Millions of shares connected to N.B. tungsten project trade hands after government announcement
CBC
The company behind New Brunswick's proposed Sisson Mine has watched its stock price soar and then partially crash over three days as investors try to work out if anything major actually happened after a week of speculation and announcements about the project.
Andrew Ing, the president of Northcliff Resources Ltd., said in a statement Thursday that he was "excited" the company's long-stalled mine has been referred to the federal government's Major Projects Office for evaluation and help.
But he noted "a construction decision" on Sisson has still not been made.
Earlier this week, word began leaking out that the proposed tungsten and molybdenum mine near Stanley, north of Fredericton, might be on a federal government list of national projects to be prioritized and fast-tracked.
Announcements were scheduled for Thursday, but on Tuesday CBC News confirmed and reported Sisson would be part of the Thursday announcement. That caused a rare buying frenzy of Northcliff Resources stock Wednesday morning.
By midday Thursday, the stock price, which dipped as low as two cents per share last winter had climbed 190 per cent in a matter of hours to hit 66 cents.
According to the Toronto Stock Exchange 9.3 million shares of Northcliff were traded on Wednesday and Thursday, more than 500 times the volume exchanged on the same two days a week earlier
However, the tide soon turned. Sellers dominated trades late Thursday, and on Friday and the stock lost more than half of its gains for the week before settling out in the 40-cent range.
But there remains significant interest in the minerals Northcliff hopes to eventually provide.
Tungsten markets are dominated by supplies from China, and recent worldwide trade disputes have sent its price soaring and raised concerns about its long-term availability.
Peter Thilo Hasler, a financial analyst with Splene Capital in Munich, evaluates international tungsten markets and companies. Without commenting directly on the New Brunswick project, he said he believes there is space for new North American suppliers of the mineral.
"There is lots of room," Hasler said in an interview. "To develop new mines in North America is one way out of this dependence on China."
Last week, Hasler said international tungsten prices hit $70 US per kilogram.
Sisson's original feasibility assumed that long-term prices of $35 US per kilogram for tungsten and $33 US for molybdenum would make the mine feasible.
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