Market Commentary – July 2014
As we enter into the summer doldrums months it will be very interesting to see how the equity markets respond to the resource sector. This time of year is typically a quite time in the mining sector and volume of trades tend to withdraw.
Opened financings in June fell -47% in dollars raised from May though closed financings did see an increase of +23%. The TSX Venture exchange rose from 978.47 on June 1, 2014 to 1036.47 on July 1, 2014 an increase of 6% for the month. Looking at the three year chart of the TSX Venture exchange shows a downward trend that has remained fairly flat for the past year. Could this be a sign of a bottom?
One of the notable financings during the month of June was Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. successfully raising $125 million dollars by issuing 83,334,000 units, consisting of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, sold at a price of $1.50 per unit. At the time of publishing TSX:IVN is trading at $1.39/share. Special attention should be taken with regards to mining legend Robert Friedland Executive Chairman at Ivanhoe personally participating in private placements with $25 million at $1.50 in this latest financing round and $25 million at $2.00/share in October 2013. As disclosed by the company Mr. Friedland currently owns 23.6% of the company’s outstanding common shares. The net proceeds of the financing and private placement will be used for the advancement and pre-development activities at the Kamoa and Kipushi Projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and for general corporate purposes.
In June 2014, the Venture Radar posted 144 deals of which 36 successfully raised a combined approximate value of $371 million dollars. Approximately 44 new deals opened during June, with a combined value totaling over $163 million dollars.