Showing posts with label Mining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mining. Show all posts

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Largo Resources Ltd focuses on Vanadium, Tungsten and Molybdenum - Overview

Largo Resources Ltd (Largo) is a Canadian natural resource development and exploration company. Largo is focused on developing and advancing of Vanadium and Tungsten projects in Brazil and Canada. As of December 31, 2011, Largo held 90% interest in the Maracas Vanadium Project, 100% interest in the Currais Novos Tungsten Tailing Project, 100% interest in the Campo Alegre de Lourdes Iron-Vanadium Project, all in Brazil, and 100% interest in the Northern Dancer Tungsten-Molybdenum property located in the Yukon Territory, Canada. The Maracas property is located 405 kilometers southwest of Salvador. On October 13, 2011, the Company began exploration on new project areas near its Currais Novos Tungsten project, Rio Grande De Norte, Brazil. On June 15, 2011, the Company acquired the 30% interest in the Northern Dancer tungsten-molybdenum porphyry project in Yukon, Canada. In February 2012, Largo completed 11,000-metre diamond drill program consisting of 65 holes.

Largo has a market cap of $165M with over 869.6M shares outstanding. Largo trades on the Canadian Venture Exchange as LGO and the OTCBB as LGORF and traded today at .19c per share. 

CONTACT INFORMATION

HeadquartersSuite 1101, 55 University Ave.
TORONTO, ON, Canada M5J 2H7
Phone416-861-9797
Fax416-861-8165

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

President, Chief Executive Officer, DirectorMark Brennan
Chief Financial OfficerJohn Laurie
Chief Operating OfficerTimothy Mann
Vice President - ExplorationRobert Campbell
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Monday, July 11, 2011

Gold Miners are in the drivers seat, during these economic head winds.

Sacramento Gold Miners logoImage via WikipediaI like gold miners this summer!!!

I especially like gold miners that do not have any of their production hedged.

I like gold miners that are producing lots of gold right now!

I like gold miners whose production is increasing at this writing.

I like gold miners who have more than one producing mine!

  I like gold miners whose infrastructure and operations are sound, with no forseeable production problems!

I like gold miners that operate in safe mining jurisdictions, with no political overtones!

I like gold miners that are well lead by smart management who show their smarts in an ongoing basis, with great execution of clear business plans!

I lke gold miners that make money, and that will continue to make money, no matter what the market does.

  I LIKE GOLD MINERS!!!!!

For those of you who have read past articles, you know I am invested in physical gold and silver. Make no mistake, I view these as great investments in this environment. However, this year, it is the gold miners, especially those miners meeting the above criteria, that will out perform the markets this fall, and beyond.

The U.S. dollar is shrinking, and will continue to shrink in the long run. Over the past six months, the U.S. dollar has lost 10% against the Euro!  THE EURO!, where countries are lining up from the smallest (Greece) to  some of the largest (Spain, and now Italy) at the European credit window.

The European union could, on paper, save Greece and maybe even Ireland and Portugal. But Spain and Italy are both way too big to save. There is now no doubt that the Euro is in crisis and may not even survive, at least in its current form.

The macro picture grows dimmer with each passing month.  The debt ceiling crisis in the USA, and the muddying of those waters by both political parties, is becoming the 800 lb gorilla.  The Tea Party will have none of it.  Their patrons in the Republican party, at the insistance of the TP, are playing brinkmanship with the U.S. economy at this writing. They do not want to extend the ceiling and will not approve ANY kind of tax increase, even though every expert in the field feels tax increases absolutely have to be part of the overall solution to U.S. debt. Democrats are once again, sitting on their hands. The unemployment rate is printed at just over 9%, but if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. Fully 14.5% of America is now on food stamps!  (That's right, 1/7th of the pupulation)

In comparison, the debt problems of  Greece is barely a 40 lb monkey in the mechanics of global markets. Even if the U.S. debt ceiling gets raised in the medium term, where does that leave the USD, especially as QE2 ends, and there are not enough buyers of U.S. treasuries to keep up the charade.

