Messi's third goal today

Today saw a friendly international between Argentina and Brazil in New Jersey NY* (though let's be crystal clear about this, the word "friendly" never truly applies to this fixture). It finished 4-3 to Argentina, with Lionel Messi scoring three of them. Including this below, the game-winner:

Oh my. He's rather good at this game, is he not?

*Oops, raised a few hackles with that error. Apparently people up there think the whole world should know the difference between  this-or-that minor regional borderline. Oh well...

Five days of metals and miners: June 9th

The regular Saturday slot: The last five days' worth of action in the gold bullion ETF (GLD), the silver bullion ETF (SLV), the miner ETF (GDX), the junior miner ETF (GDXJ) and the copper ETF (COPX).

There was that bit about how Ben Bernanke was about to cry havoc and let slip the printing presses of war on Wednesday, which i bet made him laugh behind that well-trimmed bear of his. Then reality bit and we went back to the usual rounds of jawbone-up-jawbone-down. COPX did well, despite the asthenic late week copper price action.

Friday OT extra: A tribute to Ray Bradbury

It goes like this:




Thanks due to reader JS for the memory jog earlier today.

The Friday OT: Led Zeppelin: Stairway to Heaven

Live version. Get over all the side-baggage, get with the song, because it's still one helluva piece of music.

Any questions?*



*apart from "does anyone remember laughter?", of course

Ten days of Copper Fox (CUU.v)

As promised last week, the catch-up on how this overhyped bag of wonderfulness known as Copper Fox (CUU.v) has been getting on.

And if you want a giggle, check out the comments left by the Copper Fox (CUU.v) Agoracom true-believing mouthbreathers on last week's post. Pip Pip!

Curis Resources (CUV.to): Right to reply

Following your author's post on Curis Resources (CUV.to) dated Wednesday June 6th, this morning Michael McPhie wrote in with the following. I have asked for and been given permission to post McPhie's mail on the blog and therefore, by way of fair right to reply, it is presented with no further IKN comment or editorial position. Read on:

You and I do not know one another but I thought I should take a few minutes and respond to the recent communication and comments you have made regarding Curis and our decision to launch legal action against the poster “Ering” who has been recently commenting on us on Stockhouse.  I serve as the CEO of Curis and was responsible for taking the company public in 2010 and guiding the development of the company over the past 2 +years.

I do not normally engage in blog chatter because I don’t have the time and do not see it creating much in the way of shareholder value which, of course, is what I am paid to do.  

So you are clear on our motivations to take “ErinG” to task in this action, I would like to provide the following context for you.  Hopefully you will take the time to read this.

Curis, still a private company at the time, purchased the Florence Copper property in December of 2009.  I took over as President of the company in March of 2010.

One of my first activities as the new President was to travel to the site, meet with local stakeholders and to get a sense and appreciation of the setting we were going to be operating in.  My early conversations with the Town of Florence and our neighbors to the project were very positive and supportive.  It was on this basis that we started to move forward with planning, permitting and early development of our project.

In May of 2010, 4, 000 + acres of land around us was sold to an investment group from San Diego and New York. 

It was shortly after this land neighboring us changed hands that the tenor within the area began to change.

I will not bore you with all the details but since then, several well financed corporate interests have launched an intense and well-funded public relations campaign against our company and the project.  Their apparent reason for opposing the project:  they believe our development would impact their ability to build residential homes on their neighboring property.  I might point out that building new homes in central Arizona, when foreclosures rather than building permits are the norm, is not really a viable proposal according to most commentators today.  We believe there is no basis for their claims that our project would in any way harm property values and in fact all of our independent assessment work, the work of the regulatory agencies and others confirm the project is safe, would both provide significant new taxes, jobs and revenue to the area and actually attract new residents to the community and thus support the housing market.

The campaign launched by these interests has led to a lot of misinformation and misunderstandings locally and in the investment community.

