Archive for November, 2007

by Katherine Young
In a meritocracy, the pure, rich cream floats to the top. It’s where people are selected competitively according to merit, talent, motivation and effort, based on the idea that positions of responsibility and prestige should be earned. Kootenay Gold and its team are an example of just that.

CEO and Director James McDonald, at 46, is one of the youngest men in a directorial role in Canadian mining and boasts a track record dating back twenty years. He started as a geologist in 1983 at Noranda. Then he went to work at Hemlo where he met Richard Hughes, the mining legend and brains behind the Hemlo discovery, one of the largest gold discoveries in Canadian history. This experience seems to be the impetus behind his formidable motivation. As McDonald put it in a presentation featured on Kootenay’s website, “I really got bitten by the gold bug at [Hemlo].”

In the late 1990s, working closely with Hughes, McDonald and Albert Matter formed National Gold, secured the Mulatos deposit in Mexico, and joint ventured with Alamos Minerals. McDonald merged the two companies to form Alamos Gold, which opened the Mulatos mine that is still in production today, producing over 100,000 ounces of gold annually.

McDonald had other successes at White Knight, and Genco Resources (currently producing 1,000,000 ounces per year of silver) where he served as President until 2006, when he stepped aside (he remains on board) to focus his efforts on building Kootenay Gold.

“Part of the reason for creating Kootenay Gold,” he said, “is an opportunity to put together a team of people that I had worked with mostly on a contract basis. In this industry it’s not really the properties, it’s the people that are valuable. If you put the good teams together, you’ll get the good properties and you’ll make the discoveries. You’ve got to have those people.”

With Hughes as a director on the board, and McDonald at the helm, they began to pull together key players in the industry and an exploration strategy. McDonald says about forming Kootenay Gold, “There’s a prospecting family that I’d worked with in various companies on various jobs. I was always looking for the opportunity to put them together in a company to form the core of a good exploration company.”

McDonald and his team carefully selected the west Kootenay region because they considered it to be highly prospective, but underexplored. The mineralized belt, on the American side of the border, has produced over 6 million ounces of high grade gold, but on the Canadian side was somewhat untouched. McDonald put the Kennedys — a family of highly skilled prospectors — to work in the Kootenays where they have considerable knowledge. Their findings allowed Kootenay to stake 45 mineralized claims in the area, every one of which is a new discovery.

So, while generating discoveries in BC, Kootenay’s strategy has been to joint venture with junior explorers to help fund and conduct exploration on the properties. The joint venture partners absorb some of the risk to Kootenay and pay Kootenay in cash and stock. The stock, in this resource market, becomes an appreciating asset. In other words, it’s a win-win situation for Kootenay.

The best development for Kootenay Gold in the Kootenay area so far has been the Jumping Josephine project, which is a joint venture with Astral Mining Corp. Astral has the right to earn a 60% interest in the property. Recent drilling on Jumping Josephine reported on July 12, 2007, returned 19 m of 7.01 g/t gold, including 5 m at 16.42 g/t gold. In an interview with Stanley Hunt on Smartstox Talk Show, McDonald explained the potential at Jumping Josephine. “It’s a high grade system…They’re on round two of the drilling now. Personally, I think they’re starting to drill off a resource now. This started out as a raw prospect. We’ve got an advanced project down in Mexico, which has been our lead project, but this is catching up.”

Northern Mexico has been Kootenay’s major focus. Using the philosophy that it is critical to select properties well and then commit time, work and money, McDonald and his team saw opportunity in Mexico. Their belief is that northern Mexico has potential similar to Nevada in the 1980s — a period that led to Nevada becoming the third largest gold producer in the world.

McDonald said authoritatively, “Mexico is already the number two silver producer in the world. It’ll retake its number one position probably in another year. It’s going to become a major gold producer and you can also expect to see a lot of base metals, copper, lead, zinc coming out of Mexico as well in new discoveries.”

He points out that in a 250 km stretch, through the area where Kootenay has staked 500,000+ hectares, there have been five new mines opened in the last six years, with another two currently under construction and two more in the feasibility stage. In that time, the area has boasted the discovery of 15 million ounces of gold and 480 million ounces of silver.

In Mexico, once again, Kootenay has found an edge. Several edges actually. Kootenay hired a Brit named Dr. Tony Starling and his company Telluris Consulting Ltd. to conduct satellite imagery and interpretation of the geological structures over a vast area of land. Starling has spent fourteen years in Mexico working with some of the biggest names in mining.

McDonald explains, “He’s developed a process, an analysis that allows him to identify mineral systems from the satellite imagery.” The technology works by measuring the various wavelengths of reflected light to identify mineral systems, McDonald explained. “If you’re doing it without a lot of skill and experience you get a lot of things that are not associated with minerals…You get a lot of red herrings.” Based on results to date, McDonald says, Starling has about a 90% accuracy rate. “And that makes things suddenly very efficient, rather than running around, looking at hundreds of targets, the vast majority of which have nothing to do with mineral systems. We’re now going in here and I would say it’s about a 90% success ratio.”

For Kootenay, the result is that they were able to identify more than 30 mineralized systems over approximately 180,000 square km area, which “allowed us to very quickly tie up a lot of prospective ground in Mexico.”

Leveraging another advantage — a relationship with the skilled and powerful in mining –Kootenay’s exploration efforts were funded by Richard Hughes through Klondike Silver. Klondike earned the right to choose six properties from Kootenay’s claim package. Ken Berry, President of Kootenay Gold, says “Richard Hughes has a tremendous confidence in Jim McDonald’s ability to identify mineral projects as well as grow a company. Because of that confidence level, Richard Hughes has been able to offer Kootenay joint venture support through Klondike Silver and Amador.”

