Thumzup Media Corp. (NASDAQ: TZUP)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Thumzup Media Corp.(NASDAQ: TZUP).

As the social media marketing revenue stream builds toward the trillion-dollar threshold, its access to consumers in the U.S. and around the world creates a powerful tool for advertisers

Thumzup Media offers an increasingly popular proprietary platform for linking advertisers with social media influencers and their target audiences, democratizing the process in much the same way Uber and Airbnb revolutionized their individual markets

The company has more than 700 advertiser clients and expects to top 1,000 during the coming summer quarter

Thumzup's recent Nasdaq uplisting, as well as its new stock share repurchase program, are both moves seen as advancing shareholder value

Social media branding and marketing innovator Thumzup (NASDAQ: TZUP) continues building, helping shareholders after its uplisting to the Nasdaq exchange, announcing recently that board members have approved a stock buyback program of up to $1 million in shares and the company has repurchased $126,507 of its common stock from the open market.

Thumzup Media Corp. (NASDAQ: TZUP) is at the forefront of modernizing the social media branding and marketing industry with its unique platform designed to connect advertisers directly with everyday social media users. The company’s mission is to empower individuals by turning their authentic social media activity into a monetizable asset while providing brands with cost-effective and impactful advertising solutions.

Through its flagship Thumzup platform, the company offers a seamless system where users post about participating advertisers and receive cash payments via Venmo or PayPal. Thumzup recently announced plans to integrate bitcoin as an additional payment option, expanding accessibility for gig economy workers.

By prioritizing accessibility and transparency, Thumzup is redefining traditional marketing strategies with an inclusive, user-driven approach. It is leveraging its scalable technology to disrupt the status quo, offering a win-win ecosystem for advertisers and users alike.

The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Products

Thumzup’s key offering, the Thumzup platform, features two integrated components: a sophisticated advertiser dashboard and an intuitive consumer-facing app. The advertiser dashboard provides companies with tools to design, manage, and analyze campaigns.

On the consumer side, the Thumzup app allows users to participate in campaigns by posting approved content to their social media accounts. In exchange, users receive direct cash rewards.

Recent enhancements to the platform include the launch of video capabilities, enabling integration with Instagram Reels. This update allows advertisers to tap into the growing popularity of short-form video content, broadening campaign possibilities.

The platform not only incentivizes users but also delivers authentic, relatable content for advertisers, bridging the gap between grassroots engagement and effective campaign management.

Market Opportunity

The global social media advertising market is projected to reach $219.8 billion in 2024, with an expected annual growth rate of 3.86%, resulting in a market volume of $255.8 billion by 2028, according to Statista. Thumzup targets the intersection of this growth with the rise of micro-influencers and everyday social media users, a segment that remains largely untapped in the advertising ecosystem.

In October 2024, Thumzup achieved 202% year-over-year growth in advertisers on its proprietary platform, demonstrating significant traction and scalability. With plans for further expansion in both advertiser partnerships and user engagement, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for authentic and trust-building marketing strategies. As Thumzup integrates innovative features like video support and continues its geographic expansion, it is poised to capture a larger share of the rapidly growing social media advertising market.

Leadership Team

Robert Steele, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Thumzup, has over 25 years of experience as a technologist and entrepreneur. He has successfully launched multiple companies, including iBrite, a pioneer in mobile software development. Mr. Steele’s leadership and innovative vision drive Thumzup’s mission to democratize the social media marketing industry.

Robert Haag, Director of Thumzup, is the Managing Member of Westside Strategic Partners LLC and a Managing Director at IRTH Communications. With decades of experience in financial communications, investment, and corporate strategy, Mr. Haag provides critical guidance on strategic initiatives and business growth.

Dr. Joanna Massey, member of the company’s Board of Advisors, brings over 25 years of executive experience with Fortune 500 companies and startups to Thumzup. She has held senior roles in communications at Lions Gate Entertainment and CBS Corporation. Dr. Massey leverages her expertise to support Thumzup’s growth strategy.

Thumzup Media Corp. (NASDAQ: TZUP), closed Friday's trading session at $4.085, up 3.4177%, on 61 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 106,191 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $2.02/$7.89.

Recent News

• Thumzup Media Corp. (NASDAQ: TZUP) - Thumzup Media Corp. (NASDAQ: TZUP) Boosts Shareholder Value with Share Buyback
• TechMediaBreaks - Thumzup Media Corp. (NASDAQ: TZUP) Repurchases $126,507 in Common Stock 
• TechMediaBreaks - Thumzup Media Corp. (NASDAQ: TZUP) Fuels Explosive Growth with Disruptive AdTech Platform

Soligenix Inc. (NASDAQ: SNGX)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Soligenix Inc. (NASDAQ: SNGX).

Soligenix (NASDAQ: SNGX) , a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products to treat rare diseases where there is an unmet medical need, today announced its recent accomplishments and financial results for the year ended Dec. 31, 2024. "We remain highly focused on advancing our multiple clinical programs as we work towards achieving a number of important and potentially transformational development milestones, including top-line results in 2026 for our actively enrolling confirmatory Phase 3 placebo-controlled study evaluating HyBryte(TM) (synthetic hypericin) in the treatment of early-stage cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (‘CTCL')," stated Christopher J. Schaber, PhD, president and chief executive officer of Soligenix. "In the second half of this year, we also anticipate reporting top-line results from our ongoing Phase 2 studies for SGX945 (dusquetide) in Behçet's disease and SGX302 (synthetic hypericin) in mild-to-moderate psoriasis."

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/mKGrJ

Soligenix Inc. (NASDAQ: SNGX) is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for rare diseases with high unmet medical needs. Operating through two key segments, the company’s Specialized BioTherapeutics division is dedicated to oncology and inflammation therapies, while its Public Health Solutions segment advances vaccines and therapeutics targeting biothreats and infectious diseases.

The company is actively advancing multiple late-stage clinical programs, including HyBryte™ (SGX301), a novel photodynamic therapy for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL). Additional candidates in development target psoriasis (SGX302), oral mucositis (SGX942), and Behçet’s disease (SGX945), while its public health efforts focus on heat-stable vaccines for ricin poisoning (RiVax®), Ebola (SuVax™), and Marburg (MarVax™) viruses, that have been supported by non-dilutive government grants and contracts of approximately $60 million to date.

With a diversified pipeline, multiple orphan and fast-track designations, and collaborations with government agencies, Soligenix is uniquely positioned for potential regulatory approvals and commercialization.

The company is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

Pipeline and Development Programs

Specialized BioTherapeutics

Soligenix’s Specialized BioTherapeutics division develops treatments for oncology and inflammatory diseases, focusing on conditions with few or no effective therapeutic options. HyBryte™ (synthetic hypericin) has completed a Phase 3 study for CTCL, demonstrating statistically significant efficacy, and a second confirmatory Phase 3 trial is actively enrolling patients to support potential regulatory submissions worldwide. If approved, it would be the first non-mutagenic photodynamic therapy for early-stage CTCL, addressing an unmet medical need. It has received orphan drug designations in the U.S. and Europe, as well as Fast Track designation in the U.S.

SGX302, a photodynamic therapy based on the same active ingredient as HyBryte™, is in clinical development for mild-to-moderate psoriasis, with positive Phase 1/2 proof-of-concept results, it is actively enrolling patients in a Phase 2a clinical trial.

SGX942, designed to reduce inflammation and tissue damage in oral mucositis associated with cancer treatment, is progressing as a potential first-in-class therapy.
SGX945, targeting aphthous ulcers in Behçet’s disease, is actively enrolling in a Phase 2a clinical trial and has received fast-track designation, highlighting the urgency of developing effective treatments for this rare inflammatory condition.

Public Health Solutions

The company’s Public Health Solutions segment focuses on medical countermeasures for biothreats and emerging infectious diseases, leveraging non-dilutive government funding to advance its programs. RiVax®, a ricin toxin vaccine, has demonstrated strong preclinical and early clinical results and may be eligible for government procurement under the Strategic National Stockpile initiative.

The company’s RiVax®, as well as its vaccine candidates for Ebola and Marburg viruses are based on its proprietary ThermoVax® technology, which stabilizes vaccines for long-term storage without refrigeration. This approach could be transformative in regions where maintaining cold-chain logistics is challenging.

The ongoing development of these vaccines is supported by funding from NIH, BARDA, and DTRA, with the potential for up to three priority review vouchers (PRVs) upon regulatory approval, to be used for future programs or sold. Notably, PRVs have previously sold for roughly $100 million.

Market Opportunity

Soligenix targets markets with significant commercial potential, focusing on rare diseases and biodefense applications. HyBryte™ addresses CTCL, a disease affecting over 68,000 patients across the U.S. and Europe, with a total market opportunity exceeding $250 million. SGX302, the company’s therapy for mild-to-moderate psoriasis, serves a much larger population, as over eight million people in the U.S. are affected by the condition, representing a global market opportunity exceeding $1 billion.

SGX942, developed for oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients, is aimed at a market worth more than $500 million, while SGX945 for Behçet’s disease serves a niche segment valued at over $200 million worldwide.

In addition to its rare disease programs, Soligenix’s Public Health Solutions division has the potential to generate significant revenue through government procurement contracts. By focusing on both orphan drug markets and government-funded biodefense initiatives, Soligenix has positioned itself for sustained revenue growth through multiple high-value opportunities.

Leadership Team

Christopher J. Schaber, PhD, Chairman, President & CEO, brings to the company more than 35 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. Before joining Soligenix, he held senior and operational leadership roles at Discovery Laboratories, Acute Therapeutics, Ohmeda Pharmaceuticals, The Liposome Company, and Wyeth Ayerst Laboratories. He has extensive expertise in drug development, regulatory affairs, and corporate strategy, positioning him to drive Soligenix’s growth and advancement toward commercialization.

Richard Straube, MD, Chief Medical Officer, has more than 35 years of experience in drug development and clinical research. Prior to joining Soligenix, he held key leadership roles at Stealth Peptides, INO Therapeutics, Ohmeda Pharmaceuticals, and Centocor. Throughout his career, he has played a crucial role in bringing innovative therapies to market, particularly in inflammatory diseases and immunology, making him a valuable asset in advancing Soligenix’s late-stage clinical programs.

Oreola Donini, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, has more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical research and development, with expertise in immunology, inflammation, and rare diseases. Before joining Soligenix, she held leadership positions at Inimex Pharmaceuticals, ESSA Pharma, and Kinetek Pharmaceuticals, where she worked on novel drug discovery and translational medicine. Her experience in preclinical research and product development supports Soligenix’s continued innovation in biopharmaceuticals.

Jonathan Guarino, CPA, CGMA, Chief Financial Officer, has over 25 years of experience in corporate finance and strategic financial planning. Before joining Soligenix, he held financial leadership positions at Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Covance, BlackRock, and Barnes & Noble. His expertise in financial management, accounting, and capital markets plays a critical role in Soligenix’s financial strategy and operational efficiency.

Soligenix Inc. (NASDAQ: SNGX), closed Friday's trading session at $2.39, up 0.4201681%, on 957 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 26,823 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.8301/$14.9184.

