Hi Howy, it may sound simplistic, but might I suggest that you look for companies with no debt, small share float, respected management and large land positions.
Preferrably a company that was not a dot-com non-starter two years ago too!
It is next to impossible to evaluate these junior diamond explorers - purely a shot at the dart board!
Aside from dumb luck, the size of the dart board and the number of darts are the only evaluation tool I can see.
Look for aggressive explorers like SRM/SAZ with lots of land.
That's about all I can offer.
Hope it helps,
S&P
PS:
Out of pure interest, if you do know how to evaluate precious metals explorers, I'd be interested in your interpretation of Etruscan (EET.TSX).
etruscan.com
Here's a blurb from a couple of days ago:
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www.infomine.com
Etruscan can't miss with Youga property in Burkina Faso
Barbara Thomae, News Editor
In-Depth News
Nova Scotia-based Etruscan Resources revealed the driving force behind its recent acquisition of the Youga project in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The move sent its shares up almost 15% after the release of nothing short of spectacular drill intersections from the A2 Main deposit late last week. These results from Ashanti Goldfields' drilling between 1996 through 1999 on the project's most advanced deposit -- A2 Main, include a list of fifty significant diamond drill hole intersections with up to 11.28 g/t gold over 37.3 m. Visible gold was observed in over half of these intersections very unusual even for Africa.
Etruscan signed an agreement with Ashanti Goldfields Company and Kinross Gold to purchase the Youga Gold Deposits as well as the rights to three contiguous exploration permits in Burkina Faso last week. The company will pay USD6.5 million to acquire a 100% interest in Cayman Burkina Mines Limited (CBML) which holds a 90% interest in Burkina Mining Company (BMC) that was granted the Exploitation Permit for the Youga gold deposits. The Government of Burkina Faso holds the remaining 10% in BMC.
The 29 square km Youga concession is situated in the province of Boulgou, about 180 km southeast of Ouagadougou, the capital city. The underlying geology comprises Birrimian metavolcanics that host gold in quartz veining and surrounding alteration. Resources comprise five separate deposits referred to as the A2 Main, A2 West 1, A2 West 2, A2 West 3, and A2 East deposits.
Initially discovered through a reconnaissance exploration program in 1994, by the end of 2000, a feasibility study indicated that an open pit operation would produce 5.2 million tonnes grading 3.3 g/t gold with cash costs below USD200 per ounce. The project is fully permitted for mine development by the Government of Burkina Faso.Being at or within one metre of surface, the orebody is very accessible and gold recoveries are high with 93% of gold recoverable from all areas of the deposit. The Etruscan technical team is heading for Youga and initially plans to strip the overburden to expose the entire ore body. Since it is already permitted the company plans to move to construction and production as quickly as possible.
Etruscan is no stranger to West Africa.Its 55%-owned Datambi Permit covers 269 square km adjacent to its 40%-owned Tiawa permit in Niger, in JV with Semafo (40%) and the Government of Niger (20%). The Tiawa permit contains the Samira Hill gold project now under construction to develop the Samira and Libiri deposits. In May the global resource at Samira Hill stood at 1,995,500 ounces in all categories. The construction at Samira Hill is expected to be completed by the third quarter of next year. Further exploration on Datambi was riding on financing the Samira construction. The Datambi property is underlain by Birrimian Formation volcanics, representing the western extension of the Sirba Belt from Niger and Etruscan's exploration since 1997 was able to extend the Samira Horizonon to the Datambi property.The Songori mineralized zone was traced for 400 m at surface and tested to a depth of 75 m with RC drilling. Some of the better mineralized intercepts ranged from 11.58 g/t over 6 m to 5.15 g/t over 34 m.
Financially the company seems to be turning a corner. Etruscan announced net income of CAD$3.6 million for the six months ended May 31, 2003 compared with a net loss of CAD$420,000 for the six months a year ago.
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