Tag Archives: Public Entrepreneur

Chris Moreau on How Science Fiction Has Inspired a Potentially Lung-Saving Therapy

CSE’s Barrington Miller was recently joined by Christopher Moreau, CEO of Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CSE:AGN), to discuss his company’s work to develop NP-120 (Ifenprodil) as a new therapeutic in the fight against COVID-19.

In this discussion, Chris outlines how his company focuses on drug re-purposing, a term that is widely understood through the example provided by Viagra (1:04), the important distinction between therapeutic treatments and anti-virals and vaccines (12:14), and why the “grandaddy” of all market approvals is from the USFDA (18:25).

Listen until the end to hear how the company’s name is actually inspired by the title of a science fiction novel, and how the company has a history of investigating compounds developed by the Soviet Union!

(Subsequent to this chat, Algernon announced Health Canada approval to move forward with its PH2b/3 trial here with Ifenprodil as a potential treatment for COVID-19.)

Related Link
algernonpharmaceuticals.com

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Andrew Nelson’s Millennial Primer on Mining Exploration Investment

CSE’s Anna Serin was recently joined by Andrew Nelson, Partner at GNA Financial Advisors Inc., to discuss the many factors involved when evaluating investment opportunities in the mining sector. This wide-ranging discussion pulls generously from Andrew’s investment banking experience in finance and capital markets and serves as a great primer for those new to investing in the space.

In this chat, Andrew describes the “lifeblood” of companies when they are raising new capital (3:17), the pillars of crafting “digestible” messaging for prospective mining sector investors (6:12), and the two key variables that can combine to create exponential value for a mining stock (14:30).

Listen until the end to hear Andrew’s very simple strategy for starting a mining portfolio, his debunking of mining industry stereotypes, and the prospects for gold investing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related Links:
gnafinancialadvisors.com

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Terry Howlett on the Prospects of an Alternative to Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizer

CSE’s Phillip Shum recently chatted with Terry Howlett, CEO at Ovation Science Inc. (CSE:OVAT), to discuss the company’s current developments in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this discussion, Terry discusses his company’s alcohol-free solution to hand-sanitization (1:11), how the DermSafe product was utilized by the Canadian Olympic teams during the most recent two Games (5:20), and the geographic demand for the product in light of the pandemic (9:24).

Listen until the end to hear how their flagship product provides 4-hour protection against germs and how it may be a key tool as society reopens in the coming months.

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Robyn Rabinovich on the Cannabis Sector’s Adjustment to Quarantine Life

CSE’s Grace Pedota recently chatted with Robyn Rabinovich, Senior Account Director, Cannabis at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, to reflect on her professional experiences in the rapidly evolving cannabis industry, dating back to the onset of the MMPR program in Canada.

In this comprehensive discussion, Robyn shares her favourite aspects of working at start-ups like CannTrust and TerrAscend (3:34), how Hill+Knowlton has uniquely positioned itself to provide B2B support to the industry (4:48), defining Cannabis 2.0 and what to expect from the 3.0 era (6:09), and her perspective on the Ontario cannabis retail situation amid COVID-19 shutdowns (11:54).

Listen until the end to hear her thoughts on how new technological applications are benefiting the cannabis industry, the prospects for consumption lounges in Toronto, and the new favourite quarantine pastime for those in the cannabis industry (hint: it’s not product consumption!)

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Howie Mandel on Charity, Commerce and Comedy in 2020

On this very special edition of #HashtagFinance, CSE’s Anil Mall and James Black are joined by legendary comedian – and entrepreneur – Howie Mandel, to discuss how he is coping with quarantine life, his charitable collaboration with Trevor Doerksen and ePlay Digital (CSE:EPY) and much (much) more.

In this conversation, Howie shares how his reputation as a germaphobe dovetailed into the game “Outbreak”, which evolved into a charitable tool to outfit PPE to frontline health-care workers (7:05), how technology can be a catalyst for powering the next generation of small business (and comedy) (11:24), and his simple – yet powerful – views on investing in the stock market (24:38).

Listen until the end to hear Howie’s big vision for Just for Laughs (he owns a partnership stake), how he embraces technological innovation, and his encouragement for everyone to stop overthinking and “Just Do It”.

