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IT is something of a metallurgical mystery, but there are now two types of gold - hot gold and cold gold.
The hot stuff is found in West Africa and is being sought by a range of Australian explorers.
While the cold stuff is in Australia and the rest of the world and has attracted much less investor interest.
It is not hard to see why the West African gold rush has captured so much attention, given the returns that modern exploration techniques are bringing when applied to the greenstone belts running through Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Ivory Coast.
And the likes of Adamus, Ampella, Azumah, Gryphon, Perseus, West African Resources, Vital Metals and Papillon Resources, to name a few, are on the ground building up resources to mine.
Naturally the share prices of all of them have been hit by the recent fall in gold prices, but in general the hot gold stocks are still travelling better than many of the cold ones.
Out of the hot field I quite like Perseus, mainly active in Ghana and Ivory Coast. Though it still has plenty of exploration upside, Perseus's Central Ashanti gold project in Ghana is on track to start producing gold in the third quarter of this year.
Initially, that mine should churn out about 220,000 ounces a year, scaling up to 300,000 ounces a year from 2013 with an aspirational company target of 450,000 ounces a year when the Tengrela gold project in Ivory Coast comes online.
Drilling in Ghana is aiming to swell gold reserves from 3.3 million ounces to 4 million ounces to extend mine life and significant drilling is planned at Tengrela, making Perseus a buy for gold bulls.
OUR West African roughie is PMI Gold Corporation which yesterday appointed Thomas Amoah its African exploration manager.
With extensive exploration and project development experience -- most recently with Avocet Mining in Burkina Faso -- Thomas will be trying to push through a pre-feasibility study for the company's Ghana Obotan project (resources of 1.2 million ounces) and continue exploration at the nearby Kubi project (348,000 ounces).
It is obviously early days, but with $35 million in the bank from last year's capital raising and another 70km tenement in a highly prospective gold belt, it is a speculative buy.
THE cold gold companies offer much better value, with Lachlan Star earning a speculative buy.
A huge share register with more than 3.2 billion shares is being cleaned up with a 1-for-60 consolidation that will drag the stock out of its penny-dreadful status.
Unlike many small gold companies, its Compania Minera Dayton mine in Chile is producing about 45,000 ounces a year.
As a low-grade/high-tonnage mine, the more processing, the cheaper the gold.
And an 8 million tonne a year crushing plant is running at only a third of that capacity.
Resources already have risen to 1.4 million ounces with more to come and cash costs of US$840 an ounce should fall.
Some of the hidden value in the company include significant tax losses and some drilling for copper and gold .
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/in-the-black/how-gold-fever-runs-hot-and-cold/story-e6frfinf-1226053621277
TRY, TROY RESOURCES ORD
Troy Resources (TSE:TRY)
http://www.try.com.au
Troy Resources NL, dual-listed on the Australian and Toronto Stock Exchanges (code: TRY), is a junior gold producer with operations at Andorinhas in Para State, Brazil and Casposo in San Juan Province, Argentina.
The Company has forged a proven record of fast-track mine development, low cost operations, strategic acquisitions and exploration discoveries.
Casposo - OPERATIONS UPDATE (As at 31 December 2010)
* Poured first gold in November.
* Ramp up to full production slower than forecast.
* Expect to reach full production rates in April, 2011.
* Mined ore stockpiles of 97,648t at 8.21g/t Au and 86.89g/t Ag or 9.45g/t Au_eq.
* Doré production of 140kg (~9% Au and 88% Ag).
http://www.troyres.com.au/operations/casposo.html?showall=1
board - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=12391
LYNAS - Japanese Firm in Rare Earths Deal With Australian Miner - $250mil
The amount of rare earth minerals that China exports to Japan is about 25,000 tons a year,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/business/global/25rare.html?_r=2&ref=energy-environment
Australian Market Report of November 15, 2010: OneSteel (ASX:OST) Acquire Moly-Cop and AltaSteel to Focus on Mining Consumables
Sydney, Nov 15, 2010 - (ABN Newswire) - OneSteel Limited (ASX:OST) has signed an agreement to acquire the Moly-Cop and AltaSteel businesses from Anglo American plc (LON:AAL) (PINK:AAUKY) for a price that puts an Enterprise Value of US$932 million on the businesses. Chile-based Moly-Cop and Canada-based AltaSteel consist of grinding media and steel products businesses, focused on the high-growth mining consumables sector. The acquisition will provide OneSteel with global scale in the growing grinding media market. Sales for the acquired businesses for the six months ended 30 June 2010 were US$319 million, with EBITDA of US$53 million (audited).
Citigold Corporation Limited (ASX:CTO) has entered into a binding agreement with Anhui Geology and Mining Investment Co. Ltd. to jointly explore and develop the large exploration area around the core Charters Towers mining area in Queensland. Under the agreement Anhui will invest A$30 million over the next 5 years to earn a 50% interest in Citigold's Charters Towers exploration tenements. The exploration areas are highly prospective for repeats of high grade Charters Towers style mineralisation and further to the west and north there is potential for polymetallic base metal deposits.
Australian Mines Limited (ASX:AUZ) is pleased to announce a Heads of Agreement to acquire a 100% interest in Nigeria Gold Pty Ltd which, through its Nigerian subsidiary Mines Geotechniques Limited, owns 47 granted exploration licences covering 2,170km2 and a further 17 exploration licence applications over 1,924km2 for a total of 4,094km2 in north-western Nigeria. These areas are considered highly prospective for gold as well as other minerals and are largely underexplored using modern exploration techniques. Drill-ready targ ets for gold and base metals are being worked up through ongoing soil sampling and geological mapping programs.
Kentor Gold Limited (ASX:KGL) has successfully completed a share placement and a non-renounceable rights issue to raise a total of A$65.2 million. The capital raising completes equity funding for the development of the company's Andash Gold-Copper Project in the north-east of the Kyrgyz Republic. The Project is an advanced high grade, low cost gold mining project with current estimated Resource of 19.2 million tonnes @ 1.1 g/t gold and 0.4% copper for 680,000 oz gold and 77,000 tonnes copper. The first production is expected in late 2011.
Contact:
Asia Business News
Tel: +61-2-9247-4344
http://www.abnnewswire.net
________________________________________
Bowen (ASX:BWN) Shares Rocket on Bhushan (BOM:500055) Bid
Sydney, Sep 22, 2010 - (ABN Newswire) - Bowen Energy Limited (ASX:BWN), an Australian coal and uranium exploration company, said today that India's Bhushan Steel (BOM:500055) has made an on-market takeover bid at a price of A$0.10 per share for all of the fully paid ordinary shares in the company.
The offer is unconditional and the payment of the consideration will be by way of cash. Bhushan also said it would de-list Bowen from the Australian stock exchange.
The news sent the Bowen shares 87.5 per cent higher to close at A$0.105 per share. The Indian steelmaker Bhushan Steel has become the latest player to join the companies from China, Singapore, Korea and Thailand to hunt for Australian coal assets.
Last month India's Adani Enterprises (BOM:512599) bought a coal venture from Linc Energy (ASX:LNC) for A$500 million, which was the largest investment by an Indian company in Australia.
Contact:
Michelle Liang
Asia Business News
Tel: +61-2-9247-4344
Fax: +61-2-9225-9034
http://www.abnnewswire.net
________________________________________
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO): Overall Long Term Demand Upbeat
Sydney, July 14, 2010 - (ABN Newswire) - Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) said in its second quarter 2010 operations review that markets for most of the products are strong and the overall long term demand outlook is positive.
Rio Tinto's iron ore production fell 2 per cent in the second quart er 2010 compared with same period last year. The first half production was 15 per cent higher than the first half of 2009 when markets were recovering from the global financial crisis. Hard coking coal production in the second quarter grew 26 per cent on the same period last year, and 29 per cent on the first quarter.
The Pilbara iron ore mines were operated at close to its capacity during the quarter. Agreements were signed with around 50 per cent of Asian customers for pricing on a quarterly basis.
The company expects its iron ore production for its Australian and Canadian operations to be approximately 234 million tonnes.
Chief Executive Tom Albanese said fears about a possible double-dip recession in OECD countries and a slight slowdown in Chinese economy growth have led to some weakening in sentiment in recent weeks. The company believes this pattern of volatility in the global economy will continue.
Contact:
Michelle Liang
Asia Business News Asia Bureau
Tel: +61-2-9247-4344
Email: michelle.liang@abnnewswire.net
Victoria: Rediscover the Potential
Dept. of Primary Industries
http://www.northgateminerals.com/Theme/Northgate/files/media/Victoria_DPI_video.wmv
http://www.northgateminerals.com/
Australia's May Trade Surplus Widens on Overseas Shipments of Coal, Gold
By Jacob Greber - Jul 5, 2010
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-06/australia-s-may-trade-surplus-widens-on-overseas-shipments-of-coal-gold.html
Australia’s trade surplus widened in May as exports of coal and gold outpaced a gain in imports.
The surplus swelled to A$1.65 billion ($1.4 billion) from a revised A$1.12 billion in April, the Bureau of Statistics said in a report in Sydney today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 21 economists was for a A$500 million surplus.
Australia’s trade surplus is being fueled by a surge in prices for iron ore and coal shipped by companies including BHP Billiton Ltd. Signs of a rebound in mining investment may gather pace in coming months after resource companies agreed with Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s government on the introduction of a new industry tax last week.
“Coal and iron ore exports benefited from the large increase in contract prices,” Riki Polygenis, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Melbourne, said ahead of today’s report.
The central bank, forecast by all 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News to keep borrowing costs unchanged at 4.5 percent today, said commodity prices rose 3 percent in June, climbing for a third month.
Imports rose 4 percent in May to A$23.1 billion. Consumer goods imports gained 4 percent and capital equipment shipments such as aircraft and industrial machinery jumped 10 percent.
