| 09/27/2008
www.insidemetals.com |
Vol
3, Issue 17 |
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In
This Edition...
Precious
Metals Market Update Geopolitical View
Gold
Producer News
Website Updates
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| Dear
Subscriber, |
This
newsletter will be published next on October 11,
2008.
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IN
THIS EDITION OF INSIDEMETALS
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In this edition of the InsideMetals
Newsletter, we'll take a look at gold &
silver ETF's, production, pricing and news, as
well as precious metals trends, gold producer
news and recent website updates.
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|
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| In
This Issue |
| Precious
Metals Markets Update |
| 2007
Silver Nevada Miner Bar |
| Geopolitical
View |
| Whitney
& Whitney Inc. |
| NYSE
Gold Producer News |
| AMEX
Gold Producer News |
| NASD
Gold Producer News |
| InsideMetals.com
Website Updates |
|
| PRECIOUS
METALS MARKET UPDATE |
 Gold
closed at $888.50/oz (London Fix) on
September 25, 2008, 2008. This is a 19.8%
increase over the $740.75/oz (London Fix)
closing price on September 11, 2008, when data
for the previous newsletter was gathered.
Silver closed
at $13.34/oz (London Fix) on September 25, 2008.
This is a 20.0% jump from the $10.66/oz (London
Fix) closing price on September 11, 2008.
Platinum closed
at $1195.00/oz (London Fix) on September 25,
2008. This is 2.1% higher than the $1170.00/oz
(London Fix) closing price on September 11,
2008.
Palladium
closed at $242.00/oz (London Fix) on September
25, 2008. This price is 4.3% higher than the
$232.00/oz (London Fix) closing price on
September 11, 2008.
YEAR TO DATE GOLD vs. EURO/U.S. DOLLAR CHART
The year-to-date Gold vs. Euro/U.S. dollar
chart shows a recent rise in the price of
gold as the U.S. dollar has weakened. In the
last several months the price of gold and
the Euro/U.S. dollar have declined together.
Note the recent separation as gold prices
approach $900 an ounce in the midst of the
efforts by the U.S. government to fix the
financial markets.
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| Advertise
to a world-wide targeted audience |
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| Active
Gold Producer Stocks |
During the month of September 2008, to date,
there has been significant stock price gains for
select InsideMetals.com Gold Producer Stocks
that have rebounded from the $740.75 per ounce
low (London Fix) gold price that occurred on
September 11, 2008. Stocks with significant
upward movement include Lihr Gold Ltd (LIHR) up
68%; Harmony Gold Mining Ltd. (HMY) up 58%; and
Eldorado Gold Corp. (EGO) up 39.1%. The above
stocks have rebounded to their 100-day moving
average.
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| 2007
Silver Nevada Miner Bar - 99.9% Pure 5
Troy Ounces of American History |
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| GEO
POLITICAL VIEW |
 GOLD
& SILVER ETF'S ACCUMMULATE OUNCES AND
INFLUENCE
The SPDR Gold Share Trust is an ETF, an
exchange traded fund with gold being the
principle and only commodity being traded. On
September 23, 2008, the SPDR Gold Share's gold
holdings rose 2% to a record 724.94 tonnes. This
is equivalent to 23,307,547 ounces of gold.
The trust's holdings increased by 18% (100
tonnes) since mid-September when Lehman Brothers
filed for bankruptcy protection, and the turmoil
in the financial markets accelerated like a
runaway train.
The amount of gold held by the SPDR Gold Shares
(NYSE: GLD) is staggering. This 725 tonnes of
gold is approximately 2.6 times the amount of
gold produced by China, the world's leading
producer of gold in 2007. In 2007 China produced
276 tonnes of gold, or approximately 9.7 million
ounces.
SPDR Gold Shares were originally listed on the
New York Stock Exchange on November 2004. The
initial offering was based on a pricing of
one-tenth of the then current price for an ounce
of gold ($439 per ounce was the average price
for the month of November 2004). At the end of
November 2007, the GLD had holdings of 19.3
million ounces of gold, and has increased its
gold holdings by approximately 4.0 million
ounces in the last year.
The GLD allows an investor to effortlessly add
gold to their portfolio, and also allows
institutional investors who can only trade in
the stock markets, per their charters to include
gold in their fund's portfolio. The GLD can also
be a vehicle for speculators who can buy and
sell it at will and not have to concern
themselves with all the encumbrances of dealing
with physical gold such as storage, delivery,
and assays.
The GLD enables vast pools of capital in the
stock markets to flow into bullion. If stock
market demand for the GLD exceeds the underlying
demand for bullion, the GLD trust goes out and
buys bullion to curtail excessive stock demand
into gold. If selling pressure on the GLD is
greater than that in bullion, the ETF custodians
have to sell gold bullion to alleviate this
imbalance. It's the task of the ETF custodian to
rapidly equalize gold supply and demand to track
the price of gold and maintain the funds share
price at one- tenth of the price of an ounce of
gold.
