VANCOUVER, B.C. –We have a scrum for Colombia’s gold mines and concessions.
Canadian and Colombian operators are rushing the gates for properties that offer defined or prospective gold, copper, coal, oil and other resources.
The pursuit of mineral rights and property deeds is getting gnarly.
Just this week, Adrian Hobkirk at Caerus Resources (TSX: V.CA, Stock Forum) tells me he is wearing “flak vest and helmet,” trying to sort a tangle over one coveted property in Bucaramanga. CEO Hobkirk’s report to investors shaved 45% off the price of tiny Caerus.
Lesson learned: Colombia resources are hot as all heck. Don’t drop the ball negotiating for them.
In the world of mid-sized and large Colombia operators, there are examples of successful or ongoing and productive negotiations with mine owners or governmental units. They include – at the top of the pyramid – Ventana Gold (TSX: T.VEN, Stock Forum) and Anglogold Ashanti.
Ventana, a market-cap miracle of 2009, currently is working its way through a tangle regarding options rights to its La Bodega gold discovery. The government of President Alvaro Uribe is participating in negotiations – albeit at arms’ length.
Among mid-sized Colombia operators, Medoro Resources (TSX: V.MRS, Stock Forum) is making headway in efforts to rescue the pension-bereft Frontino Mine in Segovia, Antioquia, CEO John Hick tells me Wednesday from Toronto.
The Frontino Mine is possibly one of the largest historic producers of gold in Colombia. By some estimates, the mine’s various veins below the captivating town of Segovia produced as much as four million ounces of gold since the mid-1800s. Since approximately 2004, Frontino has been operating under receivership as it attempts to replenish retirement monies for at least two generations of miners. Please see: Frontino website and Thom Calandra’s reporting on Frontino and Marmato.
“I think whenever you get to a country that is seen as the next-generation for minerals, or oil, or any resource, there will almost always be voices that want to be heard,” Mr. Hick says.
Last week, concluding my second gold and energy tour of Colombia in five weeks, I learned – on the record – that Medoro Resources and a liquidator of the Frontino Mine are nearing a $120 million or more transaction to rescue the property and the pensions of more than 1,000 miners. See:Breaking news.
Medoro, with cultivated ties to Colombia lawmakers and industry icons, also is attempting to acquire the lower half of El Marmato, on the border of Antioquia and Caldas departments some three hours’ outside the city of Medellin.
Frontino and Marmato are front and center in the Colombian government’s efforts to show the rest of Latin America that it can return to its status as No. 1 gold producer in that part of the world – perhaps as soon as the year 2020.
I have tracked El Marmato as a researcher and investor via predecessor Colombia Gold Fields since 2008. Please see www.tickertrax.com and our Stockhouse column feeds. I have owned Medoro shares since April or May 2008.
In the smaller scrum for valuable operating properties, namely Caerus, Mr. Hobkirk, a British Guyana (GPO) and Colombia gold operator, or some might say wanna-be operator, is based in Washington state, not far from the Canada border. I spent time on behalf of subscriber service Ticker Trax with the CEO in Colombia.
“We did not terminate and have acted professionally and in good faith. I would expect some type of resolution to this without court action,” he says.
Investors, including my family, which owns Caerus shares, almost surely hope courts and politics play no part in what is the latest tangle over a Colombia property. Still, the Caerus press release Wednesday (today) raises the specter of legal action.
Caerus “has invested significant time and money into completing the plan of arrangement … while waiting for White Gold Corp. to comply with its obligations under the agreement. In light of White Gold’s delivery of the notice of termination, the company is now reviewing its legal position in regards to this matter.”
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White Gold of Alberta, Canada, says Colombia unit Oro Barracuda Ltd has concessions or potential mineral concessions covering 220,000 hectares the nation, one of the western world’s leading feeding grounds for geological pay dirt. Please see:Thom Calandra’s Trail Across Colombia.
Few operators have such large land packages in the nation of 44 million people. Ones that do include Arkansas innovator Bob Allen’s Bullet portfolio (which includes Burritica and Berlin concessions), Georges Juilland’s Titiribi and Murindo spreads and Robert Carrington’s Colombia Mines Corp. (TSX: V.CMJ, Stock Forum) collection of 100% owned sites (which includes Yuramalito). (Photo of Mr. Juilland at Titiribi by Thom Calandra.)
