Hey Roger! This one's for you

Hope you enjoy it, sir.


I couldn't put it better myself, already.

Metal Augmentor does Benny's QE3

To be honest I don't pay as much attention as I should to Metal Augmentor, because it's darned good site to find out about and follow metals and junior miners. However I utterly recommend the thinkpiece out of the stable dated Sept 3rd entitled "Fed Bennie and the Jets of Oz", available on that link. You don't have to agree with it all to know that it was written by a real smart metalshead. Here's an excerpt, go over there for the whole thing:

QE3 we suspect is going to consist of the Fed coaxing banks into expanding their own balances sheets by monetizing the federal deficit. This may also involve the Fed swapping some of its assets – for example Treasury securities maturing in 1 to 5 years – for bank assets of lower quality, thereby improving the banks’ regulatory capital ratios. Then again, Standard & Poor’s is rating a subprime mortgage-backed security AAA after having downgraded U.S. debt to AA+, so who the heck knows what “quality” means anymore?
In any case, the difference is subtle but important. QE1 and QE2 had the effect of increasing the quantity of money; QE3 will focus on increasing the velocity of money. The “Q” in QE3 will likely be “qualitative” instead of “quantitative”.

Continues here

Gold and Copper (from IKN122)

Here's a short'n'sweet commentary on the relationship between gold and copper that was part of the intro to IKN122, out last Sunday Sept 4th:

Gold and copper

Two for the price of one this week, as your author’s most worried-about metals are thrown onto a ratio chart and examined. Q&A time:

This time it’s different? Frankly I don’t think so and expect the recent bump in the gold/copper ratio to come back down towards the averages again (see below).

So gold down or copper up? I’d suspect a bit of both in fact, with gold levelling off to at or around U$1800/oz (that would be a very but very healthy result for our gold exposed positions of course) and copper rising again towards $4.50. Those two rough targets also make the math easy and give us a 400 ratio, right where the blue 50dma sits today.

Sounds like you’re less worried about copper this week? Yep that’s true. Despite the end-week weakness the U$4.12/lb close of Friday looks fine by me. If you like, compared to the commentaries over the previous two editions of the weekly I’d now say we’re halfway out the woods here, though still not fully out.

And here's the updated gold/copper ratio chart with a comment on today's action, Sept 7th:

Also, note that gold dropped to $1800/oz on its selloff today...and that the gold juniors took the adjustment largely in their stride. DYODD, but let's say it clear; fwiw* your humble scribe likes the look of the junior copper sector now.

*not a lot

LatAm universities: Must Try Harder

The eighth edition of the QS World University ranking is out and Argentina's La Nacion has a report on the numbers. Unsurprisingly, Latam still lags bigtime against the rest of the world, with only five universities placed in the world top 300 and even then the top rank is 169 (shared between San Pablo Brazil and UNAM Mexico).

Want to know why the cream of the crop tends to leave LatAm and not come back? Look at that table again.

Mining PRs and the Ottotrans™, Part 44

Our occasional series that tackles a difficult subject, that of translating mining NRs into something vaguely understandable, today again zooms in on old favourite Nadagold (NG) (NG.to) and it's publication this morning.

This is what they wrote:

Press Release Source: NovaGold Resources Inc. On Wednesday September 7, 2011, 8:30 am

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire -09/07/11)- NovaGold Resources Inc. (TSX: NG.TO - News)(AMEX: NG.TO - News) The feasibility study completed on the Donlin Gold Project (formerly Donlin Creek) in 2009 is being updated to include power generation utilizing natural gas delivered to site via a proposed 500-kilometer natural gas pipeline from the Cook Inlet to the mine site. Utilizing natural gas is expected to lower costs to generate power and reduce operating risk. In connection with this update, Donlin Gold LLC, owned equally by wholly owned subsidiaries of NovaGold Resources Inc. ("NovaGold") and Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick"), has provided its owners with preliminary capital cost estimates of approximately US$6billion for the Project with an additional approximately US$1 billion for the natural gas pipeline. The previous capital cost estimate for the Project released in April 2009 was US$4.5 billion and did not include a natural gas pipeline. NovaGold was advised by Barrick that it will also discuss these preliminary capital costs estimates for the Donlin Gold Project at its Investor Day taking place today in Toronto, Canada.

