Thursday, September 30, 2010

Bonanza Aztec Silver – Interview with with Genco in Merger with Silvermex (GGCIRF, TSX:GGC)

Bonanza Aztec Silver – Interview with with Genco in Merger with Silvermex (GGCRF, TSX:GGC)


By: Marco G.

September 30, 2010

http://goombarhsedge.blogspot.com

Introduction

Silver Mining in the Temascaltepec District of Mexico dates to pre-Columbian times of the Aztecs. Later, Spanish miners produced up to 10% of the total Silver output of Mexico, again from within this district. More recently, Genco Resources (GGCRF, TSX:GGC) have hit “Bonanza” grades in drilling their San Rafael mine in the 39,000 hectares of mineral rights of their wholly owned Temascaltepec Silver district. The early miners were limited by their manual techniques and only worked the exposed sections of very high grade veins at the surface. Genco Resources is the small Silver producer utilizing modern techniques in underground mining this Temascaltepec district.

This Mexican Temascaltepec Silver District is rich in Silver and stories. Following is an extract from a 19th century mining compendium:



Figure 1: Source - Historic Mines of Mexico, Charles Bunker Dahlgren, 1883, p 203

Note the many former mines in this area and the stories of mankind’s quest for Silver. Now this rich mining district belongs to Genco Resources.

Genco was a former $4 stock which had encountered myriad political difficulties that caused a slide in their share price over a period of time. Now, things may be well on the mend. Equipped with a new management, a NI 43-101 technical report and a feasibility study, Genco has seen a revival in its share price with the rising fortunes of the Silver price. Then suddenly on September 20th, 2010, Genco received a merger offer from Silvermex Resources (SLVXF, TSXF:SMR).

Interview with James Anderson, Chairman and Acting CEO of Genco Resources

The author was fortunate to catch the Chairman and Acting-CEO of Genco Resources, Mr. James Anderson while travelling, and he agreed to an interview about Genco and the Silvermex merger offer going forward. The following is verbatim from notes taken of the interview by telephone on September 29th,2010.

The author asked Mr. Anderson to start by giving some of the background behind Genco as to why an investor should be interested.

James Anderson: Let me start off this way, because I think it will frame things and perhaps lead us into more productive areas. We’ve got a situation here where as I’m sure you know and our readers should understand. I’ve progressively became more involved in the company, I started off as any shareholder would purchasing a block of stock, although it was a pretty large block of stock and it was my intent from the beginning, just to be a passive shareholder and not nearly as active as I became.

However through a series of events, I requested and might even say demanded a position on the board and then through a series of events became much more involved where today, I am Chairman and acting CEO. Now I will frame my outlook in this fashion and it may or may not be different from the way other people look at companies, but what we are doing right now and all we are doing right now and all that we’ve been doing, from the time that I’ve became actively involved in the company until now is building a foundation.

It becomes apparent to me looking in retrospect for quite a while, the company was concentrating on boosting its stock price from day to day and from week to week, and if it gained a penny, or a nickel or a dime, that was considered a victory but it was paying no attention to the foundation. What we are doing and all we have been doing these last months and years, and it may be frustrating for investors, but I think they should understand this, all we have been doing is building a foundation and I look at it in this fashion. I am not a mining person but I am a businessman and I know that you cannot build a great company without a good foundation, and all we have been doing is putting that foundation in place. The things we’ve accomplished… …. the thing about a foundation is that it is underground...

Marco G. : Laughs…

James Anderson: You can’t see the foundation…but it is very important to have it there, and if you have a good foundation, you can build a great house and it will last. If you don’t have a good foundation, you can build the best house in the world and it will simply collapse. The other thing about a foundation; there are many things about building a house, you can correct, you can correct the roof, correct the siding, you can correct the interior walls and so forth, but it is very difficult if not impossible to correct a bad foundation. So, we’ve essentially had to start over. There are different things that we have done that the market hasn’t given us any credit for, and I understand that because they are kind of unseen things you know, they are below ground things; we’ve ended the blockade, we’ve got the 43-101 out, we’ve completed the feasibility study, we’ve enacted many efficiencies, we’ve cut back our office space to half of what it was, our office staff is now bare bones. We‘ve got 3 paid employees in Vancouver, one consultant and one very part-time person.

I myself, have not taken a dollar from the company, I never have and I never will. I am getting my out of pocket expenses paid and I am working for options. We’ve cut back the Vancouver staff to the bare minimum. We’ve done the same thing in Mexico. All this is part of building a foundation.

One thing yet that we have to do, and this is the only thing that’s left, and then we’ll have the foundation complete. In Mexico right now, we have got good people running the mine, Louis Rey and his last name is spelled R E Y, as the mine manager, and he’s bringing the mine along. He’s a good, loyal honest person, he’s been there for years, he was the mill manager, we’ve made him mine manager. He attracted my eye a long time ago, as the very sort of person you want working for you. He was not part of the problem, he was always part of the solution, so we’ve advanced him. There are other good people down there, but they are the sort of people who can bring the mine along from day to day, he is not the person who can take this company to the heights that I believe it can go.

You see, in Mexico, on our lease block, we don’t have just one mine, which we are mining now, we are mining the La Guitarra mine and that mine has been mined for a very long time. It is an ancient lease block, we’ve got…when we bought it, it was something like 7,000 hectares and now it is up to 39,000 hectares because the scope of it just keeps expanding. (Following is a layout map of the Temascaltepec district owned by Genco Resources)



Figure 2: Genco Resources Temascaltepec Silver District. Note the Silver veins shown in red running for 14 kilometers.

In the center of our land package is a mineralized corridor over 14 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide, we’ve only drilled about 5% of the known veins and so I mean it’s probably much more of an exploration story than a production story, although we are producing.

The mining in the district dates back over 400 years. It was probably a long time before that, because when Cortez got to Mexico, this was one of the mines that he began producing and we believe the Aztecs were there producing a long time before that, so it is not a flash in the pan. It is an ongoing story.

Yet of all the historic mines that are on this lease block only one, La Guitarra is producing. If you start in the south east you’ll look at Rincon, and at one time that was one of the largest Silver mines in Mexico. We’ve got Mina de Agua in that same area. We’ve sunk some drill holes there, we know that there’s ore there.

Then moving northwest, we’ve got a tremendous story under the basalt cap; there’s an entire 3 kilometers of length that simply hasn’t been produced, that’s potentially virgin ore. The reason is that, what they used to do, the Aztecs, and the Spanish, and even the previous operator Luismin, they would find the ore by surface expressions and they would find that, then they would follow it where ever it went.

Well, we’ve got this basalt cap, that before Genco no one’s ever mined under, because there is no surface expression of course, the basalt covers it. Well, we’ve sunk a few drill holes there, so we know the veins are there, but it’s not been fully drilled not anywhere near the extent that you need to drill it to fully understand it’s potential. There’s an entire 3 kilometers of potential virgin ore there and I don’t think anyone knows the extent of what we can gain there. One of the things that we are looking at is making that our next project, start mining in there. We’ve been de-watering it at this point and we are just about done.

Then continuing north-west, we’ve got La Guitarra, right around the mine, where we are mining now, there is an entire ramp, I shouldn’t say ramp I’ll say ramps plural under that mountain and various mines as you go along, there’s La Guitarra and from there you go into other areas. It goes under La Creston, which is the projected open pit area, it goes under San Francisco, it goes under Los Angeles, it goes under La Cruz which is a significant ore body and altogether to the other side of the mountain, we’re not quite out but we could punch through and that would do a lot of good for ventilation and so forth.

