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-- Posted 12 June, 2004 | Digg This Article
FRIDAY, June 11th, 2004
This week's report lists 112 silver stocks. There are 30 silver stocks that list reserves, resources (and exploration potential.) which I calculate by using my "ounce in the ground" forumula. There are 52 explorers. There are about 30 additional "silver" stocks with incomplete information. Additions & Changes from last week are in bold.
If this is the first time you have seen this report, please try to read the entire report before sending me an email. This report goes out now to over 8900 investors each week. You can signup, or unsubscribe, to this report at http://www.goldismoney.com/subscription-ss.php
If you are an Accredited or Sophisticated investor and want information I may find out about private placement opportunities in some of the very best silver stocks in my opinion, (This is not a solicitation for any stock, and I'm not brokering any securities) you can sign up to receive such a notice by adding yourself to my private placement list at http://www.goldismoney.com/subscription-pp.php
Because I have a market reach, I also receive a lot of tips about silver stocks. And thus, I believe I may have invested in some of the best ones that came my way. If you believe I may have an edge based on my work and position... then the best way for me to share this with you is to is tell you where I put my money. It's not investment advice. I offer a monthly "look at my portfolio". I do not issue recommendations, and I don't list number of shares or the size of my portfolio, but I will show the top investments in my portfolio, by rank, updated monthly.
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If you want to receive an email notice of when and where this FREE weekly report is published, sign up at http://www.goldismoney.com/free-ebook.php Anyone who signs up will also get a FREE e-book that explains the bullish case for gold and especially silver. If you have studied the silver market at all, then the time has come that you ought to be a teacher, and you ought to explain the silver story to all who will listen. GoldIsMoney.com is designed to help spread the word. I suggest you email the link to your address book, or email your friends now.
To read about my religious bias, see my other website, bibleprophesy.org There are two essays near the top of the page that explain why I believe the entire world will return to using gold and silver as money again before the end times. Hint, see Ezekiel 38. To read more about my religious bias when it comes to investing, see my essay, Biblical Guidelines for Managing your Money
Kitco reports silver at $5.70/oz. as of Friday, 2:00 PM West Coast US, which was used to calculate the following figures. The CAN $ / US $ conversion factor is .7332. I will use .73 for ease.
How to read the following table:
Stock Symbol that works at Yahoo! Finance (Company name) / Silver oz. "in ground" for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock. / valuation price change since last week relative to silver price change (and stock dilution, and resource changes, if any) / additional comments (EXPT is "exploration potential")
Company names in bold have summaries below with updated information.
- ABX (BARRICK) 0.95 down --infamous hedger (16? mil oz. gold hedged, 3 yrs production)
- CDE (COEUR D'ALENE) 1.2 down --(also gold) in debt, produces at a loss.
- IPOAF.PK (INDUSTL PENOLES) 1.7 even --current producer, mostly family owned, hedged?
- SIL (APEX SILVER) 3.3 down --zinc bonus, low grades, cash rich--$345 million! in debt
- GRS GAM.TO (GAMMON LAKE) 3.4 down --current producer, owns 26% of Mexgold
- KBR.V KBRRF.PK (KIMBER RSCS) 4.5 way up One property, high grades, with exploration potential.
- PAAS (PAN AMERICAN SILVER) 4.8 down --current producer debt free
- MFN MFL.TO (MINEFINDERS) 4.9 down --significant gold bonus, $35 mil cash on hand.
- FSR.TO FSLVF.PK (FIRST SILVER) 5.0 down --current producer, (not profitable '03 3rd q.) unhedged
- CFTN.PK (CLIFTON MINING) 5.5 down -- (133 EXPT) (colloidal silver patent bonus)
- WTZ WTC.TO (WESTERN SILVER) 6.3 down -- (22 EXPT) large mine development cost. copper & zinc bonus
- SSRI SSO.V (SILVER STD RSC) 7.7 up --multi-property company, understands silver story
- * TM.V TUMIF.OB (TUMI RSCS) 8.1 down -- (16 EXPT) recent bonanza grade silver discovery
- ORM.V OREXF.PK (OREMEX RES) 8.9 down (37 EXPT)
- CZN.TO CZICF.PK (CDN ZINC) 10 down --large zinc bonus, high grades, low start up costs, great EXPT
- SRLM.PK (STERLING MINING) 12 down --(29 EXPT) acquired the Sunshine in Cour d'Alene
- IMR.V IMXPF.OB (IMA EXPL) 12.3 up (49 EXPT) --Explorer in Argentina
- FAN.TO FRLLF.PK (FARALLON RSCS) 13.9 way up --(24 EXPT) low grades, silver 1/3; also gold & zinc bonus.
- CHD.V CHDSF.PK (CHARIOT RSCS) 14.3 up (explorer, with inferred resources)
- GGC.V GGCRF.PK (GENCO RESOURCES) 15.3 down --producer in Mex. Plans to expand and acquire
- RDV.TO RDFVF.PK (REDCORP VENTURE) 16.2 down --60% gold bonus
- ADB.V ADBRF.PK (ADMIRAL BAY RSCS) 20.5 down --actively expanding resources. (Huge gas bonus)
- * PLE.V (PLEXMAR RES INC) 22.5 up
- * SVL.V STVZF.PK (SILVRCRST MINES) 24.8 down --(43+ EXPT) --(Silver in Honduras) +
- HDA.V (HUSIF?) (HULDRA SILVER) 29.2 way down --very tiny, zinc bonus, low start up costs.
- * MGN (MINES MGMT) 28.9 down --60% copper bonus (low grades), start up cost ~ $250 mil
- EXR.V EXPTF.PK (EXPATRIATE RECS) 33.7 down --significant zinc bonus 60% zinc, 25% silver (got out Atna)
- ABI.V ABMBF.PK (ABCOURT MINES) 33.6 up --large zinc & small gold bonus
- ASM.V ASGMF.PK (AVINO SILV GOLD) 42.8 down --will own 49%-100% of the Avino +4 other silver props.
- UNCN.OB (UNICO INC) 61 down --lease expiring on largest property, June 1 2004?????
* = I own shares
Explorers (by market cap, in millions):
- HL (HECLA MINING CO) .45 --A PRODUCER (gold bonus) cash rich.
- EZM.V EZMCF.PK (EUROZINC MINING)
- MGR.V MGRSF.PK (MEXGOLD RSCS) 7.3 -- bonanza grade discovery on Jan 13th, 2004
- SPM.V SMNPF.PK (SCORPIO MINING)
- CDU.V CUEAF.PK (CARDERO RSCS)
- AOT.V ASOLF.PK (ASCOT RSCS) -- owns percentage of Cardero, CDU.V
- * FCO.TO FCACF.PK (FORMATION CAPTL) Cobolt (and Sunshine silver refinery)
- * OTMN.PK (O.T. MINING) very large exploration potential
- * MMGG.OB (METALLINE MINE) --zinc/silver (historic high grade silver) (low cost revolutionary oxide zinc process)
- TVI.TO TVIPF.PK (TVI PACIFIC) --current producer of a dore silver bar 96% silver, 4% gold
- MCAJF.PK (MACMIN LTD)
- * FR.V FMJRF.PK (FIRST MAJESTIC) -- Bought a former silver producer. Acquiring silver properties.
- IAU.V ITDXF.PK (INTREPID MINRLS) 7 "exploration potential"
- * NPG.V NVPGF.PK (NEVADA PAC GOLD) 33-168 "exploration potential" (owns 1 silver property, 10 gold properties)
- MAI.V MNEAF.OB (MINERA ANDES) (gold bonus)
- MAG.V MSLRF.PK (MAG SILVER)
- ECU.V ECUXF.PK (ECU SILVER MINI) --50% gold bonus
- CAUCF.PK (CALEDON RES)
- * EDR.V EDRGF.PK (ENDEAVOUR GOLD) A PRODUCER (I could not yet find a listing of resources or reserves)
- PXI.V PNXPF.PK (Planet Exploration Inc.)
