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TRE.TO - asking 6.45 now! Gotta like the Chinese market!
Dynasty Gold Signs Agreement with AngloGold Ashanti to Explore the Red Valley and Wild Horse Properties in Northwestern China
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - Feb. 27, 2006) - Dynasty Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:DYG) ("Dynasty" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement that will result in a US$2,000,000 investment in the Company by AngloGold Ashanti, via its subsidiary AngloGold China Holdings Limited ("AngloGold"). The proceeds of this private placement will be used for exploration at the Red Valley and Wild Horse properties in northwest China. Furthermore, upon declaring its intention to joint venture, AngloGold will commence earning an interest in either one or both of these properties. The agreement is subject to approval by both the South African Reserve Bank and the TSX Venture Exchange.
Properties
Dynasty's Red Valley and Wild Horse projects encompass over 14,000 sq. km. of land in the provinces of Qinghai and Gansu, respectively, in northwestern China. Both projects are located within the Qilian metallogenic belt, in areas of known gold mineralization, and are considered by the Company to be highly prospective for large mineral deposits. Dynasty's wholly-owned subsidiaries hold 70% of each of the Sino-Foreign Joint Ventures (SJV) which manage these projects, and can earn an 80% interest with additional expenditures over the next several years. Dynasty's grassroots exploration has defined drill targets on a 16km trend of anomalous gold and trace elements at the Red Valley property, and reconnaissance sampling at the Wild Horse property has identified several areas for detailed exploration.
Share Purchase by AngloGold
AngloGold has reviewed the properties and recognizes the potential for the identification of significant mineral deposits at both locations. AngloGold representative, Roric Smith, Exploration Manager-North Asia Region and Chief Representative-China says," We are looking forward to working together with the Dynasty team on these two exciting projects."
AngloGold has agreed to assist Dynasty in their exploration efforts by purchasing 5,750,000 units of Dynasty at a price of CDN$0.40, representing an 8.74% (undiluted) stake in Dynasty. Each unit will consist of one common share and one half (1/2) common share purchase warrant. Each whole common share purchase warrant entitles AngloGold to purchase one common share at a price of CDN$0.60 for 2 years. The total funds of US$2,000,000 (CDN$2,300,000) will be used by Dynasty to explore the Red Valley and Wild Horse properties. Each of the two projects will receive 45% of the funds, with 10% allocated for governance and administration costs.
Joint Venture Option with AngloGold
The exploration program for Red Valley and Wild Horse will be designed and executed by an AngloGold \ Dynasty team. After the completion of this initial program, AngloGold may elect to initiate an earn-in and joint venture agreement with the SJV for either project by spending a minimum of US$2,000,000 over the course of one year. A further US$3,000,000 expenditure will be required within the following two years in order for AngloGold to earn 55% of the total interest in the SJV. The earning of any additional interest in the joint venture will be negotiated at a later date.
An investment by AngloGold fulfills one of Dynasty's corporate objectives - to make strategic partnerships with major mining companies in order to advance the Company's exploration properties. Brian McEwen, Dynasty President and CEO, commented, "We are very happy to have this agreement in place with AngloGold. We have long believed that both of these properties have excellent potential for large discoveries, and it is a major benefit to the company and its shareholders to have the backing and interest of one of the world's largest gold mining companies as we explore."
Details on the 2006 exploration budgets for all of Dynasty's China projects are forthcoming.
Dynasty is a Canadian based junior resource company focused on acquiring, exploring and developing gold prospects in China. For more information on the company's projects please refer to www.dynastygoldcorp.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DYNASTY GOLD CORP.
Brian R. McEwen, PGeol, President & CEO
This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
TRE.TO - 5.50 hold, better days ahead?
chart on previous reply
TRE.TO - China Forest play
Cup to fill eventually
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Oldest Mayan Mural uncovered, I can't post on your travel board cause its for only paying customers, thought you might be interested
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051213/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/maya_mural
Article: The China Gold Rush
Friday, November 11, 2005
By Jeff Berwick
The world hasn't realized it yet, but a gold rush is just beginning in China.
While gold mining in China dates back thousands of years, it has usually been from very small underground mines utilizing mainly human labour and little to no mechanization or infrastructure.
However, as I began to report in the article, "China: Right Here, Right Now" (http://stockhouse.ca/shfn/editorial.asp?edtID=17918) on October 28, things are changing in China at a feverish pace.
China began to invest in its own gold resources and exploration in the 1990's, and as with most things China does, quickly climbed the world ranks with an output of 200 tonnes/year, and became the 4th largest gold producing nation in the world.
However, with limited financial resources and massive demand for building materials and other commodities, China diverted its attention from the gold business to focus on areas of more short term importance to the country, such as base metals and electricity production projects.
It was then, in 2002, that everything changed. As I previously reported, China has been privatizing most areas of its economy at a pace that is hard to imagine, and the gold exploration and mining business is no exception.
Very few people noticed when in 2002 China held its first ever auction for mining rights. The four year mining license to a small goldmine in eastern China attracted four bidders from mainland China and Hong Kong. "The auction marks a breakthrough in China's mining industry," said Zeng Shaojin, director of the Chinese Mineral Development Administration.
I first became aware of the opportunities that had become available in this highly geologically desirable part of the world in 2000 aboard the private jet of one of the hardest working and smartest men in the business, Robert Friedland. Friedland, now CEO of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: T.IVN), previously famous for his discovery and sale of Diamond Field's huge nickel deposit to Inco for more than $3 billion, was busily flying from Hong Kong, to Korea, China, Mongolia and other rarely considered outposts, tying up mineral rights with governments that had just began to open up.
His work from just a few years ago already appears to be paying off as Ivanhoe now sports a $3 billion CDN market capitalization, mainly from its huge copper and gold deposit Oyu Tolgoi, in Mongolia.
While Friedland was well ahead of his time, which is usually a trait of the best entrepreneur's, the boom in China has yet to even begin.
Very few foreign mineral exploration companies have begun to realize what is happening in China right now, and the opportunities that exist. But I believe that this will all change very quickly, and when it does, we will likely see one of the biggest gold exploration booms in recent history.
StockHouse editorial contributor, Steven Saville, believes we are currently in a secular bull market for gold, that began in 2000 and will not see its ultimate peak until 2010-2015, well into triple digit levels. If this is the case, with gold in a bull market, and one of the world's largest, most unexplored geologically rich areas now open for business, there will be dozens, if not hundreds of massive success stories in the years to come.
One of the first success stories is Southwestern Resources (TSX: T.SWG). Southwestern saw their share price rise from less than $2 to over $20 in 2003 based on their gold discovery, named Boka, in southwest China. Southwest has stated that they have a combined indicated and inferred resource of 5.4 million ounces of gold, at a cost of $143 per ounce. But Southwest has yet to finish its exploration and it appears that they will have a much larger deposit once all is said and done. In a recent Raymond James report, in which they have a "Strong Buy" and a one year target of $27.50 (nearly a 200% gain from current levels), they stated, "It is crucial to appreciate that the inferred resource and the scale of the resultant operation will be, in our opinion, only a fraction of the ultimate operation at Boka".
In a normal mining exploration project, when a company such as Southwestern comes across what appears to be a giant gold discovery, it is normal to see dozens of microcap junior mining companies all battling to stake the ground surrounding the deposit. However, in China, most juniors have yet to realize, or have the local expertise and experience, to get involved in what will surely be an area with a multitude of massive discoveries over the coming years.
In the meantime there are just a handful of stocks to watch for the time being in China. But those companies, with their local expertise, government contacts and experience will do incredibly well as they are the leaders in what will almost surely become one of the hottest areas this sector has seen in years.
TWO STOCKS TO WATCH
Mundoro Mining (TSX: MUN) $2.33
Mundoro (TSX: T.MUN) has quietly been expanding the largest known gold deposit in China, with over 8 million ounces proven up to date. Unbelievably, their market capitalization is only $100 million CDN, likely due to non-promotion as well as the perceived country risk being in China. However, as I have noted in my articles, China should not be perceived as any greater of a risk than most other countries. And when you take into account things such as environmental issues, China should really be looked at as possibly less risky than even Canada and the US, as you will never see a gold deposit left undeveloped in China due to political pressure from local native groups or environmentalists.
I will be doing a follow-up feature report on Mundoro next week as part of StockHouse's coverage of the China Mining Show in Beijing.
Magnus Resources (OTCBB: MGNU)
Magnus Resources (OTCBB: MGNU) has claimed and has been working the ground north of Southwest's Boka discovery for more than a year and seems to have the leadership, intelligence and team to possibly become the next large discovery in this area. I recently visited their property and was able to see the exploration team they are putting together which they envision will be the leading mineral exploration team in the country.
