Release – electroCore Inc. (ECOR) – Announces Exclusive Distribution Agreement with East Agency For Qatar


electroCore, Inc. Announces Exclusive Distribution Agreement with East Agency For Qatar

 

ROCKAWAY, NJ
April 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  electroCore, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECOR), a commercial-stage bioelectronic medicine company, today announced it has entered into an agreement with East Agency to serve as the exclusive distributor of the gammaCore Sapphire™ non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator (nVNS) to patients suffering from primary headache disorders in 
Qatar.

“East Agency is a dedicated healthcare company focusing on high-end technologies and innovations targeting the Qatari market, and the addition of such an innovative technology in electroCore’s nVNS therapy is a matter of pride for us” said Mohammed Abdul Moqeeth, Head of the 
Medical Division of East Agency. “nVNS therapy can save patients from traumatic situations with no present solutions and it is always exciting to offer solutions rather than just products. 
East Agency is determined to honor its commitment to establish gammaCore in the region.”

“We are excited to be working with 
East Agency as we bring our nVNS therapy to the 
Middle East region initially in the State of Qatar” said Iain Strickland, electroCore’s Vice President of European Operations. “East Agency is experienced in introducing innovative medical technologies within 
Qatar and we look forward to supporting them in introducing our nVNS therapy, gammaCore Sapphire, in the region.”

The initial term of the agreement is three years, and it contains customary terms and conditions, including minimum purchase commitments.

        
About East Agency

East Agency was founded in 1997 as a sister concern of 
AlAli Holdings. The company is privately owned and has diversified business activities marking its presence in almost every sector of the medical industry.

East Agency has been providing quality healthcare services to 
Qatar in government, Public and Private sectors dealing in Dental, Medical Devices, Hospital consumables, Pharma, Derma, Lab Chemicals and Diagnostic Equipment & Reagents.

For more information, visit http://medical.eastagency.com/about-us.html

About electroCore, Inc.

electroCore, Inc. is a commercial stage bioelectronic medicine company dedicated to improving patient outcomes through its platform non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation therapy initially focused on the treatment of multiple conditions in neurology. The company’s current indications are for the preventative treatment of cluster headache and migraine and acute treatment of migraine and episodic cluster headache.

For more information, visit www.electrocore.com.

About gammaCoreTM

gammaCoreTM (nVNS) is the first non-invasive, hand-held medical therapy applied at the neck as an adjunctive therapy to treat migraine and cluster headache through the utilization of a mild electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve that passes through the skin. Designed as a portable, easy-to-use technology, gammaCore can be self-administered by patients, as needed, without the potential side effects associated with commonly prescribed drugs. When placed on a patient’s neck over the vagus nerve, gammaCore stimulates the nerve’s afferent fibers, which may lead to a reduction of pain in patients.

gammaCore is FDA cleared in the United States for adjunctive use for the preventive treatment of cluster headache in adult patients, the acute treatment of pain associated with episodic cluster headache in adult patients, and the acute and preventive treatment of migraine in adolescent (ages 12 and older) and adult patients. gammaCore is CE-marked in the European Union for the acute and/or prophylactic treatment of primary headache (Migraine, Cluster Headache, Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias and Hemicrania Continua) and Medication Overuse Headache in adults.

  • gammaCore is contraindicated for patients with:
    • An active implantable medical device, such as a pacemaker, hearing aid implant, or any implanted electronic device
    • A metallic device, such as a stent, bone plate, or bone screw, implanted at or near the neck
    • An open wound, rash, infection, swelling, cut, sore, drug patch, or surgical scar(s) on the neck at the treatment location
  • Safety and efficacy of gammaCore have not been evaluated in the following patients:
    • Patients diagnosed with narrowing of the arteries (carotid atherosclerosis)
    • Patients who have had surgery to cut the vagus nerve in the neck (cervical vagotomy)
    • Pediatric
    • Patients (younger than 12 years)
    • Pregnant women
    • Patients with clinically significant hypertension, hypotension, bradycardia, or tachycardia

Please refer to the gammaCore Instructions for Use for all of the important warnings and precautions before using or prescribing this product.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and other written and oral statements made by representatives of electroCore may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about electroCore’s business prospects and clinical and product development plans; its pipeline or potential markets for its technologies; the timing, outcome and impact of regulatory, clinical and commercial developments; the Company’s business prospects in 
Qatar and other new markets and other statements that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as “anticipates,” “will,” “expects,” “believes,” “intends,” other words of similar meaning, derivations of such words and the use of future dates. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the ability to raise the additional funding needed to continue to pursue electroCore’s business and product development plans, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies, the ability to commercialize gammaCore™, the potential impact and effects of COVID-19 on the business of electroCore, electroCore’s results of operations and financial performance, and any measures electroCore has and may take in response to COVID-19 and any expectations electroCore may have with respect thereto, competition in the industry in which electroCore operates and overall market conditions. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and electroCore assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factor disclosure set forth in the reports and other documents electroCore files with the 
SEC available at www.sec.gov.


Investors:
Rich CockrellCG Capital
404-736-3838
ecor@cg.capital

or

Media Contact:
Summer Diaz
electroCore
816-401-6333
summer.diaz@electrocore.com

Release – Lineage Cell Therapeutics (LCTX) – Announces Worldwide License Agreement With Immunomic Therapeutics

 


Lineage Announces Worldwide License Agreement With Immunomic Therapeutics For An Allogeneic Cell-Based Cancer Immunotherapy Based On Its Vac Platform

 

  • Lineage to Receive $2 Million Upfront and up to $67 Million in Development and Commercial Milestones Plus Royalties
  • Partnership Leverages the VAC Allogeneic Cancer Immunotherapy Vaccine Platform and Immunomic’s Proprietary Tumor Associated Antigen to Generate a Novel Oncology Product Candidate
  • Immunomic Will be Responsible for Future Clinical Development and Commercialization Costs

CARLSBAD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apr. 20, 2021– 

Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc.
 (NYSE American and TASE: LCTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel cell transplants for serious medical conditions, today announced a worldwide license and development collaboration agreement with 

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc.
, (“ITI”), a privately-held clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the study of nucleic acid immunotherapy platforms. The collaboration will generate a novel product candidate derived from Lineage’s VAC allogeneic cancer immunotherapy platform and targeting a proprietary Tumor Associated Antigen (TAA) construct provided by ITI, for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Lineage and ITI will collaborate in the manufacturing and clinical development of a novel VAC product candidate. Following the full development and delivery of Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) VAC product material, ITI will assume full and independent clinical and commercial responsibility and further advancement of the program. Under the terms of the agreement, Lineage will be entitled to upfront payments totaling 
$2 million anticipated in the first year and up to 
$67 million in development and commercial milestones across multiple indications and territories. Lineage also will be eligible to receive royalties up to 10% on net sales of future products.

“The VAC platform provides us with the opportunity to generate a broad pipeline of product candidates, each targeting a different type of cancer,” stated  Brian Culley, Lineage CEO. “This collaboration represents the first of many partnerships we hope to enter into with our platform and we believe it helps further validate VAC as a promising new therapeutic vaccine platform. Our objective is to leverage our technology to generate additional VAC-derived cell therapies for our pipeline, as well as in collaboration with partners, capitalizing on the strength of Lineage’s recent manufacturing and cell transplant success. These alliances also will diversify our oncology pipeline across more programs, providing new opportunities for success without the financial burden of independent development. We appreciate ITI selecting our antigen delivery platform for this collaboration and look forward to a productive partnership on this new VAC-derived product candidate. We also are eager to collaborate with additional partners on future versions of VAC.”

“We’re very pleased to collaborate with Lineage, a well-recognized cell therapy company, to expand our pipeline with the development of a novel product candidate to treat GBM,” commented Dr.  William Hearl, CEO of ITI. “Over the last several years, ITI has invested significant capital and development resources to identifying multiple novel paths forward in GBM. By teaming up with Lineage, we are hoping to expand our efforts in this difficult to treat indication and look forward to the benefit that the VAC immunotherapy platform can bring to our antigen constructs.”

About Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) (also called glioblastoma) is a fast-growing glioma that develops from star-shaped glial cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes) that support the health of the nerve cells within the brain. GBM is often referred to as a grade IV astrocytoma. These are the most invasive type of glial tumors, rapidly growing and commonly spreading into nearby brain tissue. GBMs can arise in the brain “de novo” or evolve from lower-grade astrocytomas or oligodendrogliomas. In adults, GBM occurs most often in the cerebral hemispheres, especially in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. GBM is a devastating brain cancer that typically results in death in the first 15 months after diagnosis, with only 25% of glioblastoma patients surviving more than one year, and only 5% of patients surviving more than five years.

About VAC2

VAC2 is an allogeneic, or non-patient specific “off-the-shelf,” cancer vaccine product candidate designed to stimulate patient immune responses to an antigen commonly expressed in cancerous cells but not in normal adult cells. VAC2, which is produced from a pluripotent cell technology using a directed differentiation method, is comprised of a population of nonproliferating mature dendritic cells. As the most potent type of antigen presenting cell in the body, dendritic cells instruct the body’s immune system to attack and eliminate harmful pathogens and unwanted cells. Because the tumor antigen is loaded exogenously into the dendritic cells prior to administration, VAC2 is a platform technology that can be modified to carry selected antigens, including patient-specific tumor neo-antigens or viral antigens. VAC2 is currently being tested in a Phase 1 study in adult patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the advanced and adjuvant settings (NCT03371485), conducted by 
Cancer Research UK.

About Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc.

Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI) is a privately-held, clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of vaccines through its investigational proprietary technology platform, UNiversal Intracellular Targeted Expression (UNITE), which is designed to utilize the body’s natural biochemistry to develop vaccines that have the potential to generate broad immune responses. The UNITE platform has a robust history of applications in various therapeutic areas, including infectious diseases, oncology, allergy and autoimmune diseases. ITI is primarily focused on applying the UNITE platform to oncology, where it could potentially have broad applications, including targeting viral antigens, cancer antigens, neoantigens and producing antigen-derived antibodies as biologics. In 2020, an investment of over 
$77M by 
HLB Co., LTD, a global pharmaceutical company, enabled ITI to accelerate application of its immuno-oncology platform, in particular to glioblastoma multiforme, and rapidly advance other key candidates in the pipeline, including the most recent initiative into infectious diseases with development of its vaccine candidate for COVID-19. The Company has built a large pipeline from UNITE with eight oncology programs, multiple animal health programs and a SARS-CoV-2 program to prevent and treat COVID-19. ITI has entered into a significant allergy partnership with Astellas Pharma and has formed several academic collaborations with leading 
Immuno-oncology researchers at 
Duke University and the 
University of Florida. ITI maintains its headquarters in 
Rockville, Maryland. For more information, please visit www.immunomix.com.

About Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. 

Lineage Cell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel cell therapies for unmet medical needs. Lineage’s programs are based on its robust proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated in-house development and manufacturing capabilities. With this platform Lineage develops and manufactures specialized, terminally differentiated human cells from its pluripotent and progenitor cell starting materials. These differentiated cells are developed to either replace or support cells that are dysfunctional or absent due to degenerative disease or traumatic injury or administered as a means of helping the body mount an effective immune response to cancer. Lineage’s clinical programs are in markets with billion dollar opportunities and include three allogeneic (“off-the-shelf”) product candidates: (i) OpRegen®, a retinal pigment epithelium transplant therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the developed world; (ii) OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries; and (iii) VAC, an allogeneic dendritic cell therapy platform for immuno-oncology and infectious disease, currently in clinical development for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. For more information, please visit www.lineagecell.com or follow the Company on Twitter @LineageCell.

Forward-Looking Statements

Lineage cautions you that all statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, in some cases, can be identified by terms such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “design,” “intend,” “expect,” “could,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “should,” “would,” “contemplate,” project,” “target,” “tend to,” or the negative version of these words and similar expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to compensation to Lineage under its license agreement with ITI, the potential of the VAC platform and product candidates derived from the platform, Lineage’s plans to advance the VAC platform and expand its application, including through partnerships. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Lineage’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release, including risks and uncertainties inherent in Lineage’s business and other risks in Lineage’s filings with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Lineage’s forward-looking statements are based upon its current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included under the heading “Risk Factors” in Lineage’s periodic reports with the 
SEC, including Lineage’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the 
SEC and its other reports, which are available from the SEC’s website. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Lineage undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. IR
Ioana C. Hone
(ir@lineagecell.com)
(442) 287-8963

Solebury Trout IR
Gitanjali Jain Ogawa
(Gogawa@soleburytrout.com)
(646) 378-2949

Russo Partners – Media Relations
Nic Johnson or  David Schull
Nic.johnson@russopartnersllc.com
David.schull@russopartnersllc.com
(212) 845-4242

Source: 
Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc.

