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Americano, you said the latest report indicated that vein #1 has 542 million ounces of silver. Doesn't that appear to be awfully high since in the last 400 years Cerro Rico has given up 2 billion ounces out of it's richest veins. Plus all that tin and zinc. Where did you get your numbers?
Trueheart
Rai, the shale oil lies in what is known as the Green River Shale Deposit. The deposit is huge and covers some 16,000 square miles. It is said to contain almost one trillion barrels of recoverable oil (more than all the Middle East). It is composed of sedimentary deposits of ancient organic matter and minerals and are unlike the hard rock lode deposits of the FMNJ gold property. The shale must be heated to extract the oil and not only does the process use enormous amounts of energy, it is also dependent on vast quantities of water. Then there are the environmental problems of mining plus disposal of waste. However, a few companies are working on a process that treats the shale in place (in situ) and this process may have merit for the long term. Oh yeah, the FMNJ property is not in the area of the shale deposits. Hope this helps.
Trueheart
Thank you, Scoutaz. Now I have another question. The float is at 700,000,000 per the PR release. That leaves 1,000,000,000 shares that can be issued for trade at some time. My question is, if I want to buy more shares of FMNJ through Etrade, is the company authorized to sell me the stock out of the 1,000,000,000 shares it holds in reserve and not have the sale come from that 700,000,000 share float? If the buy came out of the billion shares and not the float,would it affect the price of the stock? Can the company do that? If so, how would that benefit shareholders? Am I thinking straight here? I would appreciate a reply. Thanks again.
Trueheart
FYI: Bond prices trade inversely to interest rates. Rates are going up and bonds are going down. In the next cycle it will reverse. Does it every time. I promise.
Trueheart
I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said, "God must love poor people because he made so many of them." Personlly, I'm sticking with what my father once told me, "It is better to be rich and healthy than to be poor and sick." Or as my children say, "Poverty sucks."
Trueheart
Check out these figures rerarding your posting:
Coeur d' Alene: Market cap is $1.24 billion. Number of shares outstanding is 277.95 million. Float is 276.78 million
Pan American Silver: Market cap is $1.16 billion. Number os shares outstanding is 67.74 million. Float is 62.21 million,
Hecla Mining: Market cap is $593 million. Number of shares outstanding is 119.18 million. Float is 118.61 million.
Apex: Market cap is $846 million. Number of shares outstanding is 58.41 million. Float is 54.13 million
Franklin Mining: Market cap is $37 million (approx). Number of shares authorized 1,700,000,000. Number of shares outstanding is 1,676,270,904. There is no "float" number so it is assumed that it is the same as "outstanding" unless someone corrects it.
Also, MSEED, where are you getting your information? Finally, Jaime, to alleviate the wild guessing game that arises after each and every PR release, please sign off personally and send the PRs directly to the shareholders via e-mail. Muchas gracias y que Dios te bendiga (Thanks and may God bless you).
Trueheart
Orale, Riotinto. Hablas el idioma?
Trueheart
In my estimation, 150,000 ounces of silver in vein number one is virtually nothing and hardly worth going after. Say it's sold at ten bucks an ounce. That's $1,500,000. We have start up costs and production costs of $5.00 to $6.00 per ounce and that leaves about $600,000 profit for a lot of work (not counting the states's cut, if any). Is it worth working this vein? Please tell me something positive about this deal and show me I'm wrong. With over one billion shares outstanding, does this translate into increased share value?
Trueheart
Damn, I have just caught myself in an "I think" in regard to the latest news about the resolution from COMIBOL approving FMNJ for the project at the Cerro Rico Mines. Does it really matter that I think they are still talking and have not reached an agreement to start digging? As an investor I am far removed from the action and I don't know anything about what FMNJ is actually doing beyond what is coming out of the PR statements but what I do know is that all that matters is reality and what is. Belief and "I think" are a poor second to knowledge.
Trueheart
Yep, no dangling participle that I can think of.
Luckybreak, it's still a vague statement from FMNJ. The problem is that "move forward with the project..." language. What the hell does it mean? If it was an OK for mining, wouldn't they have said that as they spread the glorious news that we've all been waiting for for so long? I think it means that they are still talking and have to move on to another stage to get actual mining going.
Trueheart
Here's the information I promised on mining at Cerro Rico and other things I hope are of interest. You can access the information by Googling Cerro Rico Bolivia, Bolivia mines, Bolivia silver, etc.