- QTA.V QURAF.PK (QUATERRA RES)
- BZA.V ABZGF.PK (AMER BONANZA)
- NJMC.OB (NEW JERSEY MIN)
- BCM.V BCEKF.PK (BEAR CRK MINING)
- * CBE.V CBEFF.PK (CABO MINING) --Historic Silver and Cobalt district
- DNI.V DMNKF.PK (DUMONT NICKEL) exploring Clifton's property
- EXN.V EXLLF.PK (EXCELLON RSCS)
- * KG.V KDKGF.PK (KLONDIKE GOLD)
- SML.V SMLZF.PK (STEALTH MNRLS)
- EPZ.V ESPZF.PK (ESPERANZA SILVR)
- APM.V (Amerix Precious Metals Corp) (NEW BULLET GP) 42 - 117 "exploration potential"
- SDR.V SDURF.PK (STROUD RSCS)
- * CMA.V CRMXF.OB (CREAM MINERALS) 183 "exploration potential" (low grades)
- CHMN.PK (CHESTER MINING)
- GNG.V GGTHF.PK (GOLDEN GOLIATH) --Historic silver district in Mexico
- GPR.V GPRLF.PK (GREAT PANTHER)
- * KRE.V KREKF.PK (KENRICH ESKAY)
- MMG.V MMEEF.PK (MCMILLAN GOLD)
- EGD.V EGDMF.PK (ENERGOLD MINING)
- SHSH.PK (SHOSHONE SILVER)
- LEG.V LEGCF.PK (LATEEGRA RSCS)
- * AUN.V AUNFF.PK (AURCANA CORP)
- TUO.V TEUTF.PK (TEUTON RES)
- PCM.V PAOCF.PK (PAC COMOX RES)
- BGS.V BLDGF.PK (BALLAD GLD SLVR)
- SRY.V (STINGRAY RSCS)
- ASLM.PK (AMER SILVER MINI)
- BBR.V BBRRF.PK (BRETT RES)
- ROK.V ROCAF.PK (ROCA MINES INC)
- MTB.V (Mountain Boy Minerals Ltd)
- LSM.V LASCF.PK (Langis Silver & Cobalt Mining Co Ltd)
- CBP.V CPBMF.PK (CONS PAC BAY MIN)
* = I own shares
Silver oz. "in ground" means and counts all "silver oz. in the ground" as the same, but they are NOT EQUAL. Some are more certain and others are more speculative. Some are higher grades, some are lower grades. They range from most certain to least certain such as: "proven & probable reserves," "measured, indicated, inferred resources." This single number next to each stock symbol above represents the approximate number of ounces of silver in the ground you are buying title to when you invest the equivalent of one ounce of silver into buying shares in the company at current prices. Here's the math on how to get it. 1. Get a market cap in U.S. dollars. Divide that by the silver price, so the market cap is denominated in terms of silver ounces. Then, divide the ounces in the ground by the market cap as denominated in silver. This tells you how many ounces of silver in the ground you are buying when you give up one ounce of silver in you hand for shares of stock, instead.
(It does not include zinc, or copper, or lead, but it does include gold at a 1:10 ratio of gold:silver.) At goldsheetlinks.com, they add 100% of proven & probable reserves, but only 70% of measured & indicated resources, and only 50% of inferred resources. I don't do that. I count them as all the same.
I believe that the two most important numbers that a silver mining company can report are the resources in the ground, and the number of their fully diluted shares. Of course, there is much more to a mining company than that, but without those numbers, it is extremely difficult to even start an evaluation. This report highlights those key numbers, where possible. If you think those numbers are also important, please email the executives of the mining companies you own, and ask them to make sure their numbers are clearly published at their websites.
To quickly "tab" down to the company you are interested in, note the symbol. Then hit "control-F" to "FIND" the symbol below.
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If I use a word you don't understand and is not listed in the dictionary at www.m-w.com you can look up the meaning at http://investorwords.com/
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WEEKLY COMMENTARY (All new in this section):
I will be speaking in Vancouver on June 13-14, 2004
World Gold, PGM & Diamond Investment Conference,
http://www.goldshow.ca/
I will be speaking at 10:30 - 11:00 AM on June 13th in a workshop on silver. (a smaller area than the main speaker hall).
I will be speaking at 3:00 - 3:30 PM on June 14th in workshop #4 in a panel discussion on silver.
I will be speaking at 5:00 - 5:30 PM on June 14 in a second workshop on silver.
If you live in the Vancouver area, I urge you to attend the FREE show and come to my FREE workshops. Conference is FREE if you Pre-REGISTER NOW ($25 door charge). I will discuss a few things about a few of my favorite silver mining companies that will be attending the show, go over the silver story, and review why I think silver remains such a bargain.
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As I predicted for this summer, company press releases are coming out faster than ever before discussing drilling results, drilling programs, and acquisitions. This is the result of all the recent mining company financings. I could not keep up with all the press releases this week for all for all the companies on this list, and I certainly don't have time to list all news items in the company profiles. I tend to focus on two things. First, have the fully diluted shares increased, and second, have the companies issued a new resource calculation? And I may miss a few of those! I feel that most other news items are not as important as those two things. Acquisitions are certainly big news, however, if there is no resource calculation, it's hard for shareholders to know what the company bought, and hard to value it in terms of the nature of this summary report.
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Today, U.S. markets were closed for the funeral of Ronald Reagan. I've read several commentaries about Reagan this week. One urges precious metal investors to be more optimistic, as Reagan was. I think I'm very optimistic! I'm extremely optimistic on the outlook for precious metals, and I'm very positive that a return to using gold and silver as money will have many very positive benefits for society at large, even people who are not invested directly in precious metals. As I have written,
Rising Gold Prices Will Help The Economy - 02 December 2003
As I've written before, the hardest hit will be the usurers, or bondholders as they are called today. In other words, the wealthy, who are not actually investing in America, but who are trying to enslave it with debt, as denominated in fraudulent dollars, will be hurt the worst, and the common people will be helped as they will end up being more free from debt, and will end up being paid an honest wage for honest work.
Reagan wanted to bring back the gold standard. Unfortunately, he also wanted to make the dollar "as good as gold". In my opinion, you cannot make any paper as good as gold, because the two are not the same thing! You especially cannot make worthless, defaulted paper, that exists within a bankrupt "fractional reserve banking system," "as good as gold". Reagan failed to bring back the gold standard, but he succeeded at stopping inflation that was ruining the dollar. So, really, he helped the fraud of the dollar, and hurt honest gold. So, he did the exact opposite of helping society to return to sound money. In the end, by stopping inflation, Reagan supported and strengthened one of the greatest frauds of all time, the U.S. dollar. I do not think Reagan made America stronger, I think we became weaker. Although that may not have been evident in his terms as President, I think it has manifested itself as the overvalued dollar has priced Americans out of the world workplace, and it will manifest itself even more in the future.
When I was younger, and I was a "good conservative" back then, I know my dad supported Reagan, and I did, too. For a long time, I liked reading and hearing about his idealistic, conservative views. And although Reagan did a number of good things such as lowering taxes, and temporarily reviving the economy (with a flood of fraudulent dollars from government deficit spending)... did Reagan really succeed where it mattered the most? I think not. Realistically, government grew bigger--which many conservatives blame on the Democratic Congress. And in the end, the fraud of the dollar, and all of it's many ill effects, has continued to this day.
I know saying this may make me very unpopular with many of my conservative readers. But I cannot knowingly support fraud, and Reagan helped to prop up the greatest fraud of all time, the U.S. dollar. Is there any other way to look at it?
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Speaking of fraud, and not tolerating fraud, I had several serious discussions with my webmaster this week over three customer complaints this week regarding lack of service and support. (One of the complaints was that a customer's credit card had not been billed, and he wanted to make sure we received payment!) I thank all my customers for the extreme patience, and tolerance for mistakes, they have shown the occasional problem as I've started this online business.
There have been several email viruses that were affecting my webmaster's computers. Also, his server ISP numbers may have been "blocked" by several other ISP's. And, we've had trouble with our emails being filtered out into people's spam mail boxes.. So, several emails they sent out apparantly were never received. For a time, they could not even successfully email me. Hopefully this problem will be fixed as they get a new ISP number.
Also, when the toll free phone number was first set up, several voice mail messages were routed to an inaccessable area. This problem was also identified, and fixed, as of last month, which greatly reduced customer complaints. After it was fixed, I, personally, received less than one complaint a week for about three weeks, which I think is not too bad for over 500 customers.
Finally, my webmaster has been working on a password system for all subscribers, so they do not have to rely on email, which, increasingly, presents new and difficult challenges for mass communicating on the internet with a current customer list.
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SAFES: Need a safe to store your silver? Steve Miele in Grass Valley at the Sports & Swap shop can deliver a safe anywhere in the U.S., and can have a safe custom built to your specifications. Call Steve at (530) 274-4179. The safes are outstanding quality, and more than met my expectations. If you get a very large, refridgerator-sized, heavy safe, in excess of 1000 pounds, you have to have it delivered to a local loading dock or Freight dock, and then arrange delivery from there, which is a bit complex, because you may need to hire several people at such a freight dock to operate a fork lift.
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Ah, more opportunities for paper contracts... UGH!
Contact: Nachamah Jacobovits, 212-299-2430
Title: Exchange to Expand Trading Months For Gold and Silver Options
NEW YORK, N.Y., May 12, 2004 — The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., will expand the listing of gold and silver options contracts out to 60 months from the current 24 months, beginning May 26.
Trading will be extended in gold options on a June/December cycle, adding contracts for June and December 2006, June and December 2007, and June and December 2008.
