Emgold EMR.V private placement hold period expires

I got an comment today on Emgold wondering if their plans for the mine are still on track as the shares price is trading down near 52 week lows. Although I have not talked to the company I did go back and read the Company's previous news releases.

Emgold completed a private placement of 12.5 million shares at $0.14/share back in October 15 2010. With all private placements there is a 4 month hold period that  makes those shares non trading. That hold period has passed on or about February 15th.

Judging by the graph there looks like some shareholders have adopted the strategy of taking their principal investment off the table and riding out the warrants.

If Emgold's California mine plans have hit a snag or come to a halt without an announcement being made, the shares of Emgold would be trading much lower on massive volume.

Canadian Energy Exploration XPL.V drills a few dusters

Canadian Energy Exploration XPL.V announced that they have drilled a few dry wells in Saskatchewan and the price dropped over 40%. I originally bought some stock at $0.33/share and sold half my position back in December 2010 at $0.57/share to buy Caza Gold, CZY.V.

Canadian Energy Exploration Inc. is providing results from its three-well drilling program in the Hardy/Minton area of southeast Saskatchewan.
The company has drilled and cased all three farm-in commitment wells in the previously announced Hardy/Minton area farm-out (see news release in Stockwatch on Oct. 21, 2010). Each of the three wells is under various stages of evaluation:

• The first exploratory test well is located at CEEI Hardy South 5-27-4- 21W2M and is cased to a total depth of 2,300 metres. After completions of the Duperow and Bird Bear formations proved wet, this well was completed in the Ratcliffe/Mississippian formation, pump tested with no hydrocarbon in this zone. The well may be further evaluated for potential in the Bakken formation.
• The second exploratory test well is located at CEEI Hardy South 16-1-5- 21W2M and is cased to a total depth of 2,174 metres. After coring, this well was completed in the Midale Vuggy and Marly formations with no produced hydrocarbons and is now being evaluated for potential in the Ratcliffe/Mississippian formation.
• The third exploratory test well is located at CEEI Hardy South 5-17-5- 21W2M and is cased to a total depth of 2,108 metres. The company is waiting for a completion rig to test the Bakken and the Basal Colorado formations.

Under the farm-out, the company has received an extension from March 31, 2011, to June 30, 2011, to elect to drill option wells to earn the remaining 30.5-section lands under the farm-out.

With this new out today I sold the balance of the position at $0.31/share. At this point it is not worth looking back at XPL to repurchase. I would expect the 15 million $0.22/share private placement completed in November 2010 will be firmly sold when the hold is released.

Another piece of the puzzle for Hilltown Resources CDNX:HLT

I missed this news release last week but it looks like Hilltown Resources is moving in the right direction in its quest for iron ore exploration and development.

The Company has weeded out the properties that management considers not worth pursuing and has entered into a local alliance to exploit the better prospects.

Hilltown Resources Inc. ("Hilltown") (CNSX:HLT) and Mineracao Soccoimex ("Soccoimex") have entered into a strategic alliance to maximize the value of Hilltown's future iron ore and manganese resource projects in Brazil. Soccoimex, a Brazilian company with a fifty-eight year history as a successful operator of iron ore mines in Brazil, is ideally qualified as an operating partner for Hilltown's future Brazilian projects.
Soccoimex will assist and work directly with Hilltown to identify, negotiate, acquire, develop and operate iron ore and manganese properties and mining projects for the benefit of Hilltown, including supervising, permitting, construction and operation of future Hilltown iron ore and manganese mines. Soccoimex will also work closely with consultants, government agencies and Hilltown representatives during the development stage of deposits, including facilitating claims, licensing, and mine planning and design during feasibility stages. Soccoimex will be the operator of Hilltown's mining projects, functioning as contract operators, with specific terms to be agreed upon by both parties on a property by property basis.
Rudy de Jonge is now the CEO and CFO of the Company. Kent Ausburn is now the President and Chief Operating Officer.

With 21 million shares outstanding and only trading at $0.15/share the market values Hilltown at only $3.15 million. Due to the CDNX listing the Hilltown flies way under the radar, I believe the game plan is to eventually list on the TSX Venture Exchange.

