SP Angel . Morning View . Thursday 03 06 21
UK Manufacturing PMI hit record 65.6 in May
Easing restrictions bolster growth in the Eurozone
We are raising funds for a private Graphene producer – EIS scheme approval applied for
The company is selling a number of graphene products to industrial and retail customers.
Sales of certain products have sold out unexpectedly quickly.
The company wishes to fund a ramp up in production to get ahead of demand and to develop markets for a number of new, graphene products
The business is also able to upgrade graphite to a higher grade/specifications using its process – rolling out this process also requires funding
The company has also applied for EIS scheme approval from HMRC
Please let me know if you wish to invest in the company
*SP Angel’s role is limited to making introductions and interested parties should be aware that investment in a private company can present certain risks not present in listed companies (e.g. limited or no liquidity and no rules compelling disclosure of information to investors). This offer is open to professional investors only and is not offered to retail investors.
Bacanora Lithium (LON:BCN) – Bacanora grants extension to Ganfeng offer
Cora Gold (LON:CORA) – £3.1m placing
Kavango Resources (LON:KAV) – Copper-silver targets identified on KCB licenses
Nordgold – Expecting to list in London capitalising on strong gold price environment.
OreCorp (ASX:ORR) – The cabinet approves Nyanzaga SML
Premier African Minerals* (LON:PREM) – £1m placing to fund Zulu feasibility study
Pan African Resources (LON:PAF) – Renewal of Barberton’s Mining Licence
Tertiary Minerals* (LON:TYM) –– Trenching results from the Pyramid Project
VW – looking to move upstream into raw material supply
“we're looking at the entire process chain from the mine to recycling. We have to get actively involved in the raw materials business, ”.
Nickel – Union shuts Sudbury after rejecting a five-year wage deal. The move takes 43,500tpa off line
Copper - Chilean copper production fell 1.5% to 467,600t,
Bingham Canyon saw an unexpected landslide in Utah affecting another 140,000tpa
Peru – Pedro Castillo wants to double taxes to 70% of profits. Maybe some Chinese influence might be brought to bear by MMG which owns the Las Bambas copper mine (350,000tpa)
Chile – A senate mining committee voted on the glacier bill to exclude a clause that would have banned activity in and around glaciers, Bloomberg reports.
Bill will now move to senate environment and finance committees, with scope to make modifications.
Anglo American has previously argued in a letter to the committee that previously considered restrictions would force it to halt mining a the Los Bronces mine.
Codelco said that some of the proposed “absolute prohibitions” would require stopping activity at Andina and El Teniente.
Following reviews by respective committees the bill will move to the senate floor and, if approved, to the lower house.
The move is typical of the way Chile is able to soften more radical proposals.
Dow Jones Industrials +0.07% at 34,600
Nikkei 225 +0.39% at 29,058
HK Hang Seng -1.12% at 28,971
Shanghai Composite -0.36% at 3,584
Economics
US - Nevada is raising taxes on gold and silver to fund education, Bloomberg writes.
The state is introducing a new excise tax starting July 1 on gold and silver mines with gross annual revenues over $20m.
The tax will be 0.75% for revenues in the $20-150m range and 1.1% on gross revenues above that.
China - Yuan surge against US dollar as bilateral talks between China and the US resume
The stronger Yuan should help buyers of raw materials in China where rising inflation appears to be seen as a growing threat .
Growth rates among private companies stabilise in May with a slight pullback in the services sector.
Caixin Manufacturing PMI (released Tuesday): 52.0 v 51.9 in April and 52.0 est.
Caixin Services PMI (released today): 55.1 v 56.3 in April and 56.2 est.
Caixin Composite PMI (released today): 53.8 v 54.7 in April.
China’s Bad Bank on edge as Huarong tried to rectify $41bn borrowed in the bond markets
Huarong’s last Chairman was executed for corruption in January but Huarong’s debt is taking longer to dispatch.
The risk is that Huarong may destabilise the Chinese banking system as Lehman Bros did in the Subprime Financial Crisis
Huarong has been in full crisis mode ever since it delayed its 2020 earnings results hitting the price of Huarong debt.