I will have a feature report and interview with Magnus' CEO, Graham Taylor, next week as part of ongoing coverage at the China Mining Conference in Beijing.
CONCLUSION
The privatization of China holds a multitude of opportunities, and the gold mining business will undoubtedly be a story which will grow and develop over the coming years.
While other countries in the region, such as Mongolia and Myanmar, may be very exciting and are also in the process of opening up further to foreign investment, China, under Hu Jintao, has shown to be by far the most aggressive and results orientated.
As part of StockHouse's commitment to the resource/mining sector, we will have two special reports next week on two of the companies leading the way in China as part of our coverage of the China Mining Show in Beijing (http://www.china-mining.com). Also, please take note of our new Natural Resources Stock Center for further research in this sector.
Disclosure: Jeff Berwick owns 5,000 shares of Mundoro Mining (TSX: T.MUN)
Its funny China is playing the double edge sword act!
The only think I actually remember about this stock, was about a year ago, there was an analyst on ROB TV that indicated that some of the riches families in China had a stake in the company. Don't know how accurate that is still.
Chart wise seems like it might be making the handle, we'll see!
Boom
No I dont. I have stayed away from the China plays because of uncertainty with some of the property ownership.
Your right about the technicals... blue sky.
V.ICI
http://www.inter-citic.com/
China Gold play
Tackler you know anything about the prospect of this company?
A break of 1.30 could be interesting here.
I have a question for you on your Eritrea board, but didn't post it as a reply to you? Thanks
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GAU Garrison has a new director
2005-07-21 12:24 ET - News Release
Mr. George Cole reports
GARRISON EXPANDS ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Blair Krueger has joined the board of directors of Garrison International Ltd. Mr. Krueger, MBA, BSc (physics), provides financial advisory services to clients in Canada with a specialty focus on China and the mining industry in China. The company is classified as a mining (non-oil-and-gas) exploration/development company
HRSh Helena Resources to formalize share exchange for RTO
2005-07-20 09:36 ET - News Release
Mr. Barrett Sleeman reports
HELENA RESOURCES LIMITED: UPDATE ON PROPOSE REVERSE TAKE-OVER TRANSACTION
Helena Resources Ltd. has released the following update in connection with the proposed reverse takeover of the company by West China Mining Resources Holdings Ltd. previously announced in Stockwatch May 19, 2005.
The company and West China are currently working toward finalizing a formal securities exchange agreement between the parties. As previously noted, the transaction will be an arm's-length transaction and constitutes a reverse takeover under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
The company and West China are also currently working toward engaging a sponsor for this transaction.
Closing of the transaction is now expected to occur during the last quarter of 2005. Concurrent with closing, the company will make application to graduate from the NEX to the TSX Venture Exchange as a Tier 2 mining issuer. A meeting of shareholders of the company is expected to be convened during the last quarter of 2005 to seek shareholder approval of the transaction.
Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including, but not limited to, exchange acceptance and disinterested shareholder approval. The transaction cannot close until the various approvals are obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. It is anticipated that it will take several months to obtain the approvals and complete the transaction.
Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular to be prepared for an upcoming shareholders meeting to be held in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the company may remain halted pending review of the transaction by the exchange and closing of the transaction. Trading in the securities of the company should be considered highly speculative.
At the direction of the NEX, the company's shares will remain halted until further notice.
About West China and Dexin
West China is a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and privately owned by approximately a dozen shareholders, the largest of whom are Bin Zhu, of Shanghai, China (owning 32 per cent), and ADDA (Panama) Ltd. (owning 13 per cent). West China owns 100 per cent of Sichuan Dexin Mining Resources Co. Ltd. of Chengdu, Sichuan, China, which holds 100-per-cent ownership of an advanced exploration project in Sichuan province, China.
The project is an advanced exploration project located approximately 400 kilometres west of Chengdu in Sichuan province. The region is known to contain mineralization, with two operating mines existing within 15 kilometres of the property. The project has a number of demonstrated pegmatite veins that could be mined primarily for lithium, but which also have tantalum and niobium and possibly beryllium. The altitude of the lower of two adits is approximately 4,000 metres. Lithium is used in a variety of products, including rechargeable batteries, ceramics, glass and grease.
Watts Griffis & McOuat have been retained to prepare a report on the property in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. The completed report is expected in July, 2005.
About the transaction
In consideration of the acquisition of ownership of West China and indirect ownership of Dexin, the company will issue approximately 31,756,647 common shares to the owners of West China. An additional 1.3 million common shares will be issued as a finder's fee. The parties also plan to raise a minimum of $500,000 by way of a private placement to cover working capital needs until completion of the transaction.
The company has also agreed to settle approximately $105,000 in outstanding debt through the issue of 525,000 common shares at a deemed price per common share of 20 cents. This debt settlement will be completed prior to or concurrently with closing of the transaction.
Upon completion of the transaction, the current board of directors of the company will resign and be replaced by Dexin nominees. Dexin may request that certain directors of the company remain on the board to provide continuity in management after completion of the transaction.
Completion of the transaction remains subject to execution of a formal agreement by the parties; completion of due diligence by the company and Dexin; the approval of the shareholders of the company; acceptance by the exchange of the transaction and the Dexin board nominees; the company being a reporting issuer in good standing in British Columbia and Alberta at the time of closing; the company having no more than 2,874,494 common shares outstanding, excluding shares issued pursuant to the proposed shares for debt transaction, the proposed private placement, or the exercise of any existing options; and no material change having occurred in the business or operations of the company.
THE CHINA SYNDROME, PART 5 "The Chinese Are Coming"
by Joe Duarte, MD
Joe-Duarte.com & IntelligentForecasts.com
June 25, 2005
Editor’s Note:
Doctor Duarte has been at the forefront of chronicling the China dynamic. In this, the 5th part of this ongoing series, Dr. Duarte looks behind the scenes of the highly publicized bid by Chinese oil company CNOOC of America’s ninth largest oil company Unocal. For parts 1-4 of this highly acclaimed series, see the links below.
Part 1 of The China Syndrome concluded that China is not just a power to be reckoned with in the future, but rather that China is a major player in the world now.
Part 2 of The China Syndrome set forth evidence for irregularities in the way China does business, and how the world is looking the other way.
Part 3 of The China Syndrome explores the implications of China's activities on the Asian region.
Part 4 of The China Syndrome described the key aspects of the relationship between China and the world’s other emerging potential Super Power, India.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/duarte/2005/0625.html
Unocal: What‘s The Big Surprise?
China’s bid for Unocal has shaken the global economy. Why anyone is surprised is beyond us. But the repercussions are likely to reshape the world, no matter what the outcome is.
Warren Buffett, in a CNBC interview got the ball rolling. According to Yahoo Business News: “Buffett said he doesn't subscribe to the view that China is engaging in a trade war with the U.S. He said Chinese corporate takeovers, such as CNOOC Ltd's (CEO) recent bid for Unocal Corp. (UCL) were an ["inevitable"] consequence of the U.S. trade deficit. He noted that the U.S. imported far more goods from China than it sold to the nation. ["If we're going to consume more than we produce, we have to expect to give away a little bit of the country," said the "Oracle of Omaha."]”
Forbes’ Richard Lehman, who writes about fixed income added some interesting insight, when he compared China’s suddenly aggressive forays into the heartland of U.S. manufacturing. Referring to the recent purchase of IBM’s personal computer business by Lenovo, and the recent bid for Maytag, Lehman cited “previous instances of nations with huge foreign exchange reserves deciding they need to do something beside sit on them.”
First he reminded us of the 1970s, “when the Arabs didn't know what to do with their new-found wealth.” In that instance “they decided to put it on deposit with multi-national banks so they could lend it to developing countries to finance their oil imports. The end result was worldwide sovereign debt defaults.” Continuing, Lehman reminded us of the 1980s, a time when “Japan decided it couldn't just sit on its reserves and decided instead to invest in golf courses, hotel resorts and signature office properties.” Lehman correctly described Japan’s move as a “Big mistake.” When the real estate bubble burst in Japan, stocks crashed, banks eventually collapsed, and the Japanese economy has been in a recession/Depression scenario ever since.
Lehman’s thoughtful analysis notes the following. “China may have learned from the mistakes of others. They are focused on buying companies with established brand names, leading technology and distribution networks. In short, they may be focused on using their dollar reserves, earned from selling us cheap stuff, to buy our means of production.”
Continuing he added: “While this is extremely smart on their part, it has serious negative implications for the U.S. and, eventually, for the rest of the world. The current world order for international trade is a game that strongly favors the U.S. We are the engine driving the world economy through our purchase of mainly consumable goods and resources. We pay for these goods and resources with dollar-denominated paper. If our trading partners choose to sit on those dollar reserves or invest them in U.S. Treasury debt, it's a double win for us, since we have really not paid for what we received. If they choose to use those reserves to buy real estate or other hard assets, that is some improvement over holding Treasuries, but is a resource of limited potential.”
