Geometry in Toronto, Ontario - Slideshow

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Toronto Sheppard Line TTC and Golden Rectangles

The Sheppard Line is the newest subway line in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission.

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Toronto: Sheppard Line TTC and Golden Rectangles

Aquiline (AQI.to): No cash = No Control

This time last week, Aquiline (AQI.to) announced a 40% rise in its resource (M+I) at its Navidad Silver/Lead/Zinc project in Argentina. All very nice and prospective for sure, and one fine day this resource will surely become one of the biggest silver mines out there, especially as the jungledrums are positive about the local Argentine bigwigs relaxing their mining ban in the region shortly.

So why has the stock sold off so sharply since then?


Answer: Got no cash.

At YE2008, AQI reported total assets of C$140m, but only C$8.5m of that was in the current asset column. Or in other words they're short of readies and therefore at the mercy of the sharks-in-suits that populate the Toronto exchange. Those sharks know that AQI.to from here has two options....

1) Find a buyer
2) Raise more capital via placement

...and as everyone's most likely buyer of the project, Pan American Silver (PAAS) isn't flush with cash itself right now and having its own (not desperate but significant) version of cash flow issues, the buying option has faded into the distance. For the time being, at least.

So what we're witnessing right now is a bunch of sharks operating in cahoots. they want to push AQI.to stock down so that when the placement happens, it happens at a significant discount to the stock's "true worth" (whatever that may mean...it still confuses me after all these years). The sharks want to scoop up as many cheapo shares as they can, y'see. It's nothing more than attacking weakness..sharky is as sharky does.

Moral of the story: Junior miners are still suffering from the lack of credit available in the market, despite the bounce back from Oct/Nov'08 lows that we've seen. It's still impotant for you, the retail investor, to make sure that any potential investment isn't exposed to the whims of the Toronto crooks-in-suits. That means you want to buy companies with a decent cash position.

Oh Noes! Canada isn't the centre of the world!

• Maybe it's because people don't like the loonie

• Maybe it's because people are fed up to the back teeth with Da Boyz

• Maybe it's because people are sick to death of wanting in to a small miner and are offered 24 on the bid and 29 on the ask by corrupt pigs in suits and ties.

• Maybe it's because of the regulatory body, the OSC, that has managed to bring just two people to rights this decade (not joking, that's the number of convictions since 2000) and obviously doesn't give a damn about the impunity under their very noses.

But whatever it is, people are voting with their feet. The junior mining companies wise enough to spread their traded stock around other markets are now feeling the benefit of this move. Case in point is one of IKN's favoured microdots, Vena Resources (VEM.to), that traded just 1,000 shares in Toronto yesterday, but 63,000 in Frankfurt this morning and over 126,000 shares on the Lima, Peru BVL exchange yesterday (with closing bell bid at 21 and the ask at 22...that's how you run an investor-friendly exchange). Another one is Candente Resources (DNT.to), doing nearly half a million shares in volume in Lima yesterday. Plenty more examples to choose from, too.

Wouldn't it be funny if one day they rang the bell on the TSE and nobody came to play?

Postcard from PDAC: Low lies and high fives

Superspy "Codename NRI" is back with a second missive, direct from the heaving bosom of PDAC. If you missed the first, here it is. So here we go with the second NRI view of things. Enjoy (because I did...in fact it's a hoot).

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NRI here, with a few tales to tell...

I thought I should act on the suggestions of Otto, the incisive analyst, and locate a few of his interesting miners. I spotted the Petaquilla Minerals booth; and got straight to the point:

NRI: Aren't you the guys that have an unpaid fine?

Pet. rep: No. We don't owe a fine.
NRI: What do you mean?

Pet.rep. (defensively): They don''t have the authority to impose a fine.

NRI: Who?
Pet.rep.: The environment group. Only the Ministry. Nothing is being enforced against us.

NRI: Are you saying that the Ministry hasn't imposed a fine?
Pet.rep. : Not that I'm aware of.

NRI: Who are you?
Pet.rep.: Bassam Moubarak, the CFO.

NRI: The CFO...so, if a fine were imposed, you would know.
Pet.rep. : I'm not aware of any fine. A misconception in the media.

NRI: Which media?

Pet rep. responded but I didn't catch the reference. It sounded like a Panamanian newspaper.

This ended our exchange and I hurried off to a bench to sit and make a transcript of the questions and answers, while the exact words (as I recalled them) were fresh in my mind.

Now, Otto, if you find out that my interview might be of any help to Panamanian authorities I am responsive to providing evidence and would be delighted to have an expense paid trip to Panama for that purpose.

Digressing, I paid a visit to the booth of Eastmain Resources - ER.to - explorationists with some great projects in the James Bay area of Quebec, Canada, one of which is a JV with Goldcorp, which is developing the Roberto Mine on an adjacent property. ER is one of my favourites (I have shares) and I like their people a lot. I talked to one of the geologists, Cathy B, and she told me this PDAC has been very busy for them. I asked Cathy whether she and husband Don (ER's CEO) exhibited at the show in Phoenix last week. Cathy told me they had and, though they expected that it might be quiet, it was very very busy. Cathy told me that a coin dealer was set up right behind them; and he sold out his entire inventory - $173,000 in coins - in the first three hours of the show.

