Imperial Mining's Quebec scandium play is aluminum's best friend - InvestorIntel

Imperial   Mining’s  Quebec
scandium play is aluminum’s
best friend
To me scandium sounds like it should be a country between
Finland and Sweden in the Baltic Sea, but then again a lot of
people have considered some of my thoughts pretty strange.
However, scandium is becoming a critical metal of growing
importance in aluminum alloys for auto, commercial aircraft,
military armor and EV development, significantly reducing
weight and manufacturing costs. It’s used as a hardener and
strengthener of common aluminum alloys, which are also heat
and corrosion resistant. Its weight reduction applications in
the automotive, aerospace, fuel cell and defense sectors in
turn help reduce the overall carbon footprint by making
aircraft and vehicles lighter and more fuel-efficient with
lower emissions. Because of these tremendous applications,
demand is expected to grow considerably from the current 35
tonnes per annum of product availability to western markets to
as high as 2,000 tonnes by 2040.

Source: Imperial Mining Group Corporate Presentation

Obviously, I don’t need to comment on the importance of supply
chains, “on-shoring”, etc. in light of what the world has seen
over the last year or two. We’ll suffice it to say that
domestic is better. Which leads us to today’s topic of
conversation – Imperial Mining Group Ltd. (TSXV: IPG | OTCQB:
IMPNF). Imperial is a Canadian mineral exploration and
development company focused on the advancement of its Crater
Lake scandium-Rare Earth property led by an experienced team
of mineral exploration and development professionals with a
strong track record of mineral deposit discovery in numerous
metal commodities. The Company also has a pair of gold
prospects, Opawica and La Ronciere all in Quebec.

However, what makes Crater Lake so special is that it is the
only hardrock scandium deposit in the world and happens to be
in the mining friendly jurisdiction of Quebec, close to
hydroelectric capacity and Quebec’s aluminum metal production

where 90% of Canada’s “Green” aluminum is produced. As well,
it is looking like Bécancour in Quebec is becoming Canada’s
battery cathode manufacturing hub with recent announcements
from BASF regarding a cathode active materials and recycling
site to support North American producers in their transition
to e-mobility and General Motors and POSCO Chemical’s $400
million facility to produce cathode active materials for
vehicle batteries. It would appear that Imperial could borrow
a line from the real estate business and say their project is
all about location, location, location.

Source: Imperial Mining Group March 15, 2022 Press Release

It also doesn’t hurt that Crater Lake already has 43-101
compliant resource estimate. In September Imperial received
the inaugural NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Crater Lake
TG Zone Mineral Resource Estimate.

Source: Imperial Mining Group Ltd. press release Sep 23, 2021

The results of the Resource Estimate for the Northern Lobe of
the TG Zone far exceeded the minimum threshold resource
Imperial internally set for a 20-25-year notional mining
operation, or 10 million tonnes. And the good news is
mineralization remains open laterally and at depth,
demonstrating the potential to increase the mineral resource
with additional drilling.

The Company has plenty of catalysts over the next several
months to keep the news flow coming for investors. Work on a
43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on the TG Zone
scandium-rare earth zone resource is progressing and is
expected to be completed in the next few weeks. A diamond
drill program on the TG Zone (Northern Lobe and Southern Lobe)
will commence in late June with up to 22 diamond drill holes
for approximately 2,500 m. In addition, there is excellent
potential to expand the mineral resources with further
drilling on the Southern Lobe. In late Fall 2022, the new
drill hole data from the summer program will be forwarded to a
consultant to revise and update the previous 43-101 Resource
Estimate of the TG Zone. This revised resource will allow
Imperial to move forward with a Pre-Feasibility (PFS) or
Feasibility (FS) Study.

During Summer 2021, Imperial collected a 50-tonnes bulk sample
for use in a pilot plant study. It is expected that the
remaining 32-tonnes will be shipped to Sept-Iles, QC by the
end of July 2022 to be used in a pilot plant study to further
test and optimize Imperial’s patent-pending metallurgical

process method. Additionally, Imperial has commissioned a
hydrometallurgical flowsheet development program based on its
patent pending two-stage hydrometallurgical method for the
extraction of scandium and rare earth elements with SGS
Canada. The program, which started on January 31, 2022, is
partially financed from a $245,355 grant from the Quebec
Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources with expected
completion at the end of Q3 2022. Results from the work will
aid in the engineering design of Imperial’s pilot program for
the Crater Lake project for later in 2022.

As you can see, there is plenty on the go at Imperial Mining
Group and the good news is they started May with C$2.8 M in
working capital and virtually no debt. The Company currently
has a market cap of C$14.7 million representing plenty of
opportunities for a potential domestic supplier of an up and
coming critical material.

Addiction may have met its
match in Awakn Life Sciences
therapeutics
Addiction is one of the biggest unmet medical needs globally
with substance and behavioral addictions affecting a
significant proportion of the global adult population. Here
are some key metrics: The global substance addiction treatment
industry was valued at US$16 billion in 2021 and is forecast
to increase to US$25 billion by 2027, while the overall global
addiction rehabilitation & recovery industry was estimated to
be valued at US$140 billion per annum in 2021. The latter
includes behavioral disorders like gambling, binge eating, and

internet gaming, all of which I’m sure have increased rapidly
over the past 2 years which saw much of the world locked in
our rooms like a bunch of insolent school children.

