As is always the way of these things, once the brokerages have themselves positioned to their own satisfaction, the pumps begins. Here's The Can of Corn on Hathor (HAT.to) in this morning's edition of Morning Coffee.
Hathor Exploration (HAT : TSX : $4.19), Net Change: 0.03, % Change: 0.72%, Volume: 827,754 Cameco (CCO : TSX : $22.63), Net Change: 0.73, % Change: 3.33%, Volume: 667,495 Other interested parties.
In a report that came out after the close Tuesday, Mining Weekly Online highlighted that Hathor has signed several confidentiality agreements with companies interested in its Roughrider deposit in Saskatchewan's Athabasca. Hathor's spokesperson Tony Nunziata told Mining Weekly Online that Hathor was talking to “some very large mining conglomerates and focused entities out of Asia.” Mining Weekly Online noted that in August analysts told the mining news service that other companies including France's Areva, which already operates in the Athabasca, may be interested in bidding for Hathor. In addtion to Cameco and Areva, other potential suitors for Hathor that have been mentioned (by various media sources and/or industry followers/investors), include: Rio Tinto (RIO), BHP Billiton (BHP), Vale (VALE), Denison Mines (DML) and state-owned entities from China, South Korea (particularly KEPCO (KEP) which holds an interest in an adjacent property to Roughrider), India and Russia. On Tuesday, Hathor released another set of impressive results from its Far East Zone. It is important to note that none of the drilling completed on the Far East Zone is included in the company's current NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for Roughrider. According to Nunziata, independent analysts believe the Far East zone could add 15 million pounds of resources “give or take” once all the drill assays have been processed. Hathor’s management highlights that Roughrider remains open both east along strike, as well as south-east up-dip from the highest-grade mineralisation found so far. Commenting on the offer by Cameco for Hathor, in an interview with International Business Times on Tuesday, Global Resource Investments Founder and Chairman Rick Rule stated, "We think this is the first of several consolidations on a worldwide basis in the uranium business. Now is the time to begin to establish positions in the uranium sector." Rule highlighted, "Uranium energy will contribute a growing share of worldwide electrical generation, not because people are less afraid of it, but simply because when they flip a switch, they want the light to go on. And without uranium, the light won't go on in many parts of the world."
IKN back and subscribers will note that the similarity of the arguments made by this humble scribe in IKN121, dated August 28th during our decision to buy HAT at sub-$4 prices and those made in the above Can of Corn note dated September 8th are, of course, sheer coincidence.