A few other iron ore deals have been seen their share price skyrocket recently and once Hilltown feels confident to get the story out there I should see a decent return. I am long 10000 shares at $0.15/share and will look to add to my position as this story develops.

An added note: It may be easier to purchase Hilltown through a full service broker than it is through a discount broker.

Another interesting Blog

I have come across this blog that presents some decent contrarian arguments to the mass majority when it comes to real estate and real estate investing. There are also good insights into the economy and investing in general on a larger scale.

It is refreshing to see a voice of reason in a sea of self perpetuating promoters cheer leading for their own self interests.


The blog can be found here. Or cut and paste this link. http://financialinsights.wordpress.com/

Strike Minerals STK.V attracts Mineralfields funds.

I noticed today that Mineralfields has participated in a private placement with Strike Minerals, I will take that as a good sign going forward.

The TSX Venture Exchange has accepted for filing documentation with respect to a brokered private placement announced Dec. 22, 2010.
Shares:  7,212,500 flow-through shares
Purchase price:  eight cents
Warrants:  3,606,250 share purchase warrants to purchase 3,606,250 shares
Warrant exercise price:  12 cents for a two-year period
Hidden placees:  12
Insiders:  Joe Dwek 625,000; Mineralfields 2010-IX SuperFlow Through LP 2,625,000

Americas Petrogas BOE.V recent push higher

I posted 2 weeks ago on selling some Americas Petrogas on it's recent run higher and what was the driver for the run. It turns out that it is the Potash component that is the hot commodity. Junior potash companies seem to be this months must have.

It looks like Americas Petrogas is going to add the other fertilizer component to their portfolio, Phosphates.

GrowMax Agri Corp. and its subsidiary, Americas Potash Peru SA, have begun an exploratory drilling program for phosphates, separate and distinct from GrowMax's existing potash brine project. The phosphates drilling program will occur in the southernmost block of GrowMax's Bayovar concession whereas GrowMax's potash brine project is located in the northern portion of the Bayovar concession.
GrowMax's southernmost block is 16,837 acres or 68 square kilometres in size and is located a few kilometres to the northeast of the open pit surface phosphate mine which was put into production in July, 2010, by Brazilian miner Vale SA.
The drilling program is expected to involve 20 boreholes, each ranging in depth from 60 metres to 120 metres for a total drilling depth of approximately 2,000 metres. The program, which is intended to assess the extent, depth and thickness of the phosphate deposit in the southern block of the Bayovar concession, is expected to be completed by May, 2011.
Barclay Hambrook, president of GrowMax, said: "The proximity of GrowMax's southern block to Vale's existing phosphate mine is of interest to us. This drilling is the first step to determine the extent to which phosphate deposits may extend into our concession."

CB Gold CBJ.V Halted pending news

I woke up this morning to see one of my deals halted pending news. I always think that "halted pending news" means something huge has transpired and will have a significant material impact for the Company.

I am perplexed as to why CB Gold halted their stock today as the news they published is neither exciting nor material changing for any company, quite frankly I would call it a "Lunch bag let down".

The highlights are as follows

CB Gold Inc. (TSX VENTURE:CBJ) ("CB Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to provide a summary of its initial drilling programme at its Vetas Gold Project, District of Santander, Colombia ("Vetas Gold Project") and to announce the discovery of gold-copper-molybdenum porphyry mineralisation in three of the first five holes, including DDH10-001, which ended with a 20m interval with a weighted average of 1.38 g/t gold and 1.02 g/t silver hosted by dacitic porphyry with strong potassic hydrothermal alteration identified by secondary biotite. This mineralization was not reported previously in the Vetas - California mining district and is considered a new discovery in the region. The Company is also pursuing a number of different target areas at the Vetas Gold Project, including zones of high grade veins and a main stockwork zone which covers an area estimated to be at least 600m x 300m with up to 300m of vertical extent.