Why Does CNOOC Want Unocal?
The big picture is simple. China wants all the oil it can get from anywhere that it can get it. It has a rapidly growing economy, which is very inefficient. While the U.S. produces more with less oil, China is essentially the World’s SUV, guzzling oil, even as it delivers large amounts of cargo.
But Unocal is more than just part of China’s insatiable appetite for anything and everything being manifested. There are indeed some key strategic reasons for the Chinese interest. And much of it is geographical. According to AP “Outside of large-scale oil and gas interests in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, (Unocal) also has significant holdings in Azerbaijan, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia - many of which would be attractive to CNOOC for geographical reasons.”
Quoting Victor Shum of Texas-headquartered Purvin & Gertz in Singapor, AP continued: ["Unocal is strong in Asia, particularly in gas. Because of the geographical location of projects in places like Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar, these assets make a very good fit for CNOOC." ]
Furthermore, China’s future energy plans call for increased usage of natural gas. “Gas usage now accounts for only 3 percent of the total Chinese energy pie, but government plans call for that proportion to double by 2010. Resources from Unocal fields in Southeast Asia would clearly expedite the process, serving as fuel for new electricity plants in fast-growing coastal areas.”
More interesting, and perhaps one of the most likely reasons for the spike in oil prices above $60, is this, also reported by AP: “On Thursday, state television reported that China will start filling its first strategic petroleum reserve in order to cushion China against possible interruptions of foreign supplies. Plans call for China to build groups of storage tanks at four locations and previous reports said Beijing plans to stockpile up to 100 million barrels of petroleum, or the equivalent of almost a month's national consumption.”
The Structure Of The Deal
There is always more, and in this case, less than meets the eye though. Although the CNOOC bid for Unocal is for a larger sum than Chevron’s bid, $18.5 billion, compared to $16.4 billion, and it is cash, compared to Chevron’s 15% cash, 75% Chevron stock bid, China, despite having hundreds of billions in foreign reserves, is only likely to put up $3 billion, while borrowing the rest.
According to Stratfor.com: “CNOOC would put up $3 billion and borrow the remaining $16 billion from Western banks, state-owned banks and its parent company, prompting a cut in CNOOC's debt rating by Moody's and Standard & Poor's. CNOOC would also have to pay Chevron a fee of $500 million. Of the $16 billion CNOOC would borrow for the proposed acquisition, $6 billion would come from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (a state-owned bank), $7 billion would come from CNOOC's parent company, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (in essence, a state-owned bank), and $3 billion would come from the Goldman Sachs Group and JP Morgan.”
According to the New York Times of the $16 billion CNOOC would borrow for the proposed acquisition, $6 billion would come from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (a state-owned bank), $7 billion would come from CNOOC's parent company, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (in essence, a state-owned bank), and $3 billion would come from the Goldman Sachs Group and JP Morgan.
According to the New York Times: CNOOC “has hired Public Strategies, a public relations firm whose vice chairman, Mark McKinnon, led President Bush's media campaign in the 2004 election.”
CNOOC is also playing the PR game as well. According to the New York Times, the company “is already trying to play down any concerns that the transaction could hurt the American oil and gas markets. It is stressing that 70 percent of Unocal's oil and gas reserves are in Asia and that its American reserves amount to only about 1 percent of America's oil consumption, with none of it now supplying the military. Unocal also has a pipeline hooked up to American strategic oil reserves, as well as a rare-earth mine, the only one in the United States. CNOOC has said it will consider selling these assets, if that is necessary to close the deal. In addition, CNOOC has promised not to take supplies from Unocal's oil and gas reserves in the United States and sell them outside the country. It also said it would retain ["substantially all"] of the American employees.”
Conclusion
The markets, Congress, and the media were shocked at the CNOOC bid for Unocal. But, in fact, CNOOC was considering a bid for Unocal before Chevron. As early as March 2005, news about a possible deal was already in the market. In fact, CNOOC’s board delayed the formal bid in order to study the matter further.
Two interesting notions come to mind about foreign oil companies owning U.S. assets.
First, BP owns much of Alaska’s oil reserves, since it bought Atlantic Richfield. And second, Venezuela owns CITGO, the refiner and marketing company we associate with 7-Eleven stores. And France’s Total, owns Fina, which is a widely available brand in the Southwest U.S.
That means that there is precedent for foreign oil companies to do business in the U.S.
BP is a U.K. company and has no trouble with its image in the U.S. And in the case of Fina and CITGO, the American public has little clue as to who owns these gas stations and refineries. And if they did, we’re not sure that it would matter much.
China, though, in the eyes of some, is a different story. China is threatening. China is expansionary. And China is Communist.
Of course, Venezuela is also threatening, since its President openly hates President Bush, and is friendly with the openly anti U.S. Cuban president Fidel Castro. And relations with the U.K. are outwardly friendly, but some polls show a great deal of dissatisfaction there with President Bush. We don’t really need to discuss French-American relations here, since we have limited space.
So why is the Unocal-China situation so touchy?
Maybe it’s because China has openly spied on the U.S. and allegedly, on a routine basis is trying to obtain high level, often classified technology from U.S. companies and key laboratory installations such as Los Alamos. China sells weapons systems and technology to countries that the U.S. is not friendly with. China is a hotbed of piracy which costs the U.S. billions of dollars per year.
China built Saddam Hussein’s fiberoptic network when the U.S. was trying to apply sanctions before the eventual attack. China has made oil deals with Sudan, whom the U.S. considers a terrorist state. China has inked oil deals with Venezuela which could lead to decreased oil exports from Venezuela to the U.S.. And China makes it a point to usually attempt to counter every move that the U.S. makes by providing a completely opposite view of what the U.S. is trying to do, in the UN Security Council and just about everywhere else that it can do so.
In other words, China is now the number one opposition to the United States in the world, and is a rising military and commercial force to be reckoned with.
To be sure, the U.S. has made significant forays into China, and continues to aggressively pursue the Chinese market.
The U.S. spies on China routinely, as we learned when China sequestered a U.S. spy plane several years ago. The U.S. explores for oil, and has massive reserves in Asia, as Unocal’s reserves prove. GE, Dell, Boeing and much of the Fortune 500 has established beachheads in Beijing and elsewhere. And Bank of America has just pledged a $3 billion foray into Chinese banking.
So what’s at stake here? Everything, including which way the spoils get divided in the world. And if we were in a position of power, we would caution those who make laws and policy to think out every single word, act, and bill that gets hatched with regards to what, according to Warren Buffett, is “inevitable.”
More than the U.S. being worried, though, we would be very concerned if we were a government in the rapidly disintegrating European Union, and the continuously stagnating Japan.
As FinancialWire recently noted: “The Chinese Are Coming.”
© 2005 Joe Duarte, M.D.
HOT HOT HOT
Look at SGGV.OB
Sterling Group Ventures, Inc. (SGGV) is poised to benefit from the economic and investment boom that is now taking place in China.
SGGV has entered into an agreement that will permit the company to mine lithium. Indeed, the Jiajka deposit is one of the largest lithium mineral deposits in the world and the largest in South East Asia. The deposit, which is near the surface, is high grade. Mining will be open pit with good accessibility by existing infrastructure.
The company has retained consulting engineering firms in both Canada and China to work on the necessary studies required to put the Jiajika lithium property into production by the end of 2005.
The net present value (NPV) of SGGV at a 10% discount rate is estimated to be over 400$ million – 25 times the company’s market cap.
Look for a China deal to be announced by KBX. Stock has gone up a lot recently. Same management team as IBX.
NUX good price...
New Pacific three-million-share private placement
2004-11-29 17:00 ET - Private Placement
The TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a non-brokered private placement announced March 26, 2004.
Shares: Three million
Price: 85 cents per share
Warrants: Three million share purchase warrants to purchase 1.5 million shares
Warrant exercise price: $1.25 for a one-year period
Placees: 44
Insider participation: LOM Securities (Cayman) Limited, 30,000; LOM Securities (Bermuda) Limited, 735,911
Pro group participation: Mark T. McGinnis, 40,000; William Vance, 11,765; Eric Savics, 29,411; Stephen Meyer, 11,765; Bernard Leroux, 23,530; Fastrack Capital Partners (John Tognetti, Harold Hodgson, John Rybinski), 58,824; Patty Roy, 32,500; Duncan Roy, 4,559; Jim Watson, 10,000
Finder's fee: Haywood Securities Inc. will receive $70,000 and 82,352 warrants, where each warrant is exercisable for one share at a price of $1.25 per share for a one-year period.
