I am pleased to announce that  Firestone Ventures (FV: TSX) is the newest member of The AGORACOM 100.  With NI 43-101: 330 Million Pounds of Zinc, 114 Million Pounds of Lead and 978,000 Ounces of Silver Defined to Date, Firestone is definetly AGORACOM 100 material.

Firestone Ventures Inc. is exploring and advancing its road-accessible Torlon Hill zinc-lead-silver project in Guatemala, Central America. Since early 2006, 8,400 metres of drilling in 101 holes has identified mineral resources totalling 330 million pounds of zinc, 114 million pounds of lead and 978,000 ounces of silver. The Torlon Hill deposit is on or near-surface and is open for expansion.

In late 2008 and during 2009, Firestone completed additional land acquisitions, data compilation and re-interpretation of historic data, mapping, prospecting, and soil sampling. Fieldcrews are currently conducting regional exploration and zinc occurrence evaluation in preparation for drilling in early 2010. The company plans to expand on the resource defined at Torlon Hill in addition to drilling additional zinc targets in the regional carbonate belt.

As always, assume I am horribly conflicted by the fact Firestone is now a client of AGORACOM and do your own due diligence.  Here are some of the things we like about the company:

Exploring The Torlon Hill Zinc Project In Guatemala

• Artisanal mining and smelting of lead for over 300 centuries; zinc potential of property had never been tested.
• Torlon Hill is a direct replacement zinc-lead-silver deposit on the boundary between two major tectonic plates.
• Deposit is almost completely oxidized to smithsonite (zinc carbonate) with remnant galena.
• Road accessible, 100% owned by Firestone Ventures Inc.
• First ever drill program started in early 2006.
• 8400 m drilled to date in 101 drill holes, deposit is open to expansion.
• High-grade zinc mineralization is exposed on surface and is near-surface in drill holes.
• 330 million pounds of zinc, 114 million pounds of lead and 978,000 ounces of silver defined to date.
• Excellent upside to exploration in the surrounding area to increase tonnage.

Link to Hub / Link to Profile / Link to Forum

Regards,
George

My Peanut Butter Manifesto for consolidation in the junior resources space, which is shared by Pierre Lassonde, seems to be picking up momentum with the announcement today by AGORACOM client, Freewest Resources, of an acquisition by Cliffs Natural Resources.  This is no small party deal – Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE:CLF) (PARIS:CLF) is an international mining and natural resources company, the largest producer of iron ore pellets in North America, a major supplier of direct-shipping lump and fines iron ore out of Australia and a significant producer of metallurgical coal.

JUNIOR RESOURCES PEANUT BUTTER MANIFESTO

I’m pleased to see this deal from an industry perspective because we are now clearly seeing the wheat separated from the chaff.  At the time of my original peanut butter manifesto, there were simply too many bogus resource companies that were strong on promotion but light on fundamentals.  The result was a thinning out of investment dollars over too many companies, meaning the truly great companies were not realizing their true market potential.

Thankfully, this has started to change as of late with good companies seeing their share prices appreciate nicely, while empty juniors struggle to survive.  I hope the philosophy behind The AGORACOM 100 played a role in helping this happen. I certainly believe our upcoming Online Gold & Commodities Conference (December 3rd and 4th) will also serve to further this goal.

Let’s hope this trend continues so that investors can maximize their personal returns from investments in great juniors.

HIGHLIGHTS OF FREEWEST / CLIFFS DEAL

Read the entire press release but here are some of the highlights of this friendly deal:

• Cliffs to acquire 100% of outstanding Freewest shares
• Each Freewest shareholder to receive C$0.55 in shares of Cliffs and one share of New Freewest with an estimated value of C$0.15, for a total estimated value of C$150.6 million or C$0.70 per Freewest share
• Transaction represents a 122.2% premium to Freewest’s closing price on October 2, 2009, immediately prior to the announcement of the unsolicited offer by Noront Resources Ltd., and a 27.3% premium to Freewest’s closing price on November 20, 2009
• Freewest Board of Directors unanimously supports Cliffs transaction

“We are delighted to announce this transaction”, said Mackenzie I. Watson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Freewest. “We believe this transaction is clearly superior to the proposal put forward by Noront. It will provide Freewest shareholders with highly-liquid shares in a company with a market capitalization in excess of US$5 billion, while allowing New Freewest to continue as a well-financed exploration company focused on the high-grade Clarence Stream gold property and an attractive suite of early-stage exploration properties. The New Freewest shares represent significant value and ongoing upside potential.”