Silver options trading will be extended on a July/December cycle, with contracts added for July and December 2006, July and December 2007, and July and December 2008.
This contract listing was originally scheduled for February 26, but postponed for technical reasons.
Exchange President J. Robert Collins, Jr., said, "By expanding the availability of gold and silver options contracts to match the available long-dated futures contracts for these key precious metals, the Exchange will make available additional opportunities for risk management and investment in these markets. Trading activity in the gold and silver futures and options markets continues to be strong this year after record performance on our COMEX Division in 2003, as market participants increasingly look to the Exchange for liquidity, market transparency, and protection from counterparty credit risk."
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Limited Time Special Offer!
Buy 1 Annual Subscription to Jason's Monthly Top Picks and get ALL other articles FREE!
Because I have a market reach, I also receive a lot of tips about silver stocks. And thus, I believe I may have invested in some of the best ones that came my way. If you believe I may have an edge based on my work and position... then the best way for me to share this with you is to is tell you where I put my money. It's not investment advice. I offer a monthly "look at my portfolio". I do not issue recommendations, and I don't list number of shares or the size of my portfolio, but I will show the top investments in my portfolio, by rank, updated monthly.
Price: $39.95/monthly, or $49.95 for a single month, or $295.00/year
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If you have any questions about billing or order fulfillment, you need to contact my support staff at support@goldismoney.com and not me. I manage a large portfolio, and I don't have time to process billing requests. I don't bill any cards, my support staff handles all of that. The toll free telephone customer support line is: 877-895-6824.
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------------------
General Commentary on Silver (slightly modified from last week):
Now, I think it's time that the silver community started a letter writing campaign to the editors of newspapers around the world, to tell them about silver. The following links contain email addresses for hundreds of different newspaper's "letters to the editor"
http://www.awolbush.com/papers.html
http://www.results.org/website/article.asp?id=428
http://www.waronfreedom.org/activists/emleted.html
The first two links above have lists of emails, but the third one is awesome because the emails are all in one neat list, so I have copied it to my site, too.
http://www.goldismoney.com/editorsemails.html
This final link lists the email addresses for about 200 world newspapers, and about 100 U.S. newspapers, so you can email them all at once. You have to copy the list, and paste it into your email, and there are direct instructions on tips for submission of letters to the editor. Most editors, most papers, want letters of 250 words or less, and many also want your full name, address and telephone number. So the task is easy. But if 500 people write letters on the silver market to about 300 newspapers around the world, I believe wonderful things will happen.
Here is a sample letter:
May 21, 2004
Dear Editor,
I'm a silver investor. I believe paper money is fraudulent. There is over 30 trillion dollars, U.S., worth of bonds in the world, but less than 2 trillion dollars worth of gold, according to gold.org.
As of April, 2004, the size of M3, the money in U.S. banks, has reached 9.1 trillion dollars, yet due to fractional reserve banking, the total of U.S. currency and coin in circulation is only 724 billion dollars as reported by treas.gov.
At silverinstitute.org and cpmgroup.com, they each report that silver has been in a deficit for about 15 years, where world mine supply has been about 500 million ounces, scrap supply about 200 million ounces, and industrial and jewelry demand about 800 million ounces. The difference, about 100 million ounces, has come from investor and government selling, drawing down reserves of silver. Known supplies of refined silver are down to about 250 to 600 million ounces. At the COMEX, they are down to 48 million ounces of silver left that is registered for delivery, which you can see at nymex.com.
The governments of the world are printing up too much paper money, and the world is running out of real money, silver. I believe this will lead to the price of silver rising dramatically in value, around the world.
I urge your readers to verify the statistics I have provided, and to make their own decisions.
Sincerely,
Jason Hommel
Grass Valley, USA
Goldismoney.com
(530) 274 3450
When I sent out my letter above to that list, I received about 70 "undeliverable/delivery has failed" messages. I sent it BCC, or "blind carbon copy", which means it may be interpreted as spam. It may have had more of an impact if I sent out my letter to each address individually, but I just didn't have the time to do that this week. Maybe next month.
I also did not include my full address, which some editors require. But I'd rather keep a bit of privacy in that regard.
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I wrote an article:
Miners to Use Silver as Cash - 27 November 2003
Apparantly, I was about 6 months too early in my predictions, but that's ok, I'm a very long term thinker and investor. I did not miss the mark by too much time, and if you think in terms of decades, I was right on the mark.
There are several companies that are increasingly deciding to hold their cash in the form of silver bullion. These companies are:
SSRI SSO.V (SILVER STANDARD RSC)
SRLM.PK (STERLING MINING)
NPG.V NVPGF.PK (NEVADA PACIFIC GOLD)
EDR.V EDRGF.PK (ENDEAVOUR GOLD)
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The sponsors of the Sound Money Bill in New Hampshire are now looking for donations so they can take this to other states!
For news on the New Hampshire Sound Money Bill, that proposes to use U.S. Treasury minted Silver Eagles and Gold Eagles as money see:
http://www.nh-inews.org/
http://veritasradio.com/ -- site temporarily disabled.
Current status of the NH bill:
The bill will live until the November elections. It'll have a different #,
but we now have 6 months or so to get EVERYONE we need on board.
Now looking to raise $25,000 to $35,000 for "phase II", to get set up with an office and staff training..
Looking to raise $500,000 for "phase III", to take this to about 5 other states.
Send any donations you can, to:
[These are not political campaign donations.]
SOUND MONEY FOR AMERICA,
c/o Henry W. McElroy,
15 Iroquois Rd, Nashua, NH 03063
ANY AMOUNT, ANY LEGAL TENDER CURRENCY - U.S. OR FOREIGN !
Video copies of the sound money bill press conference are available for a $35 donation.
For more info, contact
Rep. Henry W. McElroy, NH State Representative
Sponsor of the bill
603-233-5892
Harvey Wharfield
978-635-9586
We also need assistance with the following.
1. Please contact your local representative to your state government. Find out whether they might support a similar "sound money bill" in your own state.
To contact your state rep to the federal goverment, see http://www.house.gov/writerep/
To contact your state rep to your local state government, you will have to find that on your own. Try searching for "contact state representative california" and replace the name of your state in the search.
2. If you know of any local representaives to your state government, who may be GOOD, LIKE MINDED REPRESENTATIVES, SENATORS, and GOVERNORS, who may like to support, or sponsor, a sound money bill in your state, please tell them about the NH initative. Copy the above, and send it along to them. And call Henry W. McElroy or Harvey Wharfield, and let them know of the other reps who may assist the cause.
3. If you have an email list to people who may be interested in gold and silver as money, or who may be good conservatives, please send out this notice to the list, so the project can move forward!
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There are two excellent annual silver surveys that are sponsored by industry.
The survey by silverinstitute.org costs $195, 87 pages.
http://www.silverinstitute.org/wssum03.pdf -- 8 page free summary of last year's report.
The survey by cpmgroup.com costs $150, 162 pages.
http://www.cpmgroup.com/SSpress2004.pdf --3 page press release.
The two reports present the case that about 500 million oz. of silver are mined each year, about 200 million oz. of silver comes from scrap, and about 100 million oz. of silver comes from investor dis-hoarding, either by individuals or government sources, in order to meet the annual demand of about 800 million oz. of silver by industry & jewelry. This is wildly bullish, because investors are net selling more than buying, and I think the potential of investor demand is huge, and can be measured by seeing how much paper money there is in the world.
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Here are two U.S. Government produced reports on silver, containing data on years from 1900 to present, on U.S. & world production, and U.S. consumption, and U.S. industry & government stockpiles.
Report #1
http://www.goldismoney.com/ssr/USsilver.xls
Report #2
http://www.goldismoney.com/ssr/USsilver2.xls
I evaluated these government produced reports in my silver stock report #36.
In sum, we are running out of silver. The U.S. government had over 3 billion ounces of silver in 1940, and today, has very little left, or none.
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The Commodities Futures Trading Commission
The CFTC report on the allegations of manipulation in the silver market -- 9 page report
The CFTC report confirmes much of the research above, and almost outlines the bullish case for silver!
--My comments on the CFTC report ar in silver stock report #34 & #35
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Silver consumption, per capita, in the U.S. is the same today, in 2004, as it was in 1945.
And what is the per capita consumption of silver in the U.S. today? 5500 tonnes x 32152 = 177 million ounces of silver used per 285 million people. 177 / 285 = .62 oz. silver consumed per year, per person, in the U.S., whether in 1945, or in 2004. Each person in the U.S. today, on average, uses 6 tenths of an ounce of silver.
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See my article: Biblical Guidelines for Managing your Money
As the New York Times, January 11, 1859, page 2 said---
"It is well known that the most colossal fortunes the world ever saw have been based on silver mines..."