Exports gained 6 percent to A$24.7 billion, today’s report showed. Coal exports rose 10 percent and non-monetary gold jumped 66 percent.
Asian Demand
Increasing demand from Asia is stoking an investment boom in Australia’s resources industries that is forecast by the central bank to last more than a decade.
Concerns that the mining boom may worsen a shortage of workers and drive up inflation are among reasons Governor Glenn Stevens has increased the central bank’s overnight cash rate target from a half-century low of 3 percent in early October to 4.5 percent in May.
To contact the reporter for this story: Jacob Greber in Sydney at jgreber@bloomberg.net
China Magnesium Corporation Limited (ASX:CMC) Announce An Initial Public Offering (IPO)
Brisbane, June 30, 2010 - (ABN Newswire) - China Magnesium Corporation Limited (ASX:CMC) is raising up to A$8 million pursuant to an IPO to be followed by an ASX listing. It has (through a JV company, in which it is earning a minimum 75% interest) a pure magnesium plant in China - using the simple, cheap and proven pidgeon process - which has a rare permit in place to substantially expand production to 105,000tpa (which would make it one of the world's largest producers), an option to acquire the supplying dolomite (magnesium ore) mine and will have the new capability to produce higher value magnesium alloys (used for making lighter motor vehicles and mobile devices) at effectively the same cost as producing the pure magnesium. Initial plans are to undertake an upgrade and expansion to 20,000tpa alloying capacity (then further expansions in 5ktpa modules to 105ktpa by 2013) and the JV company is anticipating robust operating margins of >US$700/t alloy produced. It has substantial growth potential and the key Chinese parties (including the minority JV partner) also have a significant shareholding in CMC.
BACKGROUND
China dominates global magnesium production using the pidgeon process - a simple, cheap thermal process which is commercially and technically robust compared to the more expensive and capital intensive electrolytic processes in use in western countries.
Abundance of coal, dolomite, ferrosilicon and skilled, low cost labour is a major reason why China (especially Shanxi province) dominates global magnesium production.
Chinese joint venture partner constructed the existing plant in 2004 as a side operation for a coking plant. Key expansion approvals were granted in late 2007 and the joint venture with CMC commenced mid 2008.
Higher production costs caused by older, less efficient legacy equipment led to a temporary suspension of operations when magnesium prices fell during the GFC. Plant currently on care and maintenance. If it were switched back on without any upgrade it would only be a marginal producer.
CMC is planning to upgrade/expand the plant to recommence operations as a low-cost magnesium producer with added magnesium alloying capability.
UPGRADE / EXPANSION PLANS
-----------------------------------------
Phase Expansion Aggregate Target
(tpa) Capacity Completion
-----------------------------------------
Upgrade N/A 5,000 Feb 2011
1st 15,000 20,000 Feb 2011
2nd 35,000 55,000 Dec 2011
3rd 50,000 105,000 Dec 2012
-----------------------------------------
Upgrade + Phase 1 capex ~US$7.9m (including US$2.9m for the Upgrade only) plus working capital (generally ~ 1 month's operating costs). CMC is confident it can secure debt funding for approximately 50% or more of the capex costs and 100% for working capital.
PLANT ECONOMICS
(Note that the following is based on recent historical price information and does not incorporate income or withholding tax considerations, which are set out in section 2.10 of the prospectus. Although the following information is considered to have a reliable basis, there is no guarantee that the following economic parameters will apply to the upgraded/expanded plant once in production. Refer to section 4.5 of the prospectus for further information and assumptions)
- Operating costs (excl. by-product credits) budgeted at US$2,050/t.
- In early May 2010, local Chinese pure magnesium prices were in excess of US$2,345/t.
- In early 2010, magnesium alloys have typically sold at a US$365-585/t premium to the pure magnesium price.
- Had it been producing tar oil by-product in early 2010, the Group believes it would have received tar oil by product revenues of between US$40-100/t Mg produced (based on a tar oil yield of 3% / t coal, 5t coal per tonne Mg, and local tar oil prices between US$290-630/t.
- Based purely on the above information, it could have expected operating margins to exceed US$700/t magnesium alloy produced had the upgraded/expanded plant been operating in early 2010.
- Mg prices have tended to move in correlation with local ferrosilicon prices (being the highest input costs).
- Potential for further improvements to plant economics.
LOW COST PRODUCER
CMC expects to be at the low end of the cost curve mainly as it will be using modern, leading edge equipment.
There is limited cost information publicly available, but based on anecdotal reports and company research in early 2010 CMC believes that production costs of most Chinese producers were above US$2,200/t.
GROWING MAGNESIUM MARKET
The Independent Market Expert, Roskill Consulting, believes that there will be strong consumption growth over coming years (~6%), particularly in the Mg alloy market (~8%) Magnesium's main advantage is its weight to strength ratio - its density is two-thirds of aluminium's so it can often be cheaper on a volume (rather than weight) basis.
It can be used as a substitute for aluminium in many applications, particularly light weight vehicles and mobile electronic devices, eg, CMC believes magnesium's light weight is important in minimising (lithium battery) power consumption for electric cars.
Global customers are seeking magnesium off-take agreements from reliable producers (presently lacking from existing Chinese-owned producers in terms of contractual reliability).
A major Chinese automotive group is also planning to construct a car production plant in the local area.
CMC'S ADVANTAGES
Key competitive advantages include a permit to substantially expand production, proposed vertical integration (especially plans for alloy production), a nearby source of good quality feedstock (dolomite), and a credible ability to offer reliable magnesium supply.
CMC believes its competitive advantages will enable it to produce at a relatively low marginal cost compared to its peers, and that it will maintain long term operational viability regardless of the magnesium price fluctuations.
VERTICAL INTEGRATON / SYNERGIES
CMC will have control over three key stages: magnesium ore (dolomite) supply (via a call option over the quarry; US$0.7m exercise price), magnesium production and magnesium alloy production - others generally only control one of these.
Existing alloyers generally buy pure magnesium from magnesium producers, then re-melt the magnesium to add the alloying ingredients (with additional metal loss, energy costs, plant infrastructure and overheads) - CMC will bypass this in one stage and capture the alloying margin at nil or negligible additional cost.
Long term, CMC will consider other up/downstream applications to maximise long term profit margins and return on capital.
BARRI ERS TO MAJOR N EW PLANT S OR E X PANS IONS /UPGRAD E S
CMC believes that many existing producers in China are unlicensed and are at risk of closure due to the Chinese government's strategy to rationalise the industry into fewer, larger producers - so CMC believes that investment in upgrading their production facilities (and, in many cases, even switching their plants back on) is unlikely.
DIRECTORS AND MANAGEMENT
Mr Blackhurst (CEO) - Over 20 years experience building new businesses and consulting in Asia and Australasia. Active i n China. Co-founder and major shareholder of CMC.
Mr Liang (COO) - Singapore-Chinese engineer with 22 years experience in project / corporate development in Asia, Australia and the UK, particularly for heavy industries and infrastructure projects. Co-founder and major shareholder of CMC.
Mr Li (JV Co Chairman) - Chinese entrepreneur with 37 years in developing/operating businesses in China (incl. magnesium). Well connected with local officials. Family interests own the minority JV partner. Co-founder and major shareholder of CMC.
Mr Jia (JV Co general manager) - Chinese engineer with 21 years in developing/operating businesses in China (incl. magnesium). Co-founder and major shareholder of CMC.
Non-exec directors: Messrs Bass (chartered accountant with 20 years public company experience), Robertson (metallurgist with 25 years experience in mineral processing and manufacturing aluminium products) and Clarey (30 years in internationa l insurance/finance, mostly resources/heavy industries).
RISKS
An investment in the Company is subject to general and specific risks which may affect the value of its Shares and the financial performance, financial position, cash flows, dividends, growth prospects and the price of Shares. Many of these risks are outside the control of the Company and the Directors. There can be no guarantee that the Company will achieve its stated objectives or that any forward looking statements will be met.
Some of the key risks include the risk of doing business in China (including the risk of not being granted or maintaining all of the necessary approvals and permissions to carry out or fund all or part of the Project), single project risk, the risk of a fall in domestic Chinese demand for magnesium and supplier, funding risks, margin risks, increases in costs, exchange rate risks and share market risk.
For the China Magnesium Corporation IPO Investment flyer, please refer to the following link:
http://www.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/63196-ASX-CMC-20100629.pdf
About: China Magnesium Corporation Limited
Is earning a minimum 75% interest in CMC China which owns a 100% interest in a magnesium ingot production operation in the Shanxi province of north eastern China. The existing operations produce magnesium using the Pidgeon process. However, the operations are licensed to expand output to 105,000tpa, which would make it one of the world’s largest magnesium producers, and studies have been completed which augur well for a major expansion of its magnesium operations in a modular form largely by replicating the existing plant.
Contact:
China Magnesium Corporation Limited
Tom Blackhurst
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +61-7-5597-1077
Fax: +61-7-5597-1096
Email: Tom.Blackhurst@chinamagnesiumcorporation.com
www..chinamagnesiumcorporation.com
________________________________________
June 30, 2010
Source: China Magnesium Corporation Limited(ASX: CMC)
[Edit]
Prospectus - http://www.chinamagnesiumcorporation.com/files/prospectus.pdf
Significant Chinese Steel Producer To Take 34% Stake In Dynasty Metals Australia Limited (ASX:DMA)
Sydney, June 30, 2010 - (ABN Newswire) - Dynasty Metals Australia Limited (ASX:DMA) are pleased to announce that the company has received a letter of offer from the Chinese steel producer Hebei XingHua Iron and Steel Co. Ltd ("XingHua"), a subsidiary of XingHua Industrial Company. The Dynasty Board has accepted the letter of offer, which is subject to shareholder, regulatory and Government approvals.