Then you go northwest from there, you’ve got Nazareno and you’ve got Coloso.

None of that has been mined in recent history, so I think you are beginning to get the picture. We need people there, who can handle a large complex mine you know and I don’t mean to diminish these people, it takes skill to keep a mine like La Guitarra going. We need skills far beyond that to get this project to its potential, so backing up a moment and then going forward with we are building a foundation yet. It would be foolish of us to go into these other areas without getting a proper foundation for it. But here’s the reason why I like Silvermex, these people are just tops for a company this size. They are a very small company and they only have a development project, they are not producing. I’ll use this analogy, they are like a farmer who has enough machinery for 10,000 acres but he doesn’t have a farm. Laughing…

Marco G. : Laughs…..

James Anderson: They need a project and this is the project that they like and for a very good reason. I’ll go into Silvermex for a moment. You’ve got the sort of people and you’ve got access to the sort of people who can take this where it should be.

Take a look at their board. You’ve got Art Brown for example, who was CEO, Chairman of Hecla until he reached retirement age and then he goes right into Silvermex.

Mike Callahan who headed Hecla’s Venezuelan division is President of Silvermex.

You’ve got a couple of board members who’ve I think was one of the founders of the present day Silver Standard in its present form, that would be Ken McNaughton. Then you have Joe Ovsenek, Silver Standard has undergone what you might say a reorganization, there’s been some changes at Silver Standard, but Joe’s still there and he’s one of the key people at Silver Standard and he’s on the board.

This is just kind of…I mean these are guys that can take a very small project with their experience and expertise and their contacts to make this a very large company.

And these people, Mike Callahan will be hands on, but it’s the contacts these people have, you might put it this way, you’ve got four or five people from Silvermex who are going to be key people, but that’s not the end of it. They’ve got, each of them maybe 100 contacts, so through this you’ve got access to maybe 500 hundred people.

These are not the sort of people you could otherwise access. I know people say, why don’t you go out and hire a CEO, sure we could do that, there are people who we could hire for CEO, and that’s been part of our efforts. It is not something that we haven’t thought of, we’ve been working on this for months, and we’ve interviewed many many people and we’ve interviewed good people.

The company the size of Genco can only hire into a certain level. I could toss out names, but you’re not going to get a Ken McNaughton. You’re not going to get Joe Ovsenek. You’re not going to get a Art Brown or Mike Callahan at a company this size unless you give away the store. And yet we’re not getting one of these people, we getting the entire team that’s coming in at one stroke.

Here’s another problem, for example we’ve tried to bring in the right person, that’s been one of our options, that’s one of the things that we’ve tried to do. I can see that we can get a person at a certain level, a person who can take La Guitarra and get it running efficiently but can we get the level of person and bring in the contacts that can take five or six or seven mines and get them all running and operating at once and feed them into an efficient stream and will have the contacts to bring in people bang, bang, bang as they are needed, and my judgment is no. We’ll get a good person, who can run a mine of maybe a million ounces, but I’ll be very cautious about the type of person we can hire, who’ll make that in the quickest time possible, what it should be and in my judgment is that we have to do it this way, and we are very fortunate to have this company there.

This company having a need for a project such as ours and the fact that these people who have a selection of projects would zero in on this company, I think that it says something about the quality of our asset. It’s one of these fits that I believe that two and two are going to be five, or six, maybe eight or ten or twelve. We’ve got the resource and now we’ve got the team that can move it forward, and beyond that, we are not stopping our discussions with Silvermex about what we’ve talked about to this point, there are specific identified people, if and when this merger is approved, that will be coming in immediately to move it forward.

We haven’t thought this thing through lightly, so going back to the beginning to kind of tie it up before I answer any other questions you have. This is the final building block in the foundation. When I bring in, I shouldn’t say I, it is too egotistical, but when we as a company bring in Silvermex, that’s the final block in the foundation. From then on we can begin building the house, I think our shareholders will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly that house can be built, once we have the foundation in place.

Marco G. : May I ask, did you approach Silvermex or did they approach you?

James Anderson: They initially approached me. Initially I had some of the same reservations that some of the people on our message board have been placing. But then I thought it through and it took me a couple of weeks to see it. Sometimes, things are just so obvious, that you just can’t see them. I started thinking that their great value is not so much their asset and they’ve got an asset that’s got value, I’m not saying that’s not the case, but we don’t really need an exploration project, not in our present form. But then I started to see it, and I started investigating their people and saw you know, it fits like a glove. And then not only have we got our asset but we’ve got their asset, that we can immediately go into once we’ve got Genco hitting on all cylinders. So from then on it started to fall into place very quickly.

Marco G. : Okay, that’s a great background and… lead in… too. Again, I am glad that I am talking to you. You can not get that kind …. this information elsewhere.

James Anderson: I’ll tell you something else too, that’s rubbed me a bit the wrong way. I read the message board of course and there’s just been a couple of posts that are irresponsible. I know that our investors can have different views on that and I respect that and I understand that. These are differences of opinion and I don’t claim to know everything there is to know about this. But there have been a couple of comments to the effect that what’s in it for Anderson besides what we see. I am quite disturbed about that and I’ll just simply say this. I own 17 and half million shares in this company. I own 11 million warrants combined, that’s almost 30 million shares. Every penny that this stock moves one way or another, it’s almost $300,000 dollars. To say or imply that there’s anything, that these people could pay me aside from stock value is absurd. I am doing this for the merit of the stock. I believe that it is there.

Marco G. : That’s great confidence. Having access to this information, I think shareholders and new shareholders would be quite interested.

James Anderson: I’ll say this, there are things that we could do, you know, day to day things, that might help the stock price a few pennies here and there, but I can’t emphasize this enough. I am not a trader! I mean, it doesn’t mean that I don’t feel bad about our stock price being so low, I do. Yet, I know you simply got to build the foundation. If you try to boost the stock price with nothing to support it, it is a house of sand. And I think we’ve proven that in the past. Even if you try to do that, I don’t think it would work. I am certainly no expert on how these markets work. Once you fool the market, building a house without a foundation, I don’t think the market is going to let you do it again. So I think it would be wise to do it different, I believe what we’ve got to do is build a foundation like what we are doing. We are almost there, if the merger with Silvermex is approved we will be there. I think our shareholders will be pleasantly surprised, because the house will go up quickly, in relation to what we’ve been through. Then I believe the share price will follow.

Marco G. : All right. May I then lead on to the next area for discussion. Where is the mine at presently?

James Anderson: You mean as far as production and such.

Marco G. : Yes.

James Anderson: Well, I don’t think I can speak beyond what is released publicly. We are producing. We are slowly making progress. I do have to emphasize the word slowly and I’ve explained this. We have people at a certain skill level. They can handle a mine of this size. It’s not going at lightning speed but we are slowly making progress down there. As far as the mill is concerned, the mill is in good shape. It always has been. It can handle all the ore that we can feed it. We not at full capacity yet, which would be 340 tons a day, 7 days a week. We are working in that direction. Right now, the bottleneck is mining. It’s not that we don’t have the ore ahead of us. I’ve covered that, we just have to get at it. We have to get the ramps and developments and so forth. We have to get our crews coordinated and we are working on it.

Marco G. : Okay, there is some question about moving forward to acquire more surface rights. Would you have any comments on that.