The new Gorilla stumbling into the zoo of international finance  is the debt problems of Italy, whose economy, over 1 $Trillion and about 25% of the Eurozone, might be considered a 700 lb Gorilla.  Greece, Ireland, and Portugal , are one thing, but Spain and Italy are in a different financial league, and if they go, so goes the Euro. Spain has 20% unemployment right now and Italy is more in debt that any of the others.

The golden elephant in the room is, India, which now buys more gold than any other country.  China, viewing gold as an alternate currency, however, is catching up. They now allow their citizens, for the first time, to hold physical gold. The Chinese government has actually been quietly encouraging its citizens to do exactly that. Other countries increasing their purchasing of gold include Brazil, Germany, Russia, Indonesia etc.  European banks, and by proxy, U.S. banks are no place to invest right now. Get out while you still can.

These problems are not new.  The tipping point was circa 2008, and the storm was sidetracked by the biggest financial experiment in history. Yes, there will always be "some" good stocks to buy, but for now:

I want to own gold, and gold miners, of the best quality. I am buying them now!


My current picks:


1. SanGold
2. Barrick
3. Kinross
4. Brigus Gold

In that order.

Happy investing

HP

PS: If you want to speculate with the big boys....

Nautilus Minerals (Seabed mining)

If you want to speculate on the cheap....
Visit: TNR Gold projects, Alaska




News: Undersea Gold Company Nautilus mining for a lot more!
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Friday, April 15, 2011

The 15 Best and the 15 Worst Mining Jurisdictions in the World

President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, December 2009.Image via Wikipedia

April 15th, 2011
 
With the announcement yesterday that Bolivia President Evo Morales will announce a decree on May 1st to “dismantle the privatization model” of the mining industry and expropriate all assets owned by private mining companies, is this just an isolated example or will this be the start of a trend that many other governments will follow? Since gold and silver mining companies will exhibit the fastest earnings growth rate among any industry for the next several years, one should expect to consider political risk as a much greater part of the equation when investing in mining stocks in coming years.

So where are the riskiest mining jurisdictions in the world and where are the safest? According to the most recent Fraser Institute survey, here are the mining jurisdictions that graded the best and the worst for “encouraging mining investment” and granting “legal processes that are fair, transparent, non-corrupt, timely, and efficiently administered”. In order to rank these mining jurisdictions from top to bottom, the Fraser Institute asked mining executives and exploration managers in 79 mining jurisdictions around the world to grade the effect of government policies on mining operations (including restrictive regulations, uncertainties about land use, and the ever looming issue of restrictive taxes), the nature of trade, environmental, and operational barriers, and the effect of mineral potential on additional exploration investment. Furthermore, to encourage objective responses to the survey questions, the Fraser Institute surveyed all mining executives anonymously.

By comparing the grades of the jurisdictions below, you should be able to assess the risk and future probability of an Evo Morales type event happening to a mining company whose shares you own.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Lithium demand will increase four fold by 2017

In these pages, I have written a number of articles about the coming lithium boom, the electric vehicle battery market, and the companies who are either mining lithium at present, or are rushing to become new producers of what has become known as the Èlectric Metal.  In point of fact, lithium is becoming one of the few truly bull markets for savvy investors today.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Electric Metals market heating up as Electric Cars hit the road in 2010.

LAS VEGAS - JANUARY 07:  An electrical cord is...Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Mitsubishi contracts with Toshiba to supply Lithium Batteries and Toyota contracts Panasonic to supply lithium batteries as competitors jump into EV market!

As the Tesla, ForTwo, Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt launch this year, investors are quickly realizing that,  each one of these new vehicles runs on Lithium batteries. Each one uses approximately 8 pounds of lithium, now coming to be known as the "electric metal"!

The Lithium market is heating up as the tide goes out on oil, and 2010 is the year everyone will remember as the real start of the lithium boom. With the advent of the electric vehicle market, China believes lithium will be the oil of the 21st century. They are not alone in that assumption. The worlds largest supplier of lithium, SQM of Chile, has already seen it's stock price sky rocket over the past two years and is, at this writing, looking to expand it's already large holdings in the lithium salars of Chile. There is, however, a growing segment of this market that has a huge upside for savvy investors. The Junior miners.


