Western Uranium blends big resource base, new technology in low-cost model

This story originally was published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on February 23, 2016 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Two things make Western Uranium (CSE:WUC) stand out from the junior mining pack: size and technology.

The first is straightforward enough. Western Uranium is the second largest holder of uranium resources in the United States, according to chief executive George Glasier.

The largest holder is Energy Fuels (NYSE MKT:UUUU), a company to which Western Uranium has close connections.

“We acquired our base assets from Energy Fuels in August 2014,” says Glasier, so there’s one connection. There’s also the small matter of Glasier having founded Energy Fuels himself.

So if there’s a man who knows his US uranium, it’s Glasier. And the company he’s now proceeding to build is a clear reflection of that.

A lot has been achieved in a short time.

At the time of the acquisition from Energy Fuels, Western Uranium was private. But shortly after that, in December 2014, it listed publicly on the Canadian Securities Exchange.

And following on from there Western Uranium acquired Australian company Black Range Minerals in a 1-for-750 all-share deal.

The entity thus created now controls a total resource base of upwards of 100 million pounds of uranium and 35 million pounds of vanadium across two of the key US uranium mining states, Utah and Colorado.

It was the acquisition of the seven permitted uranium mines that came with Black Range that catapulted Western Uranium into the number two slot behind Energy Fuels.

But there was more to that deal than just building scale.

Because it was with Black Range that Western Uranium acquired the second factor that gives it the edge over its junior peers: technology.

New technology in mining can be a mixed blessing, as anyone who’s followed the trials and tribulations of investing in nickel laterite processing can testify.

In uranium, certain types of deposit are amenable to leaching in-situ, which cuts down considerably on waste and completely does away with the need for tailings facilities.

Black Range’s technology doesn’t quite do that, but the effects and benefits are comparable.

It’s called “ablation”, a term borrowed from the medical profession, and it was originally developed by metallurgists looking to apply it to refractory gold deposits.

That didn’t work, but the same metallurgists then applied the technology to sandstone-hosted uranium deposits and the results were a whole lot better.

“Ablation causes a collision between sand grain particles,” says Glasier. “It removes the uranium coating and leaves a clear particle. That means it can leave up to 80% of the rock at the mine site.”

Perhaps even more significant in this environmentally conscious age, it’s a completely physical process and doesn’t involve any chemicals. Thus, the use of sulphuric acid in the milling process at a uranium mill can be significantly reduced. “It should substantially reduce the cost of producing uranium from our mines,” says Glasier.

So, with the two arms of the company – the resource base and the technology – in place, the next trick will be to find the finances to initiate production.

To that end, Glasier is about to embark on an extended roadshow that will encompass the US, Canada and Europe.

The thinking is that it will take approximately US$3million to get mining operations at the Sunday complex in Colorado into production while building the required additional ablation production units (‘ABT Units’), addressing the additional permitting costs of the State of Colorado for use of the ABT Units in the mining process and to retire the remaining debt.

That money will probably be raised through equity.

At the same time though, the company will also be working on putting together a US$35 million debt package to allow for the construction of a mill at a site already permitted at Pinon Ridge in south-western Colorado. The permitted mill site is currently owned by Pinon Ridge Mining Inc., an affiliate of the Company with common ownership interests of the principles of Western.

Ultimately, says Glasier, the plan is to produce upwards of 3 million pounds of uranium per year, and at very low cost.

Why so low? The first answer to that is the ablation technology, which is patented and tested. The second is that Western Uranium’s tenements also allow for a substantial vanadium credit to be applied in any economic model that gets built.

All told, Glasier reckons that Western Uranium will go into the lowest 10% of the cost quartile, which is welcome given that the uranium price has been relatively depressed of late.

Indeed, that weaker uranium price is the reason why the seven mines that Western Uranium acquired from Energy Fuels ceased production back in 2009. Other than the naked economics, they are ready to go.

But will the uranium price improve?

Longer-term, there’s plenty to be optimistic about. China is building nuclear reactors at a rate of knots. And Russia too is set to add significant new nuclear capacity, although the country is also one of the main producers of uranium. It’s estimated that by 2025 the number of nuclear power reactors in the world will have risen from the current 439 to a more substantial 497.

