:58 pm. in London, valuing it at about $98 billion. BHP fell 1.4 percent to 1,895.5 pence at the same time, valuing it at about $177 billion.
Rio has said its focus this year is to cut debt from $18.1 billion at the end of last year.
It may buy back $3 billion to $5 billion of shares next year, Jefferies LLC analyst Chris LaFemina estimated after Rio reported $10.2 billion of underlying 2013 profit in February.
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- Published in Mining
How to capitalize on new energy opportunities
With 400 million more people set to get on the grid in India alone, smart investors will profit from new demand for all kinds of energy.
In this interview with The Energy Report, Frank Holmes and Brian Hicks of U.S. Global Investors share some of their favorite ways to build a diversified portfolio that takes advantage of opportunities large and…
With 400 million more people set to get on the grid in India alone, smart investors will profit from new demand for all kinds of energy.
In this interview with The Energy Report, Frank Holmes and Brian Hicks of U.S. Global Investors share some of their favorite ways to build a diversified portfolio that takes advantage of opportunities large and small, domestic and international.
Frank Holmes is CEO and chief investment officer at U.S. Global Investors Inc., which manages a diversified family of mutual funds and hedge funds specializing in natural resources, emerging markets and infrastructure. The company’s funds have earned many awards and honors during Holmes’ tenure, including more than two dozen Lipper Fund Awards and certificates. He is also an adviser to the International Crisis Group, which works to resolve global conflict, and the William J. Clinton Foundation on sustainable development in nations with resource-based economies. Holmes coauthored The Goldwatcher: Demystifying Gold Investing (2008). Holmes is a former president and chairman of the Toronto Society of the Investment Dealers Association, and he served on the Toronto Stock Exchange’s Listing Committee. A regular contributor to investor education websites and a much-sought-after keynote speaker at national and international investment conferences, he is also a regular commentator on the financial television networks and has been profiled by Fortune, Barron’s, The Financial Times and other publications.
Brian Hicks joined U.S. Global Investors Inc. in 2004 as a comanager of the company’s Global Resources Fund (PSPFX). He is responsible for portfolio allocation, stock selection and research coverage for the energy and basic materials sectors. Prior to joining U.S. Global Investors, Hicks was an associate oil and gas analyst for A.G. Edwards Inc. He also worked previously as an institutional equity/options trader and liaison to the foreign equity desk at Charles Schwab Co., and at Invesco Funds Group, Inc. as an industry research and product development analyst. Hicks holds a master’s degree in finance and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Colorado.
The Energy Report: India’s new prime minister, Narendra Modi, has pledged to bring electricity to the 400 million Indians currently without power. How is he going to do this, and how can investors get exposure to this massive infrastructure investment?
Brian Hicks: One of our investing tenets is to follow government policy, because that is a precursor to change. Infrastructure investment in India is a long-term theme, and is going to require a lot of raw materials and fuel sources. The power could come from coal and nuclear. It’s one thing to generate power; it’s another thing to actually distribute that power and get it out to the rural areas. That means a lot of copper to build out the infrastructure grid.
In the end, this will be a massive investment, and there will be a number of ways to play it. I would consider investing in the engineering and construction firms like Fluor Corp. (FLR:NYSE), which could win infrastructure contracts.
TER: China is in the midst of a similar infrastructure build-out. Is that a coal and nuclear approach as well?
BH: Absolutely, and the Chinese are further along than India. China has invested heavily in the power grid. That has resulted in a tremendous ramp-up in production of steel, cement and iron ore, as well as an upswing in copper usage. All go into generating power. Obviously, coal has been fueling much of China’s power generation, and will probably continue to do so. The government is trying to pull back on the margin because of pollution concerns, but it will probably be part of the equation for many years to come.
Frank Holmes: The global real gross domestic product annual growth rate has declined from a peak 5.4{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} in 2010 to 3{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} last year. With the U.S. economy turning up, constructive news out of China and new leadership in India, the global GDP could rise to 3.5{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce}. This is very positive for commodities from energy to copper to gold. Modi’s goal of 400 million people having access to electricity would mean a lot of copper demand and energy consumption.
TER: Aside from China and India, what energy resource areas are poised to do better in the second half of 2014?
BH: We are very constructive across the spectrum for energy. Oil prices are moving above $100/barrel, whether it’s West Texas Intermediate or Brent crude, and that’s going to be very positive for North American energy companies. We are seeing more signs of instability in key producing areas in the Middle East, including Libya and Iraq. That is going to weigh on global supply and keep oil prices well supported. Companies with production in geopolitically safe areas should do quite well in this environment.
We are very positive on natural gas. There has been some complacency about refilling storage after the extremely cold winter, and that should support natural gas prices for the near future. As we get into the summer months, cooling demand could strengthen gas prices again.
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- Published in Mining
Bolivia bans Bitcoin
The Bolivian government banned Bitcoin in May, CoinDesk announced yesterday:
El Banco Central de Bolivia, the central bank of the South American nation, has officially banned any currency or coins not issued or regulated by the government, including bitcoin and a list of other cryptocurrencies including namecoin, peercoin, Quark, primecoin and…
The Bolivian government banned Bitcoin in May, CoinDesk announced yesterday:
El Banco Central de Bolivia, the central bank of the South American nation, has officially banned any currency or coins not issued or regulated by the government, including bitcoin and a list of other cryptocurrencies including namecoin, peercoin, Quark, primecoin and feathercoin.
The decision to fully ban bitcoin puts Bolivia in unique standing in the international community, as other nations previously believed to be embracing restrictive policies – including China, Thailand and Russia – have since backed away from implementing similar measures.
Bolivia’s announcement is also unique within the context of decisions made by its South American neighbors. For example, earlier this March, a report suggested that The Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC), Colombia’s central bank, may have been seeking to implement a bitcoin ban.
However, despite worries from the local community, such fears did not come to pass. Colombia stopped short of the expected announcement, choosing instead to bar banks from working with digital currency companies.
Elsewhere in South America, central banks in Argentina and Brazil are permissive to digital currencies (…).
This is a major setback for investors in Bolivia but it doesn’t change much as far as the international picture is concerned. It is possible the country will follow in the footsteps of those countries which previously had banned Bitcoins but have since reneged. It’s too early to see this coming but we’ll be keeping an eye on more info about Bitcoin and Bolivia.
For now, let’s move on to the analysis of charts.
On the BitStamp chart, we see that Bitcoin declined back below $600 yesterday. This means the next move up is not confirmed at this time. On Wednesday, we said:
We saw a move above $600 (solid green line in the chart) yesterday. This seems extremely bullish for the short-term if we look at the price action only. The volume is slightly more worrying since it was actually lower than on Monday. Because of that, we don’t think this is a signal to jump into the market right away.
This caution turned out to be warranted as Bitcoin has come down since then. The move yesterday took place on relatively low volume which doesn’t indicate that the move is lasting.
Today, we saw Bitcoin move down, but it has returned since then (this is written before 10:30 a.m. EDT). The volume is increased compared to yesterday but neither the action nor the volume confirms a move up. The fact that Bitcoin is dancing around $600 seems to indicate that moves in both directions are possible.
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- Published in Mining