So Kootenay has the people, the connections, the properties, the technology, the land positions, and the financial structure. SmartStox host Stanley Hunt prompted McDonald to point out the advantage Kootenay has in Mexico and McDonald obliged, “We’ve built up a big infrastructure in Mexico. We’ve got a regional office there. We’re way up on the learning curve. We know the ropes down there. For somebody to go in brand new into Mexico, it’s going to take them quite a few months and a lot of dollars to get established like we are. They’ll be there well over a year getting established, just to get going. We are optioning properties there. They can have a property and get going in a month by doing a deal with Kootenay Gold.”

Kootenay’s major project in Mexico right now is its flagship, advanced-stage, 100% owned, Promontorio silver project. Historic data on Promontorio show individual holes with 1 kg of silver over 5 m, 10 m, 15 m and an average silver grade of 367 g/t. Historic reports also cite widths of 20 m on average. McDonald is optimistic about the width, “you’re going to have a low cost if you’re able to find a deposit with that kind of width.” Hughes is similarly positive. In a recent presentation he stated unequivocally, “That Promontorio, by the way, is a potential company builder. And as Chad Buckland, who couldn’t be with us today, said — he’s a broker and a geological engineer — “That’s the kind of property that could really make a company. That gives a company the multi-dollar exposure… And so I think you’ve got a great project.”

Investors seem to agree. Kootenay stock has been climbing steadily over the last month from below a dollar to above the dollar and a quarter mark.

This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

Resourcex Investor is an internationally distributed newsletter about emerging junior resource companies. Sign up for a free 1-month trial to our newsletter and get instant access to news and investing tips that have helped many of our readers make more money. http://www.resourcex.com

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by Dane Smith
More often than not, developers of both commercial and residential areas immediately bulldoze over our native Prickly Pear Cactus. Often mistaken as a weed, this gravely misunderstood wonder has much to offer the Austin area homeowner and community. Say if on your property there was something that year round produced a green bean/okra tasting vegetable, a fruit less acidic than kiwi, vials of vitamins, seeds for flour, medicine, a natural burglar fence, insect repellant, materials for mortar, a brilliant magenta dye, and a hair conditioner, would you run a bulldozer over it?

Found as far North as Canada, south to Chile, add Africa, Greece, Israeli, and largely farmed in Sicily, The Prickly Pear Cactus (species Opunta genus) can handle a variety of temperatures. It has pads (nopales) that stack on each other up into clusters that can reach twelve feet in height and are covered with large sharp spines. The pad’s function is for water storage, photosynthesis, and flower production. As for color, if the cactus were a crayon, it would be the “forest green” one and have the waxy Crayola glow to it. The cactus’ fruit, called “Tuna” has a waxy Crayola Fuchsia (purple) glow. This waxy appearance is from the cactus’ second and very painful line of defense: glochins. Glochins are very fine, extremely tiny barbed spikes that once they get into your skin, will be there for days, causing itchiness and blisters to form.

None of this is really helping the argument of keeping these things around the house, but there is a simple solution. When harvesting anything from the Prickly Pear, wear leather gloves, clip with long handled scissors, gather with tongs, and transport in a bucket. Hen, by putting the pad or tuna to an open flame, the glochins burn right off and very deep vibrant non-waxy colors emerge.

These pads are completely edible. They can be used in salads, casseroles, soups, grilled, with omelets and prepared in a variety of other ways. Nopal’s are stocked with vitamins A, B1, 2, 3, C and the minerals: Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Iron, and Fibers along with 17 amino acids. These detoxify the body with antioxidants. Research suggests that the pads help regulate blood sugar offering an insulin alternative treatment for people with type-2 diabetes. The pulp also boosts “good” HDL and absorbs “bad” LDL cholesterol.

The fruit of the Prickly Pear is also high in vitamin and water-content. It can be eaten raw, made into jam, jelly, sorbet, syrup, quick breads, and cactus candy. The seeds can be consumed with the fruit or spit out. Indians would dry the seeds and grind them into a type of pastry flour. There are at least two commercially imported liquors made from the tuna.

Because the Prickly Pear is very draught tolerant, planting it along the edges of your yard create a sharp zero-scaping fence that deters unwanted intruders. It houses the Cochineal bug who feeds on nutrients found in the cactus sap. The insect produces carminic acid deterring other insects. The carminic acid can be extracted from the insect’s body and eggs to make bright red dye that is food-safe. In Mexico, Prickly Pears are boiled and mixed in with mortar for building houses. Add Cactus pads to a container of water, agitate, strain out the cactus, but keep the mucilaginous liquid for a hair conditioner. Cutting up a pad and leaving it in a water supply prevents mosquito larva from developing. Ranchers can supplement their cattle feed by 40% with the a mixture of pads and tunas.

No weed is ever this useful, so get off the bulldozer and get out your tongs. The Prickly Pear is waiting.

Living in Austin Texas Ki helps clients interested in Austin Real Estate properties. Ki provides information on his blog about the Austin housing market along with a search for Austin Condos.

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by Anne Fletcher
An old shaft recently re-discovered is casting a whole new light over a long-abandoned Mexican mine-site.

Yale Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: YLL), in an on-going sampling program at the La Verde Grande copper mine in north-western Mexico, has turned up skarn mineralization in an adit about 80 metres south of the main mine entrance.

That adit, running east-west, was thought to be nothing more than an access, says company president Ian Foreman. With the mine workings trending north-east, the discovery of mineralization widens the potential deposit in three directions.

More intriguing, though, is a shaft about 50 metres in. Yale crews measured down 80 metres without touching bottom.