Western Uranium itself already has one secured customer.

An off-take agreement is in the bag with one US utility and doubtless there’ll be more to come. What the pricing will be in further deals is an open question, but it was interesting to see commentary from Cameco (TSE:CCO) recently in which the uranium giant argued that a position of oversupply is likely to linger for most of this year, but that an uptick may then be likely.

If so, the timing would suit Western Uranium nicely. “By the end of the year,” says Glasier, “we’re going to get production at the Sunday mine complex.”

Work on the mill will probably be well underway too, and there will be the additional kicker of marketing the ablation technology to companies overseas. The application to sandstone-hosted uranium deposits would suit some of the more well-known African uranium deposits in particular, and could well have a significantly beneficial impact on the economics of these projects.

More immediately though, the next crucial steps will involve the financing, a listing on a US exchange, and then deployment of those funds to generate early production.

Because this is not a market in which a junior miner can afford to take its time. But George Glasier knows that.

“The company’s moving fast in a tough market,” he says. “We are a low-cost and near-term producer.”

Learn more about Western Uranium Corporation at http://western-uranium.com/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/mining/western-uranium-corporation

Earth Alive’s unique microbial technologies gaining traction in mining, agriculture industries

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on February 29, 2016 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

Listening to David Gilmour speak about the development of his company, Earth Alive Clean Technologies (CSE:EAC), is nothing if not inspiring.  His is an approach in which shortcuts are neither sought nor tolerated – do things right, or don’t do them at all.

By the sounds of it, that commitment to doing things the proper way is about to start paying off.  And not just on a single flagship product front but two, both with potential, as Gilmour puts it, “to grow into $100 million businesses.”

Earth Alive uses a fascinating set of technologies that rely on specifically selected microbial strains to create products for two very different industries: agriculture and mining.  Among the important outcomes is better soil health and consistency, both for agricultural operations that need stronger soils to cultivate healthier crops, and for mining operations where dust contamination from dry and loose soils is a constant problem affecting production and profitability, health and safety, and the environment.

These are not new challenges the company is addressing.  On the agriculture side, environmentally sustainable fertilization and irrigation are necessities of which we are all aware. Organic agricultural production and consumption is growing rapidly, and the company’s unique biofertilizer technology is ready to help growers meet demand for their products.

On the mining side, dust suppression is typically controlled with chemical treatments and huge amounts of water – sometimes millions of litres per day at a single mine site.  Needless to say, such solutions are costly not only in financial terms but also in their impact on the environment. The company’s proprietary EA1 dust control technology is positioned to help mining companies worldwide better their dust control practices.

Earth Alive in its current form began five years ago when Gilmour, who is both the company’s founder and CEO, took over a research and development company that was following a mandate to develop low-cost, high-performance fertilizers that were also environmentally sustainable.

One of the first things he realized was that while the company had great products, as well as the patents to back them up, agriculture is a market where people are set in their ways and products are heavily regulated.  The company would need to seek government certification before going much further.  Time to pivot…if only temporarily.

“We soon identified an opportunity to develop a high-performance, organic dust control product for a client involved in a huge mining project in Latin America where the use of chemicals and water was being constrained in a big way,” explains Gilmour.  “That put us on the map.”

But while replacing magnesium chloride and petroleum derivatives or obviating the use of extraordinary amounts of water is a noble goal, Gilmour and his team are realists.  “There are three characteristics we kept in mind at all times, “says Gilmour.  “One, it has to work well or better than the chemicals we replace, two, it has to be economically viable to use for the client, and three, it has to be environmentally sustainable.  Green technologies are great, but if they don’t work just as well as the chemicals they are designed to replace and cost more to use, nobody will adopt them.  Those three characteristics form the basis of our product development.”

Marketing was difficult when Earth Alive first started reaching out to potential users.  “We got to the market one company at a time, which for a small company like ours is very laborious.  When we announced the Brenntag agreement just before Christmas, it was the launch pad for broader distribution.  Now we are talking to every major mining company in the world, and a lot of that reflects Brenntag and their network of relationships in the mining sector.”

