Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
cl001 - more TXCO info for the iBox
34,130,000 shares outstanding
TXCO web site: http://www.txco.com
October IR Presentation: http://www.txco.com/IPAASFO07.pdf
POE IR Presentation:
This is the same presentation "nuts" posted a link to the other day. This one has way better readability of slides but no narration.
http://www.panorient.ca/2007PPupdated-Oct-22.pdf
Hope I am not over posting here today, but I like to go all out on DD before going ALL IN. All of your comments are most appreciated.
Thanks!
Kipp
POE royalty discussion from most recent filing:
"Royalty expenses on the Thailand oil production were $264,804 for the second quarter of 2007 (up from
$37,247 in the same period of 2006), or about 9.4% of sales. 2007 year to date royalties totaled $384,290
(2006 – $90,322) or about 8.8% of oil revenues. The included government royalty is 5% of gross
production up to 2,000 bbl/d, and increases to 6.25% for gross production between 2,000 and 5,000 bbl/d.
Also included in royalty expense is a 10% gross overriding royalty on the bulk of the production within the
Wichian Buri oil field. Drilling outside of this overriding royalty encumbered area is only subject to the
government royalty. The Company’s recent production success in the Na Sanun and Na Sanun East oil fields
are not subject to the gross overriding royalty, and as such royalty rates are expected to diminish as drilling
continues in these areas."
SEDAR - POE talks about risk.
I am more familiar with the EDGAR system but I went to SADAR and found this statement by POE under the business risk area of their last MD&A filing
"Companies engaged in the oil and gas industry are exposed to a number of business risks, which can be described as operational, financial and political risks, many of which are outside of Pan Orient’s control. More specifically these risks include risks of economically finding reserves and producing oil and gas in commercial quantities, marketing the production, commodity prices, environmental and safety risks, and risks associated with the foreign jurisdiction in which it operates. In order to mitigate these risks, the Company has an experienced base of qualified personnel, technical and financial in both Canada and Thailand, and maintains an insurance program that is consistent with industry standards. Further, the Company has focused its foreign operations in a known hydrocarbon basin in a jurisdiction that has previously established long-term oil and gas ventures with foreign oil and gas companies."
Standard sounding but I do like the last sentence. No detail of any pending problems with the royalty structure were found.
Kipp
Economist.com Thailand Info
This site is a must for Thailand economic and political info!
http://www.economist.com/countries/Thailand/
Thailand Foreign investors grow jittery about a change in the law
http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=10010170
Oct 22nd 2007
From The Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire
Foreign investors grow jittery about a change in the law
Foreign companies remain concerned about proposed changes to the Foreign Business Act (FBA) that could threaten their investments in Thailand and limit the opportunities for new foreign-invested projects. As parliament seems interested in enacting even tougher controls than the military-backed interim government had originally proposed, foreign investors will remain jittery until this sensitive issue is resolved. However, time is running out for the interim government to effect the amendments before the December 23rd general election. Assuming the election goes ahead as planned—which admittedly is by no means certain—the possibility that a new, democratically elected government may take a different view of the proposed regulatory changes may offer some cheer to anxious foreign investors.
The administration of Thailand's interim prime minister, Surayud Chulanont, has continued to push ahead with controversial plans to amend the FBA. Although the proposed amendments to the FBA are aimed at removing ambiguities (stemming from the use of nominee shareholders and preferential shareholder voting rights) over whether a firm is a foreign or Thai entity, the military-installed interim government has struggled to ease concerns that the amendments would have a severe negative impact on foreign investor confidence.
Despite its determination to amend the FBA before its term expires, the interim government is unlikely to succeed. In early August the National Legislative Assembly (NLA, the interim legislature set up by the military) decided against approving the Ministry of Commerce's proposed amendments to the FBA. Instead, NLA delegates voted in favour of amendments that expand the definition of foreign companies in restricted sectors.
The government had proposed to amend the law so that firms are classified as foreign-owned if foreign shareholders have more than 50% of the voting rights (including through preferential voting rights)--the current version of the FBA only considers direct shareholdings. The government's draft amendments also focused on ensuring that foreigners would not be able to use Thai nominee shareholders to gain de facto control of Thai companies.
The version approved by the NLA, however, expands the definition of foreign companies as given in the government's draft amendments to the FBA by including those in which the foreign shareholders have the power to appoint or to remove directors and those in which foreigners have the power to determine the company's strategy. Moreover, the NLA has proposed giving the authorities the right to scrutinise all shareholders in firms with multi-tier holding structures to determine whether each tier is foreign or Thai. The Ministry of Commerce has agreed to revise its draft based on the NLA's recommendations.
In a related issue, the commerce minister, Krikkrai Jirapaet, has pledged to review the three lists that define business sectors that come under the FBA. The first list comprises sectors in which foreign firms are not permitted to operate, owing to "special reasons". The second list comprises sectors in which foreign firms are barred because of national security concerns or because they will affect Thailand's arts, culture or natural resources. The third comprises sectors in which foreign firms cannot operate because Thai firms are not yet deemed ready to face international competition. This document lists a host of services sectors and includes retailing, construction, engineering and telecommunications.