The challenge with behavioral and substance addictions is that
it tends to be a poorly treated, chronic disease involving
complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the
environment, and an individual’s life experiences. Treatment
rates are typically low and relapse rates are typically high.
For example, with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), which affects 5%
of the global adult population, only 16% of those suffering
with AUD seek treatment and there is a 70% relapse rate within
the first 12 months for those that do seek treatment. Up to
another 27% of the US adult population are affected by
behavioral addictions. Which really puts the market valuations
noted above into context. Imagine if treatment were more
effective and easy to access what the overall market could be
valued at.

The good news is, there is a company out there that is trying
to make a difference, Awakn Life Sciences Corp. (NEO: AWKN |
OTCQB: AWKNF). Awakn is a biotechnology company, researching,
developing, and commercializing combined therapeutics to treat
addiction, with a focus on Alcohol Use Disorder. Awakn’s team
consists of renowned research experts, world leading chemists,
scientists, psychiatrists, and psychologists. Awakn is working
to disrupt this underperforming industry by advancing the next
generation of drugs and therapies to be used in combination,
through preclinical research and clinical stage trials.

What differentiates Awakn from peers who are simply
researching drugs to cure whatever ails you is their new
proprietary combined therapeutics that approach the treatment
of addiction in a radically different way than before. Based
on new research, Awakn’s drugs will target the brain circuits
that drive addiction through multiple receptors rather than
single drug receptors. These circuits control the behavioral
drivers of addiction. By focusing on circuit mechanisms rather

than isolated receptors Awakn’s approach has the potential to
be effective in the treatment of both substance and behavioral
addictions. This disruption allows the individual to escape
from the repetitive addictive behaviors and thoughts, and in
doing so engage with a psychotherapeutic process to enable
lasting positive change. This is where Awakn’s proprietary
therapy comes in. Their therapies work in conjunction with
their medicines, enabling the patients to regain control over
their lives and helping them to learn new more adaptive ways
to respond to addictive urges, cravings and the underlying
processes that drive them.

Recent news flow from the Company is confirming that success

with the May 19th announcement of the completion of the world’s
first ketamine treatment study for behavioral addictions. The
study investigated ketamine as a new treatment approach for
these behavioral addictions by opening a window in which the
brain can make new connections to change behavior. The results
from the study indicate the desired effects via potentially
novel mechanisms and these results merit a larger study and
further exploration, which Awakn is now initiating. The study
also supports Awakn’s Intellectual Property (IP) strategy and
existing filed patent applications, positioning Awakn as a
leading company in the behavioral-addiction therapeutic
research and development industry. This news was followed a
week later with the filing of a Patent Cooperation Treaty
(PCT) application for the treatment of behavioral addictions
with ketamine and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. The patent
claims would give Awakn exclusive rights to use ketamine and
ketamine-assisted therapy for the treatment of behavioral
addictions. With no effective pharmacological treatments
available globally at present for behavioral addictions, the
study results, and the patent filing, position Awakn at the
forefront of the industry at a time when rates of behavioral
addictions are increasing at an alarming pace and sufferers
have few treatment options which deliver poor outcomes.

Additionally, the Company has opened three fully-operational
ketamine-assisted therapy clinics, two in the UK and one in
Norway, which are now generating revenue for Awakn. Each
clinic is anticipated to generate on average £3 million
(US$3.75 million) revenue per annum. The target is 15 – 20
clinics by the end of 2024, with an average of 6 treatment
rooms per clinic. The next step is to then take the protocols
established at these operational clinics and license them to
partners outside of the environments where Awakn has a
physical footprint, starting with the US and Canada in Q3 of
this year.

At the end of their last quarter (Jan 31/22) the Company still
had some work to do to generate enough revenue to cover its
cash flow needs but that could be changing quickly. With a
market cap of C$32 million and a tight share structure with
only 27 million shares outstanding, of which 61% are escrowed,
future good news could have a material impact on the share
price of Awakn.

NEO Battery Materials’ next
generation EV battery is the
focus of its new Korean R&D
hub
I’m going to make a bold prediction. The electric vehicles we
see on the road today will be virtually obsolete in 5 years.
The amount of capital and brain power being applied to battery
technology coupled with the desire/need for fewer and lower
carbon footprint resources that go into those batteries is

going to result in material step changes in vehicle range,
speed of charging and hopefully the corresponding cost.
Whether the electrical grid can keep up with this rapid
transition to EVs remains to be seen but we can save that
discussion for another day.

Imagine you want to go on a road trip in your EV, but every
300-400 miles you have to spend a few hours charging. What if
the next generation of EVs could add 50+% to that range and
fully re-charge in 15-30 minutes. How much would you be
willing to pay for the old generation of EV versus the
convenience of a new one? For sure there will still be a
market for used EVs as some people only need it for their
daily commute or trips to the grocery store and otherwise the
vehicle sits idle for hours, at which point in time there is
little to no inconvenience to charge it. But for me, as
someone who likes to fish and hike in the great outdoors of
the Rocky Mountains, I can assure you there is no chance I’m
buying a current generation EV with its theoretical range that
potentially leaves me stranded in the middle of nowhere when
the actual range ends up being 25% lower than optimal
operating conditions.

One company leading the charge into the next generation of
batteries is NEO Battery Materials Ltd. (TSXV: NBM | OTCQB:
NBMFF), a Vancouver-based company focused on lithium-ion
battery materials for electric vehicle and energy storage
applications. NEO has a focus on producing silicon anode
materials through its proprietary single-step nanocoating
process, which provides improvements in capacity and
efficiency over lithium-ion batteries using graphite in their
anode materials. The Company intends to become a silicon anode
active materials supplier to the electric vehicle industry
with their all-star management and technical advisory team
cherry picked from LG Chem, Samsung and various renowned
universities.

