Pescod Talks about Gold...

VENTANA GOLD
GOLD
Analyst Nicholas Campbell has been one of the hottest
of the gold analysts out there, picking some of the best
stories in the sector such as Colossus Minerals, Keegan
Resources and Ventana Gold, but today Ventana has a bit
of an owie. Today Campbell suspends coverage on the
stock and his price expectations because the original ven-
dors of the property apparently want to get it back...or get
a better deal.
Campbell writes, “This is a Thanksgiving turkey no one
was hoping for.” All payments have been made by Ven-
tana, but you know how greed can get into this and the
vendors suggests, “The agreement doesn’t comply with
Colombian law.” It is pointed out in an announcement
that an arbitration panel might take a year to come up with
some sort of resolution...ugly!
That would be a long time to wait and things can go
wrong, so we take some profits on what had been one of
the best gold stories of the day, until this hiccup hit us all.
But I must point out that I see an interesting dust-up
here because when you look at Ventana and who two of
their big shareholders are—first of all, there is Brazilian
Mining and Energy billionaire Eike Batista, who owns
about 16% of Ventana and Ross Beaty, the Vancouver
mining magnate who owns over 10%.
Will this squabble slow things down dramatically and
how long could it take for an agreement? Or what else
could go wrong! Or could it all be resolved quickly?
Meanwhile, the first small financial crisis since the big
one of a year ago and something like $59 to $80 billion of
loans out of Dubai are in trouble and the world markets
are in a bit of a tizzy...but what happens? The American
dollar goes up and gold goes down! Was that supposed
to happen?
We will reiterate one of our big points on the gold sec-
tor...the brokers have now issued so many shares of so
many gold companies, it’s like a flood of share certifi-
cated being issued out there. It means that many of the
gold companies simply don’t have any leverage to the
price of gold. How about a Barrick Gold with 1 billion
shares outstanding or Kinross with...well, you get the
drift.
Your first question before who is management, what is
the project, where is it, how much money in the bank or
how soon to production, should be how many shares out-
standing?

There are always lots good adventures in the market,
but one of our favorites right now is Amazon Mining, for its
potential fertilizer/thermal potash project in a country
(Brazil) that desperately needs the product. Currently over
90% of this is imported into Brazil because of the rain
leaching the soils and with many farmers getting two or
three crops a year, fertilizer is desperately needed.
Amazon has very few shares outstanding, offering the
speculator lots of leverage, but if you live in the greater
Toronto area Amazon is featuring a “Christmas with the
Chairman” evening in the Library Room at Verity, with
food being supplied by George Restaurant.
Amongst his other skills such as having been a former
significant insider at Potash Canada and having played in
the mining game in China, Chairman Peter Gundy is also
in the restaurant business and will be having a get-
together on December 7th that maybe you should attend.
We have certainly found him an amazing source of in-
formation on many things to do with mining and fertilizer
in particular. The food should be good and hey—if you
are looking for other information on other mining compa-
nies or even one—Amazon, remember that Jed Richard-
son, Vice President Corporate Development will be there
and he is a former mining analyst with Sprott Securities.
Should be a great meeting!
Meanwhile, Amazon has just put out a new 7-page look/
see at the company and what they heck it is all about. For
those with a bit of a technical background,
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND:
Her Majesty's treasury in the United Kingdom now
owns an estimated 84% of the Royal Bank of Scotland...lucky
them after all those huge bail outs the British Government
has given RBS.
The RBS has become the poster child for bad loans,
poor risks, excessive management compensation, man-
agement being fired with exorbitant settlements to
leave...you name it. So are you at all surprised to learn
that they could be the biggest loser in the loans to Dubai?
For those of us who were involved in the Oilexco deba-
cle of last year, it was RBS—the banker, that pulled the
plug on Oilexco.