The agreement Gilmour refers to is with Brenntag Latin America, a subsidiary of Brenntag AG, the world’s leading distributor of chemical products.  Put simply, Brenntag knows everyone and sells them lots of products.  It is one of the most powerful allies Earth Alive could have aligned itself with.

As EA1 dust suppressant took off, the company was busy in the background completing its main agricultural product, Soil Activator, which uses microbial strains that each have a particular influence on soil and the growth cycle of plants.

One of the key strengths of Soil Activator is that it is not crop-specific.  “Soil Activator is efficient on everything from wheat to arugula, from tomatoes to bananas,” says Gilmour.   “It works well on its own for organic agriculture, but can also be utilized in tandem with traditional chemical fertilizers to better their performance and enhance absorption by plants.”

Underlying the impressive efficacy of Soil Activator is a return-to-the-basics approach to fertilization.

“The product utilizes different micro-organisms and a proprietary synergistic active,” explains Michael Warren, Vice President of Global Operations, Agriculture Solutions.  “We identified and use unique strains that are able to fixate nitrogen, solubilize phosphorus and chelate iron, among other benefits. These are actions that very few biofertilizers can achieve.

“There is often a whole host of nutrients already present in soil that plants just don’t have the ability to absorb.  Soil Activator will render these nutrients and make them available to plants.”

As with EA1 dust suppressant, Earth Alive has found a ready distribution partner for its biofertilizer in Brenntag, announcing a separate agreement for the exclusive distribution of Soil Activator with its Latin American subsidiary in February.

With the Brenntag sales and distribution network in 16 Latin American countries set to augment existing business in a big way, Gilmour is looking for Earth Alive to turn profitable later this year.  “We built the company in a way that our overhead is low, and now the whole production, distribution and sales chain is aligned with our partners.  All those years of preparing the business model and getting it to execution — the table is set,” says Gilmour.

“We have passed the developmental stage and are now onto full commercialization,” he continues.  “I really have to thank our shareholders for their support and patience.  They know that we are always progressing and always working to deliver on the business plan we put forth.  We could not have skipped the steps we took the past three years and still brought our technologies to market successfully.  But the result is that our technologies are now real players out there on the international market.”

Learn more about Earth Alive at http://earthalivect.com/ and on the CSE website at http://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/earth-alive-clean-technologies-inc

International Wastewater Systems modernizes energy recycling with fresh take on familiar technology

This story was originally published at www.proactiveinvestors.com on February 24, 2016 and featured in The CSE Quarterly.

“Why didn’t I come up with that…it’s so obvious?”  Pretty much all of us have seen a new product or service and wondered why it took so long for someone to finally do something with an opportunity that had been sitting right under everybody’s nose.

Lynn Mueller is one executive who refused to let such an idea get away, founding International Wastewater Systems (CSE:IWS) in 2010 to make a difference for customers and the environment by recycling something most of us discard on a regular basis without even thinking.

Warm water from showers, kitchen sinks and other sources cascades down the drain in huge volumes every second of every day, the energy initially used to heat that water being lost completely, or actually becoming a detriment by reaching our oceans and introducing unneeded heat to them.

International Wastewater Systems, or IWS as the company calls itself for short, recaptures that energy using technology that Mueller, the company’s president, explains is a century old, quickly sending it back up the chain to be used again.  It is a simple concept and it works, with users in Canada, the United States and Europe addressing their energy needs in a responsible way, and saving money at the same time.

The equipment that makes this happen is called the SHARC unit, developed in-house during the company’s first four years.

“I started out as a refrigeration mechanic, spending my early work years doing refrigeration and heat movement,” explains Mueller.  “All I’ve ever known my entire life is how to move heat.

International Wastewater Systems invented what we call SHARC technology, which is sewage heat recovery specifically designed to recapture a third of the energy used in the world that finds its way down the drain,” he continues.  “We refer to ourselves as the ultimate in renewable energy.  It is the same energy – we just use it one day, re-capture it, and then use it again the next day.”

The company did all of its original SHARC system installations in and around Vancouver so it could access them easily for monitoring and tweaking.  A couple of years ago product refinement had reached the point where Mueller decided that SHARC was ready for prime time.