LINK TO ERING:

Now as a long time commentator and professional who is knowledgeable of the mining industry and junior public companies you will know that many opponents of our industry, be it NGO’s, or competing corporate or private interests, have figured out that one the vulnerabilities of public companies is misinformation leading to misperceptions of events or facts in the public market place.   And, for some, one of the ways in which groups have acted to negatively impact share price is to go on the blogs and sites like Stockhouse and spread misinformation.  This can create confusion with investors and can negatively impact share price.

In referring to the tactics of Curis targeting its bashers….I would ask you this:

• If you believed your own company was under attack by interests who are benefitting from spreading misinformation would you want to do something about it?

• Further, if these attacks were being launched using pseudonyms and/or through third parties so they could not held accountable would you want to know who was in behind it?

We do not know who ErinG is, but through this recent legal action we will hopefully be able to find out.

Since launching this action, there have been even more anonymous posters on Stockhouse saying all sorts of things about us.  Indeed, this has been going on for the last year.  We ignore most of them and do not complain to anyone about it.  However, when something is posted that is as egregious as what ErinG  was saying we felt we had to act.   

In the case we are pursuing, ErinG stated that our permit applications had been rejected when in reality we expect to receive our State and federal permits soon and any suggestions that they had been rejected are false and misleading.  In cases like this, we felt we had to act to protect our interests and, ultimately, our shareholders.  You may disagree with this approach and I am sure others will as well.  However, with what information we had in front of us at the time, we felt it was necessary.

We will manage our opponents going forward through whatever means we can and have always tried to take the high road in our dealings with the public.  We did not seek adversaries here but in the end you have to deal with the cards you are dealt as best you can.  The company is now full financed for the first phase of development, our permits will hopefully be in hand in the very near term and we are advancing the project forward despite very weak public markets.  Ultimately we will be judged by our ability to execute this development in a timely manner and hopefully this “noise” will soon become a memory.

In being such a vocal critic of Curis, without taking the time to understand the context of this case and why we have taken the action we have, I believe you are only helping those who stand to gain from using this electronic medium to do harm to public companies in our sector and, ultimately, shareholders.

Respectfully,

Michael McPhie

President and CEO
Curis Resources Ltd.
Michaelmcphie@curisresources.com

x

Chile's drop in copper exports

Chile is making local headlines this morning with the news that its total copper exports in dollar terms for May 2012 came in at $3.302Bn, (basically 90% of the $3.685Bn in mining exports, just to give you an idea of the importance of copper in the Chile metals mix). This copper export number has caught headlines because it's 16.1% down on the same month of 2011 (May '11 $3.973Bn). Here's a chart that shows all the monthly export totals since January 2007, because round here we really like context

The problem with Chile's copper sector is that it hasn't improvement much on its production tonnages in all this time and the country's been running on the price boost that the metal has enjoyed. But don't fret, it's only pissant lil blogs like this one that will point that out to you, the rest of the pathetic English language LatAm bizmedia coverage will continue to soothe your ears with talk on how oh-so-clever they are in Chile compared to the rest of the continent.

Chart of the day is...

...gold this week:

Hey, it's either laugh about it or cry about it, so gimme a break here.

U.S Silver (USA.to) and RX Gold (RXE.v): Merger time

An interesting development this evening. Here's the link to the NR, here's how it kicks off:

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES ./
- Conference Call Friday, June 8, 2012 at 11am EST ( 8am PST ) -
TORONTO , June 7, 2012 /CNW/ - U.S. Silver Corporation (USA.TO) (USSIF) ("U.S. Silver") and RX Gold & Silver Inc. (RXE.V) (RXEXF) ("RX Gold") are pleased to announce the signing of a definitive agreement to combine the two companies (the "Transaction") by way of a plan of arrangement.  The resulting company, to be called U.S. Silver & Gold Inc. ("U.S. Silver & Gold"), will be a well-funded, growth-oriented precious metals producer with U.S. Silver's producing Galena mine in Idaho, RX Gold's producing Drumlummon mine in Montana and U.S. Silver's Coeur re-development projects in Idaho.Continues here

Subscribers: We'll be taking a good look at this Sunday, esp considering how we just ran the ruler over USA.to on its own.

