What Kind Of Shareholder Appears On The Bonterra Resources Inc.’s Shareholder Register?

If you want to know who really controls Bonterra Resources Inc. (CVE:BTR), then you’ll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said ‘Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

Bonterra Resources is a smaller company with a market capitalization of CA$123m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutions own shares in the company. Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholder can tell us about Bonterra Resources.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bonterra Resources?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Bonterra Resources already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own 21% of the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can’t rely on that fact alone, since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there’s always a risk that they are in a ‘crowded trade’. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Bonterra Resources’s historic earnings and revenue, below, but keep in mind there’s always more to the story.

TSXV:BTR Income Statement, February 16th 2020

It would appear that 16% of Bonterra Resources shares are controlled by hedge funds. That worth noting, since hedge funds are often quite active investors, who may try to influence management. Many want to see value creation (and a higher share price) in the short term or medium term. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Wexford Capital LP with 16% of shares outstanding. Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. is the second largest shareholder with 11% of common stock, followed by Eric Sprott, holding 6.7% of the stock.

On studying the facts and figures more closely, we found that 7 of the top shareholders account for 51% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock’s expected performance. We’re not picking up on any analyst coverage of the stock at the moment, so the company is unlikely to be widely held.

- Source, Simply Wall St.

Sprott Weekly Wrap Up: A Week of Tough, Tough News for Gold and Silver Investors

“First of all, just to remind the listeners, I think the first time you and I mentioned this was two weeks ago. At that time, there were two hundred cases—in the world. 

There is thirty-one thousand now. That’s one hell of a big increase in two weeks’ time. And I’ve seen artificial intelligence numbers that suggested that by March 15 we could have 2.5 billion cases and 53 million deaths. 

That’s just an extension of numbers, that’s not my prediction.”

- Source, Junior Mining

Argo Gold Announces C$1 Million Financing

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 4, 2020) - Argo Gold Inc. (CSE: ARQ) ("Argo Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it intends to complete a private placement offering of up to 11,200,000 units ("Units") at a price of $0.09 per Unit, for gross proceeds of up to $1,008,000 (the "Offering"). Eric Sprott has indicated his intention to take up all of the Offering.

Each Unit will consist of one common share (a "Common Share") of the Company and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant") with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase a Common Share at an exercise price of $0.12 for a period of thirty-six (36) months following the closing of the Offering. All securities issued under the Offering are subject to a four-month and one day statutory hold period.

The closing of the Offering is anticipated to take place on February 7, 2020. The closing is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange.

- Source, Junior Mining Network

Canadian Palladium Closes Non-Brokered Private Placement

Canadian Palladium Resources Inc. (CSE: BULL) (OTCQB: DCNNF) (FSE: DCR1) (formerly 21C Metals Inc.) (the "Company") has closed the non-brokered private placement previously announced on January 20, 2020. The private placement raised gross proceeds of $4,000,403 through the issuance of 33,336,698 units (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.12 per share. Each Unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant exercisable at a price of $0.18 for a period of 12 months from the date of grant.

Mr. Eric Sprott, through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation which is beneficially owned by him, acquired 12,500,000 Units for a total consideration of $1,500,000. Following the completion of the private placement, Mr. Sprott beneficially owns and controls 12,500,000 Common Shares and 12,500,000 Warrants of the Company representing approximately 12.6% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company on a non-diluted basis and approximately 22.2% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares on a partially diluted basis. Prior to the Financing, Mr. Sprott did not beneficially own or control any shares of the Company.

The Units were acquired by Sprott for investment purposes. Mr. Sprott has a long-term view of the investment and may acquire additional securities of Canadian Palladium including on the open market or through private acquisitions or sell securities of Canadian Palladium including on the open market or through private dispositions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors.

A copy of Sprott's early warning report will appear on Canadian Palladium profile on SEDAR and may also be obtained by calling Mr. Sprott's office at (416) 945-3294 (200 Bay Street, Suite 2600, Royal Bank Plaza, South Tower, Toronto, Ontario M5J 2J2).

The Company has issued 1,314,099 finder's units (the "Finder's Units"), 230,042 finder's warrants (the "Finder's Warrants") and issued $27,605 in cash as finder's fees to eligible agents who arranged for subscriptions of Units under the private placement. Each Finder's Unit consists of one common share and one Finder's Warrant. Each Finder's Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.18 for a period of 12 months from the date of issuance.