The bank is supported by the state till August when $2.5bn of debt comes due
Meetings with the Finance Ministry and other agencies have so far failed to find a solution though we suspect the bank will be broken up.
China to test cross-boarder use of e-yuan between HK and Shenzen
The rollout of the e-currency follows recent banning of Bitcoin trading by banks and brokerages across China
China postpones Shanghai Air Expo due to fresh Covid-19 outbreak
Organisers put the event on hold after some scheduled exhibitors from Guangdong, a manufacturing hub at the centre of a new coronavirus outbreak, could not participate (SCMP).
China has also put its first fully automated wharf into operation at Guangdong Port this week saving around 70% on manpower.
The move highlights the advantages of having fewer personnel in the port area despite China’s desire to create more jobs.
Eurozone – Growth is revised higher in May as performance across manufacturing and services sectors picks up, according to final Markit PMI numbers.
Separately, newly released services PMIs for Italy and Spain showed a noticeable increase as a lifting of Covid-19 restrictions saw a more widespread reopening of business units and an uplift in demand.
Final Markit Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (released Tuesday): 63.1 v 62.8 previously.
Final Markit Eurozone Services PMI (released today): 55.2 v 55.1 previously.
Final Markit Eurozone Composite PMI (released today): 57.1 v 56.9 previously.
UK – record surge in manufacturing driven by new orders
IHS Markit / CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI rose to 65.6 in May from 60.9 in April - the highest since the survey started in 1992.
The figure is all the more remarkable given the slowdown in automotive manufacturing due to shortages of semiconductor chips and the impact of Brexit.
Rising exports are driven mainly by larger companies according to IHS Markit
The BoE forecasts 7.25% in 2021 offsetting a near 10% contraction last year.
UK – to start process of joining the CPTPP Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
Membership of the CPTPP should remove around 95% of all tariffs for trade between Japan, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, Peru, Brunei, Chile and Malaysia.
The UK is also closing in on a trade deal with Australia
Shipping – Freight fees rise five fold yoy and are forecast to remain high till the pandemic is under control
Container shortages expected to remain an issue till 2022 despite increasing production in China.
Port congestion and trade disruption continue to upset container flows as the US ramps up economic activity.
The cost of shipping a 40ft container from China to Dubai is now >US$5,000 and $5,500 to New York and Long Beach and $7,800 to Chicago.
Some carriers are shipping empty containers back to China in preference to waiting for a return booking.
Inflation - Tesla raises vehicle prices due to rising input costs and semiconductor chip shortages
Bulgaria – US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three Bulgarians for corruption in Bulgaria, as well as their networks encompassing 64 entities.
The move was part of the largest Global Magnitsky action taken in a single day, targeting more than 65 individuals and entities for their significant acts of corruption in Bulgaria, the US Treasury Department has announced. (Euractiv.com)
Currencies
US$1.2186/eur vs 1.2207/eur yesterday. Yen 109.79/$ vs 109.75/$. SAr 13.560/$ vs 13.788/$. $1.415/gbp vs $1.414/gbp. 0.772/aud vs 0.773/aud. CNY 6.392/$ vs 6.389/$.