The transaction will be effected by way of Plan of Arrangement. Freewest expects to mail a management proxy circular to shareholders in December for a special meeting of shareholders to be held in January 2010. It is expected that the transaction will be completed shortly after the special shareholders’ meeting.

“The transaction with Cliffs will benefit all of Freewest’s shareholders”, added Mr. Watson. “Our shareholders will become shareholders of Cliffs, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as shareholders of New Freewest. The shares of Cliffs are very liquid, which will be advantageous for our shareholders. As Cliffs has provided a floating exchange ratio which guarantees C$0.55 per share on closing, the value of Cliffs’ proposal is far less volatile than Noront’s hostile bid, which offers a fixed ratio of Noront shares as consideration. As well, Cliffs has the resources to develop the McFaulds chromite properties, while New Freewest will focus on exploration.”

The Arrangement Agreement with Cliffs contains, among other things, a non-solicitation covenant by Freewest, subject to customary provisions that entitle Freewest to consider and accept a superior proposal; a right in favour of Cliffs to match any superior proposal; and the payment by Freewest to Cliffs of a termination payment equal to C$6 million if the transaction is not completed as a result of a superior proposal, and in certain other circumstances.

The transaction between Freewest and Cliffs is subject to a number of conditions, including obtaining the approval of at least two-thirds of the Freewest shares voted at a special meeting of shareholders, and a simple majority of the Freewest shares voted at the special meeting, other than shares held by certain officers of Freewest. The transaction is also subject to court approval as a plan of arrangement, listing approval from the TSX Venture Exchange in respect of the shares of New Freewest to be distributed to Freewest shareholders, and a number of other customary conditions.

CIBC World Markets Inc. is acting as financial advisor and Heenan Blaikie LLP as legal advisor to Freewest in connection with the transaction. Cliffs is advised by BMO Capital Markets and Blake, Cassels and Graydon LLP.

Congratualtions to Mac and his entire team.  Well done.

Regards,
George

I am very pleased to announce that Fire River Gold Corp (FAU:TSXV) is the newest member of The AGORACOM 100 – and represents an extremely fresh opportunity for investors.  Why? The Company just listed on the TSX Venture Exchange on November 12 and has followed that up with an online investor relations program, which speaks volumes about the company’s confidence.  Why? When a company decides to make itself open and accessible to investors from around the world, you have to believe they are confident in their future and want to communicate accordingly.

As always, assume I am horribly conflicted by the fact that Fire River is an AGORACOM client and that we have participated in this private placement.  As such, do your own diligence, which I am going to kick start by giving you the following overview and bullet point highlights:

FAST OVERVIEW

Fire River Gold Corp. completed its IPO at the end of May 2009 and is the newest member of the International Metals Group, (www.internationalmetalsgroup.com) giving it access to a well established team with over 100 years of experience working in Alaska. The primary focus of FAU is the exploration and development of gold projects in North America. The recently acquired Nixon Fork Gold Mine in Alaska has the potential to be a near term gold producer.  If the company can realize this potential, their timing couldn’t be better with gold trading north of $1,140 as of the time of this post.

The Company is presently negotiating additional advanced stage gold projects in North America. Management’s objective is to make FAU a North American gold producer in the next 18 months.

PROPERTY HIGHLIGHTS

Nixon Fork Project:

• Near Term Gold-Copper-Silver Producer
• Fully Constructed 200+ tpd Mill
• Permitted and Bonded
• Turn-key Mining-Milling Operation
• Mine Fully Permitted and Bonded
• Significant Exploration Upside

Golden Zone Project:

• NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource
  • 255,100 contained ounces of gold
  • 1.39 million ounces of silver
  • 7.29 million pounds of copper
• 14 targets are identified
• 2009 program in progress
• Excellent infrastructure, road access to property, 12 miles from major highway and railroad, power nearby

Link to Hub / Link to Profile / Link to Forum

Regards,
George

Tags: AGORACOM, Online investor relations, Fire River Gold, Online Gold And Commodities Conference, virtual conference, small cap stocks, mid cap stocks, online investor relations

(ND:TSX)

Some stories require a good pre-amble in order to insure that investors really understand the importance of a news release … this isn’t one of them.  Quite simply, the numbers speak for themselves.  New Dawn Mining is producing and selling gold at increasing levels every single month.  As always, assume I am horribly conflicted by the fact that New Dawn Mining is an AGORACOM client.