In an interview, Foreman suggested the shaft may be the one described in a report from December, 1919, with a depth of 370 feet (112 metres), passing through a 50-foot body of ore, with evidence of mineral showing in the last 125 feet and, most significantly, with evidence of sulphides.

“We haven’t seen a single grain of sulphides in all the workings and all the samples we’ve taken,” Foreman said, and that suggests the historical shaft may have opened onto an untouched ore body.

The depth alone wouldn’t have been a hindrance to mining. “There are many instances where the Spanish went down to the water table,” he said. But when they hit sulphides, “they didn’t have the technology to get the gold and silver out of the rocks.”

Even a couple of centuries later, the Hermosillo Copper Company, which worked the mine in the early 1900s, would have been stymied.

With no trace of sulphides to date, “we know then there’s a really good chance they didn’t continue mining,” Foreman said. “The ore would have been too difficult to extract.”

Shallower shafts on the site have been explored by someone dangling on the end of a rope, but Foreman balks at the thought of sending anyone down 80 metres or more.

“We’re really wrestling with ‘how do we find out what’s there?’,” he said.
“Are there other workings or are there other levels?”

However, invaluable information could come from one deep drill hole down the side of the shaft. That may well happen sometime next year, he said.

“We now have a much greater level of confidence that we’re going to be able to increase the size of the deposit and we can do that with drilling a single hole,” Foreman said.

La Verde Grande is the largest of six historical mine sites within Yale’s La Verde Project, 45 kilometres northwest of Hermosillo, Sonoro, Mexico. Sampling work has now moved from La Verde Grande to those other sites.

The project covers 2,640 hectares, and, in the continuing search to delineate an ore body for a multi-million tonne open-pit mine, Yale recently staked another 440 hectares on the northeast corner. The new property contains a large porphyry target - La Sierrita Porphyry - with anomalous copper, zinc, and molybdenum values, drilled in 2000 by Freeport McMoran.

“We’re now a long way along the road” to outlining an open-pit site, Foreman said. “We’ve duplicated old assay results. We can see mineralization in the walls (of La Verde Grande). There’s potential beyond the workings for areas we can’t see, for good mineralization.”

The assay results for more than 370 samples taken so far will start dribbling in over the next couple of months, he said. Until then, the best numbers in hand are pre-NI 43-101 figures indicating an historic resource of just under half a million tonnes, grading 2.29% copper, 98.54 g/t silver and 0.38 g/t gold. That rock, before costs, has a value of $228.04/tonne, worth roughly $100 million in-situ.

“We’re now confident we can multiply that several times,” Foreman said.

Work is also ticking along on Yale’s three other Mexican projects. On the Urique Project in the Chihuahua-Sonora gold belt at the northern end of the Sierra Madre, Yale has committed to the second year of its option with EXMIN Resources Inc. (TSX.V: EXM). “We want to be drilling early in the new year” in the north, Foreman said, while exploration in the south will start before Christmas.

On its wholly owned Carol property in southern Sonora State, complete assay results from a wide-spaced sampling finished in July need to come in before Yale can narrow its exploration area.

The company has sampled a large skarn body measuring 1,100 metres by 400 metres in the southern part of the property. The Carol property is about 6 km north of Frontera Copper Corp.’s Piedras Verdes mine, with proven and probable reserves of 191 million tonnes grading 0.36% copper.

And Yale has earned its 65% interest in the Zacatecas venture in the Zacatecas Silver District in central Mexico. The finalization of the joint venture agreement with IMPACT Silver Corp. (TSX.V: IPT) is now in the hands of lawyers, Foreman said. If the paperwork is finished by December, Yale will be back working on the properties in the new year.

With a $1.25 million financing completed at the end of August, Yale has enough money for now to keep all that work going. “We’re fine until the spring,” Foreman said.

Resourcex Investor is an internationally distributed newsletter about emerging junior resource companies. Sign up for a free 1-month trial to our newsletter and get instant access to news and investing tips that have helped many of our readers make more money. http://www.resourcex.com

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by Christina de Wit
Commerce Resources Corp. (TSX.V: CCE, FSE: D7H) has investors seeing double — in a good way. The company has just doubled the size of its Blue River property, located approximately 200km northeast of Kamloops, B.C., by staking an additional 95 claims for a total area of 104,700 acres to the south of the Bone Creek watershed. The total size of the property now exceeds 1,000 km2. This action was prompted by the discovery of a large ultramafic area of interest measuring about 6km long and 400m wide, approximately 12 km southeast of the Upper Fir Deposit. Samples taken from this ultramafic zone are being assayed, with a focus on nickel, PGEs (platinum group elements), and possible rare earth elements (REEs).

The company has also made major additions to its database for the Howard Creek Carbonatite within the northeast part of the property. According to the company’s website, “this deposit has now been mapped and sampled (with a total of 43 surface rock samples) with assays ranging from background concentrations up to 7.00 % titanium (Ti02), 8.61 % P205, 4843 g/t V205, and 3055 g/t Zircon (Zr02).” Sections of this extensive carbonatite complex contain significant titanium bearing minerals (ilmenite, magnetite, and titantite) and zircon. More work on the property is planned for the summer of 2008.