Release – Bunker Hill Mining (BHLL)(BNKR:CA) – Announces Robust Restart PEA


Bunker Hill Announces Robust Restart PEA: $101m Npv, 46% Irr, 2.5 Year Payback, $42m Initial Capex, $20m Average Annual Fcf Over 10 Years

 

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Attractive returns: $101 million NPV, 46% IRR, and 2.5 year payback at $1.15/lb Zn, $0.90/lb Pb, $20.00/oz Ag
  • Low-cost, rapid restart based on $42 million initial capital expenditures over a 15-month period
  • Robust annual average free cash flow of $20 million and EBITDA of $30 million over a 10-year mine life
  • Competitive cost position with all-in sustaining costs of $0.65 per payable pound of zinc, net of by-products
  • Low environmental footprint with minimal surface disturbance and long-term water management solution
  • Significant positive economic impact for the Shoshone County, Idaho community
  • Life of mine zinc equivalent production of 912 million pounds at a zinc equivalent grade of 9.3%, including over 550 million pounds of zinc, 290 million pounds of lead, and 7 million ounces of silver
  • Key upsides include ongoing exploration focused on high-grade silver and resource expansion
  • Executive Chairman Richard Williams, CEO Sam Ash, and CFO David Wiens to host live interactive 6ix virtual investor event on Wednesday, April 21 st at 11:00AM ET / 8:00AM PT to discuss the PEA results and next steps. Investors are invited to register for this event at: LINK

TORONTO, April 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bunker Hill Mining Corp. (CSE: BNKR) (“Bunker Hill” or the “Company) is pleased to report the results of its Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) for the Bunker Hill Mine in Idaho’s Silver Valley, USA.

The PEA contemplates a $42 million initial capital cost (including 20% contingency) to rapidly restart the mine, generating approximately $20 million of annual average free cash flow over a 10-year mine life, and producing over 550 million pounds of zinc, 290 million pounds of lead, and 7 million ounces of silver at all-in sustaining costs (“AISC”) of $0.65 per payable pound of zinc (net of by-products).

Sam Ash, CEO of Bunker Hill, stated: “Our PEA confirms that by maximizing the use of existing resources, partnerships and infrastructure, the Bunker Hill Mine has the potential to be re-started rapidly as a low-cost, long life, sustainable operation. Pleasingly for our investors, the robust financial returns in the PEA, including a $101 million NPV, 46% IRR, and 2.5 year payback, do not include the significant upside to come from the on-going high-grade silver exploration which we expect to further increase cash flow margins. Based an annual average free cash flow of $20 million at metal prices below spot levels, we can self-fund these exploration efforts while continuing to grow the company. We look forward to progressing further technical studies and project finance discussions over the coming months.”

The early and robust cash-flow generated by this restart plan is designed to deliver optimal returns to all stakeholders, creating 150-200 new mining and administrative jobs within the local community, ensuring long-term environmental-management partnerships with the U.S. EPA and IDEQ, and driving the long-term development of the mine’s resources for many years to come.

The PEA was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”). MineTech USA, LLC (“MineTech”) developed the mine infrastructure, capital expenditures and operating expenditures related portions of the PEA as well as portions of the mine plan and operating schedules in coordination with Resource Development Associates Inc. (“RDA”) and Pro Solv Consulting, LLC. The Company plans to file the completed PEA technical report on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release and make it available on the Company’s website. All “t” references in this press release are to short tons and “$” references are in U.S. dollars.

Table 1 summarizes the key findings of the PEA.

Table 1: PEA Summary

  YEARS

1 – 5
  YEARS

6 – 10
  LIFE OF

MINE
 
       
Metal prices      
Zinc ($/lb) 1.15   1.15   1.15  
Lead ($/lb) 0.90   0.90   0.90  
Silver ($/oz) 20.00   20.00   20.00  
       
Mine plan      
Total mineralized material mined (kt) 2,708   2,651   5,460  
Average annual mineralized material mined (kt) 542   530   536  
Average zinc grade (%) 6.5 % 4.5 % 5.5 %
Average lead grade (%) 2.2 % 3.7 % 2.9 %
Average silver grade (oz/t) 1.0   2.1   1.5  
Average zinc equivalent grade (%) (1) 9.3 % 9.4 % 9.3 %
       
Total Production over LOM (2)      
Zinc produced (klbs) 326,273   218,138   555,977  
Lead produced (klbs) 109,701   176,130   290,157  
Silver produced (koz) 2,439   4,849   7,401  
Zinc equivalent produced (klbs) (1) 454,538   440,315   911,773  
       
Average Annual Production (2)      
Zinc produced (klbs) 65,255   43,628   54,441  
Lead produced (klbs) 21,940   35,226   28,583  
Silver produced (koz) 488   970   729  
Zinc equivalent produced (klbs) (1) 90,908   88,063   89,485  
       
Average Unit Costs over LOM      
Opex – total ($/t) 83   74   78  
Sustaining capex ($/t) 12   16   14  
Cash costs ($/lb Zn payable) (3) 0.67   0.10   0.49  
AISC: ($/lb Zn payable) (3) 0.78   0.33   0.65  
       
Total Cash Flow over LOM ($’000)      
EBITDA (3) 135,071   162,947   298,018  
Pre-tax free cash flow (3), ) 101,435   131,544   232,978  
Free cash flow (3), ) 86,107   110,391   196,498  
       
Average Annual Cash Flow ($’000)      
EBITDA (3) 27,014   32,589   29,802  
Pre-tax free cash flow (3) 20,287   26,309   23,298  
Free cash flow (3) 17,221   22,078   19,650  
       
Financial Returns      
After-tax NPV (5%) 100,737      
After-tax NPV (8%) 78,355      
After-tax IRR (%) 46.2 %    
Payback (years) 2.5      


 

(1)   Zinc equivalency calculated using metal prices shown above and based on recovery rates of 91% for Pb and 89% for Ag and 92% for Zn.
(2)   Includes zinc produced in zinc concentrate, lead and silver produced in lead concentrate.
(3)   Cash costs and AISC per payable pound of zinc sold, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), pre-tax free cash flow and free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see “Cautionary Note Regarding Non-GAAP Measures”.
(4)   Life of mine (“LOM”) includes initial capital expenditures.

The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the project described in the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Sustainability Impacts

The mine’s development and operations will generate between 150-200 new jobs in Shoshone County that will pay twice the county’s median household income, on average. This has the potential to reduce unemployment in the county by more than ten percent. Procurement by the mine is projected to inject an additional $15 million into the local economy annually.

The mine will achieve carbon neutrality in year one of operations while depositing all waste and tailings underground to maintain a minimal environmental footprint. The production of low porosity paste from tailings will be an integral part of long-term water management. By sealing sulfide and pyrite-rich mineralization with paste, production of acid rock drainage will be reduced substantially and permanently. This will reduce the challenge and cost of water management from year one onward.

Mineral Resource Inventory

The Bunker Hill Mine is located in the historic Coeur d’Alene Mining District in Kellogg, Idaho at the base of Silver Mountain. It was operated from 1885 until 1981 when it was closed due to low metal prices, an extended labor strike, and capital short-falls required to meet new environmental standards. Although attempts were made to modernize and operate the mine until 1991, the mill and smelter facilities were removed and reclaimed along with the tailings impoundment. The underground workings, surface portal and shaft access points remain intact along with the mine office and maintenance complex. Given the historic reserves and existing infrastructure, Bunker Hill management has assessed the mine’s rapid restart potential, which is the subject of today’s published PEA.

The PEA is based on the Bunker Hill Mineral Resource, which was published on March 22, 2021, following the drilling program conducted in 2020 and early 2021 to validate the historical reserves. The PEA includes a mining inventory of 5.5Mt, which represents a portion of the 4.4Mt Indicated mineral resource and 5.6Mt Inferred mineral resource. Given the 10-year mine life, the mine plan has been based on prioritizing higher grade material. The mine production schedule is based on a 5.0% zinc operating cut-off grade and the 3.3% zinc cut-off grade which includes Indicated and Inferred mineral resources.

Table 2: Mineral Resources

Zinc Resources K Tons Pb% Ag opt Zn%
Indicated 4,410 2.00 0.69 5.52
Inferred 4,569 1.67 0.83 5.66
         
Lead-Silver Resources K Tons Pb% Ag opt Zn%
Indicated
Inferred 1,050 7.56 4.28 1.50
         
Total Resources K Tons Pb% Ag opt Zn%
Indicated 4,410 2.00 0.69 5.52
Inferred 5,618 2.77 1.48 4.88

Notes: Mineral resources are reported at a zinc cutoff grade of 3.3%. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resource will be converted into mineral reserves. Mineral resources are reported in situ and undiluted. Mineral resources meet the reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction due to the fact that the entire vertical extents of the mineralization have been developed on mining levels every two-hundred feet. Newgard and Quill were being actively exploited and developed prior to the shutdown of mining operations in 1991. High grade capping was applied to the assays prior to grade estimation. Grades are estimated using Inverse Distance Cubed (ID3) interpolation techniques. Grades were estimated into a regularized 5 ft x 5 ft x 5 ft block model. A bulk density of 11.3 cubic feet per ton was applied to the entire mineral resource based upon historic density values from production records at the Bunker Hill Mine. Two-hundred sixty-one (261) drillholes, totaling 29,380-feet, containing 5,720 Pb, Zn and Ag assays were used in the determination of mineralization. Drill hole data was collected on 5-foot composite intervals which resulted in 4,483 composite assays. Additionally, 4,545 actual production car samples and 394 recent channel sample verification samples were used for the resource estimate. Historic mining voids, stopes and development drifting have been accounted for in the mineral resource estimate. For additional information regarding the mineral resources estimate, please refer to the Company’s news release dated March 22, 2021.

 

 

Infrastructure Overview and Initial Capital Costs

The vast underground workings, surface portals, mine office, maintenance complex, and 9-level shaft access points for the Bunker Hill Mine remain intact. The Kellogg Tunnel (“KT”) portal adjacent to the surface infrastructure connects horizontally by rail to the underground hoisting facilities on 9-level, approximately 9,500 feet to the south. Water seepage above the 9-level drains naturally out of the KT, and laterals below the 9-level must be dewatered prior to production commencement. All water is collected at the portal and sent for treatment. The underground workings are extensive, and only the infrastructure germane to the opening of the mine is being described in the PEA. Several shafts and raises connect to the 9-level and its underground infrastructure is central to the mine and home to the #1 and #2 hoistrooms, material bins, substations and shops. Shafts at the mine are inclined rail; the #1 being the production shaft and #2 materials and personnel.

The mine is currently accessed by the KT and 5-level portals located just above the Town of Wardner.

The utilization of this pre-existing infrastructure allows for a restart of the mine with an initial capital investment of approximately $42 million, net of pre-commercial production revenue, as detailed in the Table below.   Each of the initial capital items listed (excluding pre-production revenue) include a 20% contingency.

Table 3: Initial Capital

(in $‘000) Initial Capital  
Process plant 25,440  
Shaft and tunnel rehabilitation 7,380  
Development 6,446  
Other 4,931  
Pre-production revenue (net) (2,162 )
Total 42,034  

Mill capacity and power consumption are based on 1,500 tons per day at 90% availability, a Bond Work Index of 14.5 kW-hrs/t and a 150-mesh grind, which is supported by the preliminary metallurgical work. Capital costs include equipment and installation labor. Metallurgical work is ongoing at Resource Development, Inc. (“RDI”) and the Company is evaluating multiple sourcing alternatives for processing and equipment.

