Comment BALTIMORE, MD -- I headed up to the Big Apple earlier this week to attend the New York Hard Asset Investment Conference, hosted by International Investment Conferences. But because I arrived late and planned to meet directly with so many folks up there, I did not get a chance to hear any of the speakers this year. I did, however, find some companies that piqued my interest.
Adriana Resources Inc. (TSX-V: ADI)
Adriana Resources Inc. is a junior mineral exploration and development firm with four advanced and early-stage mineral projects in Canada and Finland. The company's projects include the Mustavaara iron/vanadium/titanium project , the Lac Otelnuk iron project , the Bear Valley uranium project , and, my personal favoritel the MIE (Mackenzie Igneous Event) copper/nickel/PGM (platinum group metals) project . Each of these projects potentially hosts a world-class deposit and could individually turn out to be a company-maker type property. For more detailed information on these projects, simply click here.
Adriana is run by Mr. Michael Beley and Mr. Richard Barclay , two highly respected and successful mining industry veterans. Over the past three decades, Beley and Barclay have worked as a team, first as co-founders of Bema Gold Corp. and later as co-founders of Eldorado Gold Corp. As a direct result of their efforts these companies have turned into multibillion-dollar operations. Before being taken over by Kinross Gold Corp. in February, Bema Gold had a market capitalization of over CDN$3.5 billion, while Eldorado Gold Corp. currently has a market cap of over CDN$2 billion.
Here's what Adriana is doing now . . .
The company is currently in the middle of a diamond drilling exploration program taking place at the 100% owned MIE project. At its finish, this program will consist of three drill holes reaching a combined depth of 2,500 meters. So far Adriana has drilled the first hole to a depth of over 600 meters. Below you'll see the drill rig at MIE.
Company representatives at the New York conference said that the drill rig should hit contact depth very soon and will then move on to the next target.
After the exploration program is complete at MIE, Adriana will move the rig over to the Bear Valley uranium project, located just a few kilometers away. Drilling at Bear Valley is projected to total 2,000 meters in depth.
A scoping study is projected to be complete on the Mustavaara iron/vanadium/titanium project in the fall. This is a very interesting project because there's little to no exploration risk. Mustavaara is a past producer and has a 43-101-compliant measured resource of 30 million tons. The company believes, however, that Mustavaara holds a 100+ million ton potential.
At the Lac Otelnuk iron project, Adriana has been working very closely with local governments and natives organizations and says it has the support of both parties. The Lac Otelnuk project is one of the more interesting of the company's four projects. A historical resource estimate shows 1.7 billion tons of ore in two zones grading over 25% magnetite iron. Based solely on this, I estimate that Lac Otelnuk could produce iron ore for some 50+ years.
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International Tower Hill Mines Ltd (TSX-V: ITH; OTC BB: ITHMF; Frankfurt: IW9)
International Tower Hill Mines is a relatively new, Alaska-focused mineral exploration company that was created when AngloGold Ashanti effectively sold its Alaskan gold assets. ITH currently controls eight 100% owned, early to advanced stage gold and base metal projects in Alaska and is earning a 60% interest in two other advanced projects in the state. The company also earns a 70% position in two Nevada gold projects.
Significant gold systems have been identified at the company's Livengood, Terra, and LMS projects. All three are moving into the resource definition phase in 2007. There is potential on the Terra and LMS projects for a one-million-ounce resource, while it's believed Livengood could hold up to three million ounces of gold.
The company's North Bullfrog , Coffee Dome , West Tanana , and Painted Hills projects have developed into very strong gold targets indicative of major gold systems as well. These projects will be drill tested in 2007. Three of these projects have never seen a drill rig. Only the North Bullfrog Project has been previously drill tested.
The company also boasts superior management and technical expertise. The team is led by Mr. Jeff Pontius, who was formerly the North American exploration manager with AngloGold Ashanti. Mr. Pontis is highly respected in the precious metals business and is directly responsible for the discovery of 5+ million ounces of gold for AngloGold Ashanti. Jeff has also been able to attract key members of the North American AngloGold Ashanti team, including Russell Myers, vice president of exploration, and has an extensive network of contacts in the business that will assist the company in corporate development.
I love the company's properties and I love the management. My only concern is that ITH is a new company, having launched its IPO in the early summer of 2006, and I'm sure there is a lot of very cheap paper floating around. I'd be careful of that.
Virgin Metals Inc. (TSX: VGM)
Virgin Metals is a junior exploration and development company rapidly evolving toward production status. It has two advanced exploration stage molybdenum/copper porphyry properties in Sonora State, northern Mexico.
The Los Verdes Property is a historic molybdenum producer and was extensively drilled in the 1970s. Repetition and expansion of that drilling by Virgin in 2006 has resulted in a 43-101-compliant resource estimate of 28.5 million pounds of contained molybdenum and 105 million pounds of contained copper.
Of the rock specimens seen below, the large sample in the back was taken from Los Verdes. This rock, which measures about a foot across, is very heavy, weighing in at approximately 30 pounds. Trust me, I picked it up.
The Cuatro Hermanos Property is a much larger but less intensively explored porphyry system. Consistent copper grades with variable molybdenum have been found over an area of about 4.5 square kilometers. Drill spacing over most of the property is on the order of 300 to 700 meters and thickness of mineralization varies from 6 to 40 meters. The company says that it anticipates reducing the drill spacing in order to eventually quantify the extent of mineralization at Cuatro Hermanos. The target is a resource on the order of hundreds of millions of tons of mineralization at grades that are expected to average 0.5% copper and molybdenum.
Again, I really like the company's properties. But I am concerned about the number of shares floating around. Virgin has 76,650,130 shares issued and outstanding and 102,244,767 fully diluted. Those numbers raise a bit of a red flag.
Until next time, Luke Burgess
GoldWorld.com
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