In the last 6 months the GLD gold inventory has
increased by approximately 4.65 million ounces
(~25%) while the monthly average price of gold
has declined from $910 per ounce to $815 per
ounce (a 10% decline). During the same period
the silver inventory held in the iShares Silver
Trust (SLV), a silver ETF, has increased by
approximately 31,000,000 million ounces to
217,000,000 ounces (a 17% increase) while the
silver price has declined from $17.50 an ounce
to $12.20 an ounce (a 30% decline).
The increasing inventories in both metals in
spite of price declines in both gold and silver
indicate that investor sentiment is bullish on
both precious metals. On September 22, 2008, ETF
Securities, a London based firm reported that a
small outflow from its gold- and platinum-backed
exchange traded commodities (ETC) product last
week took place while inflows occurred into its
silver-backed product.
In comparing the performance of the GLD and SLV
over the last year, an investor in the GLD would
have received an 11% year-to-date return
compared to a 17.5% year-to-date return from the
SLV. The total return for both funds over the
last year is comparable. The GLD returned 42%
while the SLV returned 40%.
In terms of having dollars at risk, the SLV has
been a better investment vehicle than the GLD.
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| Advertise
to a world-wide targeted audience |
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| Whitney
& Whitney Inc. - A Nevada Based
Management Consulting Firm |
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|
| NYSE
GOLD PRODUCER NEWS |
 September
15, 2008: Goldcorp Inc (GG) has suspended
mining at its Pamour open pit operation in
Ontario due to falling gold prices. A GG
spokesperson said the mine was "not
material" to the company's overall results.
Pamour is part of GG's Porcupine operation
at Timmins, Ontario. GG also said that mining
could resume at a later date.
September 6,
2008: Kinross Gold Corp (KGC) announced
today that it has taken up and paid for an
additional 15,165,279 common shares of Aurelian
Resources Inc. (TSX: ARU) following the
extension of Kinross' previously announced offer
to acquire all of the issued and outstanding
common shares of ARU. As a result of this
acquisition, Kinross now beneficially owns a
total of 138,689,460 common shares of ARU, or
90.7% of the issued and outstanding common
shares of ARU (on a fully diluted basis), and
89.7% of the Aurelian shares excluding the 15
million shares acquired by Kinross prior to the
offer.
September 17,
2008: Barrick Gold Corp (ABX) expects
lower gold production for 2008 due to rising
energy costs and gold prices. However, ABX
expects financials to remain strong after the
company reported a 22% growth in the 2nd
quarter.
September 17,
2008: Silver Wheaton Corp (SLW) announced
the early exercise for two series of its
warrants that have now expired. The exercise of
these warrants has raised over CDN$120 million.
Around 87.7% and 91.7% of the issued and
outstanding first warrants and Series
"A" warrants were exercised early. The
money raised is expected to be used to pay debt
and fund growth. In connection with the early
exercises, SLW has issued 2.72 million new
warrants, which will be listed and posted for
trading on the TSX at the open on September 18,
2008. Each new warrant gives the holder the
right to purchase one common share of SLW at an
exercise price of $20.00 at any time before 5:00
p.m. (P.S.T time) on September 5, 2013. The New
Warrants will trade under the symbol SLW.WT.U
and will be traded in US funds.
September 19,
2008: AngloGold Ashanti (AU) has closed
part of its Savuka gold mine in South Africa
after a worker was killed in an accident. The
Department of Minerals and Energy is carrying
out an investigation into the cause of the
accident. There is no word on how much output
will be lost due to the closure.
September 23,
2008: Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp (CDE)
announced more delays in the Environmental
Assessment process set up by a federal agency's
recent actions concerning Kensington. CDE has
requested the Forest Service to terminate the
permitting process for a potential alternative
Kensington paste tailings plan. CDE continues to
pursue its original tailings plan for
Kensington, which is pending in the U.S. Supreme
Court. A decision on the appeal is expected in
the first or second quarter of 2009. The
alternative paste tailings plan had been
originally submitted to federal agencies for
permitting in January 2008, and permits were
expected in the third or fourth quarter, 2008.
However, as part of the federal agencies'
comments on the ongoing EA work, the
Environmental Protection Agency has now stated
it wants Coeur to evaluate yet another new and
different alternative for review and raised
other issues regarding the modified plan
proposal. The Agency comments have triggered
potentially, months of delay and substantial
issues in completing a timely modified plan
review.
September 23,
2008: Hecla Mining Co (HL) underwriters
exercised their overallotment option, causing HL
to issue almost 3.4 million additional shares of
HL common stock which raised about $16 million
more in proceeds. The stock sales totaled $163
million.