"Since April 2009 the price of gold has more than doubled, yet capital costs have increased in line with the industry trends," commented Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, NovaGold's President and CEO. "We are encouraged by these developments and look forward to receiving the updated feasibility study before the end of the year."

Donlin Gold has advised its owners that this capital estimate is preliminary in nature with significant review and coordinating work remaining to be completed before the estimate is finalized for the updated feasibility study. Such work includes, among other activities, coordinating reviews between independent consultants, peer reviews and a final review by AMEC Americas Limited ("AMEC") as the feasibility study lead consultant. In addition, Barrick has initiated a full third-party review of the capital cost estimate by an independent consulting group with the results of such review to be provided to AMEC and Donlin Gold prior to the capital estimate and feasibility study estimate being finalized.

It is anticipated that the feasibility study update, including a revised National Instrument 43-101 compliant technical report by AMEC will be completed before the end of 2011. The feasibility study update will include the finalized capital cost estimates, updated operating costs, reflecting lower power costs and higher diesel, labour and other costs relative to the previous study, and revised economics based on these and other reviewed technical inputs. The revised economics will be based on current long-term forecasted gold prices which have risen significantly compared to US$900 per ounce of gold that was used in the 2009 feasibility study. NovaGold will announce details and results of the updated feasibility study when available.

The Donlin Gold Project is one of the world's largest undeveloped gold projects with proven and probable mineral reserves of 33.6 million ounces, measured and indicated mineral resources of 4.3 million ounces and inferred mineral resources of 4.4 million ounces.Please see the attached resource and reserve table for full disclosure. The updated feasibility study will contain revised mineral reserve and resource estimates. The Project is anticipated to be capable of producing over one million ounces of gold per year for over 25 years with significant additional exploration targets identified on an eight-kilometer mineralized trend. The Partners expect to formally initiate permitting for the Project early in 2012.

The technical information contained in this press release was reviewed by Kevin Francis, SME Registered Member, VP, Resources for NovaGold and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

About NovaGold

 
And this is what it means:

Press Release Source: NovaGold Resources Inc. On Wednesday September 7, 2011, 8:30 am

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire -09/07/11)- NovaGold Resources Inc. (TSX: NG.TO - News)(AMEX: NG.TO - News) The feasibility study completed on the Donlin Gold Project (formerly Donlin Creek) in 2009 is being updated to include power generation utilizing natural gas delivered to site via a proposed 500-kilometer natural gas pipeline from the Cook Inlet to the mine site. Utilizing natural gas is expected to lower costs to generate power and reduce operating risk. In connection with this update, Donlin Gold LLC, owned equally by wholly owned subsidiaries of NovaGold Resources Inc. ("NovaGold") and Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick"), has provided its owners with preliminary capital cost estimates of approximately holy shit you gotta be joking me Rick US$6billion....you're serious, dude? for the Project with an additional approximately US$1 billion for the natural gas pipeline...oh, just another billion thrown in there, don't worry about it. The previous capital cost estimate for the Project released in April 2009 was US$4.5 billion and did not include a natural gas pipeline. NovaGold was advised by Barrick that it will also discuss these preliminary capital costs estimates for the Donlin Gold Project at its Investor Day taking place today in Toronto, Canada.

"Since April 2009 the price of gold has more than doubled, so for fuck's sake stop looking at that seven billion dollar capex number, willyaz?" commented Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, NovaGold's President and CEO. "We are encouraged by these developments because that's what we have to say to look good in front of the mining knownothings in New York that we've strung along so far and we hope that they fall for our bullshit again this time."

