(It’s subtle, but it’s there.)

Below you’ll rediscover 3 top notch PGs specializing in the Yukon, Nevada and Quebec.  Every 1 of these project generators has a track record of making discoveries.

They’re all actively working and drilling.

They have strong share structures.

And they’re even well-financed!

I’d be comfortable buying all 3 at recent prices (for me personally, right now, SMD and AZM are currently 4% to 12% weightings within the overall portfolio. I don’t have a position in REN.). Technically, all 3 now have rising 200-day moving averages (SMA’s), confirming the start of longer-term uptrends, but they’re still not far off their all-time lows.  In my mind, all these factors make for some smart speculations.

1) Strategic Metals (SMD, TSX-V)

Awaiting assay results from 3 self-funded drill programs targeting high-grade Gold and a giant porphyry!

PGs aren’t technically supposed to spend money (take risks) drilling their own properties, if they really stick to the rule book.  But sometimes rules are made to be broken!  When you’ve got a pile of cash and a couple of GREAT targets, like Strategic does, PGs need to take risks drilling them sometimes!

Maybe they’ll hit something and have complete 100% ownership of a project, a big bargaining chip.

That’s my argument to these management teams, anyway, and this is a great time to do it.

August 7 was the most actively traded day of 2019 for SMD (I think that’s worth noting).

The busiest day of the year but no news.  You’ve got to pay attention to signs like that!

Just a subtle sign but it could signal higher prices are ahead for SMD.  Volume tends to be a leading indicator.  SMD climbed as high as 47 cents last week, the best price in more than a year, before a general retreat in the Venture pushed the stock down to a Friday close of 41 cents, a 1-cent drop for the week.  Also important, and often a leading indicator, the 50-day moving average (SMA) recently crossed above the 200-day moving average.  Slow Stochastics and RSI indicators are also positive, so feel free to embrace any weakness for the time being.

Looking at a long-term chart is really helpful.  I’m of the belief, based on studying historical patterns, that the stocks of top notch companies such as Strategic like to “retest” and “challenge” old highs at some point in time.  We don’t know the why or the when, of course, but there’s no reason to believe SMD won’t ultimately take another run run at $2 or $3.

What catalyst(s) are capable of propelling SMD back above $2 per share and beyond?

DRILLING!

Strategic has 3 self-funded drill programs underway!

A) Meloy: A Giant Red Mountain You Can Spot From Google Earth!

A 7 km x 3 km soil geochemical anomaly suggests that Strategic has potential to discover a massive Copper-Gold porphyry.

According to Strategic’s VP Richard Drechsler: “We’ve identified 3 different mineralizing structures on the project and we’re looking to see some fresh rock there.  We’ve set up a couple of drill sites so we’ll be able to test the various mineralizing fracture sets that we see out at Meloy and try to get a good handle on where we would sit in the classic type porphyry model.”

The 38 sq. km claim block covers strongly altered, Late Cretaceous intrusive rocks that are highly enriched in Copper, Silver and Molybdenum as well as Gold, Tungsten, Tin and Zinc.  Meloy is located at the southern end of the Dawson Range belt, an important Copper and Gold district associated with mid-to-late Cretaceous magmatism.  Notable occurrences within the belt include Western Copper’s (WRN, TSX) giant Casino Copper-Gold-Molybdenum porphyry deposit, Triumph’s (TIG, TSX-V) Freegold Mountain porphyry/epithermal Gold-Copper camp, and Rockhaven’s (RK, TSX-V) Klaza Gold-Silver epithermal vein deposit and related Copper porphyry.

Meloy is a giant red mountain that you can spot from Google earth, and it’s really never been drilled (until now).  Prospecting and geological mapping suggests that the heart of the target lies below a leached cap.

B) Sixty Mile: Following Up On Bonanza 132 g/t Gold Intersection From 2011!

Strategic acquired Sixty Mile from an independent prospector last year. The road accessible property lies within the heart of the Sixty Mile placer district, 65 km west of Dawson City.  This placer district has produced more than 500,000 ounces of Gold, making it the 2nd most productive district in Yukon Territory.

Mineralization on the property is hosted within a weak porphyry system and structurally controlled zones along the Sixty Mile fault.  Widely spaced, historical diamond drilling returned 132 g/t Gold over 1.5 m with additional Gold intercepts of 1.6 g/t over 6.5 m, 19 g/t over 1 m, and, 5.1 g/t over 1 m.  Porphyry targets yielded 0.32 g/t Gold over 58 m, 54 ppm Molybdenum over 123 m, and 542 ppm Copper over 271 m.  Modest results, for sure, but they are viewed as important vectors in guiding geologists to the heart of the system.

Following the most recent (2011) drill program, horizontal loop electromagnetic, induced polarization and extremely low frequency (ELF) geophysical surveys were conducted over a grid in the core of the property.  A compilation of geophysical, geological and drill data has identified a resistivity low marking the Sixty Mile fault, and a sub-parallel resistivity high north of the fault, which coincides with the 132 g/t Gold intercept.

“We know there’s lots of Gold in the area and we have major structures that go right through the project and we have previous drill hits as well as high-grade surface mineralization.  So Sixty Mile is another good bet for us,” said Drechsler.

Strategic recently expanded the Sixty Mile property to cover 20 km of strike length along the Sixty Mile fault (2nd most productive placer district in Yukon Territory).

Past production along with a bonanza grade intercept near surface makes this road accessible project an extremely attractive exploration prospect.

C) Hartless Joe: Visible Gold Showings On Ridge Tops!

“The Hartless Joe really speaks to the unexplored nature of Yukon.  We’ve had prospectors out there the last few summers and they were finding visible Gold showings right on ridge tops.  Only 20 km from the capital city (Whitehorse).  So the fact that you’d be able to find that sort of thing so close to town, in this day and age, really shows the unexplored nature of Yukon and why we’re so excited to be up there doing the early stage work and making new discoveries all the time,” explained Drechsler.

Located in the northern extension of Stikinia, the geological terrane hosting the Golden Triangle in British Columbia, Hartless Joe is a Gold-rich system covering an area 6.5 km long and up to 3.5 km wide.

Eskay Creek is the model for a lot of the mineralization Strategic has found at Hartless Joe.

“We see evidence of those exhalative horizons on the Hartless Joe.  So we’re optimistic that we’re on to that type of system and there’s enough high-grade on surface to support that.  We could have some significant features just under the surface,” said Drechsler.

We’ll highlight Azimut and Renaissance in a Daniel’s Den piece this coming week.