James Anderson: We have acquired some. Now here we go to the question of the open pit. The open pit in the feasibility study has identified the pit as La Creston. We’ve had different opinions on this as we’ve dealt with companies as we have dealt with Silvermex. Should we go into the open pit or should we not. Now, our feasibility study calls for spending approximately $150 million to develop this project including an open pit. That might get us to 4 million plus ounces a year, but it will take a lot of money to do it.

Now, we can develop underground at much less cost. I don’t think we can get to 4 million ounces, but we can do a lot more than we’ve done in the past. And it will cost us a lot less money than 150 million dollars. I don’t know that I can go into specifics here again, as it is not public information. For a relatively modest expenditure, with the Silvermex people; now this is going to take the right people and the right coordination. We couldn’t do it with the people we have right now. It would end up being one big mess. Not because they are not good people. You’ve got to have a certain skill level and a certain number of these skilled people to do this. Now if and when this Silvermex combination goes through, we believe we can expand production significantly for much more modest costs. Of course, when you do it in that fashion, you avoid an awful lot of dilution.

Marco G. : Dilution in terms of the stock float.

James Anderson: Yes

Marco G. : All right……..

James Anderson: Oh, you asked me about surface rights, maybe I went through that too quickly. We do not have the surface rights to the La Creston area. We have had discussions on this. We will get a lot more serious about purchasing those surface rights when we get a lot more serious about launching into that open pit. It may happen or may not.

Marco G. : Okay, fair answer. How about comments with the previous ownership of the Chief and sale to Andover.

James Anderson: I guess I’ll say this. It is obvious; that we’ve had some problems over that. $5 million dollars in Genco money was used to purchase the Chief stock. It was a significant cause of the proxy contest. We’ve been very, very fortunate to get any of that money back. It has been a long battle. We’ve got $700,000 that is due by the end of October, and its looking pretty good for getting that $700, 000. Assuming we get that $700,000 then we’ll have another $2,000,000 that is owing to us before the end of September a year from now. I’ll just say this about Chief, and I wish those people nothing but the very best, I hope they are very successful at Chief and I hope that they are very successful at Andover, because if they are, then we collect the rest of our money. Chief right now has got a large company Kennecott working on that property. It is one of those things, it could be very large, if they hit the right things with their drill holes or it could amount to nothing, I think we all know how exploration projects go. Right now, they are moving along with Kennecott. They‘ve done a good job of bringing Kennecott in and they were able to raise some money as I understand it on the back of that Kennecott interest. I’ll just put it this way, we want them to do well, we hope they do well, and if they do well we are going to collect the rest of our money.

Marco G. : All right. So what do you foresee now happening for the next couple of months till the end of the year and you’ve already outlined the good fit of Silvermex with Genco.

James Anderson: The focus right now is on getting things closed with Silvermex. I was in Toronto and New York last week with the Silvermex CEO Duane Nelson. I can tell you how encouraged I was in that trip. We went around to see major shareholders etc. There were doors opened to me that we’ve tried knocking on before with no interest what so ever. You know, you go around with people that are well known in the mining industry and have the connections that these people have; there was not a door that was not opened to us.

The comments that I heard at those meetings were just very favorable. Not only will these people want to work with us, not only are they sold on the merger, they want our business. That is something that will take us a dozen years as Genco alone to crack into.

The problem with Genco in my opinion has been this; we’ve released what I think is very good news over the last year. Ending that blockade was very good news. Getting our 43-101 where our reserves and resources went up by 4 times, I think that was very good news. Getting our feasibility study, I think that was very good news. The cost cutting we’ve done I think was very good news. Every time we’ve make a release like that, not only does our stock not go up, but it starts going down.

The reason I think is this, we’ve lost our creditability. We’ve spent years promising things that never came true. With a company, it is like a person who’s lost his credibility; you just don’t get it back any time soon if ever. It takes a move like this, a fresh face that’s coming in and taking over. That has come through Toronto and New York has confirmed to me that everything I suspected, that these people have credibility. You put these people in charge of Genco in a month. My sense of it is, in my opinion that you are going to start seeing things that we just haven’t seen previously at Genco.

Marco G. : Okay. Fair enough. We have the upcoming merger, the results of that ….in the press releases …the structure of the new company…so the date that we are looking for then is some time in November?

James Anderson: November 9 I believe is the present target date for a shareholder vote.

Marco G. : All right. We know you are very busy, and I want to thank you for taking the time to ….



Figure 3: 7 year chart for Genco Resources. Note the highs of $4 when Genco was previously producing.

James Anderson: Thank you. I want to close with this comment this analogy I use with people. Several years ago when our stock was at $5 a share, we were like the man who had cancer and didn’t know it. We looked well but we were really sick. Today, we’ve been through the cure. We’ve had the operation and the radiation and the chemotherapy. As a result, we look really sick, but we are well. Because we look sick, our stock is at 45 cents. The irony here is when we looked well but we were actually sick our stock price was high. Now that we look sick, but we are actually well, our stock price is low. We need help to bring us to that next level, because we are weak yet, we need help to realize the great value that is here in this company. I believe we have great ounces there, but without the help of the right people to get it out of the ground in the right fashion, I think we’ve seen plenty of examples of companies that have fallen on their faces at the critical moment and we don’t want to do that. The one thing that we’ve got to do now to complete the foundation is to bring in the right people and then I pass the football to them and they march it forward.

Marco G. : Well, that’s excellent, I am very happy you made the time to talk to me.

Analysis of Prospects Going Forward

The author usually selects prospective investments based upon macro trends. The large trend affecting Genco Resources here is the rising precious metals prices. It you are a previous reader, then you should understand my rationale for selecting a junior silver stock story. The author believes that Silver will outperform Gold in the next near while. The author also believes the best gains will be made in the junior mining stories.

Specifically, why the author became interested in Genco, was the reserves and resources reported in the NI 43-101 in January of this year. A summary of the report is in the chart following:



Figure 4: Genco Resources NI 43-101 Reserves and Resources. Total is about 200 million ounces in Silver equivalent resources.

That chart above gives about 50 million Silver equivalent ounces in reserves for mining and 150 million in resources that were inferred but not with the same certainty. Here is the link for the Genco corporate presentation from March 2010: http://www.gencoresources.com/i/pdf/CorporatePresentation.pdf.

The main driver behind the company and creation of value that the author looks for is the quality of management. Mr. Anderson fits the bill here, but what has just happened with the Silvermex offer simply just trumps the deck. The author is in full agreement, that the executives with Silvermex will certainly restore credibility with Genco shareholders.

As is usually the case, when in talking with people, you just get much more information than if you were reading the information from paper or off a website. It is all in the manner of the presentation and the subtle emphasis that this information comes forwards. In Genco’s case, this is indeed a long time high grade Silver mining district. The veins are there in a trend, some visible on surface and some covered with basalt. This speaks of huge potential, more so than the certainty expressed in the 43-101 document which only covers a portion of the area that has been properly drilled off. The rest is just my speculative potential.

The three yardsticks, that the author uses for measuring mining equities is increasing production, increasing reserves and great exploration results. From the interview, I believe there should be new production plans forthcoming following the merger for vastly increasing production. As to reserves, the area is just ripe for increased reserves with more drilling with the many possible mining areas feeding a central processing mill. As to the great exploration results, well, where should you drill when you are in a swarm of veins, some of which may carry bonanza grades?

Now the political issues that caused Genco’s share price decline over time seems to have been solved. This loss of confidence in Genco is not assigning any value to Genco’s reserves and resources and is certainly discounting their production capabilities. Genco seems to have much potential as a Silver and Gold producer, and especially with the introduction of a new experienced management team from Silvermex.