Congratulations to Ian Saunders and his team for this continued success.  With gold breaking through $US 1,115 this morning, their production and sales timing could not be better.

Regards,
George

New Dawn’s Turk Mine Gold Production Increases 20% Month Over Month

Highlights Include:

• Gold production for October 2009 was 1,235 ounces or 38.42 kg’s, as compared to September 2009 gold production of 1,029 ounces or 32 kg’s, an increase of 20%

• Gold sales for October 2009 were US$1,334,635 at an average gold price of US$1,039 per ounce

• At October 2009 month-end, an additional 558 ounces or 17.35 kg’s of gold were awaiting export for sale in South Africa, which will be included in November 2009 sales

• 100% of gold sales were received in US Dollars

• October 2009 marks the 7th consecutive month of increased gold production

• October 2009 was the highest level of gold production during calendar 2009 and the largest month over month percentage increase since production resumed in March 2009

Click on link below to read entire press release:

November 11, 2009 - New Dawn’s Turk Mine Gold Production Increases 20% Month Over Month – Seven Consecutive Months of Gold Production Increases

Link to Hub/ Link to Profile/ Link to Forum

(ND:TSX)

AGORACOM Client, New Dawn Mining (ND:TSX) is the kind of junior gold company most investors dream about.  Yes, assume I am horribly conflicted by the fact New Dawn is a client of AGORACOM – then take a look at the revenue and production numbers coming out of the company.  With September production numbers now in, the company has delivered 6 consecutive months of increasing gold production.  The company’s timing could not be better as gold bullion prices have started to hit their stride in 2009 and are currently sitting within a few dollars of their all-time high.

In addition, New Dawn recently announced the implementation of a program to increase annual gold production to approximately 23,000 ounces by Q3 2011 and, beyond that, 35,000 – 50,000 ounces.  That would be a significant increase from its current annual run rate of 14,000 ounces.

To this end, New Dawn recently reported that gold production at its Turk Mine in Zimbabwe for September 2009 was 1,029 ounces or 32 kg’s, as compared to 1,019 ounces or 31.7 kg’s produced in August 2009.

Highlights Include:

• Gold sales for September 2009 were US$965,900 at US$988 per ounce average gold price
• At September 2009 month-end, an additional 733 ounces or 22.8 kg’s ofgold were awaiting export for sale in South Africa, which will be included in October 2009 sales
• 100% of gold sales were received in US Dollars
• September 2009 marks the 6th consecutive month of increased gold production

Click on link below to read entire press release:

New Dawn’s Turk Mine in Zimbabwe – Six Consecutive Months of Increased Gold Production

Link to Hub / Link to Profile / Link to Forum

Regards,
George

For those of you who simply don’t invest in commodities and don’t have the time to buy or expertise to buy sugar futures, physical gold, etc do not despair – Rogers advises that ETF’s are the best way to go for most investors.  To this end, he is most bullish on agricultural commodities.

Grab a cup of coffee, kick your feet up and watch the following:

Regards,
George

First VMS 43-101 Resource Shows More Than 1 Million Ounces of Gold at La Mancha’s Hassai Property

La Mancha is an AGORACOM client, so assume that I am horribly conflicted and do your own due diligence. I personally love to see 43-101 news from anybody, not just AGORACOM clients, because it is a strict guideline for how public companies can disclose scientific and technical information about mineral projects on bourses supervised by the Canadian Securities Administrators.  In short, it makes it near impossible to sprinkle gold on your property and pull of a scam.

Here are some of the highlights of today’s release, which you should also read in its entirety.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• 1,006,000 ounces of gold (402,400 oz attributable to La Mancha)
• 297,000 tonnes of copper (118,800 tonnes attributable to La Mancha)
• Confirmation of an enriched supergene zone at the top of the structure
• Resource remains open at depth
• La Mancha reaffirms its target of growing its consolidated M&I resources to 4 million ounces of gold within the next few years

ABOUT THE HASSAI MINE

The Hassai mine is located in the Red Sea Hills desert of northeastern Sudan, some 450 km from Khartoum. Inaugurated in 1992, it is Sudan’s first and only gold mine in production. Twelve pits have been mined over the years, generating a cumulative production of more than 2.1 million ounces of gold. La Mancha owns 40% of the mine through a subsidiary and is the mine operator. The Hassai exploration licenses effectively encompass the entire geological district that extends over 24,000 square kilometres. The Hassai mine exploration budget is expected to reach $6.44 million in 2009 ($2.57 million attributable to La Mancha), distributed among several gold targets (quartz, SBR and tailings) and VMS targets.