Recent News

• Soligenix Inc. (NASDAQ: SNGX) - InvestorNewsBreaks - Soligenix Inc. (NASDAQ: SNGX) Announces Key Milestones and 2024 Financial Results
• Study Shows Bioengineered Materials Can Treat Oral Mucositis
• BioMedNewsBreaks — Why Soligenix Inc. (NASDAQ: SNGX) Is ‘One to Watch’

Torr Metals Inc. (TSX.V: TMET)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlightFathom Torr Metals Inc. (TSX.V: TMET) .

Late last year, Chinese state media revealed that a ‘supergiant' gold deposit of very high quality was found in central China. Its estimated worth is approximately $83 billion and it could well be the largest ever gold reserve discovered. For comparison purposes, this Chinese reserve exceeds what has previously been documented as the largest reserve, the one in South Africa at the South Deep Mine projected to contain about 900 metric tons of gold. The Chinese deposit is said to contain at least 1,100 metric tons of the precious metal. Revelations of the Hunan Province gold discovery triggered the price of gold to spike on the global market amid the increasing geopolitical and market uncertainties triggering a rush to the safe haven asset, gold. This exciting gold discovery poses questions about how many more such deposits may still be undiscovered. Some experts were saying that the world had reached the peak of available supplies of gold and it was now downward travel regarding new supplies of this metal. The Hunan find throws this thinking out the door and creates excitement about what else is waiting to be discovered. Who knows, the likes of Torr Metals Inc. (TSX.V: TMET) could hit their own unprecedented gold deposits!

Torr Metals Inc. (TSX.V: TMET) operates as a mineral exploration company focusing on the identification, acquisition, and advancement of mineral properties. With full 100% ownership of over 1,000 square kilometers of gold and copper projects strategically positioned in premier low-cost mining jurisdictions, Torr is poised for substantial returns across various promising regions.

The company’s extensive portfolio encompasses multiple district-scale projects, including the Filion Gold Project in northern Ontario, the Kolos Copper-Gold Project in south-central British Columbia, and the Latham Copper-Gold Project in northern British Columbia. These projects are all located in prolific mining regions with paved highway access, robust support infrastructure, and favorable geological conditions offering significant potential for new discoveries.

Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Torr Metals is ideally situated to leverage its expertise and resources for continued exploration and growth.

Projects

Kolos Copper-Gold Project

Situated within British Columbia’s prime copper-producing belt, the 140-square-kilometer Kolos Copper-Gold Project exhibits Nicola Belt geology similar to notable porphyry mines, including Copper Mountain and Highland Valley, respectively situated 106 kilometers to the south and 30 kilometers to the northwest.

With field operations based in the nearby city of Merritt and year-round access provided via Highway 5, the Kolos Project showcases substantial discovery upside potential with five defined large-scale copper-gold-molybdenum anomalies untested by drilling.

Torr Metals’ primary focus lies in unlocking the potential for major new discoveries at the Kolos Copper-Gold Project, with recent surface geochemical results marking a significant milestone positioning the company as a new key player in the region.

Filion Gold Project

The 261-square-kilometer Filion Project is situated within a largely unexplored greenstone belt where gold was initially discovered in the 1930s. With a comparable geological setting to regional orogenic gold deposits and multiple newly identified and undrilled gold trends in surficial geochemistry, the Filion Project holds significant district-scale exploration promise.

The Filion Project benefits from unparalleled infrastructure access, with direct drive-on access from the Trans-Canada Highway, as well as a regional railway and power grid four kilometers to the south. Additionally, the nearby town of Kapuskasing, with a population of 8,300, provides essential support services.

This strategic positioning ensures the Filion Project’s viability for cost-effective, year-round operations in an area poised for untapped discovery potential.

Latham Copper-Gold Project

Situated in British Columbia’s renowned Golden Triangle, the Latham Project spans a vast 689-square-kilometer district, offering immense potential for multiple major discoveries. Accessible year-round via Highway 37, just 20 kilometers south of the town of Dease Lake, the site is strategically located amidst established mining infrastructure, including the active Red Chris mine to the southeast and upcoming major porphyry projects at Schaft Creek and Galore Creek along-trend to the southwest.

Highlighted by the Gnat Pass copper-gold porphyry deposit dating back to the 1960s, the Latham Project presents a compelling opportunity for significant expansion and potential discovery. A non-compliant indicated resource at the Gnat Pass deposit includes 33 million tonnes at 0.39% copper, open beyond 200 meters vertical depth, alongside six drill-ready kilometer-scale copper-gold exploration targets.

Moreover, the Latham Project’s appeal corresponds to the region being an attractive destination for major asset acquisitions and takeovers. Recent transactions within a 40-kilometer radius include Newmont’s 2021 acquisition of the Saddle North copper-gold porphyry deposit for $311 million and Newcrest’s investment in the Red Chris copper-gold porphyry deposit in 2019 for $804 million, underscoring industry acknowledgment of the region’s potential.

Market Opportunity

The World Gold Council, the industry association for the world’s gold producers, estimated in 2023 that the physical financial gold market, which is made up of bars, coins, gold ETFs and central bank reserves, is worth nearly $5 trillion.

The council reports that gold mine production adds approximately 3,500 tons of the precious metal to the world’s supply annually, equivalent to about 2% growth. This historical scarcity and relatively slow production of new supply, as compared to other commodities, is a primary reason gold has retained its value for millennia, according to the council.

Likewise, a report from Acumen Research and Consulting, a global provider of market intelligence and consulting services, valued the global copper market at $304.1 billion in 2022 and forecast that it will reach a market size of $496.8 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 5.1% over the forecast period.

The report identifies a growing demand for copper in the electronics industry, as well as an expanding copper supply due to increasing production from existing mines and the rising number of mine development projects in developing nations, as driving factors in the rising value of the copper market.

Management Team

Malcolm Dorsey, P.Geo., is President, CEO and Director of Torr Metals. He brings over a decade of expertise as a seasoned exploration geologist and project developer, having been pivotal in driving the success of numerous diverse projects across North, Central, and South America. His comprehensive background spans early-stage exploration through to resource development and project acquisitions. His academic credentials include an M.Sc. in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Calgary, where his research characterized the district-scale structural influences affecting copper and gold mineralizing events in western British Columbia. Prior to his current role, he served as Senior Geologist for Benchmark Metals, where his contributions were instrumental in advancing the company’s gold equivalent resource from approximately 80,000 ounces to a maiden resource estimate of 2.92 million ounces.

John Williamson, P. Geol., is Chairman and Director of Torr Metals. He is a mining executive and investor with more than 30 years of experience as a founder, promoter and leader in the formation, financing and operation of private and public companies with exploration and mining interests worldwide. On more than one occasion his team’s efforts have been recognized for excellence by being named to the TSX Venture 50. He holds a B.Sc. in Geology and is a registered Professional Geologist (P.Geol.) with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (APEGA) and the Geological Association of Canada.

Torr Metals Inc. (TSX.V: TMET), closed Friday's trading session at $0.15, even for the day, on 13,500 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.045/$0.195.

Recent News

• Torr Metals Inc. (TSX.V: TMET) - Newly Discovered Supergiant Deposit of Gold Could Yield Over $80 Billion
• Physical Copper Traders are Cashing in on the Effects of US Tariff Threats
• RockBreaks - Torr Metals Inc. (TSX.V: TMET) Expands Kolos Project With Bertha Property Acquisition 

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX.V: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlightFathom Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX.V: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF).

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies can greatly enhance value for private equity funds when implemented effectively. A recent study has found that shares of private equity funds publicly listed on exchanges tend to perform better if the companies had low ESG risk scores, underscoring the financial benefits of strong ESG management. The study, conducted by A&M, analyzed data obtained on 16 listed firms, which collectively managed about 1,800 portfolio investments and held roughly $6.3 trillion in assets under management. Overall, the study highlights a clear link between ESG risk management and improved financial performance, reinforcing the growing importance of sustainability in investment strategies. As more private equity firms recognize the benefits of ESG integration, those that prioritize and transparently report their sustainability efforts may continue to gain a competitive edge in the market. The data is out. Addressing ESG risks is linked to better stock market performance. It is therefore no longer surprising why enterprises like Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX.V: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF) are going all out in integrating these principles in every aspect of the company.

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX.V: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF) is a publicly traded Canadian minerals exploration company focused on exploring high-grade copper and gold deposits in North America. The company owns the Storm Copper Project and the Seal Zinc Deposit in Nunavut, Canada, and is currently exploring the Buckingham Gold Vein and critical metals prospects in central Virginia. Aston Bay is also in the advanced stages of negotiation on other properties with high-grade critical minerals potential in these areas.

The company believes in responsible exploration and carries out its work programs to the highest standards of social responsibility, environmental stewardship and health and safety. Aston Bay cares about leaving a net positive impact on the communities in which it works and engages with local representatives, Indigenous groups and government agencies to build respectful relationships through dialogue and collaborative processes. Depending on the stage of exploration, these efforts may include employment, contracting, training, community benefits and other agreements.

Aston Bay conducts exploration through safe, socially and environmentally responsible and sustainable work practices. The company embeds core values of health and safety throughout its operations by adhering to strict health and safety standards and practices that meet and/or exceed industry standards and government codes and regulations.

The company is headquartered in Toronto.

Projects

Storm Copper

The high-grade Storm Copper Deposit is located 112 kilometers south of the community of Resolute Bay, Nunavut, on western Somerset Island, just south of the past-producing Polaris Pb-Zn Mine. The property comprises 173 contiguous mining claims, including the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc projects, covering an area of approximately 541,795 acres.

The property has good access to established shipping lanes, and the landscape provides favorable conditions for development of roads and a protected deep-water port. Exploration is supported through excellent infrastructure in the nearby hamlet of Resolute Bay.

Aston Bay is partnered with American West Metals (ASX: AW1) at Storm. American West is responsible for all exploration expenditures, having aggressively advanced the project toward production and earned an 80% interest. This affords excellent optionality to the company’s shareholders, as Aston Bay is free carried with no required expenditures until the completion of a bankable feasibility study.

American West recently completed an Australian JORC-compliant Maiden Resource Estimate for Storm; the North American 43-101 compliant resource estimate is expected in Q1 2024. American West is cashed up and plans a multimillion-dollar resource expansion and new discovery drilling program for the summer of 2024.

The Buckingham County Gold Project

The gold-bearing system at the Buckingham County Gold Project in Virginia lies within a belt hosting past producing mines, current gold mines and advanced gold explorations, stretching through Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Buckingham hosts a “Kirkland Lake-style” high grade gold vein returning values consistently over one ounce gold per ton and is underexplored both at depth and along almost one mile of strike length. These types of veins have excellent ESG qualities, as they are typically mined using a small footprint underground method, with gold extracted using simple and environmentally friendly gravity methods.

Market Opportunity

The World Gold Council, the industry association for the world’s gold producers, estimated in 2023 the physical financial gold market, which is made up of bars, coins, gold ETFs and central bank reserves, is worth nearly $5 trillion. The council reports that gold mine production adds approximately 3,500 tons of the precious metal to the world’s supply annually, equivalent to about 2% growth.