The reaction has almost been more than the company can handle, with Mueller referring to the last 24 months as a “blur of growth” characterized by interest from all over the world.

It helps that SHARC is eminently scalable, with Mueller explaining that the system can handle anything from a single building to a district energy system.  Not surprisingly, SHARC units are custom-designed for each installation.

An easy way to understand the SHARC technology is to visualize it in stages, the first filtering out waste within the sewage that streams into the unit and returning it to the sewage flow so it can continue on its merry way.  What’s left is water that is clean enough to put through a heat exchanger, which extracts the heat energy for reuse.

“You temporarily intercept the flow, clean it up, use it for your heating needs, and then it goes off to the sewage treatment plant,” says Mueller.  “We’ve just had a thermal effect on it and nothing else.  We have not done any chemical processes or altered it in any way other than recovering the heat from it.”

Which brings us to that vintage technology – the heat pump.  “A heat pump is really just a glorified refrigerator,” explains Mueller.  “If you put warm food or beverages into a refrigerator, a few hours later your food is cold but the back or your refrigerator is warm – that is a heat pump in action, moving heat from the warm product into the refrigeration system and then by means of that heat pump it is rejected outside.”

Within the realm of IWS’s technology, that warmth is most often directed back into a building or used to heat water.

One of the installations of which IWS is most proud can be found in Sechelt, a small city popular with tourists and retirees on British Columbia’s picturesque Sunshine Coast.

“Sechelt built the world’s cleanest and most efficient water treatment plant,” says Mueller.  “The water leaving the Sechelt Water Resource Centre is of a quality such that you can actually drink it.

“The philosophy at the treatment plant was to be completely sustainable.  Energy recovered from the sewage heats and cools the entire building, so it uses no fossil fuels.  The system has worked flawlessly now for two years and people come from all over the world to see it.”

Potential users in Europe needn’t travel quite so far to see the SHARC system in action, as IWS has an office in Leicester.  And there are more international locations to come, as the company follows a philosophy of supporting the communities that welcome its products.

“Part of our strategy of being sustainable is that we want to manufacture and employ people where we do business.  Rather than building things offshore, we want to be a functioning, live part of every community where we operate.  For example, we want to open an office in Australia and will find a way to manufacture there and create jobs and become a functioning part of a sustainable, local community.”

The sustainability part is reflected not only in a commitment to respecting local communities, but in the efficiency of the system as well.  IWS’s equipment is not something developers install just to make themselves feel good.  The units run at what Mueller explains as somewhere between 400% and 500% efficiency, meaning that for every dollar spent operating the system, the owner gets back around $5.00 worth of heat.

With economics like that, it is easy to understand why the business is growing quickly.  Mueller says he foresees orders totaling tens of millions of dollars over the next three years, with cash flow likely turning positive in 12-18 months.  The public listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange in October 2015 was seen as a cost-efficient way to give the company access to the capital that will help fuel its revenue growth.

At the moment, revenue is generated in one of two primary ways, depending on jurisdiction.  In North America and most other markets, units are sold to the user, with IWS also collecting an ongoing revenue stream through maintenance work.

In the UK, however, the company enters power purchase agreements for its installations through the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive.  This program sees the government commit to paying a project owner a rebate for recovered green energy for 20 years.  IWS partnered with British institutional investors for the capital it needed and Mueller says the groups are working together well and should enjoy good returns on investment.

Helping to open additional international markets for IWS going forward is a new product called Piranha.  This is a standardized, self-contained heat pump built specifically for hot water heating that, like the bigger SHARC units, recovers heat from wastewater.  The stand-alone Piranha system is designed for residential buildings of between 50 and 200 units, and given the pace of urban densification worldwide seems like a product tailor made for the times.

“At its core, our message is that we can retrieve energy for you efficiently and without effort on your part, so there is no reason to throw it away,” concludes Mueller.  “As we move to a carbon free economy, we have developers coming to us and saying they want to plan for the future and get off of fossil fuels as much as they can.  We are the vehicle to do that because we can recycle more energy than anybody else and do it for any building in the world.”

