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Gold/Mining/Energy : Vista Gold (VGZ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bucky Katt who wrote (115)	11/21/1997 5:09:00 PM
From: Charger	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 379

No, I certainly don't think the price of gold will stay where it is. I think it may still test lower and then certainly climb as soon as all the manipulating games are done. But I dont wish to put money into a stock where the wait is 2 years before they can see any appreciable earnings, and, having just been through the "how to obtain a JV" struggle with BCMD, know just how hard a project that can be. VGZ needs $20 million before it can start to produce. If they are successful in obtaining the JV by early 1998, then they would spend another 6 months preparing for production. Interestingly enough I had dinner yesterday with a friend who seemed to know quite a bit about Bolivian mines. I will tell you what he said in case anyone might have additional, or conflicting, information. He agreed that these mine (land holdings) can have a lot of gold. However said that more often than not they are about 80 miles down a dirt road off a main road, and then another 20 miles by canoe to get to the site. Labor is cheap but "bandits" raid constantly and as long as the camp chef feeds them, the bandits seem to be of little problem. Bugs and disease are much more of a problem and working conditions are impossible at least 3 months out of the year. I am told the gold is in the river beds and must be first dredged up and then washed out or leeched. The leeching process was described as many many football-field sized concrete platforms all with little ridges which catch the gold as the washing process occurs. The dirt is dumped from the dredging onto the platforms and then washed off. If a chemical is used, the chemical adheres to the gold to make it heavier so that less is lost in this process. Another problem seems to be the government itself: Regulations require that all monies be banked and the bank is entitled to 50% of the amount banked. Getting money out of the country is very difficult if not impossible. I know nothing about this, just passing on what I was told by someone who is an immediate friend of a man trying to work a mine down there. I wondered if it might even be VGZ.