The Blue River Project is noted for its unusual carbonatite structure. Carbonatites are extremely rare, high carbonate, low silica igneous rocks. Carbonatite-associated deposits generally occur as intrusive bodies and are mined for a number of different minerals, including tantalum, niobium, rare earth elements, iron, copper, phosphate, nickel, uranium, gold, silver, platinum group elements (PGEs), zircon, vermiculite, and fluorite. So far, the project has proven significant grades for tantalum and niobium. The most recent (43-101-compliant) figures on the Upper Fir Deposit have outlined an indicated resource of 8.6Mt with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,372.6 g/t Nb2O5, and an inferred resource of 5.5Mt with 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,349.9 g/t Nb2O5 (Gorham, 2007). The Fir Deposit has an indicated resource of 5.65Mt with 203.1g/t Ta2O5 and 1,047g/t Nb2O5 (Verzosa, 2003), and is also host to an inferred resource of 6.7Mt with 203.1 g/t Ta2O5, and 1,047 g/t Nb2O5 (Verzosa,2003). The Verity Deposit, 10 km north of the Fir deposit, is estimated to host an inferred resource of 3.06Mt with 196g/t Ta2O5, 646g/t Nb2O5 and 3.20% P2O5 (McCrea, 2001). Tantalum oxide is used in the manufacture of electronic devices called capacitors, due to its having the highest capacitance of any known metal. Niobium oxide has steel strengthening capabilities.

Specialty metals such as Ta and Nb are often found with REEs. The term “rare earths” (also referred to as the Lanthanide Series) is used to describe a group of 15 elements, plus the element yttrium. REEs have similar properties and tend to occur together in nature. The most common REEs (known as the ‘light’ REEs) are lanthanum, cerium, neodymium and yttrium. Previous results at Blue River have returned high values of 1905 ppm La and 2666 ppm Ce.

Cerium is used as a catalyst to produce pollution control devices for vehicles. It’s also a highly effective polishing agent for glass. Lanthanum gives glass a high refractive index, as well as a high degree of transparency and light transmission. Rechargeable La-Ni-H batteries are gradually phasing out Ni-Cd batteries as the non-toxic lanthanum replaces the toxic cadmium — reducing environmental problems in terms of disposal or recycling. Environmental considerations are leading to the increasing substitution of REEs in applications presently using elements such as cadmium and lead. REEs are preferred because of their relatively low toxicity.

Demand for rare earth elements has exploded in recent years — the estimated value of refined rare earths consumed in 2005 in the United States was more than $1 billion. Rare earth oxides, which are processed into powdered form, may range in price from US$3.00 per kg, for cerium oxide to US$15,000 per kg for scandium oxide. Cerium oxide and Lanthanum oxide are currently trading around $3.85/kg and $4.40/kg, respectively.

The U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet titled Rare Earth Elements—Critical Resources for High Technology, outlines many uses for REEs. “The diverse nuclear, metallurgical, chemical, catalytic, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of the REE have led to an ever increasing variety of applications… [ranging] from mundane (lighter flints, glass polishing) to high-tech (phosphors, lasers, magnets, batteries, magnetic refrigeration) to futuristic (high-temperature superconductivity, safe storage and transport of hydrogen for a post-hydrocarbon economy).”

REEs aren’t typically found in economic concentrations — in fact, most of the world’s REEs come from only a few sources. The U.S. once was largely self-sufficient in REEs, but in the past decade has become dependent upon imports from China. Today, China produces approximately 97% of the world’s supply, with most light REEs coming from just one mine.

To compound a tight situation, China recently announced new export restrictions on REEs from its mining operations. This policy will result in a dramatic decrease in the REE supply. If Blue River continues to return good results, Commerce could potentially step into the vacuum as a major supplier of specialty metals and REEs for the North American and European markets. The cutting edge of technological research and development can only stay sharp if these markets take steps to secure an adequate, stable supply of REEs.

What makes Commerce a great long-term buy-and-hold is that it’s essentially immune to the volatility experienced within gold and base metals markets. The market for REEs is quite illiquid and the combination of future REE demand, along with the dearth of economically viable REE deposits in the Western world puts Commerce in a position of fantastic leverage in terms of its growth potential. Results so far indicate some bright possibilities. “This is the first time in those soil samples that we’ve seen potentially economic rare earth [levels],” said Chris Grove, the company’s head of Investor Relations.

Investors can anticipate more encouraging news from this rare bird in the next few weeks as the company awaits assay results from the ultramafic zone.

This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

Resourcex Investor is an internationally distributed newsletter about emerging junior resource companies. Sign up for a free 1-month trial to our newsletter and get instant access to news and investing tips that have helped many of our readers make more money. http://www.resou

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by Anne Fletcher
Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXV: CCE; FSE: D7H), bolstered by its latest drill results, is on track to break ground on North America’s first stand alone tantalum/niobium mine within two years.

However, that’s not going to happen fast enough to help The Boeing Company meet a 2008 year-end delivery deadline for its new 787 Dreamliner commercial aircraft.

Chicago-based Boeing, in a move that points to a global shortage of tantalum, has recently pushed its Dreamliner schedule back by six months. The first 30 to 35 of the new passenger aircraft won’t be delivered until 2009, because of both software integration problems and a shortage of corrosion-resistant tantalum fasteners.

Commerce is still in the midst of a two-year-long provincial environmental assessment on its Upper Fir property, 300 kilometers north of Kamloops, in central British Columbia, which should be done by May or June 2008.

With that certificate in hand, the Vancouver-based company will then turn to the British Columbia Ministry of Mines for a permit to work its Blue River property in the interior of the province.

If all goes well, the permit will come through in time for a 2009 spring start.

Tantalum has the highest capacitance of any metal known, meaning the ability to hold and release electrical charge instantaneously. That makes it essential to most electronic devices as the material used for the capacitors found in most consumer goods such as mobile phones, computers and digital cameras as well as in automotive applications (anti-locking brakes, airbag-firing mechanisms) and medical technologies such as hearing aids and pacemakers.

The world’s largest tantalum producer, Sons of Gwalia Ltd., now known as Talison Minerals, has, historically, supplied up to 55% of the world market from its Greenbushes and Wodgina mines in Western Australia. In the West, that market percentage could run as high as 85%.