B2Gold (BTO.to) insider selling goes on unabated

At what point do the insider sales at B2Gold (BTO.to) go from merely impressive to "Ok, so why are the insider so darned keen on cashing out right now, what do they know that we don't?"? That's what passed through your humble scribe's tiny mind this morning on noting yet more selling by insiders yesterday, this time George Johnson, Sr VP Ops, so it seemed a good time to tot up just how many shares had been dumped by these people onto the open market recent. Here's the table with the goods:

For the record, that little lot comes to:

• Five million, one hundred and ninety-one thousand, four hundred and ninety-nine shares
• And are worth sixteen million, eight hundred and seventy-three thousand, six hundred and sixty-five dollars. And seventy-four cents.

Now I dunno 'bout you but that seems quite chunky to me, especially when seriously key people such as company chair Robert Cross dumps over $6.3m of the total. Now maybe BTO people think they're worth it and deserve the winnings, but it still doesn't explain why BTO staff seem to be looking around on the internet for reactions to their payola. That suggests something else entirely.

dyodd

Chart of the day is...

...the Gold/Silver Ratio (GSR):

Looks bullish to me. If the repeat pattern of around Jan'12 continued to manifest, we're in for a decent rally in the juniors.

Oh help me Atahualpa, I'm beginning to believe in this hokum.

Enrique Peña Nieto and Ashley Madison

A fine billboard advertising campaign, spotted and brought to your humble scribe's attention by this Reuters EngLang note. Here's an excerpt, click through for the whole caboodle

A new Mexican billboard by ashleymadison.com, a site that helps married people arrange affairs, shows Pena Nieto with an index finger over his lips in a hushing gesture.
Next to him are the words: "Unfaithful to his family. Faithful and committed to his country."
Pena Nieto, candidate of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has said he fathered two children out of wedlock by different women while married to his first wife.
The billboard, mounted above a busy avenue in Mexico City, shows the 45-year-old with bright red lipstick on his collar. His campaign had no immediate comment on the advertisement.

continues here

Two things we need to know about B2Gold's (BTO.to) latest round of insider selling

Two things to mention about B2Gold's (BTO.to) latest insider filings.

First, company chair Robert Cross dumped another large lump on the world, according to latest filings:

Jun 5/12

May 31/12

Cross, Robert Melvin Douglas

Indirect Ownership

Common Shares

11 - Disposition carried out privately

-1,500,000

$3.11

That's another 1.5m shares disposed of, which you can add to the half million he dumped on May 28th. This means he's sold over 50% of his previous holding and is left with just 1.831m in the coffers...presumably for a rainy day.

Second, it seems the company may be feeling a little sensitive about the issue, as this hit record in IKN back office seems to suggest. Somebody at the "Bema Gold Corp" ISP (which is of course the company from which B2Gold sprang after Bema was taken out) just arrived on site after Googling "robert cross b2gold insider report", presumably checking on what the world is saying about the latest dumpage. Here's the back office paste-out, for your viewing pleasure:

Search Referral:				www.google.ca — robert cross b2gold insider report #2
Host Name:				mail.b2gold.com									Browser:				IE 8.0
IP Address:				216.18.69.81 — bema gold									Operating System:				Win7
Location:				Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada									Resolution:				1280x1024
Returning Visits:				0									Javascript:				Enabled
Visit Length:				Not Applicable									ISP:				Bema Gold Corporation

Navigation Path

Date	Time	WebPage
		www.google.ca — robert cross b2gold insider report #2
6 Jun	18:44:59	incakolanews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/b2gold-btoto-insider-sales-im-sorry-did.html

Gotta love the interwebs, no?