Commodity News
Precious metals:
Gold US$1,897/oz vs US$1,899/oz yesterday
Gold ETFs 101.0moz vs US$101.2moz yesterday
Platinum US$1,188/oz vs US$1,188/oz yesterday
Palladium US$2,850/oz vs US$2,857/oz yesterday
Silver US$27.91/oz vs US$27.79/oz yesterday
Base metals:
Copper US$ 10,146/t vs US$10,235/t yesterday
Aluminium US$ 2,435/t vs US$2,471/t yesterday
Nickel US$ 18,230/t vs US$18,280/t yesterday
Zinc US$ 3,056/t vs US$3,095/t yesterday
Lead US$ 2,209/t vs US$2,207/t yesterday
Tin US$ 30,660/t vs US$30,985/t yesterday
Energy:
Oil US$71.7/bbl vs US$70.8/bbl yesterday
Natural Gas US$3.085/mmbtu vs US$3.089/mmbtu yesterday
Bulk:
Iron ore 62% Fe spot (cfr Tianjin) US$196.9/t vs US$198.4/t
Chinese steel rebar 25mm US$807.6/t vs US$810.6/t
Thermal coal (1st year forward cif ARA) US$80.8/t vs US$81.7/t
Coking coal swap Australia FOB US$151.5/t vs US$125.3/t
Other:
Cobalt LME 3m US$43,650/t vs US$43,650/t
NdPr Rare Earth Oxide (China) US$75,327/t vs US$75,750/t
Lithium carbonate 99% (China) US$12,672/t vs US$12,677/t
China Spodumene Li2O 5%min CIF US$640/t vs US$640/t
Ferro-Manganese European Mn78% min US$1,797/t vs US$1,800/t
China Tungsten APT 88.5% FOB US$270/t vs US$270/t
China Graphite Flake -194 FOB US$515/t vs US$515/t
Europe Vanadium Pentoxide 98% $8.3/lb vs US$8.3/lb
Europe Ferro-Vanadium 80% $39.55/kg vs US$39.25/kg
Company News
Bacanora Lithium (LON:BCN) 57.75p, Mkt cap £222m – Bacanora grants extension to Ganfeng offer
Bacanora Lithium have agreed to an extension to Ganfeng on its offer to buy the company for 67.5p/s
Ganfeng has submitted its application for approvals from various Chinese authorities in respect of the Outbound Direct Investment Pre-Condition, continued to progress its due diligence exercise and scheduled a meeting of Ganfeng Holdco Shareholders for 28 June 2021 to seek approval to proceed with the Possible Offer.
A circular convening the meeting, setting out the resolution to be proposed and a recommendation from the Ganfeng Board to vote in favour of the resolution, is expected to be posted to Ganfeng Holdco Shareholders shortly.
If the resolution is passed, the making of the Possible Offer will remain subject to the pre-conditions referred to above, including but not limited to the satisfaction of the Outbound Direct Investment Pre-Condition, which is still expected to take a period of several months
Ganfeng was required, by not later than 5.00 pm on 3 June 2021, to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Bacanora in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer for Bacanora, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies.
Conclusion: Chinese lithium processors and battery manufacturer suppliers appear keen to acquire further sources of lithium supply.
We recommend: IronRidge*, Kodal Minerals* and Savannah Resources* as potential new targets for acquisition.
*SP Angel acts as nomad and broker to these comapnies
Cora Gold (LON:CORA) 8.2p, Mkt Cap £17m – £3.1m placing
The Company raised £3.1m in an equity placing of 40.4m sat 7.75p.
Most of proceeds to be used for drilling at the flagship Sanankoro Gold Project to grow the resource as well as ongoing study work.
The Company is planning to release an updated MRE in H2/21.
Top three shareholders (Brookstone, Lord Farmer and Key Venture Holding) took >60% of the placing mostly maintaining or increasing their interest in the Company.
Closing cash balance following the raise is £4.6m
Kavango Resources (LON:KAV) 4.82p, Mkt cap £17m – Copper-silver targets identified on KCB licenses
Kavango reports that it has identified extensive copper-silver targets on prospecting licenses 082/2018 and 083/2018 in the Kalahari Copper Belt, with both licenses held in JV with LVR GeoExplorers Ltd.
The Targets were detected as a result of the recent 1,216kmAirborne EM (AEM) surveys flown over the LVR Project, wit results indicating strong geochemical anomalies occuring at surface above the Targets.
PL 082/2018 saw the identification of a series of conductors over a 3.5km wide deformation zone, with conductors along strike of the Plutus deposit and the Boseto Mine to the north east.
The primary target is a large EM conductor, extending to at least 400m from the surface, while Strong coincidental copper (25ppm to >56ppm) and zinc (50ppm to >100ppm) in soils anomaly occur on surface.
PL 083/2018 saw the identification of two main targets 6km and 4km wide, both of which have coincidental copper in soil anomaly over three lines (500m spacing), with the anomaly remaining open.
The structural position of the Targets is prospective for the discover of Cu-Ag mineralisation, with Kavango commenting that PL 082/2018 is drill ready while PL 083/2018 requires further field exploration to delineate drill targets.
Kavango expect drilling to commence at site in the third quarter of this year, following the awarding of an Environmental Management Plan.
