Beiträge von heron

  • Silber Companies - Liste und Neues

    AMC.TO mit Update zu Lac Herbin


    Alexis Minerals Mine Enters Full Production-Cash Flow Supports Continued Exploration


    TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 2, 2008 ) - ALEXIS MINERALS CORPORATION (TSX:AMC) is pleased to announce that the third custom milling campaign of ore stockpiles at the Lac Herbin mine commenced on November 22. The Lac Herbin mine in Val d'Or, Quebec is now in full production, on schedule and on budget. The positive cash flow generated by the Lac Herbin mine allows Alexis to continue its strategy of exploration in a world class area of mineral potential, the Abitibi district; despite the current turmoil in worldwide financial markets, the dramatic changes in the market price of many mining companies and the difficulty of many peer companies to maintain their exploration focus during these times.


    Total production in 2008 will be 17,000 ounces gold. Alexis is positioned to produce approximately 36,000 ounces of gold in 2009, and, annually thereafter, maintain this level of production over the current Life-of-Mine (LOM) plan, while maintaining a projected LOM average production cost of C$ 536/oz.Au (US$ 447/oz.Au.). Mine Exploration is budgeted to continue throughout the LOM plan in order to explore the open extensions of economic zones and to evaluate the immediate area of the mine. Exploration is focused on the replacement of ore mined during each year of the LOM plan thereby extending the life of the operations.


    Alexis Minerals currently has positive working Capital of C$12.1 M including cash of C$4.8 M. Future cash flows are clearly leveraged to gold prices (see Table 1). Alexis has no debt and no forward hedge position or forward sales.
    (...)


    VG heron

  • Gold Wheaton Gold / GLW (TSXV)

    @Edel


    Das Geschäftsmodell ist sicherlich sehr gut, aber nicht in Krisenzeiten. Siehe zum Beispiel FNV.TO und die Krise bei Stillwater, oder die Verluste bei SST.V. Insofern warte ich erst mal ab.


    VG heron

  • Cabo Mining

    November 04, 2008
    Cabo Drilling Shows Resilience, Thanks To The Long-Term Planning Of Its Founder
    By Charles Wyatt


    No mistaking what Cabo Drilling does – it’s in the title. The company has four well-placed divisions in Canada from which it provides mining related and specialist drilling services down into the States as required. The company, under the energetic management of founder John Versfelt, has also spread its wings into Mexico, Panama, Spain and the Balkan states, and financial results just announced for the fourth quarter and for the whole year to end June 2008 show the wisdom of this expansion. In the fourth quarter revenue rose by C$2.95 million to C$14.63 million when compared with the same quarter in 2007, and for the full year it rolled out at a record C$58.65 million as against C$38.45 million.


    As John Versfelt points out, Cabo has added a further seven drills to its international fleet since June and the international divisions are now operating 24 drills out of a total of 111 drills in the company. In the year to end June 2007 revenue from the international divisions accounted for only five per cent of revenue compared with 19 per cent last year and this trend is expected to continue as these divisions now have more drills. This has to be seen as a very shrewd move, as the company has the expertise to carry out all types of drilling operations – deep hole, surface, underground directional reverse circulation and geotechnical – and there are not many others around the world with this ability. It means that the customer base is not confined by any means to mining exploration companies, but widens out into oil and gas companies and those involved in civil construction. This provides flexibility during difficult times and Cabo has no need now to add further to its fleet nor make any significant capital expenditure as its drills are all either already new or have been refurbished recently.


    Even so it has to be accepted that work will be harder to find, and costs have to be controlled and spending reduced. However John Versfelt prioritises the need to maintain the experienced workforce that he’s built up over the last four years. In the last year five general managers have been taken on who have had plenty of experience of drilling though good and bad conditions. The key thing is to maintain good customer relations by carrying out efficient work to time and within budget. Drills can also be moved within divisions to ensure that new contracts can be won in areas that need more drills. Add to this the fact that expansion of the company has meant that profit margins have always been kept low in order to maintain a competitive edge, and you have an ideal company to face current market conditions.


    The increase in revenue last year can be attributed to growth in the international, Ontario and Atlantic divisions, and it is worth explaining that the Atlantic division, based in Newfoundland, specialises in underground and surface core drilling, slimhole core drilling for oil and gas exploration, and geotechnical drilling for engineering services and environmental assessments. Customers for this division include well known companies such as Teck Cominco, Altius Minerals, Paragon and Playfair.