Learn more about International Wastewater Systems at www.sewageheatrecovery.com and on the CSE website at: http://thecse.com/en/listings/technology/international-wastewater-systems-inc

Where Users Come First: A First Look at the New CSE Website

Whatever their vision and whatever their size, the one thing that inevitably leads to success for all entrepreneurs is putting the needs of their customers first.

After many months of hard work and planning behind the scenes, this past Friday the Canadian Securities Exchange rolled out their new and enhanced website.

The new CSE website has been rebuilt from the ground up based on user feedback and data-driven design and represents an exciting intersection of desirability, viability and possibility.  The CSE team is proud to see their vision of a streamlined user experience take flight.

The Pace of Change

As many organizations in the financial sector know, keeping pace with technology is part of the new operating reality. While the CSE unveiled its current website just under two and a half years ago, much about the online experience has already changed. The rapid evolution in technology required creating a more responsive platform to meet user needs of today as well as into the future.

As New York Times columnist David Brooks once said, “The roots of great innovation are never just in the technology itself and for the CSE one of the most important drivers for delivering an innovative digital experience was based on a very analog principle: putting the customer first.

With a greater focus on usability, responsiveness to a multiscreen world, and a greater ability to report marketplace activity, the new website ensures that key stakeholders can access the CSE website from whatever platform they choose to.

Exciting New Features

One of the most exciting features of the new CSE website is the fact that it is built to be responsive and adaptable – characteristics many entrepreneurs can readily identify with.

With a new navigation structure and menu design, pages and design elements can now render seamlessly across tablets, smartphones, desktops and whatever screens the future may hold.

Another very noticeable improvement in the website is the organization of information.

Based on extensive usage data as well as an understanding of user information needs, the navigation through the website has been simplified and made more intuitive. Quick links, for example, have been created to help connect individuals to popular information much more quickly.

There is also a much greater focus on providing service and support to website visitors.

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A dedicated support section now exists as well as easy to find contact points across all pages. This means that the CSE team is more accessible to site users as is important support information that clients and investors may need to locate.

Finally, the new website provides users with an increasingly dynamic view of the activities of the exchange marketplace.

The new website will now include improved charts and updates on the CSE Composite Index, as well as activities happening at and around the exchange. The events calendar and corporate Twitter feed, for example, have been improved and made more accessible throughout the new site.

Opportunities Abound

Over the next few weeks, the CSE will continue to roll out improvements to the new website – a signal that constant evolution is a part of the new normal going forward.

With a new architecture and platform in place, the CSE has built the new site to not only be responsive in design, but also to respond to the feedback from users.

To that end, visitors to the site are encouraged to submit their feedback on the new website as well as report any bugs or hiccups in the new site they might encounter here.

This enhanced web platform represents a new chapter in the digital evolution of the CSE.  The pace of technological change is one that will require not only websites to be increasingly responsive, but also the people and processes behind those sites too. Fortunately, as an exchange with entrepreneurship in its DNA, change always equates to opportunity.

Brighter Prospects: Review of PDAC 2016

Whether it’s trekking through desert badlands, exploring the depths of the ocean floor, or facing thousands of investors in one of the world’s largest mineral and exploration conferences,  all successful natural resource and exploration entrepreneurs know tenacity is an important quality to have.

In spite of the still turbulent times for many mining and exploration linked companies, this year’s PDAC Convention showed that tenacity is alive and well with over 22,000 attendees converging in downtown Toronto and bringing an abundance of buzz along with them.

Though excitement levels were noticeably higher than past years, the most precious resource for the mining and exploration crowd seemed to be accessing low cost investment capital. Fortunately, for a growing number of firms, the CSE’s networking events at the PDAC provided great opportunities for increased exposure, valuable connections and all-important deal-making.

Working the PDAC Floor

The CSE’s footprint at the 2016 edition of the PDAC continued to expand, with a new booth configuration, two major networking events as well as six CSE-listed issuers exhibiting at the Investor’s Exchange and Prospector’s Tent. The delegation of CSE-listed issuers on the PDAC Convention floor this year included:

  • Murchison Minerals Ltd. (MUR)
  • Rockex Mining Corporation (RXM)
  • Pasinex Resources Limited (PSE)
  • GAR Limited (GL)
  • Renforth Resources Inc. (RFR)
  • Augustine Ventures Inc. (WAW)

As part of a series of exciting upgrades planned for the upcoming year, the CSE unveiled its new and exciting booth that featured a much more dynamic view of Canada’s fastest growing securities exchange.