Drilling Results:

CB Gold has two drill rigs operating at Vetas. The first five holes of the program were targeted to confirm the extension of high-grade veins around the Real Minera mine, and were drilled from platforms located up to 350m from the existing underground workings. Each hole encountered multiple veins, similar to those previously mapped and sampled in the Company's exploration work during 2010. The veins show multiple episodes of deposition with massive milky quartz, followed by later pulses of gray quartz and chalcedonic, crustiform silica. Grey quartz is associated with finely disseminated pyrite, visible gold and silver, typical of a low sulphidation epithermal system.

Assay results for the first three core holes and part of the fourth of the initial ten hole / 3000m drilling program have been received and part of the fourth and all of the fifth drillhole results are pending, the sixth was completed on the 14th February and seventh hole is currently being drilled. The highest grade results for the first 3 holes are shown below and all significant results received for drilled intervals are in the following table:

1.00 m @ 4.74 g/t Au and 170 g/t Ag (RM-DDH10-01; 133.00 - 134.00m)

1.00 m @ 21.1 g/t Au and 4.1 g/t Ag (RM-DDH10-01; 179.00 - 180.00m)

1.00m @ 16.95 g/t Au and 2.3 g/t Ag (RM-DDH10-02; 208.00 - 209.00m)

0.62 m @ 35.1 g/t Au and 61.1 g/t Ag and 1.6% Cu (RM-DDH10-03; 90.30 - 90.92m)

1.97 m @ 11.89 g/t Au and 20.39 g/t Ag (RM-DDH10-03; 88.95 - 90.92m)

0.47 m @ 14.8 g/t Au (RM-DDH10-04; 72.73 - 73.20m)

Personally I do not like it when Management feels the need to halt a deal pending news and when the news does come out it is very mediocre.

CB Gold was reinstated for trading at 10 am and I sold at $1.30.

New CPC opportunity

My broker has informed me that a new Capital Pool Company is about 3 weeks away from it's Initial Public Offering. The Company is called Oakham Capital and is led by David Patterson and Colin Watt.

The last two successes from these guys was Blackburn Ventures which is now Morumbi Oil and Gas MOC.V ($0.30/share) and Valverde Capital presently known as Americas Petrogas BOE.V ($2.50/share).

According to the preliminary prospectus filled on SEDAR this deal is priced at the $0.10/share level.

I have had a few readers of this blog ask me how to participate in these CPC deals and I am willing to refer you to my broker if you wish to participate but only if you read the following conditions.

1: My broker accepts clients from British Columbia and Alberta only.

2: Capital Pooled Companies carry a significant amount of risk of capital and therefor should only be purchased by risk tolerant investors.

3: Past performance of deal qualities are not guaranteed going forward.

4: CPC's usually come out of the gate as an instant double and the urge to sell right away is strong, Stockbrokers prefer that you hold your shares until the completion of the Qualifying Transaction. Generally if you do sell right out of the gate the broker will probably pass you over on the next deal.

5: Be prepared to have this money tied up in the CPC for at least 1-2 years.

If you think that you can abide by the conditions above, email me at bankofdave@gmail.com and I will give the name and number for my broker.

As I have posted before I like these deals and it is always worth my time to throw at least $500 to $1000 at them.

Personal Disclosure: David Bowes is not receiving financial compensation from any transaction resulting from this posting.  If I can help my readers make a few dollars and give my broker a few new clients that is the reward in itself.

Purchasing Management with Paget Minerals PGS.V

I had Paget Minerals PGS.V on my watch list and threw in a $0.19/share bid to see if I could get a position on the cheap. Today I am a shareholder.

A few news releases from the Company caught my attention the first one being Pinetree Capital purchasing 5 million shares, in addition to Pinetree's purchase these funds also bought the following positions in Paget at $0.25/share,  MineralFields 2010-VI Super Flow-Through LP, 1.22 million; MineralFields B.C. 2010 Super Flow Through LP, 900,000; Pathway Mining 2010-II Flow Through LP, 1.6 million.

The fact that these funds have made an investment in Paget warranted further investigation.

Paget originated as a CPC called CMYK Capital, shortly after the Qualifying Transaction the Company added some pretty experienced management.  


