Gold supply is getting tighter, deposits of quality are getting rarer and the project development timeline is getting longer. Enter Canada. The Canadian Shield still offers the possibility of break-out discoveries, says PearTree Securities analyst Eric Lemieux. The recent spate of M&A activity points to the potential of the region, and Lemieux discusses several companies that are well positioned to add value.
The Gold Report: In the month since the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada convention (PDAC), the markets have been holding steady. Has the “PDAC curse”—where mining equities fall after the PDAC convention—been broken?
Eric Lemieux: I hope so, although it really is still too early to say. Perhaps at this stage, with the drop in copper prices and gold in the $1,240/ounce range, we’re in a gray zone. However, there’s a certain sense of optimism based on the fact that we’re in the last amplitudes of a bottom. Certainly medium fundamentals look interesting. Gold supply is getting tighter, deposits of quality are getting rarer, and there is a lengthening timeline for the development of projects because of more stringent permitting and social acceptability elements.
TGR: What is going on with merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in Quebec and Ontario?
EL: There has been a recent flurry of M&A activity in Quebec and Ontario. One could almost say it is the flight to the old parents. . .comfort in stability, access to know-how and the realization that there is still much to discover in the ‘old’ Archean greenstone belts of the Canadian Shield, a geological province that covers the heart of Canada. It is notorious for being very well endowed with different commodities.
“Balmoral Resources Ltd. is well positioned at the right moment with the financial capacity and will to advance assets.”
The merger announced last …read more