This historical scarcity and relatively slow production of new supply, as compared to other commodities, is a primary reason gold has retained its value for millennia, according to the council.

A report from Acumen Research and Consulting, a global provider of market intelligence and consulting services, valued the global copper market at $304.1 billion in 2022 and forecast that it will reach a market size of $496.8 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 5.1% over the forecast period.

The report identifies a growing demand for copper in the electronics industry, as well as an expanding copper supply due to increasing production from existing mines and the rising number of mine development projects in developing nations, as driving factors in the rising value of the copper market.

Management Team

Thomas Ullrich is CEO and Director of Aston Bay. He has over 30 years of experience in mineral exploration and geoscience. Before joining Aston Bay, he was Chief Geologist North America for Antofagasta Minerals plc, investigating copper potential through extensive property evaluations and management of drill programs in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Prior to that, he was Senior Geologist for Almaden Minerals.

Sofia Harquail handles Investor Relations and Corporate Development at Aston Bay. She has over 15 years of experience in the private and public sectors of the mining industry. Before joining Aston Bay, she worked as a consultant for the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada and for exempt market dealer Red Cloud Financial Services Inc. Ms. Harquail holds an M.A. from the University of Uppsala in Sweden and received her CPIR designation from the CIRI/Ivey Investor Relations Program. She also sits on the board of the Young Mining Professionals Toronto and is CSC Certified.

Aston Bay has a talented Board of Directors bringing broad experience from across the industry, encompassing resource expansion, mine development, mergers and acquisitions, and mining finance.

Ms. Jessie Liu-Ernsting has over 15 years of experience in the mining industry, spanning capital projects engineering, debt capital markets, private equity and corporate strategy at several firms, including Hudbay Minerals and Resource Capital Funds. She is currently VP Investor Relations and Communications at G Mining Ventures Corp.

Mr. Jeffrey R. Wilson has over 25 years’ experience in the mining industry, having served as a director, officer and advisor of multiple public and private companies in the mineral exploration and mining investment industries. Mr. Wilson is currently President & CEO of Precipitate Gold Corp.

Mr. Gary O’Connor has over 40 years of diverse experience as a mineral exploration and development professional in the management of successful resource projects as well as the evaluation, technical due diligence, and supervision of large mineral exploration and development projects through-out the world. While with Freeport, Mr. O’Connor worked on the due diligence and discovery of a major gold fraud on the Busang gold “deposit” in Kalimantan by Bre-X.

Mr. Mark J. Pryor is a geologist with a 40-year track record of successfully advancing multiple precious metal, copper, coal, REE and Li projects from discovery through to exploitation. He is currently Executive Vice President of the Exploration Division at The Electrum Group.

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (OTCQB: ATBHF), closed Friday's trading session at $0.033, even for the day, on 4 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 126,930 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.03095/$0.107.

Recent News

• Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX.V: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF) - Study Finds Addressing ESG Risks is Linked to Improved Stock Market Performance
• Congo Freezes Cobalt Exports to Stem Plummeting Prices
• Major Pension Fund Pulls $35 Billion from State Street Over ESG Concerns

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS).

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) ("D-Wave"), a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services, has introduced a novel blockchain architecture that incorporates quantum computing techniques to enhance security and efficiency. The company's new research paper, Blockchain with Proof of Quantum Work, details how a "proof of quantum" algorithm utilizes quantum computation to generate and validate blockchain hashes.

D-Wave deployed this architecture across four of its cloud-based annealing quantum computers located in Canada and the U.S., marking the first instance of distributed quantum computing for blockchain. The research indicates that using quantum computation for hashing and proof of work could require a fraction of the electricity used by classical resources alone and potentially reduce electricity costs by up to a factor of 1,000.

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/TzTyv

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) is a leader in quantum computing systems, software and services focused on delivering customer value via practical quantum applications for problems such as logistics, artificial intelligence, materials sciences, drug discovery, scheduling, fault detection and financial modeling. As the only provider building both annealing and gate-model quantum computers, the company is unlocking commercial use cases in optimization today, while building the technologies that will enable new solutions tomorrow.

D-Wave is a pioneer in quantum computing, with a history of delivering the world’s first commercial quantum computer; the first real-time quantum cloud service; countless hardware and software product and research milestones; and the planned first cross-platform quantum solution which will deliver both annealing and gate-model quantum computers to customers via an integrated platform. Its current commercial product offerings include: Advantage™ (fifth generation quantum computer), Leap™ (quantum cloud service), Launch™ (quantum computing onboarding service) and Ocean™ (full suite of open-source programming tools).

D-Wave’s relentless pursuit of practical quantum computing has resulted in the technology being used today by some of the world’s most advanced enterprises – more than 25 of the Forbes Global 2000 use D-Wave.

D-Wave’s commercial customers include blue-chip industry leaders like Volkswagen, Accenture, BBVA, NEC Corporation, Save-On-Foods, DENSO and Lockheed Martin. The company boasts an extensive IP portfolio featuring more than 200 issued U.S. patents and over 100 peer-reviewed papers published in leading scientific journals.

Founded in 1999, D-Wave is the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers. With headquarters and the Quantum Engineering Center of Excellence based near Vancouver, Canada, D-Wave’s U.S. operations are based in Palo Alto, California.

Advantage™ Quantum Computer

 

With the Advantage™ Quantum Computer, D-Wave has incorporated two decades of experience and over 10 years of customer feedback to create the first and only quantum computer designed for business. The platform features a new processor architecture with over 5,000 qubits and 15-way qubit connectivity. This is 2.5x more connections and more than double the number of qubits than the company’s previous generation quantum computer.

D-Wave’s quantum computers, first located in its facilities in British Columbia, have been available to North American users through its Leap™ quantum cloud service since 2018. It has since introduced new Advantage systems in Julich, Germany, and most recently, Marina Del Rey, California, which marked the availability of the first Advantage quantum computer physically located in the United States.

That new deployment is part of the USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center (QCC) hosted at USC’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI), a unit of the University of Southern California’s prestigious Viterbi School of Engineering. Additionally, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and D-Wave announced that the U.S.-based system is available for use in Amazon 2racket, expanding the number to three different D-Wave quantum systems available to AWS users.

Leap Quantum Cloud Service

 

D-Wave’s customers interface with its systems through the Leap™ quantum cloud service. Leap delivers immediate, real-time access to the company’s Advantage quantum computer and quantum hybrid solver service, all with enterprise-class performance and scalability.

Leap allows developers proficient in Python to get started building and running quantum applications. Through a seamless and secure cloud-based connection, users can easily start solving complex problems of up to 1 million variables and 100,000 constraints.

Using Leap, D-Wave customers have developed quantum hybrid applications for use cases in manufacturing, logistics, financial services, life sciences, materials science, retail and transportation. By eliminating the need to wait hours, days or weeks to get good answers to a broad array of problems, D-Wave is helping businesses move forward.

D-Wave Launch

D-Wave Launch™ is the company’s onboarding platform aimed at helping businesses easily start their quantum journey. Through this program, D-Wave’s team of experts and partners aid enterprises in identifying best use cases for quantum and work with them to develop a proof of concept and production pilot.

From there, the team coordinates with customers to get their hybrid quantum applications up and running, providing ongoing Leap quantum cloud access to ensure the application is operating smoothly and delivering real business value.

Target Verticals

While the potential applications for quantum computing are effectively limitless, D-Wave has identified a number of industry verticals as key areas of focus for its quantum architecture, providing case studies for each. These include:

• Manufacturing – D-Wave worked with Volkswagen to identify a commercial optimization application, the binary paint shop problem, which was run on D-Wave’s hybrid solver service. The solver outperformed four purely classical methods on problem sizes at commercial scale (N=3,000). In a separate project, similar inputs were tested using a leading ion trap system, which failed to find any commercial solution.
• Life Sciences – Menten AI makes use of D-Wave quantum computing to assist in the design of novel therapeutic peptides—short strings of amino acids that can act as potent drugs. With the rise of COVID-19, D-Wave’s Advantage system made it possible to identify molecules that might be especially well-suited for binding and inhibiting the related spike protein, producing several promising peptide designs.
• Finance – Multiverse Computing, a leader in developing quantum solutions for the financial sector, leveraged D-Wave’s hybrid solver service in a collaboration with BBVA, one of the world’s largest financial institutions. Multiverse demonstrated management strategies that far exceeded the granularity of traditional returns in a fraction of the time, helping BBVA identify a low-risk portfolio for investment.

Market Opportunity

The quantum computing total addressable market is projected to grow between $450 billion and $850 billion over the next 15 to 30 years, with between $5 billion and $10 billion of anticipated TAM growth coming in the next three to five years, according to Boston Consulting Group. Driving factors behind this growth include rising investments in quantum computing tech by governments and an increasing number of commercial use-cases.

Forward-thinking organizations see quantum as an opportunity to move ahead of the competition. From finding efficiencies and reducing waste to decreasing time to solution and solving problems abandoned due to complexity, the business value is real. According to data from 451 Research, 40% of large enterprises are already experimenting with quantum computing.

D-Wave is strategically positioned – in an industry with significant barriers to entry – as evident by a decades-long track record serving a roster of blue-chip customers. The company is singularly focused on helping its customers achieve clear value by leveraging quantum computing in practical business applications. With a full stack of systems, software, developer tools and services, D-Wave is working to enable enterprises, governments, developers and researchers to access the power of quantum computing, thereby providing an intriguing opportunity for prospective investors.

D-Wave’s current investor base includes PSP Investments, Goldman Sachs, BDC Capital, NEC Corporation, Aegis Group Partners and In-Q-Tel.

Leadership Team

Dr. Alan Baratz has served as the CEO of D-Wave since 2020. Previously, as Executive Vice President of R&D and Chief Product Officer, he drove the development, delivery, and support of all of D-Wave’s products, technologies, and applications. Dr. Baratz has over 25 years of experience in product development and bringing new products to market at leading technology companies and software startups. As the first president of JavaSoft at Sun Microsystems, he oversaw the growth and adoption of the Java platform from its infancy to a robust platform supporting mission-critical applications in nearly 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies. He has also held executive positions at Symphony, Avaya, Cisco, and IBM. Dr. Baratz holds a doctorate in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

John Markovich is the company’s CFO. He brings to D-Wave over three decades of experience working with rapidly growing private and public technology companies across all stages of development. Mr. Markovich has directed the finance, accounting, tax, treasury, M&A, legal, operations, customer service, IR, HR, and IT functions for companies ranging from privately held pre-revenue startups to an NYSE-listed Fortune 500 multi-national company with over $1.2 billion in annual revenue. During his career, he has negotiated and closed over 150 debt, equity, M&A, and joint venture transactions exceeding $2.5 billion in value; over a dozen private placements; nearly a dozen M&A transactions; and several international joint ventures. Mr. Markovich holds a BS in Business from Miami University and an MBA from the Michigan State Graduate School of Business.

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS), closed Friday's trading session at $8.36, off by 3.7975%, on 2,857,272 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 85,720,360 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.7505/$11.95.