Donlin Gold has advised its owners that this capital estimate is preliminary in nature with significant review and coordinating work remaining to be completed before the estimate is eventually doubled in the manifold studies that will be done before anything close to a build decision is made, perhaps around 2025. Such work includes, among other activities, hitting rocks with hammers, drinking copious amounts of alcohol in the evenings and sitting around wondering just why we're still taken seriously as a gold exploration junior, what with a combined capex of over $12Bn for our two main projects....I mean, what's 20% of the market cap of Barrick between friends anyway?

It is anticipated that the feasibility study update, including a revised National Instrument 43-101 compliant technical report by AMEC will be completed before the end of 2011. The feasibility study update will include the finalized capital cost estimates whatever that means, because we say finalized to make it sound all certain then throw in estimates to cover our asses with the reality of thing, updated operating costs, reflecting lower power costs and higher diesel, labour and other costs relative to the previous study, and revised economics based on these and other reviewed technical inputs which sounds all important, doesn't it? The revised economics will be based on current long-term forecasted gold prices which have risen significantly compared to US$900 per ounce of gold that was used in the 2009 feasibility study, but we haven't decided which number to guess at yet. NovaGold will announce details and results of the updated feasibility study when available.

The Donlin Gold Project is one of the world's largest undeveloped gold projects and will almost certainly stay that way until the cows come home with proven and probable mineral reserves of 33.6 million ounces, measured and indicated mineral resources of 4.3 million ounces and inferred mineral resources of 4.4 million ounces, all of which worth precisely nothing until they can be dug out the ground so quit it with all those in-situ valuation comparatives will you please, dumbass anal ysts? The updated feasibility study will contain revised mineral reserve and resource estimates. The Project is anticipated to be capable of producing over one million ounces of gold per year for over 25 years with significant additional exploration targets identified on an eight-kilometer mineralized trend. The Partners expect to formally initiate permitting for the Project early in 2012.

The technical information contained in this press release was reviewed by Kevin Francis, SME Registered Member, VP, Resources for NovaGold and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

Love and Kisses, Rick!

Chart of the day is...

...the gold/silver ratio (GSR):

Let's leave commentary to Frankie and his dulcet tones:

Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight it with all of our might
Chances are some heavenly star-spangled night
We'll find out just as sure as we live
Somethin's gotta give
Somethin's gotta give
Somethin's gotta give

Note to subscribers

Hey, you know the one I said I'd sell if it hit my target? Well, it just hit the target and I've just sold it. And yes, with about half the proceeds I'm going to add to the one I said I'd add.

Please be having nice day.

UPDATE: Holy crap, I even managed to bail just 2c from the intraday top. As the saying goes, better born lucky than rich.

The North American Palladium (PAL) (PDL.to) class action

Big fun over at North American Palladium (PAL) (PDL.to) today, with a big fat class action stuck on their tushes by people severely miffed about the company's practices and the way its largest shareholder dumped large quantities of stock before the bad news about its Lac Des Iles (LDI/LDL) property was known. Below we have the summary of the situation, pasted out from the statement of claim pages 6 to 8 :

NATURE OF THE ACTION

3. North American Palladium owns and operates LDL Between November 10,2010 and May 9, 2011, North American Palladium disseminated four press releases and the P&E Report about the LDI Mining Project. These five documents distorted the investment quality of the Company and the LDI Mining Project as reflected by the price of North American Palladium shares as traded on the TSX and AMEX.

4. The economic viability of the LDI mining project was based upon the P&E Report, including the ability to engineer and manage how North American Palladium would expand its mining operations from the bottom of the Roby Zone into the deeper Offset Zone while concurrently processing ore, in a cost-efficient manner, from the Roby Zone and stockpiles.

5.An error in interpreting or following the P&E Report would expose North American Palladium to additional costs for and delays with the LDI Mining Project. The Company, therefore, retained qualified experts, management and laborers to manage the LDI Mining Project. The Company expressly represented that it hired a very seasoned project manager group with significant underground development experience from some of the industry's leading contractors and had all the necessary labor manpower to continue the ongoing processing of ore from the Roby Zone and stockpiles as well as to expand into the Offset Zone.