The numbers are impressive both from a capacity/capability

perspective and relative cost to their competition. In
mid-2021 the Company announced that in a half-cell coin test
that its nanocoated silicon anode allowed for a safe full
charge within 5 minutes, which demonstrates the potential for
scaling and implementation in larger cells such as those used
in high power EV batteries. Through a mix of treatments and
nanocoating materials, NEO utilizes pure metallurgical-grade
silicon (Si) particles, which provide a 40-70% higher initial
capacity compared to current competitors that employ SiOx,
SiC, or other composite silicon materials. Due to NEO’s
advantage of retaining a higher initial capacity, on average,
a 5% silicon weight loading of NBMSiDE™ can have the
equivalent impact of a 10% loading of a competitor’s
materials. Initial coulombic efficiencies (ICE) – the ratio of
the discharge capacity after the full charge and the charging
capacity of the same cycle and is usually a fraction of less
than 1 – for NEO’s 100% micron-size level Si anode have
exceeded the 86% level, and cycling performance presents
excellent capacity retention after 300 charging/discharging
cycles.

Source: NEO Battery Materials March 31, 2022 Press Release

And all this technology is advancing beyond research lab
theoretical work. The latest press release from the Company
confirms an MOU with the Province of Gyeonggi (basically
Seoul, South Korea, and the surrounding area) to establish
grounds for investments and cooperation between NEO and the
Province to advance the mass production of silicon anode
materials for EV batteries. NEO Battery Materials will
initially invest, over the next 5 years, 24 billion KRW or
approximately C$25 million to support the construction and
expansion of the silicon anode commercial plant located on a
107,000 sq. ft. site in Oseong Foreign Investment Complex,
Pyeongtaek City, Gyeonggi-do. The Company aims to transform
the Province into an essential manufacturing and R&D hub of
silicon anode materials. The first phase of the commercial
plant will possess an initial annual production capacity of
240 tons of NBMSiDE, and the facility will be built as a 4-
story office building with additional space that can
accommodate production expansion to 1,800 tons annually of the
Company’s anode material.

I have no idea if NEO Battery Materials will be one of the
success stories to advance the next generation of battery
technology for EVs and energy storage. I do know that they
have generated some interesting results and have NDAs signed
with over 20 globally established industry players in the
battery cell manufacturing, materials manufacturing, and
automotive industries. With a market cap of roughly C$30
million, you can decide if this is one of the companies you’d
like to hold if you are investing in the future of EVs.

Drilling and cash the key to
picking the next junior gold
explorer break out
In early September, 2021 I wrote an article on the merits of
potentially investing in gold, more specifically the gold
miners, as they had been underperforming the underlying
commodity price. Did the trade work out? It depends on when
you bought and if/when you sold. Frankly, I’m not overly
concerned because I’m not an investment advisor and I’m not
qualified to provide anyone with investment recommendations.
I’m simply trying to present ideas to readers that they can
evaluate on their own and decide if it’s a good idea for them
in the context of their risk/reward profile. With that said, I
will take another stab at trying to make a case for the
potential to invest in junior gold explorers in the context of
the current market.

As I noted in the first article, I’m not a gold bug, I’m just
an investor. I have no vested interest in talking up gold or
any of the underlying equities. However, because I write about
a lot of junior mining stocks, many of them being gold
explorers or at least companies having some precious metal
exposure, I’ve noticed of late that a lot of them are trading
at or near 52-week lows. This got me wondering if there was a
legit reason for this or if the junior sector was simply
getting crushed by a massive “risk-off” trade. Of note, I’m
specifically looking at explorers this time around, not
producers. Producers have been facing their own set of
challenges with rapidly increasing costs, like Equinox Gold
Corp. (TSX: EQX | AMEX: EQX) or geopolitical risks like
Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX: K | NYSE: KGC). Check out how Equinox
performed at the end of April when they guided much higher
with their AISC (all in sustaining cost) than the market was
expecting. And they aren’t alone in this issue, so I figured

I’d stick to the segment of the market that is purely driven
by drilling results and optimism around gold prices.

As for the price of gold, if I had a dollar for every “expert”
on the business news channels over the last 6 months that got
the call on gold prices correct, I wouldn’t have very much
money right now. Back in September I simply stated that the
price of gold looked OK but not outstanding. A 1-year chart
had support levels at $1,770 and $1,675 with upside to
potentially test $2,000 but if the price rallied back above
$1,850 for a couple of days I would change my tune. Gold got
down to $1,740 in late September, made a “head fake” break out
above $1,850 for 2 weeks in November, retested $1,775 in
December then went on a great run up to $2,000 in March. I
could argue I was right, and someone could just as easily
argue I was wrong. Timing is everything and everything changes
with time.

Fast forward 8 months and not much has changed from a
technical perspective. I still see support around $1,750 with
an upside to $2,050 but it would have to trade above $1,910
for me to get excited right now, which seems to be an
interesting resistance level, as well it would get you above
the 200 day moving average. Of note, it appears that gold is
pretty safe to sell if the RSI (relative strength index at the
top of the chart) gets above 70 and potentially a buy when the
RSI touches 30.

Source: Stockcharts.com

What I didn’t do last time, but will endeavor to undertake
this time, is some macro comments on why gold the commodity
may be poised to finally break out. Generally speaking, gold
tends to have a negative correlation to the US Dollar, which
recently hit all time highs relative to virtually every major
currency. The US Dollar is overbought and appears to be
starting to roll over. This could result in some bullish
sentiment returning to gold. Another macro observation is that
gold seemed to be fighting for investing interest with the
crypto universe. Cryptocurrencies were being billed as the new
gold. At least for the time being, that doesn’t seem to be the
case as crypto investors appear to be running for the exits.
Will gold benefit from this? We may never know but it likely
doesn’t hurt gold’s popularity. Lastly, gold is sometimes
considered an inflation hedge and if you’ve put gas in your
car or been grocery shopping you know inflation is taking its
toll. Right now funds flow appears to be chasing oil stocks as
the inflation hedge but once portfolio managers hit a certain
threshold of oil exposure they will look elsewhere. Perhaps

that could be a tailwind for gold, but this is the factor I
have the least confidence in.