Michael Foster, Chief Executive Officer of Kavango Resources, commented: “The Company’s integrated exploration approach, combining soil geochemistry, stratigraphical and structural mapping together with geophysical surveying is proving to be highly effective. A program of trenching on PL082/2018 and additional soil geochemistry on PL083/2018 is planned prior to a drill program later in the year.”
Nordgold is expecting to list in London capitalising on strong gold price environment.
The Company is expecting to sell a 25% stake with existing shares and is not planning to raise new capital in the listing, FT reports.
The Company will apply for admission of its shares to the premium listing of the official list of the FCA and to trading on the LSE’s main market as well as has also applied for admission of the shares to trading on the Moscow Exchange.
The Company produced 1,046koz at $1,024/oz AISC generating $1,017m EBITDA last year.
Nordgold is operating nine mines including four in Russia (45% of 2020 production), three in Burkina Faso (31%), one in Kazakhstan (7%) and one in Guiena (17%).
The Company intends to pay out 50% of its FCF in dividends (subject to Net Debt/EBITDA remaining below 1.5x) and is looking to grow production by 20% over the next five years.
The decision to list in London follows a start of trading in Yamana Gold shares last year (Mkt Cap £3.6bn, 901koz GE produced in 2020) with Endeavour Mining (C$7.4bn, 1,430koz forecast production in 2021) set to join the market later this month.
OreCorp (ASX:ORR) A$0.96, Mkt Cap A$306m – The cabinet approves Nyanzaga SML
The Tanzanian Cabinet of Ministers has approved the Special Mining License for the Nyanzaga Gold Project.
The team is working with the government of Tanzania to finalise a Framework Agreement, Shareholders Agreement and other related documentation required in connection with the SML grant.
The Company owns 100% in the flagship Nyanzaga Project in northwest Tanzania hosting 20.8mt at 4.06g/t for 2.7moz in the Measured and Indicated category and 2.9mt at 3.84g/t for 0.4moz in the Inferred resource.
The PFS completed on the project envisaged a concurrent open pit and underground schedule feeding 4mtpa CIL processing plant and producing >200kozpa over a 12y LOM.
DFS is expected to be completed within six to eight months of securing the SML paving the way for financing and start of construction at Nyanzaga.
Premier African Minerals* (LON:PREM) 0.18p, Mkt Cap £31.9m – £1m placing to fund Zulu feasibility study
Premier African Minerals reports placing 625m shares at a price of 0.16p/share to raise £1m to help fund the continuing Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for its Zulu Lithium project in Zimbabwe.
The proceeds are intended to ensure that the DFS can continue without interruption from shortages of funds and to “Allow additional time to both enhance value through the DFS, and comprehensively and without any pressure assess other options available to fund the balance of the DFS”.
The additional shares represent approximately 3.5% of the enlarged company.
CEO, George Roach, explained that “I expect to report details of early drilling later this month together with updates on RHA Tungsten Private Limited, MN Holding Limited, Circum Minerals limited and other developments”.
*SP Angel have an agreement with Premier African Minerals as a result of the acquisition of Northland Capital Partners
Pan African Resources (LON:PAF) 21.7, Mkt cap £418m – Renewal of Barberton’s Mining Licence
Pan African Resources has confirmed that the Dept of Mineral Resources and Energy in South Africa has renewed the company’s mining rights at the Barberton mine for an additional 30 years.
The company’s application for the renewal “included detailed technical reports and mine works programmes that support mining at the Barberton operations for the 30-year renewal period”.
Welcoming the renewal “as an endorsement of our efforts and operations” CEO, Cobus Loots, explained that “Our exploration and mining teams at Barberton have made exceptional progress over the past years, applying modern exploration, development and mining techniques to increase underground gold production and the lives of our mining operations.”
Tertiary Minerals* (LON:TYM) – 0.36p, Mkt cap £3.8m – Trenching results from the Pyramid Project
Tertiary Minerals has announced results from a recent programme of trenching across its Pyramid gold/silver project in north-central Nevada.