Other life of mine capital improvements include the following, as set forth in the PEA:

  • Connect the 5-level and 9-level with an access ramp
  • Remove and replace Shaft#1 hoist and hoist works
  • Recondition Shaft #2 hoist and hoist works
  • Recondition Shafts #1 and #2; replace the existing rail with a modular track system and associated conveyances
  • Install new mine wide power distribution
  • Install fiber optic and Sentinel communications from the surface to the main underground facilities
  • Install a backfill paste plant on the 5-level; allows efficient access to cement, fly ash and reagents
  • Install a primarily gravity backfill distribution system to active and historical mining areas
  • Recondition the KT and remove existing rail to convert to rubber tire access
  • Introduce rubber tire development to the stopes as required
  • Vertical development for muck passes, escapeways and ventilation
  • Excavations for milling, flotation and backfilling equipment
  • Fan and air control installations
  • Tailings water treatment plant

Mining

The Newgard/Quill resource was designed and scheduled utilizing a traditional overhead cut and fill mining method. The cut and fill stopes are accessed via an incline ramp developed between levels. The ramp provides ventilation, utilities, and secondary escapeway, as well as connecting the entire mine with rubber tire access. Long-hole open stoping (“LHOS”) is also employed similar to the previous mining extraction methods. The LHOS areas are accessed through existing excavations rehabilitated to modern mining standards. Backfill requirements are provided via an underground paste plant and distribution system.

Production commences six months following the start of construction, targeting 200 tons/day (“tpd”) ramping up to 1,500 tpd over a 14-month period. The slow ramp up allows for infrastructure components to be completed and commissioned and to ensure the mine is adequately developed to maintain consistent production. Initially, production will be targeted above the 9-level as the hoists and first 200-foot section of shaft rehabilitation are completed. The mine plan is developed to allow sequential water draw down and shaft rehabilitation between levels as new production horizons are required. This sequencing is continued to the 26-level.

As the mine matures and progresses deeper, the resource transitions from primarily zinc to primarily lead mineralization in Year 9. In Year 8, the mine plan also transitions away from cut and fill production to LHOS for the remainder of the mine life.

Exploration potential is significant throughout the mine. Due to the substantial existing workings, Bunker Hill has the opportunity to delineate specific mineralized zones (zinc or lead) that maximizes cash flow potential depending on commodity pricing.

The mining schedule is presented in the Table below.

Table 4: Mine Schedule

Year Pre-

Prod
 
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10   LOM

Total
                           
Mineralized material mined (kt) 101   485   559   556   556   553   555   548   548   548   453     5,460  
                           
Zinc grade (%) 6.2 % 7.0 % 6.2 % 6.9 % 6.3 % 6.4 % 5.8 % 4.6 % 4.2 % 3.5 % 4.3 %   5.5 %
Lead grade (%) 2.4 % 2.7 % 2.3 % 2.0 % 2.1 % 2.2 % 2.3 % 1.8 % 3.8 % 4.2 % 6.7 %   2.9 %
Silver grade (oz/t) 1.3   0.9   0.7   1.1   1.3   1.2   1.1   1.1   2.2   2.8   3.2     1.5  
                           
Zinc eq grade (%) (1) 9.3 % 9.9 % 8.7 % 9.5 % 9.3 % 9.2 % 8.6 % 7.1 % 9.4 % 9.6 % 12.8 %   9.3 %


 

(1)   Zinc equivalency calculated using metal prices shown above and based on recovery rates of 91% for Pb and 89% for Ag and 92% for Zn.
(2)   Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Processing
 

The PEA envisages a crushing and milling plant to be centrally located on the 9-level. Milled material will then be pumped in slurry to the flotation and paste plant on the 5-level. The flotation plant will generate concentrates which will be transported to surface for shipment. The paste plant will generate paste for geotechnical fill and tailings disposal in open drifts and stopes in the mine. This approach optimizes material transport costs while eliminating the need for surface tailings disposal.

The local utility substation is located next to the mine main offices and supplies power to the mine and other local consumers. The existing power feeds to the mine are scheduled to be replaced prior to full production and the substation will require upgrades by Year 3 to allow for the additional dewatering loads as the mine advances to depth.

A traditional mill grinding circuit followed by zinc and lead flotation circuits is envisioned in the PEA. Payable silver follows the lead and reports to the lead concentrate.

Metallurgical test work with the recent drilling samples is being conducted at RDI. Preliminary results indicate that a conventional polymetallic process flowsheet will be able to produce the marketable grade concentrates. Historical metallurgical results have been used for concentrate recoveries and grade. The results were averaged for the last five years of operation. The lead concentrate, assaying an average 67% Pb and 34 oz/t Ag, is estimated to recover 91% Pb and 89% Ag. The zinc concentrate, assaying 58% Zn, will recover 92% Zn.

The production schedule is presented in the Table below.

Table 5: Production Schedule

Year Pre-

Prod
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10   LOM

Total
                           
Zinc concentrate (t) 9,971 53,677 55,214 60,510 55,891 55,978 50,683 39,850 36,297 30,167 31,054   479,290
Lead concentrate (t) 3,229 17,578 17,119 15,049 15,725 16,395 17,079 13,519 28,332 31,133 41,377   216,535
                           
Zinc produced (Zn concentrate) (klbs) 11,566 62,265 64,048 70,191 64,833 64,935 58,792 46,226 42,104 34,993 36,022   555,977
Lead produced (Pb concentrate) (klbs) 4,327 23,554 22,940 20,165 21,071 21,970 22,886 18,115 37,965 41,719 55,445   290,157
Silver produced (Pb concentrate) (koz) 113 379 334 522 636 568 526 549 1,080 1,384 1,311   7,401
                           
Zinc equivalent production (klbs) (1) 16,921 87,290 87,808 95,049 92,378 92,013 85,843 69,946 90,595 91,710 102,221   911,773


 

(1)   Zinc equivalency calculated using metal prices shown above and based on recovery rates of 91% for Pb and 89% for Ag and 92% for Zn.

Operating Costs
 

Cash costs and AISC per payable pound of zinc sold are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see “Cautionary Note Regarding Non-GAAP Measures”.

Mine operating costs are based on experienced local contract labor and equipment for mining operations. A zero-based efficiency and cost estimate was completed based on current underground contractors’ rates and guidance benchmarked against other like operations. Electrical power costs are based on scheduled projected loads applying an estimated power factor correction and applicable Avista Utilities rates for all projected mine, milling and site operations. Mining costs are based on cut and fill techniques in the Newgard, Quill and UTZ mineral zones, and LHOS in the remaining deposits.

Mill operating costs are within guidance resulting from bench marking similar mill operations in north Idaho. Mine site general and administrative (G&A) costs are determined based on anticipated staffing levels and similar compensation compatible with area salaries.

Annual and LOM cost metrics are presented in the Table below.

Table 6: Operating Costs

Year Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10   LOM

Total
                         
Mining ($/t) 70 64 62 61 57 61 52 51 50   51     58
Processing ($/t) 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15   15     15
G&A ($/t) 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6   7     6
Opex – total ($/t) 91 84 83 82 78 81 72 72 71   73     78
                         
Sustaining capex ($/t) 14 8 10 9 18 19 15 17 19   9     14
                         
Cash costs ($/lb Zn payable) 0.68 0.75 0.67 0.64 0.61 0.69 0.73 0.14 (0.18 ) (0.60 )   0.49
AISC ($/lb Zn payable) 0.81 0.83 0.76 0.73 0.79 0.90 0.93 0.40 0.17   (0.47 )   0.65

Cash Flow & Valuation

EBITDA, pre-tax cash flow and cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see “Cautionary Note Regarding Non-GAAP Measures”.

The project is expected to generate pre-tax free cash flow of $191 million over its 10-year mine life and $154 million on an after-tax basis. The Company expects to reinvest a portion of its pre-tax cash flows on its high-grade silver program, which may reduce the tax assumptions accounted for in the project economics. Annual free cash flow increases in later years of the mine plan due to higher silver grades at deeper elevations. The Company’s goal is to significantly increase the free cash flow in earlier years based on its ongoing high-grade silver exploration program.

The financial summary is presented in the Table below.

Table 7: Cash Flow & Valuation

Year (1) (in $‘000) Initial

Capex
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10   LOM

Total
                           
Zinc revenue   50,286   62,607   68,612   63,374   63,474   57,469   45,186   41,157   34,206   35,212     521,583  
Lead revenue   17,065   19,614   17,241   18,016   18,784   19,567   15,489   32,460   35,669   47,406     241,311  
Silver revenue   6,014   6,344   9,916   12,076   10,799   9,986   10,426   20,516   26,293   24,917     137,286  
Gross revenue   73,365   88,564   95,769   93,467   93,057   87,022   71,100   94,133   96,168   107,534     900,181  
Smelter charges and freight   (16,360 ) (19,914 ) (21,014 ) (20,082 ) (20,205 ) (18,906 ) (15,050 ) (18,692 ) (18,147 ) (21,048 )   (189,419 )
Net smelter return   57,006   68,650   74,755   73,385   72,851   68,116   56,050   75,440   78,021   86,486     710,762  
Mining costs   (28,048 ) (35,546 ) (34,674 ) (34,057 ) (31,709 ) (33,979 ) (28,424 ) (28,011 ) (27,457 ) (22,981 )   (304,887 )
Processing costs   (5,831 ) (8,132 ) (8,100 ) (8,095 ) (8,052 ) (8,089 ) (7,985 ) (7,985 ) (7,985 ) (6,757 )   (77,011 )
G&A costs   (2,369 ) (3,172 ) (3,171 ) (3,171 ) (3,169 ) (3,171 ) (3,167 ) (3,167 ) (3,167 ) (3,121 )   (30,845 )
EBITDA   20,757   21,800   28,810   28,063   29,922   22,877   16,474   36,277   39,411   53,627     298,018  
Sustaining capex   (5,690 ) (4,480 ) (5,736 ) (5,185 ) (9,888 ) (10,631 ) (7,978 ) (9,501 ) (10,252 ) (4,161 )   (73,503 )
Initial capex (42,034 )                       (42,034 )
Land & salvage value                     8,463     8,463  
Pre-tax free cash flow (42,034 ) 15,067   17,321   23,074   22,878   20,034   12,246   8,495   26,775   29,159   57,929     190,944  
Taxes (319 ) (1,351 ) (2,366 ) (4,129 ) (3,818 ) (3,344 ) (1,283 ) (312 ) (5,896 ) (6,074 ) (7,909 )   (36,800 )
Free cash flow (42,354 ) 13,716   14,954   18,945   19,060   16,690   10,964   8,184   20,879   23,085   50,021     154,144  
                           
Annual metrics –

post initial capex (2)
                         
Gross revenue   98,675   87,973   91,042   96,740   91,548   83,042   76,858   94,642   99,010   80,651     900,181  
EBITDA   28,548   21,397   26,116   30,849   28,161   21,276   21,424   37,060   42,965   40,220     298,018  
Pre-tax free cash flow   22,649   16,017   21,324   23,357   18,087   11,308   13,065   27,371   36,352   43,447     232,978  
Free cash flow   20,707   13,210   17,273   19,658   15,258   10,269   11,358   21,431   29,819   37,516     196,498  
                           
NPV (5%) 100,737                          
NPV (8%) 78,355                          
                           
IRR (%) 46.2 %                        
Payback (years) 2.5                          


 

(1)   Initial capex period is expressed on a 15 month basis; “Year 1” is expressed on a 9 month basis; all other years expressed on a 12 month basis.
(2)   All metrics expressed on a 12 month basis, beginning after the 15 month initial capex period.

Note: all figures expressed in USD 000’s unless otherwise stated
 

Sensitivities

The tables below summarize the after-tax sensitivities of NPV and IRR, with respect to metal prices and costs.