Curis Resources (CUV.to): Run by wankers

I've started this post with the 12 month chart of Curis Resources (CUV.to) to point to a pretty obvious trend in the stock's price....down. So from there we cut to this report over at Stockwatch today which starts in this way:

Curis Resources Ltd. has filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against Stockhouse user "erinG" over posts that the company sees as "defamatory and injuriously false." The posts stated that Curis had been unable to obtain an environmental permit for its flagship Florence copper project in Arizona, and that management had failed to report the rejection. The posts contributed to a drop of as much as 27 per cent in the company's price, according to the suit.
The allegations are contained in a notice of claim that Curis filed at the Vancouver courthouse on Thursday, May 31. In it, the company complains about a series of posts that appeared in May, 2012, which referred to troubles the company was having obtaining a permit from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
The first post, dated May 7, stated: "Just last week, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality rejected Curis' most recent application for an APP permit. This is their second failed attempt at securing the much needed permit from ADEQ." The company says the post left readers with the false impression that the company had been twice rejected for an aquifer protection permit.
Another post, the following day, told readers that the company's permit application was missing "copious amounts of key information" and that management had failed to fully disclose all the details of the application. The post also said that a mining analyst named Brent Cook had begun "dumping the stock." Similar posts appeared again on May 24, according to the suit. Continues here

It's interesting to note that CUV.to is part of the Hunter Dickinson group, a umbrella group of mining companies that has always been über quick on the trigger to sue commenters that think negatively of their companies, be they on Stockwatch or in other places (who remembers the way they pursued bashers of Farallon?). It's also interesting to note that the permits required by CUV.to haven't as yet appeared, despite plenty of effort on the part of the company. We also note that there's a lot, as in A LOT of opposition to their project from locals.

SO BASICALLY, CURIS RESOURCES AND ALL WHO SAIL IN HER CAN GO FUCK THEMSELVES AND THEIR LAWYERS CAN ADD THIS HUMBLE SCRIBE TO THE LIST OF PEOPLE THEY WANT TO BULLY AROUND, BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT TIME THESE CORPORATE ASSHOLES WHO THINK THEY OWN THE WORLD REALIZE THAT FREE SPEECH IS SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T HAVE A PRICE TAG AND CRAWL OUT FROM BEHIND THE STUPIDLY OVERBEARING CANADIAN LIBEL LAWS, FACE THEIR PUBLIC AND ADMIT THEIR ERRORS.

are we clear? 

PS: No, I am not "erinG". I do not post on bullboards anywhere and think them an utter waste of time. An equal waste of time as idiot companies such as CUV.to who chase any comment they think unworthy of their performance even when the price chart screams at their complete assholery as business managers.


PPS: Seriously, you HDI motherfuckers, sue me. Send me the documents and everything you asswipe excuses for mining executives want to send. I'll publish every single thing you throw over this way and laugh my ass off over every word. Assholes

OT: The transit of Venus (must watch)

I kind of promised myself not to jump on this hype bandwagon about the transit of Venus, but this...

...short video is simply breathtaking. Mere words fail to do any justice, so we share on this humble corner of cyberspace and hope that a few of you enjoy the images, too.

Lumina Copper (LCC.v): Good news and bad news

The good news is that (and we quote the title of this morning's NR) "Lumina Discovers Two New Copper Zones at Its Taca Taca Project" and let's be clear, 222m at 0.83% CuEq (0.69% Cu) is pretty decent going.

The bad news is that both of the new zones are in Argentina.

Chart of the day is...

...Gold, innit.

And we all suddenly look like freakin' genii*. So cue the junior gold companies that have suddenly and coincidentally got news for you (influx due between today and tomorrow) and cue the dumbass toldyaso brigade who'll now proceed to stuff Austrian economics down our collective throat while wagging their virtual fingers in front of our eyes and making all those tut tut sounds. And let's not forget the 50% of chartists that guessed "up" correctly (we won't hear from the other half that guessed "down"...well not for a while at least).