The third list remains the most contentious, and foreign investors have long called for this list to be abolished. The official Department of Business Development recently confirmed that 12 firms are suspected of breaching the FBA as it currently stands by using nominees.
Despite the current government's efforts to push through amendments to the FBA, if it fails to do so before the end of its term, the next government could well decide to shelve such plans. The leader of the opposition Democrat Party (DP), Abhisit Vejjajiva, has already stated that a DP government would focus on improving enforcement of existing rules instead of trying to amend the FBA.
Thailand - Wikipedia is a good source for info. Here is a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thailand
Nuts - POE - Thailand Political Risk
I have been reading up on Thai politics and the upcoming elections. Do you feel there is political risk in Thai investments?
Here is a link to Thai election stories:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tab=wn&q=thailand+elections&btnG=Search+News
I own a bunch of POE and may get more. Thanks for bringing it to my (our) attention.
Kipp
Copper jumped the most in two weeks on speculation that global economic expansion will boost demand for the metal used in homes, cars and appliances.
China's economy, the biggest contributor to global growth, expanded 11.5 percent in the third quarter. Copper imports by the country, the world's biggest metals user, almost doubled in the nine months ended Sept. 30. Copper, which generally moves in tandem with the economy, is up 23 percent this year.
``Global demand is really going through the roof,'' said Michael Smith, president of T&K Futures & Options in Port Saint Lucie, Florida. ``We're really just going to see copper prices go higher and higher.''
Copper futures for December delivery gained 5.15 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $3.5375 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the biggest gain since Oct. 10. The metal still fell 0.4 percent this week, the third straight weekly decline, partly on concern U.S. growth may slow.
Chinese imports of copper and its alloys jumped 93 percent to 1.2 million metric tons in the nine months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, the Beijing-based customs offices said yesterday.
Strong Chinese Demand
``Underlying demand for copper in China remains very strong,'' said Patricia Mohr, an analyst at Scotiabank Group in Toronto.
Increases in China's consumption of the metal will be more important than any lost demand in the U.S., the world's second- biggest metals consumer, Mohr said. Copper has fallen 12 percent since reaching a record high of $4.04 a pound in May 2006 as a housing slump reduced U.S. usage.
``The copper consumption in China is much larger than U.S. consumption and is a bigger factor for demand,'' Mohr said. ``China is the number-one factor in copper demand.''
The metal also rose today on demand from hedge funds for commodities, said Smith of T&K.
``With the outlook for global growth, we're talking about another 10 years of this commodity rally,'' he said. ``The big fund traders are really finding commodities attractive and moving into these markets.''
The UBS Bloomberg CMCI Index of 26 commodities climbed to a record today, led by gains in metals, crude oil and sugar. The three-month index reached 1,257.29, the highest ever. The index has gained every year since 2001.
JPMorgan Securities Ltd. boosted its 2008 copper forecast by 19 percent today. The metal will average $6,950 a metric ton next year, up from the previous estimate of $5,821 a ton. Still, growing inventories of the metal will limit price gains, JPMorgan said.
Stockpiles of the metal monitored by the London Metal Exchange rose 2,725 tons today, or 1.8 percent, to 154,175 tons. Supplies in London have gained 18 percent this month.
On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months gained $105, or 1.4 percent, to $7,870 a metric ton ($3.57 a pound). The metal rose to a record $8,800 a ton in May 2006.
The New York Stock Exchange said it will no longer impose curbs on computer-program trading that were put in place after the crash of 1987, claiming they're no longer as effective in damping swings in prices.
The exchange will stop prohibiting brokerages from entering some program trades when the NYSE Composite Index rises or falls more than 2 percent, according to a notice sent to member firms today.
What does this mean? Are the big money guys all going short and want to make tons of money on the down side????
Kipp
Cut .25
VMC FED rate poll
Would everone please post your best guess on what trick or treat the FED is going to give the markets on Halloween.
TRGL, I sold around $12 for a few dollar loss. I think it is country risk that hurts this stock the most. Back to the Coxe school of thinking on large reserves in the ground in "safe" countries. HOWEVER, what country is really SAFE? Some are safer than others, look at the Canadian oil sand royalty hike! What if Mexico decides miners need to pony up? I guess a global royalty hike is on the table. Still better than sitting in USD!
Kipp
Hot money! What do I do with it? Yes I still have some cash to deploy. I am getting all worked up over the FED instead of taking the longer view. If the FED only goes .25 or NO cut I might get some great knee jerk buys. HOWEVER.....if they go another .50% cut I am going to be chasing.
Here are the stocks I own at the moment:
AEZ AOS.V AUN.V CS.TO EPM.TO EXN.V GPXM.OB NGG.V POE.V SAM.TO SGR.V SPM.TO SST.V TXCO ZMR.TO
AOS is a stinker at the moment based on the Canadian oil sand royalty increase. I should add to it here but went with TXCO instead. I am looking for silver to play catch up with gold.
Let's take a poll on what we think the FED will do, I say they cut .25%
Kipp
NGG.V - Either a screaming buy or some bad news we don't know about. Anyone have any idea. Sprott $.50 pp should put a floor under the price. Anything under $.50 SHOULD be a good buy?