Summary

Investing in risky junior mining stocks is not for everyone. The author attempts to mitigate that risk by performing a lot of analysis and understanding the macro trends and the specific details behind each prospective company. In the author’s opinion, there can be no denying that the new company formed from Genco and Silvermex will have great management. Also, there can be no denying that the new company will have great reserves and resource potential. As for production and profits, that is yet to come, but astute investors may start to understand the large opportunity that is presented here.



The author is long Genco Resources - GGCRF, TSX:GGC

Important Disclaimer

The information and opinions contained within this document reflect the personal views of the author and should be viewed as food for thought and amusement only. The author may from time to time have a position in any of the securities mentioned. There are no guarantees of the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information contained herein. Independent due diligence and discussions with one’s own investment and business advisor is strongly recommended. These writings are not to be construed as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security or as an endorsement of any product or service. We do not request or receive compensation in any form in order to feature companies in this publication. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this document to any type of third party without the express permission of the author. This document may be quoted, in context, provided proper credit is given.

Silver Stocks ETF Soars

Silver Stocks ETF Soars


By: Marco G.



September 28th , 2010



http://goombarhsedge.blogspot.com/



Introduction

Today, September 28th, 2010, Silver has moved to new highs of $21.70 USD, the highest since the 1980’s. Silver investing has attracted a lot of investors’ attention recently. For example, the author’s “A Silver Bull Recommends Six Silver Stocks” article from September 17th attracted over 100 comments from the Seeking Alpha’s readership.

In a follow up article on September 24th about “How To Leverage the Precious Metals Bull”, the author compared the gains of the Gold and Silver metals and some mining equities. One astute reader “user19178” alerted the author to a relatively new ETF containing primarily Silver mining and processing companies, the Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL).

SIL Assets Reach $100Million

Global X in anticipating the market interest in Silver mining equities started this new ETF on April 19th 2010. This ETF is based upon the Solactive Global Silver Miners Index. This index is describe by the issuer Structured Solutions as follows:

Solactive Global Silver Miners Index

The Solactive Global Silver Miners includes international companies active in exploration, mining and/or refining of silver. The index includes a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 40 members. The calculation is done in USD as a total return index. Index adjustments are carried out semi-annually.



On September 23rd, 2010, Global X announced that the SIL ETF has reached $100 Million in assets. Investor interest in Silver has pushed the growth of this fund forward quickly.

Constituents of SIL ETF

There are two main reasons why it is difficult to make a Silver fund. One is that miners that only mine Silver are rather rare, as Silver is usually mined as a by-product of other mining activities such as mining lead zinc and mining copper. The other is that the Silver market is relatively small, compared to the Gold market. So this Global X ETF extended the definition of Silver mining to include companies that work in processing and other activities related to Silver. The constituent members of this SIL ETF are listed in the chart following.

Data as of 9/24/2010

% of Net Assets Name Market Price($) Shares Held Market Value($)

14.66 SILVER WHEATON CORP 26.60 618,000.00 16,438,800.00

14.41 FRESNILLO PLC 19.50 828,690.00 16,156,510.90

11.06 PAN AMERICAN SILVER 29.27 423,600.00 12,398,772.00

10.76 INDUSTRIAS PENOLES CP 24.54 491,400.00 12,059,945.50

5.12 HOCHSCHILD MINING PLC 6.93 828,000.00 5,739,171.72

4.93 POLYMETAL GDR 15.80 350,000.00 5,530,000.00

4.41 COEUR D'ALENE MINES CORP 19.61 252,000.00 4,941,720.00

4.24 SILVERCORP METAL USD 8.39 567,000.00 4,757,130.00

4.06 HECLA MINING COMPANY 6.25 728,400.00 4,552,500.00

3.92 SILVER STANDARD RESOURCES 20.24 217,200.00 4,396,128.00

3.65 GAMMON GOLD INC 7.26 564,000.00 4,094,640.00

3.41 MINEFINDERS CORP 10.63 360,000.00 3,826,800.00

3.00 FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER 6.75 498,000.00 3,361,451.42

1.90 MAG SILVER CORP 7.66 278,400.00 2,132,544.00

1.76 FORTUNA SILVER MINES INC 3.26 606,000.00 1,974,287.94

1.68 BEAR CREEK MINING 5.82 324,000.00 1,886,734.30

1.29 ALEXCO RESOURCE CORP 4.84 300,000.00 1,452,000.00

1.11 ORKO SILVER CORP 1.95 636,000.00 1,240,733.52

1.07 ENDEAVOUR SILVER CORP 4.06 295,200.00 1,198,512.00

1.07 ECU SILVER MINE 0.71 1,680,000.00 1,196,254.39

0.98 EXCELLON RES 0.77 1,423,200.00 1,096,691.38

0.53 GREAT PANTHER SILVER LTD 0.99 606,000.00 597,015.22

0.49 SCORPIO MINING 0.91 600,000.00 544,284.04

0.22 IMPACT SILVER CORP 1.09 228,000.00 249,083.11

0.21 MINES MANAGEMENT INC 2.27 102,000.00 231,540.00

0.10 BROWN BROTHERS SWEEP 1.00 113,943.09 113,943.09

0.00 BRITISH STERLING POUND 1.58 180.18 285.14



Holdings subject to change.

Source: http://www.globalxfunds.com/fundholdings.php?fundid=18493&catid=0

The members companies of the ETF are a mixed bag of four very large Silver miners, some smaller Silver miners and Silver exploration companies. The four large cap miners form almost 50% of the fund. Note that my favorite large cap Silver royalty company Silver Wheaton is on top of this list with a 15% weighting in this fund. Note also that my three favorite Silver junior companies, Genco Resources (GGCRF.PK), Canadian Zinc (CZICF.PK) and US Silver Corp (USSIF.PK) are not to be found on this listing. The author’s stock selections are not large enough or liquid enough to be included in the fund.

Silver Miners ETF SIL’s Performance Since July 28, 2010

The following chart displays SIL’s performance this Summer following the Silver price movement upwards.



In keeping with my “Leveraging the Precious Metals Bull” article’s comparison figures, I use the same start date and end dates for measuring the SIL ETF performance. On July 28th , SIL’s price was $14.18. On September 23rd , SIL’s price was $18.41. This works out to a gain of $4.23 or 30%. This is in comparison over the same time frame for the Silver metal’s increase of 18% and Gold’s metal’s increase of 12%. A comparison table with figures from the previous article is following:

Gain Comparison from Jul 28th to Sep 23rd , 2010



Equity Description Symbol Percentage Gain

Gold ETF GLD 12%

Large Cap Miners Index HUI 20%

30 Large Miners ETF GDX 20%

60 Junior Gold Miners ETF GDXJ 33%

Silver ETF SLV 18%

Silver Wheaton SLW 47%

Genco Resources GGCRF.PK 59%

Canadian Zinc CZICF.PK 72%

US Silver Corp USSIF.PK 102%

Silver Miners ETF SIL 30%



Silver ETF SIL Leverages Silver Price

The Silver metal’s price is moving higher and has gained 18% in the above table. This new Silver Miners ETF SIL has leveraged Silver’s gain and is soaring with a 30% gain over the same time period. This makes SIL a higher performer than either the HUI or the GDX which have both gained 20%. Both the HUI and GDX contain only large cap Gold miners.

To repeat the author’s thesis’s then:


1. Silver is moving more than Gold.


2. Mining equities leverage the underlying metals price.


3. Select Junior miners may leverage quite spectacularly.



Disclosure: The author is long Silver mining equities.