What? Cynical? Me?

*Once upon a time, it was the plural of genius. The best we have these days are dictionary definitions that say it's A plural of genius.

It just got very interesting for Gregorio Santos, Regional President of Cajamarca

For context on what follows, the news this afternoon from Cajamarca is that Gregorio Santos held a meeting in the city on day six of the indefinite strike action against the Conga mine. But during his speech he made some comments that were either way over the line or sailing very close to the wind, according to your viewpoint. He basically got the crowd to shout "throw out Humala" for breaking his promises on Conga and that kind of whipping up of a crowd, ladies and gentlemen, is very very against the law in Peru. 

So just a few minutes ago, Peru's national congress published this missive (which you can see below in Spanish) and your humble scribe has translated it for you here. This type of formal Spanish isn't easy to translate (you kind of swing between wanting to translate it literally and translating it for gist, and neither method works perfectly) but you should get the idea anyway. Basically, Congress has just asked the Peru authorities to "arrest that man". Anyway, here's the translation and the original Spanish version is underneath.

Communique of the presidency of the Congress of the Republic

"Santos has committed apology of  the crime of rebellion. We invoke the prosecutor Peláez to do his job"

Today, during a meeting in the city of Cajamarca, the Regional President Gregorio Santos called on the people present to "throw out" the President of the Republic, Ollanta Humala Tasso, for the supposed allegation of "not having kept his word". It was, amongst other reasons, based on the three cases of three Ecuadorian Heads of State and one Bolivian Head of State deposed by acts of rebellion.

The Regional Presidents, according to article 20 of the Organic Law of Regional Governments (OLRG), exercise their role by exclusive dedication, with the sole exception of the function of teacher. They are elected to carry out the tasks documented in article 21, in which is not found mention of running or participating in strike actions, as expressly prohibited in article 42 of the Constitution. Here, undoubtedly, an abuse of authority and non compliance of duty exists (articles 376 and 277 of the Penal Law).

To this end, Mr. Gregorio Santos not only fails to comply with the legal duties of his role as Regional President, as documented by article 42 of the Constitution, but also and more seriously, has committed an incitement to the crime of rebellion, given that he has commended acts of sch nature that occurred in Ecuador and Bolivia to ask the Peruvian people to emulate those examples and "throw out" the President of the Republic from the position that the nation has given to him. As a consequence, he has committed the crime of apology for the crime of rebellion as documented and sanctioned in amendment 1 of article 316 of the Penal Law that sanctions such conduct with a prison sentence of no less than four (4) years and no more than six (6), a monetary fine and prohibition to exercise any public office.

In the desire to safeguard democracy, the public calm and not to permit the exaltation of violence and the committing of crimes such as those mentioned, we invoke the senior prosecutor of the nation, José Peláez Bardales, to act in the manner laid out in article 159 of the Constitution and formulate the immediate penal charges to attempt to reclaim the order and civil rights in the region of Cajamarca.

We, the elected Public functionaries, are those first called upon to respect the Constitutional order, democracy and the calm of our people.

Lima, June 5 2012

COMUNICADO DE LA PRESIDENCIA DEL CONGRESO DE LA REPÚBLICA

"Santos ha cometido apología del delito de rebelión. Invoco a fiscal Peláez a actuar de oficio"