The offer comprises a placement to XingHua of 40,000,000 new shares in Dynasty at a price of A$0.16/share to raise AUD$6,400,000. In addition, the offer makes provision for the issue of 20,000,000 options with an exercise price of A$0.20/option and an expiry date of 31 December 2012. The new shares will be placed on voluntary escrow for 12 months from the date of issue. Subject to shareholder and other approvals, XingHua will have a 34% interest in the company and Dynasty's cash position will be approximately A$10 million.
Dynasty Chairman, Ian Levy said; "The letter of offer from a significant Chinese Steel producer, XingHua, is a strong endorsement of Dynasty's investment attractions. This strategic partnership will provide a strong foundation to support the enhancement of p roject assets and corporate growth.
XingHua's decision to invest in Dynasty reflects the significant potential presented by the Company's project portfolio, and the calibre of the Pilbara as one of the world's leading Iron Ore provinces. XingHua views Dynasty as an attractive and undervalued investment opportunity backed by a strong board and team of leading technical consultants, and will support both development and commercialisation of our projects through potential off take.
Dynasty continues to build on the established 453 million tonne inferred JORC resource in its current drilling program, and pending shareholder approval, the placement to XingHua will enable the company to further expedite exploration activities and pre feasibility studies."
Dynasty and XingHua have negotiated the key terms of a relationship agreement as follows:
XingHua - Dynasty Relationship:
1. XingHua will be closely involved in the managemen t of the Company and the exploration and evaluation of all projects. This will include the appointment of two XingHua representatives to the board of Dynasty.
2. XingHua will share an office with Dynasty in Sydney where XingHua may undertake business when XingHua representatives are in Australia.
3. XingHua will invest in a representative office in China for Dynasty and will assist with introductions to potential 3rd party iron ore infrastructure providers. XingHua accepts that Dynasty will retain the right to freely progress discussions with other suitable infrastructure providers to ensure access to infrastructure is secured.
4. To the extent of its iron ore requirements, XingHua has a priority for iron ore off-take based on normal commercial terms.
5. With respect to production surplus to XingHua's requirements, XingHua will assist Dynasty to progress discussions with other steel producers and Dynasty will retain the right to enter into negotiations with other 3rd party off-take parties for the remainder of the iron ore.
These arrangements provide for both immediate and future financial support, and ensure XingHua will be directly involved in the management of the company, will assist with future funding and infrastructure needs, and it will also operate its iron, coal and steel trading activities alongside Dynasty in our Sydney office.
Dynasty Executive Director, Malcolm Carson added: "Through Dynasty's representative office in China provided by XingHua, we will have a presence in China, a highly respected and well connected relationship partner, a basis on which to establish iron ore off-take arrangements, high level introductions and access to Hebei steel mills producing 20 million tonnes per annum steel and requiring in excess of 30 million tonnes per annum of iron ore."
XingHua Industries was founded in 1985 by Mr Maochun Chen, a former Army Cadre, with its hea dquarters located in the town of FuzHou City, Fujian Province near China's South East coast.
About XingHua:
After 25 years of development, the XingHua Industrial Company's subsidiary company XingHua Iron and Steel Co. Ltd has total assets of more than 2.6 billion Yuan (~AUD$440 million) and more than 4,000 employees. XingHua Industrial Company ranks as number 308 of China's top 500 manufacturing companies. XingHua Industrial Company combines five core operating divisions - iron and steel smelting, steel rolling, real estate development, environmentally friendly materials handling and international trade has made the group highly competitive as a vertically integrated and diversified regional industrial group with total assets of more than 8 billion Yuan (~AUD$1.4 billion) and more than 5,000 employees.
With an annual value exceeding tens of billions of Yuan, the Company is a modern private enterprise including a complete organisation of party and political entities and a labour union. XingHua Iron and Steel has an annual demand for approximately 3 million tonnes of iron ore and is currently being supplied from Australia, India and internal Chinese sources.
Link: http://www.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/63199-ASX-DMA-495843.pdf
About: Dynasty Metals Australia Limited
Dynasty Metals Australia Ltd (ASX:DMA) is an emerging Australian iron ore exploration company focused on developing its 100%-owned tenements at Prairie Downs in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
In March 2010, Dynasty announced initial JORC-Compliant Inferred Resources of 453 million tonnes of Detrital Channel Iron and 23.3 million tonnes of Marra Mamba Iron Formation.
The 2010 exploration programs are underway and are aimed at further testing and significantly expanding the current resources, as well drilling a large iron-rich basal conglomerate for the first time. The exploration target is more than 1 billion tonnes of iron.
During 2010, Dynasty plans to commence detailed commercial investigations that will cover preliminary mine planning, beneficiation process design, mining and processing costs, transport infrastructure, capital costs, environment and native title clearances, and government approvals. A pre-feasibility study is anticipated to commence in late 2010.
Contact:
Malcolm Carson
Executive Director (Technical)
Tel: +61-2-9229-2704
Lewis Tay
Executive Director
Tel: +61-2-9229-2710 (Chinese)
________________________________________
June 30, 2010
Source: Dynasty Metals Australia Limited(ASX: DMA)
Kevin Rudd dumped as Julia Gillard becomes Australian prime minister
Australia has its first female prime minister after Kevin Rudd stood down on Thursday, handing the leadership to his deputy Julia Gillard.
By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney
Published: 12:59AM BST 24 Jun 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/7850711/Julia-Gillard-becomes-first-female-Australian-prime-minister.html
"... Mr Rudd was also embroiled in a high profile fight with the mining industry over his planned 40 per cent super profits tax on resources... "
Redesign of Super Tax
By Neil Charnock
Jun 16 2010 10:35AM
http://www.goldoz.com.au
Europe is not “all better” by a long shot and the net result will be more turmoil and attraction to gold as a safe haven investment. Volatility is the other most important trend this year as we ebb and flow between risk aversion and risk appetite. Each new “revelation” about German and French bank US$958B, or total European bank US$1.6T exposure to the PIGS of Europe will bring on the volatility. UK has exposed themselves to US$370B in loans to just Spain and Ireland.
What many people fail to understand is that Greek debt has been reduced to junk status meaning that banks have to account for these bonds as 100% risk weighted capital. Their reserves have to match Greek exposure on a one for one basis even if the bonds are trading at below par. This means that banks cannot afford to carry Greek debt. The fall out is again like watching a slow motion train wreck.
Gold is going to keep on keeping on – the rally will continue for years to come. All quality gold stocks have extremely bright futures as long as the new world reality is adjusted to. This adjustment is unwilling and painful because it involves difficult decisions which can only really be forced upon governments in the face of disaster.
Quality gold stocks have great ground positions, long mine life or a highly likely potential of such, robust production, low to zero debt and low to medium cash costs. A quality position is built in such a company during periods of depressed share price which precede an era of strong price appreciation. Gold stocks in Australia are in such a period after gradually awakening in response to higher AUD gold prices from late 2005 as seen below.
I will keep this simple because a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is a chart of the emerging producers and I want you to compare the recent price action of the chart above to the one below. To state that there has been a ‘disconnect’ or that this is overdone is an understatement. How long this might last and when we should pounce on this opportunity is what we need to cover for the rest of the article.
This article must therefore include a follow up to “Disaster and Opportunity” which I penned last week. Investors should never miss out on a good opportunity. I do not down play the current damage done to the Australian mining industry by our current government; instead I am providing coverage on the investment angle.
Anglogold Ashanti have come out and stated Australia is on the bottom of their list for investment at present. Morgan Stanley has stated that they have remodelled the BHP Olympic Dam Expansion and believe it will not be viable under the tax. This is at the heart of the real problem as long as this proposal is on the table because investment in mining requires stability and certainty.
This hits new projects on Australian soil more than anything as the uncertainty caused by the delay on the final policy format bites. This does force the banks to look at all funding based on the worst case scenario; which would be the current government re-elected and tax in current format passed into legislation.
Last weeks article delved into the opportunity and this week I want to update investors on the developments. Should this proposal fail then we will have a reversal on the depressed share prices for many companies. The major opportunity lies in depressed prices of gold miners that are fully funded and or currently producing. So what chance is there that this tax proposal will ultimately fail?
Let’s put it this way opportunity has already begun to rise like the phoenix from the disastrous policy proposal blunder made by our current Government here in Australia. I am sincerely a non-partisan writer simply because politics is not my field. I have therefore covered the RSPT here from a viewpoint of support for investors and miners and I make no apology for that.
It would seem the Federal Labor Government is going to be forced to back away from the ill fated super tax proposal and water down their plan. I say this even though they are saying they will “tough it out”. There is talk of raising the ludicrous “fair return” threshold from 6% to above 10%. There is also talk in The Australian newspaper about exemptions of whole sectors of the industry and other major changes as this policy farce disintegrates.
After crunching the numbers the government have quickly realized this means almost certain defeat at the next election. The latest WA opinion poll by Westpoll came in as the worst ever of all time for the Federal Labor Party even though they just pledged to spend billions of dollars on infrastructure in the State.
The primary vote was polled at just 26% compared to the opposition’s 52%. There are calls to get rid of the Prime Minister yet this incredibly misguided proposal has been sanctioned and loudly supported by the Deputy PM Julia Gillard, the Treasurer Wayne Swan and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson. In other words they are all responsible.
The PM did a trip to WA to “attempt to put out the fire” however he did no radio interviews, no public appearance, failed to meet the press or even the Premier. Apparently he has won no support back as a result of the visit which is telling as we attempt to analyse if we will actually have to deal with the tax at all.
Would this really weaken mining in Australia if it went ahead, or is the government right? I was talking to an insider in the oil industry today who told me that there has been no local oil exploration since the introduction of the oil tax. The few petroleum engineers that remain employed are mostly in the universities now and there have been no petroleum geologists coming through the system for years. We have gone from self sufficient in oil to an importer. The answer is yes you bet this would weaken mining and exploration and hurt the economy.