Recent News

• D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) - BillionDollarBreaks - D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) Unveils Quantum-Powered Blockchain Architecture 
• Nvidia CEO to Reassure the AI Industry of the Firm's Dominance This Week
• D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) Demonstrates Quantum Supremacy on a Real-World Problem

Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN).

Clene (NASDAQ: CLNN) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Clene Nanomedicine Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving mitochondrial health and protecting neuronal function to treat neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ("ALS") and multiple sclerosis ("MS"), is actively advancing its lead drug candidate, CNM-Au8®. The company presented its progress at two key investor events this month, including the Q1 Virtual Investor Summit and the 37th Annual Roth Conference. At both events, Clene's management discussed the latest achievements with CNM-Au8, a gold nanocrystal-based oral suspension that targets mitochondrial dysfunction and promotes neuronal health. The drug has shown promising results in Phase 2 trials, including significant survival benefits and delayed clinical worsening in ALS patients. Clene is now preparing to submit a New Drug Application ("NDA") to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") in the second half of 2025, aiming for potential accelerated approval.

As part of its ongoing efforts, Clene is conducting further analyses recommended by the FDA regarding neurofilament light chain ("NfL") data, a key biomarker for ALS, in its NIH-sponsored Expanded Access Program ("EAP"). The company is collaborating with APST Research GmbH to compare NfL levels in treated ALS patients to historical controls. This analysis aims to determine whether CNM-Au8 can reduce NfL decline and to demonstrate that the rate of NfL change is associated with survival in the NIH-sponsored EAP ALS population, which would further strengthen Clene's case for regulatory approval.

To view the full articles, visit https://ibn.fm/VZfZB and https://ibn.fm/gwrCB

Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) is a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving mitochondrial health and protecting neuronal function to treat neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS).

Its lead drug candidate is CNM-Au8®, an oral suspension developed to restore neuronal health and function by increasing energy production and utilization by driving critical cellular energy producing reactions that enable neuroprotection and remyelination to increase neuronal and glial resilience to disease-relevant stressors. CNM-Au8 is being studied in various clinical trials, including the Harvard/MGH Healey ALS Platform clinical trial for patients with ALS; RESCUE-ALS, a completed proof-of-concept clinical trial in patients with early symptomatic ALS; the REPAIR trials, completed target engagement clinical trials showing brain energy metabolite change with CNM-Au8; and a completed MS clinical trial for the treatment of visual pathway deficits in chronic optic neuropathy for remyelination in stable relapsing MS. The company also has a nanotherapeutic platform of drug discovery.

CNM-Au8

CNM-Au8, Clene’s lead asset, is a highly concentrated aqueous suspension of catalytically active, clean-surfaced, faceted gold nanocrystals. Multiple pathogenic insults contribute to neuronal death. Mitochondrial dysfunction and NAD+ decline is a common final pathway in neurodegeneration, with NAD+ as a critical determinant of cell survival and function. CNM-Au8’s catalytic mechanisms target the energetic deficits, oxidative stress and accumulation of misfolded proteins that are common to many neurodegenerative diseases.

The unique catalytic mechanism of action of CNM-Au8 is hypothesized to act as a neuroprotective and remyelinating therapy in neurodegenerative disease states in order to: (1) drive, support and maintain beneficial metabolic and energetic cellular reactions within diseased, stressed and/or damaged cells, (2) directly catalyze the reduction of harmful, reactive oxygen species (“ROS”) and (3) promote protein homeostasis via activation of the heat shock factor-1 pathway, recognized to dampen the cytotoxicity caused by misfolded and denatured proteins, which are known to occur ubiquitously in neurodegenerative diseases.

CNM-Au8 is used in combination with other agents, has no known drug-drug interactions, and is designed to improve function and survival. The clinical effects of both function and survival were seen in its clinical ALS trials, as earlier announced.

More than 500 estimated years of collective exposure across ALS, MS, and Parkinson’s disease participants in CNM-Au8 clinical trials and Expanded Access Protocol (compassionate use) programs have been recorded without any observed safety signals.

CNM-Au8 is a federally registered trademark of Clene Inc. Clene, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with R&D and manufacturing operations in Maryland, began in 2013.

Market Opportunity

ALS is the most prevalent adult-onset progressive motor neuron disease, affecting approximately 30,000 people in the U.S. and an estimated 500,000 people worldwide, with a life expectancy of typically three to five years. Clene estimates that global ALS treatment sales will be greater than $1 billion annually within the coming few years. Additional treatments affecting daily function and survival remain the market need.

Additionally, there are more than 2 million MS patients globally, and Clene estimates the market size to be worth more than $23 billion annually. While the MS community has been successful at limiting relapses, non-relapsing MS patients continue to clinically deteriorate even while receiving effective immunomodulatory disease-modifying therapies (“DMTs”). A critical unmet medical need remains for therapeutic interventions that protect neuronal function and myelin health independent of immunomodulation to address progression independent of relapse activity.

Management Team

Robert Etherington is President, Director and CEO of Clene. He has more than 30 years of sales, marketing and leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Clene, he worked at Actelion Pharmaceuticals, the largest biopharma company in the European Union prior to its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in 2017, where he led that company’s U.S. commercial operations. He began his pharmaceutical sales and marketing career at Parke-Davis, a division of Pfizer, where he rose to the position of Team Leader overseeing the drug Lipitor.

Mark Mortenson is Chief Science Officer at Clene. He is co-inventor of the technology platform developed to produce the company’s therapeutics. He is the inventor or co-inventor on 32 other U.S. patents and hundreds of corresponding international patents. He is a former chief patent counsel responsible for 5,500 U.S. and international patents and patent applications. He holds bachelor’s degrees in physics and ceramic engineering from Alfred University, a master’s degree in materials science from Penn State University and a J.D. from George Washington University.

Benjamin Greenberg, M.D., MHS, FAAN, is Head of Medical at Clene. He is an internationally recognized expert in disorders of the central nervous system. He is currently professor of neurology and Vice Chair of Clinical and Translational Research in the department of Neurology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins, a master’s degree in molecular microbiology and immunology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and graduated from Baylor College of Medicine. He served residency in neurology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Morgan R. Brown is CFO at Clene. He has more than 30 years of finance and accounting experience, with 23 years at biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device companies. He has served in similar roles at Lipocine Inc., Innovus Pharmaceuticals, World Heart Corp., Lifetree Clinical Research and NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. He previously worked at accounting firm KPMG. He is a CPA with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Utah State University and an M.S. in business administration from the University of Utah.

Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN), closed Friday's trading session at $4.14, off by 3.0445%, on 914 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 39,562 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $3.8181/$9.2.

Recent News

• Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) - BioMedNewsBreaks - Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) Unveils Progress on CNM-Au8(R), Eyes Potential Fast-Track FDA Approval
• Clene Inc.'s (NASDAQ: CLNN) CNM-Au8(R) Delivers Significant Survival Benefits in New Analyses of Healey ALS Platform Trial Data
• Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) to Present CNM-Au8(R) Updates at 37th Annual Roth Conference

Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI).

Glioblastoma continues to be one of the most challenging cancers to treat as it resists even the latest innovations in immunotherapy. Now, a new study conducted by a team at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami suggests that, when a specific protein is suppressed, an antiviral immune response increases the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors. This discovery not only opens the door to a novel way to treat glioblastoma but also suggests that the protein in question, ZNF638, could be a valuable biomarker as treatment teams customize immunotherapy for specific patients. The research findings appeared in the Journal of Clinical Investigation on March 17 this year. The team was glad to find that when they examined the clinical data of patients who had undergone immunotherapy, those who fared better exhibited minimal ZNF638 expression. This confirmed that suppressing this regulator could indeed improve the efficacy of immunotherapies. This study could be a game-changer in brain cancer treatment since it opens the possibility of developing drugs that can penetrate the brain and silence ZNF638 proteins. With companies like Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) heavily investing in developing oncolytic viruses targeting brain cancers and other solid tumors, a time may soon come when glioblastoma and other brain malignancies can be treated effectively.

Calidi Biotherapeutics (NYSE American: CLDI) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company at the forefront of research and development of innovative treatments in the field of immuno-oncology. With cancer being the second leading cause of death globally, the company focuses on harnessing antitumor virotherapies and patented technologies designed to protect and potentiate the virotherapy during administration to combat cancer more effectively and with fewer side effects. The company's approach includes a systemic platform using extracellular enveloped viruses and an intratumoral platform utilizing stem cells to protect the therapy from the body's immune system during administration. Calidi's pipeline includes promising therapies such as RTNova, targeting lung and metastatic cancers, SuperNova, targeting solid tumors such as head and neck, triple-negative breast cancer and soft tissue sarcoma, as well as NeuroNova, designed for patients with glioblastoma and other high-grade gliomas. These cutting-edge therapies aim to address critical gaps in current cancer treatments. As the global cancer burden continues to grow, Calidi is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of oncology drug development. To view the full article, visit https://ibn.fm/wtmUF

Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company pioneering proprietary technology that empowers the immune system to combat cancer. Calidi’s innovative, off-the-shelf cell-based platforms use allogeneic stem cells to deliver potent oncolytic viruses (OVs) across multiple oncology indications, including high-grade glioma (brain cancers) and solid tumors. In addition, Calidi has presented a breakthrough systemic technology, RTNova, which utilizes an exteracellular enveloped virotherapy. RTNova is pre-clinical and has been extremely well-received by market analysts and large-cap biopharma – opening the door for potential collaboration.

These cell-based platforms are engineered to protect, amplify, and enhance the efficacy of oncolytic viruses, resulting in improved patient safety and potentially advancing treatment outcomes for metastatic disease. By employing a dual approach that combines OV delivery with immune activation, Calidi’s therapies aim to not only treat but potentially prevent the spread of metastatic cancers.

The company’s development pipeline leverages this technology to address pressing needs in cancers such as glioblastoma (brain cancer), metastatic melanoma, triple-negative breast cancer, head & neck cancer, and lung cancer. Calidi’s approach has shown early signals of efficacy and safety, establishing it as a distinctive player in the growing OV market, which is projected to increase significantly in value over the next decade.

Calidi is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Products

Calidi’s product pipeline includes advanced cell-based platforms targeting a variety of oncology indications, each designed to harness the power of oncolytic virotherapy for improved cancer treatment outcomes.

• NeuroNova (CLD-101): A platform designed for treating high-grade gliomas (HGG), NeuroNova employs neuronal stem cells combined with an engineered adenovirus (CRAD-s-Pk7) to selectively target glioma cells. After a successful Phase 1 safety study in newly diagnosed HGG, NeuroNova has now progressed into Phase 1/1b trials for recurrent cases. FDA clearance for a Phase 1b/2 trial at Northwestern University was received in September 2024, with patient enrollment expected to begin in Q1 2025. This trial will utilize multiple-dose intracerebral administration to maximize safety and efficacy in newly diagnosed HGG patients.
• SuperNova (CLD-201): Built on Calidi’s foundational technology, SuperNova utilizes an engineered Vaccinia virus (CAL1) delivered via allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells to target advanced solid tumors, including head & neck, triple-negative breast cancer, and soft tissue sarcomas. Early studies with autologous stem cells demonstrated both safety and promising efficacy, and Calidi plans to begin a Phase 1 trial with multiple dose regimens for SuperNova in the coming months.
• RTNova (CLD-400): Calidi’s systemic delivery platform for lung and metastatic cancers, RTNova employs an extracellular enveloped virotherapy (envRT-01) technology for intravenous (IV) administration, simplifying the treatment process and expanding its potential applications. Currently in preclinical stages, RTNova focuses on demonstrating efficacy and safety through systemic administration. A clinical trial targeting metastatic lung cancer is anticipated for Q2 2026, using a single-arm monotherapy with dose escalation. Calidi has partnered with SIGA Technologies (NASDAQ: SIGA) to support the development of this program.