6.During the Class Period, North American Palladium misled the Class Members about the economic viability of the LDI Mining Project, including its ability to concurrently process ore located at the lower section of the Roby Zone and stockpiles and expand its mining operations into the upper section of the Offset Zone.


7.The defendants made the Misrepresentation and failed to disclose the true facts because they knew or ought to have known the effect these facts would have on the share price and the investment quality of the Company.

8.Additionally, the defendants made the Misrepresentation because they wanted to re-elect Biggar and Berlin as directors as well as adopt a new shareholder rights plan. On May 7, 2011 they had disseminated a proxy to Class Members in this regard and understood that the information referred to in paragraph 9 below, if disclosed, would likely diminish support for the Company's recommendations.

9.After the market closed on May 9, 2011, North American Palladium disclosed for the first time that it could not meet its first quarter and projected annual production levels and cost guidance and that it had encountered delays in expanding into the Offset Zone. The three reasons cited by the Company were that during the first quarter and prior to the dissemination of the May 7 proxy: (1) there had been an unusually harsh winter resulting in delays and increase costs; (2) it lacked the necessary manpower to concurrently process ore and expand the mine into the Offset Zone, and (3) it had underestimated the skill necessary to concurrently process ore from one section and engineer the expansion of another section of the LDI. The Company also admitted that it had to revisit the P&E Report with respect to how it could engineer the mining expansion into the Offset Zone.

10.During the Class Period, North American Palladium's Misrepresentation caused its common stock to trade on the TSX at a share price as high as $7.77. Within ten (10) days after the close of the Class Period, the share price had dropped as low as $3.39. During the Class Period, KFOC, the Company's largest shareholder and former employer of director Berlin, sold 11,427,300 shares of North American Palladium valued at over $70,000,000.

IKN back: In the considered opinion of this humble corner of cyberspace, North American Palladium (PAL (PDL.to) is deep in the doo-doo on this.

Inca Pacific (IPR.v): Magaly Medina's ex-boyfriend pulls one out the bag

Here's the link, here's the paste-out and a bove is the chart that shows the double or triple that holders (and more interesting recent buyers) enjoy in Inca Pacific (IPR.v):