Sovereign risk status
There has been talk that our first class sovereign risk status has been irreparably ruined however I would argue that over time we might look back and consider this an important test. I hope the world will soon see that even a misguided Federal Government does not have the power to over rule or even attempt to destroy mining here in Australia because it is literally a major part of our national backbone.
I visit a major investment network forum that briefly put up an advertisement from the government promoting the RSPT however they removed the advertisement due to the uproar from members. This shows a true democracy in action where a company knocks back the government in support of its own clients.
Did this proposal ever have any hope of being approved? Mining has literally formed and shaped Australia’s history and is a hugely important part of our cultural in economic identity. The industry and many special interest sectors of the population were never going to accept any proposal that would weaken mining.
I would argue that Australia could never become a Hugo Chávez led Venezuela with nationalised industry and mining and this is incredibly strong for our sovereign risk status. Imagine if the political system in Venezuela had allowed the people and miners there to stop Chávez in his tracks. This is part of the fail safe mechanism here in Australia and this essential fact should not be overlooked by the international investment and mining communities. In the meantime they will sit back and await the verdict of the next election. They will quite rightly sit back and see what happens.
Contrarian opportunity, takeover mania
In the meantime at GoldOz we continue to structure our services to suit the situation because we can see the massive opportunity presented here. If the Australian public actually votes back the incumbent political party, which I seriously have to doubt from current indications and trends, then we get takeover mania and all sorts of chaos. We are preparing for this scenario just in case the unthinkable happens.
We have separated the companies with offshore operations and listed the proportional onshore production for all mining stocks. We have been building an offshore data file on the global industry. We also have some more plans and programs that will be announced once they are complete.
If we get rid of the government and or the tax then some of these stocks will play catch up and represent excellent leverage. We will be presenting this opportunity as part of our normal operation but I want to say this – there are some screaming bargains here in our gold sector.
Offshore investors marvel at how cheap some of these producers are compared to North American stocks. When you look at how far the AUD gold price ran correlated to the movement in the ASX listed gold stocks you can not only see the damage the tax proposal has done you can see the glaring opportunity.
The AUD gold price was up 25% from $1200 to $1500 and now we are consolidating up at the $1430 level which is up around 19%. During this same period the larger producers, emerging producers and juniors are down 8%, 11% and 12.5% respectively. Remember many of these companies are unhedged producers with zero debt or low gearing – join up with us now and examine this situation for yourselves.
This divergence between the AUD price of gold, rising price of USD gold and falling Australian gold stocks will not last. I am urging investors to get educated about this so they can book some exceptional profits when statistical normality eventually returns.
Good trading / investing.
Regards,
Neil Charnock
Rio’s Chief Says Mining Tax Puts Half Its Balance Sheet at Risk
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=afLxcXDqDxHg&pos=5
By Shani Raja
May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- largest mining company, said as much as half its balance sheet is threatened by Australia’s plan to boost taxes on resources producers.
The complexity of the proposal for a 40 percent super profits tax on resource companies makes it difficult to assess its costs precisely, Tom Albanese, Rio’s chief executive officer, said in an interview broadcast yesterday on ABC’s “Inside Business.” He said it may amount to more than 50 percent.
“This is half our balance sheet at risk because we have someone now coming in to say, ‘I want to be your silent partner. I want 40 percent of your pretax profits and largely written-off assets,’” Albanese said. The tax has damaged Australia’s reputation overseas and added to sovereign risk, he said.
The government set aside A$38.5 million ($32.6 million) in its May 11 budget to promote an overhaul of the nation’s tax system, including the resources levy. Mining companies oppose the tax, scheduled to take effect in 2012, and have placed full- page advertisements in Australian newspapers to lobby for changes.
Last week, the government said it will run its own advertising campaign to counter the “misinformation.” Treasurer Wayne Swan said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that the super profits tax, or RSPT, wouldn’t be retroactive.
‘Misleading’ Claims
“There has been much comment from mining companies in recent weeks about the supposed ‘retrospectivity’ of the RSPT,” Swan said. “These claims are clearly misleading, as the RSPT will apply to mining profits from 1 July 2012. It does not apply to past profits.”
Rio’s CEO said it was important to reconsider the proposal and that he’s ready to work with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s government on a fundamentally different approach. The world’s third-largest mining company is already paying almost 35 percent tax plus royalties, and will publish independently audited data on its tax payments later in the week, he said.
“Albanese left no doubt he’s willing to engage on a long- term, workable solution, arguably a process companies like Rio should have been involved in before the tax was announced,” said Tim Schroeders, a fund manager at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne.
Core Elements
The government “won’t back away” from the core elements of its proposal, Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner told Channel Ten’s “Meet the Press” program yesterday.
Still, Swan told parliament last week that the government was continuing to consult with industry as criticism of his administration’s proposed advertising campaign mounted.
The Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Eric Abetz, yesterday called for a senate inquiry into the government’s handling of its advertising campaign.
“Labor is breaking its own guidelines in order to run a partisan political campaign,” he said in a media release. “This has all the stench of a desperate government facilitating false excuses to run a political campaign at taxpayers’ expense.”
The government’s use of taxpayer money to get its message across is “a scandalous situation,” billionaire businessman Clive Palmer yesterday said on “Meet the Press.” The super-tax proposal itself is also hurting overseas investment and is likely to damage Australian jobs and livelihoods, he said.
‘National Interest’
Rudd told journalists in Melbourne May 29 that the campaign is in the national interest, while Tanner said Australia’s economy could be harmed if misinformation about the tax went unanswered. Wal King, the head of Leighton Holdings Ltd., Australia’s biggest construction company, said builders are also worried about the tax, the Weekend Australian reported May 29. He made the comments in a statement as president of the Australian Constructors Association, the newspaper said.
The mining-tax plan has prompted Rio Tinto to re-evaluate all its projects in Australia, Albanese said in the ABC interview.
“I have said to each of my managers, including during discussions this week while I’ve been in Australia, that every single project in Australia needs to be tested and retested and recalibrated, basically remodeled, on a worst-case tax assumption,” he said.
Minerals Council
The Minerals Council of Australia ran an advertisement on YouTube and began a radio campaign on May 24 against the tax, saying Australian miners will pay a levy of 58 percent, “by far the world’s highest tax on mining.” It compares with the 23 percent paid in Canada, 30 percent in Russia and 33 percent in South Africa, the council said.
Rudd’s government and resources companies are also clashing over the definition of a “super” profit, which the proposed tax sets at returns above the long-term Australian government bond rate of about 6 percent.
Rudd’s Labor party and the Liberal-National opposition coalition led by Tony Abbott are tied in the polls, according to a Newspoll survey of 1,159 people taken between May 14 and 16 and published in the Australian newspaper on May 17. Voter dissatisfaction with Rudd rose to 51 percent, from 40 percent in February, in the lead up to a national ballot that must be called by April.
Rudd would lose an election called now, according to a Herald/Nielsen poll published on May 10.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: May 30, 2010 10:01 EDT
$Silver: Bullish price objective per P&F chart: $29.00!!!
..............................................
Silver Futures Board:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.aspx?board_id=13026
The debate is certainly 'lively' It will be interesting to see how it plays out. It is sure to put a dent in Aussie mining for a while.
Thanks for posting on the Aussie Mining board.
I would like to get a few more people from down-under posing here on I-hub. I-hub is lacking in this area.
Kiwi
Look at the Aussies comments to this story:
Rio shelves projects in wake of super tax
http://www.news.com.au/business/rio-shelves-billions-in-projects-as-giant-turns-the-heat-up-on-rudds-new-tax/comments-e6frfm1i-1225862821246
Super hit by resources sell-off
Sara Rich From: The Australian May 06, 2010 12:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/news/super-hit-by-resources-sell-off/story-e6frg906-1225862763750
THE government's proposed super-profits tax on the mining industry has slashed the retirement savings of investors by up to $6 billion in just three days, undermining its parallel push into increased superannuation contributions.
In an unintended consequence of the government's plan to fund some of its super reforms with a new resources tax, super accounts have been hit by heavy selling on the local sharemarket.
Investment experts say the benefits of the reforms might be diluted by lower profits in the resource sector in which Australian super funds have $120bn invested.
"It is going to have an impact on people's superannuation," said John Hewison, chief executive of wealth management firm Hewison & Associates.
"Inevitably, an additional tax is going to reduce profitability and therefore reduce the returns of the resources companies.
"You could put the same label on the increase in superannuation guarantee contributions. It is also going to have an impact on company returns and while the increase in SG does have merit, it is nevertheless going to have a disadvantage to it, as well."
On Sunday, the government revealed it would hit the mining industry with a new resource super-profits tax of 40 per cent to raise up to $9bn a year. It also unveiled plans to lift the compulsory super threshold from 9 per cent to 12 per cent by 2019-20.
The new tax has created significant uncertainty in the mining sector and prompted stockmarket analysts to slash profit and share-price targets on listed stocks.
The value of Australian resources companies has plunged 5 per cent this week, although they steadied yesterday with gains to BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals, despite heavy falls in London and New York.
The broader market has lost 3 per cent, or almost $40bn, in value. The S&P/ASX 200 index yesterday lost 63.1 points to 4674.
Super funds own about 23 per cent of the shares listed on the local stockmarket and SuperRatings said the fall in resource stocks alone had wiped almost 0.5 per cent from the average balanced option in super.
Chant West principal Warren Chant said the average default option in superannuation had rebounded strongly since the global financial downturn, returning 14.7 per cent in the nine months to March.
SuperRatings chief operating officer Nathan MacPhee still expects funds to deliver double-digit returns this financial year.