--quote found by Charles Savoie
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WHERE and HOW to BUY SILVER BULLION
http://www.goldismoney.com/buy-gold.php
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My 2004-2009 price predictions for gold and silver:
2004: $595/oz. gold, 50:1 ratio = $12/oz. silver
2005: $1011/oz. gold, 30:1 ratio = $34/oz. silver
2006: $1719/oz. gold, 10:1 ratio = $172/oz. silver
2007: $2923/oz. gold, 5:1 ratio = $ 585/oz. silver
2008: $4,969/oz. gold, 1:1 ratio = $4969/oz. silver
2009: $8448/oz. gold, 5:1 ratio = $1698/oz. silver
2010+: infinity dollars/oz. gold, infinity dollars/oz. silver.
I calculate the gold price rise by guessing that by 2009, M3 will have a "gold-value" like it did in 1980, which is to say, M3 was worth 2 Billion oz. of gold or less. It also assumes M3 will about triple in that time. These figures are conservative, because I see no reason that M3 should be valued more than the gold the U.S. actually holds, which is a mere 261 million oz., not billion. Today, the M3 value is $8870 billion / $425/oz. = 19 billion oz. of gold M3 could buy in theory. The silver:gold ratio is also a very, very vague guess, reflective of monetary demand chasing silver, which is more scarce than gold in above ground, refined form. I have no idea when the ratio of 15:1 will be exceeded, I'm just totally guessing. I suppose it could happen this year or next month for all I know. Of course my real price targets are infinity dollars per oz. for both gold and silver when all is said and done, I just don't know how long that will take, nor what year it will be. But my point in producing the price predictions is to show my bullishness for silver and gold.
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I wrote an article predicting that Silver Companies will buy silver, and urging Silver Companies to buy silver with their cash, to use silver as money, and sell silver as needed for expenses. See http://news.goldseek.com/GoldIsMoney/1069879327.php
That article is now having an effect! It is being discussed by several large "cash rich" silver companies, who are seriously considering the idea of holding their cash in the form of silver.
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A great overview on silver: Douglas Kanarowski's 78 Approaching Forces For Higher Silver Prices
See also Douglas Kanarowski's article: What Impact Will Digital Photography Have on Silver?
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See the 600 year silver chart to see how undervalued silver really is:
http://goldinfo.net/silver600.html
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Look at the summary of the world silver survey by GFMS Limited on behalf of The Silver Institute :
http://www.gfms.co.uk/Publications%20Samples/WSS03-summary.pdf
Note, there is virtually no monetary nor investment demand. Note, the 2002 mine production (585 mil oz.) is greatly exceeded by industrial, photo, and jewelry demand. (838 mil oz.). Note the chart on page five, "Supply from above-ground stocks".
The difference between mine supply and industrial demand was met by a combination of three factors: 1. Government selling, 2. Private selling, 3. Recycling
U.S. government selling is ending, as their stocks have run out, or will run out. This factor will reverse, because the U.S. government will need silver to continue their coin program, and/or need silver when they wake up and decide they need to replenish their strategic stockpile for domestic security. Silver is a war material. China's selling of silver will also likely turn into buying, as China will need silver for continued industrial development, or when they also lose faith in the U.S. dollar.
Private selling has been rapidly shrinking and is now almost ended, and should turn into buying, and become monetary demand. Monetary demand is everything in the silver supply / demand situation. It's not now. Now, it's nothing. But it will become something incredible, because the dollar is dying.
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The following is a "must read": Ted Butler's best ever explanation of how silver is manipulated lower than it should be.
http://www.investmentrarities.com/11-04-03.html
Over 3400 people have signed the silver petition to stop the manipulation at the COMEX:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/comex/
Ted correctly points out that a lower price creates excessive demand from consumers. However, Ted Butler does not point out, and neglects to mention, that a perpetually low price also creates lack of demand from investors who are "trend investors".
I think most silver experts over-analyze all the supply and demand factors of the silver market. No factor is more important than monetary demand. The force of photographic demand is like a light breeze compared to the hurricane or tornado of monetary demand. Monetary demand is everything.
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Consider the gold market for a moment: Even short selling at the COMEX is nothing compared to monetary demand. The short position most certainly helps to depress the price of gold as the short position is growing larger. However, it adds fuel to the fire if there is short covering, and thus, it can boost the gold price later. But the commercial short position on the COMEX is next to nothing compared to the non-reported "over the counter" trading that is done that does not appear on the COMEX.
(Numbers in metric tonnes, 32,152 oz. per tonne.)
870 tonnes -- the paper position at the COMEX, 280,000 contracts for 100 oz. each.
5,000 tonnes -- the official number admitted that the central banks have sold.
15,000 tonnes -- the number GATA research shows that central banks have sold / or leased.
30,000 tonnes -- the number of official central bank gold, minus either the 5000 or 15,000 tonnes.
145,000 tonnes -- all the gold mined in the history of the world.
2,600 tonnes -- annual mine supply
4,000 tonnes -- annual demand
And all of that is nothing compared to the amount of dollars out there that exist that could buy gold. $20 trillion bonds, $9 trillion M3 = $29 Trillion. A mere 1% is $290 Billion, which, at $500 /oz. is a massive demand of 18,039 tonnes. Do you understand what that means? That means that far, far less than 1% of dollars, in either bonds or M3 can buy gold, because there simply is not that much gold available.
Long before 1% of U.S. paper dollars tries to buy gold, gold will be going up well over $1000/oz., and silver will be headed up over $50/oz.
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To scare away investors--that is the entire reason gold and silver are manipulated in the first place. Only the trend investors can be deceived. The problem is that nearly everyone is a trend investor. So few investors understand value. If people knew the facts and used their brains, the available above-ground refined silver would be gone by tomorrow, and the price would be well over $20-50/oz. But don't trust me, check the numbers and follow the links:
1,000,000,000,000: 1 Trillion dollars
1,000,000,000: 1 Billion dollars
1,000,000: 1 Million dollars
$45,153,000,000,000: U.S. Household wealth, as of first quarter, 2004. (Includes Real Estate, and investments)
$33,000,000,000,000: World bond market, yr end, '01: http://tinyurl.com/vr7u
$26,400,000,000,000: World stock market, June 2002: http://www.nyse.com/press/1044027443845.html$20,200,000,000,000: U.S. bond market, yr end, '02: http://tinyurl.com/vr7g $11,447,800,000,000: U.S. GDP, 2004 q1 http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/dn/home/gdp.htm$11,300,000,000,000: NYSE U.S. stock market, April, '04 (363 bill/s x $31.14/s ave.) http://nyse.com (See: Market info: quick facts) $9,101,000,000,000: M3 (money in U.S. banks) April, '04 http://tinyurl.com/vra0 $7,183,392,668,476: US debt, 5-18-04 http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpenny.htm $2,360,000,000,000: U.S. annual budget 2005 http://tinyurl.com/3xbd2 $2,572,160,000,000: Marcos/Phillipine "black/unofficial" gold: 200,000 (to 500,000) Tonnes @ $400/oz. (Book: "Gold Warriors") $1,860,000,000,000: World "official" gold, 145,000 T @ $400/oz. http://tinyurl.com/vrcc $724,174,342,365: Total U.S. paper currency & coin in circulation, Dec. 31, '03 http://www.fms.treas.gov/bulletin/index.html $700,000,000,000: U.S. annual budget deficit (current). $272,000,000,000: Market Cap of Microsoft (03-2004) http://tinyurl.com/vrcn $222,000,000,000: M3 increase (money in U.S. banks) from Jan 2004 to April 2004 (in three months). $180,000,000,000: Debt of Ford Motor Co. (03-2004) http://tinyurl.com/vrd1 $104,400,000,000: US gold, 261 mil oz., @ $400/oz. http://tinyurl.com/vsr9 $100,000,000,000: all the world's gold stocks (estimated?) $75,000,000,000: Money flowed into Equity funds in the first quarter, 2004 $7,090,000,000: all the world's silver stocks (59 of them on this list, as of Dec. 5th, 2003) (Perhaps $10 billion by April?) $6,710,000,000: 671 mil oz. of "identifiable" silver bullion in the entire world, according to GFMS @ $10/oz. $469,000,000: 46.9 mil oz. of "registered" COMEX silver bullion @ $10/oz. http://tinyurl.com/vrcw
For a while I was using M3 and dividing that by the US gold (261 million ounces), which implies the us dollar is 84 times more valuable than it should be, and that gold should hit $34,000/oz. after the fraud is destroyed. Today, I realize I need to add in the Bond market, because bonds are an asset class designed to siphon away and replace real money, which is to say, gold. This gives a price of about $111,111/oz. for gold. At $ 430/oz, this implies that US bonds and paper currency are 258 times more overvalued than gold.
