ORENINC INDEX – Monday, March 19th 2018

Last week index score: 26.73

This week: 40.03

Prospero Silver (TSXV:PSL) discovered a new gold & silver-bearing epithermal vein system during a three-hole drill program at the Pachuca SE project in Hidalgo, Mexico.

Avrupa Minerals (TSXV:AVU) said its C$500,000 private placement financing is fully subscribed.

The Oreninc Index surged in the week ending March 16th, 2018, with the index increasing to 40.03 from 26.73 a week ago as financings, particularly brokered deals, began flowing again.

Despite strong fundamentals for precious and base metals, stocks continue to chart with insouciance. Certainly, cryptocurrencies and marijuana stocks have occupied some of the investor attention that would formerly have been doted on them.

A relatively quiet week on the geopolitical front, with a diplomatic spat arising between the UK and Russia over the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter in the UK. The UK has expelled Russian diplomats and Russia has returned the favour.

Gold experienced rolling punches throughout the week as rising inflation in the US could transpose into multiple interest rate rises throughout the year. The US CPI Index rose 0.2% in February following from a 0.5% increase in January, higher than expectations. Whilst a 25-basis point interest rate increase is widely expected at the Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting this week all ears will be on the tone of its comments about the potential for additional rises later this year.

On to the money: total fund raises announced increased to C$85.6 million, a two-week high, which included seven brokered financing for C$25.3m, a two-week high, and two bought-deal financings for C$15.7 million, a two-week low. The average offer size more than doubled to C$2.6 million, a two-week high.

A less volatile but deflationary week for gold saw the yellow metal close down at US$1,314/oz from US$1,323/oz a week ago. The van Eck managed GDXJ also closed down slightly at US$31.41 from US$31.72 last week. The index is down 7.97% so far in 2018. The US Global Go Gold ETF fared slightly better to close up on the week at US$12.44 from US$12.43 a week ago. It is down 4.37% so far in 2018. The HUI Arca Gold BUGS Index continued to fall and closed down at 171.16 from 172.92 last week. This index features 15 companies involved in gold mining and is an indication of how well gold companies perform relating to the gold price. The SPDR GLD ETF saw gains in the week to close at 840.22 tonnes from 833.73 tonnes a week ago.

In other commodities, the silver sell-off continued as it closed down at US$16.33/oz from US$16.58/oz a week ago. Copper also had a negative week and closed slightly down at US$3.10/lb from US$3.13/lb last week. Meanwhile, oil closed slightly up at US$62.34 a barrel from US$62.04 a barrel a week ago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average pulled back in the week to close down at 24,946 from 25,335 last week. Conversely, Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up at 15,711 from 15,577 the previous week. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index also put in gains and closed at 833.67 from 828.90 last week.

Summary:

• Number of financings tripled to 33, a six-week high.

• Seven brokered financings were announced this week for C$25.3m, a two-week high.

• Two bought-deal financings were announced this week for C$15.7m, a two-week high.

• Total dollars shot up to C$85.6m, a two-week high.

• Average offer size more than doubled to C$2.6m, a two-week high.

Financing Highlights

International Tower Hill Mines (TSX:ITH) opened a C$15.6 million offering on a best efforts basis.

• Non-brokered private placement of 24.0 million shares @ US $0.50 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of US$12 million (C$15.6 million).
• Proceeds to be used for the continuation of optimization studies in efforts to further improve and de-risk the Livengood gold project, required environmental baseline studies and general working capital purposes.
• New strategic investor Electrum Strategic Opportunities Fund acquired 19.9 million shares (10.7%). Paulson & Co acquired 4.1 million shares to increase its ownership to 32.0%.

Major Financing Openings:

• International Tower Hill Mines (TSX:ITH) opened a C$15.6 million offering on a best efforts basis.
• Auryn Resources (TSXV:AUG) opened a C$8.76 million offering underwritten by a syndicate led by Cantor Fitzgerald Canada on a bought deal basis. The deal is expected to close on or about March 23rd.
• Tinka Resources (TSXV:TK) opened a C$7.01 million offering underwritten by a syndicate led by GMP Securities on a bought deal basis. Each unit includes half a warrant that expires in 12 months. The deal is expected to close on or about April 4th.
• Tinka Resources (TSXV:TK) opened a C$6 million offering on a best efforts basis.

Major Financing Closings:

• Millennial Lithium (TSXV:ML) closed a C$24.15 million offering underwritten by a syndicate led by Canaccord Genuity on a bought deal basis. Each unit included half a warrant that expires in 24 months.
• International Tower Hill Mines (TSX:ITH) closed a C$15.6 million offering on a best efforts basis.
• Millennial Lithium (TSXV:ML) closed a C$6.38 million offering on a strategic deal basis. Each unit included half a warrant that expires in 24 months.
• Stina Resources (TSXV:SQA) closed a C$3 million offering on a best efforts basis.

Company News

Prospero Silver (TSXV:PSL) discovered a new gold & silver-bearing epithermal vein system during a three-hole drill program at the Pachuca SE project in Hidalgo, Mexico.

• An 1,800m drill program tested three targets with deep, angled holes with intercepts including 1.35m @ 227Ag demonstrating that the negligible Ag and Au anomalies we noted in the surface alteration are related to a potentially significant epithermal vein system at depth.
• The Pachuca drilling completes proof of concept drilling of three initial targets funded by Fortuna Silver (TSX:FVI).

Analysis

Prospero cut new vein systems within 25km of one of the world’s great silver-gold districts that produced over 1.2Boz of silver. Hitting multi-ounce and multi-gram silver and gold grades during scout drilling bodes well for future follow-up drilling on the 6-7km of linear, structurally-controlled alteration at surface on its concession. Following completion of the proof-of-concept drilling, Fortuna now has the option to enter into a JV on one of the targets tested.

Avrupa Minerals (TSXV:AVU) said its C$500,000 private placement financing is fully subscribed.

• 6.25 million units @ C0.08. Each unit is comprised of one share and a warrant exercisable @ C$0.12 for two years.
• Proceeds will be used for working capital and exploration in Portugal and Kosovo.

About Oreinc.com:

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The Oreninc Deal Log keeps track of over 1,400 companies, bringing transparency to an otherwise impenetrable jungle of information. The goal is to increase the visibility of transactions and to show financings activity in a digestible format. Through its daily logging activities, Oreninc is in a position to pinpoint momentum changes in the markets, identify which commodities are trending and which projects are currently receiving funding.

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