Table 8: Sensitivities

  Metal Prices Operating & Capital Costs
 
                               
NPV (5%)

($M)
 
    Zinc Price ($/lb)
 
    Operating Costs (+/- %)
    0.95 1.05 1.15 1.25 1.35       -20% -10% 0% 10% 20%  
Lead

Price

($/lb)
 
0.70 10 43 71 98 125   Total Capital Costs

(+/- %)
-20% 183 151 120 89 58  
0.80 29 58 86 113 141   -10% 173 142 110 79 48  
0.90 45 73 101 128 156   0 163 132 101 69 38  
1.00 61 88 116 144 172   10%
 
154 122 91 60 28  
1.10 76 104 131 155 187   20%
 
144 113 81 50 19  
                             
                             
IRR (%)
 
    Zinc Price ($/lb)     Operating Costs (+/- %)
    0.95 1.05 1.15 1.25 1.35       -20% -10% 0% 10% 20%  
Lead

Price

($/lb)
 
0.70 9% 22% 35% 48% 62%   Total Capital Costs

(+/- %)
-20% 94% 79% 63% 47% 32%  
0.80 15% 28% 41% 54% 68%   -10% 82% 68% 54% 40% 25%  
0.90 21% 33% 46 % 60% 73%   0 72% 59% 46 % 33% 20%  
1.00 27% 39% 52% 65% 79%   10% 64% 52% 40% 28% 16%  
1.10 32% 44% 57% 71% 85%   20% 56% 45% 34% 23% 12%  

 

UPCOMING EVENTS
 

HC Wainwright Mining Conference

Bunker Hill presentation: April 20, 2021 at 1:30PM ET / 10:30AM PT

Join Us: REGISTER NOW

121 Mining Investment Americas

April 27-29, 2021

https://www.weare121.com/121mininginvestment-new-york/

QUALIFIED PERSON

MineTech developed the mine infrastructure, capital expenditures and operating expenditures related portions of the PEA, as well as portions of the mine plan and operating schedules in coordination with RDA and Pro Solv Consulting, LLC. Robert Todd, P.E. is a Principal of MineTech, a registered engineer in Idaho, consultant to the Company and an independent “qualified person” as defined by NI 43-101.

Mr. Scott E. Wilson, CPG, President of RDA and a consultant to the Company, is an independent “qualified person” as defined by NI 43-101 and is acting as the qualified person for the Company. He has reviewed and approved the technical information summarized in this news release.

The qualified persons have verified the information disclosed herein, including the sampling, preparation, security and analytical procedures underlying such information, and are not aware of any significant risks and uncertainties that could be expected to affect the reliability or confidence in the information discussed herein.

ABOUT BUNKER HILL MINING CORP.

Under new Idaho-based leadership, Bunker Hill Mining Corp. intends to sustainably restart and develop the Bunker Hill Mine as the first step in consolidating a portfolio of North American precious-metal assets with a focus on silver. Information about the Company is available on its website, www.bunkerhillmining.com , or under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov .

For additional information contact: ir@bunkerhillmining.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as well as within the meaning of the phrase ‘forward-looking information’ in the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Instrument 51-102 – Continuous Disclosure Obligations. Forward-looking statements are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company’s future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terminology such as “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “intend”, “estimate”, “projects”, “predict”, “potential”, “continue” or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts.

Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management’s expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. The key risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: local and global political and economic conditions; governmental and regulatory requirements and actions by governmental authorities, including changes in government policy, government ownership requirements, changes in environmental, tax and other laws or regulations and the interpretation thereof; developments with respect to the coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic, including the duration, severity and scope of the pandemic and potential impacts on mining operations; and other risk factors detailed from time to time in the Company’s reports filed on SEDAR and EDGAR.

Forward-looking information and statements in this news release include statements concerning, among other things: the potential of the Bunker Hill Mine to be re-started rapidly as a low-cost, long life, sustainable operation based on the results of the PEA; the PEA representing robust financial returns; the potential of the restart plan to create jobs, ensure long-term environmental-management partnerships, and drive the long-term development of the Bunker Hill Mine’s resources; the timing for filing the PEA technical report; the timing, amount and duration of future production; future cash costs and AISC; commodity prices; the estimated capital and operating costs; the Company’s ability to discover new mineralization; the Company’s ability to self-fund high-grade silver exploration efforts to further increase cash flow margins; the timing for the Company’s progression of further technical studies and project finance discussions; potential sustainability impacts based on the results of the PEA, including the Bunker Hill Mine’s development and operations generating new jobs in Shoshone County, with such job creation having the potential to reduce unemployment in the county, procurement by the Bunker Hill Mine injecting additional funds into the local economy annually, and the Bunker Hill Mine achieving carbon neutrality in year one of operations and maintaining a minimal environmental footprint for the LOM; the potential for a reduction in the production of acid rock drainage; the potential for a reduction in the challenge and cost of water management; LOM capital improvements; metal recoveries; the Company’s plans to reinvest a portion of its pre-tax cash flows on its high-grade silver program; the Company’s goal to significantly increase free cash flow in the earlier years of the PEA based on its ongoing high-grade silver exploration program; the estimates of free cash flow, net present value and economic returns from the Bunker Hill Mine based on the results of the PEA; opportunities to increase the economics of the Bunker Hill Mine; our plans and expectations for the Bunker Hill Mine; and the Company’s intentions regarding its objectives, goals or future plans and statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: the ability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction on labor and international travel and supply chains; failure to identify mineral resources; failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves; the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals; political risks; changes in equity markets; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the inability of the Company to budget and manage its liquidity in light of the failure to obtain additional financing, including the ability of the Company to complete the payments pursuant to the terms of the agreement to acquire the Bunker Hill Mine Complex; inflation; changes in exchange rates; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of projects; capital, operating and reclamation costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; and those risks set out in the Company’s public documents filed on SEDAR and EDGAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

This press release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates included in this press release have been disclosed in accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Canadian disclosure standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), and resource and reserve information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the term “resource” does not equate to the term “reserves”. Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a “reserve” unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. The SEC’s disclosure standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information concerning “measured mineral resources”, “indicated mineral resources” or “inferred mineral resources” or other descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not constitute “reserves” by U.S. standards in documents filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. U.S. investors should also understand that “inferred mineral resources” have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an “inferred mineral resource” will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an “inferred mineral resource” exists or is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of “contained ounces” in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute “reserves” by SEC standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. The requirements of NI 43-101 for disclosure of “reserves” are also not the same as those of the SEC, and reserves disclosed by the Company in accordance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as “reserves” under SEC standards. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with U.S. standards.

Cautionary Note Regarding Non-GAAP Measures

This news release includes certain terms or performance measures commonly used in the mining industry that are not defined under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) or U.S. GAAP, including cash costs and AISC per payable pound of zinc sold,EBITDA, pre-tax cash flow and free cash flow. Non-GAAP measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS or U.S. GAAP and, therefore, they may not be comparable to similar measures employed by other companies. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS and U.S. GAAP, certain investors use this information to evaluate its performance. The data presented is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS or U.S. GAAP.

Capstone Turbine (CPST) – Saved End-Use Customers Over $217 Million In Energy Costs And Approximately 397000 Tons Of Carbon


Capstone Turbine Announces That In Fiscal Year 2021, It Estimates It Saved End-Use Customers Over $217 Million In Energy Costs And Approximately 397,000 Tons Of Carbon

 

Special Company Announcement Is Planned in Celebration of Earth Day, April 22, 2021

VAN NUYS, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 20, 2021 / Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (NASDAQ:CPST) (“Capstone” or the “Company”), the world’s leading manufacturer of clean technology, microturbine energy systems, announced today that in Fiscal 2021, which was the 12 months ending March 31, 2021, the Company estimates it saved its end-use customers over $217 million in annual energy costs and helped them reduce carbon emissions by approximately 397,000 tons.

Over its 20-year history, Capstone has shipped over 10,000 units to 83 countries. A single Capstone-powered combined heat and power (CHP) system can provide customers with an estimated 40% in annual energy savings while simultaneously, meaningfully lowering their carbon footprint. In the last three years alone, the Company has provided customers with an estimated total savings of $698 million in annual energy costs and carbon reductions of approximately 1,115,100 tons.

Not only is Capstone committed to saving customers money and helping them achieve their carbon reduction goals through dramatically improved energy efficiency, the microturbine technology provides much needed energy resiliency. As the world faces the effects of climate change, this will be an important benefit for companies and communities moving forward.

“The need to shift to greener energy solutions has never been more evident than it is today. In fact, there is a strong argument to be made for a global green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Darren Jamison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstone Turbine. “In the true spirit of Earth Day 2021, we are proud to do our part by providing energy saving products and services that not only help customers save money, they help to save the planet.”

Mr. Jamison continued, “We have only scratched the surface of meeting the efficient energy needs of customers worldwide. In fact, we will soon be announcing Company changes on Earth Day, April 22, 2021, that reflect our continued business evolution, including development efforts that we are undertaking to become a highly trusted energy partner to our valued end-use customers.”

“I believe businesses will increasingly look at improving their operations from an environmental, social and governance (ESG) perspective so that they become more socially conscious, especially as investors and customers are beginning to screen companies for their stance on these issues before potentially investing or making product buying decisions,” added Mr. Jamison.

Kirk Petty, Capstone’s Vice President of Manufacturing, said, “At Capstone, the products and services we produce enable our end-use customers to reduce their carbon footprint via lower air emissions, all while lowering their overall operational costs. In our product design, sourcing, manufacturing and aftermarket processes, we apply the same guiding principles. We focus on reducing our own environmental footprint through waste reduction efforts, recycling and refurbishment (remanufacturing) efforts, lean manufacturing techniques, and reducing energy consumption in our key production processes. We are continually monitoring and looking at ways to innovate and improve our overall carbon footprint.”

About Capstone Turbine Corporation
Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (NASDAQ:CPST) is the world’s leading producer of highly efficient, low-emission, resilient microturbine energy systems. Capstone microturbines serve multiple vertical markets worldwide, including natural resources, energy efficiency, renewable energy, critical power supply, transportation and microgrids. Capstone offers a comprehensive product lineup via our direct sales team, as well as our global distribution network. Capstone provides scalable solutions from 30 kWs to 10 MWs that operate on a variety of fuels and are the ideal solution for today’s multi-technology distributed power generation projects.

For customers with limited capital or short-term needs, Capstone offers rental systems; for more information, contact: rentals@capstoneturbine.com. To date, Capstone has shipped over 10,000 units to 83 countries and in FY20, saved customers an estimated $219 million in annual energy costs and approximately 368,000 tons of carbon.

For more information about the Company, please visit www.capstoneturbine.com. Follow Capstone Turbine on TwitterLinkedInInstagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release and the Company’s presentation contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding expectations for green initiatives and execution on the Company’s growth strategy and other statements regarding the Company’s expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions, and strategies of the Company. The Company has tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “should,” “estimate,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “plan,” “goal” and similar terms and phrases, but such words, terms and phrases are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Actual results, performance and achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, but not limited to, the following: the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; the availability of credit and compliance with the agreements governing the Company’s indebtedness; the Company’s ability to develop new products and enhance existing products; product quality issues, including the adequacy of reserves therefor and warranty cost exposure; intense competition; financial performance of the oil and natural gas industry and other general business, industry and economic conditions; the Company’s ability to adequately protect its intellectual property rights; and the impact of pending or threatened litigation. For a detailed discussion of factors that could affect the Company’s future operating results, please see the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the disclosures under “Risk Factors” in those filings. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, changed circumstances or future events or for any other reason.

“Capstone” and “Capstone Microturbine” are registered trademarks of Capstone Turbine Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT:
Capstone Turbine Corporation
Investor and investment media inquiries:
818-407-3628
ir@capstoneturbine.com

SOURCE: Capstone Turbine Corporation

Genprex (GNPX) – Genprex to Receive Inaugural License of the Year Award from University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute


Genprex to Receive Inaugural “License of the Year” Award from University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute in Recognition of Advances Made with Gene Therapy Program in Diabetes

 

Groundbreaking, potentially curative gene therapy shown to transform alpha cells in the pancreas into functional beta-like cells is potentially applicable to both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes 

AUSTIN, Texas — (April 20, 2021) — Genprex, Inc. (“Genprex” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GNPX), a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes, announces today that the Company has been selected to receive the inaugural “License of the Year” award from the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute (UPII) in recognition of the advances made with its license from University of Pittsburgh toward progressing the development of its gene therapy for diabetes.  