Our Top five Junior Lithium Miners in order:


1 .Salares Lithium (LIT-TSX)  -Conviction stock pick

Owns over 117,000 hectares (288,990 acres in the Atacama region of Chile, encompassing 7 Salars (brine lakes) nearby SQM operations. The project is called Salares 7.  50% of the worlds current lithium production comes from this area of Chile with the largest producer being SQM.

This is one of the best, pure play Lithium ventures anywhere today with a depth of resource now measured at over 300 meters in a region that already produces 50% of the worlds current lithium supply and is nearby the largest lithium producer in the world.

Salares Lithium wholly owns 100% of 5 of those Salars, which is unique in the industry and very important in South American mining. Many others "share" deposits on the same properties (that would be the equivalent of two people placing two separate straws in the same soft drink).

Salares now has a giant Lithium footprint, as large as anyone on the planet (read the article: Size matters ) They also have a very focused management team and institutional investors are in on this play. At this writing Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE-SQM), the worlds largest producer of lithium carbonate (the main ingredient in any lithium battery) has shown specific interest in the properties of Salares Lithium prompting Salares to upgrade their property to the development stage this month. We think this company is a likely takeover target.

Click here for analyst opinions on Salares Lithium!

(UPDATE--- July 15 2010 - Salares swallowed by Talison of Australia, the #1 supplier of lithium to China)

2. TNR Gold Corp (TNR-TSX)

We think TNR is the "sleeper" in this space and is currently flying under the radar of most investors.  TNR Owns 16 gold, copper, Lithium, and REE properties in Nevada, Canada, Argentina and Ireland.

More importantly, TNR "owns 100% of International Lithium Corp"which it will spin off next month in an IPO.

ILC owns 9 Lithium brine properties in Argentina, Nevada, and Canada, while TNR will retain it's gold, copper and rare earth deposits in Canada and Ireland as well as one Lithium play in Argentina. TNR may actually be the best "short term" play in the sector as it prepares the IPO for International Lithium Corp. as owners of TNR stock will automatically own stock and warrants in International Lithium when it is spun out next month. (one share and one warrant for every 4 shares of TNR) Thereby owning "both" companies after the IPO next month.

Institutional Holders of TNR stock include some serious players:   Barrick Gold, Pinetree Capital, Tocqueville Fund, Solitario, and NovaGold.

Research notes on TNR gold Corp. 

3. Western Lithium USA (WLC-TSX)

WLC owns over 50,000 acres of proven, lithium reserves in Nevada. One of the only pure lithium plays in the USA with proven reserves. This is one of the worlds largest, proven Lithium deposits at 47 million tons, mine ready, located in mining friendly Nevada with quick access to buyers in North America.

On May 31st Western Lithium changed it's name to Western Lithium USA to more reflect it's intention to supply Lithium to that market.WLC should be part of every investors lithium portfolio.


4. Rodina Lithium (RM-TSX)  (formerly Rodina Minerals)

Besides it's recent acquisitions of Diablillos, Centenario and Ratones in the Salars of Argentina on the Puna Plateau, RM owns a substantial lithium property in Clayton Valley Nevada  Rodinia has 100% mineral rights to 50,440 acres in Nevada’s lithium-rich Clayton Valley in Esmeralda County approx 80 mi. from where Western Lithium is working, and is currently in the process of assessing the size, quality and processing alternatives of its Lithium Brine Project. Early estimates put the valley’s lithium deposits as high as 700 million kg, ranking it second only in size to the deposits found in Chile.

Rodina Lithium-RM is one of the top Lithium picks of Byron Capital Markets analyst, Dr. Jon Hykawy who is, arguably, one of the foremost Lithium experts in the market today! RM is also a favorite of the gold report.(theaureport.com)

5. Latin American Minerals Inc. (LAT-TSX)  

Besides gold, copper and silver, LAT owns a 17.4% stake in Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC) which has a big stake in the Salars on the Argentina side. LAT also owns rare earth properties (REE's). Lithium Americas properties include over 100,000 Hectares encompassing 5 salars (salt lakes) on the Argentina side of the Puna Plateau.You can buy LAT now (currently .15 cents) to own 17.4% of Lithium Americas,  (which we have done), or you can buy Lithium Americas (LAC) at the IPO price of $1.80

Strategic Investors in Lithium Americas already include:


Tesla and Elise2011 Chevrolet Volt exhibited at the 2010 Wash...
Tesla (seen on the left) has already launched it's North American IPO.Nissan has "pre-sold" 20,000 of it's new, lithium-ion powered Nissan "leaf" which launches in December, at a unit cost of $25,000. GM is ramping up for the launch of the Chevrolet "Volt" (right) in early 2011.