However, SOG disclosed in July, 2004 that it may have run out of its surface high grade (300 g/t with a 55% recovery rate), forcing capital spending on underground mining of lower grade deposits.

Shortly afterwards, the public company went into receivership, and was purchased and renamed by private American interests only this year.

Drill results since Commerce started staking its Blue River property in 2000 have established Upper Fir as a viable mine site with a 6-10-year life.

The prospective mine life may double or even triple with the results from 18 more holes drilled this past summer. Those results not only confirmed that the Upper Fir carbonatite is sub-horizontal, allowing for open-pit mining, but also enlarged the strike area to more than a kilometer north-south and more than half a kilometer east-west.

(Carbonatites are rare rock types containing equally rare minerals, including niobium and tantalum.)

As well, this past summer’s exploration turned up two new carbonatites - Lower Gum Creek and Lower Switch Creek - about two kilometers east of the Upper Fir deposit. Currently, the company is expecting the results back from the drilling of the Switch Creek site, spurred by one anomalous sample from the late 1980s containing 2,900 grams per tonne (g/t) tantalum. That compares to an average of 200 g/t in the Upper Fir deposit.

While work is now concentrated on the Upper Fir, Commerce had staked an area covering about 500 square kilometers, including the Fir and the Verity properties. Last month, the company doubled its property by staking another 95 claims covering more than 100,000 acres to the south of the Bone Creek watershed.

The new claims cover a large ultramafic area about 12 km southeast of the Upper Fir deposit, and give Commerce ownership of mineral tenures in areas where mine infrastructure may be built.

The Upper Fir property has an indicated resource of 8.6 million tonnes, grading 208.9 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,372 g/t Nb2O5, and an inferred resource of 5.5 million tonnes, grading 208.2 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,349g/t Nb2O5.

The Fir deposit has an indicated resource of 5.65 million tonnes grading 203.1 g/t Ta2O5 and 1,047 g/t Nb2O5, with an inferred resource of 6.74 million tonnes, grading 203.1 g/t Ta205 and 1,047 g/t Nb2O5.

The Verity property has an inferred resource of 3.06 million tonnes, grading 196 g/t Ta2O5 and 646 g/t Nb205.

The metal niobium has a wide range of properties - heat resistance, high thermal conductivity, elasticity, corrosion resistance, and the ability to form a stable and adhesive layer of oxide.

But it is most prized for its use in steel alloys used in pipelines, cars and structural steels. A 2% alloy of niobium can triple the tensile strength of steel from a PSI (pounds per square inch) of 40,000 to a PSI of 120,000, making it a reasonable alternative to vanadium.

Niobium’s price has also skyrocketed this year, from US$7 per pound in January to its current level of around US$28/lb. Encouraged by the healthy market, Commerce last spring staked 88 claims in Quebec’s Labrador Trough, surrounding eight claims held by Virginia Mines Inc. (TSX: VGQ).

Those eight claims cover most of the Eldor Carbonatite Complex, an elliptically-shaped area approximately 7.75 km by 2.5 km with known, localized high concentrations of niobium and tantalum. Grab and channel samples have ranged from 1.15% to 11.4% Nb205 and 0.046%-0.21% Ta205.

In May, for the price of 710,000 shares and 290,000 share purchase warrants, Commerce took over those claims from Virginia Mines and embarked on a summer of soil sampling and line cutting. The results of those assays should be available by November.

The Eldor Carbonatite compares in size to the Araxa Carbonatite Complex in Brazil, which measures about 4.5 km in diameter. It contains the world’s largest known deposit of pyrochlore, from which niobium is obtained, and is mined by the Brazilian company, Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracao (CBMM).

CBMM, currently supplying up to 70% of the world market, says it has enough reserves to meet the global need for niobium for the next 500 years. But the private company may not be meeting the same disclosure standards as Canadian public companies. As well, buyers looking at the quality of CBMM’s product are known to be checking around for other suppliers.

While Commerce has had a standing invitation for partnership proposals, a recent private placement of $32.746 million, added to the $7.5 million already in hand, means the company can now manage on its own.

Another $45 million could be raised through the exercise of warrants bringing total financing to just over $80 million, enough to get Blue River into production.

With the Yellowhead Highway and the Canadian National Railway both crossing Commerce’s property, the company will have an easy choice of sending its tantalum concentrate, processed at the mine site, to either Vancouver or Edmonton.

The next step would be to turn the concentrate into tantalum oxide, but Commerce hasn’t yet considered whether it would build its own processing plant, partner with another company or hand off the product at that point.

This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

Resourcex Investor is an internationally distributed newsletter about emerging junior resource companies. Sign up for a free 1-month trial to our newsletter and get instant access to news and investing tips that have helped many of our readers make more money. http://www.resourcex.com

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So what is the best investing money advice today to help you achieve your financial goals? Actually, there are many different tips that will provide helpful to you on your road to financial freedom.

However, by far the most important thing you need to know is what you want your end result to be. This is certainly the most important beginner investing or advanced advice you will ever get. Hopefully this stock investment advice will help you to achieve your goals, whatever they may be.

Quite simply, many investors jump into the investment field arena without having a clue for what they want to accomplish through it. It doesn’t matter how good of an investor you are-without knowing your final goal, you will never get anywhere with your investments. This would be akin to getting in your car and just starting to drive without knowing your final destination.

Here’s your first investing money advice: you need to sit down and map out what you want to accomplish with your investments. Do you want to achieve a 15% annual return? How much money do you want in the bank 1 year from now? How about 5 years from now? 10?

As you think through this, also keep in mind what you plan on doing with this money. Just wanting to make a lot of money will not provide a lot of motivation; however, knowing that you could buy a new house, boat or car with this money will be all the incentive you will need to achieve your financial goals.

