Excitement in the Junior Gold Explorers.

I have not seen this type of enthusiasm for the junior gold exploration since 2005. It was an extremely exciting time then and it lasted for many years, but since 2011 I have watched good drill results being an excuse to dump shares ... having said that I am finally seeing good drill results being rewarded once again.

The physical gold price bottomed in January of 2015 and since then has put in higher lows, which technically is a sign of a new uptrend. Gold has yet to put in a new high since bottoming, but the move into the junior sector could be a signal the next move will indeed take out the previous high of $1349.

There are various ways to invest in a gold during the cycle such investing in the majors, mid-caps, etfs, leveraged etfs, junior producers, pre-production or exploration companies. 

Of these the ones that have the biggest upside potential and to me the most exciting are the speculative exploration companies. 

These are also the ones that attract the attention of the majors or mid-cap producers who are looking for a proven deposit that someone else has already found to avoid the high cost of discovering their own new deposit. 

For the most part this is what a junior explorer wants as the time and cost of bringing a deposit into production takes years and requires many rounds of financing. Furthermore, it requires mine operational management expertise to achieve a profitable producing mine, that many explorers do not have. 

When investing in junior gold exploration stocks I like to focus on reasonably priced mining companies with favourable geology. On top of attractive geology, I also like companies that do not operate in hostile environments or politically unstable countries. 

Other factors to consider is the number of shares outstanding and the size of the float that trades, how capitalized is the company, who was involved with the latest financing and what percentage of the company management owns (Use sedi.ca to help here).

I also like to check to see how reputable the management team is and what other companies they are involved and what boards they sit on. Also what is the history of the company, how many time has it rolled back shares, changed its name/symbol and started as something new (Use sedar.com to help out here).

Diversification is important in all aspects in investing and no more is true then the junior mining sector. Investing in basket of potential project generating companies will increase your odds of walking away with some profit.

There are various types of deposits with some of them summarized below that can be used as a starting point for more detail analysis and understanding:

Porphyry Copper - large body of rock that contains disseminated chalcopyrite and other sulphide minerals. It is a type of hydrothermal mineral deposit and is mined in bulk on a large-scale, generally in open pits, for copper and by-product gold and molybdenum.

Volcanic Massive Sulphide Deposit (VMS) - bodies of sulphide-rich ore that are hosted within sequences of volcanic rocks. These deposits are a type of hydrothermal mineral deposits that are formed on the seafloor from black smokers. VMS deposits are mined using underground methods for copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver.

Sedimentary Exhalative Deposits - deposits that formed from the discharged of hydrothermal fluids onto the seafloor. Zinc, lead and silver are the principle metals. These types of deposits constitute > 50% of the worlds zinc and lead reserves and more than 25% of the world's zinc and lead production.

Gold and Silver Vein Deposits - occurs in a variety of mineral deposit types such as porphyry copper and VMS. Most gold deposits are mined using underground methods and are divided into two divisions. Epithermal (shallow) and Mesothermal (deep). 

For Epithermal the tonnage for silver is 50 to 500 g/t while for gold it is 1.0 to 10.0 g/t with a typical range between 2.0 and 5.0 g/t. Bonanza type deposits have grades of one or more ounces per tonne.

For Mesothermal deposits gold is the major commodity and most contain some silver, which is mined along with the gold. Good grades are between 3.0 and 30.0 g/t Au and the average is around 5.0 to 15.0 g/t Au.

Skarn Deposit - a type of hydrothermal mineral deposit that develops because of contact metamorphism of limestone rocks and adjacent to an igneous intrusion. They are variable in size and shape and are mined by underground methods. A wide range of commodities are found in skarn deposits including, gold, copper, zinc, iron, tin and tungsten. Most Skarn deposits are relatively small and low to moderate grade.

For me, I like to hold a core position in the junior explores and as the company continues to drill up results I trade around the core. I take some off the table when the stock moves up sharply and buy some back if the stock dips, but only for the right reason. If the drill results did not meet expectations that I will sell it all and look for another potential project generator.

