Pennaluna Prospector
Ground Hog Edition
Tom Wobker
Feb 2, 2012
Silver Valley and Northwest Mining
Stock News -- Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Punxsutawney Phil, the well-known meteorologist, saw his shadow
today and that portends six more weeks of winter. But we're not
concerned, because we have bread and circuses to keep us happy
-- the Fed prints the bread and the Super Bowl is Sunday.
While we kill time 'til kickoff, we have news for you from out
here:
1. Hecla's Lucky Friday Mine -
MSHA closing stirs up hornet nest
2. Canadian National Stock Exchange - new kid makes a
mark
3. Shoshone Silver/Gold - Silver Strand deal closes
4. Sunshine IPO - no news
5. Midas Gold - spends big on Golden Meadows Project
6. U.S. Silver - important changes
7. Thunder Mountain - leases gold/cobalt claims in Idaho
8. Safety of Accounts - factoid
9. United Silver - gets $$$
* * * Hecla
Mining of Coeur d'Alene (NYSE:
HL) took a hit two weeks ago, when MSHA closed the Lucky Friday
Mine at Mullan until debris is removed from the main shaft --
which the company says will take a year.
Shares plunged over 20% on the news, and Hecla cut expected 2012
silver production from about 9.5 million ounces down to 7 million,
this to come from the Green's Creek Mine in Alaska. However,
the shutdown shouldn't slow Hecla's promising exploration efforts
in the vicinity of the Lucky Friday. HL is now trading at around
$5.25, down from a 12-month high just over $11.00.
(www.hecla-mining.com)
The government action followed two fatalities at the mine last
year, after a quarter century without a deadly accident. Suspension
of operations threw about 200 employees and contractors out of
work at one of the Silver Valley's largest private employers.
State officials say the shut down could cost the Valley $25 million
or more, and some local schools fear funding cuts.
A storm of criticism erupted. Some locals saw the shut down as
heavy handed and politically motivated by an agency under fire
for lax coal mining enforcement back East. Governor Butch Otter
attended a town hall meeting in Wallace on January 24 and afterwards
called on MSHA officials to meet with the Silver Valley public
to explain their decision.
Some laid off miners are already working in other Valley mines.
Others have taken jobs in Nevada, Montana, and elsewhere. Reporter
Becky Kramer of the Spokane Spokesman-Review has covered the
Valley for years. She writes on the local impact of the closure
in articles you can read here.
* * * The Canadian National Stock Exchange (CNSX) recently
reported on its 2011 trading and listing activity. Our customers
like Canadian stocks and we've noted an increase in the number
they trade that are listed on the CSNX . So we weren't surprised
by the results: the volume of shares traded rose 45%... the value
of trading was up 27%... the number of trades grew 32%... and
the number of listings increased by 35.
CNSX is the new kid on the block among Canadian exchanges. When
it got the OK to open in 2004 it was the first full stock market
approved by the Ontario Securities Commission in 70 years. With
a streamlined listing process, low fees, and other benefits that
especially appeal to smaller firms, it has added listings every
year since.
(www.cnsx.ca)
* * * Shoshone Silver/Gold of Coeur d'Alene (OTCQB:SHSH)
in early January closed its deal to buy the Silver Strand Mine
from Kellogg-based New Jersey Mining (OTCBB:NJMC). Near
Coeur d'Alene, the mine is a past producer of silver, gold, lead
and zinc.
The Strand is about 15 miles from Shoshone's permitted Lakeview
Mill. Shoshone's new management says the mine offers immediate
feed for the mill and should allow production this spring. SHSH
is trading lately at about 17 cents.
(www.shoshonesilvermining.com)
* * * Sunshine Silver Mines IPO? - There's no new word
on the planned IPO by Sunshine Silver Mines Corporation -- the
Denver-based firm affiliated with billionaire investor Thomas
Kaplan, who bought the 'Shine two years ago. We'll pass news
along when we have it.
* * * Midas Gold of Vancouver (TSX:MAX) reports it spent
nearly $ 24 million last year on drilling, exploration and related
work at its Golden Meadows Project down in the Stibnite - Yellow
Pine Mining District of central Idaho. It plans to spend another
$ 17 million there in the first half of this year.
Midas, which has its exploration office in the Spokane Valley,
is consolidating ownership of the 90-year old district and has
already defined a multi-million ounce gold mineral resource.
MAX has a 52-week high-low of US$ 3.00 and 4.90 and is trading
lately at about 4.50.
(www.midasgoldcorp.com)
* * * U.S. Silver Corporation of Toronto (TSX:USA/OTCQX:USSIF)
recently released a flurry of news. On Tuesday it said it expects
2012 production at the Galena Mine near Wallace to be 2.4 million
ounces of silver... along with 6.5 million pounds of lead...
and 1.2 million pounds of copper. It also said it intends to
have the nearby Coeur Mine reopened and producing by year end,
and plans about 100,000 feet of exploration drilling in 2012,
a 30% increase from last year.
Last week, there was also important news: USA said it was in
the process of listing its stock on the AMEX... and reversing
the shares one for five. The company also reported that CEO
Tom Parker would retire January 31... and that it has so far
hired over a dozen laid off Lucky Friday employees while "working
cooperatively" with Hecla.
USA controls around 14,000 acres in the District -- including
mines like the Galena, Coeur, Caladay and Dayrock. Together they
have produced over 200 million ounces of silver during the past
sixty years. Post reverse, USA is trading now at about CDN$ 2.45.
(www.us-silver.com)
* * * Thunder Mountain Gold of Boise (TSX-V:THM/OTCQB:THMG)
reports it has leased with an option to buy the 46 claims of
the CAS gold/cobalt group in the Iron Creek Mining District of
the Idaho Cobalt Belt. This is down in central Idaho. The outfit
plans to begin exploration later this year when snow conditions
allow.
The claims are about 15 miles from the cobalt mine owned by Vancouver-based
Formation Metals (TSX:FCO). (Formation also owns the Big
Creek Hydrometallurgical Complex in the Valley outside Kellogg.)
THMG has been as high as 40 cents in the past year, and is trading
now at about a dime.
(www.thundermountaingold.com)
* * * Is your account safe? -- Factoid: there's no hypothecation
at Pennaluna, because we don't allow the margin accounts that
brokers need to lend out your stock. For more security facts,
read our recent letter to customers about account safety. Click
here
[pdf]
* * * United Silver Corporation of Vancouver (TSX: USC.TO/OTCQX:
USCZF.PK ) -- 80% owner of the Silver Valley's Crescent Mine
-- announced yesterday it's closed a $6.3 million financing deal
with Hale Capital Partners, a New York private equity firm. The
agreement is subject to final blessing by the TSX.
USC says it will now be in a position to begin its four-year
exploration and development plan at the Crescent to test mineralization
of the South and Alhambra Veins at depth and along their east/west
strike extensions. USC had started on the project before it began
to run out of cash last summer.
The Crescent over several decades produced about 25 million ounces
of silver at an average grade above 27 opt... said to be highest
in the District. You can read more about it in one of our Update
Editions from last summer, archived here.
(While you're there, you can also get a free subscription to
this newsletter.)
USC stock within the past year rose well above a dollar, but
the shares are hovering now at around 35 cents.
(www.unitedsilvercorp.com)
Thanks for reading. We'll see you next time.
"The difference between genius and
stupidity is that genius has its limits"
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Editor Tom Wobker
###
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321gold Ltd
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