This week in Canadian economy news, the Bank of Canada announced on Wednesday that it is leaving its policy interest rate at 0.25 per cent.
The decision was made in order to combat the current high CPI inflation rate, which is sitting above its ideal one to three per cent range. High CPI inflation is a by-product of the pandemic, driven by base-year effects, gas prices, and supply bottlenecks.
Until a rate of two per cent inflation is reached, says the bank, interest rates will remain low.
The bank is continuing to buy bonds from the Government of Canada, increasing its balance sheet and keeping other rates in the economy lower.
Governor Tiff Macklem remarked on the Bank of Canada’s announcement. According to Macklem, this bond buy-back plan will allow the bank to “first help restore market functioning and then bolster our monetary policy stimulus.”
This week, our readers took an interest in the mining and technology sectors.
Here’s a look at those stories.
FOBI (TSXV:FOBI) partners with Lightspeed Commerce (TSX:LSPD) to deliver real-time POS Data and analytics to Lightspeed customers
On Tuesday, Fobi AI announced that it was partnering with Lightspeed Commerce, launching the Fobi App within the Lightspeed ecosystem.
The integration will help Lightspeed retailers grow and scale their businesses, providing them with real-time insights to make data-driven business decisions.
Fobi CEO Rob Anson remarked,
“Lightspeed’s support of Fobi’s integration to their platform cannot be understated as it speaks volumes about their confidence in Fobi as a premiere retail data solution provider. With our integration now complete, both Fobi and Lightspeed are positioned to generate new sales opportunities through this successful partnership.”
Fobi’s unique IoT device has the ability to integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure to enable data connectivity across online and on-premise platforms.
Shares in Fobi AI (FOBI) rose to 2.28 per share this week, a high not seen since December of 2020. As of 1:11 pm ET on Friday, September 10, 2021, shares in Fobi AI were trading at $2.16 per share.
Amex (TSXV:AMX) announces high-grade gold at Perron
In mining, Amex Exploration Inc. announced new assay results from drilling at the Perron Project on Tuesday.
Drilling so far, said the company in its press release, has focused on expanding and defining the High-Grade Zone as the company works toward its maiden resource on the Perron Project.
Jacques Trottier, Executive Chairman of Amex, commented on the latest results.
“I am very excited with today’s results for several reasons,” he said. “Firstly, we have drilled the highest grade hole at depth to date.”
“In addition to this very high-grade drill hole,” he added, “our shallower drilling on the Western portion of the HGZ has significantly expanded the ‘bonanza’ area of the HGZ proving the super high grade core is continuous.”
Shares in Amex Exploration are up 1.63 per cent on the day, trading at $2.50 per share as of 1:12 pm ET.
World Copper (TSXV:WCU) announces private placement and retains Liviakis Financial Communications
Also on Tuesday, World Copper announced a non-brokered private placement of up to $4 million.
The corporation will issue up to 10,000,000 units at a price of $0.40 per unit.
Proceeds from the offering will help fund exploration of the Escalones and Cristal properties in Chile and fund the company’s general working capital.
World Copper Ltd. is a Canadian mining company focused on the exploration and development of its copper porphyry projects in Chile and Arizona.
Shares in World Copper fell 8.70 per cent this week and were trading at $0.42 per share as of 10:18 am ET on Friday.
PyroGenesis (TSX:PYR) secures additional government funding to transform quartz into fumed silica
PyroGenesis Canada released yet another update on its fumed silica processor, which the company is developing in partnership with HPQ Silicon.
On Wednesday, the company announced that it had received funding from a second government agency, securing an additional $630,000.
This latest funding brings the total project value to $5.3 million.
M. P. Peter Pascali, CEO and Chair of PyroGenesis, commented on the funding and project in Wednesday’s press release.
“This process, if successful,” he said, “will create an alternative solution that would eliminate the toxic by-products of legacy systems while reducing GHG emissions by approximately 90 per cent. Work has already begun, and we look forward to providing additional updates on our progress.”
Shares in HPQ Silicon are steady, trading at $0.73 per share as of 1:30 pm ET on Friday.
Shares in PyroGenesis fell 2.86 per cent over the last five days, trading at $5.10 per share on Friday.
Maple Gold (TSXV:MGM) reports record gold levels in the 531 Zone at the Douay Gold Project
Our final Top 5 story of the week, also in mining, came as Maple Gold Mines released the results of seven more holes from its drill campaign at the Douay Gold Project.
The Douay Gold Project, located in Quebec’s Abitibi Greenstone Belt, is a joint venture between Maple Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines.
Highlights from these most recent results include the best intercept drilled in the 531 Zone to date and the second-best ever at the Douay project
“The results being released today continue a trend of very impressive results at the 531 Zone,” said Maple Gold’s VP of exploration Fred Speidel.
Additional assay results are expected to be released in the coming weeks once they are received and interpreted.
While down slightly on the day, shares in Maple Gold Mines rose 2.99 per cent over the last five days, trading at $0.345 per share as of 1:20 pm ET.
That’s all for our Top 5 report this week. Stay tuned every Friday afternoon for more information on the news that moves Canadian markets.