Technology Stocks on the Tsx/Venture

Symbol	Company	OSShares	Close	Change
ABT	Absolute Software Corporation	40,109,637.00	$6.64	-$0.05
ADK	Diagnos Inc.	172,421,265.00	$0.07	$0
AIF	Altus Group Limited	38,813,968.00	$32.62	$0.12
AJX	AgJunction Inc.	116,878,275.00	$0.78	-$0.11
AKR	Ackroo Inc.	75,487,400.00	$0.08	-$0.01
ALY	AnalytixInsight Inc.	68,754,287.00	$0.42	$0.01
ARD	Armada Data Corporation	17,670,265.00	$0.13	$0
ART	ARHT Media Inc.	28,724,871.00	$1.25	$0.07
AT	AcuityAds Holdings Inc.	35,280,120.00	$1.07	-$0.01
ATW	AtmanCo Inc.	79,107,606.00	$0.11	$0
AVO	Avigilon Corporation	44,530,451.00	$26.98	$0
AWI	Advent-AWI Holdings Inc.	11,935,513.00	$1.20	$0.03
AXE	Acceleware Ltd.	97,651,787.00	$0.28	$0.01
AXV	Axion Ventures Inc.	237,222,450.00	$0.89	$0
BB	BlackBerry Limited	542,770,771.00	$14.81	-$0.95
BEW	BeWhere Holdings Inc.	65,152,097.00	$0.38	$0.02
BKD	Breaking Data Corp.	28,676,671.00	$1.49	$0.04
BLN	Blackline Safety Corp.	40,347,228.00	$5.69	-$0.01
BPLI	Bluedrop Performance Learning Inc.	99,483,776.00	$0.19	-$0.01
BTL	BTL Group Ltd.	21,329,766.00	$4.05	-$0.40
BTRU	betterU Education Corp.	57,159,697.00	$0.73	-$0.02
BYL	Baylin Technologies Inc.	31,215,937.00	$3.84	-$0.13
CAE	CAE Inc.	267,490,244.00	$23.98	$0.44
CBX	Cortex Business Solutions Inc.	9,112,321.00	$3.85	$0.05
CCZ	Critical Control Energy Services Corp.	46,209,355.00	$0.15	$0
CGY	Calian Group Ltd.	7,711,454.00	$30.95	$0.54
CLS	Celestica Inc.	124,224,948.00	$13.33	$0.04
CLY	Clarocity Corporation	256,849,807.00	$0.06	$0
CMG	Computer Modelling Group Ltd.	80,214,678.00	$9.29	$0.14
CMI	C-Com Satellite Systems Inc.	36,754,550.00	$1.11	$0.01
CNS	Contagious Gaming Inc.	8,185,712.00	$0.12	-$0.01
CPTO	Cryptoglobal Corp.	120,275,297.00	$0.50	$0.02
CSU	Constellation Software Inc.	24,014,399.00	$874.15	-$1.57
CTZ	Namsys Inc.	27,286,332.00	$0.50	$0
DAR	Darelle Online Solutions Inc.	73,708,147.00	$0.03	$0
DASH	Neptune Dash Technologies Corp.	80,193,329.00	$0.25	-$0.02
DBO	D-Box Technologies Inc.	175,950,573.00	$0.24	$0
DFS	Global Daily Fantasy Sports Inc.	47,426,293.00	$0.29	$0
DM	Datametrex AI Limited	200,373,925.00	$0.13	-$0.01
DMGI	DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc.	93,047,968.00	$0.72	-$0.01
DNX	Dynex Power Inc.	80,509,047.00	$0.11	$0
DSG	Descartes Systems Group Inc. (The)	76,773,497.00	$36.82	$0.88
DSY	Destiny Media Technologies Inc.	52,993,874.00	$0.27	$0
DW	DataWind Inc.	24,292,848.00	$0.11	-$0.01
DXX	DXStorm.com Inc.	20,729,508.00	$0.04	$0
ECT	Ellipsiz Communications Ltd.	167,385,242.00	$0.02	$0.01
EL	Engagement Labs Inc.	146,316,063.00	$0.09	$0
ENA	Enablence Technologies Inc.	621,927,418.00	$0.04	$0
ENGH	Enghouse Systems Limited	27,003,212.00	$68.15	$0.46
EQ	EQ Inc.	36,443,965.00	$0.56	-$0.04
EQG	eQube Gaming Limited	30,220,727.00	$0.09	$0
ES	Eight Solutions Inc.	76,733,875.00	$0.13	$0
ESP	Espial Group Inc.	35,923,094.00	$1.89	-$0.06