September 06, 2011 10:20 ET

Compania Minera Milpo S.A.A. to Acquire Inca Pacific Resources Inc.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA AND LIMA, PERU--(Marketwire - Sept. 6, 2011) -
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.
Inca Pacific Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:IPR)(BVLAC:IPR) ("Inca Pacific") and Compañía Minera Milpo S.A.A. (BVLAC:MILPOC1) ("MILPO") announce that they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement (the "Agreement") dated September 5, 2011 with respect to a proposed acquisition by MILPO of all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Inca Pacific (the "Transaction"). The Transaction will be structured as a statutory arrangement under the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia).
Transaction Details
Under the terms of the Agreement, shareholders of Inca Pacific will be entitled to receive C$0.61 in cash for each common share (each, a "Share") of Inca Pacific held (the "Consideration"). The Consideration represents a 84.8% premium to the closing price of the Shares on the TSX-V on August 31, 2011, being the last day the Shares traded on the TSX-V prior to the date hereof, and a 132.4% premium to the volume weighted average closing price of the Shares on the TSX-V over the 30 trading days ended August 31, 2011. In addition, holders of options to acquire Shares (each, an "Option") will be entitled to receive a cash payment in respect of each Option held equal to the excess, if any, of C$0.61 over the applicable exercise price of such Option. There are currently 56,647,728 Shares and 1,444,198 Options outstanding. All out-of-the-money Options will be cancelled.
Further details regarding the proposed Transaction shall be provided in a management information circular (the "Circular") which will be mailed to holders of the Shares and Options in connection with the special meeting to approve the Transaction (the "Meeting"). Inca Pacific expects to complete and mail the Circular in the coming weeks and plans to hold the Meeting in late October. The Transaction is expected to close shortly thereafter.
Inca Pacific's officers and directors and certain arm's length holders of Shares, representing in aggregate approximately 25.6% of the votes eligible to be cast by holders of Shares and Options at the Meeting, have entered into a lock-up and support agreement with MILPO whereby they have agreed to vote their Shares and Options in favour of the Transaction.
Closing of the Transaction, as contemplated by the Agreement, is subject to a number of conditions and approvals which include approval of at least 66 2/3% of the votes cast by holders of Shares and Options at the Meeting, court approval of the arrangement and the approval of all relevant regulatory authorities and third parties. Inca Pacific has agreed not to solicit or initiate any discussion regarding any other business combination or sale of material assets. Inca Pacific has also granted MILPO a right to match any superior proposal made by a third party and will pay a termination fee of C$1.25 million to MILPO if the Agreement is terminated in certain events, including if Inca Pacific recommends or approves a competing acquisition proposal or enters into an agreement with a third party with respect to any acquisition proposal.
The board of directors of Inca Pacific has unanimously approved the Transaction and will recommend the Transaction to the holders of Shares and Options in the Circular. The board of directors of Inca Pacific has received an opinion from Raymond James Ltd. that the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to the holders of the Shares.
Any current or future holders of 10% or more of the outstanding Shares may be subject to Peruvian capital gains tax on a disposition of such Shares. Any such persons are advised to consult with their tax advisors.
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Hernández & Cia and Estudio Grau are acting as legal counsel to Inca Pacific. TD Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor and McCarthy Tétrault LLP and Estudio Muñiz, Ramirez, Perez-Taiman & Olaya are acting as legal counsel to MILPO.
About Inca Pacific

The Swiss Franc

Felix Salmon has THE chart of today's move in Swissie, a need-to-see grpahic if ever there was one. Three other charts included in that post, but the top one brings the wow-factor.

Meanwhile, your humble scribe's comment to a cyberpal on hearing the news of the Swiss Franc today was this:

"...fact is, if Switzerland is stupid enough to want a strong banking system, they're gonna have to suffer a strong currency too."

Casey Research: The devil is in the details

The way in which Casey Research goes about its business up all over the place, for example in the little details that give a window into the niggling, petty mindset of its overpaid and underqualified staff.

Take for example last week, when Louis 'Lobito' James published his monthly festival of laughs, The International Speculator. The September edition hit the world midday September 1st and featured a stock (I'm not going to say which one, as even a toerag such as I has a few scruples left) which was trading at $3.10 at the time. However, in his whizzdumb, Lobito decided to mark his opening price down at $2.87. Here's the 48 hour chart of said stock last week that shows it got a decent bounce Friday (with the rest of the sector) and finished at $3.30.

Therefore, Lobito's new pick (stopped clocks and all that) is now, Tuesday 6th Sept one hour before the opening bell, up 6.1%.

But Louis Little Wolf James will claim that he's up 15.0% on the deal, because he chose an entirely fictitious starting price that not one of his readers could have possibly bought near to, let alone at. This will not stop him from bragging about his bullshit percentage gain further down the line, though.

And think this is an isolated case? Think again, as this Casey Research fiction on entry pricers has been commented to your author by plenty of their readership and they all feel they're getting hoodwinked. It's not about a teeny tiny case of  the practicals of this basic dishonesty at Casey Research, it's about the mindset that drives it.

Chart of the day is...

...a theoretical chart that shows what an investor or trader is looking for when something "goes parabolic".

This 'parabolic' word has been bandied about recently in the world of precious metals, first with silver a couple of months back and now gold. Therefore your humble scribe offers up this little chart and allows you time to think on whether we're seeing a parabolic move in gold right now. Or not. 

No further comments, use your own brain.

President Piñera of Chile at 27% approval

Today we have the new Adimark GfK poll on the approval ratings for President Sebastian Piñera, his government and all other things Chile. Here's the headline chart from the Adimark PDF (i haz teh copy):

Question: Independent to your political position, do you approve or disapprove of the form in which Sebastian Piñera is running his government?

