Rick Mills Believes Cobalt is the King of Critical Metals, Good for Geovic Mining

PETALUMA (Critical Metals Report) - The Critical Metals Report: Most resource stock investors are focused primarily on the precious metals and copper and, to some extent, the rare earth elements (REEs), which have gained increasing coverage in the past few years. Base and industrial metals such as nickel, manganese and cobalt seem to attract little investor interest. Why is that?

Rick Mills: Well, let’s focus on cobalt, which has never been on the radar screens of most investors. It is something new and investors have to get their heads around exactly what it is, and just how important it is to the functioning of a modern economy, in the green movement and in defense applications. Cobalt is going to undergo a massive sea change in perception among investors because it is so much more than an industrial metal. I call it the “King of Critical Metals.” Cobalt is an emerging story we can expect to hear more and more about as critical metals are the sexy new story.

TCMR: Why don’t you give us a definition of critical metals so everyone’s on the same page?

RM: There’s been some controversy over what is and isn’t a critical metal, so let’s lay it out for our readers based on three reports published in the last year or so. The U.S. Department of Energy says materials used in four clean energy technologies: wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar cells and energy efficient lighting, are critical now. The American Physical Society’s Panel on Public Affairs and the Materials Research Society coined the term “energy critical element” to describe elements that are essential to one or more of the new energy-related technologies. The European Union commissioned a report that identified 14 materials critical to the EU.

George Maniere: Beryllium, Even Sexier than it Sounds

InvestingAdvicebyGeorge – The young Marine sniper lays motionless in a shallow bed of sand and broken rock on the mountainside in Afghanistan. The sun blazes down, and he’s sweating. He’s spent the morning scanning a valley for Taliban fighters who keep a low profile in their maze of spider holes.

After a while, another Marine – the spotter – says, “I’ve got him. He’s just next to the tree, to the left of that stone house.”

The sniper stares down through the optics of his rifle. Yes, indeed. The image is perfect from over 1,000 meters away. There’s a very shallow footprint in the dirt, and next to it is a telltale cigarette butt. This Taliban has just smoked his last one.

The sniper turns a small knob on the gun sight. The image holds steady. There’s no vibration at all. THE Marine has a clear view, his eyeballs on target, and a confirmed bad guy. He is given his order – fire at will. He squeezes the trigger, and… Wham! One terrorist has been eliminated. 

Great Panther Silver Posts Stellar New Gold-Silver Discovery at Guanajuato Project

In a press release out today, Great Panther Silver (TSX: GPR and NYSE Amex: GPL) announced the discovery of additional high grade silver-gold mineralization in an extension of the Cata Mine in the core of the Guanajuato Mine Complex.

Highlights of the above observations include Alto 2 zone intersections from UG11-135 that returned 29.44g/t gold and 6,447g/t silver over a width of 3.20 metres, and UG11-137 that returned 7.38g/t gold and 2,114g/t silver over a width of 5.40 metres. The Alto 1a zone in UG11-137 returned 1.82g/t gold and 485g/t silver over a width of 4.80 metres, while the Veta Madre zone in UG11-133 returned 6.02g/t gold and 1,347g/t silver over a width of 2.25 metres.

In the release, Great Panther’s President & CEO Robert Archer stated: “The discovery of new high grade mineralization at depth at Cata is very significant as it not only emphasizes the ongoing potential for new discoveries, but the excellent silver and gold grades will go a long way to boosting our overall grades from this part of the mine.”

These are some very high grade intercepts and should add valuable ounces to Great Panther quickly as these zones are built out and added to current resource/reserve values. To get a sense of the value of this level of mineralization, the aforementioned intercepts calculate at roughly: $9,995 per tonne, $3,146 per tonne, $729 per tonne and $2,079 per tonne respectively (at $1,800 gold and $40 silver).

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Advanced Explorations Assays 165 Metres of 34% Iron, Including 8 Metres of 50% Iron

Advanced Explorations (OTC Other: ADEXF; TSX-V: AXI), in drill-hole 11TT011, intercepted 8 metres of high quality banded iron formation (BIF) grading 50.27% Fe within a broader 165.25 metre interval of BIF grading 33.61% Fe.  The same broad interval also included 14 metres of 46.34% iron.

According to John Gingerich, President and CEO, “We are excited by the consistent high grade, plus 50% Fe, banded iron formation being intersected at Tuktu 1. The broad intervals of greater than 33% Fe define an exceptional magnetite rich BIF deposit. Tuktu is emerging as an important asset adding value to the business development scenarios of the region.”

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Nortec Minerals Signs Agreement for $20.5 Million Option of its LK Property

Nortec Mineral Exploration (OTC Other: NMNZF; TSX-V: NVT) has signed an Option and Joint Venture Agreement with Otterburn Ventures Inc., whereby Otterburn can earn up to an 80% interest in Nortec’s Lantinen Koillismaa project, a 100 % owned palladium-platinum-gold-copper-nickel property (“LK Project”), located in north central Finland.