September 25,
2008: Goldcorp Inc (GG) announced the
closing of the Gold Eagle acquisition. Gold
Eagle shareholders are able to receive at their
election and subject to proration either
CDN$13.60 in cash; 0.292 of a common share of GG
and $0.0001 in cash; or any combination for each
Gold Eagle common share held. Gold Eagle
shareholders decided to receive a cash amount
greater than the maximum available according to
the terms of the plan and now shareholders will
receive approximately 52.7% of the cash amount
that they elected or were deemed to have
elected. In aggregate, CDN$725.8 million in cash
and 15.6 million common shares of GG will be
paid and issued to Gold Eagle shareholders. The
common shares of Gold Eagle will be de-listed
from the TSX effective at the close of markets
on Tuesday, September 30, 2008.
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| AMEX
GOLD PRODUCER NEWS |
 September
15, 2008: North American Palladium (PAL)
Board of Directors has named William J. Biggar
as PAL's President and CEO effective October 1,
2008. Mr. Biggar will also join the Company's
Board of Directors.
September 15,
2008: Aurizon Mines Ltd. (AZK) has
entered into a letter agreement with Alexandria
Minerals Corporation where Alexandria has
granted AZK an option to earn an undivided 100%
interest in 19 mineral claims, subject to an
existing 2% net smelter return and a 2% gross
overriding receipts royalty on any diamonds
extracted from the claims. One half of the net
smelter return royalty may be purchased at any
time for $2,000,000. The Alexandria Claims are
located adjacent to the AZK's Joanna Project.
The option will require AZK to pay $200,000 in
cash and issue shares having a $200,000 market
value within thirty days of a definitive
agreement; incur exploration expenditures of
$650,000 over a 24 month period; and make a
final payment of AZK shares having a market
value of $1,600,000, by the 2nd anniversary of
the signed formal agreement.
September 22,
2008: Claude Resources Inc (CGR) has
agreed to sell their Tartan Lake Gold Mining
Property as well as the Amisk Lake Property to
St. Eugene Mining Corporation Ltd. In addition
to a fee of $100,000 payable in cash or shares
of St. Eugene, the purchase price for the Tartan
Lake Property is $3,000,000, payable in cash or
shares of St. Eugene, and a sliding Net Smelter
Royalty fee. A Net Smelter Royalty is also
payable on the Amisk Lake Property.
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| NASDAQ
GOLD PRODUCER NEWS |
 No
press releases this period.
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| INSIDEMETALS.COM
WEBSITE UPDATES |
 Junior
Gold & Minerals Stocks Shopping Mall:
On September 25, 2008, InsideMetals.com
announced the addition of four Junior Gold
Companies to its Gold and Mineral Stocks
Shopping Mall which is available to all viewers
of the website and can be accessed by clicking
on its icon located on the right side of the
website's Home Page. The Gold & Mineral
Stocks Shopping Mall contains the names of 136
exploration companies and links to each
company's website. The companies are categorized
as to whether they are exploring for
"Gold" (precious metals) or
"Minerals" (copper, lead, zinc,
molybdenum, and/or industrial minerals), and are
classified as Prospector, Explorer, or Developer
to reflect the stage of their project's progress
toward becoming a producing company. The
exchanges where the companies trade at are also
listed and linked for easy access.
The companies
added include:
Explorers
Dia Bras
Exploration Inc.: is listed on the
Toronto Stock Exchange. On September 18, 2008,
Dia Bras provided results from new drilling at
its ongoing 65,600 ft. drilling program at
Bolivar, Mexico, which included 27.6 feet of
4.97% copper and 25.45% zinc.
Oro Silver
Resources Ltd.: is listed on the TSX
Venture Exchange. On September 18, 2008, Oro
announced the completion of a National
Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral resource
estimate for its 51% owned El Compass property
located in Zacatecas, Mexico. The indicated
resource estimate is for 65,000 gold-equivalent
ounces, and the inferred resource estimate is
for 41,200 gold-equivalent ounces.
Prospectors
International
Northair Mines Ltd.: is listed on the TSX
Venture Exchange. On August 12, 2008, Northair
reported results from a recently completed
trenching and surface drilling program at the
Santa Rosario project in Sinaloa, Mexico.
Highlight of the program include a 114 ft.
interval from trench sampling that contained 5.6
ounces per ton silver.
Shoshone Silver
Mining Company: is listed on the Over the
Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB). On September 16,
2008, Shoshone announced that it agreed to sell
its California Creek claims located near Elko,
NV to Baywater Uranium Corp.
The above companies are all actively exploring
in Mexico for silver. Their projects also
contain high grades of silver and important
values of gold, lead, zinc, and copper. Market
analysts are expecting that silver demand and
prices will continue to increase, benefiting
silver exploration and production companies.
The grouping of companies by classification on
the website allows the user to easily compare
companies at comparable stages of development.
Some companies are listed more than once as they
trade on multiple exchanges or they have
projects other than precious metals.
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We
hope you have enjoyed our newsletter.
This newsletter will be published next on
October 11, 2008.
Until next time!!!,
InsideMetals
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