Oreninc Index Remains the Same

The Oreninc Index remained stagnant for the week ending October 2, 2014. Total dollars announced rose to $160.4m, a four-week high. Three brokered deals were announced for $82m, a 14-week high; one bought deal was announced for $75m, a 14-week high.

While companies seem to have more confidence in their ability to raise money the past couple of weeks, deal-making remains light for Canadian juniors. That being said, majors were somewhat active with IAMGOLD Corp’s (TSX:IMG) sale of their Québécois Niobec niobium mine to the former Barrick Gold chief Aaron Regis’s private equity firm, Magris Resources. Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) and the Indonesian government agreed to a deal that allows the gold producer to resume copper exports from the country, ending the nine-month dispute.

Commodity prices had a rough week, with gold dropping to USD$1,200 for the first time in 2014, and platinum hitting a five-year low. Silver also had a rough time, hitting its lowest level in over four years.

While it’s nice to see some movement upwards in the financing market, we are far from out of the water yet. With commodity prices falling and numerous geopolitical issues dominating the headlines, it would not be surprising to see investors and promoters skittish. 

Oreninc Index Finally Shows Life

The Oreninc Index finally showed some life for the week ending September 25, 2014. Total dollars announced rose to $147.1m, a three-week high. Brokered dollars rose to $49.4m on five deals, a three-week high; two bought deals were announced for $30.4, also a three-week high.

Deals were light again this week, with the big news in the space coming by way of falling metals prices. Both ends of the metal spectrum were down, with gold hitting its lowest price since January on Thursday before a strong rally late in the day, and iron ore hitting its lowest point in five years on Tuesday. BHP also announced consideration of a secondary listing of its recently announced spin out on the London Stock Exchange after investor backlash on its initial intentions to not do so.

While the Index is still not high enough to stay encouraged for very long, it’s good to see some real money announced and some bankers in the mix, as opposed to the total lack of activity that has existed since the beginning of the month. We’ll see if the upcoming first full week of fall will encourage companies to raise money and, more importantly, cause investors to have actual interest in what the juniors are saying.

Oreninc Index Falls Even Further

The Oreninc Index fell further to an overall five-week low for the week ending September 18, 2014. Total dollars fell were at $58.5m, a two-week high. Four brokered deals were announced for $8.7m, a two-week high. No bought deals were announced for the seventh time since the beginning of summer. The most shocking aspect of September so far has been the abysmal broker activity; it appears that bankers have stayed on the links to get in a couple rounds before the leaves turn.

Deals were light this week, as there were no big announcements from any majors. Juniors had some minor announcements, with Pacific Ridge Exploration (TSX-V:PEX) entering into an option agreement with Centerra Gold (TSX:CG) for their King Solomon Gold project in Nevada.

It is still early, and the poor performance of the past few weeks may be a result of a slightly stronger than anticipated July. Still, with the industry now in its third year of a down-turn, the chances that fundraising performance in the space will be improved in any significant way over last year is getting slimmer and slimmer with each passing week.

Oreninc Index Falls to Four-Week Low

The Oreninc Index fell to a four-week low for the week ending September 11, 2014. Total dollars fell to $58.3m, a four-week low. Two brokered deals were announced for $5.5m, a four-week low; no bought deals were announced for the second time in six weeks. 

Deals for the week were stronger, with Agnico-Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM) agreeing to buy Cayden Resources (TSX-V: CYD) for $205m. Taseko Mines (TSX: TKO) agreed to buy Curis Resources (TSX: CUV) in an all-stock deal valued at $80m. Both deals are still subject to shareholder approval. 

Junior financing activity is down, but it appears that majors are at least out and trying to make things happen. While too early to tell if this is just a summer hang-over or a real issue, it is not a good sign that a high number of deals with a low number of overall dollars were announced. Juniors may be out trying to raise money, but it seems they just aren’t able to find investment appetite.

Oreninc Index Climbs to Highest Level Since July

The Oreninc Index rose to its highest levels since July for the holiday-shortened week ending September 4, 2014. Numbers were up across the board, with the most impressive number coming with average deal size, which had a YTD-high of $9.5m. Total dollars announced jumped to $199m, a seven-week high. Three brokered deals were announced for $80.1m, a seven-week high; one bought deal was announced for $60.1m, a ten-week high. This week was not carried by just one deal -- the strength of deals across the line was up, which is fairly impressive in light of previous weeks’ performances.

Despite the strong financing numbers, this week marked another light dealmaking week, with Integra Gold Corp’s (CVE:ICG) purchase of the bankrupt Sigma-Lamaque property -- adjacent to its Lamaque project in Val-d’Or, Quebec with a milling plant included -- maybe the biggest of the week. Canadian major Goldcorp (TSE: G) announced that they would likely hit the bottom end of this year’s output forecast range due to the stoppage of operations at two of its mines this year. Although deals were light, this week’s activity was something of a breath of fresh air after the feeling of being underwater for the past month and a half.

Oreninc Index Goes Nowhere

The Oreninc Index remained stagnant for the week ending August 28, 2014. The five-week moving average also fell to its lowest level in over a year. Total dollars announced dropped to $84.4m, a two-week low. One brokered deal was announced for $10m, a two-week low; no bought deals were announced, also a two-week low.

Deals were quiet, as one would expect going into Labour Day weekend and the unofficial end of summer. Commodity prices were all over the place, with palladium hitting a 13-year high even as platinum continues its summer downfall. Iron ore also fell, continuing its horrid 2014. In a sentiment that has been repeated many times over the past couple of months, this truly was a week the industry would like to forget.