Returning to Otto's crib sheet, I really wanted to find Rob McEwen. Well my buddy, JG, informed me that the

McEwen companies - Rubicon Minerals, U.S.Gold, Lexam, Mineras Andes - were hosting a reception Tues eve at 1King St - a tony location in the power vortex of Toronto. Off I went - to this, my fourth reception so far, with the first three having been in suites in the Fairmont Royal York and the Intercontinental Hotel. Digressing again, the other night at the Royal York, a staff person told me that the PDAC is their biggest and busiest engagement of the year - and the one during which the most booze is served. Many many receptions are hosted simultaneously in each of several hotels. The McEwen reception was not in a suite - but in a ballroom! - and it was packed. I was given 2 bar tickets upon entry. Waitstaff circulated with platters of hors d'ouvres; rep's from each of the McEwen companies had stations to receive and respond to questions; and a photographer had a station to take one's photo as one held a 400oz. gold bar.

My buddy JG arrived and we connected. He told me that McEwen must be economizing, because last year, the bar was open - no 2 drink limitation - and there was a lot more food. I hadn't sighted Rob McEwen in the packed ballroom but JG had and pointed him out. I approached Mr. McEwen and waited for the couple who were chatting with him to finish; and then, responded to his greeting by thanking him for hosting this reception. I told him I had been following the Minera Andes story and was really glad that he had jammed Hochschild. Mr. McEwen responded that they deserved to be jammed. I asked whether he had heard about Inca Kola News; He had not. I told him this guy Otto had this blog and encouraged anyone spotting McEwen to highfive. Gawd love him, Mr McEwen immediately responded with the highfive. Anybody reading this: he is such an accessible guy. I have had an opportunity to speak with him before and my buddy JG told me that he once called one of the McEwen companies; and Rob McEwen answered the phone and was absolutely responsive to the questions which JG posited.

Wearing down here, I wanted to report on my meeting the charismatic and very impressive Juan Vegarra, the CEO of Vena Resources, and the question I didn't get to ask him; but I must sign off.

more later...
NRI

Related Post
Postcard from PDAC: Where have all the people (and freebies) gone?

Postcard from PDAC: Where have all the people (and freebies) gone?

Codename NRI is the brand new IncaKolaNews Canada correspondent (ok ok...it's a friend at the show). Anyway, NRI sent this dispatch with some impressions of PDAC day one (Sunday). Hope you enjoy:

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Nondescript Retail Investor (NRI) corresponding from the PDAC (Prospectors & Developers Assoc of Canada) conference in Toronto, Ontario...

General impressions from yesterday, Sunday, the first day: Compared to last year which was like a moshpit, the turn out Sunday was noticeably sparser. So, the setting is a big convention centre next to the Rogers Centre (home of the Toronto Blue Jays) and a longer walk than many attendees would venture from the downtown hotels at which they're staying. Hence, there are free shuttles every 10 minutes during peak times from 4 or 5 of the major hotels. Riding in from the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel at about noon yesterday (not a peak time - a half hour's worth of ride), there were only 5 of us on this big bus; riding away at about 5pm (peak time) to the Delta Chelsea there were, I believe, 8 of us on the big bus. One guy, an exhibitor, told me that exhibitor registrations were down 25% from last year; another guy told me that that there were also many registrants who didn't show up.

The convention floor for the Investors' Exchange - my territory - is maybe the size of a football field; as an NRI I have free access to this territory as I have been issued a large blue bordered name tag which distinguishes me from an Exhibitor or a Trade Show participant. Adjacent to the Investors' Exchange is another large area - maybe another football field size area? - which is the site of the Trade Show - government types and professional services to the mining business people and equipment vendors , etc - to which I do not have access, as the special name tag facilitating admission to that space costs more hundreds of dollars than I wish to spend and also I have no interest in buying a man portable drill or speaking with a representative of the Ministry of Mines in, say, Sierra Leone. Last year, I did manage to sneak past a guard - who, by prior arrangement, was looking the other way - to get into the Trade space in order to speak with a geologist with the Mexican government; so, I do have a sense about what's on the other side.

Anyway, back to the turnout - and the Investors' Exchange - no exaggeration...I believe the Exhibitors and their entourage easily outnumbered the Exhibitees with their blue bordered name tags and black cloth satchels for stashing promo material, etc. And, predominantly, the Exhibitors were clustered together chatting with each other with no captive Exhibitees to whom to promote.

And many booths were unmanned/unwomanned. For example, I passed the Dia Bras Exploration booth; but was unable to posit Otto's suggested question about whether they had financing as there was no one there. And I went to another exhibitor, the CEO of which I wished to speak with, three times; and no one was ever there.

Another observation: No freebies. Last year, everybody had complimentary pens and notepads and drink holders and raffle tickets and gold foil covered chocolates and stacks of Interra maps and encyclopedic compendiums of analysts reports and satchels and water bottles and on and on...this year, I was hard pressed to get a free pen. And no kidding, I believe there is even a dearth of paper promotional material of the companies themselves - so all these white clothed display tables are considerably more barren. As I talked to an IR person of one explorer company I reached to pick an foldered investor's package; and the IR guy intervened and offered to email it to me.

Just in case you were wondering........

...the Canada markets have a glitch (c'mon boyz, shout PTB at the top of yer voices). But who cares? Gold is rockin' and all is well. Here's bloomie

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Toronto Stock Exchange Trading Is Halted on Glitch (Update1)
By John Kipphoff

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- TMX Group Inc. halted trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange following a computer glitch that prevented quotes from being disseminated.
There is no estimate for when trading will resume, Sylvin Gauthier, a TMX spokesman in Montreal, said in a phone interview.

The nation’s stock benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index, has tumbled 37 percent in 2008. That would be the steepest annual decline since 1931. An average of $5.79 billion in shares changed hands each day this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.