In February 2020, Genprex signed an exclusive license agreement with the University of Pittsburgh for an innovative gene therapy technology developed by lead researcher, George Gittes, M.D. at the Rangos Research Center at the University of Pittsbugh Medical Center (“UPMC”) Children’s Hospital. The diabetes gene therapy candidate, GPX-002, which is being evaluated in preclinical studies, reprograms alpha cells in the pancreas into functional beta-like cells, thereby replenishing levels of insulin and providing the potential to cure the disease. The novel infusion is by means of an endoscopic procedure that delivers Pdx1 and MafA genes to the pancreas. The genes express proteins that transform alpha cells in the pancreas into functional beta-like cells, which can produce insulin but are distinct enough from beta cells to evade the body’s immune system.  

“We thank the UPII for acknowledging the breakthrough work of Dr. George Gittes and his team at the Rangos Research Center at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, whose efforts have produced this highly innovative therapeutic approach to treating diabetes that could replace the need for insulin replacement therapy and ultimately lead to a cure of this devastating illness afflicting tens of millions of people around the world,” said Rodney Varner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Genprex. “We are honored to receive this recognition, considering the great number of cutting-edge technologies coming out of this distinguished university and research center. We thank UPII for bestowing this honor on our gene therapy license with Dr. Gittes and the Rangos Research Center and applaud them for the groundbreaking gene therapy research being conducted at this esteemed institution.” 

The “Celebration of Innovation” awards ceremony will be held virtually on April 22, 2021 on the Pitt Innovation Institute YouTube channel at 4:30 p.m ET. 

GPX-002 has been tested in vivo in mice and nonhuman primates. In studies in non-obese diabetic mice, a model of Type 1 autoimmune diabetes, the gene therapy approach restored normal blood glucose levels for an extended period of time, typically around four months. According to the researchers, the duration of restored blood glucose levels in mice could potentially translate to decades in humans. If successful, this gene therapy could eliminate the need for insulin replacement therapy for diabetic patients. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, 34.2 million Americans, or approximately 10.5% of the population, have diabetes.

About Genprex, Inc.

Genprex, Inc. is a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing life-changing therapies for patients with cancer and diabetes. Genprex’s technologies are designed to administer disease-fighting genes to provide new therapies for large patient populations with cancer and diabetes who currently have limited treatment options. Genprex works with world-class institutions and collaborators to develop drug candidates to further its pipeline of gene therapies in order to provide novel treatment approaches. The Company’s lead product candidate, REQORSA™ (quaratusugene ozeplasmid), is being evaluated as a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). REQORSA has a multimodal mechanism of action that has been shown to interrupt cell signaling pathways that cause replication and proliferation of cancer cells; re-establish pathways for apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in cancer cells; and modulate the immune response against cancer cells. REQORSA has also been shown to block mechanisms that create drug resistance. In January 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Fast Track Designation for REQORSA for NSCLC in combination therapy with AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso® (osimertinib) for patients with EFGR mutations whose tumors progressed after treatment with TagrissoFor more information, please visit the Company’s web site at www.genprex.com or follow Genprex on TwitterFacebook and LinkedIn.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements 

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of management, are not guarantees of performance and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. These forward-looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various important factors, including those set forth in Genprex’s reports that it files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and which you should review, including those statements under “Item 1A – Risk Factors” in Genprex’s Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Because forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the timing and success of Genprex’s clinical trials and regulatory approvals; the effect of Genprex’s product candidates, alone and in combination with other therapies, on cancer and diabetes;  Genprex’s future growth and financial status; Genprex’s commercial and strategic partnerships including the scale up of the manufacture of its product candidates; and Genprex’s intellectual property and licenses. 

These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as predictions of future events and Genprex cannot assure you that the events or circumstances discussed or reflected in these statements will be achieved or will occur. If such forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. You should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by Genprex or any other person that Genprex will achieve its objectives and plans in any specified timeframe, or at all. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Genprex disclaims any obligation to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

Genprex, Inc.
(877) 774-GNPX (4679)

Investor Relations
GNPX Investor Relations
(877) 774-GNPX (4679) ext. #2
investors@genprex.com

Media Contact
Genprex Media Relations
(877) 774-GNPX (4679) ext. #3
media@genprex.com

electroCore Inc. (ECOR) – Announces Exclusive Distribution Agreement with East Agency For Qatar


electroCore, Inc. Announces Exclusive Distribution Agreement with East Agency For Qatar

 

ROCKAWAY, NJ
April 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  electroCore, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECOR), a commercial-stage bioelectronic medicine company, today announced it has entered into an agreement with East Agency to serve as the exclusive distributor of the gammaCore Sapphire™ non-invasive vagus nerve stimulator (nVNS) to patients suffering from primary headache disorders in 
Qatar.

“East Agency is a dedicated healthcare company focusing on high-end technologies and innovations targeting the Qatari market, and the addition of such an innovative technology in electroCore’s nVNS therapy is a matter of pride for us” said Mohammed Abdul Moqeeth, Head of the 
Medical Division of East Agency. “nVNS therapy can save patients from traumatic situations with no present solutions and it is always exciting to offer solutions rather than just products. 
East Agency is determined to honor its commitment to establish gammaCore in the region.”

“We are excited to be working with 
East Agency as we bring our nVNS therapy to the 
Middle East region initially in the State of Qatar” said Iain Strickland, electroCore’s Vice President of European Operations. “East Agency is experienced in introducing innovative medical technologies within 
Qatar and we look forward to supporting them in introducing our nVNS therapy, gammaCore Sapphire, in the region.”

The initial term of the agreement is three years, and it contains customary terms and conditions, including minimum purchase commitments.

        
About East Agency

East Agency was founded in 1997 as a sister concern of 
AlAli Holdings. The company is privately owned and has diversified business activities marking its presence in almost every sector of the medical industry.

East Agency has been providing quality healthcare services to 
Qatar in government, Public and Private sectors dealing in Dental, Medical Devices, Hospital consumables, Pharma, Derma, Lab Chemicals and Diagnostic Equipment & Reagents.

For more information, visit http://medical.eastagency.com/about-us.html

About electroCore, Inc.

electroCore, Inc. is a commercial stage bioelectronic medicine company dedicated to improving patient outcomes through its platform non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation therapy initially focused on the treatment of multiple conditions in neurology. The company’s current indications are for the preventative treatment of cluster headache and migraine and acute treatment of migraine and episodic cluster headache.

For more information, visit www.electrocore.com.

About gammaCoreTM

gammaCoreTM (nVNS) is the first non-invasive, hand-held medical therapy applied at the neck as an adjunctive therapy to treat migraine and cluster headache through the utilization of a mild electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve that passes through the skin. Designed as a portable, easy-to-use technology, gammaCore can be self-administered by patients, as needed, without the potential side effects associated with commonly prescribed drugs. When placed on a patient’s neck over the vagus nerve, gammaCore stimulates the nerve’s afferent fibers, which may lead to a reduction of pain in patients.

gammaCore is FDA cleared in the United States for adjunctive use for the preventive treatment of cluster headache in adult patients, the acute treatment of pain associated with episodic cluster headache in adult patients, and the acute and preventive treatment of migraine in adolescent (ages 12 and older) and adult patients. gammaCore is CE-marked in the European Union for the acute and/or prophylactic treatment of primary headache (Migraine, Cluster Headache, Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias and Hemicrania Continua) and Medication Overuse Headache in adults.

  • gammaCore is contraindicated for patients with:
    • An active implantable medical device, such as a pacemaker, hearing aid implant, or any implanted electronic device
    • A metallic device, such as a stent, bone plate, or bone screw, implanted at or near the neck
    • An open wound, rash, infection, swelling, cut, sore, drug patch, or surgical scar(s) on the neck at the treatment location
  • Safety and efficacy of gammaCore have not been evaluated in the following patients:
    • Patients diagnosed with narrowing of the arteries (carotid atherosclerosis)
    • Patients who have had surgery to cut the vagus nerve in the neck (cervical vagotomy)
    • Pediatric
    • Patients (younger than 12 years)
    • Pregnant women
    • Patients with clinically significant hypertension, hypotension, bradycardia, or tachycardia

Please refer to the gammaCore Instructions for Use for all of the important warnings and precautions before using or prescribing this product.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and other written and oral statements made by representatives of electroCore may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about electroCore’s business prospects and clinical and product development plans; its pipeline or potential markets for its technologies; the timing, outcome and impact of regulatory, clinical and commercial developments; the Company’s business prospects in 
Qatar and other new markets and other statements that are not historical in nature, particularly those that utilize terminology such as “anticipates,” “will,” “expects,” “believes,” “intends,” other words of similar meaning, derivations of such words and the use of future dates. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the ability to raise the additional funding needed to continue to pursue electroCore’s business and product development plans, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies, the ability to commercialize gammaCore™, the potential impact and effects of COVID-19 on the business of electroCore, electroCore’s results of operations and financial performance, and any measures electroCore has and may take in response to COVID-19 and any expectations electroCore may have with respect thereto, competition in the industry in which electroCore operates and overall market conditions. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and electroCore assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factor disclosure set forth in the reports and other documents electroCore files with the 
SEC available at www.sec.gov.


Investors:
Rich CockrellCG Capital
404-736-3838
ecor@cg.capital

or

Media Contact:
Summer Diaz
electroCore
816-401-6333
summer.diaz@electrocore.com

Release – Capstone Turbine (CPST) – Saved End-Use Customers Over $217 Million In Energy Costs And Approximately 397000 Tons Of Carbon


Capstone Turbine Announces That In Fiscal Year 2021, It Estimates It Saved End-Use Customers Over $217 Million In Energy Costs And Approximately 397,000 Tons Of Carbon

 

Special Company Announcement Is Planned in Celebration of Earth Day, April 22, 2021

VAN NUYS, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 20, 2021 / Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (NASDAQ:CPST) (“Capstone” or the “Company”), the world’s leading manufacturer of clean technology, microturbine energy systems, announced today that in Fiscal 2021, which was the 12 months ending March 31, 2021, the Company estimates it saved its end-use customers over $217 million in annual energy costs and helped them reduce carbon emissions by approximately 397,000 tons.

Over its 20-year history, Capstone has shipped over 10,000 units to 83 countries. A single Capstone-powered combined heat and power (CHP) system can provide customers with an estimated 40% in annual energy savings while simultaneously, meaningfully lowering their carbon footprint. In the last three years alone, the Company has provided customers with an estimated total savings of $698 million in annual energy costs and carbon reductions of approximately 1,115,100 tons.

Not only is Capstone committed to saving customers money and helping them achieve their carbon reduction goals through dramatically improved energy efficiency, the microturbine technology provides much needed energy resiliency. As the world faces the effects of climate change, this will be an important benefit for companies and communities moving forward.

“The need to shift to greener energy solutions has never been more evident than it is today. In fact, there is a strong argument to be made for a global green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Darren Jamison, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstone Turbine. “In the true spirit of Earth Day 2021, we are proud to do our part by providing energy saving products and services that not only help customers save money, they help to save the planet.”

Mr. Jamison continued, “We have only scratched the surface of meeting the efficient energy needs of customers worldwide. In fact, we will soon be announcing Company changes on Earth Day, April 22, 2021, that reflect our continued business evolution, including development efforts that we are undertaking to become a highly trusted energy partner to our valued end-use customers.”

“I believe businesses will increasingly look at improving their operations from an environmental, social and governance (ESG) perspective so that they become more socially conscious, especially as investors and customers are beginning to screen companies for their stance on these issues before potentially investing or making product buying decisions,” added Mr. Jamison.

Kirk Petty, Capstone’s Vice President of Manufacturing, said, “At Capstone, the products and services we produce enable our end-use customers to reduce their carbon footprint via lower air emissions, all while lowering their overall operational costs. In our product design, sourcing, manufacturing and aftermarket processes, we apply the same guiding principles. We focus on reducing our own environmental footprint through waste reduction efforts, recycling and refurbishment (remanufacturing) efforts, lean manufacturing techniques, and reducing energy consumption in our key production processes. We are continually monitoring and looking at ways to innovate and improve our overall carbon footprint.”

About Capstone Turbine Corporation
Capstone Turbine Corporation (www.capstoneturbine.com) (NASDAQ:CPST) is the world’s leading producer of highly efficient, low-emission, resilient microturbine energy systems. Capstone microturbines serve multiple vertical markets worldwide, including natural resources, energy efficiency, renewable energy, critical power supply, transportation and microgrids. Capstone offers a comprehensive product lineup via our direct sales team, as well as our global distribution network. Capstone provides scalable solutions from 30 kWs to 10 MWs that operate on a variety of fuels and are the ideal solution for today’s multi-technology distributed power generation projects.