The journal, MIT Technology Review published advancement in lithium air
batteries (also called lithium-metal-air batteries) for large scale applications.
Lithium-metal batteries approach the energy density of fuel cells without the plumbing
needed for these devices; in theory, the maximum energy density is more than 5,000 watt hours
per kilogram, or more than 10 times that of today's lithium-ion batteries
. Lithium
metal-air batteries are also very lightweight because it's not necessary to carry a second
reactant.  
Lithium metal is "the holy-grail battery material," says Steven Visco, chief
technical officer and founder of PolyPlus

Energy research company Frost and Sullivan, says the battery market is set to grow massively.
The lithium-ion battery market for electric and hybrid vehicles is, he says, conservatively-estimated to be set to grow from 2,400 units in 2008 to 1.53 million units by 2015. "The world's dependence on oil will decline and will be replaced by other fuels, such as lithium batteries."


President Barack Obama has said he wants a million hybrid electric cars on America's roads by 2015.  At a groundbreaking ceremony for a new lithium-ion battery plant on Monday, Vice President Joe Biden said such factories could reduce US dependence on foreign oil and prevent disasters like the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
"This is the beginning of a revolution in the production of energy in the country,"said Biden.



Happy Retirefund!

HAP

Disclosure:  Accumulating Junior lithium stocks summer 2010.

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Monday, June 7, 2010

Will SQM swallow nearby junior to increase it's Lithium reserves?

EnerDel/Argonne lithium-ion batteryImage by Argonne National Laboratory via Flickr
"The future of American motoring will be--at least in part--battery-powered. It's becoming increasingly clear that the lithium-ion pack is what will get us there. Almost every top-tier car maker has announced plans to use the technology"                Popular Mechanics

Sociedad Quimica y Minera S.A. (NYSE-SQM)

SQM is the largest producer of Lithium carbonate in the world today. It's operations are in the country of Chile and it's HQ is in Santiago, Chile.

The Lithium that SQM produces is really a by product of it's Potassium (Potash) production. However, as lithium gains more and more investor interest, and more to the point, more interest from auto manufacturers and wireless providers, SQM may be looking to expand this part of it's business.

Recently SQM over staked a claim on one of the Salars owned by Canadian Junior, Salares Lithium (LIT-V)

Salares responded by changing it's status from Exploration to Exploitation of the Salar (salt lake) in question.  Salares owns 7 Salars in the Atacama region of Chile not far from where SQM (and other majors) operate.

They own 5 of those Salars outright (they bought them instead of staking the claim, (thereby owning 100% of the resource). Their "Salares 7 project"  is arguably, one of the largest Lithium deposits in country, and although they are a junior (still trading under $1) their lithium foot print is very large.

Institutional investors have taken note (and positions) because of the tremendous interest in Lithium based battery technology for the wireless market, wind and solar markets, and in particular, for the Hybrid electric (PHEV) and pure Electric (EV) vehicle markets which are now the hot topic at every major auto manufacturer including Chev (volt) to Nissan (leaf) and BYD, Honda, Ford, Chrysler, Tesla, and others.

It is hard to tell exactly what SQM is up to. It may be that they did not know they were staking property belonging to LIT or, more likely, they did, and this is the first move by SQM to corner much of the future lithium market by soaking up a junior with a large lithium footprint of it's own.

No matter how you cut it, if SQM is that interested in property controlled by Salares Lithium, it may well be interested in acquiring LIT or some portion of it. Because of this new information, we bought more LIT today.

Disclosure: own Salares Lithium (LIT-V) currently trading at .60 per share.


 Happy investing!

See also:
Juniors sitting on huge lithium deposits.
Expert opinions
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Monday, May 24, 2010

Rare Earth Elements (REE's)
Understanding the value

Global rare earth element production (1 kt=106...Image via Wikipedia
Rare Earth elements are more in demand now than at any time in history, and for good reason. China produces almost 95% of ALL rare earth elements used in industry today, and they recently declared that they would no longer ship these valuable commodities out of their country, preferring to use them in their own industries. This places China in the drivers seat in this space, as they literally attempt to corner the market for REE's. However, a number of western countries and companies are now earnestly in the hunt for these highly valued elements.


