Karim Rayani Day: 4 junior explorers, 10 projects, one driving force

In many quarters, my reputation over the last decade-plus has been – and it’s unearned, in my opinion – that I’m mean to stockmarket hustlers.

I don’t think that’s particularly true or deserved, any more than a hockey pundit should be criticized for being mean to underperforming players.

It’s part of the game. You come here looking to sell tickets to a ticker, and my job is to point out whether those tickers are a good deal or not.

Real talk: I’m as likely to applaud a well-financed, polished operation with big names following the metal of the month as I am a scrappy underdog, grinding it out from the bottom. In fact, over the last few months I’ve given more coverage to interesting deals that I have no commercial connection than I have to client companies. As long as you’re putting in the sweat and giving your all, I’m here to support you – even if your last deal didn’t hit it out of the park. Even if nobody is giving you respect. Even if you’re not in the club.

ESPECIALLY if you’re not in the club.

Indeed, while the gold watch-wearing suits flit between golf tournaments and the Pac Rim front bar, waiting out the summer while being kicked out of the Arbutus Club third storey parkade, these markets are surviving on the energy drink-fueled two-man shops that raise dollar figures that wouldn’t cover the cost of a Burnaby condo.

Karim Rayani is a one-man shop who puts out more news, and does more work, than most ten-man shops.

His companies generally roll around the2c-20c range, he often buys into his own financings, and any one company is as likely to become two or three through spinouts as it is to stay whole.

You can lean back into your chair and say, “2c to 20c? Why bother?” all you like, but there are people out there who make a living on the Rayani track, because those companies move.

Rayani likes to take small deals with good floats by the hand and make them bigger, and take his investors along for the ride.

As an example, he got in early on 92 Resources, which became Gaia Metals, which became the $685 million market cap Patriot Battery Metals (PMET.C).

But even if they don’t all get to 9-digit sums, a move from 3c to 4c is a nice 33.33% return.

3c to 6c is a double.

Try doing that with an $11 stock.

So here’s to respecting a grinder who may be the quintessential microcap CEO, and may never get a company to production, but has managed to turn a single deal with a single property into four companies with 14 worth talking about in just a few years, while laying out his own cash as needed.

Out of respect to someone who has always respected what we do, been honest with us even when things weren’t going great, and put in the hard yards on the figurative ice, this is Equity.Guru’s Rayani Day; 10 projects broken down for y’all, with scores compiled by our own secret algorithm.

Scores are graded on a curve against each project of the 30+ in Rayani’s portfolio.

From the top!

1. Europacific Metals Inc. (EUP.V) – Aparis Copper Mine

Score: 92/100
Summary: This high-grade copper project with historical production credentials, part of the Barrancos copper-gold properties, is enjoying a fresh spotlight and new exploration insights to extend known zones. There are buildings and an existing flotation mill on site and an extensive vein system that extends 3km on strike. Three previous historic drill holes have shown 47m, 40m, and 62m of between 2.21% and 3.09% of copper, and production was carried out from the 1920’s til 1975, stopping due to low copper prices.
Metals: Copper, potential for Silver and Gold
Location: South Central Portugal
Recent Work: Initiation of drilling to redefine known high-grade copper zones and explore for additional mineralization.
Next Steps: Expansion of drilling and resource estimation activities aimed at confirming and potentially upgrading the historical resources.
We Say: While nobody was looking, Rayani absolutely stole this property, which we’d love to see get a few holes poked into it soon, but appears to be backburnered for a bit while this company pokes at another project.

2. Marvel Discovery Corp. (MARV.V) – Duhamel Property

- Score: 88/100
- Summary: Rich in nickel, copper, cobalt, and PGE with high-priority drilling targets identified from recent geophysical surveys.
- Metals: Copper, Nickel, Cobalt, Chrome, Vanadium, Titanium.
- Location: Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Region, Quebec, Canada
- Recent Work: Completed interpretation of airborne magnetic and TDEM surveys, identified high-priority targets, compiled historic data, and initiated a diamond drilling campaign.
- Next Steps: Continue with the drilling program, targeting up to 15 holes totalling 2000 metres in total, followed by sample analysis and potential updating of resource estimation if results confirm mineralization.
- We Say: We love the metals mix, the first handful of holes from the current drill program seem to be making Rayani happy, but it looks like the company website and Youtube channel have been hacked, which isn’t helping the share price. Regardless, we like this property and the current price may be an opportunity if management gets the websoite back.

3. Europacific Metals Inc. (EUP.V) – Miguel Vacas Mine

Score: 85/100
Summary: Part of the Borba 2 Copper-Gold area, this historic copper and gold mining plot was a producer til 1986, and is being re-explored to define and potentially expand the existing mineral base.
Metals: Copper, Gold
Location: Portugal
Recent Work: Reinitiated drilling to define shallow open-pit resources and deeper sulphide ore bodies – first holes included 22.8 m of 2.76% copper.
Next Steps: Complete the ongoing drilling program, evaluate the economic viability of the resources, and potentially develop a mining plan for extraction.
We Say: Like the Aparis Project all over again, and this property is getting drill attention immediately in an effort to flesh it out.

