Despite mostly tepid markets as of late, enticing investment opportunities are still there for the taking.
While global stocks are flat over the past year – with the lone exception of Developed International, which is up over 10 per cent – seasoned investors are well aware that the ebb and flow of sectors falling in and out of favour due to prevailing economic conditions creates value in select areas.
Among these prospective areas at the moment are metals and mining, with an emphasis on copper and gold, as well as technology solutions to optimize application speed and connectivity in an increasingly digital world.
Let’s briefly consider why:
Copper
Copper is an essential component for wiring, construction, electric vehicles, solar panels and other green technologies. According to McKinsey & Co., electrification will raise annual copper demand to 36.6 million metric tons by 2031, with supply projected at 30.1 million tons, leading to a 6.5 million ton shortfall.
Global output in 2022 was 21.8 million tons (International Copper Study Group), adding only 1 million tons over the past three years due to low prices not compensating for new mine investments – Guy Wolf, Marex’s Head of Market Analytics, believes a ton of copper will have to reach US$15,000 from its current US$9,000 level for tides to turn – as well as increasing protests and governmental control in South America, the world leader in copper production.
Additionally, a battery-based electric vehicle requires an average of 183 lb of copper, compared to 48 lb for an internal combustion vehicle, with EV demand growing exponentially over the past few years.
These tailwinds are likely to favour explorers with meaningful copper assets in friendly jurisdictions.
Gold
The gold market, for its part, is especially active at the moment due to high inflation, the uncertainty surrounding inflation’s near-term trajectory, and investors’ desire to benefit from higher consumer prices without giving up capital appreciation.
Gold’s centuries-old function as a portfolio antidote to inflation has led it to touch decade-highs over US$2,000 per ounce three times over the past three years.
Beyond holding the physical metal, explorers with evidence of economical resources present investors with the best of both worlds; namely, share prices tracking the price of gold, and the ability to participate in potentially alpha-generating projects.
High-speed data
As commercial activity continues to migrate to the digital world, the importance of reliable, maximized application connectivity and scaling has never been more pressing.
This means that technology companies capable of delivering on these advantages at lower costs will command the attention of data centres and telecom operators, each of them keen on standing out from the competition by better accommodating their clients’ content needs.
Ever on the ball, TMH’s investor community gravitated toward three stories tied to three companies involved in these value vectors over the past week. See links to our interviews with executives from each company below:
Doubleview (TSXV:DBG) reports Hat Project copper equivalent disclosures will now include recoverable copper, gold, cobalt and scandium
Drilling in 2015 and 2016 confirmed the presence of a very large gold-copper deposit at the Hat Project. Assay results from 2021 and 2022 will be released in the near future.
CEO Farshad Shirvani spoke with Shoran Devi about the news.
Doubleview Gold is a mineral resource exploration and development company with several projects in B.C.
Doubleview (DBG) is up by over 70 per cent over the past year.
Aton Resources (TSXV:AAN) signs 10,000 m RC drilling contract with Geodrill
The Egyptian drilling site, known as the Abu Marawat Concession, is home to abundant gold and base metal exploration targets and clear geological trends with mineralization potential.
Exploration Manager Javier Orduña spoke with Simon Druker about the news.
Aton Resources explores for precious and base metals in Egypt.
Aton (AAN) is down by 12 per cent over the past year.
POET Technologies (TSXV:PTK) introduces “POET Starlight” for the AI market and receives advanced purchase order from Celestial AI
The POET Starlight is a packaged light source solution for AI applications. It’s designed to enable complex computations without bandwidth and power-efficiency bottlenecks.
Raju Kankipati, SVP of Product Management, spoke with Brieanna McCutcheon about the news.
POET Technologies is a design and development company making the Internet faster through the integration of electronic and photonic devices into a single multi-chip module.
POET Technologies (PTK) is down by over 35 per cent over the past year.
This is sponsored content issued on behalf of Doubleview Gold, POET Technologies and Aton Resources, please see full disclaimer here.