Gold is overvalued relative to silver, because at current prices, it takes 68 ounces of silver to buy 1 ounce of gold. Historically, this ratio was 15 or 16. Given the silver shortage, this ratio will hit 10:1 or 5:1, or even 1:1. Thus, gold is perhaps 68 times more overvalued than silver.
Silver is overvalued relative to certain select silver stocks, perhaps by a factor of 3 or 10 or 20 to one.
Thus, if you multiply all those numbers, 258 x 68 x 10, You will see that bonds and currency are overvalued relative to select silver stocks by a factor of 139,000 to one. In other words, if silver stocks reach their true value, and paper currency disappears as it always does, then you might expect certain silver stocks to go up in relative value by a factor of 139,000 times more than they are worth today. By that time, you should definitely sell the silver stocks, and buy gold.
Can silver stocks really appreciate so much? Is there historical evidence for such a crazy thing? Yes.
See http://www.sterlingmining.com/old.html
Excerpt:
"CDE rose from penny stock status (.02 in 1967) to an NYSE-listed, $60 per share stock in 1980. In fact, the average share on the Spokane Stock Exchange rose in value nearly 16000% (yes, sixteen THOUSAND percent), as America could not get enough of silver and silver stocks."
CDE rose by a factor of 3000, or 300,000%, and by 1980, the metals boom was stopped short, and paper money's death was postponed. If paper money dies a death that lasts a generation world-wide, then even greater gains should have been expected.
For this reason, a wise silver stock investor should NEVER sell silver stocks for paper cash. A wise silver stock investor who looks for value would never sell a fairly valued silver stock for an overvalued silver stock that traded for hundreds of thousands of times more value than it should be. Likewise, there is no excuse for a silver stock investor to have any cash or money market or bonds in his portfolio for any reasonable length of time, except for when selling one silver stock to raise the cash for another silver stock, or for when you need to raise the cash to buy silver, or a private placement in another silver stock.
So, if you want some fairly liquid alternatives to cash, in case you don't know what other silver stocks to buy at the time, here they are:
1. Buy silver. You can hold silver in an IRA.
2. Buy CEF. Central Fund of Canada, ticker symbol CEF. It's gold/silver bullion fund. It has 50 oz. of silver for every 1 oz. of gold. The fund is fairly liquid, you can buy it as easily as any other stock, and is a good cash substitute. Unfortunately, given the current ratio, about 55% or more of the value is in gold.
3. Buy a fairly large cap silver stock, with fairly large volume, that is still fairly cheap on the list. SSRI is probably the best candidate.
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The sheer stupidity of big money not recognizing the value of the world's remaining silver is utterly shocking to the rational mind. Clearly, bond holders are utterly deceived, and totally unaware of the situation. All my readers should understand and know that bonds were originally invented to suck the capital and money (gold and silver) away from the people. Bonds today are a paper promise to repay paper. What a con game! Are bond holders conservative and safe? No, they are fools! There is nothing safe about holding a paper promise to receive more paper when we have been experiencing hyperinflation for the past two and a half years!
See my prior essay, " Inflation & Deflation During Hyperinflation "
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And the fund investors who buy paper silver futures contracts instead of real silver are a very odd bunch of fools, for they should realize that nobody can deliver 800+ million ounces of silver promised in the paper contracts and options that does not exist. It's like the paper longs are betting on the bank run happening, but they all are making sure they get at the end of the long line. Instead, they could go front and center, where there is an open window available where you can go and get physical silver, and nobody is there. Idiots! If you know a bank run is going to happen, and you are actually willing to bet on it, then go and withdraw your money before it is too late! Don't bet on it happening, which, if it does happen, your contracts will be defaulted on! Amazingly blind idiots. Wake up!
See also my prior essay, "The Moral Failures of the Paper Longs"
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How bullish am I on silver? Here's an interesting way to put it: "68 times infinity" dollars per ounce.
I believe the dollar will eventually be destroyed, likely within my lifetime, hence the "infinity" part. I believe the ratio of silver to gold may be equal during a spike, when the market realizes that above-ground refined silver is more rare than gold. Thus, silver may outperform gold by a factor of 68 times better. Currently, the ratio is 68 ounces of silver can buy one ounce of gold or 68:1.
I may end up selling silver for gold, some at the 10:1 silver to gold ratio, some more at 5:1, and I would sell any silver remaining at a 1:1 ratio, that we may hit during a supply/demand crunch during a paper money collapse.
How we can tell if silver is leading gold, or if gold is leading silver? IE, which is going up more, faster than the other? The way you can tell is by looking at the ratio. If the silver:gold ratio is going up (say, from 60:1 to 80:1), then gold is moving up faster (because it takes 5 more silver oz. to buy an oz. of gold. If the ratio is going down (from 60:1 to 40:1), then silver is moving up faster. So, keep an eye on the ratio.
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For a list of bullion dealers:
http://www.goldismoney.com/buy-gold.php
For a list of Brokers that handle Canadian issues and/or pink sheets:
http://www.bibleprophesy.org/SilverStockExtra.html
To track the 163 ticker symbols of the 100+ stocks on this list at yahoo: (Updated on April 2)
http://www.bibleprophesy.org/SilverStockExtra.html
To learn All about Canadian law, 43-101, about reserves and resources:
http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/Publications/mineral_projects_sept03.pdf
A good website that hosts posting boards for many of the smaller canadian stocks (that Yahoo! finance does not have boards for) is stockhouse.com
Click on "Bullboards".
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This is a list of primary silver stocks.
I count a company's ounces of gold as 10 oz of silver. Why? Because I have a very strong positive bias in favor of silver over gold.
Given my bias in favor of much, much higher silver prices, then, to me, the grades of silver are far less important than buying more oz. in the ground. More oz. in the ground at a lower cost is the most important consideration for me.
My method is simple. Cost per ounce in the ground. How much do you get (silver reserve totals), and how much does it cost (market cap)? The cost is the market cap divided by the silver reserve totals. Cheaper is better. Buy low, sell high.
Disclaimers, Warnings, and Advice: I have gathered the information below over the course of several months. I believe it is accurate to the best of my ability. I have made mistakes in the data from time to time. I'm human. I have collected the information from public sources such as company web sites and public information found at yahoo.com to get the stock prices. This report in no way guarantees the accuracy of the information below, since the information may change at any time. The number of outstanding shares can change as a company engages in new share issues to raise more capital through private placements, or if outstanding warrants (and options) are exercised and converted into shares, or if shares are bought back. Shares can be consolidated, or split. The number of ounces of silver in the ground can also change, as these are often only estimates. The number can also change up or down, depending on drilling results.
This report is not investment advice. This report contains information that may or may not be up to date, and may be inaccurate. I urge you to contact the company and do your own research to verify the information contained in this report.
This report is not an offer to buy or sell any securities. I am not a broker. Only your broker can buy or sell securities for you.
I urge you to consult with your investment advisor to determine whether these kinds of investments are right for you.
I also caution you to be aware of your investment advisor's advice, they are sometimes paid to push things like mutual funds, bonds and other securities that may not be in your best interest to buy. Some investment houses are short physical metal, and thus, they may attempt to strongly discourage you from buying precious metal or precious metals investments. I believe that the propaganda machine in support of frauds such as bonds and the dollar is so strong, that they may even believe what they say when they give bad advice to avoid the safety and protection of precious metals. It is most likely that they simply do not understand the precious metals market as well as you do.
All total estimates of "ounces in the ground" can vary widely. There are "proven and probable reserves" which are the highest category of certainty which is obtained through many drill holes, and then at the least accurate, there are "inferred resources" which are hardest to estimate. Additionally, every miner always has "more silver properties that need to be explored, which probably contain more silver". For the purposes of this report, I have added all those numbers together. It is believed that all these "ounce in the ground" estimates can be profitably mined at $5-6 per ounce silver, or lower. Thus, I believe that when silver trades for $15/oz. or above, that all of these ounces can be mined at a substantial profit.
I may be wrong. (I probably make mistakes in every article, and there have been updates and corrections made each week, especially as prices change.)
Mining is a risky business. You need to be willing to sustain a total loss of your investment for various unforeseen accidents. Silver stock companies can do stupid things to shareholders such as take on debt, or issue more stock at too low prices which reduces the percentage of the company you may own (dilution). Yet, they need to issue shares to raise capital for drilling, and then an even bigger dilution to build a working mine. They may sell YOUR silver too cheaply, or worse, hedge the price of YOUR silver just as it begins to go up if they lock in a price which then proves to be too low if the dollar is destroyed. Mining is a risky business as estimates of assets in the ground can change. There is political risk and environmental risk. They can't franchise the business, are stuck in one location, are subject to government confiscation, or taxes, or union wage negotiations, and corporate looting.
Do your own research. Be responsible for your own investment decisions. Again, please, before investing in a mining company, call up the company, and speak either with the CEO or the Investor Relations contact person.
