An Afghan named Malik: And Barkerville, Aston Bay, Oreninc, Colt, Redstar, Avanti

TIBURON, California -- I met Benjamin Cox a few weeks ago. In Toronto. He has opinions, fortified by numbers.

I remember when we were MarketWatch and CBS MarketWatch, and I helped come up with the slogan, The Story Behind The Numbers.

In resources, that translates: The Numbers Having Buried The Story, This Company Is Shtupped.

Benjamin is from Oregon. His Oreninc is homegrown and operates from Vancouver, Washington, USA. He tells me it is difficult for most of us to track what can be 1,500 or more raises, or financings, for mining equities each year -- Canada we are talking.

https://oreninc.com/about-us is the home.

Benjamin and his team are English majors, French majors, psychology majors ... and your smattering of CFAs, law degrees and MBAs. Portland State, Lewis & Clark, Harvard, U. of Portland. Their data are quiteeasy to scan. (See below.)

The Oreninc team also have hands in a metal company or two up Nunavut way. Aston Bay Holdings (TSX:V.BAY, Stock Forum), copper and zinc up north, is one. (tightly held, toit share structure, like Mick Jagger)

Oreninc has data flushes that tell investors who the good guys are in Canada mining financings ... and who the bad guys are.

The analytics firm also does video, some contextual analysis in short reports, for instance, Rio Tinto's (NYSE:RIO, Stock Forum) bottom shelf sale of property to Shanxi Donghui in China recently.

I asked Benjamin a question that is on resource aficionados' minds as we approach year's end. No, not about Barkerville's (TSX:V.BGM, Stock Forum) $15 million loan facility. (Actually, that was my second query.) Instead: Wottup with mergers, acquisition, asset purchases, changes of control, Benjamin?

"I think majors are sharpening their pencils, but they are afraid of pulling the trigger too early. Once the majors start to buy they will buy them quick, and there will be 3-4 months of clean-up of the good names," he says

"However, it is hell to have as an investor your best companies going for a song, and your worst companies going back (to financing fields), leaving you with the trash in the middle.

"At some point you have to take the deal if you are management, even if your regret it 2 seconds later."

Thanks Benjamin. I feel that way about Bellhaven Copper & Gold (TSX:V.BHV, Stock Forum) on the financing end -- 5-cent a share deal (Do I stay or Do I go?); about Avanti Mining (TSX:V.AVT, Stock Forum), which continues to issue shares for payment of debt (and has scheduled what could be a special special meeting December 4 for a dwindling number of molybdenum-loving stakeholders -- more news likely from company later this week on the meeting).

I get nervous, this morning case in point, when I see some of our TCR 8 companies going off in directions that take me almost entirely by surprise: for one, Colt Resources (TSX:V.GTP, Stock Forum) looking at Middle East metals projects -- Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan. Mr. Malik Shah Baluch is now advising Portugal and Quebec's Colt Resources. He hails with political connections from Afghanistan's Balochistan.

What do I know about some guy named Malik? Nothing. I still own all my Colt shares. Here is what goes through my head -- I bought Colt after the ticker came to life for me on a tour with the company; that is G(old) T(ungsten) P(ortugal). I need more background on this before I decide what to do with my shares and Colt's TCR 8 status. (Eight companies, one list to rule them all.)

The Allies want out of that part of the world, which is rich in copper, gold, kite runners ... and bloodshed. Yet Colt wants in? Wottup, Nikolas Perrault?

You see what I mean? Why can't I learn from my neighbours, here in my own cul-de-sac, and invest in solar stocks? (Well, I do own Natcore Technology, but I wish I owned a lot more of it.) Hey, I'll take an S&P Index fund, for profit's sake. Resources are so sucking wind right now.

The only other companies I follow, and own, that are NOT turning me into a nervous Nelson are NuLegacy Gold (one of our TCR 8 and on cusp of something near-surface BIG in Nevada, I believe; Natcore on the solar cells; BioCryst Pharma (still, many years of shingles watching that one -- hey, how would you like to be the only on at the dinner table praying for an avian flu nightmare?); Pilot Gold in Nevada and Turkey, no complains there and that one is another of the TCR 8.

I asked Benjamin about another subject: Barkerville Gold Mines up in the Cariboo trend of British Columbia, Canada. J. Frank Callaghan got structured cash, a lot of it, from Eric Sprott in Toronto. Good? Bad?