NUX New Pacific Metal acquiring SKN Nickel
2004-11-29 17:05 ET - Acquisition
The TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation pertaining to the acquisition of all of the issued shares of SKN Nickel & Platinum Inc., a subsidiary of SKN Resources Ltd., that has the option to acquire a 75-per-cent interest in the Kang-Dian project and a 90-per-cent interest in the Angzhou project, both situated in the Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China.
In consideration for the acquisition, the company agrees to issue 6.5 million common shares to SKN, 500,000 common shares to Sichuan Xing Xing Mining Ltd. and commit to spending $2.78-million (U.S.) in exploration expenditures over a four-year period. The common shares issued to SKN are subject to escrow for three years with quarterly releases.
Insider participation: SKN Resources Ltd., 6.5 million
Perhaps it had started to go. However, if I had jumped in when he gave the heads up I would have done very well.
Looked to me like he called it after it took off.
Yes. On SI. It took off like a rece horse right after that. Red is on a hot streak.
I didn't know he mentioned it.
Funny how Rocketred always seems to know when these pos are going to fly.
I think they want to cash in on coal...
CHX Cash Minerals not aware of any material changes
2004-11-26 11:52 ET - News Release
Mr. W. Eaton reports
Cash Minerals Ltd. states that at the present time management is unaware of any material change that would substantially impact on the company's affairs. It has been negotiating in the normal course of business with various parties concerning possible options, joint ventures and/or private placement undertakings that could result in change of management.
Cash's main asset is the Division Mountain coal prospect in southern Yukon. Recent sharp increases in coal prices for export thermal coal have prompted renewed interest in the project. Interest is further heightened by recent mine permitting applications in Yukon, which could result in future demand for electrical power, and by debate concerning possible coalbed methane development in Yukon.
CGD Carlin Gold to acquire Aurelius Financial Corp.
2004-11-05 16:26 ET - Property Agreement
The TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing the company's reverse takeover (the RTO) and related transactions, all as principally described in its information circular dated March 30, 2004. The RTO includes the following matter, which has been accepted by the exchange:
Acquisition of Aurelius Financial Corp.
Pursuant to an agreement dated Nov. 13, 2003, the company has acquired all of the issued and outstanding share capital of Aurelius Financial Corp. from its five former shareholders. Aurelius is a private BVI company that has entered into a co-operative joint venture contract with Yunnan Geology & Mineral Resources Co. Ltd., a PRC company, pursuant to which Aurelius will acquire an 80-per-cent interest in the Naneng gold project. Pursuant to the JV contract, Aurelius and YGMR have formed Yunnan Carlin Mining Corp. (YCMC), a Sino-foreign joint venture co-operative company. Aurelius will contribute $2,153,333 (U.S.) over two years in order to earn an 80-per-cent interest in YCMC. YGMR will contribute the exploration permits and ancillary interest which form the Project in order to earn a 20-per-cent interest in YCMC. The project is an exploration stage mineral resource property located in eastern Yunnan province, PRC.
Consideration is composed of seven million common shares to be issued pro rata amongst the Aurelius shareholders at a deemed price of 21 cents per share for a total deemed price of $1.47-million.
No finder's fee is payable in respect of the company's acquisition of Aurelius.
Insider participation: At the time the transaction was agreed to, each of the Aurelius shareholders and YGMR were at arm's length to the company. Upon completion of the RTO, two of the Aurelius shareholders, Michael Baybak and George Duggan, are classified as insiders of the company. These individuals received the following number of consideration shares:
Insider: Michael Baybak, 3.5 million, George Duggan, 500,000
The exchange has been advised that the transaction, approved by the company's shareholders on April 30, 2004, has been completed. For additional information refer to the information circular, which has been accepted for filing by the exchange.
Majestic hits zone IV mineralization at Sawayaerdun
2004-11-03 20:46 ET - News Release
Mr. Rod Husband reports
SAWAYAERDUN DRILL RESULTS
Majestic Gold Corp. has provided results from a five-hole drilling program on the company's Sawayaerdun gold project in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. The 1,605-metre drill program was successful in confirming the continuity and grade of gold mineralization identified in trenches excavated over an 850-metre strike length. Results of the trenching program were reported by the company in a news in Stockwatch dated Sept. 9, 2004. Drilling tested mineralization along 350 metres of strike length and to depths ranging from 50 metres to 340 metres below surface.
All five holes intersected gold mineralization in the central portion of zone IV, a four-kilometre-long mineralized shear zone, previously identified by the company's joint venture partner, the Xinjiang Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources (XBGMR). Highlights from the program include 54 metres grading 1.54 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 50 metres grading 1.43 g/t gold, 29 metres grading 2.17 g/t gold and 60 metres grading 1.19 g/t gold. All mineralized intervals are listed in the table below.
Hole SWD04-01 was drilled 50 metres south of XBGMR drill hole ZK-2702, which was reported to have intersected 2.57 g/t gold over 25.4 metres. Hole SWD04-05 was drilled 25 metres north of XBGMR drill hole ZK-001, which was reported to have intersected 1.91 g/t gold over 11 metres and 1.36 g/t gold over 23.3 metres. Location maps showing the drill holes and the 2004 trenches are available on the company's website at www.majesticgold.net.
SAWAYAERDUN DRILL RESULTS
Hole Grid location From To Length Au
No.
(metres) (g/t)
SWD04-01 1+00 South 148 152 4 1.40
164 174 10 1.81
191 203 12 0.92
252 281 29 2.17
SWD04-02 1+50 South 155 157 2 1.72
284 298 14 0.72
314 368 54 1.54
SWD04-03 2+00 South 156 159 3 2.18
170 220 50 1.43
incl. 170 197 27 2.10
SWD04-04 4+00 South 56 90 34 0.86
143 150 7 1.60
168 213 45 2.07
SWD04-05 4+50 South 65 125 60 1.19
incl. 65 77 12 1.45
incl. 84 121 37 1.38
China desperately needs fuel to feed its red-hot economy. Is Canada its warehouse?
Jason Kirby
Financial Post
Saturday, October 23, 2004
The move by state-run China Minmetals to buy Noranda Inc. is stoking fears of an all-out takeover of Canada's resource sector and a call for investment restrictions to be imposed on China.
The country's super-heated growth has caught the world off guard and put acute demands on the country's resources. As a result, China is forced to look abroad to oil and mineral rich countries like Canada to feed its needs. "This is just the beginning," says David Hale, a noted China consultant and fund advisor in Chicago.
"They're desperate for raw materials and they're prepared to pay a high price to get those materials. China will be looking for more resources in Canada."
Indeed, China's foreign minister has said the government is pressing companies there to make investments in Canada's resource sector.
China's demand for raw materials isn't a new story, but it bears repeating.
The country consumes one-fifth of the world's annual copper production and as much as a quarter of zinc output. Industry analysts say the world has about 15 years of copper reserves and even less of zinc. The same story applies to metal after metal, driving commodity prices up 30% to 40% in the past year alone.
China is just as starved for oil and gas to fuel its industries and cars.
According to research by international fund manager Marc Faber, each Chinese consumes the equivalent of 1.7 barrels of oil a year, compared to more than 25 barrels a year in the United States.
If demand in China's coastal region -- about one-third of the country -- rises to the per-capita levels of Japan and South Korea, Saudi Arabia's production would be consumed twice over.
But nowhere has China's resource hunger been more immediately felt than in Canada, thanks to Minmetals' controversial $6-billion bid for Noranda, one of the world's largest nickel and zinc miners, and by extension its 59% stake in Falconbridge Ltd.
Canada, of course, has all those resources and more. And there are plenty of companies for the Chinese to choose from.
Among names some analysts pass around as possibly attractive to the Chinese are Inmet Mining Corp., which produces copper and zinc, and Teck Cominco Ltd., which mines those same metals plus coal and gold.
Not since the 1970s when the Trudeau Liberals were faced with U.S. companies buying up huge swaths of Canada's oilpatch, has there been as much debate over whether to protect Canadian resources.
In 1973 the threat of foreign takeovers was enough to prompt the Liberal minority government to create the Foreign Investment Review Agency. For a decade it put limits on foreign investments and raised the ire of American politicians and businesses that wanted to invest in Canada.
Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government closed the agency in 1984, but to listen to some opponents of China's interest in Canada's resource sector today, such drastic measures are needed again.
Will Paul Martin follow in Trudeau's footsteps and slap limits on Chinese investment in Canada? The debate is already percolating within senior ranks of government.
Senior federal civil servants such as Garry Nash, assistant deputy minister at Natural Resources Canada, argue World Trade Organization rules prevent Canada from treating China differently from any other trading partner. The WTO rules, "hang over everything we do,"Mr. Nash says.
