Palladium is up another $393 today to $2,336 per oz and Benton Resources (TSXV: BEX) has one of the world's most diversified portfolios of palladium exploration assets!
BEX only has 87.1 million shares outstanding for a market cap of CAD$6.097 million. BEX has a large cash position of CAD$1.68 million for an enterprise value of CAD$4.417 million.
BEX's most valuable asset is its 24,615,384 shares of Clean Air Metals, a start-up palladium exploration company that is currently in the process of going public through a reverse merger with Regency Gold (TSXV: RAU). The transaction will close any day now with Clean Air Metals expected to begin trading under the symbol AIR on the TSX Venture exchange in early April. Regency Gold has been halted since October 2019 when the transaction was first announced. Although Regency's last trade in October was at $0.13 per share, on February 11th it successfully closed on a $15 million private placement priced at $0.20 per share with Eric Sprott personally subscribing for 10 million shares at a cost of $2 million!
AIR will begin trading with 125.08 million shares outstanding including the original 25.48 million shares outstanding of RAU, the 75 million shares issued at $0.20 for proceeds of $15 million, and the 24.615 million shares issued to BEX for the right to acquire the Thunder Bay and Escape Lake palladium projects. BEX's total cash investment to obtain its AIR shares was only $3 million, which it paid to Rio Tinto as a down payment on acquiring Escape Lake. Besides receiving 24.615 million AIR shares for a 19.68% stake in the company, BEX has received a 0.5% NSR royalty covering both of AIR's palladium projects.
Currently, AIR has an implied market cap of CAD$25.016 million based on its oversubscribed financing at $0.20 per share. However, there is a chance that AIR will begin trading for well above its initial equity offering price of $0.20 per share, similar to when NIA's Hive Blockchain (TSXV: HIVE) went public in September 2017. Prior to going public, HIVE raised CAD$16.5 million at $0.30 per share, but HIVE opened for trading at $0.74 per share and went straight up from there to a high of $6.75 per share within three months. Just like how Cryptocurrencies were the hottest asset of 2017 and HIVE was the highest quality Crypto miner to go public, palladium is the hottest asset of 2020 and AIR will have North America's highest grade undeveloped palladium project!
Just like how BEX is the largest AIR shareholder, U.S. Global Investors (GROW) was the largest HIVE shareholder. After HIVE went public, GROW exploded from $1.25 per share to a high of $7.49 per share within 3 months!
BEX owns major stakes and/or royalties in many additional precious metals projects with many of them also being palladium exploration projects!
Past performance is not an indicator of future returns. NIA is not an investment advisor and does not provide investment advice. Always do your own research and make your own investment decisions. This message is not a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell, or hold securities. NIA's President has purchased 1.05 million shares of BEX in the open market. He intends to buy additional BEX shares prior to Clean Air Metals going public. Sometime after Clean Air Metals goes public he intends to sell his BEX shares for a profit. This message is meant for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide investment advice.
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