Beiträge von newtechxl

November 24, 2004

Dear Shareholder:

At this writing your management is very optimistic. We have some positive plans for 2005 and will address those with you early in the year. For our new shareholders, I will lightly go over our legal position taken in defense of (lessee) Hecla Mining Company's actions, and discuss our plans going forward. Included in this letter there are some marvelous diamond drill results from drilling done on Independence Lead Mines Company's mining claims.

In an effort to serve our shareholders and potential shareholders the company opened a website at independence-lead.com. At this website, those who wish to know more about Independence Lead Mines Company's story may obtain information of interest. Here, you may read about the greatest hijacking of a natural resource in the history of the State of Idaho, and you can find out how it was done.

Trial:
With just a few ageing Independence shareholders present, a nine-day trial started on March 22, 2004. The case was kept out of the public view with no newspaper coverage during the trial. After the trial had ended, Independence's only concern was, would the judge be realistic in calculating damages? Hecla had mined/milled 1,209,000 tons of mineralized material, and sold concentrates at low metal prices returning $90,000,000 in net smelter receipts. Would the judge comprehend the extent of the damages that should be awarded?

The court ruled on Case #CV-02-4061 on July 19, 2004. Independence's management had hoped that the company had drawn a judge with the fairness and wisdom of a King Solomon. Independence was not asking the court for a free lunch, but simply a square deal. The main legal basis for Independence's lawsuit was that Hecla had violated the “Prudent Operator Standard,” a covenant in all mining leases. Lest the reader forget, there is also an implied covenant in all contracts of good faith and fair dealing that requires each party to take reasonable measures to ensure that the other party obtains the benefits of the agreement. Unfortunately this judge was no Solomon. In the shadow of Hecla's corporate office, the court seemed to go to great lengths to miss-state and misinterpret the law, and use incoherent reasoning to arrive at a ruling for Hecla and against Independence. In 1968, the shareholders of Day Mines, Inc., Independence Lead Mines Company, and Abot Mining Company ratified a fair and equitable lease agreement. The court itself turned that agreement into an unconscionable agreement by its interpretation of the contract, giving Hecla complete and unrestrained discretion, thereby holding the lessee to zero accountability under the agreement. Anytime one is denied justice others are in danger of that same injustice. Management knew the Idaho Supreme Court was going to hear this case, but it was always believed Hecla would be the one taking the case to the higher court.

Appeal:
On August 10, 2004, attorneys for Independence filed notice of appeal with the Court and with Hecla Mining Company's attorney. Also on this date, Independence requested a copy of the court transcript of the trial and ninety days later the transcript is yet to be received. We firmly believe the Idaho Supreme Court will over-turn the lower court, grant Independence the covenants within the lease and return our unique deposit to its owners, the shareholders of Independence Lead Mines Company.

Potential:
Please consider the following trend, and its possibilities. The upper Gold Hunter deposit produced 3,000.000 tons at an average grade of 4oz silver and 4% lead. Hecla's mining on the 4900 level has produced approximately 1,400,000 tons at an average grade of 15.54oz silver, 8.67% lead, and 1.64% zinc. Over the years mining and diamond drilling has shown the tremendous strength of the deposit as it lengthens to the east and west with depth. Results of recent deep diamond drilling have revealed numbers never seen before. The following selected diamond drill footage has not been adjusted to actual width, but the grade of silver is truly awesome.

Homepage:

http://wallace-id.com/independence/index.html

David Bond hat das Teil empfohlen. Infos folgen !!

PO Box 469
Wallace, ID 83873
Phone: (208) 752 1131

Harry Magnusen is the President, Dennis O'Brien is the secretary and a good guy to talk to about this and a lot of the other Magnusen companies.

It has about 12m shares outstanding, a pretty good claim group (much of it under lease to Coeur), and some other stocks (like 1/3 of VINS).

1998 Note in the Pennaluna Prospector:

"Silver Buckle Mines (SBUM) of Wallace got a boost from recent favorable mention by Paul Sarnoff, long time market commentator and editor of Sarnoff's Silver Strategies fax advisory. The little outfit has ground next to the Coeur Mine - Galena Mine - Caladay area (which it now leases to Silver Valley Resources Corpporation). With about 12 million shares out, not long ago it began active bulletin board quotation. The stock's lately moved up from around .20 to about .35" -- Pennaluna Prospector, April, 1998.

1997 Press release about the lease:

SILVER VALLEY RESOURCES APPROVES
LEASES ON ADJACENT SILVER PROPERTIES
Wallace, Idaho, March 26, 1997 -- Silver Valley Resources Corporation announced it has entered agreements on two mining leases adjacent to its existing property in north Idaho in a further strategic consolidation of property in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District silver belt. The leases surround Silver Valley Resources' Caladay property and are believed to hold excellent long-term potential for increasing reserves.

The Silver Valley Resources' Board of Directors gave approval to the two mining leases, representing 149 unpatented claims, from Silver Buckle Mines Inc. and Placer Creek Mining Company. Silver Buckle holds claims east and north of the Silver Valley Resources property. Placer Creek's claims are south and east of Silver Valley Resources existing property.

