Blaine,
Thanks for your response. The Yukon is a good place for exploration as the Yukon government is very supportive of exploration and mining in their province unlike the gov't of B.C. at the moment. The exploration is close to home and this cuts down on the costs of travel, transport of materials, equipment, and drills to the property. Compared to third world countries, the monthly burn rate for an exploration company is far less in the Yukon than in, say, Papua-New Guinea. I don't know about you, but, in the face of such recent scams like Bre-X, etc., I feel a little more confident putting my money into a company that hires our own Canadian boys than people in a underdeveloped country. As for raising cash for exploration, flow-through shares offer a tax benefit that is of great interest to larger 'sophisticated' investors and is allowed to be used for exploration in Canada. The other benfit of flow-through is that it absolutely must be spent "in the ground" and not on paying the directors and insiders.
As for metals' recovery, let me give you an example:
The Viceroy Resource Brewery Creek Mine, now seen as the largest open pit gold mine ever placed into production in the Yukon, has a recovery rate estimated at $195.00 an ounce. Compared to Africa, South America and Asia, where recovery is, at best, $250.00 an ounce, and the price of gold being as low as it is right now, this recovery cost is attractive. As well, the heap leach process that Viceroy is using allows for approximately an 80% recovery rate. Very impressive and cost effective.
I hope this helps you a little. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Karl |
