Adler Modemärkte, Barsele Minerals, CureVac - Watch out: The ABC of price rockets!

ADLER MODEMAERKTE AG - What happens now?

The share certificates of the insolvent textile retailer multiplied in the last 4 weeks. On May 18, a spokesman for the Ministry of Economics announced that Adler Modemärkte would receive a loan of EUR 10 million from the German government. At the beginning of May, the Company had publicly complained about a lack of support from the federal government.

Adler has been in insolvency in self-administration since January. The Company, founded in 1948, employs around 3200 people and operates more than 140 stores nationwide. In recent days, the share price has benefited from speculative buying, which has helped other penny stocks and insolvent companies make significant gains. Last Friday, the Company had a market capitalization of EUR 24 million at a share price of EUR 1.30. Equinox, which has been invested in the Company since 2013, used the high share price level of the last few days to reduce its stake in the Company significantly.

BARSELE MINERALS CORP - Decision will be made in summer

Earlier this month, the Company reported an update on the ongoing drilling program at the Barsele project. Barsele Minerals Corp. is focused on exploring and developing the Barsele project in northern Sweden with joint venture partner Agnico Eagle Mines. Barsele currently holds a 45% interest in the project. However, in mid-May, Barsele and Agnico Eagle signed a (non-binding) letter of intent whereby Barsele may acquire the 55% interest from the JV partner.

The exclusivity period ends on July 30, 2021, and can be extended for another 31 days under certain conditions. The agreement provides for extensive provisions. The transaction includes a cash payment of USD 45 million at its core, but Barsele may also partially pay in shares and warrants. Barsele intends to raise the sum through loans and a capital increase. The transaction is expected to be completed as soon as possible. Several preliminary activities have been carried out since the beginning of the year.

In total, the drilling program provides for a drilling capacity of 3000 meters and 25 drill holes. The exploration program will be carried out by the joint venture partner Agnico Eagle Mines, who will also be responsible for all project costs up to pre-feasibility. The Barsele project is located in the mining region of Västerbottens Län in northern Sweden, 600 km north of Stockholm and covers 33,500 hectares. It is located at the western end of the Proterozoic "Skellefte Trend," which overlaps with the "Gold Line" in northern Sweden. Current and past producers in the region include Boliden, Kristineberg, Bjorkdal, Svartliden and Storliden. The primary gold-bearing system remains open in all directions. The Avan-Central-Skirasen zones have a strike length approaching 3.6 km. Drilling in 2020 focused on defining, verifying and expanding the mineral resources within the Avan-Central-Skirasen "orogenic gold" system.

Agnico Eagle will also be granted the option under the above transaction to acquire 15% of the Barsele project pending completion of a pre-feasibility study and to participate in future capital increases so that its interest is not diluted. Barsele Minerals has a rapidly growing gold deposit with significant growth potential. It is hoped that the USD 45 million deal will go through in the summer. With such a large and high-quality project, Barsele could then become a takeover target itself. Currently, the Company's market value is CAD 98 million at a share price of CAD 0.76. However, this is not much considering the potential of a gold resource of several million ounces.

CUREVAC NV - Big disappointment

The share of the Tübingen-based biotech Company CureVac suffered last week. The reason was the further delay in the approval studies for the Company's Covid-19 vaccine. Last Friday, the stock fell back to a multi-week low and was temporarily quoted at around EUR 75. At the weekend, the share exited trading at around EUR 82. As a spokesman for the German Federal Ministry of Health explained, the vaccine will not be included in planning the vaccination campaign again until approval has been granted.

According to Handelsblatt information, Health Minister Jens Spahn indicated at the beginning of last week in the circles of the federal and state health ministers that the European Medicines Agency Ema did not expect approval for the CureVac vaccine before August. As a result, the CureVac vaccine can no longer play any role in the current vaccination campaign. But the latest developments at Johnson & Johnson show that it is very difficult to plan ahead. Numerous defects in the vaccine have been discovered at a US plant in Baltimore, rendering millions of units unusable. According to estimates by the German Ministry of Health, this will result in about 6.5 million fewer Corona vaccine doses being delivered to Germany than planned by the end of June.