Kipp
Stockhouse hyperlink if anyone wants to check it out:
http://www.stockhouse.ca/comp_info.asp?view=&Displaycurrency=&symbol=POE&table=list
Bobwins - Thanks for Stockhouse.ca I bookmarked it. I also found the "Bullboards" at the bottom of the basic quote page. I see some good posts there, maybe this is one of nutsaboutgolfs' honey holes for information? wink wink.
Kipp
Alberta said on Thursday it will boost its oil and gas royalties, but the Canadian province backed away from some of the more contentious recommendations in a review panel's report that the industry had sought to discredit.
Under the new measures, Alberta's take will increase by C$1.4 billion ($1.45 billion) above projected 2010 revenues.
The government-appointed panel had urged a C$2 billion increase over 2006 revenue.
The government of Premier Ed Stelmach said its revamped fiscal regime, largely sensitive to commodity price movement, will mean smaller increases in natural gas and oil sands royalties than envisaged by the panel.
Stelmach also rejected the notion of a new tax on oil sands production.
Among other changes, the amount companies pay for oil sands projects before capital costs are recovered will range between 1 percent and 9 percent of revenues with increases starting at $55 a barrel oil prices and a cap set at $120 a barrel.
Post-payout, royalties will be 25 to 40 percent of net profits.
The existing structure sees oil sands producers pay 1 percent of revenue until payout and 25 percent of net profits after payout.
The measures will mean a C$470 million increase in oil sands royalties in 2010, down from the C$660 million recommended last month by the royalty review panel.
Changes to natural gas royalties, which will also be price sensitive, mean a C$470 million increase for 2010 versus the C$740 million increase recommended by the panel.
Changes are due to be implemented in January, 2009.
($1=0.97 Canadian)
This is oil sands royalty story hinting at what happened. Still waiting for the details after the speach to get reportrd.
Alberta premier hints he'll boost energy royalties
Stelmach to announce details of controversial new program today
Oct 25, 2007 04:30 AM
John Cotter
THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON–Premier Ed Stelmach served up broad hints rather than hard numbers yesterday in his first response to a report that calls for energy companies to pay $2 billion more annually to develop Alberta's non-renewable resources.
In a televised speech, Stelmach said his government will create a new system for charging royalties but will give companies time to adapt to it.
The premier did not say if the changes will yield the 20 per cent increase in royalties called for last month by a review panel commissioned by his government, how the new system will work or when the changes will kick in.
"Now we are ready to take decisive action," Stelmach said. "One that delivers the fair share Albertans rightly expect from the development of their resources.
"It will provide the stability and predictability business needs, and time to adjust to the changes."
Details of the new royalty plan are to be released by Stelmach at a news conference in Calgary today.
Oil and gas royalties are forecast to bring in $10.5 billion to Alberta's coffers this fiscal year, about a third of the province's total revenues.
In his speech, Stelmach suggested the new royalty system will also address his goal of upgrading more of Alberta's non-renewable resources. Both the premier and opposition politicians have expressed concerns about corporations shipping raw oil sands bitumen from Alberta to the United States for processing.
Stelmach promised to encourage development of new energy sources such as oil sands and coal-bed methane – but again, did not say how.
Oil company officials said they want hard details of any changes to the royalty system before they will make any detailed comments.
"It is way early," said Imperial Oil spokesperson Pius Rolheiser.
"There may be some changes. We just need to wait and see what they are. Imperial, like the rest of industry, will be watching the premier's news conference with considerable interest."
Since the royalty review came out five weeks ago, the energy industry has warned that raising royalties would drive billions of dollars away from Alberta. Corporations have made almost daily threats to trim investments and eliminate thousands of jobs if the panel's recommendations are implemented.
In his speech, Stelmach said his government's plan will best secure Alberta's future.
"Decades from now, when our conventional energy resources are gone, our children must be left with an economic foundation for their prosperity," he said.
Suncor and Syncrude will not be grandfathered!
Dangit, Don Coxe is going to go on a rant in the morning. What a crock, Putin style move?
I guess the Alberta government is on tv right now announcing increase in royalties for the oil sands??? I will search news.
Kipp
AOS showing some life. I am in around $1.60 and Don Coxe still says to hold all of the Canadian oil sands stocks. It has rejected the lower price on 3 times the volume, this is good.
Kipp
Thanks cl001, as long as the FED stays in a cutting mode we should see the dollar get even weaker and pm go up. If the FED does nothing or raises next week we could see the dollar bounce and our metals take a hit. I am betting they cut .25.
Kipp
SST.V - I can't find pink sheet ticker for Amertrade????? Do they have a pinkie?
ARSD.OB $7.75 - I was a cheerleader fro this stock and got in at $1.80. I sold it way too soon in the $4's and $5's as I remember. Has anyone still got it? Anyone following the recent news?
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071024/law179.html?.v=4
Thanks!