Mr Hewison said while there was "no question" the super-profits tax would have a tempering effect on share prices, the local stockmarket reaction had probably been overdone.
"The growth projections for resources companies over the next three to five years are very positive," he said.
Mining boom to drive up interest rates
THE Reserve Bank expects mining investment in Australia to double over the next few years to satisfy Asia's vast appetite for energy and resources.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/mining-boom-to-drive-up-interest-rates/story-e6frg2r3-1225833914708
RBA deputy governor Ric Battellino said last night the mining investment would expand to be twice as big as the previous boom.
However, he said the expansion could be at the expense of higher interest rates.
"I don't think it's unreasonable to expect mining investment to rise to 6 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) over the next few years," Mr Battellino told the Sydney Institute in a question and answer session after his speech.
"That would be about twice as high as it was up to in the previous boom. It's a very big boom."
Mr Battellino addressed the institute after Australian markets closed but the Aussie dollar jumped about 0.5 on his upbeat comments to more than US96.5 before easing later in the evening.
Mr Battellino said a boom began in 2005, was interrupted by the global financial crisis, but had resumed its course and was now attracting strong investment.
"This is again very broad-based across a range of resources, but the core part centres on the large expansion in the iron ore, coal and gas industries," he said.
"It has been, to a large degree, driven by demand for resources by emerging economies, with China being the most significant."
Mr Battellino said demand from China and India was driving a surge in Australia mining that could last more than 15 years.
He said there would not be a lot of room for consumer spending or house building during the next boom.
"There's only so much activity that can take place, and if we want to have all this mining investment and mining output, which is happening, then basically the other part of the economy, for the moment, will have to be restrained somehow. You can't do all these things simultaneously."
Asked how restraint would be applied, Mr Battellino said "through interest rate policy".
He said the Aussie dollar would continue to strengthen on the back of the mining boom, but the rest of the economy would have to be restrained.
"Fundamentally, if the scenario works out the way people think, with all this investment, particularly in the gas industries, there's going to be a huge demand for investment in Australia and a huge demand on resources, which can only be accommodated by a higher exchange rate," he said.
He said inflation was still coming down. "We had that period from the very start of 2005 when inflation started to pick up and by 2007, 2008 inflation pressures here were hitting. Nowhere near to the standards we got during the previous mining boom -- at that stage we were already into double digits."
This may be the mother of all mining booms
* Michael Stutchbury, Economics editor
* From: The Australian
* February 25, 2010 12:00AM
THE Reserve Bank has surveyed 160 years of Australian mining booms and concluded that this one could be the mother of them all. "It's a very big boom," says Reserve Bank deputy governor Ric Battelino.
Australia's economy, built on a vast land mass rich in mineral deposits, has experienced five big mining booms, and these have generated periodic surges of export-based wealth from local discoveries or global demand.
The booms have forced abrupt economic and social change and generated inflation pressures that have been difficult to contain.
The 1850s gold rush was Australia's biggest mining production boom. At its peak, mining accounted for 35 per cent of colonial output. As fortune seekers from around the world flocked to the Victorian goldfields, the population almost trebled in a decade.
Typical of such booms, the gold rush squeezed out other industries such as wool, in part through labour shortages that pushed up the wages of shepherds. The boom ran ahead of local infrastructure but provoked a fatal insurrection -- the Eureka Stockade -- against taxes on the diggers.
The late 1800s mineral boom extended to new gold and metal mines, particularly in Western Australia, Queensland and NSW, including Broken Hill. It was financed by British money. And, as Battelino suggested in a speech to the Sydney Institute this week, the squeeze on urban manufacturing fed into the political pressure for Federation import protection that lasted for generations.
The mining boom of the 1960s and early 70s was driven by Japan's industrialisation and its demand for iron ore from huge mines in Western Australia and coal from Queensland. Bauxite mines were developed and oil was discovered in Bass Strait.
This boom provided two important lessons. First, one of the key ways that the economy naturally digests a mining boom is through a "real" appreciation of the exchange rate. This encourages labour and capital to move to the booming sector by making other industries less competitive. "There is only so much activity that can take place," Battelino notes.
Partly due to the political influence of the farming lobby, however, policymakers resisted allowing the "nominal" fixed exchange rate to rise. This meant the mining boom overheated the economy and fueled inflation, which delivered a "real" appreciation through other means.
The second lesson was that Australia's centralised wage fixing system just made inflation worse by spreading big mining pay rises through the rest of the economy.
The second oil shock of the 70s generated by the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries fueled foreign demand for Australian coal, oil and gas, while our cheap fossil fuels encouraged electricity-intensive aluminium smelting. But the lessons of history were yet to be learned. Battelino notes that this boom stoked euphoria over Australia's economic prospects, leading to a resurgence of pay demands and shorter working weeks that again spread through the centralised industrial relations system. And inflation was further fuelled by official resistance to allowing the managed exchange rate to rise.
It took a global recession in the early 1980s to end the oil shock. Australia's economy fell even harder as our resources boom collapsed.
The China boom began about 2005, was interrupted by the global financial crisis but is now picking up strongly again. Led by iron ore and coal, mining production has already increased to its highest share of the national economy in more than a century. Mining investment has risen to its highest level ever at 4 per cent of gross domestic product, and Battelino says the new wave of liquefied natural gas projects could lift this to 6 per cent of GDP in a few years.
This development boom is the result of the soaring mining and energy prices produced by the demands of China's massive industrialisation. Battelino notes that Australia's terms of trade -- the ratio of export prices to import prices -- has risen higher than in any previous mining boom. As in previous booms, this is generating strong immigration-fueled population growth, overloading our infrastructure and encouraging a "two-speed economy".
The scope for China's industrial catch-up means that this boom could last a couple of decades, if only we heed the history lessons.
Battelino argues that the key difference this time is the market-based float of the Australian dollar. The Reserve Bank is perhaps the only central bank not resisting, but even encouraging, a stronger exchange rate in order to accommodate a mining boom and so relieve inflation pressures.
Compared to 30 years ago, the economy is more deregulated and more flexible while the industrial relations system is less centralised. And, says Battelino, today's monetary and fiscal policy frameworks are "more soundly based". That's code for the Reserve Bank won't be shy about lifting interest rates to keep an inflationary mining boom in check.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/this-may-be-the-mother-of-all-mining-booms/story-e6frg8zx-1225834054395
Burn The Banks
The Daily Reckoning Australia
Baltimore, Maryland - Melbourne, Australia
Friday, 26 February 2010 In This Issue:
From Murray Dawes in St. Kilda:
-- Yesterday we watched the market open up 41 points on the back of a positive lead from the US markets. By 10:30am the high was in and the ASX200 turned down and sold off in a straight line for 100 points closing down 58 points at 4594.
-- Asian markets also came in for a belting with Japan down 2.4% and Hong Kong down 1.5% over the day and the release of Toll Holdings results at Midday only saw an acceleration of the selling pressure with Toll closing the day down 18% after missing earnings expectations by a long shot.
-- An article in the UK Telegraph stated that Greece's Deputy PM had lashed out at Germany over war-time atrocities and accused Italy of cooking its books. This seems like a fairly dumb thing to do when you are hoping that Germany might hand over some cash to help you out of the hole you've dug yourself.
-- But no, instead of grovelling the deputy PM said "They (the Nazis) took away the gold that was in the bank of Greece, and they never gave it back. They shouldn't complain so much about stealing and not being very specific about economic dealings". Nice one.
-- I'm guessing the Germans aren't going to be too impressed by the 'Nazi' reference.
-- The Australian Dollar also came under pressure which points to offshore funds possibly unwinding the carry trade which would have added to the selling pressure here.
-- The most interesting thing I read this week was about the beginnings of capital flight out of Greece. According to the Wall Street Journal, wealthy Greeks are moving their cash out of Greece and sending it offshore due to their fear of increased government scrutiny on assets and the possibility of a run on the banks should Greece be forced to go cap-in-hand to the IMF.
-- $8 Billion Euro has moved out of Greece to accounts abroad since December, which is a substantial chunk of the $30 Billion Euro under management in Greeks private banks.
-- I'm thinking this is probably not a good sign...
-- Also in Greece the general strike has spilled over into violence, with clashes between hooded youths and riot police in Athens. Chants of "burn the banks" were heard. All of this before Greece has even started tightening their belt.
-- In other news during the week we have seen American consumer confidence fall off a cliff and new home sales plummet 11% on the month in the U.S. This fall is due to the end of the $8,000 credit given to home buyers. Sound familiar?
-- This news is not the sign of an economy on the mend. The US markets were hit by this news but recovered later in the week unlike our market which has continued to sell off.
-- Technically, In the ASX200 The downtrend from January appears to be reasserting itself after retracing 50% of the sell-off in the last couple of weeks and this makes the next few weeks price action very important.
ASX200 daily chart
Click on ASX200 daily chart to zoom in
http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/images/20100226asx200chart1.png
-- If you look at the chart you can see our market has been in a long sideways consolidation for the past 5 months. We have had 2 false breaks of either edge of the range; with the most recent being the false break of the 4500 low from early November. This false break has seen a rally back to the midpoint of the range which I call the Point of control of the whole structure at 4700. This is a very important point and is often resistance or support before an attempt to break out of the range.
-- If the market were to turn back up and take out this 4700 area on good volume, you could be confident that the uptrend of the past year had reasserted itself and you could expect a move to the high of the distribution at 4950 and from there potentially a rally to new highs for this uptrend.
-- Conversely, if the market were to continue to sell-off over the next few weeks and then bust through the recent lows around 4464, there is the potential that this could signal the failure of the last 5 months range and also the end of the uptrend that has been in place for the past year.
-- The 10 day/35 day moving average is showing an intermediate downtrend for only the second time since the rally began a year ago. The first time was a false signal but this time may be different.