    It is interesting to note that gross margins of 27 per cent were achieved by the international divisions as this compares with the average of 23.4 per cent across the rest of the divisions, marginally down on the previous year. The blame for this lies with the Ontario and Pacific divisions – the latter operating out of Surrey in British Columbia and responsible for specialised core drilling for the potash industry. The Ontario division operates out of Kirkland Lake and has widened its services into customised labour supply contracts and remote transport of drilling equipment and supplies.


    Cabo is now well into the financial 2008/9 year, and is keeping its finances in good order. The expansion programme on which John Versfelt embarked four years ago means that Cabo can now claim to be one of the industry’s larger mineral drilling services companies and it is already dabbling its toes into West Africa. As far as mining companies are concerned it can offer drilling services to major, mid-tier and junior mining and exploration companies, and can provide expertise in projects ranging from early-stage reconnaissance drilling through to resource definition and advanced stage mining. By consolidating within the mineral drilling industry, John Versfelt points out, Cabo has gained a competitive edge through efficiency, productivity and scale, and is now able to bid for contracts from a range of other industries. He has always been a long term planner and this is now paying off big time.

  • Wohin steuert Noront?

    bakerfriend


    Was steckt hinter ROF? Ein erfolversprechendes Kupfervorkommen? Vielleicht. Aber da ist ja noch was anderes, nämlich das Chromit. Ich denke mal dass das Chromit-Vorkommen von allen beteiligten Companies gemeinsam erschlossen werden wird, vorausgesetzt die Finanzierung ist gesichert. Und da wäre dann sicherlich auch UC.V mit dabei, die demnächst Einnahmen von einem Projekt in Mexico haben werden. Und personell sind bzw waren viele im ROF miteinander verbandelt, ich denk da nur mal an Neil Novak, der für mindestens fünf Companies im ROF gearbeitet hat.


    VG heron

  • Silber Companies - Liste und Neues

    Zitat von Edel Man


    Bevor ich wieder hier in den Silbersektor stärker reingehe, müssen eindeutige Böden her....


    @Edel
    Das ist zur Zeit ein Markt für Trader, nicht für Investoren.
    Niemand weiß was die Märkte nach der Präsidentenwahl machen werden ?)
    Und dann kommt im Dezember noch dieses unsägliche tax loss selling ;(
    Aber 2009 wird bestimmt alles besser :D


    VG heron

  • Minera Andes / M A I (TSX)

    @Edel


    Unklar ist wie es beim LOS AZULES-Projekt weitergeht. Die Entwicklungskosten werden vermutlich deutlich über 500 Mille liegen. Nun kann MAI mit Xstrata zusammenarbeiten, wobei Xstrata durchaus auch mehr als 51% Prozent des Projektes übernehmen könnte. Oder MAI versucht es alleine bzw mit irgend einem anderen Partner. Aber rechnet sich das? Alles noch ziemlich unklar. Wie auch die Auseinandersetzung Xstrata - TNR Gold:
    TNR Gold Amends Legal Action to Seek Rectification Confirming 25% Back-In Right


    VG heron

  • Minera Andes / M A I (TSX)

    Artikel von Charles Wyatt auf minesite.com, 2. Oktober 2008


    Minera Andes Poised For Expansion Off A Very Solid Base


    Take a look at the share price chart of Minera Andes and you will see a hockey stick shape at the end. In other words there was some news in August September-time good enough to move the price upward even in these dire times. A look at the recent news items confirms that there was plenty to invigorate shareholders and some of it may be responsible for the fact that the shares have only fallen from US$1.50 to US$1.05 since June which is a whole lot less than most of the company’s peers. But then there is a major difference, as Minera Andes is a producer of gold and silver with a 49 per cent interest in the San Jose gold mine in Argentina which is operated by its partner, Hochschild Mining.


    In fact the good news started right at the end of July when Allen Ambrose, president of the company, announced from his office in Spokane, Washington State, that gross proceeds from metal sales during the second quarter of 2008 to end June amounted to US$63.7 million. The San Jose project had started operations a year previously, and over that period produced gross sales of around US$74.6 million from silver and gold, most of which accrued in the last three quarters. Actual production in the June quarter amounted to 1.093 million ounces of silver and 12,410 ounces gold, of which 49 per cent accrued to Minera Andes. Mr Ambrose explains that this cash flow will be used to fund further expansion of the mine and for connection to the regional power grid. The rest of the cash will be used to repay the joint venture debt, but this still leaves his company in a strong financial position, with over US$8 million in the kitty.