So, at the very least, check the company web site, read the annual reports, check my numbers, check my math, and email the company. That's what they are there for, to answer your questions, and to speak about the opportunity of the company. Don't trust everything you read over the internet. I am a biased source. I own silver mining stocks. And I'm not a broker, nor an investment advisor. I'm just a private investor trying to make sense of this crazy world, and sharing my information and thoughts on silver companies.
Surely, there are scammers in the mining industry in the past, and there will be scammers in the future. Remember the fraud of Bre-X. The new 43-101 compliance laws put in place after Bre-X will not prevent a "certified" geologist from lying if he feels lying will create a better payoff. The Bible warns, "trust no man", yet at the same time advises us to "cast our bread upon the waters", and to not issue "false allegations" against others. Physical gold and silver provide the "payment in full" as long as the coins or bars themselves are genuine and not fake.
This report may be copied, and transmitted by other people, and may become outdated by the time it reaches you.
I can't tell you how you should invest your money, of course. The reason is that I don't know how convinced you are of the silver bull market, nor do I know how soon you will be needing the money back, so I don't know how long you can wait to see results, nor do I know how much liquidity you need. Nor do I know the size of the money you have to invest. It is very hard to invest large quantities of money in a small market cap stock.
That being said, my investment strategy seems to be working for me, so far. And so, here is how I have valued the following silver companies to make my own investment decisions.
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(Market cap is always converted to US dollars and denominated in US dollars because I divide by ounces of silver, which are also denominated in dollars)
The Market Cap is the usual tool to value a company. It is what the company "costs to buy" if you could buy the entire company, all the shares, at the latest share price. It is calculated by multiplying the share price, by the total number of shares that the company has issued. In reality, you could almost never buy an entire company at the price of the Market Cap, but only a small portion. Usually, even small buying pressure, such as trying to buy 1% of a company, can push up the price of a stock by up to 10-50% higher. In my reports, I list Market Cap in terms of millions of dollars as "$75 mil MC".
To calculate the Market Cap, I try to get and use the number of "fully diluted shares". A company creates shares when they sell them to investors in what are called "private placements", or "initial public offerings" (IPO). These usually consist of shares and warrants, sold for cash that the company will need to grow and expand.
The "outstanding shares" is the number of shares that exist out there if you count them all, and it does not count the warrants, which are like options. The investor can "exercise the warrants" which is a right, but not an obligation, to buy more shares from the company at the set price of the warrant.
If the company does well, and the stock price moves up, all the warrants will be, or should be, exercised and converted into shares, especially if they become "in the money", and the warrants are significantly cheaper than the stock price.
Now, "fully diluted shares" is the total number of shares, plus the warrants, counting warrants as if they were all exercised and became fully trading shares. I think "fully diluted shares" is a better number to use to calculate market cap than by using "outstanding shares" as most do.
Finally, I go beyond valuing a company based on Market Cap alone; instead, I value a company by dividing the Market Cap by the assets of the company, which are usually the silver reserves in the ground. Thus, I can get a sense of what you are getting for what you are paying. And then, I denominate the whole thing in terms of silver, and not dollars, to get a more constant measure.
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(These first four companies, BHP, GMBXF.PK, KGHM and BVN produce a lot of silver, but are way too expensive to buy for the silver exposure for your portfolio.)
BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP)
http://www.bhpbilliton.com/
--'produces 40 mil oz. silver annually from one mine'
Additional comments: unfortunately, BHP has a 53 Billion market cap, so we can't buy BHP for the silver exposure. IE, $53 Billion / oh, say, 1000 million?????= $53/oz.
Dear BHP: By all means, keep mining the silver if you want the silver exposure, and want to be in the silver business. But don't sell the silver. Keep it. Let the profits of your entire company accrue as an increasing physical supply of physical silver. In fact, do as Buffett did, and buy more silver if you can. It would be infinitely easier for you to buy silver from yourself than it would be to buy 40 million ounces of silver from the COMEX, which, today, might be impossible.
Grupo Mexico SA de CV (GMBXF.PK)
http://www.gmexico.com/indexi.html
651,646,640 shares (2002 annual report)
@ $4.00/share
$2606 mil MC
"Grupo Mexico ranks as the world's third largest copper producer (copper at $1.24), fourth largest producer of silver and fifth largest producer of zinc."
They produced 28.2 million oz. of silver, worth $129 million, in 2002. (P. 5, annual report.)
Total value of produced metals: $2527 milllion. (but the company lost money in 2002). They mainly produce copper, 900,000 tons worth $1.5 billion in 2002. Thus, silver, at 2002 prices, is only 5% of their production value. Silver is a by-product for them, not a main product.
I don't have silver reserve figures, nor do I see any need to find them or add them, since they are not a primary silver producer, and I don't think anybody would be buying them for the "silver exposure".
If we assume 280 mil oz. of silver (ten years reserve for production), then we still don't have anything exciting for the silver alone.
$2085 mil MC / 280 = $7.45/oz. cost.
KGHM Polska Miedz
http://www.kghm.pl/en/index.php
--KGHM is the world`s sixth-largest copper producer and second or third in silver.
1163 tonnes of silver produced in 2001.
1163 x 32152oz.tonne = 37.4 million ounces of silver produced in 2001
--Copper/Silver mine in Poland.
--Market capitalisation is about $1.52 billion.
Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (BVN)
http://www.buenaventura.com/
NYSE:BVN
- Peru´s largest publicly traded precious metals company
--produces over 10 mil oz of silver per year
--looks way too expensive for the silver alone: 3.6 Billion market cap.
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ABX (Barrick)
http://www.barrick.com/
535 million shares outstanding (not fully diluted)
@ $19.20/share
$10,214 million Market Cap
5.5 million oz. / year gold production.
--production hedged out for 3 years, or about 18 million oz. (most notorious hedger of the industry, the "leader")
--price of hedges locked in near the market lows, perhaps $340/oz. on average, nobody knows for sure, because Barrick will not say
--reportedly, Barrick is trying to "unhedge".
--reportedly, they plan to deliver 1/3 of production to hedges, which means they will be hedge free in about 10 years.
--the size of the hedge, 18 mil oz. gold, at $400/oz., would be valued at $7.2 billion dollars. At $500/oz, it's $9 billion.
--but they claim to be "debt free", if you ignore the gold they owe for delivery, at locked in, low prices. (only true if gold is not money)
--cash "rich" of about $1 billion dollars.
Silver Reserves reported to be 850 million ounces!
Gold Reserves reported to be 86 million oz. (x 10 = 860 mil oz. + 850 silver = 1710 mil oz. "silver equiv."
$10,214 million Market Cap / 1710 mil oz. = $5.97/oz. silver
You get "approx" .95 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock, if the silver isn't hedged.
Additional comments: Over the years, Barrick has hedged their production, which many claim has helped to depress the price of gold and silver, by artificially adding to supply. (Barrick's promises becoming the extra supply.) The declining price of the precious metals has put other miners out of business, which Barrick has acquired at low prices. If Barrick goes bankrupt due to their hedges, and rising gold and silver prices, then perhaps Barrick's many properties will, once again, be sold at distressed prices.
Barrick boasts a "cash cost" of $189/oz., for gold for 2003, yet their cash has dropped from $2 billion down to $1 billion. It could be due to the hedging, locking in precious metals prices at low prices, and/or hedge covering that explains the monetary loss in the light of their low cash costs.
About a year ago, perhaps spring 2003, ABX made an announcement about covering 30 million ounces of silver they sold short. Then, a large buyer showed up in the futures contracts for about that amount. I do not know whether, or how, that has yet been resolved.
I don't really count Barrick as a silver company, but it's listed here for comparison's sake, and due to popular/continuous demand.
I expect silver bullion to continue to outperform ABX stock at these prices.
CDE (COEUR D'ALENE)
http://www.coeur.com
coeurir@coeur.com (208) 769-8155 or (800) 624-2824
214 mil shares outstanding (June 2004) not fully diluted
@ $4.19/share
$897 mil MC
"Current cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments stand at approximately $252.7 million at January 31, 2004, giving effect to recent $180 million offering of 1.25% Senior Convertible Notes due 2024, net of offering costs."
"At the beginning of 2004, silver reserves totaled 175 million ounces and gold reserves 1.4 million ounces."
175 + 14 = 189
(Produced 14.2 mil oz. silver in latest fiscal year (early 2004)
$897 mil MC / 189 mil oz = $4.74/oz.
You get "approx" 1.20 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.
Additional comments: Wheaton recommends rejecting the CDE buy out offer:
Wheaton Does not Intend to Pursue the Coeur D'alene Mines Proposal: Recommends Shareholders Vote IAMGold Combination
Monday May 31
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/040531/315071_1.html
Interestingly, as one reason, Wheaton says: CDE has a history of losses and negative operating cash flow.