The leases represent potential extensions beyond the long term exploration and development of the Caladay. Silver Valley Resources plans to perform geologic reconnaissance and geologic modeling on the properties to identify targets for future exploration. A minimum of $125,000 of spending is required on each property in each five year period under the 20-year, renewable leases.

Silver Valley Resources, which is owned equally by ASARCO Inc. and Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation, operates the Coeur and Galena silver mines near Wallace. They are historically the lowest cost silver mines in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District. This year's production is anticipated at approximately 3 million ounces of silver. Proven and probable reserves at year-end 1996 were measured at 33.5 million ounces of silver at an average grade of 17.54 ounces per ton.

Habe ich aus dem Silverminers board geklaut ! Fand ich interessant!

1) independence is Independent
2) management (Bernard Lannen)does not take a salary, won the company from the Magnusun, and put up a fight with Hecla, and will continue to fight for what is right. That is he will fight for the shareholders, not the insiders
3) Mining is not a pipe dream, will increase according to HL to 4 million ounces at $4/ounce in 2006
4) Hecla's own reports imply there is a lot of silver there-most feel 100 million ounces+
5) Even if ILDM loses the appeal and has to make up 35 million to Hecla for sunk costs before receiving an 18.5% income royalty- figure out 4 million ounces/yr X silver price netted for smelter price minus $4/ounce. Plug in $10-$15 ounce for you silver bulls and figure out the payback-won't be long!
6) If they win the appeal BONUS TIME!
7) Despite the verbiage from Hecla, Independence OWNS the Gold Hunter property!
Drilling potential to the west
9) Independence shares outstanding 5 million X 50 cents= $2.5 market cap! Come on- there are some shore homes on sinking New Jersey sand going for more than that!
10)Who knows what the real float is
11) Most of the other independents are, shall we say "mysterious" in their ownership, directorships and accounting
12) Is the market really saying that Hecla as a whole is worth 300X Independence? and CdE the same?
13) Yes, i like Demotte and Sterling-is Srlm worth 25X ILDM? And yes SRLM is undervalued.
14) Dear Jason Hommel- put those numbers in your pipe and smoke it!

I expect that Independence will move up with any up move in silver. ILDM is not inactive. Hecla expects to mine 4 million ounces on ILDM's land in 2006, and it is being currently mined.

In a rising silver market a positive legal outcome becomes less paramount, because at higher silver, a quick payback of sunk costs becomes a given and it will be receiving royalties in the millions at higher silver prices.

Let's say silver goes to $12/ounce and the net smelter payment is $8.(This net number is a guess) If HL's cost is $4 than at 4 million ounces they are netting 16 million a year. If the sunk costs at that point are 32 million (close to where they are now) than Hl will cover those in two years. After that and some advance payment fees are covered Independence will receive over 18% of the income a year. Using the same example, they would begin receiving annual checks of nearly 3 million a year. At 5 million shares outstanding that is 60 cents for every share. At say 20x earnings ILDM would be trading at $12; a 2400% return-and that would be in a rational market.

Independence Lead Mines- Observations: Part Two - Potential

1) Per Hecla’s 2003-10K the Lucky Friday Unit has the following resources:
P & P - 10.154M oz
Mineralized Material 33.762M oz
Other Material 51.753M oz
Total 95.669M oz

The Lucky Friday Mine and DIA Gold Hunter Project resources; i.e. P&P, mineralized material, and other material have been mixed and reported together since the 1996 Hecla 10K. The last time the Lucky Friday Mine had a separate breakout of P&P was 1995 with 5.488M oz. Double that amount to approx. 11M oz to obtain an estimate of all categories of mineralized material that could be present at the original Lucky Friday Mine and reported on the 2003 -10K. An estimate of the Gold Hunter mineralized material would be 95.669 – 11 = 84.669M oz.

2) The May 4, 2004 ILDM shareholders letter states “ The estimated resource of 84 Million ounces of silver remaining in the deposit excludes base metals and the potential that exists along the 2500 feet that remains unexplored to the west.” Thus 84 million ounces of resource has been identified on ILDM’s claims, of which 10.154M ounces was deemed by Hecla to be economic to mine as of Dec. 2003.
There should be more P&P reserves, today, with the current higher metals prices.

3) Hecla 93-94 10K’s state that they drove a tunnel at the 4050 level and found mineralization. The subsequent tunnel that was driven on the 4900 level is where the 30M eq. ounces (3/6/04 ILDM SH Letter) have been mined. A Dec 2003 Hecla news release states that Hecla will drive a new tunnel on the 5900 level to access 28M ounces of silver. In an April 4, 2004 interview conducted by Dave Bond with Phil Baker, Hecla CEO, Baker states that Hecla wants to develop another layer beneath the 5900 level to access still another 30M ounces. This could be at about the 6800-foot level. If so, the mineralized zone could be estimated to run from the 7100 level up to about the 3600 level, which would be a 3500-foot vertical, 1500 foot long and 170 –200 feet wide mineralized zone and provide a potential estimate of 84M + 30M ounces = 114M ounces. The known mineralization, found on ILDM’s eastern claims is thus in a large zone. The 5/4/04 ILDM shareholders letter states, “This deposit is an unappreciated monster.” The 3d Qtr Hecla Report announced that recent drilling extended the mineralized zone to the east about 250 feet. This would make the mineralized zone about 1750 feet long.