So what does it all mean? Putting a bunch of mixed and random
thoughts together has led me to believe that junior gold
mining explorers may be getting unduly punished right now by a
market full of uncertainty bordering on fear. However, the
opportunity is not broad based. You want to look at companies
with cash to fund future drilling because if they don’t have
the money right now, you don’t want to be out raising capital
at 52-week lows. Preferably you want to find companies with
active drilling underway so you don’t have to wait too long
for news to come along but having cash is the #1 priority.

Here are a couple of ideas in no particular order, including
Troilus Gold Corp. (TSX: TLG | OTCQX: CHXMF) and Westward Gold
Inc. (CSE: WG | OTCQB: WGLIF), that meet the criteria of
cashed up and drilling like mad.

Cash-rich               Labrador              Uranium

continues   to  expand  and
explore   Canada’s  mineral
superstore
I promise this is the last article I write about a junior
miner in Newfoundland & Labrador… this week.

As I’ve noted in the past, this region of Canada is blessed
with an abundance of resources of all kinds – gold, silver,
copper, nickel, cobalt, iron, zinc, molybdenum, rare earths
and uranium to name a few. I recently discussed a gold
explorer that has also stumbled across some hard rock lithium
(pegmatite) in the area. It would seem we’ve found our green
revolution superstore, all in a mining friendly and
politically stable jurisdiction, occupied by some of the most
friendly people on the planet. What more could you ask for?
That’s why I continue to be fascinated by, and write about
this important mining region.

So what commodity to focus on today? How about uranium. That’s
right, Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin doesn’t host all of
Canada’s uranium resources. There’s plenty to be found in the
Central Mineral Belt (CMB) in Labrador. And a key new explorer
in the region is Labrador Uranium Inc. (CSE: LUR | OTCQB:
LURAF) recently spun out of Consolidated Uranium Inc. (TSXV:
CUR | OTCQB: CURUF), by transferring ownership of the Moran
Lake Project to LUR in exchange for 16 million common shares
of LUR. Shortly after the spin-out was announced LUR then
agreed to acquire from Altius Minerals Corporation (TSX: ALS)
a 100% interest in the 125,000 hectare Central Mineral Belt
(CMB) Uranium-Copper Project, located adjacent to the Moran
Lake Project, and the Notakwanon project, both located in
Labrador. Lastly, LUR rounded out its Labrador portfolio with
an agreement to acquire Mega Uranium Ltd.’s 66% participating
interest in the joint venture that holds a 100% interest in

the Mustang Lake project, approximately 9.5 kilometres
northeast of Paladin Energy’s Michelin deposit with its 128
million lb uranium resource.

That’s a pretty impressive land grab in a span of 7 months
since Consolidated Uranium first announced the spin out. The
financial team was also busy for Labrador Uranium during that
time amassing roughly C$18 million in two capital raises, with

the latest one closing April 28th. All of this has created a
well funded exploration and development company focused on
uranium projects, with over 139,000 ha in the prolific CMB in
central Labrador. Both the Moran Lake Project, which hosts
historical uranium mineral resources, and the CMB Project,
have had substantial past exploration work completed with
numerous targets with uranium, copper and IOCG (iron oxide,
copper, gold) style mineralization. The Notakwanon Project is
underexplored but drill ready. All three projects are expected
to be the focus of an aggressive exploration program in 2022.

Source: Labrador Uranium Corporate Presentation

One of the unique things about Labrador Uranium, as they move

forward to start drilling this massive portfolio that they’ve
put together, is their use of technology. The CMB region has
seen significant historical exploration work by multiple
private and public groups resulting in a large database of
geological data available. The Company is reviewing several
terabytes of data including, geological, geochemical, mineral
occurrence and geophysical (magnetics and radiometrics) to
seek overlooked, potentially large mineral systems that may
not be easily identifiable through standard field and remote
exploration techniques for various reasons including extensive
cover or lack of drill coverage. LUR is utilizing its internal
expert knowledge to review the existing datasets to map
geological framework elements such as stratigraphy,
alteration, fault and fracture systems, folding and intrusive
contact. Then utilizing technology, the team is assembling
training datasets upon which to train Machine Learning
algorithms to identify yet unknown or poorly expressed mineral
systems in the belt together with geomechanical modeling
approaches to identify and prioritize mineral targets.

Regardless of whether I’ve explained this in a coherent enough
way for people to understand, or if I made a complete mess of
the explanation, suffice it to say that their process has
already identified >140 targets. Many of which are copper,
which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Source: Labrador Uranium Corporate Presentation

The next weeks and months will be interesting to see where
Labrador Uranium focuses their activity. As noted, they are
well funded for a large and aggressive exploration program in
2022. Over half of their current C$37 million market cap is in
the form of cash to go out and generate plenty of news.
Combine that with another potential rally in the uranium
sector and investors could see a handsome return if the drill
bit hits its mark. Paladin Energy’s Michelin deposit has
proven there are elephants roaming the plains of central
Labrador.

