The 300 Club

Brexit worries ease up

The chase by Andrew Bell:

“If you have been instructed to make us leave this place, you should seek permission to use force, for only the power of bayonets will dislodge us” – Honore Mirabeau

On this day in 1789, members of the Third Estate assembly, representing commoners and lower clergy, met at an indoor tennis court and vowed not to disperse until a new French constitution was in place. King Louis XVI called in troops, sparking the storm of the Bastille on July 14 and igniting the French Revolution.

This is also historic week for the British who vote Thursday on whether to stay with the European Union. The British pound is rallying today after polls indicated that the “Remain” camp has gained ground.

The Guardian says that the Remain campaign believes privately that last week’s murder of MP Jo Cox, “who had praised the way in which immigration had enriched British society, will make it harder for their opponents to campaign as stridently as before on immigration issues.”

Economists and think tanks have warned Britons not to quit the multinational group. That chorus includes former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who has joined Bank of England Governor Mark Carney in cautioning that there’s no certainty on what kind of concessions Britain might win from the EU after a Leave vote We’re talking to Mulroney on BNN today at 3:45 PM.

One of the worries, if Britain leaves, is that other nations such as Spain and Greece will clamour to exit too. At 9:10 a.m. ET, we'll take a look at the possible domino effect with Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro at mutual fund empire Fidelity Investments.

Some of us, of course, have more personal concerns, including what kind of house is available in the $20-million range. At 10:10 a.m. ET, we’ll hear from Barry Cohen, broker at RE/MAX Realtron Realty, who is marketing a house priced at just under $19-million in Toronto’s swank Bridle Path neighbourhood.

We’ll be talking about some rather more remote real estate at 11:30 a.m. ET on Commodities, when we hear from Sabina Gold & Silver CEO Bruce McLeod. The stock plunged almost 40 per cent last week after the Nunavut Impact Review Board rejected Sabina’s plan to build a gold mine. The board said it had heard about “a high level of concern” about the project’s effect on migrating caribou.

Meanwhile, we’re tracking a takeover in gold. Teranga Gold (TGZ.TO) plans to buy Australia-listed Gryphon Minerals in all-share deal valued about US$63 million, for a premium of 53 per cent over Gryphon's close on Friday. Gryphon's main is 90 per cent-owned Banfora, “a fully permitted, high grade, open pit gold project located in Burkina Faso, West Africa.”

Teranga, whose shareholders will be left with 85 per cent of the combined entity, operates the Sabodala Gold mine, said to be the only gold mine and mill in Senegal, West Africa.

And we’re also watching Athabasca Oil Corporation (ATH.TO), which has sold a “contingent bitumen royalty” to an outfit called Burgess Energy Holdings LLC. for $129-million. Athabasca says it has repaid its US$221 million first lien term loan, “the first step towards aligning the company’s capital structure with its go forward operating plans.”

“We view the additional near-term liquidity as positive,” Canaccord says, “but now look towards additional clarity around how the company will manage its $550-million of second lien notes (maturing in late-2017).”

Athabasca is ramping output at its Hangingstone thermal oil asset, expecting to hit 12,000 barrels per day in Q4.

Finally, take it easy today if it’s hot in your part of the country.

And spare a thought for our friends in Phoenix, Arizona, where temperatures hit 118 degrees (48 degrees centigrade) yesterday.

Resident Kim Leeds equipped her Australian shepherd with special shoes to protect his feet.

"I'm totally reveling in this experience because I'm actually baking cookies in my car," she told Associated Press.

Now that sounds delicious, especially with a big mug of steaming, hot tea.

Every morning Commodities host Andrew Bell writes a ‘chase note’ to BNN's editorial staff listing the stories and events that will be in the spotlight that day.