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Inside the Market's roundup of some of the Canadian small caps making news and on the move today. This post will be updated through the morning.
Orocobre Ltd. announced results for two exploration holes this morning, and the implications - according to Dundee Securities analyst David Talbot - "are massive."
"ORL identified a second lithium brine bearing sand horizon within the Olaroz basin. This is incredibly encouraging as it suggests that with further drilling, the potential for increasing lithium brine volumes laterally underneath existing resources is huge. This new brine occurs down to the 323-metre depth compared to 200m-230m currently being targeted by production boreholes. The company has placed a non NI 43-101 estimate on the zone of 1.6-7.5 million tonnes LCE (lithium carbonate equivalent) with similar lithium concentrations as its current resource," Mr. Talbot said in a research note.
"Exploration potential probably isn't at the forefront of investors' minds as Olaroz lithium brine operation is in the midst of commissioning. However, unlike the header of the press release suggests, we believe this isn't necessarily exploration as much as it might be the discovery of another lithium brine horizon at depth that could greatly improve development plans of the existing operation. The Olaroz lithium brine occurs in interbedded silts, sands and gravels with depths of up to 600m according to geophysics completed by peer Lithium Americas. But only the upper 200 metre is currently being developed by OR," he added.
Mr. Talbot reiterated a "buy" rating and $3.40 (Canadian) price target. Shares in the company were up 7.8 per cent at $2.74 at noon ET.
Orocobre, listed on both the Australian Securities Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange, is building a substantial Argentinian-based industrial minerals company through the construction and operation of its portfolio of lithium, potash and boron projects and facilities in the Puna region of northern Argentina. The company is building in partnership with Toyota Tsusho Corporation the first large-scale, "greenfield" brine based lithium project in 20 years at its flagship Salar de Olaroz resource, with projected production of 17,500 tonnes per annum of low-cost battery grade lithium carbonate scheduled to commence at the end of the second quarter of 2014.
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Alamos Gold Inc. reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of nil per share, below the consensus expectation for a 1-cent profit.
Dundee Securities analyst Josh Wolfson, who has a "neutral" rating and $10.25 (Canadian) price target on the stock, said his first impression of the results was "negative."
"Alamos expects to achieve the low end of its 150,000-170,000 ounces 2014 guidance. We expect production to materially increase in the fourth quarter, given a high volume of contained ounces stacked in the third quarter, which will be recovered in the fourth quarter and the ramp-up of San Carlos underground mill feed processing. However, fourth quarter production of greater than 52,000 is required to achieve guidance, which will be challenging to achieve even when considering these factors," he said.
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Imperial Metals Corp. provided an update on the remediation efforts that are are ongoing at its Mt. Polley project in British Columbia. The update suggests that the immediate items required to stabilize the site have been completed and that longer term remediation work is underway. As well, results from the investigation into the cause of the tailings dam failure are expected in early 2015.
Derek Macpherson, analyst at M Partners, said his view on the company remains unchanged. "Based on the update, our view that Mt. Polley does not restart and that clean-up costs are likely to be in the range of $75-million remain unchanged; we note that based on this update our clean-up cost estimates have a downward bias. Despite the update being mildly positive for Mt. Polley, we believe investor's focus remains on Red Chris and its timeline to production, as this cash flow is required to service Imperial's debt and fund the remaining remediation work at Mt. Polley. We continue to expect commissioning at Red Chris to take place in Q1 2015."
Mr. Macpherson maintained a "hold" rating and 12-month price target of $8.50 (Canadian) per share.
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Magellan Minerals Ltd. announced that it has recommenced the feasibility study on its 100 per cent owned Coringa gold project in Brazil, which had been suspended since August 2013. The study is being led by Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. (Ausenco) and Snowden Mining Industry Consultants (Snowden) and is expected to be completed during March 2015. Coringa is believed to be one of the highest grade undeveloped gold deposits in Brazil.
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TVI Pacific Inc. said that that Agata Mining Ventures Inc., a joint venture company in which it holds a 60 per cent interest, has completed its first shipment of high-iron/low nickel direct shipping ore produced from the Agata project located in northern Mindanao, the Philippines.
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Focus Ventures Ltd. announced that it has signed a joint venture agreement that will see Daewoo International Corp. earn a 65 per cent interest in Focus's Aurora porphyry copper-molybdenum project in Peru. Daewoo International is Korea's largest trading and investment company.
Aurora is an advanced stage porphyry copper-molybdenum exploration project located approximately 65 km north of the city of Cusco. It is currently being permitted for a major drill program.
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Sierra Metals Inc. reported third-quarter production from its three underground mines in Latin America, the Yauricocha polymetallic mine in Peru and the Bolivar copper and Cusi silver mines in Mexico.
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Wanted Technologies Corp. reported a 39 per cent year over year increase in revenues and record net income of $2,634,753 or $0.109 per share for fiscal 2014.
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Peat Resources Ltd. announced the appointment of Robert T. Wright as chairman and interim chief executive officer. Mr. Wright will succeed John Allen, who will remain as a director of the company.
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Darcy Keith