Important Disclaimer



The information and opinions contained within this document reflect the personal views of the author and should be viewed as food for thought and amusement only. The author may from time to time have a position in any of the securities mentioned. There are no guarantees of the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information contained herein. Independent due diligence and discussions with one’s own investment and business advisor is strongly recommended. These writings are not to be construed as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security or as an endorsement of any product or service. We do not request or receive compensation in any form in order to feature companies in this publication. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this document to any type of third party without the express permission of the author. This document may be quoted, in context, provided proper credit is given.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Mysterious Monthly Moves of Metals Miners

Mysterious Monthly Moves of Metals Miners


By: Marco G.



September 27, 2010



http://goombarhsedge.blogspot.com/



In 2009 Fall, there was a peculiar price pattern that was happening with metals miners. I was first alerted to this by a colleague who writes under the pseudonym of “HardRock” (suitable name). Since then, the author has often pondered about the movements and without result. The author and HardRock were both hard pressed to come up with any strong explanations for these moves.

Monthly moves of Large Cap Miners, SLW, CLF and TCK.

In the chart below for Fall 2009 (click to enlarge), the author has circled the monthly moves up and down of three large cap miners: Silver Wheaton – SLW, Cliffs Natural Resources – CLF and Teck Resources – TCK. SLW is the author’s favorite “La Crème de La Crème” Silver royalty company. CLF is a favorite of the author’s in coal and iron ore mining in America and Australia. TCK is a recovering, Americas based diversified miner of coal, lead, zinc and copper with minors in gold and silver.


Figure 1: Fall 2009 for SLW, CLF & TCK. Note the cyclical movements up and down every month.

The stock prices for these mining equities seemed to be making price movements on a regular basis monthly.

Cyclic Monthly Movements

The price movements appeared to correlate to the days of the month quite nicely. Starting at September 1st the stocks would move up in price until at the middle of the month. Then the prices would decline until towards the end of the month and would hit a low in the last few days of September. Then with a new month beginning, the cycle would repeat rising again. This pattern held for two months and then in November there was no decline until midway through December. So the cyclic pattern for November was stretched into mid- December.

Monthly Moves of TSX Venture, Gold (GLD) and Gold Miners (GDX)

The monthly movements that we noticed weren’t limited to the previous large cap miners, but it was observed as well in the TSX Venture Exchange Index, the price of Gold (using GLD ETF as proxy) and the Gold Miners Index (GDX). The chart of these market indicators is displayed below (click to enlarge).



Figure 2: Fall 2009 for $CDNX, GLD and GDX. Note the monthly cycles for the prices moving upwards and dipping towards month ends.

The monthly price movements appeared to correlate with the days of the month. This is wonderful, if a movement like this is predictable for these stocks.

Possible Rationale for Movements

Here are the author’s thoughts for the reasons behind the cyclic monthly movements. The rise in commodities and metals prices as in the Commodities Research Bureau ($CCI) Index drove the mining equities last fall.



Figure 3: CCI move in Fall 2009. Note the significant rise.

The price of Gold also made a strong move upwards last fall, rising from the Summer doldrums and peaking in late November.



Figure 4: Gold in Fall 2009. Note the significant rise.

These two factors drove the move for the TSX Venture exchange and mining equities in general. The dip at September month end may be attributed to the end of the quarter and for investors taking their profits for the strong move up since March 2009. The dip at the month end of October is attributed to investors taking profits and re-positioning for the tax year end. The dip at mid month in December is attributed to the annual hiatus and slow-down for the winter holiday season. The correlation to the months is merely the average investors’ methodical way of managing their portfolio based upon the time of year. This may be an explanation, but the rationale is not strong and I don’t really believe it myself.

Predictable Monthly Movement of Miners?

The investor in the markets needs any help he can get. If there is a valid repeatable reason, behind these cyclic monthly moves, then the investor being apprised of them may be able to adjust their equities positions accordingly. The author was wondering about this effect this morning and in examining it, noticed remarkable similarities to this Fall of 2010. Is the dip this morning, September 27th, 2010, the beginning of the larger dip for September month end happening? Is there more to the rising prices coming in October, November and December? And with the strong beginnings of moves in commodities and Gold this year, “Will this cyclic mining thing repeat this Fall?”



Disclosure: The author is long mining equities.



Important Disclaimer



The information and opinions contained within this document reflect the personal views of the author and should be viewed as food for thought and amusement only. The author may from time to time have a position in any of the securities mentioned. There are no guarantees of the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information contained herein. Independent due diligence and discussions with one’s own investment and business advisor is strongly recommended. These writings are not to be construed as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security or as an endorsement of any product or service. We do not request or receive compensation in any form in order to feature companies in this publication. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this document to any type of third party without the express permission of the author. This document may be quoted, in context, provided proper credit is given.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Fall Forecast – Craving for Commodities

Fall Forecast – Craving for Commodities


By: Marco G.

September 21, 2010

http://goombarhsedge.blogspot.com/


Fall officially started yesterday, and the leaves are turning red; and this morning on my monitor screen, all my stock indicators are mostly green. Never mind the leaves, it is now time to stay indoors and grow some green in the markets. The author decides to examine some of his favorite charts for indications of what will happen up coming this Fall.

Volumes for TSX-V are High

The author specializes in commodities and mining stocks and the first screen that I glance at for indications of health is the TSX Venture exchange. This is the smallish Toronto, Canada based exchange where the majority of the world’s small mining companies are listed. The chart below, tells quite a tale of almost a continuous run upwards since July 20th, 2010.

The market volumes are high since the beginning of September, supporting the move upwards. The Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) displays a positive mountain of cash buying moving in.

And the PPO is showing strong momentum in this market. The PPO or Percentage Price Oscillator is another moving average indicator, but expresses the output as a percentage.

For examining the longer term picture we use the chart for the TSX Venture below, we can see that the trend is continuing upwards after the hiatus for the “Sell in May” in the early part of this Summer.


The risk appetite for smaller junior miners appears to be back. The volumes compared to the volumes in Fall of 2009 are higher, earlier and more positive, indicating buying.

Copper Shortage Looming

In the news, the commodities forecasters have been telling us about the upcoming shortage for copper that is looming nigh. We examine the chart following for Copper Futures.


We see that since June the copper price is trending upwards and is regaining the high ground lost since prior to the 2008 crash. The copper futures price is known as Doctor Copper, for giving good indications about the state of the future economic activities.

TSX Golden Cross

Next we look at the TSX Composite Index based in Toronto Canada. This index is resource heavy and is a larger and quite reliable leading indicator as Canada is America’s largest trade partner and is much influenced by the American economy. The chart below of the TSX is indicating bullish activity moving forwards.



There was a bullish Golden Cross of the 50 DMA over the 200 DMA that happened last week on about Sep 15th, 2010. The positive CMF over the summer is telling the early positioning of the smarter monies. We need to watch for higher volumes in this market to confirm this bullish indicator in that the bull market is back.

Wilshire leading US Economy Back

The author likes using the Wilshire 5000 Composite Index as it is more sensitive than the traditional large index indicators (Dow Jones, S & P 500) of economic health. The chart indicates that the moving averages may be converging and may be possibly follow the TSX index in a Golden Cross of its own. The CMF has been positive, which is supportive.

Steel Versus World Wedge

The author uses this Steel Stocks versus the World Stock Index ratio displayed in the chart below as another measurement of economic health. Steel demand is a strong leading economic indicator.


