Summer doldrums for many junior miners

Perhaps it's just the summer doldrums, but it's hard not to notice that the euphoria we saw in metal markets earlier in the year has all but dissipated. With a few exceptions, metal prices have shown considerable volatility as have the shares of listed companies with mineral assets. A friend of mine who is associated in a professional capacity with a few junior listings told me recently that he's started to receive job applications from experienced geologists and engineers who have been laid off by companies that are simply unable to raise money in the marketplace. A year ago, he rarely received any. In my opinion, we could be heading into a rough patch that will likely last for a year or more until there's a clearer picture of what impact the current financial crisis will have on Western economies. With General Motors, Ford and Chrysler teetering on the verge of bankruptcy - and demand for SUVs and gas guzzling trucks almost drying up - it's bound to have at least a short term impact on industrial commodities including zinc, lead and perhaps copper which have a broad application in the auto industry. Nonetheless, I expect we can all take some solace in the fact the Chinese have agreed to a near doubling of iron ore prices in the coming year which will have to be passed on to customers. That suggests to me that Asian demand for metals used in steel manufacturing will remain strong and could well serve to underpin a recovery in the base metals sector in the next year or so. In any event, I sure as heck wouldn't sell gold or silver short in this current inflationary environment and wouldn't be surprised to see the former breach the $1,000 mark by year end. I also expect to see a recovery in the uranium market in the coming months. On a price per energy unit basis, nuclear energy is beginning to look like a strong alternative to fossil fuels. And believe me, when the lights start going out in major U.S. cities, nuclear energy will become the darling of Wall Street. 62 www.resourceworld.com August 2008

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On another note, in late June I was informed of the passing of my good friend and mentor, Maurice (Mort) Brown, who served as editor and publisher of The Northern Miner newspaper during a long and illustrious career that spanned over 40 years. Mort also founded the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and was, in fact, inducted himself. Looking back, I'm sure most of us can pick an individual who has had a profound influence on their life - someone who gave you that big break and sent you off in a new direction. Well, Mort Brown was one of those people in my life. He hired me for The Northern Miner back in 1979 and supported me through thick and thin as I covered the rough and tumble junior mining sector out of the Vancouver office during the 1980s. I started with The Miner in Toronto at its office on 50 Labatt Avenue which was once an old brewery. (No doubt Labatt's 50 was one of their products). It was an interesting place to work and easily accessible from the downtown core. The office had loads of amenities including a cafeteria and even a regulation size pool table which was accessible to staff over the lunch hour. Born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Mort was a mining engineer and a man of boundless enthusiasm for the industry and life in general. Some of his hard partying must have caught up to him because he passed Maurice (Mort) Brown away at the relatively young age of 95, leaving behind a brother and sister who I understand are still going strong after a century. Mort's father, an avid sports fan, lived until he was 104, I believe. Nearly everyone has a story about Mort Brown including the time in his 70s when his brand new car made it right through the carwash before he discovered how to get the power windows up. Adding insult to injury, one of the car wash jockeys joked that it cost extra to clean the inside. As a youngster, he reportedly called the police to report a stranger entering a nearby house - only to have them discover that his neighbour's wife was entertaining a boyfriend during the afternoon. A former publisher, John (Cookie) Cooke, who also played an active roll in forming the Mining Hall of Fame, passed away recently as well. In my experience, these were two real gentlemen who helped make our industry such as interesting and rewarding place to work. We need more of them. n

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