Another great price of advice for investing your money is to write out your goals, and place them in an area where you can view them often. It’s often been said that the simple act of writing out a goal is enough to help you achieve it.

This evokes one of the greatest laws in the universe, which is attraction. By continually visualizing your end objective, your mind will subconsciously work on ways to help you get there.

Once you know what your financial end will be, now it’s time to map out your course for getting there. This will obviously be different for every investor. The two most common investment methods are real estate and stock investing.

Neither way is better than the other; many have made a fortune with each. Your final decision will completely depend on you, your tolerance for risk, and what you want to achieve.

For instance, if all you want is to be able to buy a car in the next 6 months, then you won’t want to risk your money with stocks, real estate, or mutual funds. These are long term investments, and should be viewed as such.

Most investors view these vehicles as ways to get in and make a quick buck. Nothing could be further from the truth.

All of the top stock and real estate investors will only invest in a particular investment if they can be sure it will go up for the long term, contrary to popular belief. Most investors want to make a million dollars overnight and this will rarely be the case.

If your goal is to have enough money to purchase a new car in 6 months, then you will want to focus more on short term bonds, or something else that can be assured of going up. This obviously isn’t as exciting as real estate or the stock market, but it will be the best method to help you achieve your particular goal.

Remember, it really doesn’t matter which method if investing you choose. The best investing money advice that you could ever receive is imply knowing where you want to be at the end of it. Only after deciding on this should you even start to consider which investment to put your money in.

For info on how to buy stocks, visit http://www.stock-investing-tips.com, and learn how to investing in the stock market.

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by Dane Smith
As many Americans continue to default on their mortgages at record levels, other markets throughout the world are becoming extremely volatile. Most of the defaults were exacerbated by the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes over the past two years, which were done in order to stem inflation and keep the dollar overvalued. The devaluation of the dollar in recent months has positively resulted in the elimination of the incredible US deficit, but at a hefty cost to regular consumers and especially to lower-income homeowners, as a slower economy causes many to become more susceptible to defaulting further. This causes the existing problems to cause more damage than they already are, and makes it more likely that recovery will take much longer.

One of the only methods the Federal Reserve can use to increase spending and thus help to get the economy back on its feet is to cut the interest rates, as they have done over the past two months, from 5.25 to 4.5%. This is a huge rate cut all at once, which is practically unheard of in the history of the Fed. However, many analysts have predicted that they may cut rates yet further, as news of depressed consumer confidence and spending hit at the same time as more and more major companies are reporting quarterly losses in the billions, most of which is tied to the subprime mortgage crisis. This is a veritable one-two punch to the average investor, who seems to be responding by panicking, thus placing the market in its slow downward spiral that we see today.

One good analogy comes from the climate crisis in a term that has recently entered the public arena: negative feedback. If the economy is like the northern polar ice cap, the subprime mortgages are like dark sea water, with all remaining assets and investments represented by the stable pack ice. As the water soaks up energy from the sun, it warms the sea ice around it faster and faster, thus melting ice exponentially more quickly. As more investors become wary of the market, it becomes more difficult for banks to lend each other money, and the stable ice of the market breaks apart. The Fed cut would be like cooling the entire Artic ocean two degrees, thus economically encouraging investment without specifically addressing the subprime mortgage problems.

I think the Federal Reserve has no choice but to further cut interest rates because they are basically the only institution with any control over the US economy. In order to buoy the faltering spending and concurrent slowdown, they are practically obligated to do something. However, each rate cut is a double-edged sword: by cutting interest rates everywhere, they make inflation a bigger and bigger threat, and, more importantly, admit that leaving the situation as is will be worse in the long run. This in turn will probably make more investors more panicked, because the subprime mortage threat will be seen as an even graver menace. With these problems in mind, they will do what they think is right. But without a serious upswing, they may have no choice.

If you are looking into the Austin real estate market Escapeso offers experienced advice for investors. Their Austin Real Estate blog offers insight into the Austin market and their site has a search of the Austin MLS.

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by Monty Guild / Anthony Danaher
IF THE DOLLAR FALLS SLOWLY, OR RISES SLIGHTLY, EVERYTHING WILL BE O.K…and the weak U.S. dollar will be a problem not only for the Americans whose global standard of living is being eaten away, but also for foreign holders of U.S. bonds, and for the export competitors of the U.S. who will have to be more efficient in order to compete.

IF THE DOLLAR FALLS TOO RAPIDLY, AND THE DECLINE IS DISORDERLY… then the dollar is a problem for everyone, most especially for the U.S.

TO BE THE WORLD RESERVE CURRENCY YOU MUST BE RESPONSIBLE

The U.S. has gained hugely over the last six decades by having the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency. This was due to the fact that the U.S. and Europe were victorious in WWII and the U.S. had the strongest and one of the most responsible economic policies. All of that has changed.

For the past five years the U.S. economic policy has not been responsible…our deficits are unsustainable…and the Bush administration has been the most economically irresponsible of any in the White House in decades.

May I suggest that a read of the “Rise and Fall of the Great Powers” by Paul Kennedy who cogently explains how every great power eventually destroys itself by extending its reach as a military power and taking the role of policeman beyond the limits of its finances.

The book is history not prediction. It was written in the mid to late 1980’s. After reading it, we noticed the behavior of the Soviet Union who at the time was making the same mistakes that had led to the decline of the former great powers. Because of the insights obtained from this book it was easy to see the unraveling of the Soviet Union before most observers recognized it. In reality, the Soviet Union was really a group of third world countries with a big, inefficient and costly military. The Soviet Union failed for the same reason Rome and many other empires failed…hubris, military overexpansion, and irresponsible economic policies.
Can we think of any major power today who suffers from the same plight?