However, some trade experts think there is nothing stopping Canada from blocking the Noranda takeover.
"Unlike France and Germany, Canada doesn't have a bilateral treaty with China," says Toronto trade lawyer Barry Appleton, whose clients include Canadian investors in China. "We could refuse the takeover and not break specific rules."
That's the issue before Industry Minister David Emerson, who can stop the Noranda deal from moving forward. If Mr. Emerson decides the deal is not beneficial to Canada, he can halt the takeover, although it appears as if the goverment is in favour of the Minmetals proposal.
The government is in a tough spot. If it grants China unfettered access to the nation's resources, will the Chinese continue to invest in the operations or simply bleed them dry?
On the other hand, if Canada turns China away, it could sour trade relations with the emerging economic powerhouse.
"From the standpoint of Canada, there's no real valid reason not to do the deal," says Mr. Hale in Chicago. "There's no threat to Canada's security or economic interests. It's really a straightforward economic transaction."
Dynasty Gold completes 18 holes at Hatu project
2004-09-30 14:06 ET - News Release
Mr. Jonathan George reports
DYNASTY RECEIVES ASSAYS FROM DRILLING
Dynasty Gold Corp. has provided an update on its Hatu gold project in the Xinjiang autonomous region of northwest China. As of Sept. 28, 18 holes have been completed at Hatu using Chinese diamond drilling rigs for a total depth of approximately 3,300 metres. The company previously announced four holes from this area, including hole ZK421B, which returned an intersection grading 5.1 grams per tonne Au over 64.7 metres (see news in Stockwatch Aug. 24, 2004). Assay results for four additional holes have been received and are shown in the following table.
Hole Original Twinned From To Au
ID depth depth (m) (m) (g/t)
(m) (m)
ZK205B 120 48 20.0 26.0 3.0
39.0 45.0 3.5
ZK382B 236 212 13.9 15.9 1.2
ZK423B 120 199 10.9 16.9 0.77
24.0 27.4 2.6
ZK427B 242 100 17.0 21.6 1.1
28.0 31.5 1.5
36.2 51.4 1.1
54.5 58.5 1.5
64.6 68.9 1.6
73.6 79.2 1.3
China set to buy up Canada's resources
EXCLUSIVE: Noranda takeover is just a start, Foreign Minister tells GEOFFREY YORK in Beijing
By GEOFFREY YORK
UPDATED AT 12:24 AM EDT Thursday, Oct 21, 2004
China's Communist rulers have a blunt message for anyone who frets about the planned Chinese takeover of Canada's biggest mining company: Get ready for more to come.
In an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail in Beijing this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing made it plain that the controversial $7-billion takeover of Noranda Inc. is just a small element in a much more ambitious strategy of investment in Canada's resources sector to feed China's voracious appetite for raw materials.
"Given our rapid economic growth, we're facing an acute shortage of natural resources," the Foreign Minister told The Globe.
"No matter how plentiful our natural resources, when you divide them by our population of 1.3 billion, the figure will be very small," he said.
"The Chinese government is encouraging Chinese enterprises to make investments in Canada, particularly in the field of resources exploitation."
It is the first public comment on the Noranda issue by a senior Chinese leader since the controversy over the planned takeover erupted last month.
Though the minister did not identify any specific targets for future Chinese buyers, it is known that two of China's biggest state-controlled oil companies are considering major investments in Alberta's oil sands. In other potential billion-dollar deals, Chinese oil and mining companies are looking at lucrative assets held by Canadian companies in Ecuador and Mongolia.
The proposed takeover of Noranda by state-owned China Minmetals Corp. has shocked many Canadian observers, but it is a potent symbol of China's sudden emergence as a powerful global investor and a massive consumer of commodities. China is hungry for supplies and expertise in the natural resources sector, and Canada has both.
The Noranda takeover -- which is expected to be finalized by mid-November, becoming the biggest overseas acquisition by a Chinese corporation -- has sparked questions by several MPs who have raised human-rights concerns. Some say the deal should be blocked because of reports that China Minmetals has been linked to the use of forced labour in the Chinese prison gulag.
China's Foreign Minister vigorously rejected the human-rights concerns.
"You can tell your readers that they needn't worry at all about China's development," he said.
"In the international arena, we act in accordance with international law and international practice. We will act in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization, as a member of WTO."
He insisted that human rights are fully protected by the Chinese constitution, and argued that China's human-rights situation is not too different from that of Canada.
"On human rights, I believe, our two peoples have a lot in common," he said.
"Liberty, democracy, freedom and whatever, we share a lot. What is democracy? Democracy is a way in which people enjoy their rights according to law. If the Chinese people and government are working in accordance with our constitution and law, why do people in Canada worry about this?
"I don't think there is anything to give a reason for those people to worry about China's human-rights record. Perhaps those people have not read at all the Chinese constitution. Perhaps they have not been to China and also perhaps they don't know history."
He invoked the memory of Norman Bethune, the Canadian surgeon who became a Communist martyr after he died in 1939 while tending to wounded Communist soldiers on the battlefield after the Japanese invasion of China.
"When the Chinese fought against foreign aggression, it was a very progressive and friendly Canadian who came to help us," he said. "That was a real help to the Chinese people. If you have any questions, any doubts or suspicions, tell them that all of our Canadian friends are welcome to come to China to see for themselves."
He also revealed that Prime Minister Paul Martin will visit China within the next few months.
It will be Mr. Martin's first visit to China since becoming Prime Minister, and it could provoke further questions at home about the Noranda deal and the human-rights issues.
(The Prime Minister's Office has not yet announced the China visit, but Mr. Li confirmed that the Prime Minister will visit China early next year.)
On the economic front, he noted that the two-way trade between Canada and China in the first eight months of this year was nearly 60 per cent above the level of last year. He wants still closer links.
"The two economies are highly complementary, and are yet to tap their tremendous potential, especially in resource and energy co-operation," Mr. Li said in response to a supplementary list of questions from The Globe.
China's dramatic rise on the world stage has triggered anxieties in the West and in Asia, where observers have worried about its fast-growing military budget, its expanding nationalist movement and its territorial disputes with some of its neighbours. Nobody should fear China's rising influence, the Foreign Minister said. China's own development will, in return, contribute to world peace, he said.
"China's development will not threaten anybody or compromise their interests," Mr. Li said. "China's peaceful development serves not only the maximum interests of its people but also the common interests of people around the world."
Despite the double-digit annual growth of its military budget, China's defence spending remains "at a low level" compared with the United States, he said. The sharp increase this year is "mainly intended to ensure that the livelihood of service personnel improves."
Even as China becomes a global economic powerhouse, Mr. Li insists that it is merely a "developing country" with a "weak economic foundation."
The country will "concentrate on its own development" in the future, he said. "It will take a long and arduous journey and require generations of hard work before China can fully develop itself."
Read more on Saturday of China's dramatic rise as an economic power in China Rising, a special edition of The Globe and Mail.
Poem from an iron mouth with steel teeth
Canada found itself wooed by a poetic, high-ranking Chinese official this week. In a two-stanza poem, Li Zhaoxing rhapsodized about the countries' shared history and connections.
Mr. Li, who became Foreign Minister last year, softens his image by writing poetry and quoting Shakespeare and Confucius. Fluent in English and French, he has emerged as the public face of China's new diplomacy.
Beneath his genial exterior, he is a tough-minded defender of China's authoritarian political system. The Chinese media have described him as an iron mouth with steel teeth.
But in a rare interview given to The Globe and Mail, it was his Western-friendly side that was on display. He quoted Montesquieu (in the original French) on the balance between freedom and the rule of law. And he ordered his aides to provide an English-language translation of a poem he had written about Canada and China:
We Are Essentially One -- On Leaving Canada
Native Indian villages and the caves of prehistoric man,
Both records of times long past in Canada and China,
The tides and waves of the Pacific Ocean ebb and flow,
Connecting one to the other with similar historical glow.
The sweat of Chinese labourers rained on your railway tracks,
Dr. Bethune's blood merged into the veins of our liberation,
From Fragrant Hill in Beijing to Vancouver the maples rule,
The sun dawns on the same crimson landscape fiery and full.
-- Li Zhaoxing
When the tide comes in it will float...
UPDATE 1-China says Jan-Sept GDP up 9.5 percent yr/yr
Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:37 PM ET
BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - China's economy expanded 9.5 percent in the first nine months of the year as Beijing reined in breakneck investment and lending, official data showed on Friday.
Economists said the data showed evidence of a measured slowdown in the economy, possibly reducing the need to raise interest rates and taking heat off the yuan currency.
The consumer price index for September was 5.2 percent higher than a year earlier, compared to a median forecast of 5.3 percent from a Reuters survey of economists, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report on Friday.