Will Sokoman Minerals be Eric

Sprott’s next Newfoundland
gold success story?
Every once in a while I find myself scanning through a
company’s website or press releases and then I have to pause
for a moment and go back and re-read something. Instead of the
usual content you expect to see, something jumps off the page
and you have to make sure you read it correctly and that your
eyes weren’t playing tricks on you. Today’s junior mining
stock had me doing this a couple of times for several
different reasons. The company is unusual (in a good way) and
not simply because Eric Sprott beneficially owns 25% of the
outstanding shares (even more if warrants are exercised). It
also had nothing to do with its location, Newfoundland &
Labrador, although that’s why I was looking at it in the first
place as I just happen to enjoy reading and writing about this
special part of Canada.

The first thing that jumped off the page for me was
“Approximately 48,000 metres remain to be completed in the
current 100,000 m drill program”. For a junior miner anywhere,
that is a giant volume of drilling, which also means there has
to be plenty of cash around as well. How about a treasure
stocked with C$13 million? Seems like enough to undertake such
an enormous exploration program and as the Company states
“sufficient funds to undertake all the exploration activities
planned for 2022”. The last thing that stood out was the
number of projects being actively explored – 5. Most junior
mining companies don’t have more than 2 or 3 properties to
pursue, often only 1, and even more rare is the resources to
be working on all these projects over the next 3-6 months.

Needless to say, I was hooked. I had to find out more about
Sokoman Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SIC | OTCQB: SICNF), and let me
tell, there is a lot more to learn. The Company’s primary
focus is its portfolio of gold projects; flagship Moosehead

Gold Project, Crippleback Lake (optioned to Trans Canada Gold
Corp.) and East Alder (optioned to Canterra Minerals
Corporation) along the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt, and the
district-scale Fleur de Lys project in north-central
Newfoundland. The Company also recently entered into a
strategic alliance with Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX)
through three, large-scale, joint-venture properties including
Grey River, Golden Hope and Kepenkeck in Newfoundland. Sokoman
controls, independently and through the Benton alliance, over
150,000 hectares (>6,000 claims – 1500 sq. km), making it one
of the largest landholders in Newfoundland, in Canada’s newest
and rapidly-emerging gold districts. The Company also retains
an interest in an early-stage antimony/gold project (Startrek)
in Newfoundland, optioned to White Metal Resources Inc., and
in Labrador, the Company has a 100% interest in the Iron Horse
(Fe) project which has Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) potential.

I’m still trying to figure out what metal or minerals
Newfoundland & Labrador doesn’t have as it seems the region
has an abundance of everything. Along those lines, the Golden
Hope JV with Benton made the first high-grade lithium
discovery in Newfoundland in September, 2021. The first assay
results from the drilling program that tested the Kraken
pegmatite field returned an average of 0.95% Li2O over 8.40 m
with grades as high as 1.76% Li2O. Not bad when you are looking
for gold. The Alliance has proposed a C$3 million budget for a
summer drill program testing as many of the known pegmatite
dykes as possible, with up to 30-40 holes planned. Camp setup
and drill mobilization are expected in mid-June.

But as interesting as this is, for today I think will focus on
where the bulk of the drilling is being done, and that’s the
Moosehead Gold Project where visible gold has been intersected
in drilling over a 2 km strike length. From 2018-2021 Sokoman
completed ~73,000 m of drilling with ~360 holes, leading to
the discovery of 4 significant zones, all of which remain
open. Highlights from these zones rival some of the findings

from their neighbors to the east, New Found Gold Corp. (TSXV:
NFG | AMEX: NFGC) another Eric Sprott backed gold miner in
Newfoundland:

Western Trend • MH-18-08 • 1.05 m @ 207.5g/t Au from 8.5 m;
and 2.28 m @ 42.36 g/t Au from 33.1 m

Eastern Trend • MH-18-01 • 11.9 m @ 44.96g/t Au, including
5.65 m @ 93.56 g/t Au from 115.2 m

75 Zone • MH-21-23 • 44.8 m @ 17.56g/t Au, including 2.75 m @
30.59g/t Au from 44.75 m

South Pond • MH-20-12 • 35.0 m of 26.87 g/t Au, including 2.15
m @ 60.59 g/t Au from 47.0 m

Heading into 2022 is where things get really exciting. Results
last week, some of the first holes from the 100,000 m 2022
program, expanded the 75 Zone and essentially linked it with
the main Eastern Trend/Footwall Splay mineralization (see
picture below). In addition, MH-22-418, completed last week
(assays pending) intersected the deepest occurrence of visible
gold to date on the property at a downhole depth of 352 m.

Source: Sokoman Minerals May 19, 2022 Press Release

It would appear there will be a steady stream of drilling
results coming from Sokoman Minerals over the following weeks
and months, not only from Moosehead, but Golden Hope and Grey
River with JV partner Benton Resources Inc. There is a lot
going on at this well funded, junior gold (and now lithium)
explorer. With a market cap of C$66 million it’s not hard to
imagine plenty of upside when one of your comparables is New
Found Gold at a market cap of C$1.2 billion.

The Colombian sun rises for
Auxico   Resources  with  a
mining permit for its rare
earths and PGM project
A pleasant surprise is always a nice thing. These days it
seems that any time you see the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq in
positive territory on the day it’s considered a pleasant
surprise. But that’s not what I’m talking about. What I’m
referring to is a situation where you are a junior mining
company in hot pursuit of a valuable and globally in-demand
commodity, like rare earths, and you come across decent grades
of gold, platinum and titanium, at surface no less. I believe
that is what you call “having your cake and eating it too”, if
you are at all familiar with that expression. If that phrase
means nothing to you, then let’s stick with a pleasant
surprise.