On top of the problem of funding ongoing wars, the U.S. and Europe will have to bail out billions of subprime mortgages, CDO’s, SIV’s and etc. that are the result of irresponsible banking organizations…a different kind of hubris, but hubris nonetheless.

IT’S OBVIOUS WHY THE DOLLAR HAS BEEN WEAK…BIG DEFICITS NOW AND BIG BILLS TO COME TO PAY FROM THE WORLD FINANCIAL CRISIS AND THE ONGOING WARS

This lesson has not been lost on foreign governments, sellers of raw materials and financial speculators. They have decided that the U.S. dollar was overvalued and have dumped it; decreasing its value.

THE BATTLE NOW IS TO HAVE THE DOLLAR DECLINE IN A MORE ORDERLY MANNER…THE DECLINE OF THE LAST TWO WEEKS HAS BEEN TERRIFYINGLY DISORDERLY, AND COULD LEAD TO MARKET PANIC

Global government officials now have the job of jawboning the dollar higher, or at least slow down its decline. The U.S. Secretary of the Treasury has for the first time said something to defend the dollar, and the head of the European Central Bank has denounced the decline in the dollar as “brutal”.

We expect more and more supporting statements and threats of intervention to let others know that the dollar will not fall precipitously. It may rally for a time as these pronouncements are made.

The U.S. wants the dollar to decline, but they want it to happen in an orderly manner. The effect of a lower dollar is to increase U.S. exports, but it also diminishes the U.S. public’s standard of living and the value of their savings and investments on a global basis. All of this happens without the public knowing it right away.

We do not think these statements of support for the dollar change anything, but may cause some short sellers of dollars to cover their positions, and may discourage others from abandoning the dollar as soon as they otherwise might.

Until problems such as the triple deficits and irresponsible government spending are corrected, the dollar will not be strong for a prolonged period.

Thanks for listening.

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These articles are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a solicitation, offering or recommendation of any security. Guild Investment Management does not represent that the securities, products, or services discussed in this web site are suitable or appropriate for all investors. Any market analysis constitutes an opinion that may not be correct. Readers must make their own independent investment decisions.

The information in this article is not intended for distribution to, or use by, any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country where such distribution or use would be contrary to law or regulation, or which would subject Guild Investment Management to any registration requirement within such jurisdiction or country.

Any opinions expressed herein, are subject to change without notice. In addition, there are many market, currency, economic, political, business, technological and other risks that are beyond our control. We make reasonable efforts to provide accurate content in these articles; however, some content and some of the assumptions, formulas, algorithms and other data that impact the content may be inaccurate, outdated, or otherwise inappropriate. In addition, we may have conflicts of interest with respect to any investments mentioned. Our principals and our clients may hold positions in investments mentioned on the site or we may take positions contrary to investments mentioned.

Guild’s current and past market commentaries are protected by copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act, you must not copy, frame, modify, transmit or distribute the market commentaries, without seeking the prior consent of Guild.

http://www.guildinvestment.com/home.asp?RQ=EDL,1&GID=50&linkid=21Monty Guild - CEO and Chief Investment OfficerMr. Guild founded Guild Investment Management in 1971. Mr. Guild is a recognized expert in the areas of international investing and economics. He has been a writer and speaker on economic issues for 30 plus years and has been widely quoted in the world media. Mr. Guild supervises the investment and research functions at Guild Investment Management. He holds a BA in economics and an MBA with highest honors.

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by Kristien Wilkinson
The opportunities for stock investment is not only limited to the stock markets of your home country. With the increasingly easier access to foreign economies, buying shares of international companies is now a practical option you can consider as part of diversifying your portfolio. It is also an opportunity to take part in booming economies and faster-growing stock markets.

Like any other investment venture, investing abroad has its own set of benefits and risks. They key is to consider the pros and cons and evaluate if this fits your risk tolerance as an investor. Most investors who venture beyond their home countries are high net worth individuals who have a fund surplus after investing in local stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, etc. Buying foreign shares is not limited to rich investors though. You can start with just $500 and build from there if you later decide that international stock markets suit your portfolio.

One advantage of foreign stock markets is the low correlation they may have with your local market. This means that when the local market is down, the foreign market may be up. In today’s globalized economy, that may not always be the case since markets tend to move in sync. For instance, the stock markets of developing countries that depend on the United States for imports and exports are significantly affected by movements in the US markets. However, studies have shown that in the long term, foreign markets are fairly independent of each other.

Another benefit of investing abroad is your exposure to rapidly developing industries that may not available in your own country. If you are an investor in the US market for instance, you’re missing out on the top makers of steel and electronic appliances which are not based in the US. Analysts also say that emerging stock markets in China, southern Europe, and southeast Asia have a faster growth rate than the established markets in the US and United Kingdom.

A serious risk, of course, is the political and economic upheavals that foreign countries may experience which could lead to a damaging crash in the stock markets. The differences in market regulations and standards could also be a difficulty especially when it comes to evaluating foreign companies.

Another risk of international investment is the volatility of exchange rate movements. If the foreign currency falls in value, then your investment return also suffers despite the gains your stocks may have made in the market. Countries which devalue their currencies are also dangerous pitfalls for foreign investors. You could incur losses practically overnight.

The massive growth potential of emerging markets has been mentioned earlier but with this faster growth rate comes higher risks. Stock markets in developing countries are generally more volatile than the mature markets of more developed economies. If you would rather be on safer ground, then invest in stock markets of more stable countries.

Investing in depositary receipts (DRs) is one way of accessing foreign markets while minimizing the risks. DRs are financial securities issued by foreign companies which are traded on your local market. These companies release financial reports that conform to the Securities and Exchange Commission regulations of your home country, thus making it easier for you to evaluate them. Although DRs are traded like local stocks, they still generally adhere to the behavior of the foreign shares they represent.