4) The West Independence claims has exploration potential based on the 1983 discovery of a high-grade silver and copper - tetrahedrite vein.

5) ILDM has 4,625,793 shares outstanding per the November 15, 2004 10Q.

6) The average mill feed grade for the DIA Project through 6/30/04 has been 15.62 oz/ton Ag, 8.69% Pb and 1.61% Zn. The average mill feed is expected to go higher based on Hecla’s latest drill results as shown on the last page of the latest ILDM Shareholders Letter found at the new Independence Lead Mines Website, Independence-Lead.com. The drill results shown are exceptional with some of the intercepts over 100 oz/ton, which again causes one to focus on the poor recovery capability and small tonnage capability of the mill. As an example, assume that a zone at the 5900 Level provides 50 ounces per ton silver to the mill feed. With 93% mill recovery on silver and lead, the mill would be sending 3.5 ounces of silver per ton to the tailing pond. At $6.45 per ounce of silver the Project would be losing an estimated $18 per ton NSR on the silver alone. As a comparison, Sterling Mining is going after 3 ounces per ton with their Baroness Tailings Project.

Hecla truly needs to hire a mill expert to redesign and refurbish the mill and eliminate the series of bottlenecks that are currently present, to include the capacity bottleneck. The payback time for a mill upgrade could be very reasonable. Again, a modern hi-tech mill with world-class recovery rates (i.e. 98%+) would help protect good paying jobs, and provide more profit to Hecla and Independence Lead in both up and down markets

Independence Lead Mines - History

Independence Lead Mines (ILDM) originated from a claim staked in 1886 near Mullan. In 1890 the area became part of Idaho. Over the course of several decades more claims were staked, purchased, sold and several companies merged to form Independence Lead Mines. ILDM today, consists of 15 patented and 17 un-patented claims. These 32 claims are part of a long belt that includes the Star, Morning, Independence and Gold Hunter Mines. The Lucky Friday Mine is about one mile to the southeast.

In February 1968, prompted by the US Government’s removal of the price cap on silver and the subsequent rise in silver prices, Independence Lead Mines, Abot Mines, and Day Mines signed a series of three agreements to comprise the DIA Gold Hunter Project. First, a Vertical Boundary Agreement was signed by ILDM with neighboring claim holders. Second, a Unitization Agreement was signed with Day and Abot Mines in preparation for the signing of the third Agreement, a Lease Agreement with Hecla Mining. Day Mines owned 42% of Abot and was the lead negotiator for the Unitized Group with Hecla. The Lease Agreement provides ILDM with an 18.52% Net Profit Interest (NPI). The Lease Agreement calls for Hecla to be repaid its initial development and exploration costs, cover ongoing costs, establish a three month working capital account, repay $450K to Day Mines and repay all advanced royalty payments (a monthly advance) before ILDM starts to receives it’s NPI.

The 1968 Unitization Agreement included the Eastern Independence claims but not the West Independence claims. The West Independence consists of about 80 acres of patented claims. In 1983 a high-grade silver-copper vein was discovered near the property line between the Morning Mine (Purchased by Hecla in 1966 from ASARCO) and West Independence. Hecla Mining merged with Day Mines in Nov-Dec. 1981 and with Abot Mines in March 2001, leaving Independence Lead as the sole Lessor.

The Hecla –DIA exploration program was planned to consist of 10,450 feet of laterals, crosscuts and drifts and 24,800 feet of diamond drilling at the 4050- level. Per the 1976 ILDM Annual Report “ On May 6, 1977, a major strike was made at the “Y” at the target area”. A 14-year hiatus occurred before Hecla announced in their 10K - “ discovered hi grade ore in 1991 at the 4050 level”. (Note that the DIA Project completely missed the 1978-1988 silver boom.) Some developmental work occurred at the 4050 Level from 1992-1994. In 1995 – 96 Hecla completed a drift at the 4900 Level and enough drilling to report P& P reserves on their 1996 10K. Production started in 1997, with full production starting on 1/6/98 per the 12/03 ILDM Shareholder Letter. The 1998 Hecla 10K states “full production reached on schedule in 2d Qtr”.

On March 1, 2002 ILDM provided written notice to Hecla that the Lease Agreement was terminated and asked for arbitration. A Preliminary Injunction/Partial Summary Judgment Hearing was held on July 17, 2003, that denied ILDM’s request to terminate Hecla’s Lease Agreement. A nine-day trial started on March 22, 2004 and was completed on April 2, 2004. Written closing arguments and rebuttals were completed on May 17, 2004. The Court’s decision released on July 19, 2004 ruled in favor of Hecla. Independence is appealing the decision to the Idaho Supreme Court.