Although it appears that Paget has some pretty good early stage exploration properties, the real reason for my purchase is who is on the Board of Directors. 

David F. Volkert

Director, President and Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Volkert is a mine finder with a long, successful career in the mining industry and has held various senior positions, including Exploration Manager and Chief Geologist for Barrick Gold Corporation, where he was instrumental in the discovery of the Laguna Norte gold deposit and the acquisition of the Pierina gold deposit in Peru. As Vice President, Exploration for Bear Creek Mining Corp. he spearheaded the discovery of the Corani and Santa Ana silver-lead-zinc deposits in Peru.
 

Brian R. Booth

Director

Brian Booth is past President, CEO and Director of Lake Shore Gold Corporation, a publicly-traded company. Prior to joining Lake Shore, Mr. Booth held various management roles over the previous 23 years with Inco Limited.

George Tikkanen

Independent Director

Mr. Tikkanen is a successful exploration and mining executive with over 40 years international experience, predominately holding various senior positions up to and including President of Cominco Resources International Ltd. and Vice President, Exploration for Cominco Ltd. He spearheaded a number of significant discoveries including the Kudz Ze Kayah base metal deposit in the Yukon and the Aqqaluk and Paalaaq zinc deposits in Alaska.


 The chart indicates that Paget still trades like an early stage shell company with no promotion or mass share distribution to date. The Company has 72 million shares outstanding with $5.6 million in the treasury. Any warrants outstanding start at an exercise price of $0.30/share.

This news release from January 27th paints the broad strokes of Paget's 2011 exploration plans.

Paget Minerals Corp. is providing a 2011 exploration update on its 100-per-cent-owned British Columbia property portfolio. Paget is focused on an aggressive grassroots exploration program in B.C. for precious metals and copper in addition to making strategic investments leading to acquisitions in the Americas Cordillera.
The 2011 exploration program will advance and drilling is planned at the following four projects:

• Chist Creek -- precious metal-enriched volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) -- located 25 kilometres southeast of Terrace in the Stikine Terrane. Two thousand ten mapping and sampling identified a 1,800-by-500-to-750-metre area with VMS mineralization containing to 4.4 grams per tonne gold (Au) and 92 g/t silver (Ag) overprinted by quartz-chalcopyrite-pyrite veins with bonanza grades of 201 and 685 g/t Au and 735 g/t Ag (see news in Stockwatch on Sept. 29, 2010).
• Icy Lake -- copper-molybdenum porphyry -- located 125 km west of Dease Lake, a porphyry system with potassic and quartz-pyrite alteration over a two-by-three-kilometre area, was drilled by Newmont in 1965 with intersections of 45 m of 0.45 per cent Cu and 0.03 per cent Mo and 150 m of 0.15 per cent Cu and 0.03 per cent Mo from the edges of the system (maximum depth tested 150 m). A related, undrilled skarn averages 2 per cent Cu from nine surface samples.
• Fae -- Cu-Au-Mo porphyry -- located 10 km southeast of Icy Lake. An undrilled porphyry system one km in diameter with values to 1.7 per cent Cu, 0.63 g/t Au and 533 parts per million Mo.
• Slam -- Au -- located 13 km south of Icy Lake. Silicified limestone and limestone breccias crop out over a 200-by-400-metre area with anomalous to 3.8 g/t Au. Mineralization style is similar to the Golden Bear deposit located 11 km to the southwest (1990 to 2001 production of 484,000 ounces at average grade of 6.9 g/t -- total of underground and pit production).

Additional B.C. projects include:

• Mt. Dunn Cu-Au-Mo porphyry -- located 20 km west of the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell (Seabridge Gold) and Snowfield (Pretium Resources) deposits with stockwork mineralization in quartz-sericite-altered intrusive over three km strike length and 200 m width, drilled in 2009 with intersections of anomalous Cu and Au (such as 330 m of 0.13 per cent Cu and 0.18 g/t Au) from high in the system. The 2010 exploration program identified higher-grade Au and Cu from lower elevations averaging 0.35 per cent Cu and 0.7 g/t Au. Paget will drill or joint venture/option this project.
• JLN Cu-Ag-Zn skarn -- located two km from Paget's Chist Creek property with high-grade magnetite/hematite-chalcopyrite mineralization over a one km length and widths up to eight to 10 m averaging 3 per cent Cu and 40 g/t Ag.
• Results from the 2010 core drilling program at the Cabin project in the Nechako basin, B.C. (1,418 m), on gold-mineralized quartz veining in strongly sericitized quartz monzonite intrusive and over strong geophysical (IP) anomalies, do not warrant continued exploration.