Picture at the CSE booth at PDAC 2016
Taking some time at PDAC 2016 for photos at the new CSE booth.

The new booth came fully equipped with a ticker feed of CSE-listed company quotes as well as two video screens that showcased the growing number of CSE-listed companies including those featured on BTV and BNN. Of course, the added attention was also on the fact that the exchange has seen itself climb to well over 300 listings.

The CSE team also had a great time meeting investors, big and small. One thing that definitely stood out from these conversations was the optimism and excitement from both the investors in attendance but also from the fellow exhibitors on the conference floor.

Observed James Black, VP – Listings Development:

“The PDAC Convention is always a great temperature check on what is happening in the Canadian capital markets, especially as it pertains to junior public companies. Needless to say, the overall energy and optimism at PDAC improved appreciably from the past couple of years. A lot of the shock from the marketplace seems to been set aside, and now companies are working hard to stay relevant and create value in-the-face of a bottomed out market.”

Interesting Prospects

One of the biggest highlights for the CSE team was getting a chance to have listed issuers tell their stories as well as meet and interact with decision makers and investors of all sizes at the two networking events.

The lunch session, which took place at the Intercontinental Hotel and which was jointly sponsored by a number of partners, including MNP LLP and Equities.com, saw a record turnout. While the chance to grab a great meal was definitely a pull, the more than 150 attendees of this event were treated to 13 company presentations, prizes and updates on the latest news from the CSE.

CEO of the Canadian Securities Exchange addresses attendees at the PDAC luncheon.
CEO of the Canadian Securities Exchange, Richard Carleton, addresses attendees at the PDAC luncheon.

In addition the great food and “food for thought”, there were also numerous opportunities for new connections to be made and existing ones to be refreshed.

While a recent bump in commodities prices heading into the conference certainly helped contribute to the positive mood, having a bear-market chocolate bar to bite into also helped add some levity.

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In addition to the lunchtime session, this year the CSE along with event co-sponsors Aird & Berlis LLP, MNP LLP, Euro Pacific Canada and Invest Barbados held an evening networking reception at Taverna Mercatto.

As with the session earlier in the day, this event was a phenomenal success, bringing together a great mix of listed issuers, service providers, investors and entrepreneurs paired with great food and entertainment. Added Barrington Miller, Director – Listed Company Services:

“We were thrilled to co-host two fun events with a great set of partners – we are very grateful for the support that the CSE has within the local business community and want to thank everyone who helped make this our best PDAC yet.”


While this was the first year in which this event was run, the support and enthusiasm for the post-conference get together will definitely be something to look forward to returning for future conventions.

Exciting adventures ahead

After the events were all said and done, this year’s conference continues to show that the resource sector, both here in Canada and around the world, is resilient.

For the CSE, this year’s PDAC couldn’t have gone better. With exceptional turnouts to the networking events, great feedback on the exhibition floor and accolades from clients, investors and those looking to join the Exchange for Entrepreneurs, it looks like there are even more reasons to look forward to returning again next year.

Click the gallery below to view pictures from the CSE events at PDAC 2016.

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The CSE would like to extend a special thanks to the following generous sponsors and event partners who helped make the luncheon a tremendous success:

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The CSE Quarterly – Special PDAC 2016 Issue

CSE Quarterly PDAC 2016 Special Edition CoverThe CSE Quarterly PDAC 2016 Edition Profiles Notable CSE Listed Companies

The CSE is proud to present the latest edition of the CSE Quarterly just in time for the PDAC 2016.

This edition of the CSE Quarterly focuses on companies active in the resources and renewables spaces. The entrepreneurial firms listed in this edition showcase the diversity of opportunities that the CSE listed companies are pursuing and are great example of why the CSE is the Exchange for Entrepreneurs.