The issue at hand is the milling of 1,389,680 tons of mineralized material from the mineralized zone at a loss or at below cost. As of June 30, 2004, Hecla had amassed $34.23M in DIA Project debt while receiving approximately $105.7M in Net Smelter Returns and producing approximately 30M equivalent ounces of silver. ILDM maintains that Hecla has not been a prudent operator by not mining commercial ore per the Lease Agreement. ILDM also alleges waste due to “wasting millions of dollars due to deficient milling operations and hi grading and sterilization of lower grade material”. ILDM states that they notified Hecla in August 1999 that “the DIA Project had gone amiss and to continue to mine and mill the deposit at a loss and provide ILDM with more Project Debt would place the two companies on a collision course”. ILDM believes that Hecla’s actions have broken the Lease and Unitization Agreements. Sources: 2003-2004 ILDM Shareholders Letters- six each and 6/30/04 DIA Project Statement of Project Costs. Hecla maintains, “ They have the exclusive right to manage per the DIA Agreements”. Source: Hecla 2002 & 2003 10K’s.
The due consideration to Independence (ILDM) in the 1968 Lease Agreement is the 18.52% Net Profit Interest (NPI). Per conversations with ILDM’s President, the May 1997 Hecla Feasibility Study used to decide whether or not to proceed with Production at the 4900 Level, did not include a NPI to ILDM. The Nov. 2003 Feasibility Study for the on-going 5900 Level expansion for the years 2004-2011 again did not consider any Net Profit Interest to ILDM or any of the development costs from 1992-1998. Hecla treats the 1992-1998 development costs as sunk costs for Feasibility Study purposes and as debt to ILDM for DIA purposes. Under what metal price assumptions, recovery percentages, and time frame could one conclude that Hecla will eliminate all existing debt and cover future costs, to pay a NPI to Independence Lead?

The 1968 Lease Agreement, specifically the NPI provision, provides the operator with a great deal of latitude to determine what is or is not a net profit. With today’s accounting flexibilities, most if not all NPI provisions and agreements result in the Lessor never receiving any Net Profit payments. Some Cost is always applied to negate any Net Profit. It is far better to have a Net Smelter Return Agreement without any capital payback requirements, -- which does appears to be the prevalent practice in most other Joint Venture Leases in today’s environment. Does anyone know of a successful NPI agreement in the last 20 years where the Junior Partner/Claimholder actually received a yearly dividend?

The DIA Project is still operating at a loss. Per court documents, the Lucky Friday Mine/Mill has not operated at a profit since 1985. Low metals prices, decreased grades at the original Lucky Friday deposit, and higher costs are cited as reasons. However additional reasons exist. In 1986 a smaller and underpowered 4’ cone crusher was installed at the mill. Over the trommel reject started at this time per a former Hecla employee. Recovery of silver, lead, and zinc from the Gold Hunter mineralized material has been low due to inadequate crushing and floatation cell recovery. Approximately 100,000 tons of over the trommel reject is piled up near the mill in a large mound because the mill does not have a means to re-introduce the over the trommel mineralized material back into the mill. The cone crusher does not crush fine enough and the floatation cells did not have enough residual time and air control features to adequately recover metals in this competitive worldwide market. Other problems exist also. An estimated $7.4 Million has been lost from the Gold Hunter Project from 1/1997-7/2003 due to poor recovery at the mill.

The Waste Issue:
1. An expert witness for Independence Lead estimated that Hecla has lost $7.4M in DIA NSR from Jan. 1997 thru June 2003 due to an inadequate mill crushing and grinding circuit and antiquated 1923 vintage floatation equipment in the mill. Hecla’s management in the past appears to have been against modernizing or upgrading the mill. (The 3d Qtr Hecla Report indicates that Hecla is planning to do some mill upgrade.)
2. Over 200,000 tons of mineralized material appears to have been sterilized during hi-grading operations.
3. Idaho State Law precludes waste and can require triple punitive damages.
4. The main issue locally is the solid paying jobs provided at the Lucky Friday Mine and Mill. The June 29, 2004 Edition of the Shoshone Press shows a picture of the local US Congressman visiting the Mine. This article emphasized the number of jobs that Hecla provides. A modern mill with world-class recovery rates would help protect good paying jobs, and provide more profit to Hecla and Independence Lead.

The Lease Agreement required that Hecla mine commercial ore. Only in the 1998-1999 time frame did the Project show a small net profit and the overall DIA debt decline. DIA debt has gone up approx $2.79M since 6/1/98, the date of full production, thru 6/30/04. Hecla has enjoyed $105.7M in NSR while Independence Lead received $34.23M in Project Debt. Note that the $1500 per month payment that Independence receives from Hecla, is an Advanced Royalty Payment (i.e. debt) that must also be paid back before receiving the NPI.

The Judge stated that Hecla has not managed the Lease Agreement in Independence’s best interest, but still ruled in favor of Hecla.

Starte mal eine Researchreihe über Unternehmen im Silvervalley.

Independence Lead Mines ist das erste Unternehmen. Ist jedoch sehr schwer gute Infos zu bekommen. Vielleicht habt Ihr ja auch ein paar Infos.

Newtechxl

Wer von Euch kennt sich mit den verschiedenen Claims im Silvervalley aus. Sollte man nur auf unabhängige Unternehmen setzen ??

http://www.blanketpower.com/mining/polsummary.htm

http://www.blanketpower.com/mi…ey_political_grouping.htm

Mehr Infos zum Silvervalley findet Ihr hier.

http://www.silverminers.com/

http://silverminers.proboards24.com/

Vielleicht gibt es ja noch ein paar Leute, die sich auch für das Silvervalley interessieren. Glaube, dass man da noch ein paar verborgene Schätze finden kan.