Market Opportunity

The global oncology drugs market was valued at $201.75 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to $518.25 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 11.3%. The oncolytic virotherapy market in particular is growing rapidly, driven by increasing approval rates and significant unmet needs.

The market for OV treatments is expected to expand from one approved product generating $150 million in the U.S. in 2021 to 6-8 approved therapies generating $2.4 billion by 2030. As a leader in OV technology, Calidi is well-positioned to address these high-demand areas in oncology.

Alongside global trends, the American Cancer Society projects nearly two million new cancer diagnoses in the U.S. in 2024, reflecting a 28% increase since 2010. This underscores the urgent need for novel therapies that not only treat disease progression but also enhance patient quality of life, reinforcing the demand for Calidi’s innovative approaches.

Management Team

Allan Camaisa, CEO, Chairman, and co-founder, is a seasoned leader with extensive experience in scaling businesses to successful exits. Mr. Camaisa previously led High Technology Solutions, growing it from two employees to over 500 with $50 million in revenue. He also served as CEO of Parallel6 Inc. and is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate with further studies at Harvard Business School.

Antonio Santidrian, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, leads all research and development initiatives at Calidi and is the coinventor of the company’s CLD-201 (Supernova) and CLD-400 (RTNova) platforms. Since joining Calidi in 2015, he has applied his 20+ years of expertise in academia and biotech, focusing on anti-cancer translational research, to drive the company’s innovative drug pipeline. Before Calidi, Dr. Santidrian led translational studies at The Scripps Research Institute, advancing treatments for breast cancer metastasis, and contributed to the development of ACADRA for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) at the University of Barcelona, Spain.

Boris Minev, M.D., President of Medical and Scientific Affairs, is a renowned physician-scientist with expertise in Immuno-Oncology, stem cell biology, and oncolytic viruses. Previously, Dr. Minev served as Director of Immunotherapy and Translational Oncology at Genelux Corporation and remains an adjunct professor at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center. His background includes research at the National Cancer Institute.

Andrew Jackson, CFO, has held executive finance roles with experience in biotech and clinical-stage companies, including Eterna Therapeutics and Ra Medical Systems. Mr. Jackson holds an MSBA in Finance from San Diego State University and a BSB in Accounting from the University of Minnesota.

Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI), closed Friday's trading session at $0.7401, off by 6.3165%, on 13,167 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 640,923 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.58/$8.3.

Recent News

• Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) - BioMedNewsBreaks - Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI): Poised in the Future of Oncology with Cutting-Edge Treatments
• New Study Shows 'Viral Mimicry' Could Transform Glioblastoma Treatment
• BioMedNewsBreaks - Calidi Biotherapeutics Inc.'s (NYSE American: CLDI) Novel Therapies Show Promise Against Aggressive Cancers

Brera Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: BREA)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Brera Holdings PLC(NASDAQ: BREA).

Brera Holdings, an Ireland-based, international holding company focused on expanding its global portfolio of men's and women's sports clubs, has reiterated its commitment to growing women's soccer globally

In a joint report co-authored with leading global law firm Clifford Chance LLP, Brera noted the benefits of its MCO model and the opportunity it presents for the growth of the sport

Women's soccer is experiencing unprecedented growth, with record-breaking attendance, extensive media coverage, and increasing investment from celebrities and corporations

Brera is strategically positioned to capitalize on this momentum, leveraging its MCO model to drive sustainable growth and enhance shareholder value

Brera Holdings (NASDAQ: BREA) , an Ireland-based, international holding company focused on expanding its global portfolio of men's and women's sports clubs through a multi-club ownership ("MCO") approach, has reiterated its commitment to advancing women's soccer.

Brera Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: BREA) is an Ireland-based, international holding company focused on expanding its global portfolio of men’s and women’s sports clubs through a multi-club ownership approach. The company capitalizes on opportunities to earn tournament prizes, secure sponsorships, collect transfer fees, provide professional sports consulting services, and enhance the valuation of its clubs.

Brera Holdings builds on the legacy of Brera FC, an international football club (referred to as soccer in the U.S.), that it acquired in July 2022. Established in 2000 and based in Milan, Italy, Brera FC has distinguished itself by cultivating an alternative football legacy. In October 2024, the Internet Marketing Association awarded Brera FC with the Social Impact Through Soccer accolade at its IMPACT 5050 Conference, recognizing the club’s global perspective and positive contributions to society.

The company’s growth strategy focuses on unlocking value from undervalued sports clubs and talent, driving innovation, and generating socially impactful outcomes. Brera Holdings is actively expanding its Global Sports Group, acquiring professional football and other sports clubs in emerging markets such as Africa, Asia, and Europe.

By targeting top-division teams in less mainstream markets, Brera Holdings aims to strengthen its competitive position in regional tournaments, including those organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). These acquisitions are expected to enhance sponsorship revenues and create new growth opportunities.

Leveraging its expertise in capital raising and revenue generation, Brera Holdings also anticipates growing demand for its consulting services, providing advisory support to sports clubs, associations, investors, and others. Brera Holdings is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with additional offices in Milan, Italy.

Sporting Assets

Brera Holdings continues to grow its global sports portfolio with a series of strategic acquisitions and innovations, including the FENIX Trophy Tournament, a pan-European, non-professional football competition. Launched in September 2021 and organized by Brera FC, the tournament has been recognized by UEFA and described by BBC Sport as “the Champions League for amateurs.” In 2023, Brera FC hosted the tournament’s finals at Milan’s iconic San Siro Stadium.

In March 2023, Brera Holdings expanded into Africa by establishing Brera Tchumene FC in Mozambique. Starting in the country’s Second Division League, the team quickly earned promotion to Moçambola, Mozambique’s First Division League, by November 2023.

In April 2023, Brera Holdings further strengthened its European presence by acquiring a 90% stake in Fudbalski Klub Akademija Pandev, a first-division football team in North Macedonia. This acquisition provides access to two major UEFA competitions, solidifying the company’s position in European football.

Brera Holdings’ reach extends beyond football. In July 2023, it acquired majority ownership of UYBA Volley, an Italian Serie A1 women’s professional volleyball team, demonstrating its commitment to diversifying within top-tier sports.

In September 2023, Brera Holdings entered the Mongolian football market by acquiring Bayanzurkh Sporting Ilch FC, a Mongolian National Premier League team. For the 2024 season, the club was rebranded as Brera Ilch FC, further expanding Brera’s global footprint.

In January 2024, Brera Holdings initiated a proactive search for an Italian Serie B football club, aligning with its goal of bringing multi-club ownership opportunities to mass investors through its Nasdaq-listed shares.

In February 2024, the Brera Holdings Advisory Board was established with MLS founder and World Cup director Alan Rothenberg, luxury lifestyle executive Massimo Ferragamo, sports business leaders Paul Tosetti and Marshall Geller, and Italian football icon Giuseppe Rossi.

In June 2024, the North Macedonian women’s football club Tiverija Strumica officially became part of the Brera family with the establishment of a joint-stock company controlled by Brera Holdings called Women’s Football Club Tiverija Brera AD Strumica (“Brera Tiverija”). Brera Tiverija is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brera Strumica FC.

In September 2024 Brera announced that it signed an exclusive letter of intent to acquire an Italian Serie B club (the “LOI” and the “Club”). According to a CFA report published in June 2024, this expected strategic transaction, for an estimated purchase price of $21.6 million, would add first-year annual revenue of $10.8 million to Brera, and that revenue would likely increase by 25% each year for the next three years. The company’s capital valuation, projected the report, would also experience significant appreciation during this period.

In October 2024, Brera was recognized with the 2024 Social Impact Through Soccer Award at IMPACT 5050, an annual event honoring leaders and innovators who significantly impact their industries and communities. This is the second time Brera has won the award.

Market Opportunity

A report from IMARC Group, a global management consulting firm, reveals that the international football market generated approximately $3.3 billion in revenue in 2023, with projections to grow to $4.6 billion by 2032, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6%. Key drivers behind this growth include advancements in digitization, increasing sponsorship and partnership deals between brands and clubs, the rising interest in women’s professional soccer leagues, and the expansion of the e-sports and gaming sector.

In particular, Serie B Italian football clubs seem to present exceptionally attractive investment opportunities. As of September 2024, more than half of these clubs had appreciated between 80-100% in total market value, post-purchase.

As the world’s most-watched and most-played sport, soccer drives significant demand for football-related products and services, contributing to market growth. Broadcasting rights, sponsorships, and endorsement deals are also major revenue sources for clubs and organizations, with an expanding global fanbase generating new opportunities for financial growth, according to the report.

Management Team

With extensive experience in leadership and finance, Daniel McClory currently serves as the Executive Chairman and Director of Brera Holdings, PLC. He co-founded and held the position of Chief Executive Officer at Boustead & Company Limited, and previously served as the Managing Director, Head of Equity Capital Markets, and Head of China at Boustead Securities, LLC. Mr. McClory’s governance experience includes being a Board Director for USA Track & Field and a member of the Eastern Michigan University Champions Advisory Board. Mr. McClory’s expertise encompasses founding and financing equity capital markets, as well as navigating merger and acquisition transactions and initial public offerings. He holds a BS and MS from Eastern Michigan University, where he also received an honorary Doctor of Public Service. In addition to his professional qualifications, he is fluent in both English and Italian.

Pierre Galoppi serves as the CEO, Interim CFO, and director of Brera Holdings. With over 30 years of experience in strategic business and financial services, his career spans a variety of industries, including natural resources, aviation, cybersecurity, telecommunications, tourism, and international marketing. He has worked extensively across Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, Europe, and the United States. Mr. Galoppi holds dual citizenship in Canada and Italy and is fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree and an MBA from Concordia University in Montreal.

Maria Xing serves as the Head of Investments and Corporate Development. She is an executive who has specialized in MCO football (soccer) group investments for 777 Partners, where she was involved in sourcing, direct negotiations, due diligence, and closing deals, including acquiring a controlling stake in Brazilian Serie A football club, Vasco da Gama, and investing in Australian Premier League (“A-League”) side, Melbourne Victory FC. She also played a role in other professional sports franchise portfolio management, including topflight professional football clubs in Italy, France, Germany, and Belgium. Her background is in private equity, investment banking, and finance, with prior experience at The Raine Group, Credit Suisse, and EY (Ernst & Young), as well as previous sports industry experience at Liverpool Football Club in international business development. Ms. Xing earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. from the New York University, Stern School of Business.