Monetization of non-core assets in 2010 has provided Paget with current and future holdings in:

• TTM Resources -- 200,000 shares plus 49-per-cent back-in right on the Ben Mo-porphyry in B.C. (see news in Stockwatch on Aug. 31, 2010).
• Miocene Metals (private subsidiary of Wallbridge Mining) -- 697,675 shares plus 2-per-cent net smelter returns royalty (NSR) on the Logan Mo porphyry in B.C. (see news in Stockwatch on March 23, 2010).
• Silver Quest Resources -- total 200,000 shares over one year plus 1.5-per-cent net smelter returns royalty on the Buck base metal/Au project in B.C. (see news in Stockwatch on Jan. 10, 2011).
• Seymour Ventures/REE Mining -- total 550,000 shares over three years plus 2-per-cent NSR or a 40-per-cent interest in the Mt. Bisson/Xeno rare earth element projects in B.C. (see news in Stockwatch on Nov. 18, 2010).

Strategic investments by Paget in the Americas Cordillera are exemplified by its 8.1-per-cent shareholding of Trident Gold Corp. (private) in Colombia (see news in Stockwatch on Jan. 20, 2011). Trident currently holds licences over 50,000 hectares of grassroots gold exploration ground in the Segovia-Remedios, Amalfi and Anori districts.
David Volkert, president and chief executive officer, stated, "Paget is financially well positioned with a $5.6-million treasury to complete coincident drill projects on our 100-per-cent-owned B.C. property portfolio beginning in spring 2011 and maintain an aggressive grassroots exploration and acquisition program in B.C. and other favourable jurisdictions in the north-south Americas Cordillera throughout 2011."

I like to find deals like Paget that fly under the radar and that can be bought on the cheap. My bet is on the past successes of the management team and their ability to do it again.

Capital Pooled Companies Stars and Dogs

Lately I have written about the opportunities that Capital Pooled Companies (CPC's) present and throwing a few investment dollars at them. Some of my star CPC's have been Latin American Minerals LAT.V, Americas Petrogas BOE.V, Cap-Ex Ventures CEV.V, Cap-Link (now Petrodorado PDQ.V) even MAG Silver MAG.TO years ago started as a CPC.

Terrace Resources TZP-P. V announced its' Qualifying Transaction (QT) on Friday and I do not believe it will be the company maker that I had hoped. Unless Management is vending in the asset to satisfy the Venture Exchange policies to find a QT within a given time. Once the .P is removed from the stock Management may use this shell to find a better project.

On the surface this announcement is pretty ho-hum and unless there is a greater plan ahead for Terrace my funds could be better employed elsewhere.

Terrace Resources Inc. has entered into a letter of intent (LOI) dated Jan. 31, 2011, to acquire an 87.5-per-cent working interest and 65.1875-per-cent net revenue interest in certain oil gas leases referred to as the Los Patos gas unit from Eagle Energy and Development Company, a private company incorporated in Texas which is at arm's length to Terrace.
The acquisition will constitute Terrace's qualifying transaction under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Los Patos gas unit
The unit is a 320-acre proration unit located in Wharton county, Texas. The unit is situated in a prolific overpressured Yegua system which is interpreted as an elongated barrier-bar system running parallel to the Texas Gulf Coast.
To date, 26 wells have been completed in the system, running to the southwest from the prolific Rio Loco field, producing slightly over 53 billion cubic feet of gas, or an average of slightly over two billion cubic feet per well. Individual well recoveries have ranged as high as 7.6 billion cubic feet of gas. In the immediate vicinity of the prospect, 17 wells have produced 23 billion cubic feet of gas, or approximately 1.4 billioin cubic feet of gas per well.
Eagle previously drilled a well in the unit, known as Patos gas unit No. 1, which suffered extensive damage when initially completed. A subsequent engineering study was undertaken that determined there is a reasonable probability the well may be successfully re-entered and fracture stimulated to produce gas in the Yegua formation.
Material terms of the acquisition
Under the terms of the LOI:

• Terrace will incorporate a wholly owned United States-domiciled subsidiary (Subco), which will be granted an 87.5-per-cent working interest and a 65.1875-per-cent net revenue interest in the unit, subject to paying certain costs as set out below.
• Subco will pay 100 per cent of all costs associated with the re-entry and fracture stimulation of Patos gas unit No. 1 in exchange for 100 per cent of the resulting net cash flow (74.5-per-cent net revenue interest) until the date that Subco has received total cash flow equal to Subco's capital costs, which are estimated to be a maximum of $250,000 (U.S.).
• After the payout date, Subco's working interest and net revenue interest in the workover well will be reduced to 87.5 per cent and 65.1875 per cent, respectively.
• Subco will be named operator of the unit.
• Subco will commence work on the workover well within 60 days of the date on which all of the conditions precedent set out below have been satisfied or waived by Terrace.
• In the event the fracture stimulation of the workover well does not result in a commercially productive well, Subco will be responsible for all costs associated with plugging and abandoning the workover well and restoring the surface site in accordance with the requirements of the Texas Railroad Commission and the lease provisions.

Upon completion of the workover well, the company may, but is not required to, drill additional wells in which it will have an 87.5-per-cent working interest at a total estimated cost of $1.5-million (U.S.) per well.
Conditions precedent
The completion of the acquisition is conditional upon, among other things, the following:

• The receipt of a satisfactory report under Form 51-101 in a form acceptable to Terrace and the exchange;
• The execution of a formal farm-out agreement satisfactory to both parties on or before Feb. 28, 2011, or such later date as may be agreed upon by the parties;
• The receipt of a financial budget and technical plan, acceptable to Terrace, to re-enter and fracture stimulate the workover well;
• The receipt of final acceptance from the exchange of the acquisition and the private placement described below on or before April 30, 2011, or such later date as may be agreed upon in writing by the parties.

It is expected that the exchange will not require the company to seek shareholder approval for the acquisition given that it is an arm's-length transaction.
Proposed private placement
The company also announces a non-brokered private placement of up to 10 million units at a price of nine cents per unit for total maximum proceeds of $900,000. Each unit will comprise one common share and one share purchase warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional common share at a price of 18 cents for a period of three years from the date of issue.
The private placement will be conditional upon and will close concurrently with the completion of the acquisition.
The proceeds of the private placement will be used together with the company's existing working capital to finance the development of the unit and for general working capital purposes.
A finder's fee or commission may be paid by the company in connection with the financing.
Postclosing status
On the closing of the acquisition, Terrace will be classified as a Tier 2 oil and gas issuer by the exchange and will have, if the maximum private placement is completed, approximately 40,881,000 common shares and 10 million warrants outstanding.
A yet-to-be-determined number of stock options will be granted, in accordance with the policies of the exchange, to directors, officers and consultants concurrently with closing.
In addition, the company will have, if the maximum private placement is completed, approximately $3.6-million in cash on hand before it incurs the workover costs contemplated by the LOI.

Silver bullion from First Majestic Silver FR.TO

I added to the small physical silver bullion that I own. I picked up this 18 oz. coin set and was stunned by how beautiful the set is. First Majestic Silver sells bullion in coins, ingots and bars, I opted for the coin set.

Visit their online store here.

Latin American Minerals LAT.V wants to get the story out

A follow up to my post on Monday, it seems management is comfortable enough with the Paso Yabai story to get the word out.

Latin American Minerals Inc. (LAT) has engaged Andreas Curkovic to provide investor relations services to LAT, subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
The consultant's duties will include:

• Editing and writing of press releases;
• Editing, writing and managing of communications materials such as investor presentations;
• Arranging and attending meetings with professional investors;
• Continuing contact and managing relationships with the professional investment community on the company's behalf.