El día de hoy, en un mitin en la ciudad de Cajamarca, el Presidente Regional Gregorio Santos, instó al pueblo a “sacar” al Presidente de la República, Ollanta Humala Tasso, por la supuesta alegación de “no haber cumplido su palabra”. Para ello, entre otras razones, se basó en los casos de tres mandatarios ecuatorianos y uno boliviano depuestos por actos de rebelión.
Los Presidentes Regionales, según lo dispone el art. 20º de la Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales (LOGR), desempeñan su cargo a dedicación exclusiva, con la sola excepción de la función docente. Son elegidos para ejercer las atribuciones previstas en el artículo 21º, en las cuales no se encuentra ejercer o participar en huelgas, como expresamente lo prohíbe el artículo 42º de la Constitución. Aquí, indudablemente, existe abuso de autoridad e incumplimiento de funciones (arts. 376º y 377º del Código Penal).
En ese sentido, el señor Gregorio Santos no sólo incumple sus funciones legales propias de su cargo de Presidente Regional, así como lo previsto por el artículo 42º de la Constitución; sino que, lo más grave, es que ha cometido apología del delito de rebelión, puesto que ha elogiado actuaciones de tal naturaleza acontecidas en Ecuador y Bolivia para instar al pueblo peruano a emular tales ejemplos y “sacar” al Presidente de la República del cargo que la Nación le ha encomendado. Por consiguiente, ha cometido el delito de apología del delito de rebelión previsto y sancionado en el inciso 1º del artículo 316º del Código Penal que sanciona tal conducta con una pena no menor de cuatro (4) años ni mayor de seis (6), multa e inhabilitación para ejercer cargo público.
En aras de salvaguardar la democracia, la tranquilidad pública y no permitir la exaltación de la violencia y la comisión de delitos como los que aquí señalo; INVOCO al Señor Fiscal de la Nación, JOSÉ PELÁEZ BARDALES, a que actúe de oficio conforme lo señala el artículo 159º de la Constitución, formulando la inmediata denuncia penal que procure reponer el orden y el Estado de Derecho en la Región de Cajamarca.
Los funcionarios públicos de elección popular somos los principalmente llamados a respetar el orden constitucional, la democracia y la tranquilidad de nuestro pueblo.

Lima, 5 de junio de 2012.

Petromagdalena (PMD.v) gets bought by Pacific Rubiales (PRE.to)...

...and you really have to read Setty's take on this deal as he points out the glaring conflicts of interest. Me, I'll just point to the two year chart as we note just how badly the people who were pumped into this stock by the Canadian bullshit vending brokerage brigade have been torn new ones.

Seriously, there otta be a law. Hold on, I think there might be one! And hey, as long as the BCSC don't talk to Haywood first it might even get applied.

Peru: "This bloke won't haggle!"

On reading the DJNW headline on Peru's Conga spat today, "Peru Prime Minister: Antimining Protesters Don't Want to Negotiate" the next thought had to be, just had to be of this scene in Monty Python's magnum opus, Life of Brian:

Dedicated to Richard W. And by the way, over on his Twitter account today PM Oscar Valdés is tweeting in the same way I do when I've had too much Argentine malbec during lunch. Hey, you don't suppose that....? Nah!

Bolivian Champagne (seriously)

pack shot! (gotta have the pack shot)

Hot news from Bolivia, thanks to Laura over at website Embelezzia. If you're around Cochabamba Bolivia on Thursday, hightail it to the Club de Gourmets in that fair town for the gala dinner that marks the official launch of Altosama, Bolivia's first ever Champagne. Made in Tarija by the Kuhlmann bodega (more famous for its singani, the grape spirit of Bolivia) the champagne is (and we quote), "...made from grapes from Tarjia that are cultivated at over 1800m above sea level (that's 5,900 feet to the metrically challenged) using French production methods to produce a wine that's sparkling with long-lasting bubbles on the palate, as well as intense fruit flavours.".

Thursday's launch is also getting sponsored by the French consulate in Bolivia, despite the fact that the Bolivia fizz uses the word "champagne" front'n'centre on the label (French don't usually like that).

Anyway, ask for it by name at your local liquor store, yeah? Here's the Kuhlmann website for those who want more details.

Fuck me!* They're buying Jaguar Mining (JAG) (JAG.to)

Einstein's definition of insanity, that "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result" line of his, comes to mind.

Never underestimate the power of sadomasochism.