Element Uses in Modern Technology
Cerium (Ce)catalytic converters for diesel engines
Praseodymium (Pr) an alloying agent for aircraft engines
Neodymium (Nd) a key component of high-efficiency magnets and hard disc drives
Lanthanum (La) a major ingredient for hybrid car batteries
Samarium (Sm)lasers and nuclear reactor safety
Promethium (Pm)portable X-rays and a nuclear battery
Gadolinium (Gd)shielding for nuclear reactors, compact discs
Dysprosium (Dy)improves the efficiency of hybrid vehicle motors
Terbium (Tb)a component in low-energy light bulbs
Erbium (Er)fiber optics
Europium (Eu) used in flat screen displays and lasers
Holmium (Ho)nuclear control rods, ultra-powerful magnets
Thulium (Tm) lasers, portable X-rays
Ytterbium (Yb)monitoring equipment for earthquakes
Lutetium (Lu)oil refining

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Sunday, January 17, 2010

A new, world class, gold deposit is born!

(Update-March 5th 2010 _ Apollo gold is "in play" after latest drill results - MSN Money)

I have been high on Apollo Gold since I first bought the stock at .45 several months ago, and have been doing homework ever since. Earlier this month, I sold some APG at .51 to finance the purchase of more Wilan Technologies. I believe that these two companies have enormous upside potential in the short to medium term. That is why I bought more Wilan and bought back into Apollo Gold last week.

Apollo Gold is set to release it's latest core results from it's Grey Fox site near Timmons Ontario. This site is now tied into their already producing "Black Fox Mine" which will produce around 100,000 oz in 2010. Apollo also bought the Pike River property which connects Grey Fox and Black Fox and which has a rich history in itself.

gold analysts currently have Apollo Gold as a strong buy and I couldn't agree more. It is still trading in the .45 range per share (for now). Those analysts, and this writer believe it is better priced in the short to medium term somewhere between $2 and $3.50 and I believe this may even be too conservative.

Because of it's current production at Black Fox, and it's great core drill results at Grey Fox coupled with it's acquisition of Pike River, we believe it is a world class deposit in the infancy stage. Once the bigger dogs in the gold business get more familiar with the numbers and drill results, we think Apollo will be a takeover target in 2010. In that case, all bets are off and the target price goes straight up.

One note of caution is that Apollo hedged 30% of it's production at $867 per oz, in early 2009, however, this will not keep shoppers at bay nor should it keep you from making some money on Apollo Gold.

Previous Article: Apollo Gold

APG.T

Latest Analyst Report:

J. Taylor - The Au Report - "Apollo Gold has enormous upside potential and has one of the highest potentials for capital appreciation relative to risk involved. We think this company's Black Fox Mine, from which management expects to produce more than 100,000 ounces this year, represents the beginning of a world-class gold mining operation in the making. We say that on the basis of upside exploration potential not only on the producing Black Fox Mine but also on the basis of drill results from the Grey Fox and historical data from the Pike River Property, which Apollo recently acquired from Newmont. With Apollo currently trading at only 42% of NAV, enormous growth in earnings and cash flow starting to take place, enormous upside potential with regards to resource/reserve base and attributable production, Apollo is a perfect takeover target"!

APG.T AGT-Nasdaq

Update, Feb 17th 2010 - Great drill results at Grey Fox
Update, Mar 5th 2010 - Great drill results at Pike River


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Monday, December 7, 2009

Put some Apollo Gold in your Christmas Stocking. Your portfolio will love you for it!

Philip II Gold Stater with Head Of Apollo.Image via Wikipedia

Updated Dec 18th 2009 -The price of Gold is going up again, even though the talking heads (cnbc etc) are starting to tell us that King dollar is coming back. They must be only looking at their 3 month charts because they couldn't be more wrong about the dollar or about Gold (or other commodities for that matter) and here is why!