Grüsse, newtechxl

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/bond/bond040405_wsj.html

mehr von Morgan:

RNC Gold has been the subject of a great deal of questions, and we decided to answer the most comprehensive ones. At the time RNC became a formal recommendation, it was not only undervalued, but also appeared to have formed a bottom.

The company did a financing and the stock price suffered. What did they need the money for?

The use of proceeds is principally to build RNC. RNC will receive net cash of US$4.4 million. Of these funds, $1 million will be used for exploration on areas away from the existing mines but still on company property. RNC believes it can find at least one more mine. Additionally, $1.5 million will be used to commence construction of the Cerro Quema mine in Panama. It is planned that this project will add approximately 48,000 ounces per year, starting in mid 2006. The remaining funds will be used to further clean up “old” debts on the balance sheet.

With regard to the cash burn rate; the Hemco and La Libertad operations will generate cash, commencing in the second quarter of 2005. Hemco is generating positive cash now and using the additional funds to invest in process improvements at Hemco as well as for exploration to sustain the existing reserves. At La Libertad the hedge book will be closed early in the second quarter, at which point significant cash will then be generated.

When will profits from mining be sufficient to support the company’s cash needs so that further financing is reduced or eliminated?

The mines are currently cash flow positive. Further financing may be necessary if the first phase of drilling at Hemco and/or La Libertad is positive and a second larger phase of drilling is required. Additionally, a financing to finalize the Cerro Quema project ($9.3 million) may be required. The major portion of next year’s Cerro Quema capital requirement may be financed by internally generated funds or from equipment debt or a combination of the three.

How is the company marketing itself currently, and what plans are in the works to market itself in the future?

RNC has attended the San Francisco gold show and the PDAC in Toronto. The company is scheduled to attend the gold shows in New York, Las Vegas, and Denver over the upcoming months. The company commenced advertising on the Kitco Web site and in the Northern Miner magazine. They continue to talk to institutional investors and mining analysts and during January had an analyst tour to Nicaragua. Their focus in the coming months will be directed principally to the retail investor. Our contacts over the past few months are producing benefits of invitations to “retail lunches” where RNC can present to many brokers at the same time. In the future we are going to develop a relationship with Free Market News who will help to tell the RNC story to investors all over the world. A listing on Amex is currently being considered.

One of RNC’s competitors in Guatemala, Glencairn Gold, trades for about $40 per ounce of resource, while my calculations have RNC trading at only $12 per ounce of resources even while RNC produces more gold as is growing at about the same rate as Glencairn. Why the discrepancy?

Under all methods of valuation, RNC is undervalued. This is the main message in our marketing: RNC is the most undervalued stock in the gold sector. A slight correction is that Glencairn has an operating mine in Nicaragua and is building a mine in Costa Rica.

I would be interested to know what the insider ownership is in the company. Have insiders been buying or selling? What, if any, are the top institutional shareholders, and what is their percentage of the company’s shares?

On a fully diluted basis: Officers and directors own 22%; Sprott Asset Management owns 14%; no other institution or person owns in excess of 10% of the outstanding capital. The officers and directors have not been selling or purchasing of securities.

Comment: We continue to suffer from a share price that we did not expect and this company was chosen as a value investment, which it certainly remains.

Die lage von Sterling ist schwer einzuschätzen. Morgan schreibt folgendes:

terling Mining is a company that we have followed for quite some time. The company became very interesting to us when it was announced that this little micro cap company had tied up the assets of the famous Sunshine Mine in Kellogg, Idaho. When we first recommended the stock, we set a buy limit of less than $3 per share and yet the price of the shares quickly went over our buy level. Eventually, the stock actually traded as high as $14 per share. This was well above our expectations based upon silver assets alone, but probably a low valuation if/when the mine was put back into production.

An extensive report was written about the company at the end of August 2004. At that time the stock had good support at the $6 level and was trading at the $7.25 level and rising. It seemed prudent to raise the buy level then to the level of $8 or so.

Like all mining companies, the management is one very key ingredient and one we do our best to examine carefully. However, in some cases it is basically an unknown. We liked the aggressive nature of management and the open attitude toward input from shareholders and industry people as a whole. In fact, management asked the Silver Investor what Sterling Mining needed to accomplish in order to make this company better and stronger. The answer was simply to become a reporting company as quickly as possible, making certain however that the filings were in perfect order and to hire the best auditors and legal advice possible.

This input was given by the Silver Investor quite some time ago, and we have kept asking the company for updates ever since. It was explained that the company had to go back 100 years to do a full audit and this required a great deal of time. This sounded logical and we accepted this explanation. Executive management informed us that a few months ago the audit was complete and that the top priority was to focus totally on filing the Form 10 to list the company on the Bulletin Board as a fully reporting company.

As of March 22, 2005, we have discovered facts that have caused us great concern. Others in the company reported to us today that the audit would not be complete until July 2005 at the very earliest. This obviously is in contradiction to earlier statements by other executives of the company. Unfortunately, we have recently had a similar experience with a company—Scorpio, which was punished badly because of poor management, and we do not wish to see this happen again! Therefore, each reader must determine whether the likelihood is that this company share value will be going higher or lower.