The companies profiled in this issue are:

International Wastewater Systems Inc. (CSE:IWS)
Western Uranium Corporation (CSE:WUC)
Earth Alive Clean Technologies (CSE:EAC)
Pasinex Resources Limited (CSE:PSE)
MGX Minerals Inc. (CSE:XMG)
DNI Metals Inc. (CSE:DNI)

In addition, sure to read the latest message from the Canadian Securities Exchange CEO, Richard Carleton, as well as the editorial feature by Steve Kanaval from Equities.com

To have The CSE Quarterly delivered directly to your inbox, sign-up below:




Click below to access the full issue:

(Trouble accessing the publication below? CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ISSUE)

Thanks again to our advertisers Davidson & Company LLP, Global Uptick Publishing, Synergy Management Consulting and Equities.com.

Alleviating the Funding Crisis for Junior Companies: An Interview with Richard Carleton

Without question, Canadian junior and small-cap companies looking to raise public capital are facing what many consider to be a ‘funding crisis’.

Many of the headwinds facing these companies are driven by macro-economic factors, such as slowing global growth or pressures on commodity prices however that is only part of the picture. There are also a number of policy-related and structural realities of the Canadian capital ecosystem that are adding to the growing list of challenges that junior firms must try and overcome in order to raise investment capital at a reasonable cost.

Earlier this month Richard Carleton, CEO of the Canadian Securities Exchange, sat down with Jim Goddard of HoweStreet.com to discuss the nature of the funding crisis facing entrepreneurs seeking to raise investment capital, with a specific focus on the role that the CSE is playing to help provide a desperately needed solution.

Over the course of the interview, a variety of topics were covered including how regulatory decisions and recent economic conditions are impacting the Canadian independent broker dealer community; the emergence of crowdfunding; the current debate on the uptick rule and whether or not short selling should be allowed on junior/small-cap stocks and how the CSE is working to fulfill its mandate of providing cost-effective access to capital for publicly listed companies.

While the interview covers a lot of ground, one of the most compelling points is the possible landscape that could confront Canadian companies looking to raise capital should current conditions persist.

Citing the example of challenges faced by smaller investors not being able to widely participate in deals in the US, Carleton stated that by enabling individual investor participation in early-stage capital investments here in Canada, investors have the opportunity to  “profit in the growth of the Canadian economy and to help support the entrepreneurial spirit of individuals who create wealth for the country.” At the moment, however, more clarity is required on the exact mechanism that best serves this goal.

To listen to the full interview, click the video below and if you have any viewpoints on the current climate for raising capital, leave a comment or tweet your thoughts to @CSE_News.

 

Exploring for Opportunities: The CSE at PDAC 2016

March is just around the corner and with it will come the biggest mining and exploration event of the year.

The 2016 edition of the PDAC Convention takes place in Toronto from March 6th to 9th and will bring together thousands of delegates from across the world including investors, media, mining and exploration executives, industry professionals as well as service providers and more.

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Snapshots from the CSE’s time at PDAC 2015

As the PDAC Convention continues to grow in size and popularity, so too does the CSE’s footprint at this event.

This year eight CSE-listed issuers will be exhibiting at the PDAC at Investors Exchange as well as the Prospectors Tent. The CSE  will be located at booth 2542 in the Investors Exchange.

Issuers confirmed as exhibitors include:

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Prospectors Tent

Conference delegates can meet members from the CSE team and also grab some great conference swag including the special PDAC 2016 edition of the CSE Quarterly.

In addition to events on the conference floor, the CSE will also be hosting a pair of networking events on Tuesday March 8th.

The first event will continue the CSE’s tradition of bringing together investors, industry professionals and listed issuers for a networking lunch reception. This year’s luncheon is co-sponsored by Equities.com and MNP LLP and takes place on March 8th at 11:30am at the InterContinental Toronto Centre – just upstairs from the conference centre. The networking luncheon is always a busy event so be sure to register early here to secure your tickets.