Oh dear. That 27% approval rating is another all-time record for a Chilean Prez racked up by Seb. Mind you, he actually beats out the approval for his government, at 25%. News report on this trainwreck approval result here.

Here's one for regular readers Peter Jacobsen and Colleen Sweeney

Translated from this news report out of El Tiempo, Colombia.

Murder of the Priest of Marmato is a mystery

The priest of the Caldas municipality (of Colombia) was murdered last Thursday after being shot twice.

Although at first authorities in Caldas said that the motive for the murder of the priest of Marmato (Caldas), José Reinel Restrepo Idárraga was theft, this Sunday the commander of the Risaralda police force, Camilo Cabana Fonseca, said that they were studying other hypotheses.

Restrepo, 36, was killed Thursday while travelling between Guática and Belén de Umbría (Risaralda). He was shot twice in the back and was found with no documents, which is why his identification was delayed, nor with two bags he was carrying that day.

The priest had spent the past two years in Marmato where he had opposed the moving of the town, a possibility that has been considered if the mining company Gran Colombia Gold mines its open pit project.

Cabana Fonseca said that the investigation team is headed by a special group made up of members from Sajín de Risaralda and from Caldas, with the help of a fiscal delegated to the case. He also said that the process to shed light on the crime was moving forward.

The commander also indicated that in the sector where the murder of the priest took place there was no guerrilla presence, nor bands of organized criminals and that criminal activity was sporadic.

Authorities have offered a reward of 20 million pesos (U$11,200) for information leading to the perpetrators of the crime. The funeral of the priest took place yesterday in Viterbo (Caldas), his home town.

To add to the unusual circumstances of this crime, it's also strange that since this murder there have been dozens of reports in Spanish media, but mention of the story in English is restricted to just two short reports from Catholic Church publications that don't even mention the opposition Father Restrepo had to the Marmato project of Gran Colombia Gold (GCM.to). Any reason why that might be, Mr. Jacobsen? We are glad to report that the company run by Serafino Iacono has issued a statement in Spanish language condemning the attack. However, IKN laments to report that we should not expect any English language equivalent of said press release.

UPDATE: This Colombia TV news report on the murder gives more information on the event, explains the priest's connection to the opposition to GCM.to and also contains a copy of the Gran Colombia Gold (GCM.to) Spanish language press release.

Chart of the day is...

...the US Dollar over the last five days:

Yes I know, it's contextually weak just to focus on the last five days. All the same, up is up. Also, it does tie in with this sentiment noted in IKN121, dated Sept 25th:

"Under such circumstances, we may well be able to watch gold run higher in dollars as that currency strengthens and a full on demand for bullion in the old continent."

But WTFDIK, just lucky timing I guess.

Happy Birthday!

Five years old today.

And just wonderful.

UPDATE: By special request from the above lady:

The IKN Weekly, out now

Question: How many tutus do you see in this photograph?

IKN122 has just been sent to subscribers. It mainly contains words, but there are a few charts as well.

x

Important Chilean student protest video

Via a Setty headsup (is "headsup" the correct word here I wonder?), it's refreshing to know that even in the midst of violence between students and police in Chile the normal global standards of teenage humour remain alive and well.

Go here and scroll down for English translations of some of the things shouted.

Consuelo Mack interviews Robert Shiller

Via a headsup from Ritholtz, I've just spent the last 26 minutes watching a Q&A with Robert Shiller who talks an awful lot of sense about the current state of the US economy. It's a 100% recommended interview (nice to see an interviewer who understands her job well too...knows when to shut up and listen...asks simple yet penetrating questions) so go watch it yourself right here.

The Gold ETF (GLD), Silver ETF (SLV), mining ETF (GDX) and juniors ETF (GDXJ) in the last five days

We've done this end-of-week comparative before, but today's is interesting because...