The Company intends to use the proceeds of the financing to advance its East Bull palladium project and for general working capital.

All of the securities issued under the private placement are subject to a four-month resale restriction and may not be traded until May 29, 2020.

- Source, Junior Mining Network

Four Junior Resource Stocks with Big Name Insider Buying

The junior resource stocks we’ve unearthed have received significant insider buying from legendary investor Eric Sprott over the past three months.

Insiders are defined as any person with access to key company information before it is released to the public, or someone who owns more than 10% of a company’s shares. Insiders include individuals such as management, officers, and directors. 

Government bodies require companies to report this information, in a timely manner, giving investors a sense of insider activity within a company. One of the wealthiest investors in the mining sector is Eric Sprott, the billionaire founder of Sprott Inc. The junior resource stocks we have discovered today have received a significant insider investment from Eric Sprott during the past three months.

Amex Exploration Inc. (TSXV:AMX) – $1.50
Gold exploration

Amex Exploration is a Canada-based mining exploration company focused on exploration activities conducted in Canada and Mexico. Its properties include the Perron Property, Normetal Property, Cameron Property, Lac Indicateur property, Eastmain Centre property, Eastmain North Property, Natora Property and Nueva Escondida property. 

The Company’s flagship asset, the Perron Property, consists of approximately 120 mining claims covering an area of over 4,510 hectares in northern Quebec. Amex’s summer drilling program found high-grade gold intersected on the Gratien gold zone at Perron, with results up to 16.48 g/t Au over 14.6 m, including 315.4 g/t Au over 0.5 m and 102.96 g/t Au over 0.7 m. Eric Sprott added 2M shares at $1.00/share last November, bring his total ownership up to 6.7M shares.

Market Cap: $99.6M

30-Day Return: +6.4%
90-Day Return: +50.0%
30-Day Average Trading Volume: 63,540
90-Day Average Trading Volume: 58,030

Benchmark Metals Inc. (TSXV:BNCH) – $0.405
Gold and silver exploration

Benchmark Metals is a mining company focused on exploring and developing its Lawyers Gold and Silver project located in the prolific Golden Triangle of northern British Columbia. The Lawyers Property and formerly producing Cheni Gold and Silver Mine is located 45 km northwest of the Kemess Gold and Copper Mine. 

The Property contains an existing Mineral Resource and hosts at least 16 gold and silver occurrences that were never fully mined, developed or explored. Eric Sprott added 2.3M shares at $0.30/share last December, following 13.3M shares added at $0.30/share in September, bringing his total ownership to 15.6M shares.

Market Cap: $39.1M

30-Day Return: +9.5%
90-Day Return: +12.5%
30-Day Average Trading Volume: 281,900
90-Day Average Trading Volume: 161,090

Discovery Metals Corp. (TSXV:DSV) – $0.65
Silver Mining

Discovery Metals focuses on discovering and advancing high-grade polymetallic deposits in a land package of about 150,000 hectares in the historic mining district in Coahuila State, Mexico. 

The Company’s portfolio consists of three large-scale, drill-ready projects and several earlier-stage prospects. Currently, the land holdings contain numerous historical direct-ship ore workings with several kilometers of underground development, however no modern exploration or drill testing on the properties has occurred before the work of Discovery Metals. 

As well, Discovery is currently exploring one the world’s largest silver resources at its 100% owned 37,000-hectare Cordero Project in Chihuahua State, Mexico. Eric Sprott added 3.3M shares at $0.45/share in December, following 7.8M shares added at $0.45/share in November, bringing his total ownership to 41.3M shares.

Market Cap: $137.5M

30-Day Return: +10.2%
90-Day Return: +31.3%
30-Day Average Trading Volume: 268,160
90-Day Average Trading Volume: 191,070

Dolly Varden Silver engages in the acquisition, development, exploration, and evaluation of mineral properties in Canada. The Company explores for gold, silver, and copper deposits. It holds 100% interests in the Dolly Varden project, covering an area of 8,800 hectares, as well as the Musketeer property located in northwestern British Columbia; and the Big Bulk porphyry copper-gold project located in Canada. Eric Sprott added 5.7M shares at $0.235/share in September, bringing his total ownership to 10.7M shares.

Market Cap: $19.2M

30-Day Return: -28.1%
90-Day Return: -33.8%
30-Day Average Trading Volume: 166,570
90-Day Average Trading Volume: 126,900

Source, Smallcap Power

Could Benchmark Metals Investor Composition Influence the Stock Price?

