Great Panther Silver (GPR.to): DON'T LOOK AT THE TRUE WIDTHS!!! DON'T!!! JUST LOOK AT THE HEADLINES, SUCKAZ!!!

This morning the serial mediocrity of Great Panther Silver (GPR.to) was reaffirmed by this NR. It actually starts quite brightly with a sheep-catching headline "Great Panther drills 1,681g/t silver over 3.15m at Topia" cos that's pretty darned good grading, isn't it? And you can bet serial pumper Mexico "Oh No Definitely No Hidden Agenda" Mike will be oozing all over it for his flock later today, too, along with the delinquents GPR uses to pump their stock like Jonathan Lebed. But if you dare to look closer at today's NR you see that this headline just aint all it's cracked up to be.

Yeah, really. Here's the drill results as presented in the NR with your author highlighting in red a couple of things:

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                                   Width    TW     Au    Ag     Pb     Zn
Hole     Vein            From      To     m     m   (g/t) (g/t)     %      %
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ST10-105 Don Benito    154.50  154.85  0.35  0.22    0.9   969   21.3   0.35
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ST10-108 Don Benito     33.20   33.33  0.13  0.08  0.318   121   2.79   0.17
       Alto
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ST10-109 Don Benito     76.70   76.80  0.10  0.09  0.334   161  11.90   1.41
       Alto
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ST10-111 San Jorge      66.48   66.60  0.12  0.08  0.184   287   0.34   0.39
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST10-111 Cantarranas    78.18   78.32  0.14  0.10  0.790  1550   2.66  17.70
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ST10-112 San Jorge      67.00   70.15  3.15  0.67   0.88  1681   2.40   5.32
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST10-112 Cantarranas    76.16   76.35  0.19  0.10  1.190  2820   3.29   4.04
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST10-113 Cantarranas    69.65   69.90  0.25  0.18  0.390  1150   1.35   2.34
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ST10-117 San Gregorio   37.20   37.60  0.40  0.17  0.600  1030   3.31  10.10
       Bajo
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ST10-117 San Gregorio   80.80   81.00  0.20  0.08  0.240   118   0.41   17.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST10-118 San Gregorio   37.00   37.10  0.10  0.05  0.400  1700   8.03   8.54
       Bajo
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ST10-118 San Gregorio   71.80   72.40  0.60  0.28  0.400   349   0.46   8.53
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST10-118 San Gregorio   91.20   91.45  0.25  0.12  0.160   290   0.09   3.36
       Alto
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ST10-119 San Gregorio   45.05   45.25  0.20  0.07  0.060   799   3.90  16.60
       Bajo
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ST10-119 San Gregorio  109.55  110.70  1.15  0.38  0.173   442   0.72   8.05
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST10-120 San Gregorio  108.60  109.05  0.45  0.15  0.030   973   0.37   0.80
       Bajo
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ST10-120 San Gregorio  119.10  119.50  0.40  0.14  0.200   167   0.29   5.87
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST10-122 El Rosario     62.45   63.05  0.60  0.20  0.050  2000   2.46   3.45
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST10-123 El Rosario    148.60  149.00  0.40  0.07  2.720    27   0.00   0.02
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ST10-125 San Gregorio   95.35   96.65  1.30  0.74  0.533   370   0.38   5.28
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ST10-126 El Rosario    107.75   110.8  3.05  1.65  0.398   294   1.76   0.81
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ST10-127 El Desierto    30.12   30.22  0.10  0.05   11.8  1550   5.27   5.89
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ST10-133 La Prieta     296.95  297.75  0.80  0.51  1.250    34   5.12   3.49
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ST10-134 La Prieta     231.25  231.55  0.30  0.25   2.39    38   4.23   5.14
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

So we see that although the drillcore did return 3.15m at 1,681 g/t Au, the true width of the vein (remembering that drills are done at angles to the way the vein runs) is just 0.67m!! This is much more along the lines of the Topia deposit, typified by skinny skinny veins of decent grade (plenty of evidence in that table above, as well as all the previous results published) that brings the pisspoor revenues and results we've come to expect from this overhyped company.

There's a line that runs between "putting best foot forward" and "trying to con the sheep". GPR has crossed that line so many times there's little doubt as to the company promo tactics. Today's NR is just another in the series.

Appleton Exploration (AEX.v) kindly offers us a classic example of junior mining news release bullshit

It's deja vu all over again, as Appleton Exploration (AEX.v) throws sequins in the eyes of the market with another bullshit drilling result. You may recall last year, when AEX.v tried to make a one metre intersection at its Manalo project in Mali, W Africa sound like it was wide and something that it wasn't. Here are two extracts we wrote on June 25th 2009:

So now we cut to June 15th, 2009. This because AEX.v published a NR that screamed it had hit an intersection of 192g/t Au (6.17 ounces of gold per tonne) over 10 metres at the Manalo site. The share price rocketed from the 20c-or-so level to 60c and beyond, even though the NR was "rather vaguely worded"....and that's being generous.

The IKN post last year was more about the bullshit insider selling that was going on at AEX.v, but we covered the way the drill story finished, too:

And sure enough, when the NR hit the wires yesterday (June 24th 2009) to explain that the drill interception was less 10m at 192g/t and more one single metre that hit lucky on the same band that had been discovered previously the stock dropped like a stone.

So here we are in June 2010 and instead of bullshitting about a one metre intersection at Manalo and making mineralization sound wider than it is at the project, AEX.v is.....errrrrr....bullshitting about a one metre intersection at Manalo and making mineralization sound wider than it is at the project. Today's NR headline reads.....