After all, Frank has a tremendous ability to promote, but also has shown more than decade of high-rolling spending on his Barkerville. Someone once told me if you bought BGM shares near the beginning of their life many years ago for the equivalent of a dime, let's say, and held, they would be worth about two cents today. No idea how spot-on that is. But I do know the Cariboo gold-silver trend has as colorful and gold-plated a history as does Mr. Callaghan. (See previous reports -- especially reader comments.)

"Frank had no choice, he needed money, no one was willing to buy the equity, and an equity deal was going to be very very painful. He needed someone to come in with some money, and Eric Sprott offered the money," Mr. Cox said.

Barkerville shares were halted from trading for about 14 months and are now in their third week or so of trading on Canada's venture under the symbol BGM. The exchange required the loan-infusion to start trading again. The loan terms are complex but point to wins all around if the shares continue to reach fresh, post-halt highs.

As for analysis, we used to say, when I was a newspaper reporter in Arizona and New Mexico and Texas, etc, that a certain newspaper chain was all Cox and no balls. Not the case with Benjamin, who also has a substantive academic pedigree. Will BGM turn out to be all bark and no bite? All depends on how soon the gold starts pouring again next month, and at what price production.

?"?Would I have done it, don't know, depends on how sure Frank is he can produce gold," Mr. Cox says?.

At any rate, ?this here (below) is the weekly Ore?ninc update on announced financings and closed raises.
?