I have seen nearly all of them several times. CMJ is a Planetary Prospect of Stockhouse’s distributed subscriber service Ticker Trax. I own Robert Carrington’s CMJ at a price of 90-odd cents a share Canadian and consider the company the best publicly-traded collection of grass-roots Colombia gold and copper prospects.
Some of the “privates” are attempting to go public. They include parts of Bullet via Continental Gold; the Juilland family’s Titiribi via Sunward Investments; and a laundry list of smaller “others.” (I am spending most of my touring time in Colombia, where I lived briefly in the early 1980s. My research and investing efforts are centered in Antioquia, the department that houses historic Titiribi, Burritica, Cisneros, Segovia and the city of Medellin. I have ownership stakes in several Colombia gold prospects – please see footnotes. I also hope to take a position in Titiribi, which is not yet trading but raising capital.)
As for Caerus, the writing on the wall might have come months ago, when White Gold stated its ownership efforts on some Colombia properties were "in process" and” are expected, though not guaranteed, to be granted.”
Translation: Caerus shareholders, including my family, lose. For now, at any rate.
Says CEO Hobkirk, “We have a couple of deals in the pipeline, but nothing solid as of today. (But) now we are free to do whatever is best for Caerus.”
Do. Oh please do.
Coming this weekend
I’ll be up here in Vancouver this Sunday and Monday with two Ticker Trax workshops and plenty of material from Colombia, Peru, Mexico and Ghana. Please see www.Cambridgehouse.com.
Ticker Trax™
Please see tickertrax.comto learn more about this wealth service and its 12 Planetary Prospects. Also, please see its breakout feature examinations of Colombia’s prime gold and copper prospects plus one Ghana gold prospector, one looming molybdenum mine in British Columbia.
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HOLDINGS:Thom’s stock holdings are listed for all Stockhouse members on www.Stockhouse.com under the “portfolio setting” for user TCALANDRA. It is public and free to view. He also owns recently minted gold and silver coins and shares of two private companies, one of them a nickel and platinum prospector in South Africa & DRC (Congo) operated by Robert M. Friedland. Thom does not do private placements – with the one exception this year of Titiribi-Sunward … nor does Thom accept payment in return for coverage. Thom participates in select company-sponsored and company-paid tours of mining sites after examining the properties off-site for many months and in some cases, years.
(All photos by Thom Calandra. Thom owns shares of 12 of the 12 Planetary Prospects in Ticker. He also owns Medoro Resources and has for at least 20 months via a stake in now merged Colombia Gold Fields. Thom owns Caerus Resource.)
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THOM CALANDRA of Ticker Traxhelps his audience find value in a quagmire of investment choices. Thom co-founded and was executive VP of news for CBS MarketWatch andMarketWatch.com. As the voice of Thom Calandra's StockWatch and The Calandra Report, Thom pegged $300-ounce gold as a long-term hold and dyed his hair blonde multiple times as gold surpassed $400, $500 and $600.
Ticker Trax™ is published by Stockhouse Publishing Ltd. Ticker Trax is an information service for subscribers and neither Stockhouse nor Thom Calandra is a broker or an investment advisor. None of the information contained therein constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Calandra or Stockhouse that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. Ticker Trax does not purport to tell or suggest the investment securities subscribers or readers should buy or sell for themselves. Subscribers and readers of Ticker Trax should conduct their own research and due diligence and obtain professional advice before making any investment decisions. Ticker Trax will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a reader’s reliance on information obtained in the reports. Subscribers and readers are solely responsible for their own investment decisions. Opinions expressed in Ticker Trax are based on sources believed to be reliable and are written in good faith, but no representation or warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to their accuracy or completeness. All information contained in Ticker Trax should be independently verified. The editor and publisher are not responsible for errors or omissions or responsible for keeping information up to date or for correcting any past information. Ticker Trax does not receive compensation of any kind from any companies that may be mentioned in the report. Any opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. Owners, employees and writers may hold positions in the securities that are discussed in Ticker Trax. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL THOM SEEKING PERSONALIZED INVESTMENT ADVICE, WHICH HE CANNOT PROVIDE. Copyright 2010 all rights reserved.