Here's a few more small company profiles, most of them mining, but not all. By the way, I don't know if you noticed, but today the market was up about .5%, but mining stocks, with a few exceptions, were up 5-8% across the board, including small, mid-cap, and large companies. One exception is a company I profiled earlier called America's Gold and Silver (USAS). They had a horrendous first quarter. Their new gold mine in Nevada underproduced because of unanticipated ore quality issues. So, it appears they decided that since the quarter was a bust, to go ahead and write-off some expenses they were holding onto so they would all get assigned to this one quarter. I personally think the company is still solid, so I took advantage of their steep drop in stock price (down 27%) and bought some more shares.
Irving Resources-
IRVRF $1.57, 7 May 2021
Outstanding Shares: 61.8m
Employees: ?
Market cap: 95.8m
Cash: 16m
Operations:
1.
Omu Gold-Silver Project, Hokkaido- Prospecting claims around closed Omui and Hokuryu mines; initial exploratory drilling was promising so company purchased five-year surface rights in 2020 from Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI); increased (Phase 3) drilling being conducted in 2021 and is main focus of the company
2.
Yamagano Property, Kyushu- Company purchased the rights to this prospecting area in 2020; near operating Hishikari Mine (Sumitomo Metals Mining) and hope to begin Phase 1 drilling Q4 2021
3.
Shimokawa, Hokkaido- Prospecting area near closed copper mine; mapping phase
4.
Engaru, Hokkaido- Near historic Konomai gold field; surface exploration in 2018 identified several areas for further exploration
5.
Eniwa, Hokkaido- Prospecting area application near Sapporo under final approval review by METI
6.
Utanobori, Hokkaido- Near Omui; prospecting rights application under final review by METI
7.
Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa- Applied for prospecting licenses in March 2021
Notes:
Newmont Goldcorp owns ~9% of the company. In April 2021 Irving sold 3.5m additional private shares to Newmont. I suspect that if the exploration shows promise, Newmont will acquire controlling interest in the company and use Irving’s Japanese subsidiary for the mining operations. Irving uses Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering Co (MINDECO) as its main exploration contractor in Japan.
Company indicates in its literature that it will likely send any mined ore to off-site processing centers operated by other companies such as Sumitomo, Mitsui, Nippon Mining, Mitsubishi Dowa, and/or Toho Zinc for processing who can use them as smelter flux. There are currently no ore processing facilities in Hokkaido. Company appears to be doing a good job at prioritizing its potential opportunities, establishing an exploration plan, and keeping expenses down. That may have something to do with its share price which is a little high for a company that is still in exploration stage. Newmont’s involvement probably has an influence on the price also. Half of this company’s leadership team is Japanese.
I would expect that once they finish Phase 3 drilling at Omu later this year it will be followed by an economic feasibility assessment which seems to take about three months. So, optimistically, we might have a joint mining decision by Irving and Newmont at the Omu property by as early as mid-2022.
Japan Gold-
JGLDF $.30, 7 May 2021
Outstanding Shares: 115m
Employees: ?
Market cap: 36m
Cash: 3.5m
Operations:
Thirty-one different prospecting areas on Kyushu, Honshu, and Hokkaido. Beginning February 2020, Barrick Gold corporation agreed to completely fund a two-year initial exploration of 29 out of the 31 prospecting areas. At the end of the two years (presumably February 2022) Barrick will fully fund an additional three-year “second evaluation phase” for the projects it decides are worth pursuing further. Japan Gold will manage the explorations during the first and second evaluation phases, with Barrick having the right to take over management if it chooses. Some of the properties had undergone initial exploration by Japan Gold prior to the agreement with Barrick. Barrick has approved a $4m budget for 2021 exploration activities.
Any area that progresses to “designated project” stage, either during the first or second evaluation phases, will have a pre-feasibility study funded by Barrick, who will then assume 51% interest in that project. At Barrick’s discretion, they will advance selected projects to “bankable feasibility study” at which point Barrick will assume 75% interest in the project. Japan Gold can elect to hold 25% interest for the full lifespan of the project.
The remaining two of the 31 prospecting areas (Itukahara, Hokkaido and Ohra-Takamine, Kyushu) are 100% controlled by Japan Gold but will explore them in partnership with Newmont Goldcorp with Newmont increasing its interest in those projects up to 20% at its discretion (currently 13%) by way of purchases of Gold Japan stock.
Notes:
It appears that the company has obtained all the prospecting permits that it needs from METI for the 31 projects. I did not see any mention in the company’s literature of its incorporation of a Japanese subsidiary, which is required for a foreign company to do business in Japan. Three out of 11 members of Company’s leadership/directors team are Japanese.