The LK project comprises of the following target areas (exploration claims and exploration claim applications): Kaukua, Haukiaho, Haukiaho East, Lipeavaara, and Murtolampi Targets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Otterburn can earn an 80% interest in the LK Project on payment of $10.5 million in cash and securities to Nortec and by expending $10 million in exploration work within 3 years.

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Laurion Minerals Completes Option Agreement to Acquire 100% Interest in Elmhirst Gold Project

Laurion Minerals (OTCQX: LMEFF; TSX-V: LME) has entered into an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Jubilee Gold Elmhirst Project, which includes 4 mining leases totalling 64 hectares.  The Elmhirst Project is contiguous to the Company’s Sturgeon River property and the objective of this transaction is to encompass the extensions along strike of the Tehya, Ahki, Loki and A2 Vein trends, prospective horizons for precious metal rich VMS mineralization.

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Ranting Andy: You Can’t Buy Groceries with Gold

RANTING ANDY – Who is John Galt?

Pardon my ongoing references to Atlas Shrugged, which as you know I am in the process of reading (64% completed, per my Kindle!).  I have been deeply moved by reading it, in the same way I’m touched each time I watch V for Vendetta.  Through the dark days of late 2008 and early 2009, that movie, as well as mentors such as Jim Sinclair, Bill Murphy, and others, empowered me to keep fighting TPTB through seemingly hopeless days of rabid market manipulation (read: gold and silver suppression).

This fight was initially for personal wealth preservation, but is now for as many people as I can bring along with me, particularly friends, family, and RANT readers.  And that fight is being won, one day at a time, soon to be accelerating sharply as the END GAME for the GLOBAL FIAT CURRENCY SYSTEM commences this fall.

Quality Gold Stocks to Benefit When Investors Return to Equities

KENWOOD, CA (The Gold Report) - With the price of gold soaring to over $1,900 an ounce and investors abandoning equities for commodities, John McClintock, equity research analyst at Mackie Research Capital, sees gold mining companies benefitting from this flight from risk. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, McClintock talks about the risk trade.

The Gold Report: With the recent performance of the gold market, what expectations do you have for the next 6-12 months?

John McClintock: I think nothing is really going to change on the equity side until we see the risk trade coming back on to invest in equities. That risk trade is going to be a function of the U.S. housing market rebounding, as investment is a function of wealth, and the resolution of the debt crisis in Europe. We are going to see companies that have shown consistent operating performance continue to outperform the market. Currently, the focus on quality is paramount, and we are likely going to see that continue for at least the next six months.

Net Gold Exports from Japan Likely to Top Last Year’s Record 78 Tonnes

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan exported a net 6.1 tonnes of gold in July, making it increasingly likely that net exports of bullion will set a record this year, Ministry of Finance data showed on Tuesday.

Japan exported a total of 6.2 tonnes of gold in July and imported just 0.06 tonnes.

It is again a net gold exporter so far this year, with shipments at a net 49 tonnes in the first seven months following a record net outflow of 78 tonnes in 2010 as households cashed in on surging prices.

Ranting Andy: Too Many Financial Instruments Have Destroyed the World

RANTING ANDY – Last Thursday’s RANT, “OUTING GLD AND SLV, AND ‘INNING’ ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF PHYSICAL GOLD AND SILVER INVESTMENT” was inspired by the significant increase in PUBLIC interest I’ve observed this month, the most I’ve seen in the 9½ years I’ve been involved in Precious Metals.  Not that such “interest” has necessarily yielded new BUYING, but the inquirers are certainly WATCHING gold inexorably rise and WONDERING what it means.  As we all are well aware, human nature dictates that any investment class that is rising will eventually attract the masses, some who ultimately buy for the right reasons, and most who buy simply because it’s going up.

After its publication, I had many discussions with the public about GLD and SLV, as well as the alternative Precious Metal vehicles discussed.  Some investors appeared affected by my pleas regarding the potential (and highly likely) fraud behind these securities, but most showed not the slightest inclination to question their complex, dubious natures, much less believe my conclusions.  In fact, more than ever I believe the investing public, AS A WHOLE, believes GLD IS gold (at least the roughly 1% of the population that even WATCHES the gold market).

The point of this RANT is that those who still remain in the financial markets (the minority who weren’t wiped out by the internet or real estate bubbles, the 2008-09 meltdown, unemployment, or personal bankruptcy) have been so desensitized to the criminality that has permeated daily market operations that they don’t even think to QUESTION it.  Sort of an advanced stage of “Stockholm Syndrome”, in which one not only identifies with his captors, but in this case are will to BUY from them the criminal products they are selling.