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There’s Gold in Them Thar HillsBob Moriarty I suppose most investors in North America would be familiar with the term, “There’s gold in them thar hills, boys,” not knowing that it was a quote from a Mark Twain book set in California. But Mark Twain didn’t invent the phrase, he stole it. Or borrowed it depending on how you view it. Gold was discovered at Sutter’s Creek in California in 1848. As with the Alaska gold rush later, people were actually well aware of gold in California before 1848 but it took the mania created by the Sutter Mill discovery to make a real “Gold Rush.” The main gold mining region of the United States at the time was in the Carolinas in the Carolina Slate Belt. This gold belt actually extends all the way from Alabama up through Newfoundland and into Cornwall and Devon in England. If you look at a map of Newfoundland and a map of England, it’s obvious they were once connected. Gold has been found in Devon that is virtually identical to gold found in Newfoundland. A young boy in North Carolina named Conrad Reed in 1799 found the first gold found in the United States in commercial quantity. That started our nation’s first gold rush and soon a mint was founded in Charlotte North Carolina to turn that gold into coins. The same act that created the Charlotte mint provided for another mint in Dahlonega, Georgia. It was in early 1849 that the director of the Mint at Dahlonega, Dr. M. F. Stephenson spoke from the steps of the mint building in a futile attempt to convince the miners to remain in Georgia to mine rather than to flock to California to chase what might be an impossible dream. “There’s gold in them thar hills, boys,” he shouted as he pointed at the hills surrounding Dahlonega. I’ve been to that mint building in Dahlonega. If you like gold and enjoy adventure and are ever in the Atlanta area, rent a car and drive up. There are mines with tours and gold panning. It’s a beautiful area and when you visit you will understand why the Native Indians called it “The River of Gold” or Dahlonega. I’ve also run a suction dredge in creeks in North Carolina seeking that illusive dream, gold in the bottom of my pan. As I did, I always wondered why there wasn’t more mining activity going on. The biggest reason is that the land ownership is a giant issue. There is a lot of gold around Charlotte, near the Reed Mine and I’ve had people call me and tell me they found gold in their backyard and would anyone be interested in starting up a gold mine. And of course, the answer is no, the land ownership in a city is impossible. Unlike most countries, the government doesn’t own the minerals, the landowner does. Romarco does have a giant project at the Haile Mine with a 4.2 million ounce resource. A year or so back, the guys at Full Metal Minerals contacted me and brought me into the picture with a new company they were associated with now named Revolution Resources. (RV-TO) I really like the management and projects at FMM. The company has not gotten traction but it’s not because of either the people or the projects, they just haven’t gotten traction. Revolution on the other hand, came out of the chute charging ahead. I’m going to make a funny prediction and it will be a year or two before we know who is right. Management at RV believes they have a series of evenly spaced pods of mineralization in 7 mineralized zones already identified in North Carolina. I think the belt will be proven to be identical to the Abitibi Gold Belt and there will be new mines or deposits all along the belt not just in pods. Management of RV didn’t banter about with any numbers when I visited them a week ago but clearly they think that this year’s 20,000-meter drill program will identify a lot of gold. The company has completed a 5,000-meter phase II program and a 5,000-meter phase III program with assays pending. The reported results are barn burning. The latest results released show 104 meters of 1.27 g/t. The company does a good job of communicating their story. In the corporate presentation located here they show land positions and comparables between the other companies exploring in North Carolina. Revolution has the 2nd largest land position and is sitting on $11 million in cash. I have stated before, I think we have another 2008 coming and those who are the safest are those who are cashed up. Raising money could be almost impossible later this year but RV is well positioned. Revolution has identified 7 attractive targets and is drilling the last five projects acquired this year. All of the results I have seen indicate a good potential for economic mineralization. That’s as it should be, the Silver Hill project was the home of America’s first silver mine. They also have a major lead mine at the Silver Valley project. With a $38 million dollar market cap and $11 million in the hole and excellent management, the company is well positioned for major discoveries in North Carolina. I like the company and management team, I participated in a private placement, they are advertisers and we are biased. With the US and the world in total chaos as a result of QE II and whatever the idiots in Washington plan on bringing us next, we are no longer investors, we are just shooting dice, we are speculators. If you are going to throw dice, get the odds in your favor at least. Do your own due diligence.
Revolution Resources
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