Related Links:
www.howiesgames.com
talkshop.live
www.eplaydigital.com

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Generation Mining: Investors rush to rare palladium pure play as metal price soars

Palladium is not a metal that the average person on the street is likely to know much about, but with the race on to create a cleaner, greener world, that could soon change.

Over 90 percent of this so-called ‘white metal’ is used to make catalytic converters for cars with internal combustion engines, and it’s also used plentifully in hybrid vehicles. As regulations tighten across the auto industry to reduce emissions, more palladium is needed than ever before.

This dynamic is behind the meteoric price rise for the metal in the last couple of years, going from around $800 USD per ounce to $2,300 USD. A potential supply deficit in the years ahead is adding fuel to the increase.

Based on one study’s findings, the globe’s 10 million ounce-a-year palladium market is set to experience a deficit of 1.9 million ounces in 2020, as mining production has been steadily falling since 2004 and there is a dearth of new mines coming onstream.

Generation Mining Ltd. (CSE:GENM) is looking to take advantage of that backdrop with some big ambitions in the PGM (platinum group metals) space. With its shares having more than doubled in value since the beginning of 2020, recognition of the strengthening palladium price is broadening just at the right time.

The company’s flagship asset is the Marathon Palladium Project, which is in partnership with Sibanye-Stillwater, a major player located a few miles from the town of the same name in Ontario.

Marathon is the largest undeveloped palladium project in North America. It has already had 1,000 holes drilled into it, and has been the subject of two feasibility studies at lower palladium prices. Generation Mining is the operator.

“It’s had great work done on it,” explains Kerry Knoll, Generation Mining’s Executive Chairman.

“It was not a mine when people tried to develop it before, when palladium was at $500 an ounce, and it wouldn’t be a mine today at $500 an ounce. But at $1,000 and higher, it is a mine,” he says.

Several companies have been involved with the project since the mid-1980s, including Marathon PGM Corporation, Stillwater Mining, and Mitsubishi.

The numbers for Marathon – 7.1 million palladium-equivalent ounces in the main deposit – are compelling.

Generation Mining’s preliminary economic assessment, published in January of this year, was based on a palladium price of $1,275 an ounce, which gave the deposit a pre-tax net present value of $1.19 billion CAD at a 5 percent discount rate. One can only imagine the economics today, given the price of palladium is well above $2,000 per ounce.

Going into production could make Generation Mining, as Knoll puts it, “lots of money,” but he points out that the mine would still be profitable even at $1,000 an ounce.

Knoll also notes that Marathon, which has a mine life of 14 years, represents something of a rarity for investors, as it is a pure-play palladium project (even though it also contains metals such as platinum and copper).

In addition, palladium projects tend to be held by private companies or are just one part of a huge mining company’s overall portfolio, so getting exposure is tricky for investors.

When asked how the Marathon deposit compares to others around the world, Knoll says, “There’s a couple of very large ones in South Africa. Ivanhoe has one, a company called Platinum Group Metals has one. They’re much larger than ours, but they’re also slower to develop because they’re underground mining. Ours is an open pit, surface mine, and we can get into production a lot quicker because of that. And it’s also a lot cheaper.”

Generation Mining aims to bring the project and its 194,000 palladium-equivalent-ounces per year to commercial production. According to the PEA, initial capital costs are pegged at $431 million, which Knoll reckons is eminently achievable, via a number of options.

“Financing mines today has never been more flexible,” he explains.

“There are streaming royalty companies to which we could sell, perhaps, the gold, or a part of the gold and a part of the platinum stream, upfront for cash. And it looks like we might be able to raise up to $100 million doing that on pretty reasonable terms.” Knoll also cites the equity and debt routes and points out that Generation Mining’s partner Sibanye must provide 20 percent of the money or get diluted down.

The project, neatly situated in a region where mining is part of the tapestry of life, boasts excellent local infrastructure, including Trans-Canada Highway access, a main rail line, power, and an airport.

“One of Canada’s largest gold mines, Hemlo, is located just down the road from us and it’s still in production, although it’s been winding down and the locals are looking forward to the jobs that we would bring to the area,” says Knoll.