Investing in international markets may have its own pros and cons but it is still a viable addition to your stock portfolio.

Kristien Wilkinson is an online writer and contributor to http://www.tradingstocks.com

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by Christina de Wit
As per its October 11th press release, the company issued 70,000 shares to Kenneth, Brian, Stephen and Robert Burns (each as to a 25% interest). The company has an option to earn 100% interest in connection with its option agreement dated September 26 on the claims, subject to a 2% net smelter return royalty.

Bayfield has a sizeable land position totaling 1125 hectares in the red-hot Rainy River gold belt. Rainy River is located 80 km south of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. Amenable weather conditions and excellent infrastructure support year-round exploration and drilling.

Rainy River is described as a greenstone belt with both Archean-aged volcanic and sedimentary horizons. To date, the rock types encountered are principally mafic, including pillowed lavas. Veining and sulfidation* has been encountered in all holes. The main exploration focus so far has been on the northwest trending, cross-cutting faults and a number of late diabase dikes**.

This past month has been a busy one — the company has also recently completed the first round of drilling on claim block ‘A’ of its holdings. Bayfield owns three strategically located properties (known as the A, B and C blocks) within the belt. This summer’s work program focused on drilling five drill holes within the ‘A’ block totaling approximately 1,000 metres (about 200 metres per hole), which have now been completed and are in for assay. These targets were identified as a result of a previous work program of geophysical surveying and coincident gold grain sampling.

Investors can look forward to more news from Bayfield over the next few months, as the company plans to continue drilling into the winter months. Intended drill targets will actually be more accessible after freeze-up, as much of the company’s holdings are overlain by typical northern Ontario swamp.

Rainy River Resources is currently drilling immediately west of Parcel #15961. Previous drill intercepts (historic, non-43-101 compliant) in the #17 Gold Zone include 5.1 grams gold over 62.57 metres (0.18 opt gold over 205 feet) drilled by Nuinsco, who owned the property from 1993 to 2005. Rainy River Resources latest results, as per its November 5th press release show a 4 meter-wide semi-massive sulphide horizon grading 25.67 g/t Au and 184.14 g/t Ag in a step out hole south of the ODM Zone, which is just west of zone #17. Rainy River Resources website describes its own findings in the area as the “delineation of the largest and most intense gold-anomalous till layer ever encountered in Canada, much larger, in fact, than the anomaly that led to the discovery of the Casa Berardi gold deposits in the Abitibi greenstone belt in northwestern Quebec.” Bayfield‘s immediate plans for Parcel #15961 include establishing a grid and conducting both a mag and an EM survey as it gears up for an immediate drill program.

In terms of being seriously undervalued, Bayfield stands above the crowd for several reasons: Due to its tight share structure; its strategic large landholdings next to major players in extensively mineralized regions; close relationships with some of the biggest mining companies in the world; and its seasoned management, whose expertise is specific to gold exploration in northwestern Ontario’s gold belts.

Bayfield offers its investors something that is rarely seen these days — a tight share structure. The company has only 19 million shares outstanding (21.5 million fully diluted) in a market full of bloated issuers with floats of 60, 100, even 180 million shares outstanding. A lean issue is evidence of management’s priorities (and track record) regarding sound financial management. More importantly, management actually has a personal incentive to find a mine, which means that with some positive drill results, Bayfield could take off like a shot.

This latest acquisition underscores the company’s philosophy of acquiring prime ground adjacent to major players and negotiating advantageous partnerships with them, enabling it to minimize risk to its investors while maximizing the potential for a big win.

Management has the business in its blood. President Don Huston grew up in Red Lake, Ontario and has over 25 years’ experience in both the technical and financial spheres of the mining industry. The work program at Rainy River is led by Bayfield’s exploration manager and Qualified Person, David Busch, P.Geo., who is considered one of Canada’s foremost experts on Archean lode gold deposits. Mr. Busch has over 30 years’ experience working in Northwest Ontario’s greenstone belts. He is also managing Bayfield’s Red Lake camp.

The addition of Parcel #15961 complements what is a well-diversified portfolio, which includes a 24.5% interest in six claim units (known as the Baird property) in the Red Lake gold camp of northwestern Ontario, which is 14 km southwest of Goldcorp’s operating gold mines. Goldcorp has partnered with Bayfield for a 51% stake in the Baird property. The company also owns a 100% interest in a copper-gold and coal property in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, where it has a partnership with BHP Billiton, in which BHP earns 51% while funding all exploration costs over the next two years.

Investors should stay tuned for more encouraging news in the weeks ahead — the company is expecting results from the Block ‘A’ drill program to arrive shortly. As for the outlook on BYV’s upside potential, the sky’s the limit — but it always helps to get in on the ground.

*Sulfidation: When metal is exposed to sulfur compounds, resulting in the formation of a sulfide film. The sulfides do not normally form coherent, continuous layers and do easily become detached from the metal surface.

**Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies (200 to 400 meters). Diabase refers to the type of rock (mafic, igneous, for example). Dykes are typically vertical structures; sills run horizontally. The thickness of these structures is usually much smaller than the other two dimensions they have are squeezed between. Thickness can vary from sub-centimeter scale to many meters and the lateral dimensions can extend over many kilometers.

This article is intended for information purposes only, and is not a recommendation to buy or sell the equities of any company mentioned herein. It is based on sources believed to be reliable, but no warranty as to accuracy is expressed or implied. The opinions expressed in the article are those of the author except where statements are attributed to individuals other than the author, in which case the opinions are those of the individual to whom they are attributed.

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