Kipp
CF Industries added to S&P
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071023/nytu176.html?.v=78
I can't get over the move CF has made. I could never bring myself to buy it and still can't. It's like Don Coxe says, those who know it the best, like it the least. I have been in the micronutrient zinc fertilizer business for 20 years. I guess it just snuck up on us. I did however profit from the rise in zinc metal.
I may buy some ISX.V.
Kipp
Crude-oil futures rallied 2% after the Energy Department reported that crude supplies dropped by a much higher-than-expected 5.3 million barrels in the latest week.
Crude oil for December delivery surged $1.30, or 1.5%, at $86.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude supplies dropped by 5.3 million barrels to 316.6 million barrels in the week ending Oct. 19, the Energy Department reported Wednesday. Crude supplies fell by 200,000 barrels in Cushing, Okla., the physical delivery point for the West Texas Intermediate futures contract traded on Nymex.
"Crude oil prices have fallen after breaching the $90 mark late last week mainly because speculative buying has abated," said Chris Lafakis, an analyst at Moody's Economy.com, in a research note after the release of the inventory data.
'Today's report should exert upward pressure on prices, however, on fear that oil supplies will fail to meet demand during the winter heating season.'
— Chris Lafakis, Moody's Economy.com,
Among the factors weighing on crude prices have been talk of OPEC hiking production by an additional 0.5 million barrels per day, Japanese crude-oil imports falling 9.8% on the year because of weak demand, and U.S. gasoline demand remaining exceptionally weak, Lafakis said.
"Today's report should exert upward pressure on prices, however, on fear that oil supplies will fail to meet demand during the winter heating season," Lafakis said.
Gasoline stocks fell by 2 million barrels to 193.8 million barrels and distillate stocks declined by 1.8 million barrels to 134.5 million barrels, the Energy Department said. Refinery activity declined from 87.3% to 87.1%.
Crude imports fall sharply
Crude-oil imports fell by 1.3 million barrels per day to an average of 9.1 million barrels per day in the latest week, the Energy Department said.
"One of the big concerns for the oil market is that energy demand might drop off dramatically," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading. "The drop in imports seems to suggest that demand worldwide is still strong."
"That's [the inventory report] the main driver for the market," Flynn said. "The stock market is under a lot of duress right now. We might have been up a lot higher if it weren't for that."
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks fell sharply, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIADJIA
News, chart, profile, more
Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio
Analyst
Create alertInsider
Discuss
Financials
Sponsored by:
DJIA) declining nearly 170 points. See Market Snapshot.
In a separate report, American Petroleum Institute said Wednesday that crude supplies fell by 6.3 million barrels to 314.2 million barrels in latest week. Distillate stocks declined by 1.1 million barrels to 133.1 million barrels and gasoline stocks fell by 1.5 million barrels to 196.8 million barrels, API reported.
Also on Nymex, other energy futures also rallied. November reformulated gasoline surged 3.87 cents at $2.1476 a gallon. November heating oil rallied 4.49 cents at $2.3433 a gallon.
November natural gas rose 20 cents, or 3%, at $6.96 per million British thermal units.
On the global front, Turkish political and military leaders have gathered to discuss a possible attack against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, the BBC reported Wednesday. At the same time, Turkish artillery shelled PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, positions across the Iraqi border, the BBC reported.
Elsewhere on the commodity markets, gold futures edged lower, as the market looked for direction against a backdrop of mixed trading in the dollar. See Metals Stocks.
Crude-oil futures rallied 2% after the Energy Department reported that crude supplies dropped by a much higher-than-expected 5.3 million barrels in the latest week.
Crude oil for December delivery surged $1.30, or 1.5%, at $86.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Crude supplies dropped by 5.3 million barrels to 316.6 million barrels in the week ending Oct. 19, the Energy Department reported Wednesday. Crude supplies fell by 200,000 barrels in Cushing, Okla., the physical delivery point for the West Texas Intermediate futures contract traded on Nymex.
"Crude oil prices have fallen after breaching the $90 mark late last week mainly because speculative buying has abated," said Chris Lafakis, an analyst at Moody's Economy.com, in a research note after the release of the inventory data.
'Today's report should exert upward pressure on prices, however, on fear that oil supplies will fail to meet demand during the winter heating season.'
— Chris Lafakis, Moody's Economy.com,
Among the factors weighing on crude prices have been talk of OPEC hiking production by an additional 0.5 million barrels per day, Japanese crude-oil imports falling 9.8% on the year because of weak demand, and U.S. gasoline demand remaining exceptionally weak, Lafakis said.
"Today's report should exert upward pressure on prices, however, on fear that oil supplies will fail to meet demand during the winter heating season," Lafakis said.
Gasoline stocks fell by 2 million barrels to 193.8 million barrels and distillate stocks declined by 1.8 million barrels to 134.5 million barrels, the Energy Department said. Refinery activity declined from 87.3% to 87.1%.
Crude imports fall sharply
Crude-oil imports fell by 1.3 million barrels per day to an average of 9.1 million barrels per day in the latest week, the Energy Department said.
"One of the big concerns for the oil market is that energy demand might drop off dramatically," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading. "The drop in imports seems to suggest that demand worldwide is still strong."