In addition to the CSE’s daytime event, the CSE along with co-sponsors Aird & Berlis LLP, MNP LLP, Euro Pacific Canada Inc. and Invest Barbados, are hosting an evening reception on March 8th at Taverna Mercatto. After a long day of making the rounds on the conference floor, taking in presentations and powering through meetings, this is the perfect opportunity to meet and greet colleagues and make new connections alongside great food in a fun setting. For more information or to RSVP, click here.

Finally, the CSE is also proud to once again be a sponsor of the Mining Matters program which helps to inspire, engage and educate children and youth through year-round community events on the importance of mining in society.

For more information on the PDAC Convention 2016, including how to register, visit their official website here or to get a recap of our time at last year’s event, including a picture gallery, click here.

The CSE Presents: Lite Access Technologies

The latest CSE-listed company to be featured in The CSE Presents series: Lite Access Technologies Inc. (CSE:LTE) will be visible online at BTV and in rotation on BNN during February 2016. Here is the ad you may have already seen on BNN:

In this longer segment, CEO Michael Priest, describes Lite Access Technologies’  offering in the fibre optic cable deployment space.  Click the video below to view.

Lite Access Technologies was also the featured company in The CSE Quarterly back in September. Access the issue below:

(Trouble accessing the publication below? CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ISSUE)

January 2016 Events Recap

With events in Toronto, Vancouver and even as far away as Hong Kong, the CSE team hit the ground running in the first month of 2016. Here are some brief highlights from the CSE’s most recent adventures.

Vancouver Resource Investment Conference

To succeed in the mining and exploration space takes tenacity and resilience and, it seems, this year has definitely been a test of that resolve.

Fortunately for the investors and companies that attended this year’s Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) there were many interesting stories that highlighted the challenges and opportunities in the natural resource sectors.

In addition to exhibiting at this year’s conference, the CSE was also a sponsor of VRIC and Richard Carleton, CEO of the Canadian Securities Exchange, participated in a panel discussion with John McCoach of the TSX Venture on the role that securities exchanges can play in helping listed companies weather the current economic storm.

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Richard Carleton (centre), CEO of the Canadian Securities Exchange along with John McCoach (left) of the TSX Venture Exchange on a panel discussing Canada’s capital markets.

Among the topics discussed, one that was certainly on the minds of many in attendance was the ability of many junior mining and exploration companies to navigate a challenging moment in their economic cycle.

For its part, the CSE referenced its commitment to streamlining both the costs and burden associated with maintaining a public listing as one of the ways to lower the cost of capital for junior companies.

Overall it was another great opportunity to connect with investors and entrepreneurs, as well as to showcase how companies listed on the CSE are benefiting from an efficient public listing model.

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James Black, VP of Business Development, fielding questions at the CSE booth at VRIC 2016.

AME Roundup & Bonspiel

What happens when you give a group of mining and exploration professionals a sheet of ice, some brooms and the promise of a great after-party? Well a few folks from the CSE found exactly what at this year’s AME Bonspiel held at the Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver.

The AME Roundup and accompanying curling event were great opportunities to connect with the mining and exploration community and take the pulse of the industry at a challenging time in its economic cycle. Encouragingly, there were many bright spots, including the fact that demand for the AME Roundup remains strong from both industry participants and exhibitors as well as attendees.

Check out some photos of the CSE team hurrying-not-so-hard…

Cantech Investment Conference

Despite the challenges in other sectors, technology has been one area that has continued to attract interest and investment from various markets. Against that backdrop, the Cantech Investment Conference in Toronto brought together a number of key players in the tech investment scene from big names in VC to dozens of innovative tech companies looking to showcase their new and sometimes disruptive solutions.

Several CSE-listed firms were among the firms exhibiting this year. Specifically HealthSpace Informatics Ltd. (CSE:HS), NuRAN Wireless Inc. (CSE:NUR), Plus8 Global Ventures Ltd. (CSE:PGT) and PUDO Inc. (CSE:PDO) were great examples of the kinds of innovative technology firms helping to fuel the growth at the Exchange for Entrepreneurs.

To stay up to date on where to meet team members from the CSE or to find out about upcoming events of interest to entrepreneurs, be sure to visit the CSE events calendar often.

If you’re in Toronto this March, stop by the PDAC and meet the CSE team at our booth or at our special lunch reception.