*and yes, I do try to keep swearing to a minimum on this blog. However, there are times and places when only straight-talk Anglosaxon will suffice.

Peru's Cajamarca anti-mining protests and those cute, cuddly, law abiding police officers

This video, shot last Thursday during a protest march against the Conga gold project in Cajamarca Peru, shows how ten (yup, count 'em up) police officers surround and then beat up a cameraman who was filming the goings on. We also get the pleasant shot of a woman left unconscious by the police beatings.

However, it's interesting to note that the anti-mine protests aren't going away, despite the police brutality strategy. According to reports (and that link has plenty of photo evidence) 30,000 protesters were on the streets yesterday Monday in Cajamarca for day five of the strike action, with shops and businesses closed down for the day, too.

PS: Oh I'm sorry, did you just want IKN to provide you with information that fits in with your own prejudices? Humble apologies and all that, now go watch Fox.

LatAm currencies versus the US Dollar

Here's a 12 month chart.

Here's a longer, 5 year chart:

Moral: Don't bet against the Greenback. Ever.

A Flash update...

..was sent to subscribers about 15 minutes ago, pre-bell this fine Tuesday morning. Nice to be able to report some good news for a change this year.

Chart of the day is...

...the US Dollar index (USD) back to 2003:

The price range we're seeing today looks technically important. However, we must remember at all times that "technically important" is an oxymoron.

Peru: Three left wing parliamentarians resign from Ollanta Humala's party today

The ruptures are starting to show in Peru's officialist party, as three members of congress on the left side of Humala's political alliance party, Gana Perú, resigned today. The three members of congress all cited their grievances in the way Humala has moved from the left (during his election campaign) and now, according to their view, is firmly part of the right wing neoliberal establishment. Here below is the resignation letter of two of the three:

Carta de renuncia de Javier Diez Canseco y Rosa Mavila

x

Science Project update

Golly jeepers and gosh, who would have thought that a plan to mine a deep sea  mineral body lying a mile underwater and 30 miles from the coast of Papua New Guinea would ever run into disputes with the host government, permitting blockages and funding difficulties with backers getting cold feet, eh? A real shockah.

Here's the chart of Nautilus Resources (NUS.to), famously called "an interesting science project" by Brent Cook back in the days when this thing was getting pumped by Porter Scamsberry

So let's just run through the quick way to become a millionaire in junior mining exploration:

1) Start by being a multimillionaire

2) Listen to Porter Stansberry

3) The end

Y'see? Not that difficult after all is it?

House thirty-three likes Astur Gold (AST.v)

The Can of Corn bought a chunky 340,000 shares of Astur Gold (AST.v) from RBC a few minutes ago. Full disclosure: no position, but it's a stock we've been watching from the sidelines recently in The IKN Weekly.

PS: What me, not posting much today? Yeah you're right in fact. I've been neck deep in a big fat 43-101 all morning and not looking much at the market action (or lack of, better said). You don't mind if I take it easy for a day, do you? Oh, thanks.

Sebastian Piñera's approval rating jump (from very crap to merely crap)

Better news in the polls for Seb Piñera, as Chile's record-breakingly unpopular President is rather less unpopular all of a sudden. According to the latest Adimark monthly poll, Seb got a 7 point boost in approval and now stands at 33%. Here's the chart ripped from the PDF (h/t Setty):

His improvement was driven by two main areas, that of approval in his employment and economic policies. He's still not polling wonderfully, it must be said, but at least we're out of the 20s and back to the default range of the last year and a half.

Chart of the day is...

...copper hourlies:

Because if you're in any way normally touched by the world of commods trading as part of your professional day, no matter what type or manner, copper should be smack bang font and centre on your screen today. All week, for that matter.

The IKN Weekly, out now

IKN161 has just been sent to subscribers. This week we consider U.S. Silver (USA.to) and its potential for a profitable trade, the third and last in a series of close-ups on silver producers we're watching right now.