For customers with limited capital or short-term needs, Capstone offers rental systems; for more information, contact: rentals@capstoneturbine.com. To date, Capstone has shipped over 10,000 units to 83 countries and in FY20, saved customers an estimated $219 million in annual energy costs and approximately 368,000 tons of carbon.

For more information about the Company, please visit www.capstoneturbine.com. Follow Capstone Turbine on TwitterLinkedInInstagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release and the Company’s presentation contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding expectations for green initiatives and execution on the Company’s growth strategy and other statements regarding the Company’s expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions, and strategies of the Company. The Company has tried to identify these forward-looking statements by using words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “should,” “estimate,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “plan,” “goal” and similar terms and phrases, but such words, terms and phrases are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. Actual results, performance and achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, but not limited to, the following: the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; the availability of credit and compliance with the agreements governing the Company’s indebtedness; the Company’s ability to develop new products and enhance existing products; product quality issues, including the adequacy of reserves therefor and warranty cost exposure; intense competition; financial performance of the oil and natural gas industry and other general business, industry and economic conditions; the Company’s ability to adequately protect its intellectual property rights; and the impact of pending or threatened litigation. For a detailed discussion of factors that could affect the Company’s future operating results, please see the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the disclosures under “Risk Factors” in those filings. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, changed circumstances or future events or for any other reason.

“Capstone” and “Capstone Microturbine” are registered trademarks of Capstone Turbine Corporation. All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

CONTACT:
Capstone Turbine Corporation
Investor and investment media inquiries:
818-407-3628
ir@capstoneturbine.com

SOURCE: Capstone Turbine Corporation

Digital, Media & Entertainment Industry – Quarterly Review & Outlook: What Kind Of Recovery Will It Be?

Tuesday, April 19, 2021

Digital, Media & Entertainment Industry
Quarterly Review & Outlook: What Kind Of Recovery Will It Be?

Michael Kupinski, DOR, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to end of report for Analyst Certification & Disclosures

Overview. The Ride May Get A Little Bumpy. Investors appear eager to own companies that may benefit post pandemic. To that end, Media stocks outperformed the general market as measured by the S&P 500 Index in the last quarter and for the past year, with many stocks having doubled since November 2020. The outperformance is typical of an early stage economic and advertising recovery for these consumer cyclical stocks. But, there may be some headwinds looming. 

Broadcasting Television. Better Late Than Never. On April 1st, the Supreme Court upheld the relaxation of media ownership rules that the FCC tried to put in place, but was blocked by the Third District Court. These rules largely reflected cross ownership between owning a TV/Newspaper, TV/Radio and the number of radio and TV stations that one entity could own in a market. The Supreme Court ruling was not surprising, but could it pave the way for future FCC action on media ownership? 

Broadcast Radio. Diving Into Digital. Radio companies leaned into their digital growth strategies in the last quarter, highlighting the contributions of this growth-oriented business, which performed well even during the pandemic. Townsquare Media appears to be leading the way with nearly 50% of its revenues tied to Digital revenue. Most recently, one of the nation’s largest Radio companies rebranded its name from Entercom to Audacy to change the dynamics of the Radio industry and to recognize the key revenue growth driver for the company. 

Publishing. A Sweeter Offer. Tribune receives a competing bid of $18.50 per share, a substantial increase from the $17.25 per share from the Alden Group, which owns roughly 32% of the company. The latest offer inches closer to our original price target of $20.75. The question is whether the Alden Group walks away with an attractive return on its investment, as it did with the firm’s run at Gannett, or sweetens its offer?

Digital, Media & Technology. Taking A Breather? Most Digital Indices under performed the general market in Q1. The exceptions to the overall performance was notable. In this report, we highlight our coverage of Esports Entertainment and the fast growing industries of Esports and iGaming. Noble’s Esports/iGaming Index was up a strong 48% in Q1. While the pandemic adversely affected large stadium, in person tournament play, video gaming substantially increased due to stay at home mandates, What is the outlook post pandemic?

Overview

The Ride May Get A Little Bumpy 

Investors appear eager to own companies that may benefit from a post pandemic recovery. To that end, Media & Entertainment stocks outperformed the general market as measured by the S&P 500 Index in the last quarter and for the past year, with many stocks having doubled since November 2020. For the first time in a long while, traditional media companies outpaced the performance of the Digital Media group. The Media out-performance is typical of an early stage economic and advertising recovery for these consumer cyclical stocks. But, there may be some headwinds looming. Investors are likely to ponder these questions: Has the recovery in media stock valuations gone too far? How will the stocks react to the prospect of higher inflation? Will advertising continue to rebound with the prospect of increased corporate or personal taxes? And, how will the stocks perform in a period of rising interest rates. 

Stocks can climb a “wall of worry”, but it usually means that the road will become more bumpy. We look for a lot more volatility in the general market, as well as for these cyclical stocks, in coming months and quarters. In our view, stock valuations do not appear to be extended, with most stocks trading within historic five year trading average ranges. But, most media stocks have factored in a fairly robust recovery. In addition, for television stocks, there is anticipation that political advertising in 2022 may even exceed that of 2020, an historic political advertising year. It would be unusual for a biennial election year to exceed that of a presidential election year, but there has already been a record amount of money raised by politicians, PACs, and advocacy groups. For now, we see no reason to be less optimistic on the advertising front given significant economic stimulus. 

We believe that media stocks potentially have bigger headwinds with inflation, rising interest rates and taxes. In terms of inflation, historically media companies have been able to raise advertising rates faster than the rate of inflation. This was true until the advent of the Internet, when advertising deflation occurred. As such, the story is still out on whether advertising historic trends prevail. Certainly, in an inflationary environment, we would anticipate that there would be a contraction in cash flow multiples. On the tax front, as of now, the discussion relates to tax increases for those making $400,000 or more and for corporate tax rates to rise. State taxes appear to be generally going up as well. Generally, tax increases decrease discretionary disposable income and is negative for advertising. States appear to be seeking additional taxes, however, some even considering taxes on services, such as advertising. This would be a negative, potentially lowering margins for advertising driven companies. Finally, media stocks tend not to do well in periods of rising interest rates, which appears on the horizon. 

What are media investors to do? There is significant amount of stimulus, which should support a robust economic and advertising recovery. We believe that volatility likely will increase and stock valuation multiples likely will contract. As such, it is important for investors to be selective and seek “growthier” companies. Companies that have developed digital operations and those that are well positioned to grow above average in an economic recovery that may include higher inflation. Such companies in media exist and this report highlights a few of them including our favorites Esports Entertainment, Harte Hanks, Cumulus Media, Salem Media, Townsquare Media, Entravision, Gray Television and E.W. Scripps. 

Broadcast Television

What does the Supreme Court Ruling Mean?

On April 1st, the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was within its right to relax media ownership rules, particularly the newspaper/TV cross ownership, radio/TV cross ownership and the number of radio and television stations an operator could own in a single market and the number of TV stations an operator could own in a single market. These ownership rules were archaic. But, the Supreme Court decision to uphold the FCC’s relaxation of the ownership rules is not likely to change much.

First, many broadcast television companies sold or spun off newspaper operations long ago. This decision was largely based on the fact that public broadcast companies that owned newspapers traded at a discount to peers given the far lower multiple assigned to newspapers. In addition, many broadcasters with newspapers operations saw little synergies. 

The Supreme Court decision has more implications for a broadcaster owning 2 big four network stations in a market, commonly called the Big 4 rule. The Supreme Court decision paved the way for the FCC to loosen the restriction and allow the ownership of 2 “big four” network stations in the market. The FCC has rarely done this in the past since the combination would need to serve the public interest. It is unlikely that broadcasters would seek acquisitions to combine “big four” stations in a market given the high hurdle of the “public interest” and, especially, with the current administration that has been supportive of keeping ownership rules.

As such, the relaxation of these rules will not likely drive industry consolidation, nor did the Supreme Court ruling drive up media stocks, as some media outlets suggested. Investors are looking for the FCC to further lift television ownership rules, especially the current rule that limits television ownership to 39% of television households. We believe that this would be more important in driving industry consolidation. This is not expected to happen with the current administration. We believe that the recent rise in stock valuations relates to improving fundamentals.

Television investors are buoyed by core advertising gains that are expected in the first quarter and the upcoming easy comparison in the second quarter. On average, we believe that first quarter revenues are likely to be down 1% to 2% due to the heavy influx of political advertising in the first quarter 2020. The first quarter is not typically a huge political quarter, but last year was different, influenced by spending by billionaire presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg. Importantly, core advertising is expected to be up in March, which was not a huge political month. This bodes well for good advertising momentum in the second quarter.

The second quarter revenue comparisons will be much more favorable given significantly less political advertising and the year-earlier, advertising fallout from Covid 19. We estimate that industry mean revenues likely will increase as much as 18% in the second quarter. Looking forward toward the second half, comparisons will be difficult due to the year earlier historic influx of political advertising. All together, we expect television mean revenues to be down 2% to 3% for 2021. 

The Noble TV index increased a strong 21% in the first quarter, heavily influenced by the volatility in the shares of ViacomCBS. Nonetheless, most television broadcasters performed well in the first quarter and outperformed the S&P 500. We believe that investors are focused on the advertising recovery, which appears to be underway in the first quarter and into the second quarter. We believe that investors may give some pause in the enthusiasm for broadcast stocks heading into the second half, given the tough revenue comparisons to the year earlier heavy political advertising.

So, we are not looking for smooth sailing for the stocks in 2021. Nonetheless, we believe that investors should focus on 2022 and the prospect of an historic influx of political advertising. Many broadcasters indicated that political advertising could be greater than the record-breaking amount in 2020. This would be unprecedented, given that political advertising in biennial election years are usually lower than presidential election years. But there is a close balance of power in the House and Senate and there appears to be a record amount of money already raised by candidates and political groups. At this time, we anticipate that industry mean revenues will increase 15% in 2022. 

As the broadcast comparable chart indicates, television stocks do not appear to be overvalued, in spite of the recent out performance in the market. On average, stocks appear to trade at roughly 8 times enterprise value to 2022 cash flow estimates. In our view, this is within the range of historic trading averages between 8 to 12 times. As such, we believe that there is room for upside in the television group and reiterate our Outperform rating. We encourage investors to focus on our current favorites which include Entravision, E.W. Scripps and Gray Television. E.W. Scripps is an attractive political advertising play, but, also as a play on OTT broadcasting. For Gray, there is acquisition-fueled growth prospects. Entravision is an attractive recovery play as well as a play on acquisition fueled growth given its favorable, large cash position.



Broadcast Radio

Diving Into Digital

Radio companies leaned into their digital growth strategies in the last quarter, highlighting the contributions of this growth oriented business which performed well during the pandemic. Digital revenue grew roughly 8% in 2020 and is projected to accelerate to a strong 15% in 2021. The digital growth was significant given that traditional radio advertising declined an estimated 30% in 2020. The compelling digital revenue growth has been fueled by podcasts, but also reflect other digital initiatives including streaming, programmatic, and subscription businesses. Furthermore, digital revenue is expected to grow an attractive 10% for the next several years.

While traditional radio advertising is expected to have a recovery in 2021 as the economy reopens, we expect that traditional radio advertising is likely to struggle to reflect revenue growth thereafter given competition from alternative mediums. We estimate that traditional radio advertising will increase 15% in 2021, not fully recovering from the 30% drop in 2020. As a result, many radio companies are looking toward digital and other growth oriented businesses, including gambling and esports, as growth drivers.

Some radio companies have accelerated the trajectory of their digital revenue contribution through acquisitions. Entercom, now called Audacy, in March, purchased Podcorn, a company that connects advertisers to podcast content. This recent acquisition follows earlier purchases of Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios, establishing the company as a leading player in the podcast space. Notably, podcasting is the fastest growing segment of audio and is expected to increase a strong 41% in 2021 as forecasted by eMarketer. Furthermore, eMarketer projects that by 2024, 29% of digital audio ads will be derived from podcasts. Other companies, like UrbanOne, have looked outside of the audio space for growth. The company doubled down on its interests in casinos, partnering with the Colonial Downs owner, to build a casino in Richmond, Virginia.