The actions of the consultant are subject to the control and direction of the board of directors of the company.
The Consultant's engagement is on a month-to-month basis. The consultant will be paid a fee of $5,000 per month for his services plus any reasonable expenses of the consultant's services to LAT. In connection with the engagement, the company also issued stock options for 200,000 shares to the consultant, each exercisable to purchase one common share of the company at a price of 30 cents until Feb. 1, 2016, subject to vesting in eight equal tranches of 25,000 options every three months over two years, with the first tranche vesting on May 1, 2011.

Some money off the table with Americas Petrogas BOE.V

I have been a shareholder of Americas Petrogas Inc.(API) since it was a Capital Pooled Company, theoretically my cost on the stock is nil but for CRA purposes my adjusted cost base is somewhere near $0.20/share.

I really like Americas Petrogas and the assets that management has acquired for the Company. API has a very large portfolio of oil and gas leases in the Neuquen Basin in Argentina and a brine potash deal in Peru.

This week the market seems to have taken note of API and pushed the stock to new highs. I am not sure if it is the potash component or the oil and gas asset that is in the driver seat, but I am still along for the ride.

I did struggle with selling some stock today with fear and greed casting doubt in my decision. Fear that I sold to early and greed thinking that $5.00/share could be attained.

But going back to my trading rules, the money was there so I took it and judging by the recent run a pull back is not out of the question, hence I pulled the trigger and sold 3000 shares at $2.20/share.

Will Latin American Minerals LAT.V Paso Yabai gold property be real?

I have been a shareholder of Latin American Minerals (LAT) on and off since it was a Capital Pooled Company back in 2004. Edizione Holdings SpA of Italy ( Benetton Family) was a major shareholders of LAT with 7 million shares held through a company called Minera Sud Argentina. The Benetton Family is reported to be one of the larger land owners in Argentina and has connections to quality prospects. Present Minera Sud Argentina holdings can not be verified.

LAT acquired the Paso Yobai gold property, located in Paraguay in February 2007 and the property has a history of being worked on by artisan minerals. Shortly after the acquisition the stock ran to over $1.00/share only to pull back to the $0.40/share six months later. News of visible gold during a drill program rocketed the stock  back over $1.00/share again in January 2008.

July 2008 LAT saw a few spikes in it's share price with the staking of the Salares potash-lithium project.



Latin American Minerals spun out the potash lithium project into a new company called Lithium Americas Corp. LAC.TO in May 2010 while retaining 17.1% of Lithium Americas.

An interesting private placement was completed in September 2010 with the issuance of 10 million shares at $0.10/share with a 2 year warrant at $0.20/share. Subsequent to the closing of the private placement Gerry Feldman CFO of Pinetree Capital was appointed to the board of LAT. According to the Pinetree website, Pinetree owns 15,850,000 million shares of LAT.

In December of 2010 LAT cashed up the treasury by selling off it's Lithium Americas holdings to the tune of $12.6 million dollars, enough money to further advance the Paso Yobai project without further dilution.

Last week LAT made two announcements that seems to have waken up the market for LAT.  The first summarized as follows.

LATIN AMERICAN MINERALS ORDERS BULK SAMPLING PLANT FOR PARAGUAY GOLD PROJECT FOLLOWING PROPERTY ACQUISITION
Latin American Minerals Inc. has commissioned the construction of a bulk sampling gold extraction plant following an important property acquisition milestone at its Paso Yobai gold property in Paraguay.
The corporation has completed the acquisition of a 70-per-cent interest in the mining licence held by Minera Guaira S.A. near Paso Yobai, Paraguay. The Paraguayan government has approved the transfer of this 70-per-cent interest of the licence to the corporation's Paraguayan wholly owned subsidiary. The transfer document has been signed by both parties, and the corporation has completed the final option payment to Minera Guaira of $1,314,000 (U.S.). The parties now form a 70/30 joint venture with the corporation as operator. The party that does not contribute its pro rata share of costs will be diluted on a straight line basis. Should an interest be diluted to 15 per cent or less, it will automatically be reduced and converted to a 1-per-cent interest (this interest is required under the terms of the licence and is to be non-participating) and will receive a 3-per-cent net smelter returns royalty. The corporation does not anticipate that Minera Guaira shall contribute to the joint venture expenses. Consequently, the corporation can earn a 99-per-cent interest in the property by investing approximately $5-million (U.S.) in project operations and development. The corporation's treasury currently holds approximately $12-million (U.S.).