ET	Evertz Technologies Limited	76,469,746.00	$17.26	$0.42
EXF	EXFO Inc.	23,407,121.00	$5.40	$0.04
FGD	First Global Data Limited	247,626,209.00	$0.15	$0
FLGC	Fanlogic Interactive Inc.	57,714,895.00	$0.12	$0.01
FLT	Drone Delivery Canada Corp.	151,938,227.00	$1.62	$0.04
FLY	FLYHT Aerospace Solutions Ltd.	20,343,270.00	$1.59	$0
FSW	Fireswirl Technologies Inc.	47,512,612.00	$0.04	$0
FTEC	Fintech Select Ltd.	64,374,515.00	$0.14	$0
FTG	Firan Technology Group Corporation	22,701,201.00	$2.95	-$0.05
FUND	Katipult Technology Corp.	62,277,000.00	$0.51	$0
GAME	Millennial Esports Corp.	144,518,317.00	$0.58	$0
GEL	Tangelo Games Corp.	184,288,880.00	$0.03	$0
GGG	Graphene 3D Lab Inc.	73,451,814.00	$0.15	-$0.01
GIB	CGI Group Inc.	255,157,445.00	$74.30	$1
GOK	GINSMS Inc.	149,793,861.00	$0.21	$0
GOOD	Good Life Networks Inc.	75,264,515.00	$0.21	$0
GPS	BSM Technologies Inc.	82,299,518.00	$1.29	-$0.03
GSI	Gatekeeper Systems Inc.	87,597,145.00	$0.10	$0
HIVE	HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.	280,596,948.00	$1.27	-$0.01
HSI	H-Source Holdings Ltd.	70,452,463.00	$0.11	-$0.01
ID	Identillect Technologies Corp.	97,215,964.00	$0.13	$0
IGAM	Integrity Gaming Corp.	35,048,928.00	$0.28	$0
ILA	iLOOKABOUT Corp.	83,614,784.00	$0.17	-$0.01
IMEX	IMEX Systems Inc.	17,754,301.00	$0.20	$0
IMP	Intermap Technologies Corporation	16,396,289.00	$0.40	-$0.02
INX	Intouch Insight Ltd.	21,838,478.00	$0.40	-$0.03
IQ	AirIQ Inc.	28,928,947.00	$0.18	-$0.01
ISD	iSign Media Solutions Inc.	111,468,952.00	$0.11	$0
ISV	Information Services Corporation	17,500,000.00	$17.28	-$0.33
ITC	Intrinsyc Technologies Corporation	21,051,588.00	$1.41	$0.04
ITM	Intema Solutions Inc.	80,407,590.00	$0.07	$0.01
ITT	Internet of Things Inc.	191,174,557.00	$0.07	$0.01
ITX	The Intertain Group Limited	19,568,666.00	$14.50	-$0.15
IVI	Ivrnet Inc.	69,974,395.00	$0.05	$0
JP	Jackpot Digital Inc.	367,943,627.00	$0.03	$0
JTC	Jemtec Inc.	2,485,654.00	$0.72	$0
KASH	HashChain Technology Inc.	106,459,694.00	$0.24	$0.01
KBY	Kona Bay Technologies Inc.	4,761,199.00	$0.12	$0
KSI	kneat.com, inc.	44,563,684.00	$1.05	$0.15
KUU	Kuuhubb Inc.	50,351,575.00	$0.89	-$0.01
KXS	Kinaxis Inc.	25,508,128.00	$82.84	$1.08
LOOP	Loopshare Ltd.	41,791,256.00	$0.04	$0
LTE	Lite Access Technologies Inc.	33,786,663.00	$1.22	-$0.01
LTV	LeoNovus Inc.	246,985,424.00	$0.20	$0
LTX	Labrador Technologies Inc.	168,230,351.00	$0.05	$0.01
MAXR	Maxar Technologies Ltd.	56,223,279.00	$59.58	$1.75
MBO	Mobio Technologies Inc.	29,305,557.00	$0.08	$0
MCLD	Universal mCloud Corp.	46,757,016.00	$0.33	-$0.02
MCX	McorpCX, Inc.	20,426,158.00	$0.28	$0.05
MDF	Mediagrif Interactive Technologies Inc.	14,848,779.00	$10.35	$0.10
MIT	The Mint Corporation	171,286,212.00	$0.24	-$0.02
MKT	DeepMarkit Corp.	88,827,733.00	$0.06	$0
MNW	Mitel Networks Corporation	120,114,037.00	$11.94	-$0.04