A total of 360m of trenching in 6 individual trenches has identified “a continuous width of 45.72m grading 61 g/t silver (1.78 ounces/ton)” in trench 1 on the area covered by the North Ruth soil anomaly.
The company explains that the mineralisation “continues to end of Trench No. 1 and is open ended”.
In addition, Trench 2 which is located “460m along strike, includes 3m grading 260 g/t Silver (7.58 ounces/ton” and “Narrower zones of lower grade mineralisation found in 3 other trenches on the Western Line soil anomaly”.
Infill soil sampling results from the southern part of the project area are still awaited. These may provide additional targets for more detailed exploration as it was soil sampling results which focussed the follow up trenching towards the North Ruth anomaly.
Executive Chairman, Patrick Cheetham described the results of the trenching as the product of 12 months of systematic exploration work and said that “It is now clear that the North Ruth soil anomaly reflects the presence of a wide zone of good grade in situ silver mineralisation which is at surface and within which there may be significant widths of higher grade. The mineralisation intersected in Trench No.1 is not closed off and while the true width of this zone remains to be determined, we will move as quickly as possible to carry out further definition and drill-testing to establish this and also the continuity of the higher-grade zones”.
Trenches 1 and 2 “were located over the north and south ends of the North Ruth anomaly respectively … [with Trench 1 intersecting the 45.72m long mineralised zone] … starting 42.67m from the east end of the trench and continuing up to the western end where it ended in mineralisation”.
Tertiary Minerals confirms that it “will move to better define and drill test the North Ruth silver mineralisation as soon as possible and will consider additional trenching once the additional soil sample results become available”.
Conclusion: Early stage trenching and soil sampling has identified targets for follow-up exploration and possible future drilling at the North Ruth anomaly. Results from further soil sampling within the southern part of the Pyramid project are still awaited but may highlight additional exploration opportunities. We await further news as results become available.
*SP Angel act as Nomad and Broker to Tertiary Minerals
Recent Interviews:
BBC: Catalytic converters https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p09jl6c9
IGTV: Evolution of Chinese construction and implications for commodity demand: https://youtu.be/jB2nURL8uPw
Improved global economic forecasts from the IMF provides trading opportunities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GXKPqzuCG0
VW expansion driving battery metals prices: https://youtu.be/7vqSrONBaWw
VOX Markets: 28/04/20: https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/media/60896b3f017903524c8e0936/?context=/listings/LON/BMN/multimedia/
21/04/20: https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/listings/LON/BMN
*SP Angel almost invariably acts as nomad or broker or nomad and broker to companies mentioned in the above videos and podcasts.
We speak more about these companies as we have a good understanding of their business and can talk with a greater degree of confidence. As ever, however, it should be noted that our views do not take into account the circumstances and needs of any particular investor or investor type. So enjoy the talks, but please do your own research, including other companies not mentioned by us but operating in the same areas, and get professional advice where appropriate.
No.1 in Copper: “The winner of the 2020 Fastmarkets Apex contest for copper was the team at SP Angel comprising John Meyer, Sergey Raevskiy and Simon Beardsmore, with an accuracy score of 93.8%”
No1. In Gold: “SP Angel’s trio took the top spot for the gold price prediction throughout the year, with an accuracy score of 97.59%”
The SP Angel team also ranked 1st in Palladium, 3rd in Tin and 5th in Silver in the fourth quarter of 2020
Analysts
John Meyer – John.Meyer@spangel.co.uk – 0203 470 0490
Simon Beardsmore – Simon.Beardsmore@spangel.co.uk – 0203 470 0484
Sergey Raevskiy –Sergey.Raevskiy@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0474
Joe Rowbottom – Joe.Rowbottom@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0486
Sales
Richard Parlons –Richard.Parlons@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0472
Abigail Wayne – Abigail.Wayne@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0534
Rob Rees – Rob.Rees@spangel.co.uk - 0203 470 0535
Grant Barker – Grant.Barker@spangel.co.uk – 0203 470 0471
SP Angel
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*SP Angel are the No1 integrated nomad and broker by number of mining brokerage clients on AIM according to the AIM Advisers Ranking Guide (joint brokerships excluded)
+SP Angel employees may have previously held, or currently hold, shares in the companies mentioned in this note.
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