The follow up news released today is as follows

2011 PASO YOBAI GOLD EXPLORATION UNDERWAY IN PARAGUAY
Latin American Minerals Inc.'s first quarter exploration program for the Paso Yobai gold project is under way, including a 2,000-metre diamond drilling program. The drill rig is already on site. Refer to the company's website for pictures of the continuing drilling.
The Paso Yobai gold project consists of a very large footprint epithermal gold system exposed near surface along two trends:

• The Discovery trend which is currently eight kilometres long;
• The Valientes trend (formerly known as the New trend, see news in Stockwatch on Nov. 5, 2009, and Feb. 17, 2010) which is approximately 11 km long.

Exploration work to date on the 15,111-hectare concessions includes 6,700 m of diamond drilling, which outlined mineralization from surface to depths of 100 m to 130 m, 18 large machine-made trenches exposing the uppermost 13 m of vein mineralization, and extensive soil sampling, rock sampling and geophysics.
An aggressive new work program has begun on the project consisting of exploration activity in three areas, to be conducted simultaneously.
Program one -- Discovery zone detailed trenching and infill drilling:

• 1,500 m of diamond drilling to infill the central 200 m of the Discovery zone area with a 25-metre by 25-metre grid. This drilling began on Jan. 29, 2011;
• 500 m of deep exploration drilling below the existing known mineralization in the central area of the Discovery zone;
• Deep mechanical trenching at 25 m intervals though the central 200 m of the Discovery zone.

Miles Rideout, president and chief executive officer of the corporation, explained the importance of this initial drill program: "The infill trenching, grid drilling and deep drilling through the core Discovery zone is work that is essential to our understanding of the Paso Yobai mineralization and to the operation of our new commercial-scale bulk sampling plant (see news in Stockwatch on Jan. 24, 2011). This program will culminate in nine detailed geologic sections spaced at 25 m intervals, depicting the grades and the geologic model from surface to depths exceeding 150 m. Accurate delineation of the mineralization at depth is one important element in the process of adding ounces to this deposit."
Program two -- exploration trenching along the northern arm of the Discovery trend

• Five new mechanical trenches at 200 m intervals over the mostly unexplored 1,100 m long northwest arm of the Discovery trend.

Mr. Rideout added the following about the continuing exploration along the Discovery trend: "The high-value gold anomaly in the soil samples extends for almost 4.5 km of the Discovery trend. The anomaly values are pretty consistent over this length. The central 1,500 m of this anomaly has been the focus of LAT's trenching and drilling. The northern arm, more than 1,100 m long, has previously been tested with limited, shallow trenching and only three drill holes. The new trenching program is the beginning of a concerted exploration program for this sizable target area. There is a lot of potential in this area."
Program three -- exploration on the Valientes trend

• The environmental permit has been received for the 100-per-cent-LAT-owned prospecting concession, which encompasses most of the 11 km long geologic Valientes trend target (formerly referred to as the New trend).
• The Valientes trend consists of five large geochemical anomalies that will be intensively investigated by auger-hole sampling, trenching where appropriate and subsequent exploration drilling.

The company believes the Paso Yabai property could contain approximately  1,800,000 ounces of gold but this corporate claim has to be further verified through drilling and a qualified NI 43-101 report.

Judging by the chart I believe the Latin American story is beginning to wake up again.

It is not all straight up from here though as 6.7 million $0.50/share warrants are set to expire mid this month leaving an overhang of 11.5 million warrants at an average of $0.25/share still out there.

During my long history with LAT I have had significant wins, presently I am long at $0.26/share. I have held this position for over two years and with the latest developments I will look to add when the opportunity presents itself.