-- If we do sell-off below 4464 we could see some dramatic panic selling as any new long positions of the past 5 months are cleared out and the long term downtrend of the past few years rears its head. There is no reason why the market couldn't start a downtrend from there that heads towards the lows from March 2008.
-- Fundamentally I believe this is what should ultimately occur and with the news that's floating around at the moment there is no reason why this won't be the case.
-- Where the catalyst will come from to reignite the fear in the market is anyone's guess, but there are so many to choose from now, in my opinion it's only a matter of time.
-- For example the front page of the Wall Street Journal said that "Spain is the real test case for the Euro". With 19% unemployment and a couple of years of negative growth in a row it doesn't take much imagination to see that Spain is in a lot of trouble. The cracks in the Euro are getting bigger and bigger by the day.
-- China is the other big area of concern. Joint research by Holdways and Knight Frank showed the average prices of new homes in urban Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen were up 66%, 68% and 51% respectively in November, from a year earlier. This sounds a lot like a bubble to me. And when it pops Australia is going to hear it loud and clear.
-- The US has a huge problem brewing in their commercial real estate. The Congressional Oversight Panel released a report into "Commercial Real Estate Losses and the Risk to Financial Stability". In it they said that "over the next few years, a wave of commercial real estate loan failures could threaten America's already weakened financial system. Between 2010 and 2014, about $1.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans will reach the end of their terms. Nearly half are at present "underwater". Losses at banks alone could range as high as $200-$300 billion. The stress tests conducted last year for 19 major financial institutions examined their capital reserves only through the end of 2010."
-- "A significant wave of commercial mortgage defaults would trigger economic damage that could touch the lives of nearly every American. Empty office complexes, hotels, and retail stores could lead directly to lost jobs. Foreclosures on apartment complexes could push families out of their residences, even if they had never missed a rent payment. Banks that suffer, or are afraid of suffering, commercial mortgage losses could grow even more reluctant to lend, which could in turn further reduce access to credit for more businesses and families and accelerate a negative economic cycle".
-- When looking at the situation this way it's hard to come up with an argument about how the world is going to muddle through from here without suffering another crisis and another dip back into recession.
-- This rally has always had a time limit on it and we have said over and over again that it was due to government intervention anyway. The Keynesian game of borrowing more and more money to prop up the economy cannot possibly go on ad infinitum. None of the politicians will ever admit this of course because it is in their interests to borrow against your future to make themselves look like heroes and so they can act like they are "doing" something to help us.
-- But people, by and large, aren't stupid. They know what's going on. And the really clever ones are moving now to protect themselves before the music stops.
Murray Dawes
Editor, Slipstream Trader
for The Daily Reckoning Australia
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Aussie AYSI, a value mining services stock for 2010
ALLOY STEEL INTERNATIONAL
AYSI makes a new, technologically advanced wearplate called SUPER ARCOPLATE. So what is it and what does it do? Wearplate protects mining chutes, dumptrucks, bulldozers, rail cars, shipping containers and all manner of heavy equipment from wearing down, pitting and abrasion, making loading and unloading of material smoother and easier. Wearplate, as you might imagine, wears out under the heavy stresses of iron ore, rocks, sand, etc. SUPER ARCOPLATE outlasts conventional wearplate by up to six times! This means less downtime for equipment maintenance which means more productivity to companies...up to six times more productive. It may not be "sexy" but the product is in high demand...and yet no one really knows about the stock. It is a family business that has financed their growth from cash flow...no debt, no warrants, no financing, no options, no convertibles.
Users of this type of wearplate are mining giants such as BHP Billiton, CVRD, Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Codelco.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/company-news-story.aspx?storyid=200909080930mrktwireuspr____0534573&title=alloy-steel-international-signs-supply-agreement-with-bhp-billiton
AYSI estimates that the market worldwide for wearplate used in these applications to be in excess of 3 billion dollars.
The new thicker “SUPER ARCOPLATE” has the potential to capture a significant portion of that market where down time is a critical factor in the mining or mineral processing operation.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/World-First-Product-Secures-iw-680154107.html?x=0&.v=1
MINING OPERATIONS ARE REVVING UP WORLDWIDE and Alloy Steel International supplies wearplate to the mining industry, primarily in Western Australia -- home to large-scale BHP Billiton and Rio Tonto operations, among others. They secured their second supply contract from Chinese firm and multi-billion dollar construction, mining, and engineering powerhouse Sinohydro Corporation.
AYSI, located in Perth Australia, just released news that they increased their market share in Western Australia (WA) from 20% to 80% of all the mining services firms in the region. 80%. It appears that they are becoming a regional monopoly. Everyone wants what they make. Imagine the potential for expansion to other territiories. They are building more new mills to handle larger orders for thicker, even stronger wearplate for mining, quarrying, power generation, cement production and other industries. They recently opened an office in Indonesia due to its proximity to the expanding South-east Asian market, the lower manufacturing costs and the availability of highly qualified technical staff.
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/091112/aysi.ob8-k.html
Outstanding Shares: 17,350,000
Float: 4,500,000
Market cap is $46 million
estimated revenue for 2010 is $24 to 36 million
The company has barely diluted shareholders over their 15 years of being in business....and after fifteen years (and one "false start" when the global economy collapsed last year)...AYSI is already seeing strong growth in both top and bottom line results.
Q3 2009 revenues $1,307,160 eps ($0.003)
Q4 2009 revenues $4,187,000 eps $0.02
Q1 2010 revenues $5,739,316 earnings estimate .09
Q2 2010 ???
Newcrest mining:
Newcrest is a leading international gold company and one of the world's lowest cost gold producers.
The company is Australia's largest gold producer and a global top 10 gold mining company.
Fact sheet: http://www.newcrest.com.au//pdf/FINAL_Newcrest_Fact_Sheet.pdf
web site: http://www.newcrest.com.au/
Stocks to Watch: December 16, 2009
Sydney, Dec 16 , 2009 - (ABN Newswire) -
Republic Gold Limited (ASX:RAU) said that the Company has engaged ICR to conduct an independent social study of the Amayapampa Gold Project and an economic study of Bolivia concerning inward foreign investment. The resulting report will be used as a crucial Definitive Feasibility Study document and be provided to potential project financiers.
Otto Energy Limited (ASX:OEL)(PINK:OTTEF) said that the Edirne Joint Venture (EJV) has secured a five year Gas Sales Agreement for all gas production from the Edirne Licence. This long term gas sales agreement provides the EJV with a certain market for both its current gas reserves while also allowing for the monetisation of its new gas discoveries on the licence area.
Sarissa Resources Inc., (PINK:SRSR) announced that another magnetic anomaly of potential has been identified on its 100% owned niobium property in northern Ontario. T he newly identified area of interest lies to the south of what was previously thought to have been the southern boundary of the South East Zone.
One of the PRC's leading gold production enterprises, Zhaojin Mining Industry Company Limited (HKG:1818)(PINK:ZHAOF) said that in the morning of 14 December 2009, the Company received a confirmation letter from Shandong Property Right Exchange Center and Zhaoyuan State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Bureau, confirming that the Company has obtained the transferee qualification for the 100% state-owned property rights of Canzhuang Gold Mine at the consideration of RMB426,610,000. Upon the completion of the transfer, the gold metal reserve of the Company will be increased by more than 20,000 kilograms together with 4 additional mining rights covering an area of approximately 3.17 square kilometers and 12 additional exploration rights covering an area of approximately 71.92 square kilometers.
Galaxy R esources Limited (ASX:GXY)(PINK:GALXF) has signed the Project Investment Contract (PIC) for the Jiangsu Lithium Carbonate Plant with the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone Administrative Committee (ZFTZAC). The PIC provides for land use for 50 years in an ideal location for the production of battery grade lithium carbonate. The site will be serviced by a 500m conveyor between the ocean bulk shipping wharf and the plant to facilitate inexpensive delivery of the Mt Cattlin spodumene from the mine.
Automotive Technology Group (ASX:ATJ) has secured a A$5 million funding facility with investment bank Fortrend Securities Pty Ltd. Automotive Technology is the designer, owner and manufacturer of the patented Sprintex(R) helicoil twin-screw supercharger and has spent 6 years and over A$22 million in R & D. Development of the Sprintex(R) supercharger range is now complete and commercially ready.
Conquest Mining Limited (ASX:CQT) (PINK:CQMLF) provided an update on the p rogress of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for its Silver Hill gold-silver-copper project in northern Queensland. As stated in the Company's ASX announcement of 8 October 2009(1), the scope of the DFS was restricted to evaluation of the technical plus economic feasibility of mining the currently defined Silver Hill resource, and processing to produce a high-grade precious metals concentrate. The Company says it continues to assess options for a potential secondary production process of lower grade tailings using bioleaching.
________________________________________
Dec 16, 2009
Australian miners could do well, even if Aussie dollar doesn't
By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- After a stupendous rally against other global currencies this year, the Australian dollar could come under pressure in 2010, regardless of whether the global economy does well.
A fall in the Australian currency -- and resultant strength in U.S. dollar -- would normally eat into commodity prices, which are mostly denominated in the U.S. unit and move inversely to it. This, in turn, would suggest a tough time for Australia's huge mining sector.
But Morgan Stanley analysts, led by Toby Walker, say the future of commodities prices, and with them Aussie mining shares, varies vastly depending upon what drives the U.S. dollar higher and Australian dollar lower.
In a note to clients released Monday, the analysts wrote that if the Australian dollar fell due to disappointing global economic data or the risk of a worldwide double-dip recession, the result would be a decline in commodity prices that could hurt the mining sector.
"However, if a fall in the Australian dollar were driven by an increasing expectation of a rate-hike cycle in the U.S. and other developed nations and stronger global growth, then it is possible that the Australian dollar would fall, while commodity prices continue to rise over the longer term," they wrote.