Oreninc Open Deals

Company Name	Sectors	Offer Size	Price Per Share	Share Price Premium	Security Type	Warrant @ Share	Market Cap	Underwriter	Financing Basis	Open Date, Updated
DualEx Energy International Inc. (TSX-V:DXE)	Oil & Gas	$1.0m	$0.19	-30.909%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.30	$27.1m	---	Best Efforts	10/25/2013
Everton Resources Inc. (TSX-V:EVR)	Gold	$1.5m	$0.25	400.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.40	$7.4m	PowerOne Capital	Best Efforts	10/25/2013
Silver Predator Corp. (TSX:SPD)	Silver	$0.4m	$0.05	-16.667%	Common	---	$3.2m	---	Best Efforts	10/25/2013
Avanti Energy Inc. (TSX-V:AVN)	Oil & Gas	$2.6m	$0.15	-49.250%	Common	---	$8.5m	---	Best Efforts	10/10/2013 10/25/2013
RMP Energy Inc. (TSX:RMP)	Oil & Gas	$50.0m	$6.10	-3.021%	Common	---	$689.3m	GMP Securities L.P., Peters & Co.	Bought Deal	10/24/2013
Bellhaven Copper & Gold Inc. (TSX-V:BHV)	Copper, Gold	$1.3m	$0.05	-9.091%	Common	1W@ $ 0.08	$7.5m	---	Best Efforts	10/24/2013
Tango Gold Mines Inc. (TSX-V:TGV)	Gold	$1.0m	$0.05	-23.077%	Common	---	$5.2m	---	Best Efforts	10/24/2013
Viscount Mining Corp. (TSX-V:VML)	Silver, Gold	$4.0m	$0.20	-4.762%	Common	---	$4.1m	---	Best Efforts	08/12/2013 10/24/2013
Goldrock Mines Corp. (TSX-V:GRM)	Gold, Copper	$9.2m	$0.80	77.778%	Common	1W@ $ 0.80	$29.5m	---	Strategic Deal	09/18/2013 10/24/2013
Raging River Exploration Inc. (TSX:RRX)	Oil & Gas	$78.4m	$5.60	-2.609%	Common	---	$901.4m	FirstEnergy Capital Corp., Peters & Co.	Bought Deal	10/23/2013 10/23/2013
Africa Hydrocarbons Inc. (TSX-V:NFK)	Oil & Gas	$1.2m	$0.18	-7.692%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.30	$19.7m	Canaccord Genuity Corp.	Bought Deal	10/23/2013
Premium Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:PEM)	Gold	$1.1m	$0.05	-41.176%	Common	1W@ $ 0.15	$1.2m	---	Best Efforts	10/23/2013
TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX:TAO)	Oil & Gas	$25.1m	$4.40	-7.563%	Common	---	$281.8m	Dundee Securities Ltd., Casimir Capital Ltd.	Bought Deal	10/23/2013
Makena Resources Inc. (TSX-V:MKN)	Gold, Uranium	$0.2m	$0.18	-5.263%	Common	1W@ $ 0.20	$3.5m	---	Best Efforts	10/23/2013
Centurion Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:CTN)	Gold	$0.5m	$0.07	0.000%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.10	$3.5m	---	Best Efforts	05/29/2013 10/23/2013
Highbank Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:HBK)	Gravel, Molybdenum	$0.2m	$0.08	-5.882%	Common	1W@ $ 0.10	$6.3m	---	Best Efforts	07/15/2013 10/23/2013
Makena Resources Inc. (TSX-V:MKN)	Gold, Uranium	$1.2m	$0.12	-36.842%	Common	1W@ $ 0.18	$3.5m	---	Best Efforts	10/17/2013 10/23/2013
Global Cobalt Corporation (TSX-V:GCO)	Cobalt, Diversified	$0.2m	$0.05	25.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.07	$2.2m	---	Best Efforts	10/22/2013
Gowest Gold Ltd. (TSX-V:GWA)	Gold	$2.5m	$0.05	0.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.08	$7.9m	---	Best Efforts	10/22/2013
Canada Lithium Corp. (TSX:CLQ)	Lithium	$2.5m	$0.48	0.000%	Flow-Through	---	$174.6m	Dundee Securities Ltd.	Bought Deal	10/22/2013