The company that looks like it’s blessed with an abundance of
riches is Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG), a Canadian
company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and
development of mineral properties in Colombia, Brazil,
Bolivia, Mexico, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
They are a combination project generator, miner, processor and
marketer all rolled up into one, with a focus on the
production of critical minerals and high-value metals,
including niobium, tantalum, platinum group metals (such as
platinum and iridium), and rare earth elements. Additionally,
Auxico is the exclusive trade agent for rare earth
concentrates from the DRC. The Company owns directly or
through joint ventures, mineral rights in Colombia, Bolivia,
and Brazil, with access to close to 4 million tonnes of
critical minerals and rare earth elements – the largest
deposits outside of China.

But today we are going to focus on their Minastyc Property in
Vichada, Colombia, where Auxico recently announced the
granting of a mining permit (specifically a Work Plan
Authorization) from the National Mining Agency of Colombia.
This is a very significant development for the Company because
Auxico will now be able to move forward with the formal
purchase of the Minastyc Property from its current owner. The
approval of the Work Plan was the last condition in the
purchase agreement. This leaves one step left, a site visit by
representatives of Corporinoquia (the Colombian environmental
agency), before the Company will be able to move equipment on
site, including heavy machinery for bulk sampling and a
processing facility, which will enable Auxico to move towards
making a production decision for small-scale mining
operations.

In the meantime, Auxico has been busy at the Minastyc Property
having previously announced a NI 43-101 Technical Evaluation

Report on March 28th of this year with highlights including a
3.2 tonne bulk sample from two locations of the Area 50 pit
resulting in a 7.7 kg fine concentrate returning Total Rare
Earth Oxides (TREO) grading 68.32% and 65.67% respectively
from the two locations. Back in October 2021 the Company
reported the discovery of platinum group metals (PGM’s) in
samples including Sample 1 with 42.8% titanium, 25.4% niobium,
and 8.3% tantalum while Sample 2, found in a different zone on
the property, originating from a rock sample containing 30.4%
tantalum, 23.3% niobium and 24.5% titanium.

But the fun doesn’t end there. The latest results published by
Auxico show gold, platinum, titanium, zirconium and hafnium
test results on samples taken from the Area 50, TA Area and
two other areas from the Minastyc property. At this point,
it’s almost easier to talk about what metal or mineral they
don’t have on this property. All joking aside, highlights from
the latest fourteen samples, taken from pits in the first
metre from surface in these areas, gave an average head grade

of 9.5 g/t of gold, and 13.5 g/t of platinum from 8 of the 14
samples that returned grade. Additionally, the Company
reported the discovery of 24.5% titanium, 7.8% zirconium, and
2.4 kilograms of hafnium. And if those grades aren’t enough to
get your attention, then perhaps the fact that the Company
suggests that based on these field observations and from the
satellite interpretation, an estimated minimum of 250,000
tonnes of material is represented by this Ferricrete layer in
the first metre from surface at Area 50 and the TA area.

All this explains why Auxico is presently coordinating the
site visit with Corporinoquia and expects the visit to occur
near term. With these kinds of grades literally at surface
they could be generating a decent revenue stream in short
order to help finance further exploration, a preliminary
resource estimate or whatever they determine is the best use
of funds.

With a market cap of C$55 million, this isn’t one of those
undiscovered companies that provides an almost free option on
their exploration. However, with almost every valuable hard
rock commodity on the planet concentrated in one spot with
pretty impressive grades, any expansion in size could be a
boon to shareholders. And I didn’t even touch on the myriad of
other interesting opportunities going on at Auxico Resources
that you can explore on your own at their website.

With technology for the real
world,   Zentek’s   graphene

nanotech masks                      are        now       on
store shelves
At the start of the year, I was asked to pick a name that I
thought could be the “stock to watch in 2022”. Naturally the
tendency is to step a little further out the risk curve
because where’s the fun in picking something like Enbridge,
Inc. (TSX: ENB | NYSE: ENB) and being up 15% year-to-date plus
dividend when you could be up 130% over that same time period
with a stock like Ensign Energy Services, Inc. (TSX: ESI). In
reality, I would have been a hero if I had picked either of
those in light of what the majority of the market has done
since the start of 2022. However, I went down the technology
route (or should I say rout) and the name I picked has been
swept lower in a market beating up anything resembling tech.
On top of that, the company I selected was also the focus of a
short report, although that appears to have been addressed in
March and seems to be a non-issue. But technology stocks are
still seeing some pretty unpleasant days here and there, and
the pain may not be over yet.

Nevertheless, until the year is over, I still have time to be
vindicated with my 2022 pick – Zentek Ltd. (NASDAQ: ZTEK |
TSXV: ZEN), which is certainly doing better than Shopify, Inc.
(TSX: SHOP | NYSE: SHOP) but sadly that’s not setting the bar
too high. Reader’s will recall that Zentek is an IP
development and commercialization company focused on next-gen
healthcare solutions in the areas of prevention, detection,
and treatment. Zentek is currently focused on commercializing
ZenGUARD™, a patent-pending coating shown to have 99%
antimicrobial activity, including against COVID-19, and the
potential to use similar compounds as products against
infectious diseases.

The focus on ZenGUARD™ is paying off with an announcement last
week of the sales and distribution of ZenGUARD™ Masks through

Mark’s, a member of the Canadian Tire Family of Companies.
Mark’s, which operates over 380 stores across Canada, has
placed an initial order for ZenGUARD™ coated masks to be sold
at select stores and online. Mark’s VP Iain Summers is quoted
as saying “We are relentlessly focused on innovative new
technologies and products that help keep Canadians safe and
comfortable. Zentek, and their ZenGUARD™ masks are a great
made-in-Canada innovation using a technology that, when
applied to essential masks, provides ultimate protection,
while maintaining comfort and breathability. It’s the right
fit for our customers.” This news helped Zentek stock rally
14% on the day.

