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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Follies who wrote (168833)	2/22/2021 1:34:52 AM
From: sense	Respond to of 218958

That's a fair point, although not "ignoring" it... quite as much as having not gotten to it yet. It tends to be not as much of an issue for better established companies... since exploration projects are a dime a dozen... and having money in your pocket means you can take your pick... or develop your own. Fresnillo, for instance... had little difficulty in getting their next project from MAG... and they can do that again any time they want with a long list of other juniors... which $2 billion in revenue and a strong management with proven development ability makes possible. There's utility in the "birds in the hand" vs. "birds in the bush" arguments... but also a lot of misunderstanding. There's variation in the quality of the reporting, first... a lot of work done that's not worth much... even if it makes for convincing PRs. Given two mines each reporting 1 million ounces of gold having been proven (the usual minimum in gold before anyone really cares) in well documented work... does not make them equal... From that point you poke at them to determine... what it will cost to get that million ounces. Lots of variation... How deep is the gold... at the surface, or a mile deep ? Is it right next a freeway, and a pleasant little town, with powerlines crossing it... or is it 500 miles away from civilization... requiring you to build an airport, and a road, and powerlines or a power plant... before you can begin building a mine. Is it "high grade" material... that is amenable to simple treatment... in a location that allows that ? Or, is it low grade ores... that require moving a whole lot of rock... for the same gold others have to move less rock to get... Is the future mine located in a place that won't let you mine it... even after promising they would before you invested ? In the U.S., I would think twice about trying to mine anywhere other than Nevada, Idaho, or Alaska. Canada has traditionally been good... but B.C. has a spotty record and growing risks. And then... I once owned shares in a spectacular potential in Bolivia... which, once proved, after a lot of work done and lot of investment money put at risk. resulted in the Bolivian government stealing it... and that is shockingly common... not just in the crazier parts of the world... I'm following a similar story in Kenya, and one in Egypt. In spite of the political rhetoric, its almost always the same issue... a shakedown by corrupt local officials... who have nothing to lose if they destroy your investment... and a lot to gain if they succeed in extorting you. A quick look gives a more recent update here. I know the nature of the risks, of course... didn't risk enough that it could hurt me... and I still made money on it by timing my trades and getting out ahead when trouble appeared... but SAS was no rapacious plunderer of native wealth. They were fully compliant with all the government's requirements... and had the majority support of the locals... fully complaint with international standards on mine development and community relations, etc. There was no reason for Bolivia to take the mine... other than the theft of value others had enabled in being recognized... in accordance with Bolivian law. I wouldn't have invested in it... without already knowing management wasn't going to be stupid about it... ? So, a huge value in once place... not worth what it might be if it were in another place... Which bird in whose hands... makes a lot of difference. So, sorting out the "value" question among junior miners and explorers... requires a bit of knowledge and experience... including in the need to be able to avoid the things like Bre-X... the bitcoin of its generation... which I'm happy to say I avoided easily enough... and was a critic of it from first awareness. It seemed obvious to me as a fraud... without needing to put boots on the ground... getting me denigrated as a "basher". But while it took in a lot of industry heavyweights... good luck finding people who will admit to being taken by it, now ? That's the story behind "Gold"... the movie... I do still get out every summer... hit the road, and check out things I've found interesting... by walking the ground... and talking to geologists mining engineers and miners more than mining company CEOs. And that use of boot leather has steered me clear of more than a few scams in the past. Those are almost non-existent now... given at least a decade of "no point" in trying to run a mining stock scam... paired with the real costs of NI-43-101 compliance... But, there is money flowing into exploration right now... like I have not seen in a very long time... so get ready to see change occurring... Sorting out the moose pasture from the next big mine is a lot of fun... and can be rewarding... but its work.