Canada Lithium Corp. (TSX:CLQ)	Lithium	$10.0m	$0.40	-16.667%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.50	$174.6m	Dunde e Securities Ltd.	Bought Deal	10/22/2013
American Vanadium Corp. (TSX-V:AVC)	Vanadium	$10.0m	$0.50	-5.660%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.60	$23.0m	---	Best Efforts	06/26/2013 10/22/2013
NioCorp Developments Ltd. (TSX-V:NB)	Niobium	$10.3m	$0.16	-11.714%	Common	---	$15.6m	Northland Securities Inc.	Best Efforts	09/23/2013 10/22/2013
Silver Bear Resources Inc. (TSX:SBR)	Silver	$4.3m	$0.13	0.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.25	$8.1m	---	Bought Deal	10/07/2013 10/22/2013
Manitok Energy Inc. (TSX-V:MEI)	Oil & Gas	$20.3m	$3.60	16.129%	Flow-Through	---	$213.9m	National Bank Financial Inc., Dundee Securities Ltd.	Bought Deal	10/21/2013 10/21/2013
Manitok Energy Inc. (TSX-V:MEI)	Oil & Gas	$4.7m	$3.35	8.065%	Flow-Through	---	$213.9m	National Bank Financial Inc., Dundee Securities Ltd.	Bought Deal	10/21/2013 10/21/2013
TVI Pacific Inc. (TSX:TVI)	Diversified	$1.0m	$0.03	23.600%	Common	---	$15.6m	---	Strategic Deal	10/21/2013
Glob ex Mining Enterprises (TSX:GMX)	Diversified	$2.0m	$0.50	19.048%	Flow-Through	---	$13.3m	---	Best Efforts	10/21/2013
Globex Mining Enterprises (TSX:GMX)	Diversified	$0.6m	$0.45	7.143%	Common	---	$13.3m	---	Best Efforts	10/21/2013
Rockex Mining Corporation (CNSX:RXM)	Iron Ore	$1.4m	$0.04	-11.111%	Common	1W@ $ 0.05	$2.8m	---	Best Efforts	10/21/2013
Westhaven Ventures Inc. (TSX-V:WHN)	Gold	$0.2m	$0.09	5.882%	Flow-Through	1W@ $ 0.14	$1.8m	---	Best Efforts	10/21/2013
Falco Pacific Resource Group (TSX-V:FPC)	Base Metals, Precious Metals	$3.5m	$0.30	-18.919%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.60	$19.7m	---	Best Efforts	10/21/2013
Falco Pacific Resource Group (TSX-V:FPC)	Base Metals, Precious Metals	$1.5m	$0.36	-2.703%	Flow-Through	---	$19.7m	---	Best Efforts	10/21/2013
Alexandria Minerals Corporation (TSX-V:AZX)	Gold, Copper	$1.0m	$0.10	150.000%	Common	---	$7.1m	---	Best Efforts	09/10/2013 10/21/2013
Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD)	Diversified	$0.5m	$0.07	-12.500%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.10	$4.7m	---	Best Efforts	10/18/2013
Magna Resources Ltd. (CNSX:MNA)	Potash	$0.4m	$0.15	0.000%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.25	$7.7m	---	Best Efforts	10/18/2013
Rainy Mountain Royalty Corp. (TSX-V:RMO)	Copper, Zinc	$0.1m	$0.05	66.667%	Common	1W@ $ 0.05	$1.4m	---	Best Efforts	10/18/2013
Orbite Aluminae Inc. (TSX:ORT)	Aluminum	$35.0m	$0.70	27.273%	Common	1/2W@ $ 1.00	$109.4m	Euro Pa cific Canada Inc., National Bank Financial Inc.	Best Efforts	06/27/2013 10/18/2013
KWG Resources Inc. (TSX-V:KWG)	Chromite, Copper	$2.0m	$0.05	0.000%	Flow-Through	1W@ $ 0.10	$34.9m	---	Best Efforts	07/04/2013 10/18/2013
Kombat Copper Inc. (TSX-V:KBT)	Copper	$3.0m	$0.10	17.647%	Common	1W@ $ 0.20	$7.0m	---	Best Efforts	07/29/2013 10/18/2013
US Oil Sands Inc. (TSX-V:USO)	Oil & Gas, Oil Sands	$81.0m	$0.15	-25.000%	Common	---	$62.6m	---	Best Efforts	09/16/2013 10/18/2013