MOGO	Mogo Finance Technology Inc.	22,404,399.00	$3.44	$0.10
MVP	MediaValet Inc.	230,895,122.00	$0.06	$0
MVY	Moovly Media Inc.	117,176,596.00	$0.09	$0
NCI	NTG Clarity Networks Inc.	48,562,355.00	$0.06	$0
NPA	Alphinat Inc.	50,503,220.00	$0.05	$0
NTQ	NovaTeqni Corporation	37,947,456.00	$0.13	$0.02
NTS	NanoTech Security Corp.	68,395,825.00	$1.22	$0.01
NVI	Novra Technologies Inc.	35,348,312.00	$0.25	-$0.01
NXJ	NexJ Systems Inc.	21,032,085.00	$2.49	$0.14
NXO	NexOptic Technology Corp.	125,468,299.00	$1.14	-$0.02
OEE	Memex Inc.	134,156,883.00	$0.07	$0.01
ONE	01 Communique Laboratory Inc.	66,543,807.00	$0.05	$0
OPS	Opsens Inc.	89,813,817.00	$0.93	-$0.03
OSS	OneSoft Solutions Inc.	88,879,874.00	$0.46	-$0.02
OTEX	Open Text Corporation	265,810,513.00	$44.82	$0.80
OVT	Oculus VisionTech Inc.	45,572,568.00	$0.10	$0.01
PAT	Patriot One Technologies Inc.	91,396,373.00	$1.75	$0.04
PATH	CounterPath Corporation	5,930,043.00	$3.51	-$0.10
PAY	Posera Ltd.	119,556,879.00	$0.23	$0
PBX	Powerband Solutions Inc.	218,981,402.00	$0.05	$0
PEEK	Peeks Social Ltd.	64,976,271.00	$0.28	-$0.02
PFM	ProntoForms Corporation	110,192,630.00	$0.34	$0
PGV	Prodigy Ventures Corp.	26,229,902.00	$0.18	$0
PHO	Photon Control Inc.	110,861,218.00	$1.79	$0.01
PNG	Kraken Robotics Inc.	91,592,739.00	$0.17	$0.01
PTG	Pivot Technology Solutions, Inc.	40,210,929.00	$2.19	$0.15
PTK	POET Technologies Inc.	260,058,852.00	$0.49	$0
PTS	Points International Ltd.	14,494,566.00	$12.75	$0.25
QIS	Quorum Information Technologies Inc.	52,614,694.00	$0.60	$0
QNC	Quantum Numbers Corp.	60,305,838.00	$0.10	$0
QTRH	Quarterhill Inc.	118,658,249.00	$1.87	-$0.04
RDL	Redline Communications Group Inc.	17,215,469.00	$1.72	$0
REAL	Real Matters Inc.	88,212,827.00	$7.29	$0.18
REW	RewardStream Solutions Inc.	4,983,082.00	$0.35	$0
RHT	Reliq Health Technologies Inc.	83,874,893.00	$1.91	$0.21
RKN	Redknee Solutions Inc.	261,652,353.00	$1.05	$0
ROI	Route1 Inc.	347,193,414.00	$0.02	$0
RSY	RSI International Systems Inc.	36,835,278.00	$0.09	$0
RW	RenoWorks Software Inc.	33,562,810.00	$0.19	$0
SEB	Smart Employee Benefits Inc.	160,953,149.00	$0.24	-$0.01
SEV	Spectra7 Microsystems Inc.	166,749,137.00	$0.18	$0.01
SFD	NXT Energy Solutions Inc.	62,818,842.00	$1.23	$0.03
SGW	Shoal Games Ltd.	65,048,592.00	$0.67	$0
SHOP	Shopify Inc.	92,061,756.00	$160.32	$3.32
SIM	Siyata Mobile Inc.	93,749,535.00	$0.47	$0.04
SPN	Snipp Interactive Inc.	177,736,675.00	$0.15	$0.03
STC	Sangoma Technologies Corporation	33,870,814.00	$1.19	$0.07
SUM	Solium Capital Inc.	55,910,662.00	$11.17	-$0.01
SW	Sierra Wireless Inc.	35,861,510.00	$21.25	$0.30
SY	Symbility Solutions Inc.	239,973,840.00	$0.41	$0.01
SYN	Syncordia Technologies and Healthcare Solutions, Corp.	19,681,135.00	$0.05	-$0.01
SYZ	Sylogist Ltd.	22,316,094.00	$10.70	$0.10
TC	Tucows Inc.	10,583,879.00	$72.22	$0.16
TCS	TECSYS Inc.	13,082,376.00	$15.75	-$0.25