It is our considered opinion that all that was written in the main Sterling Mining Company report available to all Web based subscribers is accurate and based upon the best information available; however, management has had ample opportunity, in our view, to focus and build shareholder value by prioritizing objectives that would help the company to raise capital and build for the future. This simply has not been accomplished. We know it is easy to criticize but upon a through investigation we must report the facts.

The company’s Mexico projects may be worth $1 to $2 per share when fully producing, and the Sunshine should be worth more than $10 per share when back in production. However, with the knowledge that the audit is not and will not be complete for several more months, when we have been told differently several times, we cannot in good faith recommend the stock as a buy any longer. Therefore we have removed it from our Model Portfolio

Silver and Sterling Mining

Lou Passi and Jason Hommel

Here's a riddle that everyone will surely answer differently. What is it that you can't live without, yet is so scarce it may soon disappear altogether? The hopeless romantic might reply that it's "the love of a good woman". An environmentalist might complain that it's "fresh air in a smog-filled metropolis". And the political activist might simply shout "freedom". But, let's add another wrinkle to our riddle. What is it that is also sold short in amounts that far exceed its global supply? Impossible you say? Well, the correct answer to this riddle is SILVER.

Yes, silver is truly an indispensable commodity. It has a number of unique properties including strength, malleability and ductility, electrical and thermal conductivity, sensitivity to and high reflectance of light, and the ability to endure extreme temperatures. Because of silver's unique properties, it can't be substituted in most applications. A partial list of critical silver applications includes batteries, bearings, catalysts, electronics, electroplating, medical, photography, solar energy and water purification.

Due to silver's many invaluable uses, it has been consumed in industry in large amounts, about 7/10ths of an ounce of silver, per person, in the U.S., since 1945.

Thus, 60 years later, by today, silver is now also a scarce commodity. World demand for silver exceeds annual production and has every year since 1990 - a total of 15 straight years. Few primary silver mines are operating today due to current low silver prices, but prices are likely headed much higher and soon because above ground supplies are low, shrinking rapidly and approaching zero. The market has been living off silver inventories since 1990. Inventories are at historically low levels. From a peak of 2.2 billion ounces of silver in 1990, bullion inventories are now estimated at just 300 million ounces. Imagine how much lower supply might be in a year or two from now.

Most incredible of all is that due to excessive naked short selling and leasing, silver has the largest short position that's ever existed in anything! A naked short sale is the sale of something you don't own. Current naked short positions in silver (including over the counter, uncounted derivatives) total in the billions of ounces - that's with a "B" - and exceed real world supplies by billions of ounces too.

Regulations are supposed to preclude excessive short speculation, but regulators have apparently neglected to police the silver market. As a result, unbridled short selling has artificially depressed silver's price. Eventually, all short sellers will close their short positions by buying or delivering the physical silver they sold. And why? Because "He who sells what isn't his'n, buys it back, or goes to prison!" That means we're going to see a silver price explosion when short-covering buyers compete for too few ounces of available silver. And so, we might also see delivery defaults! In fact, the move towards defaults and rising prices has already begun, if you consider position limits as a breakdown on the freedom people should have to buy what they want. Today, silver is priced at about U.S. $7.50 an ounce, already up 70% in the past 24 months, but well below it's all-time high of near $50 in 1980.

If you want to capitalize on this silver price explosion, by all means start accumulating silver bullion bars and coins (if you can find them) at today's relatively low, low prices. More aggressive investors will desire to own shares in a variety of mining companies highly leveraged to the price of silver.

Sterling Mining (SRLM - Pink Sheets) is one such company. The share price March 31 was $3.60/share. With 15 million shares outstanding, the market cap is $54 million. With 15.8 million shares fully diluted, the market cap is $57 million.

Sterling now controls the legendary Sunshine Mine, the richest silver mine in American history with more than 360 million ounces of production over the past century. Mine reserves stand at 26 million ounces of silver, as well as an additional resource of 160 million ounces of silver, for a total of 186 million oz. of silver. The mine is leased for 15 years, and can be bought for an additional $5 million.

Sterling acquired the Sunshine Mine after the Sunshine mining company went bankrupt. In 1993, the famous Sunshine mining company had a market cap of $500 million, while they were $100 million in debt. The debt caught up with them as silver prices dropped in 1999-2002.

Today, lean Sterling Mining has a market cap of about $70 million, and is debt free. Thus, Sterling Mining may have an upside potential to increase their market cap by about 7 times to return to the former valuation.

Oddly, the Sunshine Mine was profitable when it closed in 2001. It was producing at a rate of over three million ounces of silver per year at an average grade of approximately 20 ounces per ton and a cash cost of just $4.49/ounce. The property includes offices, a 1,100-ton-per-day mill, more than 100 miles of underground workings, and 2,300 acres of mineral rights.

In 2003-04 Sterling completed a surface geophysical program on the property to explore for the potential upward continuation of silver-bearing structures. The program identified five target areas, and in September 2004 an initial surface drill program was conducted. Sterling is following a methodical approach preparing the mine for a return to long-term sustainable production.