...the miners have tracked gold bullion (ETF proxy) very closely (around +5% each) and the junior miners have tracked silver bullion (ETF proxy) very closely (around +7% each). 

So we can't really saying the miners are beating out the metals (as now predicted by all Canadian brokerage anal ysts....tell 'em what they wanna hear, eh boys?) but at least they're up with the pace.

Nobody reads blogs

Step one: In this post on Tuesday August 30th, IKN points to the production figures for silver in Mexico and tells the bizcomment world to stop all this nonsense about Peru being the world's number one silver producer.

Step two: In this post dated Thursday September 1st, we present even more evidence of Mexico's production superiority in silver over Peru, comparative chart and all.

Step three: On Friday September 2nd, Bloomberg runs its note, "Mexico overtakes Peru as largest producer of silver", though strangely enough the only version available online of the Bloomie note is a Spanish language piece farmed out to a Peru business newspaper.

Just sayin'

It goes without saying that this humble corner of cyberspace was not mentioned, as the journalists at Bloomberg always do their own DD and surely would never copy anyone else's ideas or data without giving due recognition, would they? Oh yeah while I'm thinking about it; you Bloomie guys should look up the phrase "troy ounce" as it might help you with your calculations the next time you try and do this kind of report. And they wonder why news media is dying...

The Friday OT: Joan Armatrading; Drop the pilot

The bizarre part of this video is that it dates from 1983, two years before Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo (you'll see what I mean). The cringeworthiness of this video is the look chosen by Joan's backing group, which is approximately Mullet-Perm Blue Steel. Sadly, it was cool at the time....oh those 80s....

The wonderfulness of this video is Joan, her exceptional voice and a song that's a four or five cuts above yer average pop. Quality abounds and fun vid too.

The only TA guy I trust....

...is calling the HUI as breaking out to the upside today. Read it here on his blog, but what you get if you're a subber is his e-mail alert that sets a short-term and medium-term target as well.

Biiwii rules and if you're not paying him a pittance per month for his fabbo weekly newsletter yet, you're missing out.

disclosure: I receive no sort of financial benefit, commission etc etc ad infinitum from reco'ing Gary Biiwii's NFTRH letter. It's reco'd here because it's a top quality service, that's all, end of story.

Minera Andes (MAI.to) and US Gold (UXG): Toldyaz

On July 14th while commenting on the proposed 1-to-0.4 ego-driven pure paper merger of Minera Andes (MAI.to) and US Gold (UXG), your author commented (amongst other ranterations):

"If I were a long time supporter and holder of MAI.to I'd be hopping mad today."

...and also...

"...0.4 shares of UXG is an insult!"

Today we have a NR update on the process and we have this excerpted:

"Based upon the input of their independent financial advisors, each special committee has directed its legal counsel to continue due diligence and begin negotiation of binding transaction agreements at a ratio of 0.45 of a US Gold common share for each 1.0 Minera Andes common share held.   This is a change from the exchange ratio of 0.40 of a US Gold common share for each 1.0 Minera Andes share originally proposed by Mr. McEwen."

This still isn't that great, but at least it recognizes that Rob McEwen was trying to pull a fast one on holders of MAI.to. Anyway, I think I can say "toldyaso" on this one, even if MAI.to is still being sold halfway down the river.

disclosure: no position in either

Two Weeks Notice on the Chile protests

Greg Weeks at Two Weeks' Notice is someone that your humble scribe disagrees and agrees with on things LatAm, but when it comes to Chile he's been consistently correct in this humble opinion, especially regarding the recent student protests and strikes and what-have-you currently making all the headlines down there. After all, anyone who highlights Rober Funk's analysis as good (because it is) and then takes Andres Oppenheimer and the Investor's Business Daily to task for their woeful reporting of the Chile upheavals (because they are) can't be all bad.

For those of you wanting to know more about the Chile situation, here's the link to Two Weeks' Notice. Go there and scroll down for the several posts on offer. Make use of the links Weeks offers in his posts, too. By the time you've done that, you'll know more than 99.9% of the experts on Chile.