From the chart above, we see a narrowing wedge displayed whilst the market has been in oscillation up and down and indecisive as to which way to go. The answer it seems will be pretty quick in coming as the wedge is rapidly coming to a point. Which way will this indicator break towards?

Craving for Commodities

From my previous charts, the author is forecasting a resumption of the recovery in North America and especially for metals, mining and commodities stocks. This will be supported by a broad based recovery in the overall stock markets as the public comes to this realization. You the astute reader will be best positioned for this recovery by looking in the commodities, metals and mining sectors for good values.

Disclosure: The author is long junior mining equities.



Important Disclaimer



The information and opinions contained within this document reflect the personal views of the author and should be viewed as food for thought and amusement only. The author may from time to time have a position in any of the securities mentioned. There are no guarantees of the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information contained herein. Independent due diligence and discussions with one’s own investment and business advisor is strongly recommended. These writings are not to be construed as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security or as an endorsement of any product or service. We do not request or receive compensation in any form in order to feature companies in this publication. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this document to any type of third party without the express permission of the author. This document may be quoted, in context, provided proper credit is given.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Leverage the Precious Metals Bull!

Leverage the Precious Metals Bull!




By: Marco G.



September 23, 2010



http://goombarhsedge.blogspot.com/




Introduction

Today is Fall, the first day, and so it is befitting for us to look back and examine what has been happening to the precious metals markets. If you are a watcher of the markets, maybe you might be aware, that there seems to be a rise in the price of Gold recently.



Invisible reader: Well, how much has the precious metal risen recently?



Let us go to the charts and you may be a bit surprised.



Gold’s Rise

Of course, you are a student of the markets, and you are aware of Gold’s rise in price.



Invisible reader: Yes it is only a flash in the pan. The rise is insignificant, and Gold is volatile, and it will drop back soon.



Well, my rationale for the strength and duration of what is happening to the precious metals markets will have to wait for another day. The topic today is Gold’s rise, and how to leverage upon the trend. Following we chart the price of the largest Gold ETF – GLD, for the last three months. We are using the GLD as a proxy for the actual gold price.






Figure 1: GLD - Gold ETF in Summer 2010



It does not take very much astuteness to see that there seems to be a trend in place. The author has made it easier for the reader by placing a golden arrow following the GLD price upwards. This is an interesting chart. How much has the price of GLD gained in the last while? To keep things on a straight basis, we do some simple arithmetic starting with July 28th, the day of the first movement upwards for GLD and using today’s price we find that Gold’s rise amounts to about 12% (the figures are rounded and not exact).



Big Cap Gold

Invisible reader: All right then, how has the price movement of Gold, the metal, translated into the market valuation of the Gold miners.



Forget the large cap HUI, and let us take a look at GDX, the ETF that contains 30 odd large Gold miners. Following is the chart for the GDX this summer.






Figure 2: GDX - larger Gold miners performance in Summer 2010



Invisible reader: H..m..m, that yellow arrow upwards is interesting. What is the percentage movement upwards?



Using the same starting date, the movement upwards for this collection of miners is 20%. Wow, that is pretty good, so the miners are leveraged to the Gold price and magnifying the Gold price move by another two thirds times or 166%. Yes, this is a prime example of the leverage of mining equities to the underlying Gold price.



Junior Golds

Invisible reader: What about the smaller gold miners? Are they moving more, or less, or not moving at all?



We use the GDXJ ETF, the collection of about 60 smaller miners (mostly under $1Billion market capitalization) for this analysis and the chart is below.





Figure 3: GDXJ - Junior gold miners in Summer 2010.



Not surprisingly, or is it surprising to you? The smaller gold miners are also moving upwards and at a fast clip apparently. The price movement is up by 33% for this collection of Junior Gold miners. Wow, the Juniors are taking Gold’s price movement and adding another 21% move or taking the Gold’s move of 12% and multiplying by 275%!



The Lunar Metal’s Rise

Invisible reader: I wonder how the price of Silver is doing relative to Gold?



The author has penned a previous article pointing out that Silver may move more than Gold here. We use the large Silver ETF, SLV as a proxy for the Silver metals prices and the chart if below.





Figure 4: SLV - Silver metals ETF in Summer 2010.



Interestingly, looking at the above Silver chart, Silver seems to be a laggard and did not move upwards until the end of August, almost one month behind the movements of Gold. Well, to keep the comparison valid, we use the same starting date, July 28th and we will see what happens. Astonishment, the calculations show that Silver has moved 18% in price even when starting one month late!



Invisible reader: Wow! This is 50% more than Gold's move of 12%!









The Crème de la Crème of Silver Equities



Invisible reader: I can’t wait to see the results then for the Silver miners.



Unfortunately, there are no Silver miners ETF, that I am aware of. So, we use my favorite indicator of the health of the Silver market, the crème de la crème of Silver stocks, Silver Wheaton (SLW), the Silver royalty company to chart the gains made this Summer. The Silver Wheaton chart follows:





Figure 5: Silver Wheaton - SLW, large cap Silver Royalty company.



Surprisingly or not surprisingly, Silver Wheaton has turned in a gain of 47% from our calculations.



Invisible reader: Is something wrong here? SLW is a large cap and large cap miners are not supposed to leverage that much. They moved 47% while Silver only moved 18% in prices?





A Discarded Junior Silver



How about the smaller silver producers?



Genco Resources (GGCRF, TSX:GGC) was a previous silver producer, that had run into difficulties and management was trying to turn it around. In the chart following you can see the collapsing share price and then something happened this Summer to Genco.





Figure 6: Genco Resources (GGCRF, TSX:GGC) Silver Junior



On Sep 20th, Genco Resources received a merger offer from Silvermex Resources (SLVSF, TSXF:SMR) causing the share price to move by over 30%. Obviously, someone saw value in Genco. Silvermex is noted for having executives from Hecla (HL) and Silver Standard Resources (SSRI) (large Silver miners) in their management.



Using the same starting date of July 28th, the movement upwards for Genco was 59%.



Invisible reader: Well, you are being unfair again, that includes the takeover offer that juiced the price up!



The Hunt Brothers Forgotten Mine

Let’s take a look at another forgotten Silver security.



Canadian Zinc (CZICF, TSX:CZN) has the advantages of almost complete mining infrastructure and extremely high value ore for a pre-producer. A recent interview with CZN’s Chief Operating Officer is here.



This Summer’s performance of Canadian Zinc is displayed following.





Figure 7: Canadian Zinc (CZICF, TSX:CZN) Silver, Zinc, Lead mine in northern Canada



The price movement upwards for Canadian Zinc calculates to be 72% as of this writing.



Invisible reader: Sputter….Sputter……..but………but this can’t be happening! This is not making sense at all!



A Small Silver Producer

Finally, we look at a smaller Silver miner, based in the famous Silver Valley of Idaho. The chart for US Silver Corp (USSIF, TSXF:USA) is following.





Figure 8: US Silver Corp., (USSIF, TSX:USA) Silver producer in Silver Valley Idaho.



US Silver Corp is completing a $6Million private placement to refurbish a shaft to increase production abilities. The calculated price movement for US Silver this summer works out to be 102%.



Invisible reader: Now, this does it! The writer is obviously rigging the figures!



Leverage of Silver Juniors

The heading of this summary says it all. Silver is moving more than Gold in this run of the precious metals bull market. Miners leverage the underlying metals price. Juniors are leveraging the metals prices more. Good juniors will move quite spectacularly.



Invisible reader: This is all unfair! You are only choosing specific examples to skew the mathematical analysis and comparison!