Sterling Mining's share price has suffered recently, down to just below $4/share from a high of about $14/share, perhaps partly due to rumors on the internet about mine flooding. Olav Svela, Vice President, has firmly stated:

"There is no water problem at the Sunshine mine. We are currently finishing up our Phase II development plan for the mine and hope to be in production within a couple of years, if not sooner."

Many silver stocks, in general, have also been hit by two problems in the last year. First, silver prices stalled in April 2004, when silver hit a high price of $8.40, and then crashed back to $5.50, thus discouraging many silver stock investors. Second, many private placement shares have come free trading, and that puts downward pressure on share prices as initial investors with large blocks of shares cash out to lock in gains. Sterling Mining gained from a low of about $.25/share in early 2003 prior to the acquisition of the Sunshine mine.

Sterling is now the 7th largest primary silver company in the world with 231 million ounces of silver resources or 19 ounces of silver per share. Silver accounts for 91 percent of the company's total resources, making it a high-leveraged silver stock.

Other Company Projects: (many leased, not all 100% owned)

Coeur D'Alene Mining District - In addition to the Sunshine Mine, Sterling controls more than 15,000 acres of mineral rights in the Silver Valley. This is one of the richest silver districts on earth, yet there's been relatively little surface exploration conducted by modern techniques. Recent discoveries indicate that significant silver mineralization is just waiting to be found.

Mexico Projects. In 2003 and 2004 Sterling acquired a number of properties in Zacatecas State, Mexico, with rapid production and exploration potential for 100+ million ounces of near-surface silver resources.

Baroness Tailing Project - an advanced stage project located in the Zacatecas Mining District, Mexico. Production is expected to begin in 2005. It is estimated that the project contains 5 million metric tons of finely ground tailings that average 3.0 ounces per ton silver and 0.02 ounces per ton gold, which is a resource of 15 million ounces of silver and 100,000 ounces of gold. Processing costs are expected to be $3.50 per ton or less.

Milagros Property - Sterling Mining holds an option on the Tesorito and Tabasquena claims near the prolific Milagros property in Zacatecas State, Mexico. The claims comprise two shallow shafts (about 65 feet and 280 feet deep, respectively) approximately half a mile apart, sunk onto a major silver-bearing epithermal vein structure. The reported thickness of the vein averages about 10 feet, widening to nearly 20 feet. The structure is believed to be open along strike on both ends, as well as at depth. Earlier reports have estimated that between the two shafts lies an estimated one million tons of mineralization, which, based on past smelter returns, has historically produced ore at 17 ounces per ton silver, implying a 17 million oz. silver resource.

San Acacio - The San Acacio Silver Project, located four miles from the City of Zacatecas, Mexico, comprises the old San Acacio Mine within the famous Veta Grande Mining District that has produced 180 million ounces of silver. The San Acacio claims cover roughly four miles of the Veta Grande quartz-carbonate vein system. Historical reports indicate a drill-inferred resource of 14.4 million ounces of silver. Previous operators have used this drill data to estimate an additional 3.1 million tons at a grade of 5 ounces per ton silver, yielding another 15.5 million ounces. Sterling management anticipates that surface drilling will be conducted on the property in early 2005.

JE Project - 700 acres of property located in the 'Persian Gulf of Silver', a NW Montana region of several low-grade 100+ million ounce deposits. Stratabound silver/copper mineralization was defined in this area by eight diamond drill holes adjacent to the NNW-trending Snake Creek Fault. Sterling aims to conduct an initial exploration program in 2005 to test the zone of mineralization between the discovery hole and the Snake Creek Fault, where grades are expected to increase. Management believes this property has the potential for 50+ million ounces of silver resources.

Montana Silver-Copper Sulfide Belt - covers a 1,600 square mile area in Sanders County, northwest Montana. In this area three world-class silver/copper deposits have recently been identified: The Troy, Rock Creek and Montanore deposits. These three deposits contain roughly 350 million tons averaging 0.75 copper and 1.75 ounces per ton silver. In 2003-04, Sterling Mining acquired a number of properties in this area.

Other silver companies in Montana are Mines Management (MGN - Amex) and O.T. Mining (OTMN - pink sheets). Montana's Governor has recently stated his strong support of mining interests in the state.

Company Objectives

Begin producing silver in Mexico in 2005
Grow annual production in Mexico to 2+ million ounces within 24 months
Restart production at the Sunshine Mine within 36 months
Increase silver resources to 400+ million ounces within 3 years
Hold outstanding shares under 25 million to maximize shareholder value
Seek listing on AMEX within 12 months
Sterling is as close to a pure leveraged play on silver as you will find among mid-tier mining companies. The company's share price should also benefit from a solid "producer bonus" as production begins in Mexico this year and from additional silver discoveries. Furthermore, the company's silver ounces in the ground are also among the cheapest you can buy, if you buy stock at current prices, which is priced at about $.29/oz. in the ground.

March 31, 2005

http://www.impactbydesigns.com…anadian_Zinc_RWM_V3_4.pdf

Hat jemand Ahnung, was bei Tumi im Moment abgeht ? Wie verläuft die Exploration ? Wie weit sind die Projekte ? Welche Probleme gibt´s ? etc???