The elephant in the room is this: America is over $12 Trillion in debt and climbing. Check out the U.S. Debt Clock! If America does nothing to stop the bleeding, it will be $23 Trillion in Debt by the year 2020, more than 100% of GDP (that's only 10 years out). Now consider these 800 pound gorillas in the room trying to make space around the elephant:

1. The U.S. Fed is still propping up markets, and making massive asset purchases like mortgage backed securities while fully 25% of mortgages are underwater, and that number will increase through 2011 by all projections.

2. There are 2.4 $Trillion in ALT-A (Liar) Loans and sub-prime mortgages still out there and most don't reset until 2010 through 2015. If the Fed was not propping up this market including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it would start another stampede for the exits. If they continue, then add that $2.4 Trillion to the debt numbers above. If they don't, just watch as millions more lose their homes.

3. As commercial real estate companies loans come due this year, they will run into a wall of re-financing problems as their lenders won't want to extend more credit, or will demand more security, or both. Only the strong will survive.

4. The banking industry expects up to 1,000 bank failures in 2010, because of the mortgage fiasco. Not last year, next year!

5. Many big financial institutions (remember all those who were "too big to fail") are still virtually ignoring the massive derivative debt on their books as they pay back those Government loans. (Yes, they leave them off of their books as if they didn't exist at all) They will have to be accounted for at some point. As that reckoning occurs, this problem all by itself will cause the dollar to drop.

6. The USA is still fighting two wars, on three fronts, after the President who launched both of those wars did not raise taxes to pay for them but, on the contrary, made two massive tax cuts in the middle of those two wars, something no other U.S. President had ever done throughout it's history.

7. The new health care bill will cost at least $1 Trillion dollars over 10 years.

8. Americans pay about 25% of the cost of Gasoline that the rest of the world pays.

9. The price of Gold is denominated in U.S. dollars.

The above really only addresses the American market, but the world of business has grown much larger. India and China are increasing their Gold reserves by huge amounts as they no longer trust the value of their U.S. dollar reserves. Brazil and Russia are doing the same. Russia has even added Canadian dollars to their reserves as the world tries to diversify around a falling U.S. buck.

These rising powers are also buying up commodities, oil, gas and mining companies. China has told all of it's 1.3 Billion citizens to also buy gold for their savings. India used to be the largest retail gold market (for it's dowry practices etc) but now China has taken over the number 1 spot.

Some market bulls believe Gold will top out somewhere between $2,000 and $5,000.

An inflation monster is coming and most of all the gold in the world is already above ground. That makes producing gold miners, expecially the juniors, takeover targets for the big dogs.

The "Cash is king" mantra is a distant memory.

Reuters- BreakingViews: Could Gold go to $5,000 per oz?

Updates:
Dec 10th - Purchased more Apollo gold today. (APG-T)
Dec 15th - Gold price rose
Dec 16th - Gold price rose
Dec 18th - "Apollo Gold building a world class deposit could be takeover target for the majors"


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Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Argument for investing in Gold!

gold cast barImage by hto2008 via Flickr

I am not a gold bug. I am a realist, but even at $1000 per ounce, gold may be a good investment right now for several reasons. Here are some of them:

The banks have had a great run this summer. After coming back almost 100% since it's lows in March, I have sold some of my TD Stock. (Yes it is still a good stock, but at 100% return, it's time to take some profit, no matter what stock you are in) I have also solidified some other gains, but continue to hold on to some small tech firms with huge upside potential such as Wilan Technologies and Ballard Power .

I don't believe the United States is anywhere near being "out of the woods" in it's recovery. A year after the crash, Wall Street is up to it's old tricks . There is a very good chance of an even larger correction in 2010 than we saw in 2008. No one really knows of course, but all the warning signs are in place. The bounce in the markets has been spurred by massive Government interventions, to the point where the most important man on Wall Street is Barrack Obama.

Many U.S. banks are still in serious trouble and hundreds more will fail over the next year. Institutions like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, etc, will "never" recover!!! The smartest guys in the room (Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan etc) as always, have come out on top, but even they have an uphill battle as the USD battles runaway liquidity while they still have to value those "toxic Derivatives" that haven't gone away. Wall Street bankers are now trying to do to our life insurance policies, what they did to our mortgages. They are still trading in over the counter derivatives with no transparency, and are paying huge bonuses to executives (sound familiar).