Appleton Intersects 31 Metres of 2.79 g/t Au at Manalo

....but when we check out the drillhole as reported, it turns out that AEX.v is intersecting the very same vein we knew existed before and smearing out the results.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             Fire                    
  From     To   Length     Assays   Check Screen Metallic Assays
Drill Hole     (m)    (m)      (m)    Au g/t                         Au g/t
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
MDL09-086      47    108       61       1.62                           0.95
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
incl     47     65       18       0.65                           0.73
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incl     65     77       12       0.17                           0.11
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
incl     77    108       31       2.79                           1.43
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
incl    102    108        6      12.93                           4.73
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
incl    106    107        1      57.30                           2.29
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Y'see, that "2.79 g/t over 31m" (do the math and the number 86.49 pops out) is mostly accounted for by the one metre of 57.3 g/t gold found between 106m and 107m at the bottom of that list, from the same vein that AEX tried to BS the market with last year (check that chart above to see what happened when the truth came out). Or if you like, AEX.v is telling us,

"We have this nice 57.3 g/t gold vein, but it's skinny and it's 350 feet underground. And then the 30 metres above that vein grades less than one gram per metre of gold on average. But hey....let's throw them together and make it sound like thirty metres of sexiness. Freakin' dumbass public ain't gonna look further than the headline anyway."

In the end we should thank this no-hope company and its bullshitting management for offering us such a clear example of the way drill results are spun out to try and fool us retail traders. This company is untouchable and its management team clearly unscrupulous, but it's not the only junior explorer out there that tries to lipstick its pigs and pretends it might have a mine on its hands. DYODD, dude.

UPDATE 11:00am: Here's the intraday chart of AEX.v:

They even tried to pump-prime this bullshit at the bell and bid it up. Waddya say to the action in Appleton so far, owly?

NR roundup

One of the morning jobs (usually while sipping a decent coffee) is to check on the pre-open news releases as they come off the wires. Here are a few that caught this humble scribe's eye today:

Fronteer (FRG) (51% owner and operator) and AuEx Ventures (XAU.to) (49% owner) nail another great drill return from Long Canyon. The headline grabbing 16.4g/t gold over 21.2m is also on an outstep, making it even more sexy. Expect love for both stocks on this, esp XAU.to which has underperformed compared to FRG these last few days.

Sabina Gold & Silver (SBB.to) return more great numbers from its new Llama Lake property. A certain US resident bottom-feeding chartist I could mention isn't going to get his stink bid filled :-)

Hathor (HAT.v) came out with its NR after the bell yesterday and the stock was halted in the afternoon due to it. The headline number of 7.5m at 43.64% U308 is an infill, but hells bells it's still a mind-popping intersect. Do the math, folks. With U308 trading at U$40.75 per pound (and plenty higher on long term contracts, but we'll just run with the public number) every metric tonne of that intersect is worth U$39,205......like wowsers. It's the equivalent of 1kg/t gold intersects (using U$1,200/oz Au).

Question: When will US Gold (UXG) do the right thing and change its name to 'Mexico Silver'?

Disclosure: long FRG, no position in others.

News roundup (we skirt the issues and rip the tissues)

Why do we love Bananama Republic so much? Here's why. Panama's finest blog, BR is to LatAm blogosphere as Messi is to futból.

Wave Journal has been adding tons of great photos of the Peru surfing scene to his blog recently. Check out the latest, a dreamy sunset shot of a choptop and its friends on board. And scroll down for the rest cos it's worth your time.

Robert Funk has a good post on the already rising doubts Chileans have about their new Piñera government. With the new administration's über-close ties to business, many people suspected that "friendly deals" (let's say) would line the pockets of ministerial friends & families; those suspicions are beginning to look well-founded.

Eight Colombians arrested as spies in Venezuela. Avoid the MSM claptrap, avoid the lefty rantings, get a decent balanced view of the episode from top indy media channel Colombia Reports right here.

Junior Mining News Releases: An appreciation

On this first trading day of PDAC 2010, this humble scribe would like to take time out and thank the investment relations departments of junior mining companies based in Canada. You are obviously keen to make sure that I don't get bored or lack reading material this sunny morning, the only possible explanation for having sent me 64 news releases concerning 64 separate mining companies in the space of time between 7 am this morning and now, 09:30am and the opening bell. Of course, this count of 64 news releases does not include the French language doubles nor the corrected NRs.

By way of reciprocation for these wonderful treats that await mine eyes, I would just like to offer the junior mining investment relations community two small observations:

1) Are you all really this stupid?

2)

The NR onslaught continues

It's two weeks before PDAC and every junior miner out there seems to want to get some news on the table before the year's big conflab gets going. So far today and before the opening bell, your humble servant received 27 NRs from little pissant companies all going "ME! ME! LOOK AT ME!" in a multitude of ways. I expect the same amount before lunchtime.

And thus to celebrate this joyous e-mail experience, IKN offers a suggestion to ECU Silver (ECU.to) about its next possible news release to make sure these arch BS-pumpers aren't left behind in the rush:

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 32, 2010) - ECU Silver Mining Inc. (TSX:ECU - News) is pleased to announce the procurement and delivery of high quality assets to its head office and office branches in Canada and Mexic0. The Company has taken delivery of 20,000 metal paperclips secured at a substantial discount to prevailing market prices. Mr. Michel Roy, Chairman and CEO of ECU Silver commented, "We are pleased to announce the news of our increase in paperclip inventory to our valued shareholders. Not only were the clips bought at a good price, but being of the metallic variety they are environmentally friendly. We expect these new supplies to benefit the Company as we move forward on our scams in Mexico".

In other news, the Company is issuing another ten million stock options to management and hangers-on over at GATA. But don't worry about it, suckaz. For further information regarding this news release, please mail our IR department who will promptly delete your message and never reply.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this Press Release because the people over at TSX aren't stupid.