VirtualOptics

14 Comments

    • Dr. Michael Berry on Discovery Investing [view article]
      I'm happy to see someone with credentials has finally discovered PolyMet. I, too, believe that they will get the environmental license because their process has been demonstrated to produce metals without returning sulfuric acid to the groundwater. A major reason for this is that they have: 1) less excess sulfuric acid produced by their electrolytic process; and 2) what sulfuric acid that is produced will be reacted in the leach field which is composed of taconite tailings from Cleveland Cliffs old factory from the 1960s-70s era. The product from this reaction is gypsum that is the material wallboard is manufactured.

      This part of the picture has not been painted by the company because they are miners, not wallboard makers. This leaves the door open for other investors to step in later. But even cleaning up the old taconite tailings will please the Minnesota Environmental agency...making it a product that will be hauled away is even better.

      While this mining picture has been painted around gold, the other metals to be recovered may pay off even bigger: nickel, copper, silver, platinum, and real sleeper...iron. This iron that is produced is so pure that it will be in demand for pharmacutical use and reactive materials (chemical processes).

      A news release from late 2007 summarizes the environment steps being taken:
      "
      One purpose of the EIS process is to consider modifications to operating plans that would result in better environmental outcomes. As a result, during the last several months, PolyMet has incorporated several significant improvements such as:

      • Minimize wetland impacts. The mining schedule will be modified to allow waste rock backfilling in mined-out portions of the pit and the overburden stockpile will be eliminated so that wetland impacts will be reduced;

      • Zero surface water discharge. Mine site water will be collected, treated, and pumped to the plant site where it will be used as process water resulting in zero surface water discharge and a reduced requirement for makeup water; and

      • Minimize air emissions. Air emission controls at the crushing and concentrating plants will utilize the best available control technology, going beyond what is required by statute."

      Anyone interested in learning more about Polymet can visit their fascinating web site: www.polymetmining.com/ and join me as an investor!       Apr 23 11:07 AM
    • Global Warming Up to a Hydrogen Economy [view article]
      This is one of the best explanations of the global warming controversy and the probable future of energy development. I want to remind the author to look into increasing albedo of ocean clouds as a way to reduce earth absorption of infrared. This would be implemented by "seawater droplet disseminators" that are floating barges equipped with atomizers of seawater that is transported to a level of 50 ft above the water surface and become nucleii of cloud formation. It has been observed that certain areas of the ocean, roughly located along the west coasts of continents are deficient of normal ocean clouds and would the the places where the barges are deployed. The barges would be powered by wave action power generation and switched on or off and relocated by satellite observation and communication. This may sound like a crackpot idea, but is a simulation of the normal method of cloud seeding which is wave action causing splashing and waves striking the shorelines. The calculations show that relatively few barges are needed, and when feasibility is demonstrated in one region, more barges can be replicated, providing a demand for the product. This would need to be funded by an overseeing global financial structure such as the World Bank, because there would be no direct economic return on any one company or country.

      The idea was originally proposed by a Harvard professor back in the 1980's, but has been only reconsidered in recent years. A series of papers are available at: ccc2006.ca/docs/Abstra...

      I also want to see your comment on the Thai system being licensed by Petrobank of Vancouver. This is a means to reduce the viscoity of heavy oil making its recovery more complete and less expensive. The basic idea is to inject air into a region beyond the oil well and combust some oil underground. The oil well has a long horizontal bore within the oil bearing strata. The heat generated will liquify the oil and tars and the pressure from injecting air will force the oil up the main well bore. The CO2 generated is retained below ground thus preventing its release to the atmosphere. By the processes you mentioned in your article, it is conceivable that it could also be converted to methane when the well has ceased production of oil. This process is the basis for optimism about the Bakken Oil Formation recently identified in the northern Midwest states and Canada.       Apr 17 12:19 PM
    • An Energy Policy that Makes Cents (and Sense) [view article]
      Coal ALREADY has a means to make clean energy and that is through conversion to methane and methanol...see Methanex (MEOH) who is already doing this in South America. This in turn can be converted to gasoline and diesel fuel in the short term by the Fisher-Tropse process. This is described in the following article available online: gasification.org/Docs/...
      The general process is called Integrated Coal Refinement (ICR) and can be researched easily online.