It was the progress the Company was making with ZenGUARD™ and
their other unique IP opportunities that led to Zentek being
my stock to watch. Other technologies under development
include an icephobic coating that can potentially be used to
improve aircraft and drone safety and sustainability. The
Company anticipates applications for aircraft, wind turbines,
ocean vessels, and building structures to increase safety and
efficiency outcomes in ice-forming weather conditions. The
Company recently reported excellent results in three rounds of
testing of its icephobic coating, including laboratory tests,
real-world flights and applications related to drone
operations in adverse weather. Next steps include testing its
coating for sand and rain erosion, and other tests are being
planned that will evaluate the coating as part of a hybrid ice
protection system, where the icephobic properties are combined
with a heated de-icing system with the aim to improve
efficiency of current ice protection methods used in general
and commercial aviation.

In April, Zentek provided an update on a previously awarded
R&D test contract through the Innovation Solutions Canada
(ISC) Testing Stream to test ZENGuard™ coated HVAC filters
with interest from 3 different units within the National
Research Council of Canada. After completion of Phase 1

testing where its ZenGUARD™ coating was successful in reducing
airborne organisms from passing through coated filter material
while not inhibiting air flow, it will now proceed to Phase 2
testing within its ISC Testing Stream contract. Phase 2
testing in a real-world classroom environment is aimed to
generate additional safety and efficacy data. The importance
of indoor air quality and improving health is a top priority
for numerous organizations globally, including the Canadian
and U.S. governments, and could be an important
commercialization milestone for Zentek in this critical area.

Sure all these initiatives were already on the go at the start
of the year, but in my opinion, the Company is making great
strides in pushing these projects to the revenue generation
stage. In fact, ZenGAURD™ actually started generating revenue
in the final quarter of 2021. Additionally, Zentek raised C$33
million in January and have a quarterly cash burn rate of
roughly C$2-C$2.5 million per quarter (and no debt), so they
should be fine for available capital. With a market cap of
roughly C$247 million there are plenty of creative and unique
opportunities being developed to propel this Company into the
future and vindicate my selection.

In a week of losses the
market    seems   to   think
Westward Gold might be on to
something
It’s not often that you see a junior mining company release a
general corporate update, with no new drill results, that

sparks a 45% rally in the stock with a dramatic and sustained
increase in daily volume. Especially over the last two weeks,
which hasn’t exactly been a “risk-on” type of market.
Naturally, I was inclined to have a look and see what all the
fuss was about.

It may come as no surprise that I had no idea what most of the
somewhat technical press release was trying to convey. My
commerce degree and business experience have not blessed me
with the ability to interpret geologic concepts. I can grasp
oz/tonne, true width, depth, inferred resource, etc. but
that’s all just math (which my degree and business experience
did equip me to comprehend). But when it comes to
hyperspectral imaging, induced polarization survey, or the
role of compressional structures on stratigraphy, you might as
well be speaking another language, specifically one I don’t
understand. However, the market has spoken and the market is
always right, so even though I may not understand it, it
appears that it is pretty good news.

The company that has generated this recent buzz is Westward
Gold Inc. (CSE: WG | OTCQB: WGLIF), a mineral exploration
company focused on developing the Toiyabe, Turquoise Canyon,
and East Saddle Projects located in the Cortez Hills area of
Nevada. They’ve assembled a 3,830 hectare land package in the
heart of Nevada’s Battle Mountain-Eureka Gold Trend, one of
the most prospective mining districts in the world,
approximately 10 kilometers southwest of Barrick Gold Corp.’s
Cortez Hills mine and adjacent to Barrick’s past producing
Toiyabe-Saddle Mine.

The press release that caught the market’s attention was a
seemingly run-of-the-mill corporate update, but I guess the
devil is in the details. I’ve already stated that a lot of the
technical information was over my head but I’ll try and
interpret what made this particular update a little more
special. It was a very thorough summary of the last year’s
activity, but there wasn’t a lot of news that hadn’t already

been disclosed. As near as I can tell, only the IP Survey,
possibly reinterpretation of legacy geophysical data, and the
combination of this data, with previously disclosed
information, to come up with new stratigraphic findings are
new to the public domain. So the excitement must lie somewhere
within there.

Highlights from the 17 line-kilometer IP Survey point to the
main host rock at the Historical Resource at Toiyabe (~173 koz
at 1.2 g Au/t) being interpreted to also be present at
Turquoise Canyon, under only 150-250 meters of cover. The
chargeability model confirms two near-term step-out targets at
Toiyabe and further informs priority targets at Turquoise
Canyon. Reinterpretation of legacy geophysical data confirmed
the IP findings related to the presence of favorable Lower
Plate carbonates below the Upper Plate cover at Turquoise
Canyon and further understanding of the geometry of the
carbonate window and associated structures at Toiyabe.
Certainly, positive news but even a layman like myself is
struggling to find anything market-moving here.

Toiyabe-Saddle Mine North Pit. Source: Company website

That suggests it’s all down to the new stratigraphic findings

(or I’ve completely missed the boat on this one, which is
entirely possible). Cross-section analysis provided for a new
understanding of the role of compressional structures on
stratigraphy, the dip of mineralization, and a potential link
between mineralization at surface in the Toiyabe-Saddle open
pits and at depth at Toiyabe. Repetition of favorable
lithologies (stratigraphic duplex) appears to occur beneath
the Historical Resource. The Company believes this confirms
that gold mineralization is hosted in the Horse Canyon and
Wenban Formations, which are documented gold hosts at the
nearby Pipeline, Cortez Hills, Goldrush, and Fourmile
deposits.