Generation Mining is just the latest company that mining industry veteran Knoll has been involved with. He and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Levy were behind the sale of Pine Point Mining and its zinc project in the Northwest Territories to Osisko Metals for $35 million in 2018.

He explains how Osisko Metals didn’t want to buy all of the exploration assets, so Generation Mining was spun out into a separate company, which then struck an option deal the same year to buy a 51 percent stake in Sibanye-Stillwater’s Marathon deposit.

Generation Mining can earn up to an 80 percent interest by spending $10 million over four years, at which point Sibanye can re-acquire 31 percent to bring its stake up to 51 percent, though Knoll reckons this is unlikely because Sibanye will need to spend over $100 million to do that.

Sibanye is a pretty decent partner to have, of course, since it is the second-largest palladium company and largest platinum company in the world, so its knowledge of the commodity and the industry is extensive.

Knoll says Sibanye can be particularly helpful once the project is in production. Sibanye would be able to assist Generation Mining with the marketing and sale of its concentrates to smelters (a co-marketing arrangement is in place with Sibanye), which can be an onerous process for smaller companies.

In January, Generation Mining announced an $8 million financing to advance the Marathon project. Resource sector legend Eric Sprott invested $5 million of the total, joining other big names on the shareholder register, including Lukas Lundin and Osisko Mining.

There should be plenty of news flow in coming months as the company hires its engineering team and selects the group to carry out a feasibility study. It also plans to restart the permitting process.

With the green energy story getting louder by the day and lesser known metals increasing in global importance, Generation Mining’s Marathon project is taking a well-deserved place in the spotlight.

This story was featured in the Public Entrepreneur magazine.

Learn more about Generation Mining at https://www.genmining.com/.

Trevor Doerksen on the Gamification of Charitable Giving

CSE’s Anil Mall was recently joined by ePlay Digital Inc. (CSE:EPY) CEO Trevor Doerksen to discuss how his company is adapting to the recent conditions imposed by the Coronavirus, and how it inspired him to build a game that can help front line health care workers by supplying PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).

In this discussion, Trevor talks about his escape from LA during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (1:42), how current circumstances invigorated his mobile gaming project with Howie Mandel (6:43), and how he is leveraging his video game to drive donations to the #BreakoutTheMasks charity.

Listen until the end to hear more about Trevor’s unique collaboration with Howie Mandel, how the quarantine has dramatically impacted his flagship title – Big Shot, and how ePlay is adapting to release ‘quarantine-compatible’ games in the near future.

Related links:
www.eplaydigital.com
www.howiesgames.com

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Evan Gappelberg on the Intersection of Ecommerce and Augmented Reality

CSE’s Barrington Miller recently caught-up with NexTech AR Solutions Corp. (CSE:NTAR) CEO Evan Gappelberg to discuss his company’s current state of operations during the Coronavirus outbreak in NYC.

During this discussion, Evan provides commentary on the (positive) impact that the pandemic is having on his business (1:19), how their AR (augmented reality) technology fits within the shop-from home-paradigm (4:43), and his prospects for the stock market and predicted timeline for recovery (15:18).

Listen to the entire show to learn about Evan’s past history with Grand Theft Auto (the video game) and his positive experience taking a company public on the Canada Securities Exchange.

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Northstar Gold: The new face shining brightly in the Kirkland Lake gold camp

When you’re a new name in exploration on the market, it helps to have an established project with a proven team at the helm.

This statement certainly holds true for recently listed Northstar Gold (CSE:NSG), a company that is working on advancing the Miller Gold Project in Ontario’s famous Kirkland Lake Gold District. This region has historically delivered more than 25 million ounces of gold from seven mines.

Northstar is led by Chief Executive Officer Brian Fowler, a seasoned mining executive with over 38 years of experience in mineral exploration under his belt. Behind Fowler is a veteran team of mining and capital markets experts with decades of insight and success advancing resource companies and projects.

Miller is a 1,100 hectare property just south of the town of Kirkland Lake, central to a district that has been producing gold for more than a hundred years.

