Fortuna Sells a Second Mine in Short Order
Contributed Opinion

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Fortuna Mining Corp. (FSM:NYSE; FVI:TSX; FVI:BVL; F4S:FSE) announced it had completed the on-again, off-again sale of San Jose Mine in Mexico. The new buyer is a private Peruvian company. This comes hard on the heels of the sale of its Yaramoko Mine in Burkina Faso. Both mines were approach the end of their mine lives. Although the sale of Yaramoko will cut the company's expected production to around 350,000 ounces this year, San Jose was not included in the company's earlier guidance, so it will have no effect on production.

Fortuna retains a 1% royalty on production of gold and silver above 119,000 GEOs. Fortuna is now looking for mines to replace the two sold. With a solid balance sheet, conservative management, and three great mines in Peru, Argentina, and Cȏte d/Ivoire (plus a good development project in Senegal), Fortuna is one of our top picks among producers.

Given the run-up in the share price and the reduction in anticipated production for the year, we are holding and will buy again on a pullback.

Insiders Step Up Buying of Lara Amid Optimism on Copper Project

Lara Exploration Ltd. (LRA:TSX.V) has seen ongoing insider buying, culminating in a purchase of 120,000 shares a week ago by Christopher MacIntyre, Vice President of Corporate Development. These shares were purchased at $1.50, which was, at that time, not far from the all-time highs for the stock price, and follows further buying this year both from Mr. MacIntyre and other officers, including the Chairman Miles Thompson and CEO Simon Ingram and a director; together, management and directors now hold almost 20% of the shares.

The company owns the Planalto copper project in the Carajas region of Brazil. BHP is currently conducting a sale of its assets in the region, and companies looking at acquiring those might also be interested in Planalto. A PEA is expected within six months and the mine could be in production within five years, a short time frame for a copper mine at a time when there is a shortage of copper projects. Insider buying in the market is always a strong sign.

The stock is up 66% in the past two weeks, but we consider it still a Buy.

Altius Revenue Up, Awaiting News on Silicon Royalty

Altius Minerals Corp. (ALS:TSX) reported revenue of almost $15 million for the first quarter, up from the fourth though down moderately from the year-ago quarter.

The gains over the fourth quarter were entirely attributable to higher revenue from the base and battery metals division, which in turn was mostly due to the timing of copper deliveries from Chapada; all other sectors saw revenue fall.

Compared with a year ago, base and battery metals saw an increase, as did iron ore, though potash revenue fell meaningfully, partly due the annual maintenance closure at one mine.

Will Altius Keep the Silicon Royalty?

If we do not hear anything before then, I am sure that when the company reports full quarterly financials a month from now, there will be discussion on the potential sale of Altius' Silicon-Merlin royalty. Given that the arbitration decision on the key areas was made in January, and an expected resource update was announced by Anglo in mid March, we would have expected some announcement by now.

The fact that there has not been suggests to me that the offers made so far are neither so good as to be accepted nor so bad as to be dismissed. It would indicate that discussions are ongoing. (This is my inference not something that I know with certainty.) Though I believe a decision to keep the royalty would be positive for Altius, the failure to obtain a sufficiently good price would likely be viewed, initially, as a disappointment in the market. Altius is a core holding for broad exposure to commodities.

The stock may slip a little further in coming weeks, though if you do not own it, this is a good time and price to be buying.

Mali Government May Confiscate Mine

Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX:TSX; GOLD:NYSE) confirmed that its head office in Mali had been closed by the government, ramping up the dispute over alleged back taxes and a future revenue sharing agreement. The government threatened to take over Barrick's shuttered LouloGounkoto mine. The dispute came to a head when the government stole three tonnes of gold from the company and jailed several employees. Barrick states that an agreement was reached which they signed but that the government has not yet signed it.

It says it continues to engage in good faith, suggesting that the finalization of the agreement was being obstructed by a small group of people in the Mali government. It said it had continued to pay wages to its workers, adding "this situation is not sustainable for the longer term."

However, Barrick has been moving employees from Mali to its mines in the Congo, suggesting that no resolution to the dispute is imminent. It said it was prepared to pursue legal remedies.

Hold.

TOP BUYS this week, in addition to above, include Ares Capital Corp. (ARCC:NASDAQ), Kingsmen Creatives Ltd. (KMEN:SI), Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT:Singapore), Midland Exploration Inc. (MD:TSX.V), and Fox River Resources Corp. (FOX:CSE).