Big Week for Molybdenum

Moly is back!

Molybdenum, a metal that’s used in steel production, was all the rage two years ago, when the economy was on rails and commodity plays were soaring.

Recession knocked the stuffing out of the price of the metal: It dropped from $35 (U.S.) a pound late in 2007 to less than $10 early in 2009. But in the past month, moly prices have almost doubled, to $18. That led to financing activity this week by a pair of Canadian metal miners that want to ramp up projects, and potentially buy up weaker rivals.

Thompson Creek Metals, (TC) one of the largest plays on moly, raised $217-million in a bought deal led by UBS Securities. And Mercator Minerals, (MLKFF.PK) which mines copper and molybdenum, rolled out a $70-million financing led by Jennings Capital and Scotia Capital.

Thomson Creek was up front about the fact that it is looking at possible acquisitions with the capital it has raised. Analyst Ian Parkinson at CIBC World Markets has an ‘underperform” rating on this stock and warned that investors may want to wait to see what the company actually does with its war chest. In a report, the analyst said: “It remains to be seen whether this is an opportunistic financing or a chance to go out and grow the company.”

Mercator is expected to pay down debt and expand an existing mine with the money it raised. In review this financing, CIBC’s Mr. Parkison said: “With a tremendous amount of cash flow to be generated next year, a healthier balance sheet, and a 36 per cent discount to our net asset value, our recommendation remains sector out-performer.”

Comments

[Slvrizgold:]

Yamana has the Aqua Rica project, which they aquired from Northern Orion 2 years ago (a three way deal w/ Meridian and their flagship El Penon mine.)
Aqua Rica is a massive deposit of over 10 million ozs gold, almost a half billion ounces silver and something like 1.6 billion pounds of MOLY. That's going to be one cash flowing rich mine whenever they put it in production. Its several years away, but its the most promising long term project for Yamana. Yamana is concentrating currently on a handful of smaller primary gold developments.

Yamana is an emerging senior gold company ramping production from 1 million to 1.8 million ozs in the next few years (not counting Aqua Rica). Primarily mining in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Mexico. They are trading over 50% below their 2008 highs although they are well off the crash low.

Aug 31 01:47 AM

[Eugene Beukman:]

Bard Releases NI 43-101 Resource Estimate on Lone Pine Property

Bard Ventures Ltd. (“Bard” or the “Company”) commissioned the preparation of the first National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate on the Alaskite Zone molybdenum mineralization from the Company’s Lone Pine Molybdenum Property, located in the Omineca Mining division approximately 15 kilometres north-northwest of Houston, BC. The report, dated January 12, 2009, entitled “Resource Estimate Lone Pine Molybdenum Project – Omineca Mining Division, British Columbia”, was prepared by Ronald G. Simpson, P.Geo. of GeoSim Services Inc., a “qualified person” for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Lone Pine measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource summary:


MEASURED INDICATED
Cut-off % Mo Tonnes ≥ Cutoff (000's) Mo% in-situ lbs Mo (000's) Tonnes ≥ Cutoff (000's) Mo% in-situ lbs Mo (000's)
0.02 43,767 0.078 75,262 107,769 0.066 156,809
0.03 40,450 0.082 73,125 99,967 0.069 152,069
0.04 33,356 0.092 67,654 76,984 0.079 134,079
0.05 26,676 0.104 61,163 58,193 0.090 115,464
0.06 22,486 0.113 56,018 43,968 0.102 98,871
0.07 19,625 0.120 51,919 35,077 0.111 85,839
0.08 17,699 0.125 48,775 29,884 0.117 77,084
0.09 15,853 0.130 45,435 25,703 0.123 69,698
0.10 13,922 0.135 41,435 21,053 0.129 59,875

MEASURED+INDICATED INFERRED
Cut-off % Mo Tonnes ≥ Cutoff (000's) Mo% in-situ lbs Mo (000's) Tonnes ≥ Cutoff (000's) Mo% in-situ lbs Mo (000's)
0.02 151,536 0.069 232,071 27,827 0.084 51,532
0.03 140,417 0.073 225,193 27,555 0.085 51,636
0.04 110,340 0.083 201,733 25,840 0.088 50,131
0.05 84,869 0.094 176,628 22,839 0.094 47,331
0.06 66,454 0.106 154,890 18,295 0.104 41,947
0.07 54,702 0.114 137,758 15,238 0.111 37,290
0.08 47,583 0.120 125,858 13,092 0.117 33,769
0.09 41,556 0.126 115,132 11,800 0.121 31,477
0.10 34,975 0.131 101,310 10,186 0.125 28,070
*Note: Bold indicates Base Case Scenario.

A full text version of the Lone Pine Property resource estimate is being filed on SEDAR today and will be available at sedar.com under the Company’s profile and can also be found by visiting the Company’s website at bardventures.com.

…/Cont’d.

Summary of significant work completed to date since optioning the Lone Pine Property in 2006:

• Completed historic database compilation and review.
• Line-cutting, Geological Mapping and Prospecting including rock sampling.
• Completed 3-D Inversion Induced Polarization and Magnetic Geophysical Surveying.
• A total of 27,012 m of diamond drilling in 55 holes completed on the Property.
• The majority of the drilling has focused on the Alaskite Zone which has been expanded in size from a small outcrop area to a plan view size of 550 m x 310 m and a depth of 800 m and still “open”.
• A total of 21,557.36 m of diamond drilling in 41 holes into the Alaskite Zone.
• Completed detailed airborne surveying and photography for resource modeling and survey control.
• Completed initial metallurgical testing with positive results of greater than 90% recovery to a concentrate grade of 43% Mo.

The Property has an ideal location for operations with established infrastructure including:

• Highway 16;
• a natural gas pipeline;
• a major hydro power transmission line and transformer sub-station; and
• is located only 15 kilometers from the CN rail line in Houston, BC.

A plan of the drill holes in the Alaskite Zone may be viewed on the Company's website at bardventures.com

Bard is earning a 100% interest in the Property under the terms of an option agreement (see News Release dated September 15, 2006). The Lone Pine exploration work is being conducted under the supervision of Qualified Person Jim Miller-Tait, P. Geo., a Director of Bard.

Sep 16 05:14 PM