Levon? >>> Discovery. Exit Honig? Where Art Frost?

DSVSF, one child of the reverse merger that yielded Levon Resources and VBIV, has fared pretty well. As a side note, VBI Vaccines, which at one time I thought had some solid prospects because of the pedigree of the COB Steve Gillis, has undergone a slow motion flame out/car crash. Having undergone the dreaded reverse split, TWICE (4/16: 1 for 40; and 4/23: 1 for 30), it has many of the characteristics of a zombie company. There is little to no revenue, despite having an approved vaccine for Hepatitis B in the UK, and available in the US at Costco, RiteAid and Walmart. Meanwhile, the execs keep awarding themselves options.....hmmmm. The stock is down 83% year-to-date, and the reverse split of a few months ago served what most reverse splits do; namely, 'split' the company into an atomic scale value....market cap is $17 million. I only bring this up because Opko had a piece of VBIV years ago and, while I can't recall when they sold, at least they did sell it at some point. We had more than 5% early on, then reduced that to 3.7% as of 9/19, and I believe we/Opko now have none. I distinctly remember speaking with Nell Beattie 7 years ago. She was then head of IR, and is now CFO. And other than her education pedigree (a commonality which spurred me to call her), she apparently has been ineffective in both positions, if one uses the stock performance as a metric. So it goes.

On to DSVSF. Eric Sprott, via the investment vehicle called "2176423 Ontario Ltd" owns 89.5 million shares, which is 22.66% of the outstanding. The next largest holders are Jupiter Fund Management , with 32 million shares/8.10%; and Van Eck Associates with 13 million shares/3.3%. Both Sprott, who has apparently gained billionaire status, and Van Eck (headed by Jan Frederick Van Eck) are both prominent investors in the resource space. I wouldn't quite call Sprott a 'partner' but he is a well heeled materials investor with a very solid track record. His ownership definitely brings more than a measure of fundamental legitimacy to the business of Discovery Silver.

But, besides the Cordero Silver Deposit in Mexico, another very important asset Discovery Silver can claim is the new CEO. In January, the BOD of DSVSF named Tony Makuch CEO. Tony was CEO of Kirkland Gold, and here's a summary of his track record while at the helm there:

During his five-year tenure, Mr. Makuch led the transformation of Kirkland Lake, increasing annual gold production from 315,000 oz to over 1,400,000 oz and increasing market capitalization from approximately C$1 billion to over C$10 billion.Over that time period, Kirkland Lake’s share price increased over 500%. 

Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM, market cap $24 billion), one of the largest, and best managed, resource companies on the planet, was so impressed with Tony's results at Kirkland that they decided to pay $11 billion in stock for Kirkland a little more than a year ago. 

Given that the Cordero project is in the late stages of development and needed professional steering through the processes required to take the deposit to a viable silver mine, the BOD of DSVSF did something......they hired a pro. Now, to be fair, DSVSF stock price has fallen quite a bit off its highs (although still more than a double from my cost basis determined in the reverse) reached in December. So, Tony apparently hasn't worked his magic yet. However, the entire resource sector has taken a header over the same time frame. In 2023, investors have been focused on the sexy tech stocks which were beaten down last year. Gold and silver are, at the moment, boring and unloved. But like the Discovery board, I believe in Tony. He is now overseeing the critical 'de-risking' stage of the project, making sure the location can access needed water, power, and permitting. What will follow in the first half of next year is the critical Feasibility Study. 

So stay tuned. And keep your eyes on the new management.

Very good thanks, teensy weensy position. no longer listed as a holder on Bloomberg, likely because of the (lack of) size.