Exactly, no further comment.




Disclosure: The author is long Silver mining equities.

Important Disclaimer


The information and opinions contained within this document reflect the personal views of the author and should be viewed as food for thought and amusement only. The author may from time to time have a position in any of the securities mentioned. There are no guarantees of the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information contained herein. Independent due diligence and discussions with one’s own investment and business advisor is strongly recommended. These writings are not to be construed as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security or as an endorsement of any product or service. We do not request or receive compensation in any form in order to feature companies in this publication. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this document to any type of third party without the express permission of the author. This document may be quoted, in context, provided proper credit is given.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Hey Investor – Mining Juniors For Action!

Hey Investor – Mining Juniors For Action!


By: Marco G.



September 21, 2010



http://goombarhsedge.blogspot.com/



The Bull Market Tide

“There is a tide in the affairs of men”…and so forth; yes readers, the tide is coming in for mining Juniors. That is, the major stock markets are turning around presently as witness this news of “Housing starts rose more than forecast”, or this official news of the recession having ended in June 2009. This will now ensure a fresh supply of investors, feeling flush with their monies, still withheld from the markets in the previous fearful stances of safety in bonds, and re-entering the markets with a scanning eye of where to put their monies in.

Doctor Copper, has certainly forecasted an uptick in economic activity, having returned to a similar high prior to the 2008 crash. The price of copper, now at $3.50 USD/pound, usually leads the markets as industry depends upon this metal for construction and growth. As confirmation for Doctor Copper, the prices of 19 key commodities in the Commodities Research Bureau - CRB Commodities Index are also coming back to the highs prior to the 2008 crash as shown in the chart below:



Figure 1: The CCI chart is indicating robust economic activity forthcoming.

With economic activity predicted to increase, the first segments of the economy to move forward should include the basic materials sector, especially mining companies. This author specializes in mining companies, especially in Junior mining companies, and welcomes the incoming investment tide and it’s possible effect on the Junior miners.

Other Seasoned Pros’ Opinion

What is this “Tide” you ask, and what will its’ impact be on the sector? Well, Mr. Otto Rock, a favorite of this author’s and noted South American focused mining commentator, has quite an exciting description and examples in his Incakola blog article of Sept 15, 2010 here, “When all boats rise” . Mr. Rock states:

People aren’t asking too many questions. People want in to the market for gold, for copper, for juniors, for precious and base metals exposure. People with fresh money are suddenly finding great value in stocks that longtime followers of juniors saw as great value a year ago and at fractions of today’s prices.

Also noted technical chartist Clive Maund in his Sept 19th analysis of the precious metals sector here, has already committed a market entry to a basket of mining equities, even though in his words “Precious Metals stocks indices HAVE NOT YET BROKEN OUT to new highs”. This is quite uncharacteristic of Mr. Maund, because for all the time that I have read his articles, he always sits on the fence! Further Mr. Maund points out that for the mining Juniors:

This is why the charts of many junior mining stocks, which have been trampled into the dust in recent months, are now looking so bullish - they have MASSIVE upside potential, and are unlikely to drop even if gold and silver now correct back.

Junior Leverage seen in Action

Why is there interest in mining Juniors you ask, relative to established miners and the underlying metals ETFs? Well, the author explored the idea of a “Sweet Spot” for mining juniors in a previous article. Essentially, mining juniors are usually focused on only one project, and the potential success of that project or price moves of the underlying metal has a large impact on that junior company. For a larger miner, the success of just one project is only incremental to all the other activity in the larger company, so the impact of the success is far muted.

For further confirmation of the leverage of Junior miners, here is in a previous article where the author documents the recent moves of the GLD Gold ETF, the HUI (Index of 15 large gold miners), GDX (ETF of Major gold miners) and GDXJ ( ETF of Junior Gold miners). The short version of the story is that for a certain Gold price move, large miners are leveraging 170%, and Junior miners are leveraging by 300%.

Rising Prices Sparks Mergers & Acquisitions

With the rise in prices, the space is heating up with merger and acquisition activity. In the Gold space recently, we have seen the takeover of Red Back mining by Kinross Gold (KGC, TSX:K) and the Gold Corp (GG, TSX:G) battle for Andean Resources ( ANDPF.pk, TSX:AND) against Eldorado Gold (EGO, TSX:ELD).

In the Kinross deal the premium paid was 21% for Red Back. In the Gold Corp deal the premium was 35% for Andean. Just here is an example of premiums for Juniors, as Red Back is in production whereas Andean is a Junior which only has resources in the ground. The author penned an opinion that Gold Corp over paid for Andean in this article here.

In the Juniors space recently, we have just seen the Sept 20th 2010, proposed reverse merger of Silvermex Resources (SLVSF, TSXV:SMR) with Genco Resources (GGCRF, TSX:GGC), both Mexico focused Silver mining stories. The premium offered for Genco Resources was 38%.

Which Metal; Gold or Silver?

The precious metals are marching forward this fall and are poised to reach new highs. Which metal is the one that will likely move the furthest? The author believes the indicators are pointing to the shiny Silver metal as explained in the Silver break of the Gold Silver Ratio article.

In answering my own question as to whether Gold or Silver will move best, the author has suggested “Six Silver Stocks” as possibilities last week. One business day later, on Sept 21st 2010, Genco Resources was offered a merger agreement driving the stock price 30% higher. All three Silver Juniors, of the six mentioned Silver stocks, US Silver Corp (USSIF, TSXV:USA), Genco Resources (GGCRF, TSX:GGC) and Canadian Zinc (CZICF, TSX:CZN) enjoyed double digit moves that day. This is just a small indicator of the Public’s interest in Junior Silver stocks.

Summary

There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.


- William Shakespeare.

So reader, if you recognize the tide, then in this author’s opinion, Silver mining Juniors may offer the best return in the next while. Always, do your own investigation and make your own decisions as it is your own money. Also, please recognize that Juniors may offer higher returns, but there is also the risk of a higher loss.



Disclosure: The author is long Silver mining equities.



Important Disclaimer



The information and opinions contained within this document reflect the personal views of the author and should be viewed as food for thought and amusement only. The author may from time to time have a position in any of the securities mentioned. There are no guarantees of the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information contained herein. Independent due diligence and discussions with one’s own investment and business advisor is strongly recommended. These writings are not to be construed as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security or as an endorsement of any product or service. We do not request or receive compensation in any form in order to feature companies in this publication. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this document to any type of third party without the express permission of the author. This document may be quoted, in context, provided proper credit is given.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Genco Resources Merger (GGC, GGCRF) with Silvermex Resources (SMR, SLVSF)

Hi Readers,


http://www.stockhouse.com/News/CanadianReleasesDetail.aspx?n=7879310

Genco Resources (GGC, GGCRF) just announced a merger with Silvermex Resources (SMR, SLVSF). Silvermex is populated with former Hecla (seekingalpha.com/symbo...), and Silver Standard Resources (seekingalpha.com/symbo...) executives on their board.



26 % upside from Fridays close and bright prospects moving forward with great management and the Silver price moving!



Marco G.

Silver Stock Status - Up

Silver Stocks Status - Up


The author is especially upbeat this morning, as his “Six Silver Stocks” article was selected the Editor’s Pick on the Seeking Alpha investment site for over the weekend. This resulted in the article being the second most popular article on that same site. This article was also posted on Stockhouse.com.  There was quite a few hundred reads on that also.  Now all this is gratifying, but what is the status of my Silver stocks that I hold and mentioned in that article?