The commercial real estate market is facing a real crisis of re-financing. It could actually cause the next crisis. The domestic real estate market is sliding again and will until at least 2011. Creditors like China are searching for other stores of value, outside of the U.S. dollar. Besides commodities, China is investing in gold and actually telling it's citizens to do the same. Several large U.S. hedge funds are also investing in gold and finally, the Hong Kong government is currently in the process of moving their gold reserves to a domestic site from London. Now, if there is another crisis caused by the paper creating Vultures of Wall Street , do you really think the American public will allow their administration to launch even more expensive bailouts? Neither do I. That is why many investors are turning to a standard of value that reaches back thousands of years.

Gold investors know full well that, most of the worlds gold supply is already above ground. That is why major firms often go back to old, proven, gold fields with new technology to find and extract what remains. Let's face it, the days of individuals panning for gold in a river bed are long gone, but that doesn't mean exploration stops. It merely changes.

While contemplating which gold investments to make, I have been following this story with keen interest. A small American gold company, Apollo Gold (TSX: APG) (NYSE - Amex: AGT) of Denver Colorado, started producing gold at it's Timmons, Ontario site called "Black Fox" earlier this year. Since May when it produced it's first ounces of gold from that mine, it has been on the radar of a number of gold speculators and has been rated a strong buy because of that production, which has reached over 32,000 ounces in four months. Many feel it is very much undervalued and currently under the radar.

What has gold bugs truly salivating is a recent drill result that, at least in one new hole, in it's "Grey Fox" site (approx 30 km away) indicated a result of 455 g of gold per ton of ore. Now, in an industry where 3-5 "grams" of gold per ton is considered worthwhile, well.... you can fill in the blanks. Since then they conducted more drilling in August at Grey Fox, which have not been officially released yet, but oddly, two weeks ago, Apollo bought up the mineral rights to the entire stretch of land between Black Fox and Grey Fox giving them access to the entire fault line where, in prior years, there was a very productive gold mine.

One of the previous occupants of these claims, Cameco, sold off it's gold interests to concentrate on Uranium (which it now dominates) In one of it's last reports on this area, it's geologists mentioned that they believed a deeper drill may result in a greater find. Apparently, that's exactly what Apollo Gold has done, with a stunning result! I've noticed the share price go from .30 cents to .45 cents in the past 10 days, as they raised another $10 Million through private placement, and no drill results have been officially released yet. I couldn't resist, so I bought in at .45

12 month Analysis estimates (see below) are $2.76 based solely on the Black Fox production. However, the Grey Fox strike has caused an even bigger stir but we won't know the full story until the most recent results are released in late October 2009. I know this part of the equation is speculation but, sometimes, you have to read the tea leaves as best you can then, take the plunge. I believe that, at this price, I am well protected with at least a 250% upside built in. As the rest of the world invests in gold in the traditional sense (bullion, bars, coins etc) or in the large companies which are already producing large quantities from their mines (Rio Tinto, Barrick, Hemlo etc) I think Apollo Gold might be a home run, maybe even a grand slam. One word of caution: Apollo has it's gold hedged at $876, however it's production cost is $400 and dropping.

The last time I made such an investment,( nine years ago) it was in Novagold at $1 share. It went to $18 At that time, gold was just over $300 per ounce. Many analysts are predicting gold in a year at $2,000. Some are even throwing out a top end of $3,000 or more. That seems extremely excessive to me, but the $2,000 range is possible. Certainly, $1200 in the short term is likely.

If you are tired of feeding the Vultures of Wall Street., you may wish to investigate this opportunity like I did. I am not risking too much and neither should you. Now, don't take my word for this speculative gold play (or anyone's word for that matter). Do your own research on this or any company you wish to invest in. You may wish to invest in gold by merely buying gold bars or coin or buying ETF's (exchange traded funds of gold stocks) as I am also considering.

Apollo Gold Corp - check it out (TSX: APG / NYSE Amex: AGT).

Update Sept 25th 2009, Apollo Stock - over 7 million shares traded in two days!

Nasdaq.com Target price for Apollo Gold
12 Month Price Target Range


2.72
Consensus




2.72









2.72




0.52
Previous Close


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