Recently Closed Deals

Company Name	Sectors	Offer Size	Price Per Share	Share Price Premium	Security Type	Warrant @ Share	Market Cap	Underwriter	Financing Basis	Open Date, Closed
Kennady Diamonds Inc. (TSX-V:KDI)	Diamonds	$5.0m	$5.50	0.000%	Flow-Through	$123.5m	Dundee Securities Ltd., Salman Partners	Bought Deal	10/09/2013 10/25/2013
Super Nova Minerals Corp. (CNSX:SNP)	Oil & Gas	$0.04m	$0.05	100.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.06	$0.3m	---	Best Efforts	08/09/2013 10/24/2013
Kestrel Gold Inc. (TSX-V:KGC)	Gold	$0.1m	$0.05	66.667%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.10	$1.3m	---	Best Efforts	09/26/2013 10/25/2013
Lucky Strike Resources (TSX-V:LKY)	Diversified	$0.6m	$0.08	-20.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.13	$3.5m	Jordan Capital Markets Inc.	Best Efforts	08/28/2013 10/24/2013
Lucky Strike Resources (TSX-V:LKY)	Diversified	$0.1m	$0.10	0.000%	Flow-Through	1/2W@ $ 0.15	$3.5m	Jordan Capital Markets Inc.	Best Efforts	08/28/2013 10/24/2013
Fission Uranium Corp. (TSX-V:FCU)	Uranium	$12.9m	$1.50	36.364%	Flow-Through	---	$166.7m	Dundee Securities Ltd., Raymond James Ltd.	Bought Deal	10/03/2013 10/24/2013
Knick Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:KNX)	Gold	$0.1m	$0.05	42.857%	Flow-Through	1W@ $ 0.15	$1.9m	---	Best Efforts	07/02/2013 10/24/2013
Huldra Silver Inc. (TSX-V:HDA)	Silver	$0.8m	$0.30	400.000%	Super Flow-Through	1W@ $ 0.40	$3.3m	---	Best Efforts	05/31/2013 10/23/2013
Huldra Silver Inc. (TSX-V:HDA)	Silver	$1.9m	$0.25	316.667%	Common	1W@ $ 0.35	$3.3m	---	Best Efforts	05/31/2013 10/23/2013
Laurion Mineral Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:LME)	Gold, Base Metals	$0.2m	$0.06	140.000%	Flow-Through	1W@ $ 0.10	$2.6m	---	Best Efforts	08/01/2013 10/23/2013
Green Arrow Resources Inc. (TSX-V:GAR)	Uranium, REE	$0.04m	$0.05	11.111%	Common	1W@ $ 0.05	$0.1m	---	Best Efforts	08/13/2013 10/22/2013
Petrox Resources Corp. (TSX-V:PTC)	Oil & Gas	$0.2m	$0.10	0.000%	Flow-Through	1W@ $ 0.20	$1.9m	---	Best Efforts	10/07/2013 10/23/2013
Oil & Gas	$3.1m	$0.09	-10.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.20	$1.9m	---	Best Efforts	10/07/2013 10/23/2013
TomaGold Corporation (TSX-V:LOT)	Gold	$1.0m	$0.10	5.263%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.12	$6.0m	---	Best Efforts	10/11/2013 10/23/2013
Southern Legacy Minerals Inc. (TSX-V:LCY)	Copper, Gold	$0.5m	$0.25	56.250%	Common	---	$9.5m	---	Best Efforts	08/23/2013 10/23/2013
Condor Resources Inc. (TSX-V:CN)	Copper, Gold	$0.5m	$0.05	-37.500%	Common	1W@ $ 0.08	$5.9m	---	Best Efforts	10/03/2013 10/23/2013
Southern Silver Exploration Corp. (TSX-V:SSV)	Silver, Precious Metals	$0.5m	$0.02	33.333%	Common	1W@ $ 0.05	$2.5m	---	Best Efforts	08/27/2013 10/22/2013
Callinex Mines Inc. (TSX-V:CNX)	Base Metals, Precious Metals	$0.5m	$0.35	-7.895%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.35	$11.3m	---	Best Efforts	09/04/2013 10/22/2013
Sunridge Gold Corp. (TSX-V:SGC)	Gold	$2.1m	$0.19	0.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.35	$33.3m	---	Best Efforts	10/22/2013 10/22/2013
Sunridge Gold Corp. (TSX-V:SGC)	Gold	$3.7m	$0.19	0.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.35	$33.3m	Tempest Capital Corp.	Best Efforts	09/19/2013 10/22/2013
Cancana Resources Corp. (TSX-V:CNY)	Diamonds, Manganese	$0.6m	$0.20	-2.439%	Common	1W@ $ 0.25	$6.5m	---	Best Efforts	10/22/2013 10/22/2013
Kennady Diamonds Inc. (TSX-V:KDI)	Diamonds	$1.4m	$5.50	0.917%	Flow-Through	---	$115.4m	---	Best Efforts	10/07/2013 10/22/2013
Kennady Diamonds Inc. (TSX-V:KDI)	Diamonds	$7.6m	$4.75	-12.844%	Common	---	$115.4m	---	Best Efforts	10/07/2013 10/22/2013
Taranis Resources Inc. (TSX-V:TRO)	Gold, Base Metals	$0.5m	$0.10	66.667%	Common	1W@ $ 0.15	$2.2m	---	Best Efforts	09/10/2013 10/22/2013
Kaiyue International Inc. (TSX-V:KYU)	Gold	$0.1m	$0.13	30.000%	Flow-Through	---	$1.4m	---	Best Efforts	08/13/2013 10/21/2013
Otis Gold Corp. (TSX-V:OOO)	Gold	$0.3m	$0.05	-28.571%	Common	1W@ $ 0.10	$3.5m	---	Best Efforts	09/26/2013 10/21/2013
Trilogy Energy Corp. (TSX:TET)	Oil & Gas	$200.1m	$28.50	0.814%	Common	---	$2,609.6m	BMO Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets	Bought Deal	09/30/2013 10/21/2013
Rift Basin Resources (TSX:RIF)	Oil & Gas	$0.3m	$0.05	25.000%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.20	$2.0m	---	Best Efforts	08/13/2013 10/18/2013
Abcourt Mines Inc. (TSX-V:ABI)	Diversified	$0.02m	$0.10	33.333%	Flow-Through	---	$13.3m	---	Best Efforts	10/18/2013 10/18/2013
Abcourt Mines Inc. (TSX-V:ABI)	Diversified	$0.3m	$0.08	6.667%	Common	1/2W@ $ 0.10	$13.3m	---	Best Efforts	10/18/2013 10/18/2013
Khalkos Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:KAS)	Precious Metals, Base Metals	$0.2m	$0.05	25.000%	Flow-Through	1/2W@ $ 0.10	$0.8m	---	Best Efforts	09/25/2013 10/18/2013
Khalkos Exploration Inc. (TSX-V:KAS)	Precious Metals, Base Metals	$0.1m	$0.05	25.000%	Common	1W@ $ 0.10	$0.8m	---	Best Efforts	09/25/2013 10/18/2013

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?Thom owns shares of Colt, Avanti (but not as much as he used to) and Bellhaven. He is meeting with Redstar Gold execs? on Wednesday morning in San Francisco. Redstar is active in Nevada, Alaska and Ontario. Desire to be at meeting? It is at 10 am Pacific time. Email TC if interested. I do not own Redstar shares. See all of his positions under tcalandra at the Stockhouse portfolio function.