    Two more bits of good news followed in quick succession. First it was reported that production cash costs in this second quarter averaged US$322 per ounce for gold and US$6.16 per ounce for silver. These costs compare with selling prices on a weighted average basis of US$901 per ounce of gold and US$16.47 per ounce of silver, which represents a healthy profit even though no account is taken of depreciation and amortisation. And the underground mine’s rate of production is going to be doubled to 1,500 tonnes per day by the end of this year so cash flow will be growing.


    The second bit of good news was that in the first half of 2008 Minera Andes recorded net income of US$7.2 million, or US$0.4 cents per share, which is quite an achievement at such an early stage. Mr Ambrose describes it as a milestone event which confirms the emergence of the company as a producer. Moreover, after production has doubled, as is the plan, Minera Andes will be able to claim a place for the San Jose mine in the list of the top ten primary silver producers in the world. And that’s not the only credit that’s due. It was Minera Andes, after all, which discovered the mine in northwestern Santa Cruz province, in a part of Argentina that is revealing itself to be a new mineral frontier. The 99,000-acre San Jose project area has the potential to evolve into a mining district, and could well end up hosting a number of mines.


    The vein-hosted system is relatively high grade at around 16 grammes per tonne gold-equivalent and this has been confirmed by recent drilling results from the Odin, Ayelen and Frea veins where the best intersection graded 63.63 grammes per tonne gold and 1,158 grammes per tonne silver over 1.94 metres. Currently, about 40 kilometres of vein strike length is known, of which only about 15 per cent has been drilled-tested, and less than 10 per cent accounts for the ore reserve base supporting the San Jose mine. The last resource estimate was given in October 2007, but another is underway which will take account of a further 30,000 metres of drilling which has taken place since July 2007. There seems little doubt that this will increase the reserves and resources significantly as has happened with each estimate made since discovery in 2005.


    Minera Andes also has an option to earn a 100 per cent interest in the Los Azules copper project in San Juan province near the Chilean border, currently owned by Xstrata Copper. This looks like a big one, though whether it will be big enough to persuade Xstrata to exercise its buy-back clause is not yet known. If Xstrata did exercise that clause it would mean that Xstrata would be satisfied that any mine there could produce 100,000 tonnes of copper a year for 10 years which is a big ask. As it is, Minera Andes is carrying out a scoping study and economic analysis and much more will be known once the results of this study are published before the year end. In the meantime the company has recently announced an initial inferred resource estimate for the project at a 0.35% copper cut-off, amounting to 922 million tonnes at 0.55% copper giving 11.2 billion pounds of copper, which is a good start.


    What is even more important is that there is a near surface high grade copper core which was first identified back in 2006. This could boost the economics of a starter pit which would mean that production could start earlier than anticipated. Anyway, Los Azules already qualifies as one of the largest new undeveloped copper deposits in Argentina and this may be why a galaxy of stars joined the board recently, including Rod McEwen of Goldcorp fame who has a holding in Minera Andes amounting to 38 per cent. He has brought with him Victor Lazarovici, who has had a career as a base metals and minerals analyst with leading firms in New York, and Don Quick who was a director of Goldcorp and instrumental in its biggest deals. With people like this on board, it will be no surprise if Minera Andes comes up with some interesting deals, and opportunities should certainly abound in the coming months.

  • GOLD : Märkte und Informationen

    Artikel von Steve Saville
    u.a zum Thema Gold and Money-Supply Growth:
    ...Gold, however, often benefits from illiquid financial markets and economic weakness due to its historical role as money. Furthermore, we think gold is cheap relative to most other commodities and most other investments...Gold was one of the many winners from the last major upward trend in the money-supply growth rate, but this time round we suspect that it will be in a class of its own because the flaws in the monetary system are now more obvious than they were during the first half of this decade. But while it's very easy for us to make the case that gold will be a top -- perhaps even the top -- performing investment over the next few years, it is very difficult for us to identify the timing of the next major gold rally...


    VG heron

  • Silber Companies - Liste und Neues

    Ein paar Meldungen
    Fortuna Appoints Mario Szotlender and Rick Clark to the Board/Grants Stock Options


    EXN.TO steht schon wieder das Wasser bis zum Hals
    Excellon Temporarily Suspends Work at Platosa Mine


    PZG bohrt immer tiefer und findet immer mehr
    Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. Reports 7.97 g/t Gold Equivalent Across 5.97 meters at its San Miguel Project (incl. 18.76 g/t Gold Equivalent over 2.32 meters)


    UC scheint sehr zuversichtlich zu sein
    UC Stakes New Claims at McFaulds Lake


    VG heron

  • Silber Companies - Liste und Neues

    Artikel über ein Problem mit dem u.a. auch FR.TO zu kämpfen hat.
    VG heron


    It's a smelter's market - Artikel im NorthernMiner


    Smelters in Mexico suddenly have the upper hand when making deals with small miners on concentrate shipments ;( , says the president of ECU Silver Mining (ECU-T).


