By Johannes
Kotilainen
SmallCapPower’s
final article regarding the PDAC 2015 convention focuses on what various experts,
including Brent Cook of Exploration Insights, Vikas Ranjan of Ubika Research,
Adrian Day of Adrian Day Asset Management, Jay Taylor of Jay Taylor’s Gold,
Energy and Tech Stocks, Eric Coffin of HRA Advisories, and John Kaiser of
Kaiser Research have picked as their top choices for junior resource stocks. These
experts were interviewed by us in a video entitled 24 Resource Stock Picks From Our “Ask The Experts” Panel.
Ubika
Research’s Vikas Ranjan asserted that the Ubika Gold 20 index contains a
number of stocks could be top performers this year. A few from the list include
Alamos Gold Inc. (TSX: AGI) and Argonaut Gold Inc. (TSX: AR), both of
which Mr. Ranjan believe have strong management, very little or no debt and are
low-cost producers. Dundee Precious
Metals Inc. (TSX: DPM) was
another company Mr. Ranjan thinks has potential.
Brent Cook,
of Exploration Insights, points out that volatility in this market means that
the stocks must be watch consistently – you can’t just sit back for three
months and expect to win. Since there is a lot of volatility, an investor needs
to be watching daily to ensure there is not a major loss. That being said, and
acknowledging the risks with volatility, Mr. Cook still has his picks. Those
include Focus Venture Ltd. (TSXV: FCV), which has
what he calls a “very boring phosphate deposit” in Peru that is very
economical. The company currently needs money, however once this has been
resolved, he believes Focus will move upwards. Mirasol Resources Ltd. (TSXV: MRZ) is another
pick. The company has approximately $20 million in the bank, a good exploration
team, and potential in Chile that has not been explored, which could lead to
world-class deposits.
Adrian Day
likes royalty companies such as Franco-Nevada
(TSX: FNV) and Royal Gold (TSX: RGL) as both have
low risk. However as far as smaller stocks go, he likes prospect generators like
Riverside Resources Inc. (TSXV: RRI), Revelo Resources Corp. (TSXV: RVL), Miranda Gold Corp. (TSXV: MAD), all of
which have various potential projects.
Jay Taylor’s
top pick is Novo Resource Corp. (CSE: NVO) and he
also likes Aurion Resource Inc. (TSXV: AU). Mr.
Taylor has informed us that he has his own personal money in Novo, because he thinks
the company has a unique story and Quinton Hennigh, its CEO, has a proven track
record and is experienced in examining Witwaterrand-type rock. This recent
project has the potential to be like the Witwaterrand deposit, which has
supplied two thirds of the world’s gold. Mr. Taylor also likes OceanaGold Corporation (TSX: OGC), which is
already producing gold and copper from the Philippines. The company is applying
the copper credits to its gold production, which in essence has created a
negative cost for producing gold, making it a good pick for risk-adverse
individuals.
Eric Coffin,
of HRA Advisories, has been following a couple of companies for years now. Kaminak
Gold Corp. (TSXV: KAM) has a
great project, according to him, that is moving towards feasibility. As well, Columbus Gold Corporation (TSXV: CGT), in his
opinion, has a great gold project moving towards feasibility and is about to
start a 45,000-meter drilling program, which he believes will bring “lots of
news.” Pure Gold Mining Inc. (TSXV: PGM), which has
a project in the Red Lake Camp area, has targets he likes but he’s waiting to
see what the drilling finds. Mr. Coffin also talks about Precipitate Gold Corp. (TSXV: PRG), which he
discloses that he was a founder and holds a large amount of shares. He likes its
targets and drilling was done in the fall, however as gold prices were falling
not many were interested in the better results that were found.
Finally
John Kaiser, of Kaiser Research, gives us two of his personal picks and open
recommendations, his first being Peregrine
Diamonds Limited (TSX: PGD). He believes the company
has the most interesting and underdeveloped advanced diamond project in the
world right now. The second pick he gave us was Scandium International Mining Corp. (TSX: SCY). It has a mining permit
and a feasibility study in hand to develop a scandium deposit, which he thinks
is one of the top three richest deposits in the world. Scandium International
and the other top deposits in the world will supply the world’s demand for scandium
for the next 50 years, he contends.