4. Europacific Metals Inc. (EUP.V) – Vilariça Gold Exploration Application

Score: 83/100
Summary: Diverse mineral presence in a historically significant mining region, promising multi-metal resource development.
Metals: Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc, with additional Tin and Tungsten
Location: Approximately 200 km east of Porto, Portugal
Recent Work: Area known for historical mining with indications of multiple mineral types associated with Variscan granites.
Next Steps: Further geological mapping and up to 15 holes of exploratory drilling are planned to define and evaluate the potential extents of mineralization.
We Say: This is an early stage plot that has little to no downside. Tossed in with the others in a private company acquisition that bought the Barrancos Copper-Gold properties, Europacific can either take a drill to it and surprise everybody if it shows good returns, or flip it when their other properties move into gear. Our system likes the bones of this.

5. Falcon Gold Corp (FG.V)/Marvel Discovery (MARV.V) – Golden Brook

Score: 80/100
Summary: Joint Venture positioned in a prolific gold zone with significant exploration upside based on geological continuities with nearby projects.
Metals: Gold
Location: Newfoundland, Canada
Recent Work: Staking additional claim units, planning high-resolution magnetic gradiometer surveys to identify structural complexities.
Next Steps: Complete planned geophysical surveys, follow up with drilling based on identified targets, and if successful, move towards estimating resources and potential mine development.
We Say: Newfoundland is heating up, and this smart bit of staking runs right up alongside First Mining’s Hope Brook project, currently optioned to Big Ridge Exploration (BRAU.V), whose CEO is saying the property has an “estimated Indicated resource [of] 1.2M ounces grading 2.32 grams per tonne.” Falcon can more or less wait them out, as they’re committed to spending exploration dollars to earn more of the property.

6. Europacific Metals Inc. – Lirio Gold Project

Score: 75/100
Summary: Early-stage exploration showing potential for a large-scale volcanic breccia gold system.
Metals: Gold, Copper
Location: Portugal
Recent Work: Initial drilling confirming significant gold and copper mineralization.
Next Steps: Continue and expand drilling to further delineate the mineralized zones.
We Say: This bad boy is a total mystery box. Though there was limited drilling by another company in 2008 that brought chip samples of up to 125 g/t gold, and channel samples that drew 7.7 g/t, there’s a lot to open up and good potential upside.

7. Power One Resources Corp. (PWRO.V) – Pecors Project

Score: 72/100
Summary: Promising geophysical anomalies indicative of potential Cu, Ni, PGE mineralization in a less explored region.
Metals: Uranium, Nickel, Platinum Group Elements
Location: Elliot Lake area, Ontario, Canada
Recent Work: Conducted airborne electromagnetic and magnetic surveys revealing significant anomalies suggestive of mafic-ultramafic intrusion.
Next Steps: Undertake detailed ground exploration and follow-up drilling to better define the mineralization, leading to potential resource estimation and development.
We Say: There’s a non-compliant indicated resource estimate of 20,000,000 tons grading 0.037% (0.74 lbs./t) U308 or 14,800,000 lbs at the Pecors East – Power One’s job now is to drop a few more drills and really beef that estimate up, make it compliant, and go hard on the next uranium bull run.

8. Power One Resources Corp. – Wicheeda North Property

Score: 70/100
Summary: Exploration focused on rare earth elements, critical for high-tech applications, in an accessible and infrastructure-rich area.
Metals: Rare Earth Elements
Location: Cariboo region, British Columbia, Canada
Recent Work: Retained mineral claims after a company spin-out, focused on exploration for rare earth elements.
Next Steps: Advance exploration efforts to confirm and expand the known mineralization, followed by detailed feasibility studies.
We Say: Given our druthers, we might be inclined to do a little fast exploration here, but Defense Metals (DEFN.V) is way ahead in this area and might give PowerOne some seriously closeology boost as they advance closer to production.

9. Europacific Metals Inc. – Bigorne Gold Exploration

Score: 68/100
Summary: Gold-focused exploration with historical backing, offering potential for bulk mineable resources in a promising geological setting.
Metals: Gold
Location: Northern-central Portugal
Recent Work: Historical drilling with some promising intercepts suggesting bulk mineable potential.
Next Steps: Continued exploration is aimed at confirming and expanding known mineralization, potentially leading to detailed feasibility and development stages.

10. Marvel Discovery Corp. – East Bull Property

Score: 65/100
Summary: High potential for Platinum Group Elements, crucial for various industries, in a project still early in the exploration phase.
Metals: Platinum Group Elements
Location: Ontario, Canada
Recent Work: Acquisition of mineral claims and commitment to exploration expenditures.
Next Steps: Continue exploration to determine the economic viability and potential scale of the deposit.