During the last PDAC, CEO Greg Ferron of Platinex (PTX:CSE)(9PX:FRA) was busy working with the regulators, Fancamp and investors to close the South Timmins JV and the C$2.5M financing as soon as possible. As there were lots of moving parts at work, CEO Ferron preferred to come out with all relevant news at once, but as the first tranche (C$1.25M) of the financing closed on March 10, 2023, 2 weeks after the intended (and disclosed) closing date but before the Fancamp transaction could be closed, separate news releases had to be announced.

After hitting impressive intercepts like 25m @ 46,3g/t Au at Homestake Ridge and 15,94m @ 1499g/t Ag at the Wolf Vein, Dolly Varden Silver (DV.V)(DOLLF.US) seems to have taken the main stage of successful exploring juniors.

Beside the headline-grabbing results, this has also a lot to do with the increasing tonnage potential because of these stellar results, as beforehand years of drilling under different management didn’t seem to make much of an impact, since the resource barely increased.

At a time where sentiment seems to be turning into risk-off, with the markets contemplating whether the Fed options for a 50 basis points rate hike instead of the earlier telegraphed 25p raise as the latest inflation figures came in higher than expected despite solid market fundamentals, Aztec Minerals (AZT: TSX-V, OTCQB: AZZTF) doesn’t seem to bother too much, as it raised C$1.1M, outlined drill programs for their Cervantes and Tombstone projects, and very recently commenced drilling at Tombstone in Arizona.

In a world where the Fed might be contemplating a 50 basispoint raise instead of the earlier communicated 25 points, because of persistent, higher than expected inflation, but macro economic fundamentals remain strong, the stock markets are side ranging as a result.

1. Introduction

As nearology plays are often characterized by flavor of the day metals and new, hot discoveries front and center, resulting in a staking frenzy around such a discovery, EGR Exploration (EGR.V) is a bit different. Its predecessor Gambier Gold already owned the substantial and highly prospective 39,218ha Detour West land package on trend and indeed west of the giant Detour Lake gold mine in Ontario, and lots of shareholders at the time weren’t particularly satisfied with the way things were going as exploration at Detour West was unstructured at best.

Although the markets are giving back some of the recent gains after the Fed indicated we aren’t done yet with the high inflation, combined with the slow escalation of the Russia invasion of the Ukraine and the strange incident with the shooting down of the Chinese spy balloon hovering over the US, sentiment for metals and miners seems to be in a recovering trend after a disastrous H2 of 2022.

Although lithium juniors are in somewhat of a correction phase after the last round of conferences ignited a real lithium hype, it is good to see Vior Inc. (TSXV:VIO)(FRA:VL51)(OTCQB:VIORF) joining the lithium narrative, as I firmly believe lithium supply will not be able to match demand in the foreseeable future, and shortages and resulting high prices will be the standard.

After acquiring the Muskrat Dam Critical Minerals project in Ontario, with a focus on the extremely hot metal lithium, it was good to see Platinex (PTX:CSE)(9PX:FRA) bringing in Fancamp Exploration (FNC.V) as a partner for the Shining Tree gold project in the same state, as it had 3 district-scale exploration projects in its portfolio by then, which is a bit much for the average C$8-10M market cap.

1. Introduction

At a time where the Western hemisphere is looking to become less dependent on China and others for critical metals and minerals and is scrambling for battery metals, Inomin Mines (MINE.V)(FRA:IMC) is focusing on exploring exactly for these commodities. The company already experienced explosive drilling success in 2022 at their Beaver-Lynx project in British Columbia, by intercepting 252m of 20.6% Magnesium and 0.16% Nickel close to surface, accompanied by 4 other impressive holes.

1. Introduction

In a time where large gold deposits are becoming increasingly rare, Goldshore Resources (TSXV:GSHR)(OTCQB:GSHRF)(FWB:8X00) set the bar high for themselves. After being guided by a 4M oz Au historic resource, Goldshore announced a robust NI43-101 compliant Inferred 4.17Moz @ 1.1g/t gold current resource in November 2022 at their fully owned flagship Moss Lake project in Ontario.