Quarterly Loss Reduced From $31.2 Million a Year Ago to Just $3.0 Million in 2004's First Quarter
As of May 5th, CDE announced: No silver or gold hedge positions in place.
For the full year 2003, the Company reported a net loss of $67.0 million, or $0.40 per share, compared to a net loss of $81.2 million, or $1.04 per share in 2002.
Why does CDE continue to mine and sell silver at a loss? Why has CDE borrowed $180 million to continue expanding this business plan? Why couldn't CDE have raised the money from issuing more shares? Why has CDE stock increased from about 30 million shares outstanding at the end of 1999 to 214 million shares outstanding by the first quarter 2004? How was CDE able to secure such favorable terms for a loan? "giving effect to recent $180 million offering of 1.25% Senior Convertible Notes due 2024, net of offering costs."" Who did CDE borrow money from? Who stants to gain if CDE continues to produce silver at a loss?
If CDE produced silver at a loss during the first quarter 2004, how much money will they make if silver hits $10/oz? Perhaps the break-even price for production is a constant $8.00/oz.? Regardless of their "cash cost" numbers. If so, and if CDE produces 15 million oz. of silver per year, then at $10/oz., CDE may make up to $30 million dollars, at the most, from their silver production, if none of their other costs like energy costs rise in price due to inflation. Mining uses a lot of energy, just so that you know, so I don't think it is likely that CDE will have profits even with higher silver prices in the $8-10 range due to inflation. Given that CDE has a market cap of up to $1000 million dollars, CDE just is not worth it at all, in my opinion. And neither would CDE stock be worth the price if they had a market cap of $300 million, in my opinion. I would rather own silver, as it moved in price from $6 to $10. And in the meantime, CDE may well move in price from $6.49/share down to $2.16/share (assuming no further dilution, and a reduction to a more reasonable $333 million market cap), and by then, with silver at $10, CDE may have a P/E ratio of 10, and a huge heavy debt load of $180 million dollars that may take up to 6 years of possible profits to pay off.
At $2.16/share, $10 silver, and a P/E of 10: $333 mil MC / 189 mil oz. = $1.76/oz. = You'd get about 5.68 oz. of silver for each silver oz. worth of stock.
I expect silver bullion to continue to outperform CDE stock at these prices.
IPOAF.PK (INDUSTL PENOLES)
http://www.penoles.com.mx
397.5 mil shares outstanding (2002 annual, unchanged since 2001)
@ $3.60/share
$1431 mil MC
419 proven and probable reserves of silver (from 2002 annual report on website)
$1431 mil MC / 419 oz. silver = $3.42/oz.
You get "approx" 1.67 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.
Additional comments: Industrias Penoles is the world's top producer of refined silver. They actually derrive more revenue from silver than any other source. But they lost money in 2002.
The word late Feb. 2004 from ECU Mini, who reported to lemetropolecafe.com, is that Penoles has hedged several year's worth of silver, that is, they have locked in to sell mostly all their silver at low prices. Set when prices were lower. How much lower, and at what price, is anyone's guess. As reported at lemetropolecafe.com, "We know the market is so tight even the world’s largest silver producer, Mexico’s Penolas, wasn’t thrilled about supplying 1 million ounces for a special project with ECU Silver, led by their extremely able CEO Michel Roy."
78.5 million oz. silver refined by the metals division in 2002, and 1 mil oz. gold.
They probably refine almost all the silver that comes out of Mexico.
They probably produce about 34 mil oz. of silver from their mines annually, and they have expansion plans.
I've heard this stock is tightly held, most is family owned.
Their oz. numbers are "proven & probable reserves", which is much more certain than most of the others which are mostly "inferred and indicated resources." They undoubtedly have "inferred and indicated resources" in addition to the "proven & probable reserves," I just could not find any info on that at the website or in the annual report.
Given the report in March, 2004, that Penoles has hedged silver for two years, I expect silver bullion to continue to outperform IPOAF.PK stock at these prices.
SIL (APEX SILVER)
http://www.apexsilver.com/
information@apexsilver.com (303) 839-5060
47.4 million shares outstanding (late May, 2004) (not fully diluted)
(derived from share price & market cap, late May, 2004)
@ $16.79/share
$796 mil MC
cash on hand: ~ $350 million after Jan 30th share offering, and March 16th convertable debenture.
San Cristobal (Bolivia) (proven & probably reserves) 454 mil silver
(forecast capital costs for construction to total approximately $435 million)
(Produced zero silver in 2002)
7.8 billion pounds of zinc, and 2.9 billion pounds of lead
$796 mil MC / 454 mil oz = $1.75/oz.
You get "approx" 3.25 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.
Additional comments: A positive article was written about Apex in BusinessWeek Online:
A Bright Gleam On Apex -- Friday June 4
"Apex has rights in some 100 mineral-exploration holdings at 34 properties in countries such as Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru."
The article's analyst notes that in 2-3 years, when/if production comes online, "At silver's current price of $6 an ounce, Apex could earn $2 to $3 a share, he figures. If silver runs up to $10, earnings could hit $6, he says."
I note that this means that at a P/E of 10, if production comes online, Apex may more than tripple in 3 years to $60/share, while silver nearly doubles. That's not much leverage, given the increased risks of mining and owning a public company, and given that management of Apex seems to not recognize that silver is money, and debt is aweful.
March 16th, Apex raises $144 million in a convertable debenture deal to help finance the development of San Cristobal. They now have 350/435, or 80.4% of the capital costs needed for construction. Raising the last bit should now be very easy to do. If, while raising money, they held their cash in the form of silver bullion, they would probably not need to raise any more cash at this point, since silver has moved up over 50%.
Apex is now the most cash rich silver stock on the list. About $350 million! In this report, for weeks, I have been urging Apex to buy silver bullion with their cash. And I know many investors have contacted Apex about buying silver bullion in the last 6 months.
I spoke with Igor, at investor relations about this topic at the San Francisco Gold show in November, 2003, and again at the NY Gold show in June, 2004. For the record, Apex plans to not develop theirSan Cristobal project until 2007! Therefore, they will be holding $350 million in the form of paper cash, and not silver, until then. This is an extremely stupid plan, in my opinion, and I asked Igor about it.
I asked Igor if he was considering buying silver bullion with their cash, while they wait. Astonishingly, Igor asked me, "Would you defend us from shareholder lawsuits if we did so?" I couldn't believe it, but this answer goes to show Igor's mindset on the subject. If anything, I think shareholders should sue Apex if they don't use silver bullion as money, but that's my mindset!
I asked Igor, "If you believe silver is money (and he said he did), then for what company in the world would it make the most sense for them to acutally hold silver as money?" Igor responded, "I can't speak for other companies."
I said, "Wrong, and that's exactly my point. A major silver company should be a leader, and show leadership, by using silver as money as an example, to show the other companies of the world that yes, it does make sense to use and hold silver as money."
Igor's mindset is also reflected by two other comments he said to me. Igor said he gets 5-6 ideas each day from shareholders, and he obviously cannot persue them all. This goes to show that he does not even remotely consider this as a viable or valid idea.
Next, Igor also indicated to me that he felt that if he "spent" his cash on silver bullion, that he would not have anything left to develop his project, or that he would not be able to develop his project. This, again, goes to show his mindset, and the ridiculous attitude he has towards silver bullion. His comment shows does not really consider silver bullion to be money at all, but rather, only a consumer good. Igor's comments indicated to me that he felt that that once silver is purchased, the "money" is gone forever.
Finally, Igor also said that he had over 90% shareholder approval for the company's existing plans, and that, therefore, there is no reason or need to change anything. He said this as if 90% of existing shareholders somehow specifically expressed an interest in the company holding and keeping paper money cash in the banks, in preference to holding silver bullion. What nonesense!
The last thing I said to Igor was that he should at least let the shareholders decide whether to hold paper cash, or silver bullion, for the next 2-3 years while the company waits to develop their project. I said to put it to the shareholders for a vote. He said he had no intention of doing so, again, because of existing shareholder approval rates for the company's current plans.
For the record, Apex has $350 million in cash. The available silver at the COMEX in the registered category, under 47 million ounces, at $6/oz, is only worth $282 million dollars.
Charlie Savoie, who writes for silver-investor.com wrote to me the following about Apex after I published the report above:
Jason, I read your comments on Igor Levental. I know from Morgan that Igor read "The Silver Raiders" which I released last fall.
Apex is there to make money on silver. However, only once the close of the low price era ends. They won't hasten the end by buying bullion. Because the major shareholder, [George] Soros, is a CFR director, and Chairman of CFR is Peter Peterson, who heads Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Maybe you read my latest at Silver Investor.