    Stephen Altmann says ECU's Mexican staff talked to a lot of people before making a concentrate sales agreement for its Valaderna silver-lead-zinc project in Durango state.


    "If you're a small producer it's very difficult to get the attention of the big smelters," Altmann says.


    ECU stopped its 200-tonne per day operation last fall because mining and exploration were beginning to interfere with one another. Production resumed in March but it wasn't until recently that the company struck a deal.


    "We could've made less money on more onerous terms had we decided to sell it right away but our guys have a tremendous amount of experience in this area so they weren't about to accept the first terms that came to the table," Altmann says.


    Altman says the challenge in finding a new sales agreement was unexpected because commodity prices were on the rise last fall.


    "We didn't expect there'd be any issues," Altmann says. "So the fact that the smelter markets had tightened that rapidly surprised us."


    ECU has made a deal with MK Metals Trading, a division of Nexxtrade, which will act as a broker for the company. The broker will sell its lead concentrate, which includes silver, and zinc concentrate by packaging it with concentrates from other junior producers. A deal will then be made with global smelters, enabling a group of small companies to compete with major producers.


    "The smelters in the area have historically been operating below capacity, so once they start operating at capacity they can become more selective in their dealings in purchases of concentrate," Altmann explains. "And the bigger and mores steady state you are in terms of your concentrate production, the more attractive that is to smelters."


    The company has sold its current inventory of 400 tonnes of lead concentrate and 450 tonnes of zinc concentrate for about US$1.2 million.


    ECU also produces a pyrite-gold concentrate but is still working on improving the quality of it to raise the net smelter return value. The company has run some metallurgical tests and currently has an inventory of 7,000 tonnes containing about 5,000 oz. gold and 35,000 oz. silver.

    ECU counts on in its production revenue to help pay for its exploration program.     The company plans to update its mineral resource estimate by the end of the year. Over a span of three years the company increased resources from about 25 million silver-equivalent oz. to 200 million oz.


    Measured and indicated resources from the Velardena project, which includes three properties and four mines, is 3.7 million tonnes grading 2.29 grams gold per tonne and 126.2 grams silver for 34.3 million silver equivalent oz. including gold and silver, plus 3.3 million sliver equivalent oz. of lead, zinc and copper.


    Inferred resources stand at 13.7 million tonnes grading 2.01 grams gold per tonne and 185.7 grams silver per tonne for a total for 139.5 million silver equivalent oz. including gold and silver plus 39.5 million silver equivalent oz. of lead, zinc and copper.


    Altmann says the active exploration program and large resource helps make the company appear in a favourable light to smelters.


    "The advantage they may see with us is that in the long run when we start putting together a larger facility, we will become one of those larger, steady-state producers."


    For now though, ECU has an open agreement whereby it builds up its concentrate inventory and then sells it in batches. "It's more convenient for everyone," Altmann says.


    By the end of 2008, ECU will have drilled 25,000 metres on its Valardena properties.


    Silver mineralization tends to start at about 200 metres depth and the old mine workings extend to about 500 metres depth. The company's current resource extends as far down as 900 metres below surface but drilling has detected mineralization as far deep as 1,400 metres.


    The deepest drill hole, which extended for 900 metres was four inches in diameter, was drilled to test the continuity of the Santa Juana vein system, specifically the A4 massive sulphide vein. The result was a 12.04 metre-intercept grading 3.66 grams gold per tonne, 295 grams silver, 7.87% lead and 12.07% zinc


    Altmann says the company hopes to find more mineralization at depth.


    "The odds that you would hit that zone are so low, it's inconceivable that there isn't much more down there," he says. "Maybe we're lucky and maybe that's it, but the probability that that's the only massive sulphide that far away … is almost impossible."

  • Silber Companies - Liste und Neues

    Artikel im NorthernMiner
    Excellon starts building Platosa mill


    The permits are in for Excellon Resources (EXN-T) to build a new lead/zinc flotation mill at its high-grade Platosa mine in Durango State, Mexico, where silver, lead and zinc have been mined since April 2005.


    In that time, crushed ore has been shipped 45 km to the Naica mill in Chihuahua State, owned by Industrias Penoles Group, which buys the ore based on assays.


    Construction of the 350-tonne per day plant is supposed to start immediately and the company expects to commission the mill during the first quarter of 2009. Excellon hopes to double production from Platosa with the increased production rate (current production is 200 tonnes per day) and improve recoveries.


