China Base Metal Output Data in April 2017, SMM Exclusive Data

Aya Gold & Silver has entered into an agreement to acquire a 139 km² portfolio of copper-silver exploration permits in Morocco, including a 19 km² mining licence, approximately 35 km west of its Zgounder Silver Mine. The company said the acquisition would expand its land position in the Zgounder district and provide exposure to a large, underexplored copper-silver system with multiple styles of mineralisation. The portfolio includes historical trenching that returned 15 metres grading 0.65% copper and 33 g/t silver, while historical surface grab samples returned up to 4.6% copper and 837 g/t silver. Aya’s own surface sampling returned up to 4.0% copper and 500 g/t silver, while the company said a principal copper-silver horizon has been confirmed over more than 2 km. Aya cautioned that the historical results have not been sufficiently verified as current and that surface grab samples are selective and not representative of true widths or overall mineralisation grades. Aya will acquire all issued and outstanding shares of the seller through its wholly owned subsidiary for total consideration of C$4 million, payable in Aya common shares. Completion remains subject to customary conditions, including confirmatory due diligence and Moroccan, Canadian and Toronto Stock Exchange approvals. Over the following 12–18 months, Aya plans to undertake stream-sediment geochemistry, hyperspectral studies, airborne geophysics, mapping and prospecting to assess the portfolio’s exploration potential. The transaction would give Aya a larger exploration footprint around its existing Moroccan operations and could establish a new copper-silver exploration platform near Zgounder. However, the portfolio remains early-stage, and the historical copper and silver results require further verification before their significance can be assessed. The near-term significance therefore lies primarily in portfolio expansion and exploration potential rather than additional copper supply.

[SMM Analysis: Operating Rates of Copper Wire and Cable Producers Slightly Rose in August; Demand Recovery Still Needs Observation] According to SMM, the operating rate of the copper wire and cable industry was 70.45% in August, up 0.63 percentage points MoM and down 1.97 percentage points YoY. The operating rate of large enterprises was 75.62%, medium-sized enterprises 47.63%, and small enterprises 51.21%......