SAINTE-FOY, QUEBEC--(CCNMatthews - March 29, 2005) - Plexmar Resources
Inc. (TSX VENTURE:PLE), is pleased to announce that it has decided to
install a gold processing plant near its exploration properties located
in Northern Peru. Plexmar is currently looking at different potential
sites to install and operate the plant.

According to a survey, there are at least 700 miners working in the
districts of Suyo, Sapallica, Paimas and Ayabaca and there are at least
70 'quimbaletes' (big circular stone used like a grindstone to crush the
ore to a fine powder) in operation in those areas. We estimate that,
within a 15 kilometer radius of our projects, approximately 100 tons per
day is being mined with grades varying from 2 grams to 15 grams of gold
per 30 kg pail, equivalent to 67 to 500 g/ton Au or 2,15 to 4,82
ozs/ton, US$914 to $2,048 per ton. This number is expected to grow
significantly as more local people are becoming miners and more gold
rich veins are being found.

The artisan miners sell their gold rich ore between US$300 to US$350 per
ton to buyers who in return ship it to processing mills located as far
as Ica, Arequipa and Nazca, some 1,500 Km away. It is Plexmar intentions
to consolidate this market.

A number of sites are currently being considered to host the plant.
Budget quotes have been asked from engineering firms in Lima to design,
move and build the new plant. Ore material is currently being taken from
different workings and will be shipped to a metallurgical lab for
preliminary leaching tests. Once a site is selected, the permitting
process will be initiated.

Plexmar already owns a 100 ton per day plant located near the town of
Trujillo. The plant was designed to process sulphide ore using
flotation cells. Plexmar will dismantle and use as much equipment as
possible from this plant and move it to the new site.

For the local communities and the artisan miners, there are numerous
benefits on having a plant nearby. First the plant will train, employ
local people and create local economic windfalls. Second, the miners
will be able to mine lower grade ores, as of now, the material grading
under 1 ounce per ton is not touched and considered waste. Third, the
plant will eliminate the need for the miners to use mercury which is a
health and environmental hazard. Fourth, the Company will train the
miners in health, safety and help them improve their productivity.

Plexmar holds approximately 40 km2 of land that form the Bolsa del
Diablo property in Northern Peru. An alteration system of significant
size, a minimum of 4 km2, has been identified within the property. All
samples collected so far are anomalous in gold with values ranging from
14 ppb to 119,5 g/t Au. Preliminary observations suggest the presence of
a large scale epithermal system.

All the volcanic rocks in the area of interest show pervasive argillic
alteration and have developed very intense stockwork structures. Gold
mineralization occurs partly as fracture fillings in the stockwork and
also as dissemination throughout the rock. Limonitization is pervasive
throughout the rock. This intense stockwork was observed in numerous
places throughout the property.

Hier die aktuellen Zahlen:

Resource totals

Silver ounces Zinc pounds

Abcourt-Barvue 19,545,957 521,358,200

Vendome-Barvallée 1,200,000 137,940,000

Total 20,745,957 659,298,200

U.S. $ Value $156,000,000 $408,764,884

Macht so ungefähr 565 mio Dollar !!!!

Konnte bei CABO nicht widerstehen !

newtechxl

Das Update der Resourcen ist da. Die Ergebnisse würde ich als sehr positiv ansehen. Abcourt verfügt über ca. 20% mehr Silver und Zinc am Abcourt-Barvue property. Sollte dem Kurs helfen wieder uber 30 cent zu kommen.

Vancouver, BC – KENRICH-ESKAY MINING CORPORATION (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has now closed the private placement referenced in its March 16, 2005 press release by issuing a total of 2,650,000 flow-through units (“FT Units”) and 2,822,000 non-flow-through units (“NFT Units”). The FT Units were sold at a price of $0.85 each and consist of one flow-through Common share and one-half of one non-flow-through warrant, where one whole warrant is required to purchase an additional non-flow-through Common share (a “Warrant Share”) for one-year from closing at a price of $1.10. The NFT Units were sold at a price of $0.75 each and consist of one non-flow-through Common share and one-half of one non-flow-through warrant, where one whole warrant is required to purchase a Warrant Share for one-year from closing at a price of $1.00. All securities issued are subject to a 4-month hold period.

The Company intends to use the gross proceeds from the flow-through portion of this financing for the exploration and development of its Corey Property at Eskay Creek to incur expenditures which qualify as Canadian Exploration Expense for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada). The Company will renounce such expenses to the subscribers with an effective date no later than December 31, 2005. The net proceeds from the non-flow-through portion of this financing will be added to unallocated working capital.

Pursuant to its stock option plan, the company has granted incentive stock options to eligible recipients entitling them to purchase up to 1,017,000 common shares at a price of $1.00 cents for up to two years.

The company is preparing to mobilize its 2005 work exploration program starting April 25, 2005 at its Corey property. Kenrich-Eskay Mining Corp. has raised a total of $5,847,375 for its 2005 exploration/drill program. The Kenrich-Eskay Corey property is a large land package consisting of over 25,000 acres, which is located on strike, just south of the world-class rich, low-production-cost, Eskay Creek mine.