Gold Exploration in West Africa

[FL]

Why I bought Searchgold (RSG.V) http://www.searchgold.ca/

As readers know, I considered buying Searchgold for a long time, based on its gold-laden properties in Gabon, Africa, and its new backing from Morocco's Managem. I didn't move on it, though. Then (vexatiously) it announced a substantial hit on its Canadian properties, which (along with a pop from lisitng in Frankfurt) ran the price up to a post-halt closing high of C$0.21, after a trading halt for failure to report. Before the halt it had got as low as C$0.06 - where we all should have bought, of course.

He who hestitates is lost.

Then in the last couple of weeks the price has settled down from that flurry to C$0.14 now, meanwhile gold's risen to $700 per ounce.

Among several nice results, a recent hole in Gabon found 4.64 grams/ton gold over 55.10 meters.

The Managem deal impresses me. That Moroccan, francophone, competent mining company was the big investor in Semafo (SMF.TO) which has done superbly, now with well-executed operating gold mines in Guinea and Niger and a new exploration hit in Burkina Faso (I own some SMF). Managem recently took big profits from Semafo and now is backing Searchgold, not only in Gabon but also in Guinea where Managem is very experienced.

Gabon is richer per capita than Ghana or Guinea, in fact it's all-black Africa's richest country. But it's wealth is based on coastal oil, and Gabon's culture (mainly the Fang tribe) was never gold-oriented like the Ghanaians. It's jungle interior is hardly explored. Gabon has been stable and capitalistic. It's francophone. Searchgold is the dominant explorer in Gabon with big hits already. Then there's the whole promising Guinea thing (let alone Canada). Still its market cap is only about C$13m.

So I finally jumped in. Any other opinions?