Brera Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: BREA), closed Friday's trading session at $0.7025, off by 0.3546099%, on 1,604 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 3,525,022 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.4999/$1.95.

Recent News

• Brera Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: BREA) - Brera Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: BREA) Expands Commitment to Women's Football and Multi-Club Ownership ('MCO') Model
• Brera Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: BREA) Bolsters Advisory Board with the Addition of Famed Global Economist Dr. Arthur B. Laffer
• InvestorNewsBreaks - Brera Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: BREA) Releases Report on Multi-Team Ownership in Women's Soccer 

Mullen Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Mullen Automotive Inc. (MULN).

Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer BYD has unveiled a new charging system that could allow EVs to recharge their batteries in just five minutes. Equipped with an astonishing 1,000 kW of charging power, this platform would be twice as fast as the fastest existing EV charger—the Tesla Supercharger network. According to BYD, its new charging system could enable electric cars to recharge in the same amount of time it takes to refuel a gas-powered vehicle, addressing one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption: long charging times. Current EV chargers take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours to fully recharge a battery, making public charging stations a time-consuming option. With its new charging system, BYD has the potential to outcompete even the largest and most established automakers worldwide. As legacy car manufacturers scale back their electrification plans and Tesla faces declining sales and stock value, amid CEO Elon Musk's growing involvement in U.S. politics, BYD may emerge as a dominant player in the future of electric mobility. It remains to be seen how this innovation in EV charging will revolutionize the way other manufacturers like Mullen Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) leverage that technology and transform their market positioning.

Mullen Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) is a Southern California-based automotive company that owns and partners with several synergistic businesses working toward the unified goal of creating clean and scalable energy solutions. Mullen has evolved over the past decade in sync with consumers and technology trends. Today, the company is working diligently to provide exciting EV options built entirely in the United States and made to fit perfectly into the American consumer’s life. Mullen strives to make EVs more accessible than ever by building an end-to-end ecosystem that takes care of all aspects of EV ownership.

Commencement of Trading on Nasdaq

On November 5, 2021, Mullen announced its commencement of trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

“Today is a monumental day for Mullen Automotive. I am especially proud of our team, investors and all who have believed in Mullen and taken us to this point as a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq Capital Market,” David Michery, CEO and Chairman of Mullen Automotive, stated in the news release. “Trading on Nasdaq now opens us up to new investors, both institutional and retail shareholders, and broadens our awareness and company profile, while increasing awareness of Mullen and our technology platform and opening new opportunities in EV and beyond. The road ahead has never been brighter for Mullen, and I am proud to lead us into the future.”

The milestone came in the wake of the company’s stock-for-stock merger with Net Element Inc.

The Mullen FIVE

The Mullen FIVE EV Crossover, debuting at the Los Angeles International Auto Show (LAIAS) on November 17, 2021, embodies Mullen’s Southern California roots with an inspired design focused on two complementary Golden State themes – California landscape and California urban.

The FIVE is built on an EV Crossover skateboard platform that offers multiple powertrain configurations and trim levels in a svelte design that is Strikingly Different™ and exciting to experience in person.

Prior to the start of LAIAS, the Mullen FIVE was selected as a finalist by the LA Auto Show for Top EV SUV in the ZEVA “People’s Choice” Awards.

LAIAS provides Mullen an opportunity to display multiple variants of the FIVE model while also showcasing its powertrain, battery and charging technology. The company intends to bring the FIVE to market in 2024, and reservations are currently open here.

Mullen’s development portfolio also includes EV Fleet Vans, which it intends to bring to market in Q2 2022, and the pure electric, high performance Mullen DragonFLY.

Expansion of Manufacturing Capacity

On November 2, 2021, Mullen announced plans to expand its facility in Robinsonville, Mississippi.

Mullen’s Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Facility (AMEC) currently occupies 124,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The total available land on the property is over 100 acres, and Mullen is moving ahead with plans to build out another 1.2 million square feet of manufacturing space to support class 1 and class 2 EV cargo vans and the Mullen FIVE EV Crossover.

On the expanded site, Mullen plans to build a body shop, a fully automated paint shop and a general assembly shop.

EV Market Outlook

The global EV market was reported to consist of 3,269,671 units in 2019, a figure that is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21.1% through 2030 to a total of 26,951,318 units worldwide. This market’s monetary value was estimated at $162.34 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.6%, resulting in an approximate value of $802.81 billion by 2027. The primary driver for this exponential growth is a worldwide increase in vehicle emissions regulations.

Management Team

David Michery is the CEO and Founder of Mullen and has been leading the company and its divisions since inception in 2014. With over 25 years of executive management, marketing, distressed assets, and business restructuring experience, Mr. Michery brings a wealth of relevant knowledge and expertise to the Mullen brand. He has notably created 12 trademarks so far to develop the company brand and vision.

Mr. Michery is working toward a sustainable future accessible to all by creating a suite of clean-energy electric vehicles at varied price points. With entirely U.S.-based manufacturing and operations, he is also determined to have Mullen Technologies play a role in shaping a self-sustaining local economy by creating more jobs in America.

Mr. Michery manages risks and company expectations as a pathway to success and has personally overseen several businesses that totaled over $1 billion in transactions. His key strength is the ability to be fiscally responsible and lead teams to complete projects on time and within budget. As a seasoned professional in this space, Mr. Michery has demonstrated skill in building businesses from the ground up and into successful entities that subsequently sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mullen Automotive Inc. (MULN), closed Friday's trading session at $0.289, off by 15.025%, on 1,036,541 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 7,695,343 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.2773/$47100.

Recent News

• Mullen Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: MULN) - Chinese EV Firm BYD Says its New Charger Requires Just 5 Minutes, Equals Fueling an ICE Car
• A Deeper Look into the Complications Surrounding Tesla's Recent Market Shifts
• Blighted by Its Heavy Pollution Record, China Doubles Down on Renewables

First Tellurium Corp. (CSE: FTEL) (OTCQB: FSTTF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight First Tellurium Corp. (CSE: FTEL) (OTCQB: FSTTF) .

As countries worldwide accelerate their transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, the need for more efficient heating and cooling systems is at an all-time high. Applying circular economy principles to indoor climate control could significantly enhance sustainability efforts while reducing emissions from heating and cooling. Maintaining a comfortable indoor climate is essential for quality of life, especially in regions that regularly experience extreme temperatures. However, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technology is still largely powered by fossil fuels and accounts for approximately 3% of global carbon emissions. Additionally, a substantial amount of thermal energy is lost in home and office buildings, forcing HVAC systems to consume even more energy, which further increases emissions. Finally, cities will need to enhance their resilience to extreme weather events, such as heat waves and severe winter storms. For example, the winter storm that struck Texas in 2021 caused widespread power outages, leaving millions without power and heating in freezing temperatures for several days. Strengthening heating and cooling systems through sustainable innovations will be critical for preventing similar crises in the future. The minerals focused on by companies like First Tellurium Corp. (CSE: FTEL) (OTCQB: FSTTF) could play an instrumental role in the manufacture of the systems needed to make temperature control in buildings more sustainable.

First Tellurium Corp. (CSE: FTEL) (OTCQB: FSTTF) is committed to exploring for and providing essential and critical metals, including tellurium, gold, silver, copper and tungsten, for North American markets. This objective is anchored by the company’s Deer Horn tellurium-gold-silver-copper project in British Columbia, Canada, and further enhanced by its property option on the Klondike tellurium-gold prospect located in Colorado, USA.

First Tellurium’s unique business model is to generate revenue and value through mineral discovery, project development, project generation and cooperative access to untapped mineral regions in indigenous territory with sustainable exploration potential.

The company is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Tellurium and the Green Energy Revolution

Tellurium has a key role to play in the ongoing green energy revolution. It is widely used in the manufacturing of photovoltaic cells for solar panels.

Despite this utility, ongoing trade tensions between China and the U.S. create implications for both tellurium and the production of cadmium-tellurium solar cells. Earlier this year, China announced plans to restrict exports of critical metals gallium and germanium, both essential for the production of semiconductors. For reference, China produces around 80% of the world’s gallium and approximately 60% of the world’s germanium.

China’s recent trade restrictions amplify the fragility of the North American tellurium supply, as the Asian nation currently produces about 60% of the world’s tellurium. This sustained supply vulnerability is why First Solar, the United States’ largest solar panel producer, set up a worldwide search for tellurium deposits in the mid-2000s.

“In North America alone, our understanding is that First Solar looked at over a hundred tellurium properties,” First Tellurium CEO Tyrone Docherty stated in a news release. “Their number one property by far, which they acquired, was the Colorado Klondike which we now control.”

The U.S. is now looking to secure safe, domestic sources of tellurium and many other critical metals to pre-empt potential shortages. The Biden administration has instituted a stream of policies, particularly the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, to source solar components from North America and other “friendly” jurisdictions.

As the only junior mining company in the world focused on tellurium exploration, First Tellurium is ahead of the curve in capitalizing on these initiatives to establish strategic, domestic supplies of key resources for solar panel manufacturers.

First Tellurium’s ESG Initiatives

Through its exploration and partnerships with Fenix Advanced Materials, Cheona Metals and IRMA, First Tellurium strives to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. The company conducts a diversified search for metals, working in alliance with indigenous peoples, NGOs, governments and leading metals buyers. First Tellurium believes this is the future of mineral exploration — generating revenue by exploring responsibly and leveraging diverse partnerships.

First Tellurium proudly adheres to, and supports, the principles and rights set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and, in particular, the fundamental proposition of free, prior and informed consent.

 

Projects

Deer Horn Tellurium-Gold-Silver-Copper Project

Deer Horn is located on 51.33 square kilometers (km) in west-central British Columbia, 36 km south of the prolific Huckleberry copper-molybdenum mine and 135 km southwest of the community of Burns Lake. It is one of few significant tellurium discoveries outside Asia and includes a 2.4 km-long vein system of high-grade gold, silver and tellurium, as well as broader zones of bulk-tonnage gold, silver and tellurium mineralization. The company completed a positive Preliminary Economic Estimate and has begun permitting for a 10,000-tonne bulk sample program to advance the project toward mine feasibility. It is North America’s only silver-gold-tellurium property with an NI 43-101 compliant tellurium resource, and it hosts a number of other mineralized targets and zone containing critical metals such as copper, tungsten and zinc.

First Tellurium owns 50% of the property, with an option to acquire up to a 75% interest. The company has engaged Dias Geophysical of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to conduct induced polarization (IP) geophysics on the Deer Horn Project in summer 2023. The program is designed to help develop drill targets for a subsequent drilling program.

Klondike Gold-Tellurium Project

The Klondike property is located in Saguache County, Colorado, southwest of Buena Vista in the state’s historical mining district. The company reports it has engaged Burgex Mining Consultants of Sandy, Utah, to stake additional claims around the Klondike property. The claims have been filed with the Bureau of Land Management.

Klondike demonstrates exceptional tellurium grades. Tellurium, used in high-efficiency cadmium telluride (Cd-Te) solar panels, next-generation lithium-ion batteries and thermoelectric devices to change heat into energy, is an essential element for the world’s transition to green energy.