At Cerro Rico, there are approximately 9,000 Indian miners working some 120 mining cooperatives primarily for zinc and tin. Occasionally they find small veins of silver ore that they prize. The miners own the tin and zinc ore that they find and pay a membership fee to the cooperative. The work is back-breaking and dangerous as the shafts are very narrow and the air is foul. The typical lifespan of a miner is 45 years and many children work at the mines. Interesting thing is that the mines have become a tourist attraction. The miners make way as best they can to accomodate the sightseers as they crawl and stoop through the shafts and tunnels.
According to Bolivian government estimates, Cerro Rico may contain millions of ounces of unexplored silver reserves but they do not estimate the cost to extract the remaining reserves. It is estimated that over two-billion ounces of gold were taken out of the shafts at Cerro Rico over the past 400 years so a few million ounces appears to be almost nil.
There are two major silver mining projects at Cerro Rico. Coeur d' Alene has the big dog project, an open pit placer mining operation at the base of the mountain into which the company has invested millions. The other is Pan American Silver that has an operation at San Vicente Potosi. In 2005 the company was very optimistic about its prospects but in their 2006 Q1 report the company states that it is not investing more money into the operation at this time as their optimism has waned due to the possible nationalization of the minerals sector after the election of Evo Morales as president (see Pan American Silver).
As to the value of metals in Bolivia, following are production volume figures for 2005 in metric tons: Zinc, 130,094; Tin, 15,219; Lead, 8,875; Gold, 6,823; and Silver, 326 (USEmbassy).
Other things, I checked the various Shaw Group sites for info on the GTL-FMNJ joint venture project but didn't come up with anything. Perhaps one of you has some information.
When is FMNJ going to post the results of the assays at Cerro Rico?
Trueheart
Luckybreak, according the PR, there was a "resolution" by the board regarding FMNJ. There could be two meanings to the term in regard to the language in the report. One is a decision and that would mean a go-ahead to start work. The other definition has the meaning of support only and does not imply that they are ready to give the go-ahead to start work. I, too, would like to know what the PR actually means.
Trueheart
I did a bit more research into the silver mines at Cerro Rico in Bolivia and came up with some interesing info. It seems that the real chunk of silver at Cerro Rico is in surface gravel deposits called placers at the BASE of the mountain (my emphasis). Check out the site for Coeur d' Alene Mining Company. They've already invested $35,000,000 and have a total budget of $135,000,000 to develop the placer deposits. It's an open pit mine which allows for simple, low-tech surface mining techniques, unlike the old mines that tunnel into the mountain. The company controls the deposits all around Cerro Rico of which three are of primary importance. According to Coeur d' Alene, total proven and probable reserves of more than 150,000,000 ounces of silver are contained in the surface gravel deposits.
I have the information on the 120 Indian mining cooperatives that are working the old Cerro Rico shafts and what they're mining and how much and will post that soon.
Trueheart
Hey, I was wondering about the Mayaya placer gold project in Bolivia. Anyone know what's happening there? This is gonna be hard to believe but on a site called National Geoscience Database of Iran (yeah, Iran) I found a PR statement dated November 27, 2004 emailed and telephoned by Melgarejo to Businessnewsamericas.com regarding the mining operation. Melgarejo stated that the company had invested $400,000 to start up the project and expected to start production in the "next couple of weeks." Anyone know what's going on at the mine? Do we have gold? Thanks.
Trueheart
If you think about it, the price of silver only matters if you have some to sell or if you want to buy some.
Trueheart
I was doing a bit of research the other day and came upon the story about the Franklin gold mine in Colorado. You may have rehashed this before but it's new to me. According to the Gilpin County News dated December 8, '05, "Litigation has ceased any prospects for developing the Franklin mine in Colorado (verbatim)." The litgation deals with environmental effects of the mine on water quality. The mines in Gilson Gulch above Idaho Springs have had problems with water and runoff problems. There's another mine operation in the area that sank $400,000 into a mine in an effort to get it ready for production but had to cease work because of environmental problems so it's not isolated to the Franklin mine.
I also have information about the current mining operations at Cerro Rico. It's not about silver. It's about tin and the mining cooperatives run by the local Indians. I'll post it tomorrow. Have a good night.
Trueheart
Vozmil, did you read the disclaimer on the Americanbull.com site? If not, this is part of it: "Americanbull.com.... may from time to time buy, sell or hold stocks in and have other financial dealings with the companies that appear on the Americanbulls.com web site." Further, (if you decide to invest)"Do so at you own risk. If you CHOOSE to interpret Americanbulls.com information as INVESTMENT ADVICE, you do so at your own risk."