      Reversal conversion of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere (creating greenhouse effect) has some active research in albedo modification through increasing cloud cover over the oceans. Here is a link to a basic paper on that proposal: ccc2006.ca/docs/Abstra...
      Apr 04 10:20 AM
    • Timminco Stock Keeps Rising [view article]
      The cost of handling wafers will eventually be prohibitive even with low wage countries to the construction of collectors. So much of the silicon is non-productive supplying support to the cell, but not energy which is only produced at the surface. Therefore, I see the future in coated collectors on plastic or glass. The development of nanoparticle silicon by Octillion (OCTL) and equipment to coat and assemble sheets by Applied Materials (AMAT) has more potential for the preferred systems. Apr 04 09:30 AM
    • Jim Cramer's Mad Money Lightning Round, 3/25/08: Fly Like Agnico Eagle [view article]
      A comparison of AEM price with the PHLX Gold and Silver Commodity index shows that AEM is fluctuating almost in lock-step with the price of god and silver. This might be partially due to AEM's location of Toronto, CA and their improving exchange rate rel to the American dollar and because they have so much gold remaining in the ground in proven assets that will be extracted in the next 15 years. In any case, the potential for gold to increase in demand given the world's propensity for using war to solve issues and the shift of wealth from the US to Dubai partnerships, convinces me that that AEM is a good long term place for my measly bucks. Apr 01 12:23 PM
    • The Case Against Ethanol [view article]
      This article is insightful but misses another point where the US Government is overlooking the obvious. They have outlawed the use of methanol as the additive to gasoline to improve emissions and reduce consumption. That is made by an established company Methanex (MEOH) symbol who already makes this in South America. There are some good white papers on their web site (www.methanex.com) which also shows that gasoline could be synthesized from methanol. Methanol is a product that can come from coal or natural gas. It could be used in a fuel cell to produce electricity for vehicles. There are no effective lobbyists for methanol production. Mar 25 03:13 PM
    • Jim Cramer's Stop Trading! 3/17/08: I Was Right [view article]
      I watched the program on Friday April 14 and I recall the caller asking about pulling out of Bear Stearns on the Lightning Round and I interpreted that to be the common stock, not the preferred stock, AND it certainly was not pertaining to an investor who was using Bear Stearns has his broker or financial advisor. I would like to see a replay of that call. Mar 18 10:06 AM
    • Cramer on Bear Stearns, March 11: Stick Around [view article]
      Jim forgot about the Wall Street switcherooney. He thought JP Morgan would pay what BS was worth! Not when they got the CEO on the floor and a foot on his neck....The play now would be JP Morgan for landing such a great deal. Mar 17 11:17 AM
    • Chart of the Day: Oil and Gasoline Prices [view article]
      On CNBC this past Wed morning (Feb 20) an extended interview with T. Boone Pickens disclosed his learned opinion that America MUST find an alternative to oil for fueling automobiles. We are sending $1.5 billion per day and that is going to unstable parts of the world where the easy oil is still being pumped. He predicts that oil price will drop to about $85/barrel in the second quarter, but back up to $100+ by the 3rd and 4th. Probably by next year it will reach $150/barrel. His solutions? Fuel for autos can change to natural gas, our biggest fuel resource. Electrical production can come from solar collectors in the desert southwest and from wind farms ranging from Texas to California and from Texas north through the Great Plains states. We have to move fast on this conversion in his opinion. Feb 22 11:12 AM
    • Rick Santelli Takes Down Jim Cramer [view article]
      I agree with Rick's assessment. Jim's career before CNBC was made by making day-to-day decisions about what to buy and what to sell and when. So it is by his own tradition, a hedge fund mentality. So now Jim adds in the populace metric: so will Bernacki respond to Cramer's tyrades to keep the public happy? This certainly makes financial television much more interesting to watch than studgie old Bloomberg. I really like Santelli, too. He knows his stuff. Maybe there'll be a middle-weight fight between Santelli and Cramer in Las Vegas, or on a new challenge program, "The Last Prognosticator Standing." As far is the financial future, my take is the old Doris Day song, "Que Sera Sera". Jan 25 11:48 AM
    • Deconstructing the Cramer Plan to Save the Economy [view article]
      Jim Cramer has become a pop star among the new investors who are entering the stock arena. I can imagine his tyrants about the Fed: "They don't know what they are doing!" would enrage Bernacki and company, but secretly they're saying "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me." Meanwhile, the loyal viewers of Mad Money are cheering Jim on. Your analysis here was a good comment for the other side, one I found educating in itself. Meanwhile, as the market falls in panic as the Wall Street sheep look for a safe haven, the underlying demands of the world go on: oil stocks are in greater demand and lesser supply. Food costs are being impacted by energy alternatives. Chinese markets will continue their momentum since they are the world's principal producer of goods. So why should I care if some of the greedy big banks of the world have to reorganize, except for the effect it will have on their loyal employees. Jan 22 01:54 PM
    • First Solar Will Lose Fuel Fast [view article]
      There will be more players in the solar market very soon now that Applied Materials has demonstrated that they can provide equipment to coat thin-film silicon on large glass sheets and bypass the need for silicon wafers. Silicon collectors are more effective than gallium arsenide and AMAT promises to reduce manufacturing costs to under $1 per watt. Nov 09 07:42 PM
    • Is Cypress's Core Worth Less Than Nothing? [view article]
      This is quite a revelation, for I found both SunPower and Cypress Semi were listed high in the Vectorvest compilation and so took a position in each. Little did I know I had bought SPWR twice. With CY owning a major portion of SPWR, could a merger be in the offing? Nov 07 04:11 PM
    • Applied Materials On The Rise Ahead of Earnings [view article]
      I am surprised that no one has mentioned the effect of AMAT partnering with Dai Nippon to form Sukudo to incorporate track systems in manufacturing of large volume electronics. Also AMAT just purchased Applied Films and has the goal of bringing low cost manufacturing turnkey systems for solar collector manufacturers that will greatly expand their customer base. Nov 15 07:42 PM
Loading...
Symbols:
Authors:
Quick Links:
Contribute an Article Become a Seeking Alpha Contributor

Transcripts

More Transcripts»