"That's [the inventory report] the main driver for the market," Flynn said. "The stock market is under a lot of duress right now. We might have been up a lot higher if it weren't for that."
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks fell sharply, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIADJIA
News, chart, profile, more
Delayed quote dataAdd to portfolio
Analyst
Create alertInsider
Discuss
Financials
Sponsored by:
DJIA) declining nearly 170 points. See Market Snapshot.
In a separate report, American Petroleum Institute said Wednesday that crude supplies fell by 6.3 million barrels to 314.2 million barrels in latest week. Distillate stocks declined by 1.1 million barrels to 133.1 million barrels and gasoline stocks fell by 1.5 million barrels to 196.8 million barrels, API reported.
Also on Nymex, other energy futures also rallied. November reformulated gasoline surged 3.87 cents at $2.1476 a gallon. November heating oil rallied 4.49 cents at $2.3433 a gallon.
November natural gas rose 20 cents, or 3%, at $6.96 per million British thermal units.
On the global front, Turkish political and military leaders have gathered to discuss a possible attack against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, the BBC reported Wednesday. At the same time, Turkish artillery shelled PKK, or Kurdistan Workers' Party, positions across the Iraqi border, the BBC reported.
Elsewhere on the commodity markets, gold futures edged lower, as the market looked for direction against a backdrop of mixed trading in the dollar. See Metals Stocks.
Golden Phoenix Initiates Full Feasibility Study at Its Mineral Ridge Gold Mine
Wednesday October 24, 5:00 am ET
SPARKS, Nev., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GPXM - News) is pleased to report that it has engaged the technical team of West Coast Environmental & Engineering to update the existing feasibility study for its 100% owned Mineral Ridge gold and silver property, located in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
Mineral Ridge represents one of the richest and largest historic gold camps in Nevada, with over 600,000 ounces of gold produced to date. The majority of past production was mined underground and processed through conventional milling operations. Mining began in 1864 and was in full production during 1941 when the operation was closed by the government in order to redeploy manpower for the war effort. During 80 years of underground production, the gold-bearing material had an overall average grade of 0.273 ounce per ton. The mine was reopened under new ownership in 1989, and since then an additional ~25% of historic production was mined from open pits, starting at a grade of approximately 0.08 ounce per ton.
Golden Phoenix acquired Mineral Ridge in 2000, operating it as a heap leach for two years before placing the mine on care and maintenance in 2005 to allow the Company to focus on startup of the Ashdown molybdenum mine. With Kent Aveson recently leaving Barrick to head up operations at the Ashdown mine, Don Prahl, COO of Golden Phoenix, has returned from Ashdown to corporate headquarters. Don will now bring his gold operations experience as former General Manager of Barrick's Goldstrike mine to bear on the preparation of a mine plan for Mineral Ridge. Concurrently, a program of infill, step-out and exploration drilling on the property is being developed.
In 1995, Mineral Resource Development Inc. prepared portions of a feasibility study for Mineral Ridge, led by Behre Dolbear. Based on mineralized material at a 0.015 ounce per ton cut-off, the study tallied over 500,000 ounces of in situ gold. This represents a non-economic, global mineral inventory. The economics outlined in that report will be updated before current reserves compliant with SEC Guide 7 and NI 43-101 are determined. Gold contained within the existing pits, stockpiles and leach pad, as well as accessible from over 50 miles of underground workings, will be examined in the study, with the initial work focusing on material accessible from the surface.
Don Prahl stated, "If you take the global metal budget measured by historic mining at Mineral Ridge and add it to the inventory remaining in the ground, it totals over one million ounces of gold. That represents a very robust Nevada-based gold system that is 100% controlled by Golden Phoenix. Our Technical Services Group has identified strong exploration potential that could expand the defined mineralization significantly. With the current market environment for gold, I believe the time for reestablishing Mineral Ridge could not be better."
David Caldwell, CEO, added, "The resumption of work at Mineral Ridge marks a very important milestone for our company as we continue to build on our Ashdown success. Don was hired over a year ago with Mineral Ridge in mind, and I look forward to putting 'Gold' back in our name as we grow towards becoming a significant Nevada-based producer."
Please visit the Golden Phoenix website at http://www.Golden-Phoenix.com/
Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. is a Nevada-based mining company committed to deliver value to its shareholders by acquiring, developing and mining superior precious and strategic metal deposits in North America using competitive business practices balanced by principles of ethical stewardship. Golden Phoenix owns the Mineral Ridge gold and silver property near Silver Peak, Nevada, the Northern Champion molybdenum mine in Ontario, Canada, and is manager/operator and majority owner of the Ashdown Project LLC gold and molybdenum property held jointly by Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. and Win-Eldrich Mines, Ltd. of Toronto, Canada through its US subsidiary, Win-Eldrich Gold, Inc.
NAK is safe from the Kippster, my salmon are safe over on Kodiak Island. Kodiak is a big black lova rock covered with green grass and Sitka Spruce, no known mineral deposits but who knows!
Kipp
Filled at $9.08
POE POEFF.PK- I put Ameritrade order in at $9.26USD. I will see if it gets filled. Could be a gusher!