The most interesting thing about today's gold move is that....

...silver is following it and not going with copper & friends.

This time

For the moment at least.

Though all real bets off until after the jobs number please, dayflippahz.

UPDATE: Rithholtz breaks down the thing here, but here's IKN's considered and sober commentary on the jobs report:

Chart of the day is...

...the population of Argentina.

The definitive results of the Argentina census taken on October 27th 2010 were released yesterday and show the country with 40,117,096 people on board. It also notes that for every 100 women there are 95 men, which means it's probably becoming a nicer place to live. La Nacion report on the numbers here.

Sick

I kinda decided not to post anything else today, give myself a break and all that. I certainly wasn't going to post anything OT or outside the normal sphere of LatAm and mining and stuff. But I was wrong, because this post at Juanita Jean's has to be read to be believed. Here's a snippet from her snippet.

"The Republican Party in Arizona’s Pima County, which is represented by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), is in the midst of a fundraising raffle, $10 per entry.

"The prize: the same model of gun that delivered a near-fatal blast to the Democratic lawmaker’s skull outside a Tucson grocery store in January.

"Tucson is in Pima County."

I'd really appreciate any comment, mail or otherwise, from any dyed-in-the-wool Republican telling me that yes, this is sickening for them, too. Or are you just going to let fellow members of your party drag you down to such lows willingly? (UPDATE: Thanks for the mails and nice to know there are at least six pro-GOP out there who feel the same) Go read it all.

UPDATE: This needs music.

The 'Small Silvers' 2011 sweepstakes August update

I keep forgetting to do this end-month update thingy, but today I remembered so here it is. We track nine "small silver" companies against the silver ETF (SLV) gold ETF (GLD) (thank you quick reader SS) to see how they get on every year, starting January 1st.. Chart please!

 (click to enlarge)

Top spot is still kept by First Majestic (FR.to), with Endeavour Silver (EDR.to) close behind in 2nd. Notably, both of those have U.S. listings folks....something to consider, no?

Then comes the bullion ticker, the silver ETF (SLV) gold ETF (GLD) that supplies our benchmark. Basically, if your miner can't beat out the metal then it's not supplying the necessary leverage to offset the risk and should be considered underperforming to date. This applies to the next four stocks, Fortuna (FVI.to), IMPACT (IPT.v), Great Panther (GPR.to) and U.S. Silver (USA.v) even though there is a decent mitigation for those, namely they're making a profit year to date.

And so to the dogs. MAG Silver (MAG.to) has been crappy this year and not helped by its new rounds of insider selling (a very bad habit at that company and telling of its true take-out chances). ECU Silver (ECU.to) is a laughable excuse for a silver mining company and needs no extra here, as only true fools play this one. Finally, bottom of the pile is Bear Creek Mining (BCM.v) after its well-documented snafu at Santa Ana, Puno. 

If I remember we'll do this again end September. Toodle pip!

Rule Rule on the state of play

Click through right here for over an hour's worth of Rick Rule's thoughts on the current state of the market, as per his broadcast to Global (and other) clients yesterday, August 31st. Pretty interesting stuff, with highlights including his thoughts on:

1) Market volatility
2) PGMs
3) Tax loss selling in November and December this year.
4) The discovery cycle of PM deposits
5) China

Plenty more too. It's 1 hour 24 minutes long, so the type of thing you listen to in the downtime moments. And if you get bored trying counting the number of times he says "very very very".

Chart of the day is...

...another one on Mexico versus Peru silver production, because the world is full of reporters who aren't just dumbasses, they're lazy too and can't be bothered to find the facts for themselves (and yeah, I am talking about you, mailer of yesterday, and rompes mis huevos una vez mas y te voy a cantar en nombre, dale?)

Seriously, gimme a break here. You want proof?

Proof. Oh, unless you think I'm just making up the figures you can see for yourself at MEM Peru and Camimex Mexico. But I'm not.

Mexico is the world's number one producer of silver, period.