While companies like Audacy have been playing catch up to transforming toward a digital, or even an entertainment-oriented company, through acquisitions, Townsquare Media has grown largely organically. Notably, with roughly 50% of its revenues derived from digital, Townsquare leads the way in the industry terms of diversified, growth oriented revenue streams. Recently, Townsquare management rolled out its “Digital First” strategy. Leading with its digital businesses is a change in strategy from the company’s “Local First” focus. But, the change is not surprising given the strong growth in its Digital businesses over the past year. Its Interactive subscription based business grew 14% in 2020. Furthermore, its programmatic business, Ignite, and other digital advertising revenue streams appear to be accelerating from that growth.  

As we look forward toward 2021, we believe that there will be a radio advertising recovery. Among our favorite radio advertising recovery play is Cumulus Media. Cumulus is expected to benefit from the radio advertising recovery given its less diversified revenue streams. We estimate that the company’s 2021 revenue growth will be roughly 12%. As the comparable chart shows below, the Cumulus shares trade among the lowest multiple of EV to EBITDA of the top tier Radio stocks.

In addition, as a diversified play, one with strong growth prospects in its Digital businesses, investors are encouraged to look at Salem Media. The company has significant Digital growth opportunities with is Salem Surround, its digital ad agency business, and SalemNow, an on demand pay-per-view video platform. Salem Surround, with over 3,000 customers, grew revenues strong double-digits in 2020 and the momentum continues into 2021. Furthermore, the company recently expanded its podcasting business with the launch of Salem Podcasting Network. 


Publishing

Tribune Publishing received a competing offer of $680.8 million, or $18.50 per share, for the company, beating the $634.8 million, or $17.25 per share, sweetened offer from hedge fund and largest Tribune shareholder, Alden Global Capital. Alden owns 31.6% of the TPCO shares outstanding. The $18.50 per share offer by Newslight, which is run by Stewart Bainum Jr., CEO of Choice Hotels, and Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss, was surprising, but not unrealistic. Alden agreed to sell the Baltimore Sun to a charity run by Bainum. That deal fell apart and Bainum formed a company to buy all of Tribune.

It appears that Newslight recognizes the sum of the parts valuation that we identified in our January 28, 2021 report, which indicated that the company could be worth as much as $20.75 per share, on a sum of the parts basis, recognizing the value of its unique newspaper assets and real estate holdings. Splitting up the company appears likely. Mason Slaine, a tech investor that has expressed interest in Tribune’s Florida newspapers, indicated plans to invest $100 million into the Newslight bid. Tribune’s special committee has determined that the Newslight’s offer would be a “superior proposal” to the Alden offer. 

So, what’s next and what should investors do? The move by the Special Committee allows the company to provide information to Newslight, which now can perform due diligence. It appears that Newslight has the financing available to complete their offer. The ball is in Alden’s court to determine if they would sweetened their offer to be “superior” to the Newslight offer. In our view, there is value left on the table to do that. But, investors should be mindful that Alden has walked away from the table before with its run at Gannett. 

In our view, investors have received the lion share of the upside in the TPCO shares. The prospective upside from here appears relatively modest. As such, investors should consider the opportunity costs of other potential investments. As such, we encourage investors to look at other of our favorite media names. 


Digital Media & Technology

Introducing Noble’s Esports and iGaming Index

Noble’s quarterly media newsletter has always covered seven distinct segments: four digital media sectors (Digital Media, Ad Tech, Marketing Tech, and Social Media) three traditional media sectors (TV, Radio and Publishing). With this edition, we are adding an Esports and iGaming sector, as advertising and sponsorships are key revenue categories for many esports companies. Over time, we expect sports betting and Esports betting to become larger revenue drivers of industry growth.

We have added 16 publicly traded companies to our new Esports and iGaming Index and comp sheet, with the two largest companies in the sector, Flutter Entertainment (ISE: FLTR, the owner of FanDuel) and DraftKings (ticker DKNG) accounting for 80% of the sector’s market cap.  Many companies in the sector are experiencing tremendous revenue growth (except for those that host live events) with organic growth augmented by acquisitions, and negative EBITDA margins as companies invest for growth.  Of the 16 companies in the sector, four are expected to generate positive EBITDA in 2021, but six companies are projected to do so in 2022.

The Esports/Gaming Noble Index increased 42.7% in the first quarter 2021, reflecting robust gains by several larger cap companies in the index. Companies with strong stock performance include Draft Kings, up 32.7% and BRAG, up 47%, which outperformed the general market as measured by the S&P 500 Index, which increased 5.8% in the comparable time frame. The strongest stock performances were from AESE, up 82.3%, SLGG, up 148.8%, SCR, up 124.5%, EGLX, up 106.2%, and, finally, Esports Entertainment, which is closely followed by Noble, up 136.4%.

Currently, one of our favored plays in the sector is Esports Entertainment. In our view, the company is establishing itself as a vertically integrated esports/gambling company. The company is expected to soon close on its Helix/ggCircuit acquisition, which will be one of the linchpins underscoring the company has a platform play in the space. 

Digital Stocks Take A Breather

Most Digital Media sectors under-performed the general market, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, in the first quarter, taking a breather from the strong year earlier stock performance. As the following figure illustrates, all of the digital media sectors outperformed the general market over the past 12 months, with a notably strong performance by the Noble Ad Tech Index, which increased an astounding 305%! 



That momentum faded as we entered 2021 as the digital stocks took a breather in the first quarter, with most digital sectors under-performing the general market. Only Noble’s Digital Media Index outperformed in the first quarter 2021, up roughly 13% versus the 6% gain by the S&P 500 Index. Noble’s Digital Media Index includes such company’s as Google, Spotify and Netflix, as well as closely followed Travelzoo. The Travelzoo shares increased a strong 110% from January 4th lows to recent highs in April. We believe that investors sought companies that would benefit as economies reopen, even global economies, and companies specifically related to the travel industry, the hardest hit during the pandemic. The other Digital sectors that under-performed in the first quarter were Noble’s Digital Technology Index, down 5%; Noble’s Ad Tech Index, down 2%; and, finally, Noble’s Social Media Index, up 5%.


Digital Advertising Continues its Double Digital Growth

On April 7, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) released their 2020 internet advertising revenue report in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).  The report concluded that digital advertising in the U.S. increased by 12.2% to $139.8B in 2020 from $124.6B in 2019.  Growth was fueled by a strong rebound in digital advertising in the second half of the year, in which $80B, or 57% of the year’s total was booked.  Digital advertising of $45.6B in 4Q 2020 was the highest quarterly revenue number ever.  For perspective, the $80B of ad spend in the second half of 2020 was equivalent to the entirety of U.S. digital advertising in all of 2016. 

By quarter, digital advertising increased by 10.5% year-over-year in 1Q 2020, decreased by 5.2% in 2Q 2020 (when Covid-19 first hit), re-accelerated to 11.7% growth in 3Q 2020, and finished exceptionally strong with 28.7% in 4Q 2020.  Fourth quarter digital ad spend benefited from an influx of political advertising, but the bigger impact may have come from a “use or lose itâ€? mindset, in which ad budgets that weren’t spent earlier in the year were available to spend in the fourth quarter.

More importantly, digital ad spend in the U.S. was not just confined to the “duopolyâ€? of Google and Facebook, or the “tripoloyâ€? of Google, Facebook and Amazon Advertising.  According to the IAB, digital advertising revenues among the Top 10 companies grew by 14% in the U.S., as their share of ad spend increased to 78% in 2020 from 77% in 2019.  Ad spend from the fifteen next largest companies (companies 11-25 increased by 2.4% to $8B.  The remaining companies in the PwC universe were able to post revenue growth of 8.3% to $22B in 2020 from $20.3B in 2019.  The key take-away is that the size of the “open internetâ€? (after the “walled gardensâ€? of the top 10 companies) remains a sizable addressable market ($30B+ in the U.S. alone) and grew at an attractive rate of 7% (when excluding the top 10), despite what we believe was a double-digit decline in ad spend in 2Q 2020.

Internet and Digital Media M&A Activity Off to a Strong Start in 2021

In the first quarter of 2021, Noble tracked 167 M&A transactions in the internet and digital media sector, up 8% over the 154 transactions we tracked in the first quarter of 2020.  The most active sectors included digital content (54 deals), marketing technology (43), agency & analytics (29) and advertising technology (16).  Within the digital content sector, the most active subsector were companies in the gaming sector, such as game studios or mobile game developers.  There were $6.0B worth of M&A in the gaming/entertainment sector, with the largest being Electonics Art’s nearly $2.0B acquisition of mobile game developer Glu Mobile, followed by Embracer Group’s $1.4B acquisition of Gearbox Entertainment, as shown below. 

Among the stocks in the marketing technology space, investors should take a look at Harte Hanks. After a turbulent 2019 and 2020, the company appears to be on the mend, having restructured many of its vendor agreements, lowered infrastructure costs, and exited low margin businesses. The company has swung toward cash flow positive and has maintained a large cash position. This allows the company to service its debt and unfunded pension liabilities. Now, management appears to focus on driving the top line, a key element toward returning the company toward growth and positive free cash flow. The HRTH shares have had a strong performance so far this year, up 59% from January 4th lows to near current levels. We believe that the strong performance reflected favorable fourth quarter results, which reflected positive adjusted EBITDA.  








Companies mentioned in this report:

Cumulus Media

E.W. Scripps

Entravision

Esports Entertainment

Gray Television

Harte Hanks

Salem Media 

Townsquare Media

Travelzoo

Tribune Publishing

GENERAL DISCLAIMERS

All statements or opinions contained herein that include the words “we”, “us”, or “our” are solely the responsibility of Noble Capital Markets, Inc.(“Noble”) and do not necessarily reflect statements or opinions expressed by any person or party affiliated with the company mentioned in this report. Any opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. All information provided herein is based on public and non-public information believed to be accurate and reliable, but is not necessarily complete and cannot be guaranteed. No judgment is hereby expressed or should be implied as to the suitability of any security described herein for any specific investor or any specific investment portfolio. The decision to undertake any investment regarding the security mentioned herein should be made by each reader of this publication based on its own appraisal of the implications and risks of such decision.

This publication is intended for information purposes only and shall not constitute an offer to buy/sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy/sell any security mentioned in this report, nor shall there be any sale of the security herein in any state or domicile in which said offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or domicile. This publication and all information, comments, statements or opinions contained or expressed herein are applicable only as of the date of this publication and subject to change without prior notice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Noble accepts no liability for loss arising from the use of the material in this report, except that this exclusion of liability does not apply to the extent that such liability arises under specific statutes or regulations applicable to Noble. This report is not to be relied upon as a substitute for the exercising of independent judgement. Noble may have published, and may in the future publish, other research reports that are inconsistent with, and reach different conclusions from, the information provided in this report. Noble is under no obligation to bring to the attention of any recipient of this report, any past or future reports. Investors should only consider this report as single factor in making an investment decision.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

This publication is confidential for the information of the addressee only and may not be reproduced in whole or in part, copies circulated, or discussed to another party, without the written consent of Noble Capital Markets, Inc. (“Noble”). Noble seeks to update its research as appropriate, but may be unable to do so based upon various regulatory constraints. Research reports are not published at regular intervals; publication times and dates are based upon the analyst’s judgement. Noble professionals including traders, salespeople and investment bankers may provide written or oral market commentary, or discuss trading strategies to Noble clients and the Noble proprietary trading desk that reflect opinions that are contrary to the opinions expressed in this research report.

The majority of companies that Noble follows are emerging growth companies. Securities in these companies involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. The securities discussed in Noble research reports may not be suitable for some investors and as such, investors must take extra care and make their own determination of the appropriateness of an investment based upon risk tolerance, investment objectives and financial status.

Company Specific Disclosures

The following disclosures relate to relationships between Noble and the company (the “Company”) covered by the Noble Research Division and referred to in this research report.

