Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : EMR Microwave Technology (EMW.A) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: timroy who wrote (279)	8/19/1999 10:33:00 AM
From: Richard A Martijn	Respond to of 397

* A News Item in which EMR is mentioned in passing ** Beaten-up mining companies see brighter prospects Falling mineral prices and the Bre-X scandal hammered New Brunswick's mining companies into the ground - but some see a light at the end of the tunnel By MICHAEL TUTTON - Telegraph Journal AMID THE long dismal period that has followed the metals price meltdown and the Bre-X scandal, a glimmer or two of hope has appeared for those who believe that riches lie beneath the ground. For New Brunswick's tightly knit community of mining investors, a bright spot came Wednesday, when EMR Microwave Technology announced its long-awaited partnership with a South African mining engineering company, Bateman Project Holdings. The small Fredericton company, owner of a patented microwave process that removes metals from mining ores, struck a deal with Bateman that provides it with an estimated one million dollars in fresh investment, along with Bateman's marketing support. The stock, which has staggered downwards for months, quietly rebounded 11 cents, from 24 cents to 35 cents. Meanwhile, Ron Goguen, Major Drilling Group International's president, continued a tour around South America, announcing that he had fresh deals with Barrick Gold - Canada's major gold company. His latest contract is to turn his diamond bit drills upon 10,000 metres of ground in Tanzania. That's worth a minimum of $800,000, with potential of $2-million, he said. (The company's annual revenues are $131-million). They aren't enormous gains for either company or their shareholders. EMR's stock hit a monthly high of $1.35 while Major Drilling, currently listed at close to $5.00, hit a monthly high of $33.75 in September1997. But in mining, small victories are important - and optimism springs eternal. "Soon we'll have more to announce," said the globe-trotting Mr. Goguen, speaking from a cellphone in Miami. Yet even Mr. Goguen says it's not easy to keep the positive mood going. His company has survived two near disasterous cycles since its creation in 1982. The first came in 1988, when the mining industry saw an end to government tax incentives. That trend sent Major's shares and revenues into a tailspin. "We saw a 27 per cent decrease in sales," recalls Mr. Goguen. "You feel blue." Since 1997, the combination of sliding mineral prices and the hangover of the Bre-X scandal has once again chased revenues down and investors away again. Three years ago, it was a different story. Not only was Major Drilling a darling of the business press, but Mr. Goguen and his partners created Roycefield Resources, which poured $20-million into an antimony mine called Beaver Brook in Newfoundland. There was going to be an innovative, environmentally friendly system developed to process the ores into a value-added trioxides, used in the booming plastics industry. Shediac Cape investment writer Laurel de Yturralde went along for a tour of the mine, and was impressed enough to begin giving her 500 newsletter readers information about the Roycefield mine. A short article she wrote also appeared in Canadian Investor's Digest, giving Roycefield stock a boost. "At the time it looked like an excellent investment opportunity," she recalls. The same optimism gave fresh life to a closed tin mine at Mount Pleasant near St. George. The long-closed mine in Charlotte County appeared attractive again to a group of Toronto investors in 1996. Estimates flew of it having over 10 per cent of the world's tin and indium deposits. One illustration of the mood of the day came from Toronto investor, Alan Marshall, a director of Adex. He recalls he was teaching a business course at York University when a student presentation on the Adex project so thrilled him that he went on to make a six-figure investment in the mine. "I had an optimistic stock broker," he chuckles.