The Klondike property was a top tellurium prospect owned previously by First Solar Inc., one of the world’s largest solar panel producers. First Solar terminated its worldwide raw materials exploration program in 2012 and sold the property to Colorado Klondike LLC, which optioned the project to First Tellurium. Colorado Klondike, led by First Solar’s former Exploration Manager in North America, is managing the upcoming exploration program.

The Colorado Geological Survey (CGS), in partnership with the Colorado School of Mines, reported on First Solar’s exploration at Klondike in 2015, noting: “Surface sampling by First Solar, Inc. in 2006 found very high tellurium grades of up to 3.3% (33,000 ppm), along with locally high gold grades. Tellurium grades at Klondike were the highest encountered in the company’s nationwide exploration program.”

Market Outlook

First Tellurium in spring 2023 referenced recent forecasts by the International Energy Agency (IEA) pointing to rapid growth in solar photovoltaic (solar PV) deployment worldwide. According to the agency, solar PV installations will generate more power by 2027 than any other energy source, including coal, natural gas and hydro. To meet this demand, consumption of both silver and tellurium, key components of solar panels, is expected to surge in coming years.

Chen Lin, founder of Lin Asset Management, has written in his investment newsletter for clients that solar PV is now the largest industrial usage of silver. He said that in 2022 solar PV production used about 12% of total silver demand, or about 120 million ounces of silver. Lin expects this number to rise dramatically in the coming years, and that is likely to lead to silver supply deficits for decades to come.

Lin points out that solar power is now the cheapest source of energy in many parts of the world and that all forecasts point to dramatic expansion of solar PV in the coming two decades. Conservative estimates forecast 300 gigawatts of solar PV production by 2027, up from the current level of about 200 gigawatts.

Management Team

Tyrone Docherty is President, Director and CEO of First Tellurium Corp. He previously served as President and CEO of Quinto Mining Inc., taking over when it had a market cap of $4 million. With limited resources in a difficult market environment, he raised more than $30 million and advanced Quinto’s Quebec iron ore property to a viable project. Quinto later sold for $175 million, with Quinto management taking shares of the purchaser, Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines, amounting to approximately 20-21% of that company. Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines sold two years later for $4.9 billion, giving the former Quinto team an enterprise value of approximately $1 billion. From 2012 to 2018, Mr. Docherty was Director and Chairman of Mason Graphite Inc. He has worked in the financial and minerals markets for more than 30 years.

Tony Fogarassy, M.Sc. LL.M., is Chairman of First Tellurium Corp. He is a lawyer and a geologist. His extensive legal and technical expertise includes minerals, oil and gas, coal and renewable energy projects and environmental and aboriginal/indigenous law in North America, Africa and Asia. He graduated as gold medalist in geological sciences from the University of British Columbia and in law from the London School of Economics.

First Tellurium Corp. (OTCQB: FSTTF), closed Friday's trading session at $0.0956, up 3.6719%, on 8,863 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 92,480 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.0506/$0.1245.

Recent News

• First Tellurium Corp. (CSE: FTEL) (OTCQB: FSTTF) - Implementing Circular Economy Principles in Heating and Cooling Could Boost Sustainability Efforts
• An Analysis of ESG, its Benefits and Criticisms
• Disruptions to Gold's Price Reduce as Tariff Concerns Abate

McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX).

McEwen Mining (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX) through its founder Rob McEwen, has reaffirmed confidence in Goliath Resources (TSX-V: GOT) (OTCQB: GOTRF) by participating in recent warrant exercises, contributing to the $3.2 million Goliath has received since Jan. 1. McEwen, who holds approximately 3.9% of Goliath's shares, joins Crescat Capital (~14.4%) in leveraging deep-in-the-money warrants ahead of key expiration dates in 2025. This influx of capital strengthens Goliath's financial position as it continues to advance its 100%-controlled Golddigger Property in British Columbia's Golden Triangle, a prolific mining district known for major discoveries. Goliath still holds nearly 6.4 million outstanding warrants representing over $6.3 million in potential near-term funding, with $3.6 million worth expiring by May 16.

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/uUClf

McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX) is an asset rich diversified gold and silver producer in the Americas with a large exposure to copper through its subsidiary, McEwen Copper, owner of the Los Azules copper deposit in Argentina, believed to be the 8th largest undeveloped copper resource in the world.

Led by a management team with a track record of success, MUX owns and operates mines in some of the most prolific gold producing regions of the Americas. The company proactively took cost-saving measures months ago to lower expenses and increase production across its portfolio of gold assets, driving some production costs below industry averages. Gold and copper prices, already in an upswing, are forecast to enter an explosive uptrend over the next couple years. Drawing from its experience, McEwen Mining planned, prepared and laid the groundwork to capitalize on this emerging opportunity.

The company currently holds a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), placing it in the top 5% of over 4,000 stocks ranked by Zacks, based on trends in earnings estimate revisions and EPS surprises. Seldom is management so aligned with investors’ interests and committed to the company’s success. With a combined investment of over $220 million, CEO Rob McEwen holds a 17% ownership stake in McEwen Mining and a 13% ownership in McEwen Copper. Acclaimed in the mining industry, McEwen founded Goldcorp, where he increased the company’s market capitalization 160 times – from $50 million to over $8 billion. That same vision and tenacity led MUX in creating McEwen Copper.

For McEwen Mining shareholders, beyond the company’s exposure to gold upsurges, its 47.7% stake in McEwen Copper is expected to be a blockbuster, turbocharging MUX by creating the world’s next prolific copper unicorn.

McEwen Copper

With continuous industrial need, new critical demand for copper is rapidly emerging, increasingly driven by the green energy transition. The price of copper rose from a low of about $2 per pound in 2020 to over $4.60 per pound in May 2024, and strong demand is expected to intensify. A study by S&P Global, titled The Future of Copper: Will the Looming Supply Gap Short-circuit the Energy Transition?, projects global copper demand to nearly double over the next decade, from 25 million metric tons today to about 50 million metric tons by 2035. Based on current trends, S&P Global forecasts annual supply shortfalls to reach nearly 10 million metric tons in 2035.

McEwen Mining owns a 47.7% equity stake in McEwen Copper, the holder of a 100% interest in the Los Azules copper project in San Juan, Argentina, which is ranked the 8th largest undeveloped copper deposit in the world. Current copper resources at Los Azules are estimated at 10.9 billion pounds at a grade of 0.40% Cu (Indicated category) and an additional 26.7 billion pounds at a grade of 0.31% Cu (Inferred category). McEwen Copper also owns a copper exploration project in Nevada, USA, called Elder Creek.

In a 2023 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), Los Azules was estimated to have a 27-year life, producing an average of 322 million lbs. of copper cathode annually, at a cash cost of $1.07 per lb. of copper, in the lowest quartile of the copper cost curve. The project could ultimately become an even larger mine with a longer life, since the extent of mineralization has not been fully assessed on the property.

The project’s 2023 PEA presents a distinctly different development strategy from a prior PEA published in 2017. By proposing a heap leach project using solvent extraction-electrowinning instead of the previously detailed mine with a conventional mill and flotation concentrator, McEwen Copper aims to decrease its environmental footprint and reduce permitting risk, albeit with a lower overall copper recovery, slightly higher unit costs and a delay in immediate cashflow due to extended leach cycles.

After securing a $25 million investment from mining giant Rio Tinto’s technology arm, Nuton LLC, McEwen Copper closed its non-brokered, private placement offering of $82 million in August 2022. Shortly after, in February 2023, Nuton agreed to invest an additional $30 million into McEwen Copper, and in October 2023, Nuton once again expanded its stake, investing an additional $10 million to bring its ownership position in McEwen Copper to 14.5%.

“We are extremely pleased to have Nuton’s strong continued participation in McEwen Copper,” Rob McEwen stated in a news release. “Together we are exploring new technologies that save energy, water, time and capital in the pursuit of delivering green copper to Argentina and the world, a product that will contribute to the electrification of transportation and the protection of our atmosphere.”

Also in February 2023, FCA Argentina S.A., a subsidiary of Stellantis N.V., one of the world’s leading automakers, invested ARS $30 billion in McEwen Copper. In October 2023, Stellantis invested an additional ARS $42 billion, bringing its current stake in McEwen Copper to 19.4%.

“We are delighted to have Stellantis as a partner in the future development of our Los Azules copper project,” Rob McEwen said of the investment. “Together, we share a vision to build a mine for the future based on regenerative principles that can achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2038.”

Following the capital raise, McEwen Copper is well-funded to advance its Los Azules Project, with a Feasibility Study planned for Q1 2025. MUX strategically reduced its interest to increase its treasury, in order to reduce debt and fund the further development of its gold and silver assets.

Gold & Silver Projects

The Fox Complex

McEwen Mining owns a 100% stake in the Fox Complex in the heart of a prolific gold district in Timmins, Canada.

“When MUX bought the Fox Complex, in late 2017, it was a distressed asset with a history of high operating cost/oz. While it has taken longer than I expected, the cost to produce an ounce of gold is significantly lower,” CEO Rob McEwen stated in a news release.

McEwen Mining issued 2024 guidance for its cash cost/oz at the Fox Complex of $1,225-1,325 on annual production of 40,000-42,000 GEOs. Fox Complex produced 44,450 GEOs in 2023, which was within the company’s guidance range.

Located in one of the most prolific gold production areas in the world, along the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone within the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, the Fox Complex includes the Black Fox mine and Froome mine which together have yielded over 1,000,000 ounces of gold to date. Also, the complex includes the Grey Fox and Stock deposits that have over 1,800,000 ounces in gold resources. The 2.7-billion-year-old Abitibi Greenstone Belt, formed by ancient volcanic activity, has proved to be one of the world’s richest and most abundant gold regions, with a total gold content currently estimated at over 300 million ounces.

In 2024, MUX commenced development of underground ramp access to the Stock orebodies at the Fox Complex. This development will become the primary source of feed following the completion of mining the Froome deposit in 2026. As part of the future mining sequence initiative, the company has already reported a 31% year-over-year increase of gold resources at Stock West and Stock Main (historical Stock Mine), with confirmation of good grading structures plunging to depth. It has also identified Stock East as a potential new near-term source of future revenue.

The Gold Bar Mine

McEwen Mining owns a 100% stake in the Gold Bar mine, located in an area well known for gold production, the southern Roberts Mountains of the Battle Mountain-Eureka-Cortez gold trend in Eureka County, Central Nevada. The Gold Bar mine is on the same geological structure, 25 miles south of Nevada Gold Mines, a Barrick-Newmont joint venture, part of the Cortez-Goldrush complex. This complex contains estimated reserves and resources of over 50 million gold ounces, with an annual production of 1,000,000 gold ounces.

Gold Bar had been mined between 1991 and 1994, producing 134,000 gold ounces. A new facility was built by MUX in 2019. Gold Bar accounted for 42,700 GEOs in 2023, within the company’s guidance for the year. For 2024, McEwen Mining issued guidance of 40,000-43,000 at a cash cost of $1,450-1,550. The first half of the year is expected to deliver higher production relative to the second half, due to a scheduled waste stripping phase in the Pick pit, in preparation for the 2025 mining program.