The big shareholder groups in Benchmark Metals Inc. (CVE:BNCH) have power over the company. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. I quite like to see at least a little bit of insider ownership. As Charlie Munger said ‘Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.

Benchmark Metals is a smaller company with a market capitalization of CA$39m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. Let’s delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about Benchmark Metals.

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Benchmark Metals?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

We can see that Benchmark Metals does have institutional investors; and they hold 7.0% of the stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It’s therefore worth looking at Benchmark Metals’s earnings history, below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

TSXV:BNCH Income Statement, January 27th 2020

Hedge funds don’t have many shares in Benchmark Metals. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Eric Sprott with 16% of shares outstanding. Sprott Asset Management, LP is the second largest shareholder with 7.0% of common stock, followed by James Greig, holding 2.2% of the stock. James Greig also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 8 shareholders collectively hold less than 50% of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no one share holder has a majority.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock’s expected performance. Our information suggests that there isn’t any analyst coverage of the stock, so it is probably little known.

- Source, Simply Wall St

Sprott puts millions of dollars into proposed palladium project

"One of Canada’s long-time mining moguls has given a proposed palladium mine on Marathon’s doorstep a big shot in the arm.

Generation Mining announced Wednesday that billionaire investor Eric Sprott has invested $5 million into the project, which calls for an open-pit operation near the town’s airport.

Sprott’s investment is to give him a stake in the company worth nearly nine per cent, said a Generation Mining news release."

- Source, Chronicle Journal

Ontario Claiming Global Stake in Palladium Sector with Latest Deal

Junior explorer Sienna Resources (TSXV:SIE,OTC Pink:SNNAF) has acquired the Marathon North palladium property in Northern Ontario, which is adjacent to Generation Mining’s (CSE:GENM) Marathon palladium project.

Interest in the area has peaked in recent months, with global platinum-group metals (PGMs) producer Impala Platinum (OTC Pink:IMPUY,JSE:IMP) merging with North American Palladium in December to create Impala Canada, which now manages the Lac des Iles palladium mine near Thunder Bay.

Increased activity in the palladium exploration and mining sector has likely been a result of the metal’s breakthrough performance in 2019. The commodity was the most expensive traded precious metal last year, and has climbed 17 percent so far in 2020.

And palladium’s price surge doesn’t seem to be over yet. After breaking its previous record highs in 2019 and again in the first few weeks of 2020, the metal, which is used to reduce emissions in vehicles, broke the US$2,550 per ounce threshold to trade for US$2,577.27 on Monday (January 20).

It slipped from its new all-time high shortly after; currently palladium is priced at US$2,296.

Sienna Resources President Jason Gigliotti explained how PGMs prices motivated the company to acquire the package, which will complement the firm’s platinum, palladium and nickel project in Sweden, where a drill program concluded in October.

“Platinum and palladium prices have been some of the best performing metal prices recently, especially palladium, which is right near an all-time high,” he said in a media release.

“The timing for our new platinum-palladium project acquisition could not be more opportune … We feel that there is a massive demand and appetite for platinum and palladium assets and Sienna’s goal is to be a significant player in this arena in 2020.”

Shares of the explorer skyrocketed 80 percent following the announcement.

Even though it is only the third top palladium-producing country, Canada’s palladium projects have dominated the news cycle lately due to their potential, grade and jurisdiction.

Impala’s Lac des Iles mine, which has been in production for more than two decades, has been called a world-class orebody, while Generation Mining’s Marathon project has been dubbed “the largest undeveloped palladium deposit in North America.”

Shares of Generation Mining also climbed this week, shooting up 28 percent following the news that Canadian billionaire Eric Sprott was investing C$5 million to acquire 8.8 percent of the company.

This is the second time in three months the investor has bought into a Canada-listed palladium company.

In late October, shares of precious metals junior Palladium One Mining (TSXV:PDM) climbed 14 percent after word spread that Sprott was going to participate in its C$3.2 million private placement.

Palladium One is currently developing the Läntinen Koillismaa palladium project in Finland, where it plans to spend the bulk of its newly acquired investment capital.

By midday on Thursday (January 23), shares of Sienna Resources were up 90 percent, trading for C$0.09.