The Australian dollar has staged an astonishing rebound this year against the greenback, as well as other major currencies, as a recovery in the global economy and demand for commodities boosted carry trades. A carry trade involves investors selling low-yielding currencies such as the Japanese yen or, more recently the U.S. dollar, to acquire high-yielding assets, such as the Aussie.
The Australian dollar has also benefited strongly in recent months as the country's central bank has aggressively increased interest rates while other central banks around the world largely kept rates steady. The Reserve Bank of Australia has increased its benchmark interest-rate target by 0.75 point in successive hikes at its last three meetings.
But whether due to a return of global economic weakness or to rate-hikes by rival central banks, Australia's currency could very likely retrace over the coming year.
The brokerage said it would be "unusual" for mining shares to outperform the market if the Aussie dollar weakens, but it could happen if there were signs of global growth strength or indications of interest-rate increases by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The analysts added that they would see any weakness and turbulence in mining shares under such conditions as a buying opportunity on a long-term positive view.
(Edit)
In wider markets, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.5% to 4,610.40, with Japan's Nikkei 225 Average falling 0.8%, South Korea's Kospi down 0.6%, China's Shanghai Composite 1.9% lower, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declining 1.3%.
The Australian dollar, meanwhile, was buying $0.9055 in Monday afternoon trade, down from $0.9115 late Friday, but still far above its low of around $0.631 in February. The currency was also buying 81.67 yen, compared to a 52-week low around 56.70 yen in February. The euro, meanwhile, has fallen nearly 20% against the Aussie so far this year, and was fetching 1.60 Australian dollars, compared with a high of 2.06 Australian dollars in December 2008.
The currency's Monday weakness came ahead of the release of key third-quarter economic data, due Wednesday, with some economists concerned that the data might be weaker than many had expected earlier due to a disappointing trade performance.
Merrill Lynch economist John Rothfield is forecasting Australia's gross domestic product will grow 0.2% in the third quarter over the previous three months.
"We wouldn't be concerned with a [third quarter] GDP result close to zero and think the market will ultimately look beyond it," Rothfield said.
Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/australian-miners-could-survive-aussie-dollar-drop-2009-12-14?reflink=MW_news_stmp
Gold 1214.10 up $18.10 from the close.
http://www.magyver.com/metals.htm
GLTA !!
RMLRF Ramelius Resources (.45) Western Australian Gold miner ramping up to full production. Recent drilling has given grades of up to 819 grams/tonne of gold. Mine to commission in January (2010).
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page34?oid=93677&sn=Detail
Ramelius is a Western Australian focussed gold producer and nickel explorer mining operations at Wattle Dam near Kambalda and with 100% owned milling facilities at Burbanks near Coolgardie.
http://www.rameliusresources.com.au/
http://www.pinksheets.com/pink/quote/quote.jsp?symbol=RMLRF#getQuote
.
Image Resources (ASX: IMA) (PNK: IMREF)
Eucla Basin Cyclone Extended HM Strands Increased By 80% To 4.5Km Strike Length
---------------------------------------------------------------
About Image Resources Nl
Image Resources is an active, innovative, Australian-based mineral explorer with a substantial portfolio of gold, nickel and mineral sand prospects in Western Australia. Incorporated in 1994, Image was formed to utilise an extensive Australian aeromagnetic database compiled over many years by the Company's founders. Image has used this powerful and unique data set, together with the experience and interpretive skills of its management, to acquire a range of prospects with high mineral potential.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Perth, Oct 27, 2009 - (ABN Newswire) - Image Resources (ASX:IMA) has completed a 402-hole, 16,308m aircore drilling programme at Serpentine Lakes in the Eucla Basin, following up its previous drilling which intersected significant thicknesses of zircon-rich heavy minerals (HM). Zircon comprises up to 45% of the HM assemblage (IMA ASX releases 30/10/2008 and 11/02/2009) and is of great significance because it is the highest value mineral normally found in HM deposits (approximately 10 times the value of ilmenite).
In addition, the material has very low slime values (range1.8-7.6%, average 4.2%), Low slime content is important because the material is easier to treat and operating costs of mining are reduced.
To date some 2066 of 4304 samples (1 or 2m intervals) selected for laboratory processing have been completed. Significant results include :
- Hole SL249; 16m @ 4.4% HM from 12m, including 3m @ 10.1% HM from 24m
- Hole SL301; 8m @ 5.0 % HM from 26m, including 2m @ 12.4% HM from 28m
- Hole SL350; 12m @ 3.9% HM from 20m, including 3m @ 8.4% HM from 25m
- Hole SL373; 17m @ 4.4% HM from 13m, including 3m @ 10.7%HM from 18m
- Hole SL390; 10m @ 5.3% HM from 12m, including 2m @ 10.2%HM from 19m
Two distinct zones of mineralisation are recognised within the Cyclone Extended HM prospect which abuts Diatreme Resources' Cyclone resource to the north. Based on the drilling completed to date, the western zone of Cyclone Extended has been closed off to the south. The main body of this zone is 2 km long and 800m wide, and there is a ~200m wide extension to the south for a further 750m.
However the eastern zone, about 800m wide, remains open to the south and probably extends up to 4.5km within the Image tenements.
The drillholes shown in Figures 1 and 5 (For figur es, see link at Bottom of release) and are coloured by metal factor (intersected thickness x grade in m%HM). The metal factors are based on a mix of laboratory and visual estimates at this stage. Metal factors greater than 40m% are shown in magenta, 20 - 40m% in red, 7- 20m% in orange, 2 -7m% in green, and less than 2m% in blue.
The cross sections in Figures 2 and 3 (For figures, see link at Bottom of release) show the mineralisation along four new traverses at Cyclone Extended. Some of the more significant intersections are annotated and thicknesses between 9m and 17m are shown. Laboratory results from all of the holes above the mineralised zones shown on the sections have yet to be received. Past experience has shown that panned estimates are significantly lower than heavy media separation results for samples from this zone, and intersections exceeding 20m thickness are not uncommon in the previous Image drilling in this area. As a result, it is anticipated that the final thicknesses of mineralisation will be even greater than those shown on the sections.
These new results highlight that Cyclone Extended is a potentially economic discovery, particularly when considered with Diatreme's contiguous Cyclone deposit, which together extend for some 10km in length. This combined mineralisation deposit is a significant size on a global scale and can be compared favourably with the Jacinth-Ambrosia deposits in the Eucla Basin.
Additional mineralisation has been identified about 1.5 km east of Cyclone Extended that requires more drilling to define its extent. Some 20km east of Cyclone Extended further HM mineralisation has been identified at the Monsoon prospect. The area between Cyclone Extended and Monsoon remains prospective for additional mineralisation. Wide spaced stratigraphic holes to the south of Cyclone Extended intersected significant thicknesses of the sediment that hosts the mineralisation at Cyclone Extend ed. Interpretation of the drilling in the centre of the tenements indicates the palaeo-shorelines trend across the scout drill profiles, although no significant mineralisation was intersected in the wide spaced holes. This area will be investigated further in the next phase of exploration.
Figure 5 shows the Monsoon prospect in more detail. The mineralisation at Monsoon has been traced for over 2.5km and is open to the south-east, but for approximately 2 km to the north-west the beach sediments appear to have been eroded by the drainage system that today forms the Serpentine Lakes. The strandlines are interpreted to extend across the state border with South Australia, and into a conservation park. Laboratory processing of samples from Monsoon is in progress prior to assessing the significance of this mineralisation.
When sample processing is complete, mineral assemblage studies and resource estimation will commence. Image anticipates that the grades and continuity of mineralisation indicated from the drilling to date will allow the estimation of inferred resources for Cyclone Extended and Monsoon. Following this it is anticipated that a scoping study will be carried out to assess the economic potential of the project.
Further drilling may then be undertaken to outline the full extent of the mineralisation and to investigate the mineralisation potential of the paleo-shorelines between Cyclone Extended and Monsoon where a 10km-long target area has been identified.
Image Resources is most encouraged by the drilling results received to date which continue to point to potential for extensive zircon-rich mineralisation with significant high titanium leucoxene and rutile credits.
For the complete Image Resources ASX Announcement and Figures, please click the link below:
http://www.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/6 1648-ASX-IMA-465949.pdf
About: Image Resources Nl
Image Resources is an active, innovative, Australian-based mineral explorer with a substantial portfolio of gold, nickel and mineral sand prospects in Western Australia. Incorporated in 1994, Image was formed to utilise an extensive Australian aeromagnetic database compiled over many years by the Company's founders. Image has used this powerful and unique data set, together with the experience and interpretive skills of its management, to acquire a range is prospects with high mineral potential.
Contact:
George Sakalidis
Managing Director
Tel: +61-8-9485-2410
Mob: +61-411-640-337
Roger Thomson
Executive Director
Tel: +61-8-9485-2410
Mob: +61-419-969-183
________________________________________
Oct 27, 2009
Source: Image Resources Nl(ASX: IMA) (PNK: IMREF)
Image Resources (ASX: IMA) (PNK: IMREF)
Eucla Basin Cyclone Extended HM Strands Increased By 80% To 4.5Km Strike Length
About Image Resources Nl
Image Resources is an active, innovative, Australian-based mineral explorer with a substantial portfolio of gold, nickel and mineral sand prospects in Western Australia. Incorporated in 1994, Image was formed to utilise an extensive Australian aeromagnetic database compiled over many years by the Company's founders. Image has used this powerful and unique data set, together with the experience and interpretive skills of its management, to acquire a range is prospects with high mineral potential.
Perth, Oct 27, 2009 - (ABN Newswire) - Image Resources (ASX:IMA) has completed a 402-hole, 16,308m aircore drilling programme at Serpentine Lakes in the Eucla Basin, following up its previous drilling which intersected significant thicknesses of zircon-rich heavy minerals (HM). Zircon comprises up to 45% of the HM assemblage (IMA ASX releases 30/10/2008 and 11/02/2009) and is of great significance because it is the highest value mineral normally found in HM deposits (approximately 10 times the value of ilmenite).