In the early 1900s, the historic Miller Independence Mine saw a number of shallow shafts and three levels of development on the high-grade gold No. 1 Vein, with limited success. Exploration by Northstar and others since then has defined additional shallow high-grade gold veins, with a historic estimate of 270,000 ounces of gold at 11.5 grams per ton, and a lower-grade bulk tonnage gold exploration target at Planet Syenite that may contain up to 500,000 ounces of near-surface gold ranging in grade from 1 to 3  grams per ton. None of these targets has been tested at depth.

It’s the geology, however, that excites Northstar’s CEO the most. “The Miller Gold Property has very compelling geological similarities to the Macassa SMC (South Mine Complex) and other Kirkland Lake gold deposits,” explains Fowler. “Miller has the same style of vertical and flat, high-grade gold-telluride veins that are a unique feature of the Kirkland Lake District. Furthermore, gold mineralization on the Miller Property is controlled by a ‘first order’ fault structure (the Catharine Fault) that joins the regional Kirkland Larder Break and similar first order structures within the Kirkland Gold District. These fault structures acted as channels and traps for gold deposition.”

Fowler goes on to explain that it has been determined that gold mineralization at Miller was emplaced at the same time as that at the Kirkland Camp gold deposits, some 2.6 billion years ago. These similarities and geological features suggest Miller could be tapping the same gold source as the Kirkland Gold District.  The Macassa mine has been in production since the 1930s and owner Kirkland Gold continues to find and produce high-grade gold more than 2 kilometres below surface. The Miller Property, on the other hand, is essentially unexplored below 300 metres.

“We’re really excited [to have] both Kirkland-style high grade gold-telluride veins and broad low-grade intrusion-related gold mineralization in significant quantities on the Miller Property,” Fowler says, “Our main job now is to do some drilling on these targets and bring them to 43-101 status. If you stand back and look at it, we could be knocking on the door of around 700,000 to 800,000 ounces here.”

Since Northstar picked up Miller in 2012, the company has spent around $2 million on exploration. Including the use of  ground magnetics, 3D IP surveying, and nearly 6,000 metres of diamond drilling in 27 holes. Those holes returned multiple high-grade and broad low-grade intersections with abundant visible gold. In 2016, the company mined and processed a 932 ton bulk sample from the historic No. 1 vein that averaged 5.1 grams per ton gold.

Most of the past drilling done at Miller has been vertical in nature.  Subsequent surface stripping and sampling by Northstar has defined numerous vertical high-grade gold veins and structures, which cannot be assessed, let alone discovered, by vertical drilling. This year’s drill program will see Northstar utilize angled holes to properly test these new targets.

“We’re very confident that we’re going to make new discoveries at Miller, possibly within the Catherine Fault zone itself, which amazingly has never been drilled,” Fowler says. “It’s comparable to Kirkland Lake Gold’s Amalgamated Break where they’ve found an incredible amount of high-grade gold mineralization that remains open at depth. These structures can be incredibly rich and with kilometre-scale strike and depth continuity. We believe we have all the makings of a Macassa SMC-like gold mineralizing system at Miller and we’re really anxious to get the drill spinning.”

At 3,000 metres, the Phase 1 drill program is scheduled to commence in late February. This will have a preliminary focus on confirming and expanding portions of the near-surface Miller Independence historic estimate and the Planet Syenite bulk tonnage gold exploration target. Drilling will also follow up other known near-surface, high-grade and intrusion-hosted gold targets, including Allied Syenite.

Having a few million dollars on hand to support exploration doesn’t hurt – Northstar closed its $3 million initial public offering on December 31st of last year at $0.30.

“Everyone thinks we either definitely have a gold market or we’re heading into a solid gold market,” Fowler says of the company’s healthy IPO. “We believe our timing was perfect.”

There’s even more to Northstar Gold than Miller, though. The explorer also has the Bryce Gold Property and the Milestone copper-nickel-cobalt claims. These could add value at the drill bit or through farm-out opportunities.

The task ahead for Northstar is to prove up the claims at Miller. “We’re going to do it through a concerted and robust exploration effort, which we are now permitted and funded to complete,” Fowler concludes. “I really believe there is excellent potential to make some significant gold discoveries at the Miller Gold Property this year.”

This story was featured in the Public Entrepreneur magazine.

Learn more about Northstar Gold at https://www.northstargoldmining.com/.