Consumer prices rose an annual 4.1 percent in the first nine months of the year, it said, while retail sales were up 13.0 percent in the first nine months compared with the year-earlier period.
Overall fixed-asset investment for the first nine months was up 27.7 percent from a year earlier.
Tim Condon, economist with ING in Singapore, said the figures supported indications the government's credit curbs and austerity measures were working.
"The modest slowdown in fixed asset investment and the pronounced slowdown in inflation are what the authorities want to see," he said. "Loosening the tightening measures is their next step. I think they can declare victory and start to remove them."
Industrial output rose an annual 17 percent in the first nine months of 2004, while fixed asset investment in urban areas rose 29.9 percent in the same period compared with a year ago.
Zheng Jingping, spokesman for the bureau, said China still had the potential to show high investment, high producer prices, continued energy shortages and rising industrial inventories.
"We should further enhance and expand the achievements of macro-control to guard against a rebound of those problems," he said in a statement.
As we might have expected, no response from these people. So how are we to determine when they are about ready to run these Freidman vehichles?
Globe says Ivanhoe Energy's Dagang goes ka-ching
2004-10-08 07:54 ET - In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, Oct. 8, edition that shares of Robert Friedland's Ivanhoe Energy Thursday surged 81 Canadian cents to close at $3.84 (Canadian) Thursday in Toronto after the company said its Dagang project in China posted record monthly sales as oil prices hit fresh highs. The Globe's Shirley Won writes in the Business Ticker column that Vancouver-based Ivanhoe said its Dagang oil field, located 200 kilometres southeast of Beijing, brought in gross sales of $1.2-million (U.S.) for August, its first month topping the million-dollar mark. Dagang's production now averages 1,650 barrels a day. Crude oil prices hit a record of $52.67 (U.S.) a barrel Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Ivanhoe has a 60-per-cent stake in the Dagang project along with partner, China International Trust & Investment Corp., which owns 40 per cent. Ivanhoe is 29 per cent owned by Mr. Friedland, best known as the principal in the Voisey's Bay nickel project that was sold to Inco Ltd. in 1996 for $4.3-billion (Canadian).
China is definitely an exciting opportunity for junior explorers....here's one seeling at 24c Cdn. which is in the feasibility stage with small limited production already underway...the big news is their latest press release, which predicts production of 110,000 ounces of [primarily] gold in 2006...this IS a big deal because 1) it is by far the largest number yet mentioned by this very conservative & very able management team....& 2) it will make this company one of the biggest gold producers in China....
Afcan Mining --AFK.TO--
http://www.afcan-mining.com/press_releases.html
Good idea. I'll try it and see if it's nothing more than a bot. I seem to get a few of these and not all are from worthless shells. NG has been sending me updates all the way thru their price rise.
First I have heard of it, do they know who they are dealing with? LOL You could email them back and ask about the permitting.
Some how these guys got my e mail address and sent the nr yesterday. I have no way of knowing how they got my name. Energetic promotion, would'nt you say?
View from top of one year chart looking down...
I liked what I read also except for this chart I messed up in my original post of the nr...
Summary of the current status of the permitting process for Jinshan's 217 project
Permit/licence Authority Status
Exploration Ministry of Issued
licence Land and
Resources
Geological Ministry of Required
hazards Land and
Resources
Water and Water Commenced
soil Conservation
conservation Bureau
Environmental Environmental Commenced
impact Protection
assessment Bureau
Environmental International Commenced
and social
impact
assessment
Safety Safety Bureau Required
assessment
Resource Ministry of Commenced
verification Land and
Resources
Project Development Required
development and Reform
approval Commission
Land use rights Ministry of Required
Land and
Resources
Mining lease Ministry of Follows
Land and other
Resources approvals
All of this sounds entirely impressive. What's your opinion of the market condition of the stock? It's performed like a submarine so far this year.
Jinshan begins pilot mining program at 217 property
2004-10-04 09:52 ET - News Release
Also News Release (C-IVN) Ivanhoe Mines Ltd
Mr. Jay Chmelauskas reports
PILOT MINING PROGRAM UNDERWAY AT JINSHAN'S 217 GOLD PROPERTY IN NORTHERN CHINA
Pilot-scale mining is under way at Jinshan Gold Mines Inc.'s 217 gold project (Chang Shan Hao) in Inner Mongolia, China. The pilot project consists of a small open pit and an underground tunnel to provide bulk-tonnage samples of the mineralization to better establish grade and metallurgical recoveries. The pilot project is a major step in advancing scoping/feasibility studies and permitting toward full-scale mining. The pilot program is designed to test a targeted, commercial production rate of 100,000 ounces per year. Such a rate would make the 217 project the third largest producing gold mine in China.
A 1,000-tonne-per-day crusher and conveyor system has been installed. Two 50,000-tonne heap-leach pads, carbon columns and solution ponds have been constructed to enable heap leaching on run-of-mine (ROM) ore and single-stage crushed ore. Jinshan also has commenced an environmental impact assessment base-line study, initiated mine permitting and is continuing metallurgical testing.
"We have built strong relations with the local county and provincial governments that have shown their full support for this project," said Jay Chmelauskas, president of Jinshan Gold Mines. "We are in a jurisdiction that supports mining and understands the benefits that the project will provide to the local economy. All the basic engineering requirements, such as power and water, appear readily available and there is good access to the site. If we are successful in developing the 217 project into a 100,000-ounce-per-year gold mine, it will establish Jinshan as one of the top-tier gold mining companies in China and further support our growth and business development activities."
In addition to providing the necessary engineering parameters for production scale-up, the pilot project has demonstrated Jinshan's ability to source local engineering staff and capital equipment. The project also has given Jinshan better insight into the use of Chinese contract-mining equipment and Chinese operating costs. Most of the materials for the project have been sourced from the city of Baotou, approximately a three-hour drive from the project -- mostly along a new, paved highway. Baotou is a major manufacturing centre in northern China; local industry includes an assembly plant for large Terex haul trucks used in mining.
Jinshan has earned a 55-per-cent interest in the 217 project from its Chinese joint venture partner and has the right to acquire a further 41.5 per cent, which would increase its total interest to 96.5 per cent, through scheduled payments totalling $2.75-million (U.S.). Jinshan and Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. share a 50:50 joint venture in the project. Photos of the pilot mining operation can be viewed on the company's web site: www.jinshanmines.com.
Scoping studies
Jinshan is advancing engineering on its 217 project to determine the flow sheet and capital required for optimal mine economics. Preliminary engineering studies have been carried out by international engineering consultants, with reporting and review by Independent Engineers (Australia) Pty. Ltd. (IEA). The scoping work to date has incorporated engineering design and cost estimates prepared by NERIN, a Chinese Class A design institute, to realize Chinese operating and capital costs.
The current metal-recovery process assumes heap leaching with three-stage crushing and carbon absorption/elution. Column testing for heap leachability by Lakefield Laboratories, of Canada, showed encouraging results, with oxide gold recoveries of 83.5 per cent and sulphide recoveries of 72.7 per cent for 0.25-inch-size material. Mineralogical examination of gold particles in samples submitted for metallurgical test work at SGS Lakefield indicated that gold mainly occurs as liberated and/or free grains. The testwork also indicated a significant nugget effect that has implications for grade determination and metallurgical recoveries. The bulk-sampling, pilot-mining program will evaluate this nugget effect. In addition, large-diameter column testing will be carried out to establish optimal crush sizes for heap-leach recovery.
The pilot-mining program also is designed to test ROM economics. Under the ROM mine scenario, the mine could be put into production in a short period of time with low capital requirements. Historical, small-scale mining on the property has been carried out by ROM mining. A 50,000-tonne ROM pad and a 50,000-tonne, single-stage crush pad are being loaded to test this low-capital option. Other alternatives, such as the addition of a gravity circuit, also are being tested to improve overall recoveries. Large-scale column testing will be performed in Baotou on representative bulk oxide and sulphide samples.
Management's current estimate for completion of key stages of the engineering process:
bulk mining from oxides (open pit) -- mid-October, 2004;
bulk mining from sulphides (underground) -- mid-December, 2004;
bulk scale column testing (oxides/sulphides) -- second quarter, 2005;
revised resource model -- second quarter, 2005;
engineering scoping/feasibility study -- second quarter, 2005;
contract mining tenders -- second quarter, 2005;
ROM/single-stage 50,000-tonne leach pad recovery results -- third quarter, 2005;
ROM engineering study and production decision -- third quarter, 2005; and
mining lease approval -- third quarter, 2005.
Permitting
The exploration permit for the property was extended this year until June, 2006. The next step toward mine production permitting will be the filing of an application for a mining lease. Jinshan has begun the necessary engineering and environmental assessments required for a mining lease. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) and an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) are being conducted by Environmental Resource Management Ltd. (ERM China), in partnership with the Inner Mongolian Environmental Science Academy. ERM is an internationally recognized consulting engineering firm, which has an office in Shanghai. Jinshan believes that a mining permit could be obtained by the third quarter of 2005.
