₪ David Pescod's Late Edition August 23, 2007
ANDINA MINERALS (V-ADM) $2.60 -0.05
LAKE SHORE GOLD (T-LSG) $1.60 -0.06
GOLDCREST RESOURCES (V-GCL) $0.52 -0.05
SERENGETI RESOURCES (V-SIR) $1.40 +0.03
We caught up with mining analyst Andrew Kaip of Haywood Securities for his favorites in gold stocks these days and he does caution us that there have been a lot of gold companies lately that have come up with surprising news ... and much of it on a negative side as production costs in many areas of the world have been soaring and in many places, production has not achieved projected levels.
As far as his favorites at this time, Andina Minerals and Lake Shore Gold were his two top picks.
When we caught up with Carl Hansen, President of Andina Minerals for his take on the world markets, he is a little bit busy because of meetings on Bay Street over the next while. Meanwhile, Andina is expected to have new resource calculations on their Volcan and associated projects in Chile by mid-September and the next phase of their exploration begins in early October (many analysts assume sooner or later Andina, with many gold majors in the area, becomes a takeover candidate).
When we ask veteran mining man Hansen, if he had to buy any stocks in this market, he suggests that there is a fire-sale going on and it’s going to take more than a few companies a little bit of time to recover.
As far as his picks he admits to recently buying Goldcrest Resources, a story that had taken quite a swack in the market and he suggested that two-thirds of their drilling results have yet to be announced to the public.
As far as a second pick, he notes Serengeti Resources and how badly it has been trounced in the market and figures that at this price, it’s cheap.
GABRIEL RESOURCES (T-GBU) $3.32 -0.02
Being an old boy scout who learned a lot of respect and love of nature at a very young age, it’s kind of worrisome noticing the number of freaks that have been joining the environmental causes lately with such outlandish positions, you worry that some day there is going to be a backlash against those who have rational and realistic expectations.
The other day, PBS aired a documentary called “Gold Futures” that focused on Rosia Montana, a rural Transylvanian town in Romania where the population is or was divided on development of this mine by Canadian-based Gabriel Resources.
The mine may contain as much as 15 million ounces of gold worth almost $10 billion and it’s definitely a centre of controversy in the environmental world.
Strangely enough, you have the “Wall Street Journal” weighing in on the PBS piece suggesting that the PBS piece was about as one-sided a story you can get. They point out that the villagers voicing opposition have now either sold their homes or will not have to move, because they live in protected areas of the village.
The Journal also points out that, “Viewers who see pristine shots of the Rosia valley won’t realize the hills hide a huge, abandoned communist-era mine, leaking toxic heavy metals into local streams.” Or that Gabriel has agreed to clean up the old mess at no cost to the Romanian treasury.
At Rosia Montana, “three-quarters of its 600 families lack indoor toilets, unemployment is over 70% and the only truly viable crop is potatoes” the Wall Street Journal writes. The Mayor of the town supports the mine because it will create 700 permanent jobs and the mayor was elected with 80% of the vote this previous year. Of course, he’s tackling world-wide environmentalists that just latch onto any outrageous cause anywhere.
The Journal also writes that one show that will never be seen on PBS and one that is currently rattling the environmental community is a movie called “Mine Your Own Business” a documentary…that concludes that the biggest threat to the people of Rosia Montana “comes from upper-class western environmentalism that seeks to keep them poor and unable to clean up the horrific pollution caused by Ceausescu’s mining.”
Meanwhile, the internationals are definitely getting involved as billionaire big mouth George Soros and actress Vanessa Redgrave are just two of hundreds of environmental groups that are involved in this one situation. |