The company’s literature does not identify which contractor or personnel is conducting their field work in Japan. Nevertheless, the financial support of Barrick appears to be keeping things moving rapidly with this company’s exploration. Once these guys and/or Irving make a production decision, I expect the stock price to pop substantially, especially because of the backing of Newmont and Barrick for both companies.
Kuya Silver- KUYAF $1.84, 7 May 2021
Outstanding Shares: 34m
Employees: ?
Market cap: 71.45m
Cash: 5m
Operations:
1.
Bethania, Peru- Pre-existing mine (ceased production in 2016) that Kuya acquired and is in the process of expanding and will construct an onsite processing plant; Kuya believes there are up to 8m oz of silver in the mine; the mine is not on the power grid and Kuya does not say how they plan to power the mining and processing operations; Kuya also holds prospecting licenses in same general area which it plans to explore in the future; currently conducting required environmental impact assessment and acquiring permit for plant from Peruvian government while initiating further drilling and exploration in 2021; Kuya hopes to have the plant constructed by Q4 2021 (may be overly optimistic)
2.
Silver Kings/Kerr Project, Ontario- Joint venture with First Cobalt Corp.; will conduct phase 1 drilling operations in 2021; silver/cobalt deposit
Notes:
They didn’t have their 2020 financial or annual reports on their website; I had to go to SEDAR to get them. Company changed its name from Miramont Resources to Kuya Silver on September 30, 2020. 100% owns subsidiary Puno Gold Corp.
The company states in its presentation that it can start production at Bethania and perhaps Kerr concurrently with exploration and mapping activities by EOY 2021 or shortly thereafter. I think this may be a little optimistic but we’ll see. My own opinion is that they’ll start limited production at Bethania sometime in 2022 and Kerr in 2023. Hopefully, they won’t have to issue much more stock to finance it all, as their current number of outstanding shares is very favorable for valuation, as reflected in their current share price.
Leading Edge Materials- LEMIF $.17, 11 May 2021
Outstanding Shares: 147m
Employees: ?
Market cap: 29.37m
Cash: 2.6m
Operations:
1.
Woxna Graphite Mine, Sweden- 100% owned, previously operating open pit graphite mine with current permit (to process up to 100,000 tonnes of mineralized material per annum) and onsite processing plant; LEM halted mining around 2019 because of lack of demand (and associated low prices) for “traditional” natural graphite; LEM is evaluating feasibility of upgrading processing plant to produce higher purity graphite via thermal purification; working with Forge Nano company of Colorado to add “atomic layer deposition coating” active anode to graphite from the mine; current price for lower-grade natural graphite is $3k per tonne; price for coated graphite is $9k per tonne
2.
Norra Karr project, Sweden- Rare earths mineral prospect; Swedish mining commission denied LEM’s application to mine the deposit in May 2021; LEM will rewrite environmental impact statement and mining plan and appeal
3.
Bihor Sud project, Romania- Nickel-cobalt exploration project with local company (REMAT Group); LEM has 51% interest with option to take to 90%; awaiting approval from government and resolution of legal matter to begin exploration
Notes:
Changed CEO and board of directors in May 2020; put more Europeans on the team because of change in focus to Europe. Company is vague on its timeline for Woxna should its feasibility assessment be favorable. If report is unfavorable, that plus the denial of the Norra Karr permit could put this company into inoperative status for some time since they won’t be working any projects. So, this stock is currently fairly risky. When the company decided to focus on Europe, they should have known that the green weenies in charge over there would get in the way of their mining aspirations.
Liquid Media-
YVR $1.78, 13 May 21
Outstanding Shares: 13m
Employees: 4
Market cap: 24.34m
Cash on hand: 406k
Products: Centered on their business plan of creating a cloud-based global content production studio
1.
Reelhouse- Video and video gaming on-demand streaming service. Includes Atari VCS. Also allows content creators to self-distribute their work to consumers. In partnership with Invoke and Arkitek for further development and expansion.
2.
SlipStream- Subscription video on demand service featuring outdoor adventure films.
3.
Liquid Media Token Platform- In development with CurrencyWorks to provide content creators with a way to monetize their products and services
4.
Unity- Video and video game development and sharing service for independent filmmakers and game creators. Some independent reviews:
https://www.trustradius.com/products/unity/reviews
Notes:
In November 2020, due to legal action the company lost ownership of subsidiary Majesco Entertainment Company, which had been a major source of their revenue. Liquid holds 49% interest in Waterproof Studios, an artist-collective content creation service in Vancouver, BC. Has an agreement with Arcana Studios to produce animated content for Liquid’s streaming services, including Reelhouse. In September 2020 partnered with Polycade Game Store to offer its retro gaming titles. Liquid has acquired the rights to several older Acclaim video games, such as Kwirk, upgraded and re-released them through its on-demand service and other services such as Steam and Xbox.