Summary of the current status of the permitting process for Jinshan's 217 project
Permit/licence Authority Status
Exploration Ministry of Issued
licence Land and
Resources
Geological Ministry of Required
hazards Land and
Resources
Water and Water Commenced
soil Conservation
conservation Bureau
Environmental Environmental Commenced
impact Protection
assessment Bureau
Environmental International Commenced
and social
impact
assessment
Safety Safety Bureau Required
assessment
Resource Ministry of Commenced
verification Land and
Resources
Project Development Required
development and Reform
approval Commission
Land use rights Ministry of Required
Land and
Resources
Mining lease Ministry of Follows
Land and other
Resources approvals
Drilling program and resources
Widespread gold mineralization has been encountered at the 217 project within a broad, intense, westerly striking, steeply dipping shear structure with true widths of up to 150 metres. The anomalous gold values are associated with fine pyrite-pyrrhotite stringers and sulphide-quartz veinlets, and lenses within the shear structure. Bulk-tonnage potential exists for oxide and underlying sulphide mineralization, with the depth of oxidation being relatively sharp and fairly constant at a vertical depth of 50 metres. The deposit contains two zones of mineralization: a large, low-grade resource in the Northeast zone and a higher-grade resource in the Southwest zone. An independent resource estimate was prepared according to standards in National Instrument 43-101 by Westervelt Engineering Ltd., under the direction of Ralph Westervelt, PEng, an independent qualified person. Westervelt estimated a measured and indicated in-pit resource in the Northeast zone of 29 million tonnes grading 0.95 gram per tonne (g/t) gold and an inferred resource of seven million tonnes grading 0.98 g/t gold. The Southwest zone shows an in-pit inferred resource of 15 million tonnes grading 1.25 g/t gold. Measured and indicated resources are that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade can be estimated with a level of confidence sufficient to allow the application of technical and economic parameters to support mine planning and evaluation of the economic viability of the deposit. Inferred resources do not have the same degree of verification.
Grades in the Southwest zone are approximately 30 per cent higher than in the Northeast zone and, therefore, a potential Southwest starter pit is envisioned.
A 6,600-metre drilling program was completed earlier this year, bringing the total metres drilled on site to 20,488 metres. Approximately 3,300 metres were drilled in the Southwest zone, which remains open and is undergoing geological interpretation. Results from the 6,600-metre drill program will be used to update the February, 2004, resource estimate.
Quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC)
An atomic absorption assay lab has been operating at the 217 project site for approximately two months, providing rapid data for in-pit grade control. Internal QA/QC procedures are in place. Results to date indicate that the lab is running acceptably and improvements are being made as necessary. Control samples used to monitor lab performance include: blanks, standards, field duplicates, repeat samples and duplicate assays. For the pilot project, control samples will be sent to the new SGS laboratory in Nanning and one other nationally certified lab in China. The SGS lab will use AA and fire assay methods and will be ISO 9000 certified. All samples from the 6,600-metre diamond drill program have been sent to ALS Chemex Laboratories in Vancouver, B.C., Canada for fire assay.
Michael Page, Jinshan Gold Mines' vice-president exploration, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the information in this release.
Lost Opportunity for China's Oil Drillers - Stratfor:
September 30, 2004
Summary
Unocal Corp. and Royal Dutch/Shell are pulling out of a joint project with Chinese state oil firms to exploit natural gas in the East China Sea. The withdrawal of the foreign partners will hurt China's ability to develop desired offshore drilling capabilities -- limiting its options for developing oil and gas resources and undermining its energy security.
Analysis
Unocal Corp. and Royal Dutch/Shell are withdrawing from a joint project with state-run China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) and China Petrochemical Corp. to exploit oil and gas in the East China Sea. The two oil majors cited "commercial reasons" for pulling out of the Xihu Trough project, centered about 250 miles east of Shanghai.
The withdrawal of the foreign partners probably means the project -- should it proceed -- would produce too little gas to be profitable, which is bad enough for energy hungry China. Potentially much worse, though, is that CNOOC has lost an opportunity to work with experienced offshore drillers -- and to learn from them. China's long-term strategic plan includes the ability to unilaterally exploit offshore energy resources near and abroad, ability it does not now possess.
China hoped to produce 35 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year during the project's first phase. The gas would be piped to its booming central east coast to Zhejiang province and neighboring Shanghai, where there are severe energy shortages. However, the viability of the project is falling into doubt as the foreign partners, who each held 20 percent stakes in the venture, are dropping out.
Although the firms said they were pulling out for commercial reasons, two other factors may have influenced their decision. PetroChina, the largest oil company in China, announced Aug. 4 it had shelved a deal with Royal Dutch/Shell, ExxonMobil and Russia's Gazprom for the $5.2 billion West-East pipeline project. With the pipeline deal falling through and the limited access to China's lucrative retail gas market, Royal Dutch/Shell has probably re-evaluated its operations in China in general and has decided to move on.
The other factor is China's dispute with Japan over development rights in the East China Sea. The Xihu Trough is not in the disputed area, but is close to the disputed Chunxiao field, and Chunxiao gas might eventually share a pipeline with gas from the Xihu Trough. The foreign companies could view the potential legal, if not physical, battles over the energy resources in the region as too much risk for too little natural gas.
It will be an unfortunate setback for China if the Xihu Trough project produces less natural gas than expected. China, with a population of 1.3 billion, is seeing its energy needs grow at breakneck speeds in the midst of rapid economic growth. After nearly three decades of self-sufficiency, China became a net oil importer in 1993. In 2004, China surpassed Japan to become the world's second-largest oil consumer after the United States.
China's new dependence on foreign oil has sent it into a decade-long frenzy of overseas oil and gas acquisition projects from Australia to Angola. However, among Chinese national oil companies' limitations is an ability to conduct extensive offshore drilling projects. This constraint forces Chinese firms to partner with Western oil firms that have offshore experience and technologies. CNOOC has worked with Western oil firms in the past, but not enough of them to go out on its own just yet.
CNOOC's limited ability is a strategic liability for Beijing. In its global quest for energy sources, China is not only looking at resources in its own waters, including some of the disputed area between it and Japan, but is also casting its eye on the potential energy resources lying underneath waters around the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. In addition, China is partnering with West African nations that have oil reserves in the deep waters of the Gulf of Guinea. At the moment, these partnerships involve agreements to purchase oil, but China would like to drill there on its own -- if it knew how.
Due to lack of technology and insufficient experience, however, China cannot exploit these energy resources alone. This means even if the Chinese navy were to establish dominion over contested waters in the South China Sea, or if Beijing were to win a lucrative contract in Angola or Nigeria, it would be unable to fully exploit the resource.
The Xihu Trough project would not have been of sufficient magnitude to significantly boost CNOOC's capabilities, as the gas in the field is in relatively shallow waters, as are similar projects in the Bohai Sea and the Mouth of the Pearl River.
But the firm needs as much experience as it can get as fast it can get it -- China's energy security depends on it.
Tiger Pacific to pursue joint venture at Erlian
2004-10-01 19:53 ET - News Release
Dr. Charlie Cheng reports
TIGER PACIFIC ANNOUNCES AN AGREEMENT FOR POTENTIAL JOINT EXPLORATION IN ERLIAN DISTRICT, SUNITE ZUOQI, INNER MONGOLIA, CHINA
Tiger Pacific Mining Corp. has entered into an agreement dated Sept. 30, 2004, with Hong Kong Howise Development Ltd. (HHD) and Inner Mongolia Tuoye Mineral Development (IMTM) to investigate and assess certain mineral properties with a view to establishing an initial exploration program to be financed by the corporation and the subsequent formation of a joint venture to carry out further mineral exploration at Erlian Ni-Cu prospect located in the district of Sunite Zuoqi, 30 kilometres northeast of Erlian City, Inner Mongolia, China. In consideration of approximately $125,000 (approximately 750,000 renminbis) to be paid to HHD and IMTM within 90 days of the date of the agreement ($25,000 of which was paid upon execution of the agreement), the corporation has the right to enter upon the property and conduct a detailed program of geophysical and geochemical analyses until Dec. 31, 2004. To partially finance its investigation of the property, the corporation proposes to use some of the proceeds that it intends to raise under its previously announce private placement.