POE - What is current price, I am still on delay.
Aurcana Commences 15,000 Metre Diamond Drill Program at La Negra
Monday October 22, 9:15 am ET
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 22, 2007) - Aurcana Corporation ("Aurcana" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:AUN - News) is pleased to announce that a 15,000 metre underground diamond drill exploration program will commence immediately at the La Negra mine, Queretaro State, Mexico. The program is designed to follow up on earlier drilling success, target extensions to known zones and test geophysical anomalies. A contract has been awarded to Micro Tuneles y Suministros del Occidente S.A. de C.V. (MTSO) an established Mexican drill contractor with previous drilling experience at La Negra. With Aurcana's underground drill currently at site and the contracting of MTSO, two drills will be available to undertake the program.
Aurcana has completed approximately 400 metres of development which will allow for drilling to continue uninterrupted by providing access to all of the planned locations for drill stations from where the targets can be most effectively tested.
The drill program will begin by testing three important targets in the currently producing Alacran - Cristo Rey area:
1) the high grade copper - silver Cristo Rey area;
2) the Trinidad mantos; and
3) the potentially large tonnage Breccia Zone.
The Cristo Rey zone has been accessed underground on the 1990 level where historic stope samples reported grades of up to 353 grams per tonne ("g/t") silver, 5.69% copper, and 1.26% zinc. A historic diamond drill hole intersected a 7.8 metre interval of 323 g/t silver, 5.79% copper, and 2.37% zinc 90 meters below the stope that returned the high grade samples.
The Trinidad mantos (previously reported as the stope 1980 zone in the Company's April 26, 2007 news release) were discovered by Aurcana using their own underground diamond drill. Highlights from the April 26, 2007 news release included four holes that returned an average of 11.82 meters of 162.5 g/t silver, 2.57% zinc, 1.28% copper, and 0.43% lead.
The Breccia Zone is interpreted to be the continuation of the Alacran ore body to depth. Mining of an initial bulk sample from the Breccia Zone to date by Aurcana has recovered approximately 7,000 tonnes with an average grade of 125 g/t silver, 1.29% copper, 0.68% zinc, and 0.41% lead.
The remaining phase of the underground program is designed to test for extensions to several of the known ore zones and to test new zones that have been indicated from past diamond drilling and through geophysics carried out by the previous operator. With completion of the full program, Aurcana is expecting to be able to increase the historical reserve base through expansion of the existing zones, and from the delineation of new zones. The objective of the program is to outline sufficient additional resources in order to be able to make a decision on expanding the size of the existing mill. The reader should be cautioned the historic reserves do not conform to National Instrument 43-101 requirements for reporting purposes; as such the Company is not treating these historic estimates as current reserves or resources. These estimates should not be relied upon until they have been verified by further due diligence and by the Company's "Qualified Person".
Aurcana commenced production in June of this year and production from the 3rd quarter was approximately 73,000 tonnes of ore processed with 3,200 tonnes of concentrate produced. During this start up phase stockpiled material and lower grade ore generated by development work was used in order to fine tune the mill and allow efficiencies to be incorporated into the mill. Aurcana is very pleased with the performance of the La Negra operation and expects that 2008 will see improving results from this start up phase of the operation.
With a strong balance sheet, 1,000 tonnes per day production established at La Negra, Rosario slated to add additional production of 800 tonnes per day by the end of 2008, a very positive outlook for the price of commodities, along with the continued expansion of Aurcana's shareholder base, a very bright, exciting and rewarding future await Aurcana and it's shareholders.
The reader should be cautioned the Company has not completed feasibility studies confirming the projected production capacity at La Negra nor Rosario and there is no certainty the Company's plans will be economically viable.
Ron Nichols, P.Eng., a Director and Vice President of Exploration for Aurcana, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this release.
Aurcana is a Canadian junior mining company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, symbol: AUN. The Company is currently producing and remains focused on the acquisition, development and operation of additional silver, zinc and copper mines with good infrastructure and ore reserves/resources that require minimal capital and time to re-start.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF AURCANA CORPORATION
Ken Booth, President
China's Master Problem-Solver Retires, Leaving Hole in Beijing's Crisis Management
BEIJING (AP) -- For the past decade, when Chinese leaders had a mission of national importance, they gave it to one woman.
Wu Yi oversaw negotiations in the 1990s on China's entry to the World Trade Organization, winning a reputation as tough but personable. She directed the fight against the SARS pneumonia outbreak in 2003 and has represented Beijing in a dialogue to ease trade friction with Washington. In August, the government put her in charge of whipping product-safety enforcement into shape and restoring China's battered international image.
But now Wu, who turns 69 next month, is retiring, leaving Beijing to find a new top problem-solver for challenges ranging from improving drug safety to stabilizing unruly financial markets.
On Sunday, Wu, a vice premier and the only woman in the senior leadership, left the Communist Party's Central Committee along with many other retiring leaders as the party installed a new lineup to guide the country for the next five years. With that, Wu will have to relinquish her vice premiership, at the latest when a new government is announced in March.
U.S. officials say Wu is due to take part in one more round of economic talks with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in December. But they say after that, China has given no sign who will take over her duties.