    Lead and zinc concentrates will be shipped to the world market from the mine site while silver ore will still be sent to the Naica mill. The company says processing lead and zinc on site will help cut operating costs. Excellon expects to recover the $10-million cost of the mill within a year's time.


    In the nine months ended April 30, 2008, the company produced 1.2 million oz. silver, 8.2 million oz. lead and 9.2 million oz. zinc.


    The mine has an indicated resource of 417,000 tonnes grading 1,060 grams silver per tonne, 9.3% lead and 9.8% zinc and an inferred resource of 72,700 tonnes grading 758 grams silver, 9.2% lead and 9.7% zinc.


    Excellon says Platosa is one of the highest-grade producing silver, lead and zinc deposits in all of Mexico. The company says it has enough ore to continue the test-mine operation for eight years without the new mill and for about four years with the new mill.


    The company is working hard to expand resources but has decided to slash its operating costs in the wake of the world credit crisis by getting rid of two of four diamond drills on site.


    This will save about $4 million, cutting 2009 exploration costs to $8.4 million. Another $1 million in other expense cuts is also planned.


    The deposit is a carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) made up of pods and lenses called mantos of massive and semi-massive to disseminated silver-lead-zinc sulphides.


    Since the last estimate, Excellon has found more mineralization. In August, the company reported results from 28 holes, 12 with strong grades.


    Drilling returned a 6.41-metre intersection grading 1,192 grams silver per tonne, 13.7% lead and 23.8% zinc in the south-central Guadalupe manto, which is accessible from existing underground development.


    Another hole, 15 metres away, returned 5.55 metres grading 856 grams silver 9.8% lead and 14.8% zinc.


    In May, Excellon had to stop mining due to a water-inflow problem that happened when a pilot hole from a new ventilation raise was being enlarged. The company was able to seal off the inflow and get the mine up and running again within a month or so.


    Excellon shares were down 7¢ today to 58¢ apiece on a trading volume of 163,000 shares. The company has 159.2 million shares outstanding, a 52-week high of $1.98 and a low of 45¢.

  • Metanor Resources / MTO (CVE)

    Super Meldung :thumbup:


    Und verdammt klever gemacht, weil da fehlt was... :D


    Commercial Production Begins: Metanor-North America's Newest Gold Producer


    VAL-D'OR, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Oct. 1, 2008 ) - Metanor Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:MTO) is pleased that it is announcing formal commercial production beginning today. The Company has recently received permits from the Quebec Government to operate the Bachelor Lake Mill Facility and to continue operate and mine the Barry Pit. Metanor is presently operating uninterrupted 7 days a week, 24 hours per day at an average rate of 680 tons per day with over 96% recovery. The mill is capable of processing 700-750tpd and the team is working diligently to constantly improve the tonnage while maintaining the recovery rate. During the summer, an additional third ball mill was successfully commissioned in order to handle the increased tonnage as well as other required modifications this work was completed at cost of approximately $500,000 which is about $1,000,000 less than the original quotation received. Mr. Ghislain Morin, President and COO stated "We greatly appreciate the work of Mr. Claude Imbeault, Vice-President-Operations and his team for making this historic day possible, Metanor has worked hard to achieve the status of a new gold producer with high environmental and work safety standards at the mill and mine site (507 days without incident). Being a gold producer enables the Company to finance its own exploration without raising additional capital in these restricted credit/capital markets."


    With respect to the operation of the mill which is processing the ore from the Barry open pit, Metanor has already poured approximately 13,000 ounces of dore gold bars during the bulk sampling and pre-production phases. With a cash cost of approximately $375CDN/oz and the present gold price around $900CDN/oz, Metanor, together with its present unhedged strategy, is well positioned to take advantage of the current and future positive market conditions with respect to gold. Mr. Serge Roy, Chairman and CEO stated, "Metanor is now poised to become North Americas' newest low cost gold producer as well as continue to develop its current portfolio of properties which includes the ever growing Barry Pit, the open at depth Bachelor Lake Mine as well as the promising Nelligan property which is only 4.5 km from the mill. With virtually no long term debt, together with our line of credit, we can take advantage of any situation that should arise in the future".


    As stated in our last press release, we are anticipating to release further results from our drilling campaign of this summer as well as results from channel samples taken in the extension of the Barry pit. Visible gold was present in many channel samples taken.


    Mr. Andre Tremblay, P Eng. is the qualified person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 and supervised the technical information presented in the news release.


    73,469,693 outstanding shares


    The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept any responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the press release.


    ---
    VG heron