George Comninos was until 18 months ago or so, an APEX director. He was with NM Rothschild, London. Levental knows all relevant aspects. Apex is run by the World Money Power, a bunch of old-line rich and intermarried European (controls the big European banks) and British royalty dating back centuries and their U.S. counterparts, for which I just learned there is a 10 year waiting list. The only full list I have dated 1969, lists deaths which occurred in 1968 and 1969. Meantime, those who want full status, will go along with the program as it changes (example, break up the Soviet Union, replace it with China as the superpower threat in the balance of power scheme necessary to complete the 200 year plan described in May 1902).
I don't see Apex buying any metal. I hope Sterling and the others you mention will allocate at least 50% of funds to that end. Everything possible will be done to hold silver down till after the Presidential election. Butler talks like silver will fly before then. Locally, I have a very hard time finding coin silver, 10 oz bars are scarce, 1 ouncers are scarce except those with designs that aren't preferred (Christmas bars etc.)---CHARLIE
Apex silver primarily has institutional investors.
Apex has a lot of zinc. That's an added bonus that is not factored in to my method of valuation. Zinc prices have been heading up soon, so that's another bonus. Plenty of zinc is especially good if zinc is moving up in price. Zinc hit a recent high of $.51/lb., from a low of about $.35/lb., currently at $.47. For zinc prices, see http://www.metalprices.com
Apex is not mining now, but are waiting for higher silver prices. George Soros, Billionaire, owns a bit of this one, just under 10% I read recently. That's another plus, in general, for the silver market if Billionaires are paying attention to it. There are several other zinc / silver plays on this list that investors might also consider: Canadian Zinc, Expatriate, or Metalline (I own Metalline, but not SIL.)
I do not have an idea on whether or not SIL will out perform silver bullion or not. It's hard to say, because of that huge zinc bonus. I expect most of the other stocks on this list to outperform or significantly outperform silver bullion in the long run from today's prices.
GRS GAM.TO (GAMMON LAKE)
http://www.gammonlake.com/
gammonl@sprint.ca (902) 468-0614
62 mil shares Fully Diluted: (Feb 27th, 2004)
@ $6.22/share
$386 mil MC
Total Ocampo Inferred: 1,124,000 oz. gold, 50,438,000 oz. silver
Silver equiv = 11.24 mil oz. + 50.44 mil oz. = 62 mil oz.
Total Ocampo Measured & Indicated 2,207,800 oz. gold, 108,438,000 oz. silver
Silver equiv = 22 mil oz. + 108 mil oz. = 130 mil oz.
Total Ocampo Measured & Indicated plus Inferred = 182 mil oz.
Gammon owns 26.3% of Mexgold, MGR
Since Mexgold owns 185 mil oz. of "target exploration potential", 26.3% of that is 48.6 mil oz.
182 + 49 = 231 mil oz.
$386 mil MC / 231 mil oz.= $1.67/oz.
You get "approx" 3.41 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.
**Note** most of Mexgold's oz. that are added in are an "exploration target" not yet "inferred resources".
Additional comments:
At prices of a 64:1 silver:gold ratio at $425/oz gold and $6.60/oz silver, the resources are worth $1048 million of silver, and $1411 million worth of gold. Cash cost is $85/oz. Life of mine is 7 years.
GAMMON LAKE INTERSECTS 1-METRE OF 390 GRAMS PER TONNE GOLD AND 1,402 GRAMS PER TONNE SILVER (13.2 OUNCES PER TONNE GOLD-EQUIVALENT) June 10
KBR.V KBRRF.PK (KIMBER RSCS)
http://www.kimberresources.com
info@kimberresources.com (604) 669-2251
31.2 mil shares fully diluted (Jan 20, 2004)
http://www.kimberresources.com/sharestructure.html
@ $1.98/share Cdn x .73 US/Cdn = US $1.45
$45 mil MC
from http://www.smartstox.com/reports/kbr.pdf
30 mil oz. silver resources Measured & indicated, plus inferred
540,000 oz. gold x 10 = 5.4 mil "silver equiv."
$45 mil MC / 35.4 mil oz. = $1.27/oz.
You get "approx" 4.47 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.
Additional comments: Kimber Reports Significant Drill Hole On Carmen Deposit
A one property company. The Carmen gold-silver deposit on their Monterde property in the Sierra Madre belt of Chihuahua State, Mexico. Significant exploration potential.
It was reported by a press release that 16%-17% of KBR.V is owned by silver bull Jim Puplava of http://www.financialsense.com, which I think is a rather solid endorsement of the company.
PAAS (PAN AMERICAN SILVER)
http://panamericansilver.com/
info@panamericansilver.com (604) 684 -1175
70 mil shares fully diluted (April, 2004)
http://panamericansilver.com/s/CorporateInformation.asp?ReportID=26039
@ $12.57/share
$880 mil MC
10 silver properties (3 in production)
produced 7 mil oz. silver in 2001:
Reserves & Resources through Dec. 11th, 2003 from
http://panamericansilver.com/s/ReservesAndResources.asp?ReportID=25303
743.2 million total
$880 mil MC / 743 mil oz. = $1.18/oz.
You get "approx" 4.81 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.
Additional Comments: Pan American of Canada buys Morococha silver mine in Peru for US$35 million This $35 million acquisition is a great deal for PAAS, and a minor help for PAAS shareholders. According to the press release above, the silver mine produced 3.5 million ounces of silver a year, at a cash cost of $3/oz., which is great! At $6.50/oz, that's $3.5 x 3.5 mil oz. = $12.25 million per year profit after cash costs! That gives the acquisition a P/E ratio for the mine's acquisiton cost of under 3! What a deal!
Unfortunately, PAAS shareholders are paying way above that when they buy the stock today. After this acquisition, PAAS should have a "2004 silver production forecast to 13 million ounces from 10.1 million ounces and will reduce forecast cash costs to below $ 3.50/oz, bringing anticipated total costs to less than $4/oz for the year." Now, at $6.50/oz, that's $2.5 x 13 mil oz. = $32.5 million per year profit, after cash costs. That gives a P/E ratio for PAAS of about $1000 / $32 = 31. Therefore, considering the two P/E ratios, 31 compared to under 3, PAAS stock is over ten times overvalued compared to other silver mining opportunities that exist in the market, such as the property they just purchased.
After I have been harranging PAAS in these reports for being in debt for months, they finally rid themselves of their debt by converting their debentures.
Pan American completes successful debenture conversion and repays all its bank debt Tuesday May 25
PAAS "proudly" reports having $120 million in paper cash, most of which it has had now for over 6 months--ever since they went into debt by $90 million. They still refuse to recognize that silver is money, and they refuse to hold their money in the form of silver.
What if your silver company decides to lock in silver prices at $8, and hedge years of production to "protect the shareholders and provide exposure to the high $8/oz. price," only to watch silver prices head past $25 and past $50/oz? Your stock could get wiped out in bankruptcy, and your investment could go to zero value! This is the danger of stocks! Your investment is subject to the whims of management!
WARNING: PAAS says at their website that they will hedge silver, in order to finance mine construction.
http://panamericansilver.com/s/CorporateProfile.asp
"Pan American is loath to give away the upside on any of its silver production, especially at current low metal prices, and will do so only to the minimum extent required as a condition of prudent mine financing."
My opinion is that it is NEVER prudent to go into debt, or lock in silver prices to finance a mine. If PAAS cannot raise capital on the markets by issuing shares, then they should not be financing new mine construction. If the market will not support new mine construction, then the market does not need more silver. PAAS and CDE should learn to trust the free market process, and avoid debt.
MFN MFL.TO (MINEFINDERS)
http://www.minefinders.com/
34.1 mil Shares Fully Diluted (Late 2003?)
@ $6.63/share
$226 mil MC
Cash on hand, Fully Diluted: C$34 million
"over 3.5 mil ounces of gold resource and 160 mil ounces of silver" --Dec. '03
silver conversion = 3.5 x 10 = 35 mil + 160 mil oz. silver = 195 mil oz. silver
At 70:1 ratio, 3.5 x 70 = 245 "silver equiv" of gold, and 160 mil of silver = 405.
245/405 = 61% of the mineral value is in the gold, 39% silver.
At 10:1 ratio, 35/195 = 18% of the mineral value is in the gold, 82% silver.
"In addition to the resources already drilled, Minefinders controls a strong portfolio of properties in Nevada, Arizona, and Mexico which have the potential to host new multi-million ounce discoveries over the next few years."
$226 mil MC / 195 mil oz. = $1.16/oz.
You get "approx" 4.92 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver.
Additional Comments: At 70:1 silver to gold ratio, over half of MFN is in gold, so consider this a significant gold bonus. MFN also now lists their resource figures on their website's main page. I'm sure investors appreciate this. I do.
FSR.TO FSLVF.PK (FIRST
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