In addition, the material has very low slime values (range1.8-7.6%, average 4.2%), Low slime content is important because the material is easier to treat and operating costs of mining are reduced.
To date some 2066 of 4304 samples (1 or 2m intervals) selected for laboratory processing have been completed. Significant results include :
- Hole SL249; 16m @ 4.4% HM from 12m, including 3m @ 10.1% HM from 24m
- Hole SL301; 8m @ 5.0 % HM from 26m, including 2m @ 12.4% HM from 28m
- Hole SL350; 12m @ 3.9% HM from 20m, including 3m @ 8.4% HM from 25m
- Hole SL373; 17m @ 4.4% HM from 13m, including 3m @ 10.7%HM from 18m
- Hole SL390; 10m @ 5.3% HM from 12m, including 2m @ 10.2%HM from 19m
Two distinct zones of mineralisation are recognised within the Cyclone Extended HM prospect which abuts Diatreme Resources' Cyclone resource to the north. Based on the drilling completed to date, the western zone of Cyclone Extended has been closed off to the south. The main body of this zone is 2 km long and 800m wide, and there is a ~200m wide extension to the south for a further 750m.
However the eastern zone, about 800m wide, remains open to the south and probably extends up to 4.5km within the Image tenements.
The drillholes shown in Figures 1 and 5 (For figur es, see link at Bottom of release) and are coloured by metal factor (intersected thickness x grade in m%HM). The metal factors are based on a mix of laboratory and visual estimates at this stage. Metal factors greater than 40m% are shown in magenta, 20 - 40m% in red, 7- 20m% in orange, 2 -7m% in green, and less than 2m% in blue.
The cross sections in Figures 2 and 3 (For figures, see link at Bottom of release) show the mineralisation along four new traverses at Cyclone Extended. Some of the more significant intersections are annotated and thicknesses between 9m and 17m are shown. Laboratory results from all of the holes above the mineralised zones shown on the sections have yet to be received. Past experience has shown that panned estimates are significantly lower than heavy media separation results for samples from this zone, and intersections exceeding 20m thickness are not uncommon in the previous Image drilling in this area. As a result, it is anticipated that the final thicknesses of mineralisation will be even greater than those shown on the sections.
These new results highlight that Cyclone Extended is a potentially economic discovery, particularly when considered with Diatreme's contiguous Cyclone deposit, which together extend for some 10km in length. This combined mineralisation deposit is a significant size on a global scale and can be compared favourably with the Jacinth-Ambrosia deposits in the Eucla Basin.
Additional mineralisation has been identified about 1.5 km east of Cyclone Extended that requires more drilling to define its extent. Some 20km east of Cyclone Extended further HM mineralisation has been identified at the Monsoon prospect. The area between Cyclone Extended and Monsoon remains prospective for additional mineralisation. Wide spaced stratigraphic holes to the south of Cyclone Extended intersected significant thicknesses of the sediment that hosts the mineralisation at Cyclone Extend ed. Interpretation of the drilling in the centre of the tenements indicates the palaeo-shorelines trend across the scout drill profiles, although no significant mineralisation was intersected in the wide spaced holes. This area will be investigated further in the next phase of exploration.
Figure 5 shows the Monsoon prospect in more detail. The mineralisation at Monsoon has been traced for over 2.5km and is open to the south-east, but for approximately 2 km to the north-west the beach sediments appear to have been eroded by the drainage system that today forms the Serpentine Lakes. The strandlines are interpreted to extend across the state border with South Australia, and into a conservation park. Laboratory processing of samples from Monsoon is in progress prior to assessing the significance of this mineralisation.
When sample processing is complete, mineral assemblage studies and resource estimation will commence. Image anticipates that the grades and continuity of mineralisation indicated from the drilling to date will allow the estimation of inferred resources for Cyclone Extended and Monsoon. Following this it is anticipated that a scoping study will be carried out to assess the economic potential of the project.
Further drilling may then be undertaken to outline the full extent of the mineralisation and to investigate the mineralisation potential of the paleo-shorelines between Cyclone Extended and Monsoon where a 10km-long target area has been identified.
Image Resources is most encouraged by the drilling results received to date which continue to point to potential for extensive zircon-rich mineralisation with significant high titanium leucoxene and rutile credits.
For the complete Image Resources ASX Announcement and Figures, please click the link below:
http://www.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/6 1648-ASX-IMA-465949.pdf
About: Image Resources Nl
Image Resources is an active, innovative, Australian-based mineral explorer with a substantial portfolio of gold, nickel and mineral sand prospects in Western Australia. Incorporated in 1994, Image was formed to utilise an extensive Australian aeromagnetic database compiled over many years by the Company's founders. Image has used this powerful and unique data set, together with the experience and interpretive skills of its management, to acquire a range is prospects with high mineral potential.
Contact:
George Sakalidis
Managing Director
Tel: +61-8-9485-2410
Mob: +61-411-640-337
Roger Thomson
Executive Director
Tel: +61-8-9485-2410
Mob: +61-419-969-183
________________________________________
Oct 27, 2009
Source: Image Resources Nl(ASX: IMA) (PNK: IMREF)
Copyright (C) 2009 ABN Newswire. A division of Asia Business News
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Can gold and silver stocks expect +5,000% returns again?
An astute investor could have turned $10,000 into more than $7 million
With what has happened in the world of late and what will be unfolding in the next five years or so those few investors who fully understand the impact the current economic situation is going to have on future inflation, the USD, interest rates, the stock market, physical gold and silver and gold and silver stocks and warrants in particular are going to be in the unique position of being the benefactors of currently unimaginable returns and wealth. All they need do, as I like to say, is “Just prepare and prosper!”
Back in the mid- to late 1970’s, as gold went up from its 1972 low of $60 to $850 in 1980 (and silver to $50), gold and silver stocks realized absolutely amazing gains:
· Lion Mines – 1975 price: $0.07 / 1980 price: $380 i.e. an increase of 542,757%.
· Azure Resources - 1975 price: $.05 / 1980 price: $109 i.e. an increase of 217,900%.
· Wharf Resources - 1975 price: $.40 / 1980 price: $560 i.e. an increase of 139,000%.
· Mineral Resources - 1975 price: $.60 / 1980 price: $415 i.e. an increase of 69,067%.
· Steep Rock - 1975 price: $.93 / 1980 price: $440 i.e. an increase of 47,212%.
· Bankeno - 1975 price: $1.25 / 1980 price: $430 i.e. an increase of 34,300%.
The percentage returns above, averaging 70,627%, seem totally unbelievable but they are verifiable. They were achieved by investing in the right stocks at the right time. Imagine, and the above companies were only a handful of the gold and silver stocks that generated such astounding returns.
To put things in perspective let’s look at it this way. Had an astute investor divided a $10,000 investment equally among the six companies mentioned above in 1975 it would have grown to $7,072,700 just five years later. I can’t imagine that ever happening again but that is what actually happened back then. It is absolutely amazing, isn’t it? Even a 10,000% appreciation would have turned that $10,000 into $1 million dollars.
Remember, it only takes a few good investment decisions in one’s life to be exceedingly successful and that was such a time....
Full article at: http://www.stockhouse.com//Columnists/2009/Oct/6/Can-gold-and-silver-stocks-expect--5,000--returns-
kiwi
This i hub board has been created to assist anybody wanting to trade Aussie Mining stocks that trade primarily on the ASX
Commentary welcomed on Australasian mining companies exploring in Australia and all other parts of the world -
FX discussions on AUD/USD also applicable.
Discussion on Aussie mining companies with operations or personnel in North America and Canada.
Discussion on Non ASX listed miners and explorers with operations in South America and Africa also welcomed,
Enjoy and be prosperous!
Kiwi
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Aussie Mining stocks -
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Commentary on Australasian mining / exploration in Australia and all other parts of the world -
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Stocks trading on the ASX -
Newcrest Mining Limited:
Newcrest is a leading international gold company and one of the world's lowest cost gold producers.
The company is Australia's largest gold producer and a global top 10 gold mining company.
Fact sheet: http://www.newcrest.com.au//pdf/FINAL_Newcrest_Fact_Sheet.pdf
Web site: http://www.newcrest.com.au/
OceanaGold Corporation (OceanaGold) is a significant Pacific Rim gold producer, with a diverse portfolio of operating, development and exploration assets.
Assets are located on the South Island of New Zealand and the Philippines, with a corporate office based in Melbourne, Australia.
The Company is listed on the Toronto, Australian and New Zealand Stock Exchanges under the stock code "OGC".
www.citigold.com/Statistics.asp
Australian Stock Exchange | "CTO", listed 1993 | |
Frankfurt Stock Exchange | "CHP", Listed 2008 | |
Category | Gold | |
Market Capitalisation A$ | A$127 Million @ 14c | |
Shares Issued | 908,565,634 | |
Options Issued | 35,672,854 |
Image Resources NI
(ASX: IMA) (PNK: IMREF) is an active, innovative, Australian-based mineral explorer with a substantial portfolio of gold, nickel and mineral sand prospects in Western Australia.
Incorporated in 1994, Image was formed to utilise an extensive Australian aeromagnetic database compiled over many years by the Company's founders.
Image has used this powerful and unique data set, together with the experience and interpretive skills of its management, to acquire a range of prospects with high mineral potential. http://www.imageres.com.au/
AZS, AZURE MINERALS ORD -
Azure Minerals Limited (ASX: AZS) is an Australian mineral exploration company focused on developing precious and base metal mining projects in the richly mineralised Sierra Madre Occidental mining province in northern Mexico.
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