Let me know how many interpretations you can come up with other than "buy now" when you see "Buy Now" on their site. To me, if it sounds like advice, smells like advice, walks like advice and talks like advice .... then it must be advice. Another thing, the language about their relationship to FMNJ is fuzzy. It's impossible to determine what it is. They should do full disclosure. And we should do DD.
Trueheart
Are you Bill Martucci, the former owner of Franklin Mines and U.S. Mining, Inc?
Trueheart
Oyes, Americano, I was looking back through postings from around the time that FMNJ briefly hit that fifteen cent mark. There were a ton of postings from people who no longer post comments. I wonder if they gave up the ghost and sold, or if their passion waned and they stopped believing the PR that's really getting old, and perhaps they put the company on the back burner and went on with their lives. You were leading a cheer onto twenty and up. And now at two little pennies you're still cheering it on. Ever the optimist, pard.
Trueheart
Americano, my bad on the pricing of copper. I said that it was one-third the price of silver, but, of course, silver is priced in ounces and copper in pounds. Sorry.
Trueheart
Americano, you have been hiding that Phd in English.
Trueheart
Orale, Americano. What's interesting to me about the price of metals is that copper in its recent record high was at the same price as silver was in January, 2002!!!! And today copper is one-third the price of silver. Copper is abundant and it's a wire and pipe metal, for God's sake.
Trueheart
A well written piece, NYBob.
Trueheart
Fiberfrenzy, it is obvious that you are an astute businessman who is knowledgeable about corporate accounting and operations. However, the example you gave of your facility spending that chunk of capital equipment money on the boiler has little to do with FMNJ's situation.
Your company is a thirty-year-old on-going operation with a story that allowed the blue suits to make a business decision to spend the money for a projected 15% ROI. FMNJ is a complete start up with all its assets in the ground, whatever they may be. In light of your experience, I find it hard to believe that you give credence to yesterday's call for profitability in '06.
Like you, I'm trying to stay optimistic 'cause I want my money back many times over, but I also want to be realistic about where we are.
Incidentally, Fiberfrenzy IS a clever signature, even cute, but befinitely not profound. Keep thinking.
Fiberfrenzy, I understand your argument. Most companies have debt that they're paying and they're still viable. But the companies have the revenue to pay down that debt. $500,000,000 is a big chunk of money, pardner, and the revenue less costs has to be there to pay it. Your argument is looking at companies in general and I'm looking at Franklin Mining. And, if you don't have enough money to pay for those limousines, you gotta give them back.
Trueheart
Orale, Americano. You are one cheerleading optimist for the upswing in silver prices. It should go up just to meet your enthusiasm. Have a great day.
Trueheart
FA, I didn't get to hear the last part of the report but I agree that there are not a lot of things we haven't heard before. By the way, being that FMNJ is a company with mining claim interests, does FMNJ have the expertise to build and operate a GTL plant?
And getting to profit by the end of 2006 seems highly improbable. The company has to begin to pay back the capital borrowed to build the GTL plant and open the mines (in addition there are big operating costs for the properties) before it can declare a profit. Also, does anyone know if our shares can be subordinated to new capital raised through private placement?
By the way, to address another email, there are no enemies nor good guys and bad guys who comment on this board. There are only investors who have laid down some bucks and who have a real interest in what happens to their money.
Have a great day!
Trueheart
We may complain about the current prices of gold and silver but we have to remember that the prices of commodities (all precious metals are commodities) are created by willing buyers and willing sellers. Sure, historically governments worldwide have interfered in the pricing of gold and silver, but because precious metals are commodities to be bought and sold on the open market, we are never, ever going to go back to a gold or silver standard to back currencies. Ain't gonna happen. Thus, the market value of gold and silver lies in demand for the metals in jewelry and commercial usage. Of course demand is also affected to some extent by hoarding and speculation, but on the whole, it is negligible (think Hunt brothers for exceptions). Should'ves, could'ves and would'ves do not count in life or in the prices of precious metals.
Trueheart
Batting, thank you for posting the information you got from Mr. Austin. However, I find it appalling that the information we get about FMNJ comes from a shareholder who has been emailing him.
"Faith will always lose out to knowledge."
Trueheart
Americano, this is my last posting for the day. I recently signed up but have owned shares of FMNJ for some time. Metals are down sharply, especially gold, silver and copper. Is silver going up to $14 shortly? Don't bet the rent money on it. Have a great day.
Trueheart
You said the price of the stock would not be where it is if FMNJ was in "full production." Is there any production?
Trueheart
Does FMNJ actually produce metal of any kind or is it still in the hope, faith and wish business?
Trueheart