Noble is not a market maker in any of the companies mentioned in this report. Noble intends to seek compensation for investment banking services and non-investment banking services (securities and non-securities related) with any or all of the companies mentioned in this report within the next 3 months

ANALYST CREDENTIALS, PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS, AND EXPERIENCE

Director of Research. Senior Equity Analyst specializing in Media & Entertainment. 34 years of experience as an analyst. Member of the National Cable Television Society Foundation and the National Association of Broadcasters. BS in Management Science, Computer Science Certificate and MBA specializing in Finance from St. Louis University.

Named WSJ ‘Best on the Street’ Analyst six times.

FINRA licenses 7, 24, 66, 86, 87

WARNING

This report is intended to provide general securities advice, and does not purport to make any recommendation that any securities transaction is appropriate for any recipient particular investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs. Prior to making any investment decision, recipients should assess, or seek advice from their advisors, on whether any relevant part of this report is appropriate to their individual circumstances. If a recipient was referred to Noble Capital Markets, Inc. by an investment advisor, that advisor may receive a benefit in respect of transactions effected on the recipients behalf, details of which will be available on request in regard to a transaction that involves a personalized securities recommendation. Additional risks associated with the security mentioned in this report that might impede achievement of the target can be found in its initial report issued by Noble Capital Markets, Inc.. This report may not be reproduced, distributed or published for any purpose unless authorized by Noble Capital Markets, Inc..

RESEARCH ANALYST CERTIFICATION

Independence Of View
All views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject securities or issuers.

Receipt of Compensation
No part of my compensation was, is, or will be directly or indirectly related to any specific recommendations or views expressed in the public
appearance and/or research report.

Ownership and Material Conflicts of Interest
Neither I nor anybody in my household has a financial interest in the securities of the subject company or any other company mentioned in this report.

NOBLE RATINGS DEFINITIONS % OF SECURITIES COVERED % IB CLIENTS
Outperform: potential return is >15% above the current price 78% 31%
Market Perform: potential return is -15% to 15% of the current price 8% 3%
Underperform: potential return is >15% below the current price 0% 0%

NOTE: On August 20, 2018, Noble Capital Markets, Inc. changed the terminology of its ratings (as shown above) from “Buy” to “Outperform”, from “Hold” to “Market Perform” and from “Sell” to “Underperform.” The percentage relationships, as compared to current price (definitions), have remained the same.

Additional information is available upon request. Any recipient of this report that wishes further information regarding the subject company or the disclosure information mentioned herein, should contact Noble Capital Markets, Inc. by mail or phone.

Noble Capital Markets, Inc.
225 NE Mizner Blvd. Suite 150
Boca Raton, FL 33432
561-994-1191

Noble Capital Markets, Inc. is a FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) registered broker/dealer.
Noble Capital Markets, Inc. is an MSRB (Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board) registered broker/dealer.
Member – SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation)

Report ID: 12200

Sierra Metals (SMTS)(SMT:CA) – Updating Estimates Based on Lower-Than-Expected First Quarter Production

Monday, April 19, 2021

Sierra Metals (SMTS)(SMT:CA)
Updating Estimates Based on Lower-Than-Expected First Quarter Production

As of April 24, 2020, Noble Capital Markets research on Sierra Metals is published under ticker symbols (SMTS and SMT:CA). The price target is in USD and based on ticker symbol SMTS. Research reports dated prior to April 24, 2020 may not follow these guidelines and could account for a variance in the price target.

Sierra Metals Inc is a precious and base metals producer in Latin America. The company acquires, explores, extracts, and produces mineral concentrates consisting of silver, copper, lead, zinc and gold in Mexico and Peru. Its activity includes the operation of the Yauricocha Mine in Peru, and the Bolivar and Cusi mines in Mexico. Yauricocha is an underground polymetallic mine using the sublevel block caving and cut-and-fill mining methods. Bolivar is a copper-silver-zinc-gold underground mine using room-and-pillar mining method. The majority of the revenue is earned by selling of the mineral concentrates to its customers in Peru.

Mark Reichman, Senior Research Analyst of Natural Resources, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

    First quarter production was below expectations. First quarter production was negatively impacted by lower grades of ore mined at the Yauricocha and Bolivar mines. Copper, lead, and zinc production amounted to 7.9 million, 9.0 million, and 24.1 million pounds, respectively, while silver and gold production amounted to 961.0 and 2.6 thousand ounces. Copper production decreased 26% relative to the fourth quarter of 2020 and 33% compared to the prior year period.

    2021 production guidance unchanged.  First quarter production results were impacted by some transitory operational issues that resulted in production from lower grade ore bodies. Despite lower-than-expected production, the company is still expected to meet its forecasted production guidance ranges despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic. Sierra Metals will release first quarter 2021 financial …



This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary.  Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

QuickChek – April 19, 2021



PDS Biotech Announces Participation in Noble Capital Markets Virtual Road Show Series

PDS Biotechnology announced their participation in Noble Capital Markets’ Virtual Road Show Series, presented by Channelchek, scheduled for April 21, 2021

Research, News & Market Data on PDS Biotechnology



Bunker Hill Mining to Announce PEA Results on Tuesday, April 20

Bunker Hill Mining announced that it will be releasing its Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) results on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 prior to markets opening

News & Market Data on Bunker Hill Mining

Stay up to date. Follow us:

PDS Biotechnology (PDSB) – Announces Participation in Noble Capital Markets Virtual Road Show Series

 


PDS Biotech Announces Participation in Noble Capital Markets Virtual Road Show Series

 

Florham Park, NJ, April 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PDS Biotechnology Corporation (Nasdaq: PDSB), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing novel cancer therapies and infectious disease vaccines based on the Company’s proprietary Versamune® T-cell activating technology, today announced their participation in Noble Capital Markets’ Virtual Road Show Series, presented by Channelchek, scheduled for April 21, 2021.

The virtual roadshow will feature a corporate presentation from PDS Biotech President and CEO Dr. Frank Bedu-Addo, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lauren Wood and Chief Financial Officer Seth Van Voorhees followed by a question and answer session proctored by Noble Senior Research Analyst Robert LeBoyer, featuring questions submitted by the audience.

The live broadcast of the virtual roadshow is scheduled for April 21, 2021, at 1 PM EDT. Registration is free and open to all investors, at any level. Register Here.

Noble’s research, as well as news and advanced market data on PDS Biotechnology is available on Channelchek.

About PDS Biotechnology

PDS Biotech is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company with a growing pipeline of cancer immunotherapies and infectious disease vaccines based on the Company’s proprietary Versamune® T-cell activating technology platform. Versamune® effectively delivers disease-specific antigens for in vivo uptake and processing, while also activating the critical type 1 interferon immunological pathway, resulting in production of potent disease-specific killer T-cells as well as neutralizing antibodies. PDS Biotech has engineered multiple therapies, based on combinations of Versamune® and disease-specific antigens, designed to train the immune system to better recognize disease cells and effectively attack and destroy them. To learn more, please visit www.pdsbiotech.com or follow us on Twitter at @PDSBiotech.

About Noble Capital Markets

Noble Capital Markets, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 as a full-service SEC / FINRA registered broker-dealer, dedicated exclusively to serving underfollowed small / microcap companies through investment banking, wealth management, trading & execution, and equity research activities. Over the past 36 years, Noble has raised billions of dollars for these companies and published more than 45,000 equity research reports. www.noblecapitalmarkets.com email: contact@noblecapitalmarkets.com

About Channelchek

Channelchek (.com) is a comprehensive investor-centric portal – featuring more than 6,000 emerging growth companies – that provides advanced market data, independent research, balanced news, video webcasts, exclusive c-suite interviews, and access to virtual road shows. The site is available to the public at every level without cost or obligation. Research on Channelchek is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., an SEC / FINRA registered broker-dealer since 1984. channelchek.vercel.app email: contact@channelchek.vercel.app

CONTACT: Investor Contact:
Rich Cockrell
CG CAPITAL
404.736.3838
PDSB@cg.capital

Company Contact:
Deanne Randolph
PDS Biotech
Phone: 908.517.3613
drandolph@pdsbiotech.com

Release – PDS Biotechnology (PDSB) – Announces Participation in Noble Capital Markets Virtual Road Show Series

 


PDS Biotech Announces Participation in Noble Capital Markets Virtual Road Show Series

 

Florham Park, NJ, April 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PDS Biotechnology Corporation (Nasdaq: PDSB), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing novel cancer therapies and infectious disease vaccines based on the Company’s proprietary Versamune® T-cell activating technology, today announced their participation in Noble Capital Markets’ Virtual Road Show Series, presented by Channelchek, scheduled for April 21, 2021.

The virtual roadshow will feature a corporate presentation from PDS Biotech President and CEO Dr. Frank Bedu-Addo, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lauren Wood and Chief Financial Officer Seth Van Voorhees followed by a question and answer session proctored by Noble Senior Research Analyst Robert LeBoyer, featuring questions submitted by the audience.

The live broadcast of the virtual roadshow is scheduled for April 21, 2021, at 1 PM EDT. Registration is free and open to all investors, at any level. Register Here.

Noble’s research, as well as news and advanced market data on PDS Biotechnology is available on Channelchek.

About PDS Biotechnology

PDS Biotech is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company with a growing pipeline of cancer immunotherapies and infectious disease vaccines based on the Company’s proprietary Versamune® T-cell activating technology platform. Versamune® effectively delivers disease-specific antigens for in vivo uptake and processing, while also activating the critical type 1 interferon immunological pathway, resulting in production of potent disease-specific killer T-cells as well as neutralizing antibodies. PDS Biotech has engineered multiple therapies, based on combinations of Versamune® and disease-specific antigens, designed to train the immune system to better recognize disease cells and effectively attack and destroy them. To learn more, please visit www.pdsbiotech.com or follow us on Twitter at @PDSBiotech.

About Noble Capital Markets

Noble Capital Markets, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 as a full-service SEC / FINRA registered broker-dealer, dedicated exclusively to serving underfollowed small / microcap companies through investment banking, wealth management, trading & execution, and equity research activities. Over the past 36 years, Noble has raised billions of dollars for these companies and published more than 45,000 equity research reports. www.noblecapitalmarkets.com email: contact@noblecapitalmarkets.com

About Channelchek

Channelchek (.com) is a comprehensive investor-centric portal – featuring more than 6,000 emerging growth companies – that provides advanced market data, independent research, balanced news, video webcasts, exclusive c-suite interviews, and access to virtual road shows. The site is available to the public at every level without cost or obligation. Research on Channelchek is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., an SEC / FINRA registered broker-dealer since 1984. www.channelchek.com email: contact@channelchek.com

CONTACT: Investor Contact:
Rich Cockrell
CG CAPITAL
404.736.3838
PDSB@cg.capital

Company Contact:
Deanne Randolph
PDS Biotech
Phone: 908.517.3613
drandolph@pdsbiotech.com

Release – Bunker Hill Mining (BHLL)(BNKR:CA) – To Announce PEA Results on Tuesday April 20


Bunker Hill Mining to Announce PEA Results on Tuesday, April 20; Host 6ix Virtual Investor Event on Wednesday, April 21

 

TORONTO, April 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bunker Hill Mining Corp. (the “Company”) (CSE: BNKR) announces that it will be releasing its Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) results on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 prior to markets opening.

On Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. EST / 8:00 a.m. PST, Executive Chairman Richard Williams, CEO Sam Ash, and CFO David Wiens will discuss the results and next steps in a live interactive 6ix virtual investor event.

The virtual investor event can be accessed by registering with the following link: https://my.6ix.com/Heq9Km3U

About Bunker Hill Mining
Corp.

Under new Idaho-based leadership, Bunker Hill Mining Corp. intends to sustainably restart and develop the Bunker Hill Mine as the first step in consolidating a portfolio of North American precious-metal assets with a focus on silver. Information about the Company is available on its website, www.bunkerhillmining.com , or under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov .

For additional information contact: ir@bunkerhillmining.com

Cautionary Statements

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as well as within the meaning of the phrase ‘forward-looking information’ in the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Instrument 51-102 – Continuous Disclosure Obligations. Forward-looking statements are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company’s future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “estimates”, “may”, “could”, “would”, “will”, or “plan”. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management’s expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the timing of the release of the Company’s PEA and live interactive 6ix virtual investor event. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to those risks set out in the Company’s public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Source: Bunker Hill Mining