THP	Totally Hip Technologies Inc.	100,277,878.00	$0.21	$0
TKX	Trackx Holdings Inc.	73,199,841.00	$0.28	-$0.01
TLK	Frankly Inc.	2,226,861.00	$1.93	$0
TRAK	Trakopolis IoT Corp.	23,777,648.00	$0.64	$0.04
TSGI	The Stars Group Inc.	148,157,700.00	$35.56	$1.48
TTD	Tinkerine Studios Ltd.	49,238,349.00	$0.04	$0
TTM	3TL Technologies Corp.	27,381,316.00	$0.11	-$0.01
TTZ	Total Telcom Inc.	24,965,013.00	$0.21	$0
UI	Urbanimmersive Inc.	64,056,221.00	$0.09	$0.01
UR	UrtheCast Corp.	121,265,933.00	$0.31	-$0.01
VCM	Vecima Networks Inc.	22,474,515.00	$9.61	$0.06
VENZ	Venzee Technologies Inc.	51,300,746.00	$0.47	$0.02
VHI	Vitalhub Corp.	83,022,962.00	$0.17	$0.01
VIS	Visionstate Corp.	116,243,625.00	$0.05	$0
VPY	VersaPay Corporation	37,922,475.00	$2.08	-$0.02
VQS	VIQ Solutions Inc.	161,260,780.00	$0.26	$0
VTI	Valdor Technology International Inc.	114,242,220.00	$0.02	-$0.01
XCT	exactEarth Ltd.	21,614,120.00	$1.03	$0
XX	Avante Logixx Inc.	81,737,052.00	$0.35	$0
YD	YDreams Global Interactive Technologies Inc.	64,954,976.00	$0.18	$0.01
YFI	Edgewater Wireless Systems Inc.	146,692,191.00	$0.29	-$0.01
YNV	Ynvisible Interactive Inc.	52,216,200.00	$0.43	$0
YOO	Yangaroo Inc.	61,288,140.00	$0.29	$0.01
YTY	Wi2Wi Corporation	145,527,418.00	$0.16	$0
ZMD	ZoomMed Inc.	135,591,268.00	$0.02	-$0.01

Everybody making good money in the micro-caps these days and that is great, but don't be so naive to think it will go on and on as some are suggesting. Bear markets happen and when they do micro-caps get crushed with many going out of business.

Anyone who refers to speculative penny stocks as 'Quality' will not be happy until they sell the last of their shares to your Grandma.

Developing Trading Skills in micro-cap bull markets will pay dividends during flat and bear micro-cap markets.

People who adopt a trading style can make money in any market. What will you do when the markets roll over and your 'Quality Micro-Cap' stock drops 50%?

I hope people understand that when the markets rollover, no matter how good you think your stock is odds are it will tank as well!

An EXIT PLAN is not something that guides when to start booking profits when then trend is going up, but instead guides you when to start booking profits when the trend turns down. Most investors can't grasp this important difference and often end up giving back all their gains.

If you are finding it is harder to making money in the markets trading these days then you are not alone and is perhaps is a sign you should be trading with smaller positions and expecting less upside. That is what I am doing!

When I get in a rut and it seems like every trade goes against me I will take half the money off the table, trade half the size position and try for half the gains. I rinse and repeat until I start making money again then I reverse until I am back up to my original position