Figure 1: SLV Silver ETF on morning Sep 20, 2010

Well a check of the Charts in early morning Monday, September 20th, 2010 reveals that Silver has moved modestly upwards. We are using the SLV ETF as a proxy for the Silver prices.





Figure 2: USA, US Silver Corp on the morning of Sep 20 2010. Note that the National Inflation Association has just issued a recommendation for USA on their website www.inflation.us.

The charts show an 18% movement upwards for USA. It seems that the National Inflation Association of the US has just issued a buy recommendation for US Silver Corp. Trading this morning was brisk with upwards of 3 million shares changed hands in the first two hours.


Figure 3: GGC, Genco Resources chart on the morning of Sep 20, 2010. Note that Genco has a trading halt for important news.

Genco Resources chart shows a 17% movement upwards, before a trading halt was issued by the regulator. This may be news coming of a new mining CEO found for this company.



Figure 4: CZN, Canadian Zinc chart for morning of Sep 20, 2010.

Canadian Zinc’s chart is showing a 19% movement upwards this morning.

Now, it is quite interesting that all three small Silver stocks mentioned in the “Six Silver Stocks” article made some movement, after the article was published. Coincidences’ always happen don’t they. Anyways, I am glad for the readers’ comments and emails.  I think I deserve a hot dog and coffee.

I wish all you readers Silver Success!

Marco G.


The author is long Canadian Zinc (CZN.to, CZICF), US Silver Corp (USA.v, USSIF), and Genco Resources (GGC, GGCRF)


Important Disclaimer

The information and opinions contained within this document reflect the personal views of the author and should be viewed as food for thought and amusement only. The author may from time to time have a position in any of the securities mentioned. There are no guarantees of the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information contained herein. Independent due diligence and discussions with one’s own investment and business advisor is strongly recommended. These writings are not to be construed as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security or as an endorsement of any product or service. We do not request or receive compensation in any form in order to feature companies in this publication. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this document to any type of third party without the express permission of the author. This document may be quoted, in context, provided proper credit is given.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Six Silver Stocks

Six Silver Stocks

By: Marco G.

September 17, 2010

http://goombarhsedge.blogspot.com/

If you have viewed any of my previous writings, you will know that I am a fan of Silver mining stocks. Firstly, I specialize in mining stocks, and secondly is that in searching for the best gains, I believe we have an edge for the Silver metal in the upcoming fall as detailed here in the Silver break of the Gold Silver Ratio.

So, let us take a look at some shining Silver possibilities for your portfolio.

Silver Wheaton – SLW

Silver Wheaton, the large-cap $8.5 billion royalty silver equity, is in the author’s opinion, is “la crème de la crème” of Silver stocks. Their unique business model of purchasing Silver production streams allows them to shed the production risks and still participate in the exposure to the rise of the underlying Silver metal price. Looking at the above chart, you can see that Silver Wheaton has done well this year with an 80% move, and has roughly tripled in price since the lows of March 2009. Silver Wheaton is the large safe vehicle to participate in the Silver price rise. The author has owned SLW in the past, and uses the status of SLW as an indicator in monitoring the Silver sector.

Hecla Mining – HL

Hecla Mining is a mid-cap $1.5 billion Silver producer based in the Silver Valley area of Idaho. Hecla is stabilizing their Greens Creek mine production in Alaska which features negative cash costs due to the Zinc Lead by-products credit. Since tripling in price from the lows of March 2009, Hecla has struggled for the most of this year. However along with the other silver miners, Hecla has made a strong move forward with the rise of the Silver metal’s price. Hecla is a volatile equity that may have significant upside, should they iron out the kinks. The author has owned HL in the past.

Silver Standard Resources – SSRI (TSX:SSO)

Silver Standard Resources, SSRI, is an emerging $1.6 billion mid-cap Silver producer based in the Americas. SSRI has just started production at their Pirquitas mine in Argentina at the beginning of this year. What is notable about SSRI, is they own twin gold silver projects of Snowfield and Brucejack, that are huge projects in northern British Columbia, which are at the preliminary assessment stage. The author is considering an investment in SSRI for the possible large upsides in development.

US Silver Corp – USSIF (TSX:USA)


US Silver Corporation, is a small-cap $76 million Silver Valley, Idaho based miner. Their Silver property was acquired from Coeur D’Alene (CDE), and their reopening of the mines success is detailed in a previous article here. USA has roughly doubled in price this year. USA has just completed a small $6 million private placement to re-open the Coeur mine shaft which is linked to their mining complex and increase production. As the author is keen on small Silver mining stocks, the author owns shares of USA.

Genco Resources – GGCRF (TSX:GGC)

Genco Resources is a small-cap, $37 million, turnaround story of a Silver producer based in Mexico. Their La Guitarra mine has been restarted under changed management. Genco owns the whole Temascaltepec mining district, which has a long history of Silver production in Mexico. Genco has a Ni 43-101 compliant report indicating 50 million ounces of reserves and 150 million ounces of resources in Silver equivalents. As Genco was a $4 stock, when producing in previous years, this makes this almost a no-brainer investment for this author.

Canadian Zinc – CZICF (TSX:CZN)

Canadian Zinc is a small-cap, $61 million, story of the old Texas Hunt brothers Prairie Creek mine built in the 1980’s when Silver was last at $50 per ounce. The mine is in northern Canada and is unique for the extreme high values of its ore, $800USD per ton, and the complete mining infrastructure that was built in place, not used and then abandoned. See this September 15th, 2010, interview with Alan Taylor, their Chief Operating Officer and VP of Exploration.

Canadian Zinc is misnamed and misunderstood and much undervalued. The Prairie Creek mine was fully permitted and 3 months from production when Silver prices collapsed and they shut down. Defined resources have increased from 2 million tons in the Hunt brothers’ days to over 11 million tons presently, and there is potential of multiples of that in their present exploration. There is a deep drill program going presently that should report on mineralization 4 kilometers north of their mine site. Canadian Zinc is in the process of permitting for mining production. The potential for Canadian Zinc is large and the author owns shares in this company.



Six Silver Stocks Performance in 2010

The following chart compares the relative performance this year of the above six mentioned stocks.

To paraphrase the old adage, “Past performance does not indicate possible future returns”. Silver Wheaton, US Silver and Canadian Zinc are leading with their gains. Hecla, Silver Standard and Genco are still dealing with their issues. However, they all have moved off their lows of the Summer and are moving up with the Silver price increase.

Summary

The Silver metal price appears to be moving to new highs this fall. The author is a firm believer in junior mining equities for leveraging the gains of the underlying precious metals. The author also believes that the safer investments would include miners that are either mining or close to production. The reader is advised to assess their own appetite for risk and reward in their own investments.

Disclosure: The author is long Silver mining equities.

Important Disclaimer

The information and opinions contained within this document reflect the personal views of the author and should be viewed as food for thought and amusement only. The author may from time to time have a position in any of the securities mentioned. There are no guarantees of the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information contained herein. Independent due diligence and discussions with one’s own investment and business advisor is strongly recommended. These writings are not to be construed as an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any security or as an endorsement of any product or service. We do not request or receive compensation in any form in order to feature companies in this publication. It is prohibited to copy or redistribute this document to any type of third party without the express permission of the author. This document may be quoted, in context, provided proper credit is given.





Disclosure: Long mining equities

Tags: SLW, SSRI, HL, GGC, GGCRF, USA, USSIF, CZN, CZICF, Silver, Gold, SLV, GLD, GDXJ, GDX, GSR