If that is the good news, I will always be late to the dance
because I look for something more understandable (to me), like
drill results, to get me excited. To that end, the Company is
proceeding with a 12-15 hole, 4,000 meter drilling campaign
scheduled to begin in June, focusing on several of the targets
noted above. This initial drilling program is budgeted to be
roughly US$1 million, which leaves ample funds for Phase 2
drilling later in the year following the Company’s recent
C$2.5 million financing, which closed in February.

At the end of the day, the market has spoken and people a lot
more knowledgeable than me are suggesting Westward Gold might
be on to something in Nevada. With a market cap of only C$10
million, this is another example of an almost free option on a
company with an interesting next couple of months ahead of it.

Nanotechnology value hunters

look    at                      Sixth               Wave
Innovations
After the last few days and weeks, it seems almost pointless
talking about any company that is publicly traded as it is
probably getting crushed, or if you are lucky, only moderately
beaten up. However, in times like this you have to look past
what the market is doling out on a day to day basis and think
about the bigger picture. Perhaps you don’t want to be buying
today, trying to catch the proverbial ‘falling knife’, or
maybe we are close to a bottom. I don’t have a clue. What I do
know is that what has happened year to date is not going to
prevent me from buying stocks in the future, so I always want
to have a giant ‘watch list’ that I can prioritize when
everything goes on sale. Even though it may seem like this is
the sale that never ends.

That’s why, when there’s a broad market sell off like the one
we are currently enduring, it’s fun to go looking for stocks
that are almost free. In this case I’m talking about a company
that is trading at an all time low stock price, below
$0.10/share, and market cap of roughly C$11 million, both of
which suggest there could be potential for plenty of upside
should any of its several business lines gain traction. I’m
talking about Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. (CSE: SIXW | OTCQB:
SIXWF), a nanotechnology company with patented technologies
that focus on extraction and detection of target substances at
the molecular level using highly specialized Molecularly
Imprinted Polymers (MIPs). The Company is in the process of a
commercial rollout of its Affinity™ cannabinoid purification

system, as well as, IXOS®, a line of extraction polymers for
the gold mining industry. The Company is in the development
stages of a rapid diagnostic test for viruses under the
Accelerated MIPs (AMIPs™) label. Sixth Wave can design,
develop and commercialize MIP solutions across a broad

spectrum of industries for which the Company has products at
various stages of development.

Given where we currently stand in the pandemic, the name of
the company is a little coincidental, but we need to look
beyond that to the investment thesis. Like many companies at
the onset of COVID-19, they transitioned to pursue a better
way of detecting the virus. In December, 2021 the Company
announced it had successfully demonstrated selective binding
and detection of live SARS-CoV-2 virus in saliva samples using
its patent-pending AMIPs™ technology, which could lead to a
handheld breathalyzer system. This might have you thinking,
“who cares, the pandemic is over”. But the development and
learning from this process has led to a partnership
with TraceSafe Inc., to use patented MIPs for imprinting,
capturing, and detecting substances at the molecular level to
provide an effective and proactive prevention and containment
strategy for deadly viruses and pathogens in animals. If you
think about the Avian Flu resulting in the culling of tens of
millions of chickens and turkeys across the U.S. and Canada at
present, there could be plenty of opportunity here. In fact, a
widespread bird flu outbreak in 2005 raised alarm bells and
prompted the US Senate to allocate US$4 billion to prepare for
a possible influenza pandemic.

Another active business line is the Affinity™ Extraction
Process, an extraction solution specifically designed to
extract THC and/or CBD from cannabis/hemp crude for the
production of pure THC and CBD compounds. For Cannabis
Producers, the Affinity™ unit is designed to capture and
extract Cannabinoids to ensure the purest end product. The
system replaces antiquated processes including winterization,
distillation and chromatography. The highly scalable Baseline
unit is designed to produce approximately 20 kg of cannabinoid
distillate or full spectrum distillate per day and each unit
is capable of generating gross revenues to Sixth Wave of up to
$100K/month. Agreements are in place for the delivery of four

machines, with the first of the three systems to Green Envy
Extracts before the end of fiscal Q3 2022 (May) while an MOU
for the fourth unit was signed with Quantum Labs of New Mexico
in January, 2022.

The third potential revenue stream could come from IXOS ® , a
line of extraction polymers formulated for deployment in the
gold mining industry for the extraction of gold from cyanide
leach solutions. It is designed to be more selective, more
efficient, have higher capacity, and offer environmental
benefits compared to current processing methods. Sixth Wave’s
recent patent award and previous work with lithium, nickel,
cobalt, rare earth elements, and platinum group metals point
to similar potential that has proven successful in gold and
silver mining. To that end, the Company has been engaged by
Champlain Mineral Ventures to develop a “green” mining process
for lithium from its Brazil Lake deposit. The Company has also
submitted proposals to government entities and commercial
mining companies to exploit its intellectual property for
these critical metals with non-dilutive grants and contracts.
This success is translating into a stream of small revenue
generating contracts as mining companies move to test IXOS® in
the Company’s laboratories as well as with on-site pilots.

As you can see, Sixth Wave has a lot of opportunities
percolating, with some potentially reaching a level where they
could be providing the Company with revenue in the not too
distant future. Sixth Wave just raised C$2.6 million in March,
which should buy them a little more time to achieve that goal.
In the meantime, the stock is on sale, along with almost every
company that has anything to do with technology. Not to say
the stock price can’t go lower, but it is almost free right
now.