Click here to view release in its entirety.

Link to Hub / Link to Profile / Link to Forum

Regards,
George

Tags: La Mancha resources, gold stocks, gold producers, NI 43-101, copper, copper stocks, junior resource companies, exploration stocks

AGORACOM members have done very well with Seabridge Gold and we’re pleased to provide you with a clip of this great interview on BNN Commodities Report earlier today, featuring CEO Rudi Fronk.

Have to give credit to our associate Jeff Cohen for arranging the interview.  Good job Jeff!

Company Highlights

• Seabridge owns 100% of the two largest undeveloped gold projects in Canada
• Measured and indicated resources on the KSM project stand at 42 million ounces of gold and 8.5 billion pounds of copper.
• Inferred resources total another 19.5 million ounces of gold and 2.8 billion pounds of copper.

Regards,
George

New Dawn’s Turk Mine in Zimbabwe Resumes Full-Scale Mine Operating Program

I’m very proud to announce that AGORACOM client, New Dawn Mining, is back to full gold mining operations on their Turk Mine in Zimbabwe. This is a company that produced ~ 8,650 ounces and $US 7.5 million in revenue in 2008.

Highlights from the press release include:

Key Points:

• New Dawn’s 100% wholly-owned Turk Mine in Zimbabwe has resumed full-scale mining operations

• The current initial production rate of 250 tonne targeted to rise to 400 tonnes per day to achieve a production target of 1,150 to 1,200 ounces of gold per month at a average cash cost of US$425 to US$450 per ounce

• Total existing capacity at Turk Mine is currently rated at 400 tonnes per day, but current expansion projects, which are nearing completion, will increase existing capacity to 650 tonnes per day. New Dawn plans for further production increases every 6 to 9 months thereafter to maximize existing capacity

• During the restarted mine development program, which was reported on 26^th February 2009, until the commencement of full-scale mining operations in early May 2009, New Dawn’s gold sales totaled approximately US$1,300,000

• 11 years of proven and probable mine reserves at October 2009 production rates

• Two recent NI 43-101 reports documented an aggregate of 969,546 ounces of gold reserves and resources grading between 2.9-6.1 g/t, with additional inferred mineral resources of 355,873 ounces of gold grading between 3.90 – 5.91 g/t.

New Dawn Mining IR Hub

New Dawn Mining Profile

I am proud to announce that La Mancha Resources was added to the AGORACOM 100 this morning.  As investors will see below, La Mancha’s gold production and resources make it another worthy member of The AGORACOM 100, a group of elite small-cap companies that separate the wheat from the chaff.

La Mancha is currently focused on increasing 2009 combined Gold production from its 3 Operating mines to 100,000 ounces, as well as, continuing to prove up resources to 4 Million Ounces by 2011. La Mancha trades on the TSX under the symbol LMA.

Highlights include:

• Production of 71,550 ounces of gold in 2008
• Production target of up to 100,000 ounces of gold in 2009
• Total M&I Resources of 1.8 million ounces of gold
• Goal of increasing M&I resources to 4.0 million ounces by 2011

Recent News:

April 14^th, 2009

La Mancha’s Conceptual VMS Deposit for Hassa Property Increases to 60M Tonnes

March 27^th, 2009

A Profitable 4th Quarter Consolidates La Mancha 2008 Year-End Financial Results

Conclusion:

Congratulations to President/CEO, Michel Cuilhé and his entire team for not only building a great company to this point – but for making La Mancha an open and accessible public company.  I have gone on the record with my statement that the best CEO’s of the next decade will be web driven.  Everything I have seen since that statement only further confirms it.

In the case of La Mancha, we have a company with great resources and already into production, with bigger plans ahead.  As such, it just makes sense for the company to get online and begin interacting with both current and prospective shareholders, with the goal of building a large and long-term shareholder community.

I’m very excited about La Mancha and looking forward to their progress into 2011 and beyond.  So should you.  To get up to speed on the company, here are some helpful links:

La Mancha 1 minute snapshot

La Mancha HUB

La Mancha Electronic Shareholder Forum