A petrochemical engineer by training, Wu rose through the oil ministry and then government hierarchies to become China's highest-ranking female leader. Forbes magazine this year listed her as the world's second-most powerful woman, behind German Chancellor Angela Merkel and ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Her departure is unlikely to affect policy in a system where key decisions are made by more senior party leaders.
Still, she is one of several leading officials with economic portfolios stepping down. The party leadership has few candidates to turn to with the charm, intelligence and negotiating skills that won Wu wide respect among world political and business leaders.
"One of the great defenders, one of the great openers-up of this economy is Vice Premier Wu Yi," Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce, said in September. "She personally is one of the great advocators of free trade."
"She will be difficult to replace," said William Hess, chief China analyst for the consulting firm Global Insight.
Wu, who never married and has no children, shows an unusual degree of personal warmth in public for China's stiffly formal official system. After talks in December in Beijing, she and Paulson held hands as they met reporters.
Domestically, Wu has tackled some of the government's most critical problems, stepping in to restore public faith after Chinese leaders initially sluggish response to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. In 2006, she supervised an investigation into China's drug-licensing system after a former regulator was charged with taking bribes to approve untested medicines, some of which killed patients.
In August, Wu was put in charge of overhauling China's product-safety enforcement after a string of recalls and warnings abroad over drug-laced seafood, toxic toothpaste, faulty tires and other goods.
Wu joined the ruling party in her early 20s. She spent 15 years at the Beijing East is Red Refinery before becoming a chemical company executive and in 1988 a deputy mayor of Beijing. She became a deputy trade minister in 1991 and a member of the party Politburo in 2002.
Wu has given no indication what she might do in retirement.
Paulson says strong dollar in US interest
WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told G7 finance ministers today that a strong dollar is still in the US economic interest, but declined to say whether other G7 finance ministers pressed the US on the rapid decline of the dollar and how it is affecting their exports.
'I was very clear and it didn't surprise anyone... that I believe a strong dollar is in our nation's interest, and believe that the currency value should be determined based upon underlying economic fundamentals in a competitive marketplace,' Paulson told reporters after today's G7 meeting.
When asked whether or how other G7 ministers raised the issue of the declining dollar, he said only that he would let others talk about what they raised in the meetings.
Also on currency, he reiterated that G7 members want China to allow the yuan to appreciate more quickly, and said he believes China agrees with other countries on currency matters, but the question of pace is still in dispute.
Paulson said G7 members also discussed the rising influence of sovereign wealth funds, and said there would be a dinner tonight with China, Saudi Arabia and other countries that are using these funds more frequently as government reserve balances grow.
Paulson said one concern raised by G7 members is that sovereign wealth funds make investment decisions abroad for commercial motives, rather than other motives. He also said he has 'some sense' that countries want more investment reciprocity before agreeing to open their markets wide to large sovereign wealth funds looking to take a stake in companies.
'There's agreement that if we can work to a number of best practices, this would be good,' he said of the G7 meeting.
Paulson also said today that G7 members briefly discussed rising oil prices, but said there was a recognition that in the short term, the global economy has weathered high prices more than might have been expected.
In other areas, Paulson said G7 members discussed how to learn from the mistakes that caused problems in the subprime mortgage market, and agreed that they should work together to ensure financing tools are not used to promote the development of Iran's nuclear program. He said the US challenged G7 members to think of creative ways to achieve this goal, preferably through multilateral efforts
America vetoes G7's dollar alert
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/10/21/cng7121.xml
What G7 financial leaders say about currencies
(Fellow VMC'ers, I have been watching the dollar slide and surfing G7 news over the weekend. I think the #1 thing we need to be concerned with as investors is what is happening with the banks, the FED, the Treasury, and what their actions are doing to our dollar.)
Oct. 20 (Reuters) - Financial leaders from the Group of Seven leading industrial nations urged China to let its yuan currency appreciate more quickly but opted not to single out the dollar, euro or yen in their post-meeting communique.
The language echoed earlier G7 calls for China to let the tightly controlled yuan float more freely.
Before the meeting, some European countries wanted the G7 to focus on dollar weakness, as EU policymakers fear its slide against the euro will hurt exports and the Eurozone economy.
The euro this week surged to an all-time peak against the dollar above $1.43, the latest in a string of record-setting moves. It has gained about 8 percent so far this year.
Unlike the dollar, the euro has also gained against China's yuan, a move that has swelled the eurozone trade deficit with China and put pressure on European exporters.
China dropped its dollar peg in July 2005, adopting instead a peg to a basket of currencies, but the basket remained heavily dollar-weighted.
Below is a compendium of what has been said, followed by details from the April G7 meeting in Washington:
G7 COMMUNIQUE ON CURRENCIES, OCT. 19, 2007:
"We reaffirm that exchange rates should reflect economic fundamentals. Excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates are undesirable for economic growth.
"We continue to monitor exchange rate markets closely, and cooperate as appropriate.
"We welcome China's decision to increase the flexibility of its currency, but in view of its rising current account surplus and domestic inflation, we stress its need to allow an accelerated appreciation of its effective exchange rate."
