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Junior mining investor enthusiasts will be duelling it out for the big money when the next contest by Stockpools and Kitco is launched the first week of June. Announced May 3-4 at the Mines and Money conference in New York, the 2017 Minerals Market Challenge is offering participants the chance to win CAD$16,000 worth of gold bullion. Stockpools and Kitco are upping the ante from their 2017 Precious Metals Stockpicking Challenge, which gave away $12,000 in gold.
The contest will run for 10 weeks, starting June 5, with winners announced each week for eight weeks, plus a two-week Grand Finale.
The two players who build the top performing fantasy stock portfolio on a percentage basis each week will each be awarded a half-ounce of gold bullion for a total value of $16,000. In the final weeks of the contest, which ends August 11, the top two participants will each receive a full gold ounce.
Players will choose three companies from each of seven categories and can trade their picks at the end of the week between market close on Friday until the market opens on Monday. New participants are welcome to join the contest during this time.
The contest has two Title Sponsors – Kootenay Silver (TSXV:KTN) and Northern Vertex Mining (TSXV:NEE).These companies are default picks, meaning all players will pick and hold them for the duration of the contest.
Northern Vertex is currently building the Moss Mine gold-silver project, located in the historic Oatman Mining District in Northwest Arizona, and Kootenay Silver, holder of the largest silver resource of any junior exploration company, has projects in prolific mining districts within the states of Chihuahua and Sonora, Mexico.
The seven categories are precious metals, zinc, copper, lithium, uranium, cobalt and graphite. The 2017 Precious Metals Stockpicking Challenge, co-sponsored by Kitco and Red Cloud Klondike Strike, had four categories, all gold and silver-related.
“We wanted to step out of that precious metals comfort zone and open it up to other sectors within the metals market, and showcase some of those companies within those respective spaces,” said Stockpools President Anil Mall, adding: “I feel there’s a lot of room for growth in these sectors especially when times are slow.”
He said the new contest is a chance for Stockpools and Kitco to show an even greater audience the numerous investment opportunities in publicly traded mining companies that are exploring and developing for gold and other metals around the world.
“Our objective as always is simply to educate players and highlight various investment opportunities in a number of sectors while providing a unique experience for our users.”
Carlos Madruga from Kitco commented, “Once again, Kitco is very excited about participating with Stockpools.com in this fantasy stock pool. Our continued partnership is bringing together a select group of companies in the precious metals resource space, such as Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd. and Corvus Gold Inc., giving our global audience a unique opportunity to hone their trading skills on a risk-free educational platform where they will have a chance to win some fantastic bullion prizes.”
Since inception in 2011, Vancouver-based Stockpools has given away over $100,000 in prizes at no cost to participants, and has been growing in step with a surging junior resource market that has rekindled on the back of stronger metals prices after a tough few years.
Stockpools is the only site in the world to offer investors a risk-free platform to build a competitive portfolio and track their performance over the course of a contest (there are competitors, but unlike Stockpools, those sites are not free to play). Players can win gold bullion and cash prizes should their portfolio outperform the competition.
The site has close to 10,000 users, with the majority of players in the millenial age range of 29 to 35. Most are in North America, though Stockpools has sent prizes worldwide.
The 2017 Precious Metals Stockpicking Challenge started with a little over 600 participants, and ended its final week just shy of 1,300 participants. The winners were mostly based in Canada, including Vancouver, Calgary and Nova Scotia, with two hailing from the United States and one from Finland.
The deadline to join the first round of the 2017 Minerals Market Challenge is 6 am (EST) Monday, June 5. Click here to enter the contest. Winners will be announced and all prizes sent out after the Grand Finale.