CEO and CFO of this company were each paid over $700k (perhaps Canadian dollars) in 2020 which seems kind of high for a company that is operating at a net loss, with such a small market cap, and only four employees. I’m not sure this company is worth investing in at this time at this price. Maybe if the stock price was under a dollar.
MamaMancinis- MMMB $2.57, 14 May 21
Outstanding Shares: 35.6m
Employees: ?
Market cap: 87.24m
Cash on hand: 3.7m
Products: Twenty-nine distinct food products, including beef meatballs, turkey meatballs, meatloaf, stuffed peppers, chicken parmesan, ravioli lasagna, sausage, “beyond meat” meatballs, and Publix Pasta Bowl. Several items are sold as prepared food in the deli or “fresh food” perimeter area of supermarkets, with other items sold frozen or in “meal kits.” Target market is customers looking to pay slightly more for higher-quality food products. Company says its products contain no soy, sodium phosphate, or hydrogenated oils. The products have been certified as “all natural” by the USDA.
Notes:
Company says it distributes to Walmart, Sam’s Club, Whole Foods, HEB, BJs, Costco, Albertson’s, Safeway, and Kroger, 45k stores total. Stock 47% insider ownership. Company states it is looking to acquire complementary food companies to facilitate expansion. The Company’s food service division, launched in 2020, is seeking to sell products to cafeterias, such as in hospitals, schools, and elderly care facilities, as well as convenience stores. Some products sold on QVC and Amazon. Most of the products are produced by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Joseph Epstein Food Enterprises. Company believes that fresh or deli food sales has best potential for profit, over frozen sales which produce much less revenue.
Currently operating in the black. Q4 2021 (FY) net income of 1.7m. Expects to be listed on the NASDAQ sometime in 2021. All corporate officers, including CEO, salaries max out at 190k. Amazing. Seems to me that current inflation in meat, especially beef, prices could affect this company’s bottom line. Still, this company appears to have fairly good potential for some growth, but I wouldn’t say it’s in the “market leader” category. I have been unable to find the product at my local Walmart, Costco, and Whole Foods to try it out.
Mason Graphite- MGPHF $.45, 17 May 2021
Outstanding Shares: 136m
Employees: ?
Market cap: 62.69m
Cash: 24m
Operations:
1.
Lac Gueret property, Quebec- 100% owned graphite deposit. Mason currently assesses the economic situation as unfavorable (surplus of graphite in world markets) and has suspended financing operations for opening a pit mine at the property. Final feasibility study was completed and major equipment to begin mining and constructing the processing plant had been delivered to the location before suspension of operations in April 2020. The company believes that the property contains 11m tonnes of high-grade flake graphite and that the mine’s lifespan would be at least 25 years. Mason believes at full production it could produce 53k tonnes of graphite a year at 98% purity. The processing (concentrating) plant is 285km away from the mine at Baie-Comeau on St. Lawrence Seaway; will require 14-16 truckloads a day for 10 months out of the year to feed the plant ore from the mine. Company states that once production decision is made and financing secured, construction will take 12-18 months, followed by 4 month startup process to full production.
2.
Value-Added Products Project- Project to produce high-grade graphite in the Quebec City area. The company apparently plans to begin by buying cheap, natural graphite from third-party sources and later transition to using ore from its Lac Gueret property. A processing plant will apply a coating (creating Coated Spherical Purified Graphite (CSPG)) that will upgrade graphite quality sufficiently to be used in lithium-ion batteries and other specialized industrial usages. Mason’s CSPG process is currently being tested in laboratory. Once final feasibility is determined (at non-specified date), construction of a larger plant will commence. Estimated four years to go from testing to full development and commercial production, starting 2019. So, apparently 2023?
Notes:
Company’s fiscal year ends June 30. Board of directors was almost entirely replaced in 2020. The company’s literature does not suggest when a decision will be made on beginning mining production at Lac Gueret, saying that the decision will be made once the economic situation is considered favorable. French-Canadian company based in Montreal.
Company’s number of outstanding shares is a little high and they may need to sell some more to fully finance startup of both of their projects. Nevertheless, their business plan appears to be credible and promising, based on current projections that the demand for graphite will continue to steadily increase. Since they are at least two years from commercial production, I believe stock price will stay under a dollar until they announce a major production decision, such as the start of construction of their factory.