U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY HENRY PAULSON:
On strong dollar policy:
"I was very clear -- and it didn't surprise anyone because I've always been clear on this with my colleagues -- that I believe a strong dollar is in our nation's interest and believe that currency values should be determined based upon underlying economic fundamentals in a competitive marketplace"
On China's comments about the need for structural reform
"We welcome the fact that they think flexibility is a good thing and we just are encouraging them to move a bit quicker and it sounds like they agree."
FRENCH ECONOMY MINISTER CHRISTINE LAGARDE:
On the communique's mention of the yuan:
"It was a notable variation. ... I am happy that in this G7 communique there is a specific paragraph on the yuan to ask for an accelerated appreciation of the yuan ... against other currencies, notably against the euro.
"I hope the financial markets will hear this."
FRENCH SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EUROPE JEAN-PIERRE JOUYET
Speaking in Paris on Saturday, he said "I think (the IMF) should ask the United States to correct their imbalances. That seems quite legitimate to me."
EUROGROUP HEAD JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER:
"We will continue to monitor exchange rate markets closely, particularly in light of recent moves."
On the yen:
"It should be noted that the Bank of Japan believes Japan's economy is on a substantial path of recovery and that exchange rates should reflect this economic progress."
EUROZONE OFFICIAL
On the IMF declaring the dollar is overvalued and has room to fall further:
"This is unhelpful. We are not criticizing their analysis but think that this is not the right time to come up with this sort of thing."
JAPANESE FINANCE MINISTER FUKUSHIRO NUKAGA:
"We shared the view again that it is desirable to recognize risks of one-way bets in various markets, especially in the currency market."
On yen:
Asked what he told the G7 on the yen, Nukaga said: "I just said that the yen should surely reflect Japan's economic fundamentals."
JAPANESE MINISTRY OF FINANCE OFFICIAL
"Japan is always saying the yen should reflect Japan's fundamentals. It is not a change in stance."
GERMAN FINANCE MINISTER PEER STEINBRUECK
Speaking to German network n-tv, he called the euro's exchange rate "irrelevant" to Germany because most of German trade is with European Union countries.
"It's often forgotten that 60 percent of German exports go to the EU and over 40 percent into the euro area. Thus, it's irrelevant what the exchange rates are."
"On top of that, the German economy is far more competitive than three or four years ago and can absorb something like that better than before. On the other hand, every upward move has its limits."
RUSSIA FINANCE MINISTER ALEXEI KUDRIN
"The dollar will continue to fall. It lies in our interest that it is a gradual process, so that business can adapt. Here we do not have any particular concerns."
ITALIAN FINANCE MINISTER TOMASSO PADOA-SCHIOPPA:
On the euro:
"Europe is a region that has a strong currency and needs to learn to live with the fact."
BANK OF CANADA GOV. DAVID DODGE:
"We have been getting adjustment in the United States and indeed, it's appropriate that we've had U.S. dollar depreciation. The problem is that it really has been Europe and Canada that have been the main focus of that and we haven't had the Asian countries -- and those Asian countries as a whole have not done as much adjustment as will be required going forward. Our view is and has been that currency adjustment is part of that."
On Asian domestic demand:
"Over time its quite clear the Asian countries as a whole - and clearly China and Japan are at the heart of that -- there is going to have to be more domestic absorption, stronger domestic demand in those countries to offset the weakening domestic demand in the United States."
"We've been saying that for almost as many years as I've been coming here as governor and so we are going to need more of that."
On China:
"They (the Chinese) are engaged in a Party congress right now so I'm sure they're doing other things than precisely looking at the communique we wrote this afternoon."
DEPUTY GOV. OF THE PEOPLE'S BANK OF CHINA WU XIAOLING
Speaking at a conference in Washington on Friday, Wu said "to solely adjust the exchange rate in the absence of restructuring policies will hurt the real economy and global growth."
She said China is moving toward more flexible exchange rates but at a gradual pace and as part of a broader menu of economic reforms and acknowledged that some people in the United States "are not as patient as we are."
On China's surplus:
"Some of the surplus of China has been transferred from other countries, especially Southeast Asia."
WASHINGTON, APRIL 13, 2007, G7 COMMUNIQUE
"We reaffirm that exchange rates should reflect economic fundamentals. Excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates are undesirable for economic growth. We continue to monitor exchange markets closely, and cooperate as appropriate. In emerging economies with large and growing current account surpluses, especially China, it is desirable that their effective exchange rates move so that necessary adjustments will occur."
FOREIGN EXCHANGE MARKET ACTION
The dollar sank to fresh lows when it became clear the G7 would not directly mention the greenback's weakness. Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar fell to its lowest level since the free-floating exchange rate regime was established in the early 1970s.
Traders also pushed the dollar to a three-week low against the yen. It held near a record low against the euro.
Don Coxe Weekly Call
Always a good listen. Go Canadian, go commodities, go precious metals ehhyy!
http://events.startcast.com/events/199/B0003/#
Reserves in the ground are key. Safe countries are preferrable.
Good Luck!
Kipp