Once the property is assessed by an independent geologist and is accepted by the TSX Venture Exchange, the corporation has agreed to establish with HHD and IMTM, a joint venture agreement for a term of three years for a co-operative project of joint venture exploration and exploitation of potential minerals on the property which comprises concessions known as permits registration No. 1500000410551, 1500000410647 and 1500000330516 issued by the Bureau of Land and Mineral Resources of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, China. In addition, a fourth concession adjacent to the concessions mentioned above is under application, and if approved, will be included in the property. Under the terms of the agreement, the proposed joint venture agreement will include that Tiger Pacific Mining can earn a joint venture interest of up to 80 per cent by making exploration expenditures of at least 16 million renminbis (equivalent to approximately $3-million) over the three-year term. The corporation can acquire an additional 10-per-cent joint venture interest in the property by paying its joint venture partners eight million renminbis (equivalent to approximately $1.3-million) within the three-year term. Pursuant to the terms of the proposed joint venture, the Chinese partners will retain a 10-per-cent carried joint venture interest and Tiger Pacific Mining will be the operator of the joint venture. The actual amount of expenditures to be incurred by the corporation for each of three years will be determined upon the nature of exploration work and will not be less than the minimum commitment required by Chinese mining and mineral exploration law.
In addition to the foregoing, pursuant to the proposed joint venture, based on exploration expenditures, the corporation will be required to issue, in tranches, to HHD and IMTM up to 2.9 million common shares of the corporation over three years at a deemed price of 60 cents per share and to pay HHD and IMTM a total of one million renminbis. Some or all of the common shares to be issued to HHD and IMTM may be subject to an escrow agreement pursuant to the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
The investigation and assessment of the property, including the analysis of previous exploration results, will be conducted within the next three months until Dec. 31, 2004, by Dr. X. Charlie Cheng, PhD, geology, the chairman and chief executive officer of the corporation, and the corporation's qualified person, as defined in National Instrument 43-101. The proposed joint venture contemplates the completion of an independent geological report regarding the property to be prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101.
This proposed transaction is subject to the sponsorship requirements of the exchange's policies. The corporation is under discussions with a potential sponsor with a view to retaining them to act as a sponsor in connection with the proposed transaction.
Apac Minerals finds Nibao South gold deposit
2004-10-01 09:23 ET - News Release
Mr. Michael Hitch reportrs
APAC MINERALS DISCOVERS NIBAO SOUTH: A SIGNIFICANT HIGH GRADE CARLIN-TYPE GOLD DEPOSIT ON ITS NIBAO PROJECT, IN CHINA
Apac Minerals Inc.'s exploration team has discovered a significant new Carlin-type, sedimentary-hosted gold deposit within the company's exploration tenements in Guizhou province in China. The new find is located in the southern part of Apac's Nibao project. This discovery demonstrates Apac's expertise in uncovering suspected Carlin-type gold deposits in southern China.
Compilation of results from an induced polarization survey, surface sampling and diamond drilling at the new discovery area returned high gold values that can be extrapolated from one section to another. These are the highest values that Apac has obtained to date from any of its Chinese projects.
Best Average greater
than 0.5 g/t Au
Hole Thickness Au Thickness Au
No. (m) (g/t) (m) (g/t)
West
zone
NBRC087 4.0 11.55 8.0 7.4
12.0 5.27 24.0 3.19
NBRC088 4.0 3.02 8.0 2.16
Emeishan
zone
NBRC054 11.0 7.03
NBRC050 3.0 5.45
NBRC052 3.0 11.07
NBRC100 12.0 6.74
Crisis looms due to weak dollar
Jiang Ruiping Updated: 2004-09-28 08:42
Many international institutions and renowned scholars have recently warned that the possibility of a US dollar slump is increasing and may even lead to a new round of "US dollar crisis."
Since China holds huge amounts of US-dollar-denominated foreign exchange reserves, the authorities should consider taking prompt measures to ward off possible risks.
It is still too early to conclude if the US dollar is heading towards a crisis. But it is an indisputable fact that it has gone down continually. Its rate against the euro, for example, has dropped by 40 per cent since its peak period and it lost 20 per cent of its value against the euro last year alone.
It is becoming more and more evident that the possibility of a further slump of the US dollar is increasing.
From a domestic perspective, the worsening fiscal deficit will put great pressure on the stability of the US dollar.
In 2001 when the Bush administration was sworn in, the United States enjoyed a US$127.3 billion surplus. The large-scale tax cuts, economic cool-down, invasion of Iraq and anti-terrorism endeavours have abruptly turned the surplus into a US$459 billion deficit, which accounts for 3.8 per cent of the US gross domestic product (GDP).
By the 2004 fiscal year, the US Government's outstanding debt stood at US$7.586 trillion, accounting for 67.3 per cent of its GDP, which exceeds the internationally accepted warning limit.
The deteriorating current account deficit of the United States is another factor menacing the future fate of the dollar.
In recent years, the US policy that restricts exports of high-tech products, coupled with overly active domestic consumption and the oil trade deficit caused by rising oil prices, has deteriorated the US current account balance. This poses a great threat to a stable US dollar.
During the 1992-2001 period, the average US current account deficit was US$189.9 billion. In 2002 and 2003, however, the figure soared to US$473.9 billion and US$530.7 billion respectively. Experts predict that following its increasing imports in the wake of its economic recovery and continuing high oil prices, the United States will hardly see its current account balance improve.
Given the huge US current account deficit, the US dollar, if it is to remain relatively stable, must be backed up by an influx of foreign direct investment (FDI).
In 1998, 1999 and 2000, FDI that flowed into the United States was US$174.4 billion, US$283.4 billion and US$314 billion respectively. Starting from 2001, however, global direct investment began to shrink and US-oriented direct investment also decreased. In 2003, FDI into the United States was 44.9 per cent less than that in the previous year.
The decrease in FDI will put more pressure on the US dollar, which has been endangered by the huge US current account deficit.
Internationally, the Japanese Government's intervention in the foreign exchange market may become less frequent following the gradual recovery of the Japanese economy.
To deter the Japanese yen's appreciation and promote exports, the Japanese Government used to intervene in the foreign exchange market to keep the yen at a relatively low level. In 2003 alone, it put in 32.9 trillion yen (US$298.76 billion) to purchase the US dollar. The intervention constituted a major deterrent to US dollar devaluation.
As the Japanese economy fares better, the Japanese Government tends to back away from the market. Since April, it has not taken any steps to swing its foreign exchange market.
Another factor behind the risks of a US dollar slump is the weakened role of the so-called "oil dollar."
Given the deteriorating relations between the United States and the Arab world, quite a few Middle Eastern oil-exporting countries have begun to increase the proportion of the euro used in international settlement. Reportedly Russia is also going to follow suit.
If an "oil euro" is to play an ever increasing role in international trade, the US dollar will suffer.
In China's case, its rapidly increasing foreign exchange reserve will incur substantial losses if the US dollar continues to weaken.
At the end of 2000, China's foreign exchange reserve was US$165.6 billion. By the end of 2002, it rocketed to US$286.4 billion before it soared to US$403.3 billion by the end of 2003. By the end of June this year, the reserve was registered at a staggering US$470.6 billion.
About two thirds of the reserve is dominated by the US dollar. As the dollar goes down, China will suffer great financial losses.
Experts estimate that the recent US dollar devaluation has caused more than US$10 billion to be wiped from the foreign exchange reserve.
If the so-called US dollar crisis happens, China will suffer further loss.
The high concentration of China's foreign exchange reserve in US dollars may also incur losses and bring risks.
The low earning rate of US treasury bonds, which is only 2 per cent, much lower than investment in domestic projects, could cost China's capital dearly.
Due to high expectations of US treasury bonds, international investors used to eagerly purchase the bonds, which leads to bubbles in US treasury bond transactions. If the bubble bursts, China will suffer serious losses.
Moreover, since the Chinese trading regime requires its foreign trade enterprises to convert their foreign currencies into yuan, the more foreign exchange reserves China accumulates, the more yuan the Chinese authorities will need to put in the market. This will exert more pressure on the already serious inflation situation, making it harder for the central authorities to conduct macro-economic regulation.
Besides, investing most of its foreign exchange reserves in US treasury bonds also holds great political risks.
To ward off foreign exchange risks, China needs to readjust the current structure, increasing the proportion of the euro in its foreign exchange reserves.
Considering the improving Sino-Japanese trade relations, more Japanese yen may also become an option. During the January-June period this year, the proportion of China's trade volume with the United States, Japan and Europe to its total trade volume was 36.5 per cent, 28.6 per cent and 37.4 per cent respectively. Obviously, seen from the perspective of foreign trade relations, the US dollar makes up too large a proportion of China's foreign exchange reserves.
China could also encourage its enterprises to "go global" to weaken its dependence on US treasury bonds.
And using US assets to increase the strategic resource reserves, such as oil reserves, could be another alternative.
The author us director of the Department of International Economic under China Foreign Affairs University.
(China Daily)
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