Notably, in April 2024, McEwen Mining announced its entry into a definitive agreement and plan of merger with Timberline Resources Corporation (TSX.V: TBR) (OTCQB: TLRS) in a transaction valued at roughly $18.8 million. The merger with Timberline is expected to augment McEwen’s existing portfolio of development and exploration projects in Nevada, leveraging synergies between Timberline’s projects and the Company’s Gold Bar mine.

El Gallo/Fenix

Project Fenix is the proposed redevelopment plan for McEwen Mining’s El Gallo Complex in Mexico. There is a long history of mining in this region. MUX began operating it as an open pit, heap leach mine in 2013, which produced 281,000 gold equivalent ounces at average cash cost of $655 per ounce. Due to the transition to deeper sulfide mineralization that is not amenable to heap leaching, mining activities ceased in the second quarter of 2018 and residual heap leaching followed until mid-2022. The redevelopment plan envisions constructing a mill at the existing mine site that will initially reprocess the existing heap leach material, then transition to open pit mining and processing of the sulphide mineralization. The company recently acquired a complete process plant on very advantageous terms that has considerably reduced the projected capital requirements for the project.

CEO Rob McEwen stated in a news release, “This acquisition has made Fenix more attractive to build and could provide a new long life mine for McEwen Mining.”

The initial development approach is to build a mill to reprocess the material on the heap leach pad and produce approximately 17,000 oz of gold annually for eight years. Construction of the Fenix project is expected to begin in the second half of 2024.

San José Mine

McEwen Mining is a 49% owner and non-operator of the San José gold and silver mine, located in Santa Cruz province, Argentina, encircling Newmont’s prolific Cerro Negro (approx. 300,000 gold ounces produced in 2023). This high-grade underground mine has been operating since 2007 and currently has an expected life of six years with a reserve grade of 296 gpt silver and 5.4 gpt gold.

Exploration is continuing to extend high-grade veins and discover new veins at the complex. San José’s drilling programs to define additional resources and reserves have a long history of success due to a high vein density, aided by good geophysical response from hidden veins.

Production guidance for 2024 for MUX’s 49% interest is 50,000-60,000 GEOs. As a minority shareholder in the mine, MUX equity accounts for its investment in San José, and receives 49% of the dividends from the mine’s free cash flow.

Market Outlook

Mining stocks suffered significant losses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this has turned, and many analysts now forecast a gold bull market in 2024 and beyond.

“The operating challenges we faced in recent years have severely damaged our credibility with our shareholders and the market. As a result, few investors have taken a close look recently at our assets,” Rob McEwen said in a news release. “If they did, I believe some would see the potential value that I see today… I believe there is considerable potential value in MUX, and that is a big reason why I have a personal financial commitment of $220 million in MUX and McEwen Copper.”

Management Team

Robert R. McEwen is Chairman, CEO and Chief Owner of McEwen Mining. He has been associated with the gold industry all his career, with his first 18 years in the investment industry and, since 1990, as CEO of several gold mining companies. He founded Goldcorp and took that company from a $50 million market capitalization to more than $8 billion. He owns 17% of McEwen Mining and is in complete alignment with investors – his investment in MUX and McEwen Copper is $220 million and he takes an annual salary of only $1. He was awarded the Order of Canada and the Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee Award, was inducted into the Mining Hall of Fame, was named an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year and has Honorary Doctor of Law degrees from York University and Western University.

William Shaver is interim COO and a Director of McEwen Mining. He has decades of management and executive experience in mine design, construction and operations. He was a founder of Dynatec Corporation, which became one of the leading contracting and mine operating groups in North America. In 2013, he was recognized as Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Most recently, he served as COO of INV Metals. He is a Professional Engineer with a B.Sc. in Mining Engineering from Queens University.

Perry Ing is interim CFO at McEwen Mining. He has 25 years of experience in the Canadian mining industry. Over the past 15 years, he has held positions as CFO of Mountain Province Diamonds, Kirkland Lake Gold and McEwen Mining. Prior to that, he worked at Barrick Gold and Goldcorp and started his career in the mining practice at PwC. He has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto and is a Chartered Professional Accountant in Canada and Certified Professional Accountant in the U.S.

Adrian Blanco S. is the company’s Director of Operations for America and Mexico. He has extensive international experience in several industrial sectors and has held executive positions in Mexico, the United States, Peru and Argentina. He joined the McEwen Mining team in 2015 and has led a successful business transformation toward operational discipline, best business practices and financial profitability at subsidiaries Compañia Minera Pangea and McEwen Mining Nevada. He graduated from an Executive Management Program at IPADE and Harvard Business School.

Michael Meding is Vice President and General Manager of McEwen Copper. He has over 20 years of international experience, primarily with major mining companies such as Barrick Gold and Trafigura, including extensive experience with project development and operations in Argentina. While at Barrick Gold’s Veladero mine in Argentina, Mr. Meding played a key role in the turnaround, extension of the mine life and subsequent strategic partnering with Shandong Gold. He holds an MBA from Indiana University in Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Leipzig Graduate School of Management in Germany.

McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX), closed Friday's trading session at $7.65, off by 8.2734%, on 1,301 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 911,621 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $6.4556/$12.5.

Recent News

• McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX) - InvestorNewsBreaks - McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX) Backs Goliath Resources Through Warrant Exercise Participation
• RockBreaks - McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX) Schedules Q4 and Year-End 2024 Earnings Call 
• RockBreaks - McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX) Takes Strategic Stake in Goliath Resources (TSX-V: GOT)

Horizon Fintex | Upstream

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Horizon Fintex | Upstream

Upstream published a blog today that discussed challenges faced by legacy stock exchanges transitioning to 24/5 trading, outlining obstacles such as outdated infrastructure, regulatory hurdles, operational constraints for brokers and clearing firms, liquidity fragmentation, and cybersecurity risks. Significant upgrades are needed for traditional exchanges to support real-time settlement and extended trading hours. On the other hand, blockchain-powered platforms like Upstream are designed to overcome these hurdles. Upstream enables 20/7, peer-to-peer trading, liquidity, a fair trading ecosystem, and biometric authentication and smart contracts to ensure transparency and security. Upstream believes continuous market access is the future and is committed to driving this evolution. 

To view the full blog, visit https://ibn.fm/zL2fU 

Horizon Fintex is a software business specializing in compliant securities solutions. The company aims to facilitate the future of capital markets by leveraging the regulatory experience of Wall Street bankers and the proven track record of technology veterans to bring focus to compliance, efficiency, security and transparency.

Horizon’s flagship product is the revolutionary trading app ‘Upstream’, a MERJ Exchange Market, and the first regulated market powered by a blockchain to offer both digital securities and NFT trading. Upstream traders experience T+0 settlement, best bids and offers displayed on a transparent public orderbook that prevents predatory market practices – all from a user-friendly trading app.

Products

Horizon Fintex offers a full suite of end-to-end blockchain-enhanced software solutions to create a seamless experience for both issuers and investors. Its product suite includes:

• Securitization & Issuance – ETSware is an end-to-end Electronic Trading System streamlining capital raising from primary issuance through compliant secondary trading.
• KYC Compliance Onboarding – KYCware is a white label Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance software solution offering best-in-class cryptographic security to compliantly onboard and verify user identity through a smartphone application.
• AML Screening Software – AMLCop offers advanced Anti-Money Laundering (AML) software to streamline the verification of user details against a proprietary database of global sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs) and watchlists.
• Cap. Table Management Tools – CustodyWare equips registered U.S. transfer agents with next-generation cap. table management software to manage securities on behalf of their clients pursuant to an SEC-registered or exempt securities offering.
• Exchange & Trading App Technology – Open Order Book offers Ethereum blockchain securities exchange software to power the next generation of trading venues for digital assets.

Upstream – The Horizon-Powered Trading App

Upstream is a joint venture with MERJ Exchange (merj.exchange), an affiliate of the World Federation of Exchanges.

Upstream aims to be the premiere global trading hub offering issuers around the world exposure to a digital-first investor base that can trade using USDC digital currency along with credit, debit, PayPal, and USD (fiat) to increase liquidity and enhance price discovery; while also offering investors access to dual-listed companies, IPOs, crowdfunded companies, U.S. & Int’l. equities, digital coupons and NFTs directly from a user-friendly trading app.

Upstream aims to unlock liquidity for investors of all levels while offering industry-leading levels of transparency, accessibility and investor protections enforced using Ethereum blockchain technology.

Management Team

Brian Collins is the CEO of Horizon Fintex. He founded the company in 2010. From 1999-2010, Mr. Collins was CEO of Abbey Technology in Switzerland, specializing in the design of trading software for Swiss banks. Prior to this, he worked for Credit Suisse in Zürich, designing and building proprietary equity trading solutions. Mr. Collins graduated in 1990 with a BS in Computer Systems from the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Mark Elenowitz is the company’s President. He is a Wall Street veteran with over 29 years of experience. Mr. Elenowitz was the co-founder of a U.S. broker dealer and is Managing Director of two U.S. broker dealers, responsible for advising clients on compliance, capital structure and capital market navigation. He was responsible for leading the first successful Reg A+ IPO of a company to list on the NYSE and others which listed directly onto Nasdaq. He is a noted speaker at Small Cap and Reg A events, including the SEC Small Business Forum, and has been profiled in BusinessWeek and CNBC, as well as several other publications. Mr. Elenowitz is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Business and Management with a BS in Finance and holds Series 24, 62, 63, 79, 82 and 99 licenses.

Dr. Andrew Le Gear is the CTO of Horizon Fintex. Prior to joining the company in 2013, he worked as a software engineer with Dell Inc. (2012-2013) and Lehman Brothers and Nomura Plc. (2007-2012). Dr. Le Gear was a co-founder of Juneberi Ltd., a research-driven software tech start-up (2004-2007). He graduated in 2006 with a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Peter Hall is the company’s CIO. Prior to joining Horizon Fintex in 2011, he worked at Microsoft (2008-2011), Atos Origin (2004-2008) and AIT Group Plc. (1998-2002). Mr. Hall has held CISSP certification since 2010. He graduated from the University of Sheffield, UK in 1995 and earned an MS from the University College London in 2006.

Mike Boswell is the CFO of Horizon Fintex. A Wall Street veteran, he co-founded a U.S. broker dealer and served as Chief Compliance Officer. Mr. Boswell was also Managing Director of TriPoint Capital Advisors, a merchant banking and financial consulting company, and CFO of Mission Solutions Group, a privately held defense sector firm. He earned an MBA from John Hopkins University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland. Mr. Boswell holds Series 24, 62, 63, 79, 82 and 99 licenses.

Recent News

• Horizon Fintex | Upstream - InvestorNewsBreaks – Upstream at the Forefront of the Shift Toward Expanded Trading
• InvestorNewsBreaks – Upstream Disrupting Stock Trading with Blockchain-Powered Execution
• 3 Major Industries Being Disrupted by Web3