- Source, Investing News

Sprott Weekly Wrap Up: Fear Behind Rising Gold and Silver Prices

This week, host Craig Hemke catches up with intrepid traveller Eric Sprott as he drives down the freeway—but what’s driving precious metals prices? In this edition of the Weekly Wrap-Up, you’ll hear all the gold and silver news you need, including:

• The fears spurring demand for precious metals
• What to watch Sunday evening (hint: it’s not the Super Bowl)
• Plus: Eric’s thoughts on the shares

“As I mentioned last week, you’re dealing with mathematics here. And the rate of growth is just incredible. And probably the best way to start off in terms of having the listeners understand: I think this time last week, we had 200 cases [of coronavirus]. 200. 

We added 2,000 today! And we’re up to pushing 10,000 cases here. And I’ve seen some numerical studies—they’re just numerical—that would suggest that by Feb 20th, we could have something like 500 million occurrences and a million deaths. Now, it’s just something on a piece of paper, but this thing is effectively out of control.”

- Source, Junior Mining Network

Generation Mining Brings on Eric Sprott as Investor

Shares of Generation Mining (CSE:GENM) soared 28 percent higher for the week after announcing Canadian billionaire Eric Sprott was making a C$5 million investment and acquiring an 8.8 percent stake in the firm.

As quoted from the press release:

"Gen Mining is pleased to announce that Eric Sprott has agreed to purchase C$5,000,000 of the offering. On completion of the offering, Eric Sprott will own approximately 8.84 percent of the company on a non-diluted basis and approximately 12.70 percent on a partially diluted basis. 

The company has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 25 percent of the offering in units, exercisable in whole or in part at any time up to 48 hours prior to the closing date. 

The net proceeds from the sale of the Units will be used for exploration and development of the company’s Marathon palladium project, as well as working capital and general corporate purposes. The Offering is expected to close on or about February 13, 2020 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange and the applicable securities regulatory authorities. 

The Units to be issued under the offering will be subject to a hold period in Canada expiring four months and one day from the closing date of the offering."

- Source, Investing News

Gran Colombia raising $40 million

Gran Colombia Gold Corp. [GCM-TSX; TPRFF-OTCQX] said Monday January 27 that it is raising $40 million from a non-brokered private placement of 7.14 million units priced at $5.60 each. The company said the net proceeds will be used for general working capital and corporate purposes, including repurchases of the company’s listed warrants under its normal course issuer bid.

Each of the private placement units consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant exercisable into a full common share at $6.50 per share for a period of three years from the date of issuance.

On Monday, Gran Colombia shares eased 2.5% or 15 cents to $5.79. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $3.01 and $5.97.

Gran Colombia is a Canadian-based gold and silver producer with a focus on Colombia, where it is currently the largest underground gold and silver producer in that country, with several underground mines in operation at its Segovia and Marmato operations. The majority of the company’s production comes from the Segovia Operations, which are located in the Segovia-Remedios mining district in Antioquia, roughly 180 km east of Medellin, northwest Colombia. Segovia produced 214,241 ounces of gold in 2019.

The company met its 2019 production guidance by producing 240,000 ounces of gold, an increase of 10% over 2018. That figure includes production from the Marmato assets which are being spun out into a new publicly listed vehicle, to be named Caldas Gold Corp. The existing underground mine at Marmato produced 25,750 ounces of gold in 2019. However, production at Marmato is expected to increase to 150,000 ounces annually between 2024 and 2027.

“We see the increased interest from strategic and institutional investors in Gran Colombia as a continuing endorsement of our successful turnaround of the company and the potential for further appreciation in our share price, which doubled in 2019 and is up by almost 300% over the past three years, as we execute our strategy to unlock value in our portfolio of quality assets,” said Serafino Iacono, Gran Colombia’s Executive Chairman.

“We have ramped up our near-mine and regional exploration programs at our high-grade Segovia Operations for the coming year and we are unlocking value in our Marmato Project through the spin out to Caldas Gold Corp., which we anticipate will be completed within the next couple of weeks.”

Back in November, 2019, Gran Colombia said it had closed a $15 million strategic investment by Bay Street financier Eric Sprott.

The company said Sprott agreed to purchase 3.26 million units of Gran Colombia in a non-brokered private placement at $4.60 per unit. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant exercisable into a full common share at $5.40 per share for a period of four years after the date of issuance.

Proceeds were earmarked for general working capital and corporate purposes.

- Source, Resource World