Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/1207716
10 www.resourceworld.com F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 2 0 JUNIOR MINING the longer the base of support the greater is the potential climb from that level. Now, if one wants to dig deeper still and go back even further, the Venture Exchange also bottomed near this level in December/ January 2016 for a long-term support base that now marks four years; a very strong long-term base indeed. Going back to a weekly chart one can see a well-defined 'Reverse Head & Shoulders' pattern that formed from late October through November and into early December with the right and left shoul- ders at about 540 and the lower head at about 522. A Reverse Head & Shoulders chart pattern is also a strong indicator for a significant move to the upside from the shoulder or neckline levels, again at or near 540 – a significant suggestion of at least a short-term move higher. So now we have technical indicators of at least a short-term rally and potentially a much stronger long-term bull market in resource issues. As I write this piece in early January, the Venture Exchange has suddenly broken free from this 540 level and quickly gained some 45 points to rise above the right shoulder to about 585. This breakout indicates that a push up through the 600 level to test the 2019 highs of about 625 may be in the cards. Should this play out then a move to test the recent 5-year highs of 800 may be achievable. December 13 may have been the trigger of the junior resource equity markets but the mining industry sensed much earlier that a change of sentiment towards its sec- tor was forthcoming as 2018-2019 proved to be a significant period of mergers, acqui- sitions and financings that prepared the sector for the bull market over the horizon. The mergers started in September 2018 with the surprise announcement that Canada's Barrick Gold and South Africa's Randgold Resources were going to combine in a merger of equals to form the world's largest gold producer with an estimated annual gold production of some 5 million ounces. The surviving entity of Barrick Gold Corp. began trading on the first trading day of 2019. Barrick's reign as the world's top gold