Silver Stocks--Comparative Valuations 
Weekly Report # 28

by Jason Hommel
goldismoney.com

FRIDAY, March 26th, 2004

This week's report lists 102 silver stocks.  There are 32 silver stocks that list reserves, resources (and exploration potential.) which I calculate by using my "ounce in the ground" forumula.  There are 46 explorers.  There are about 24 additional "silver" stocks with incomplete information. Additions & Changes from last week are in bold. 

If this is the first time you have seen this report, please try to read the entire report before sending me an email.  This report goes out now to well over 7245 investors each week in email. 

If you are an Accredited or Sophisticated investor and want information I may find out about private placement opportunities in some of the very best silver stocks in my opinion, (This is not a solicitation for any stock, and I'm not brokering any securities) email me with PP in the subject field:  jasonhommel@yahoo.com  

I can't tell you exactly which silver stocks to buy several reasons.  First, I'm not your broker.  Second, too many people ask.  Third, if I told you what I was buying as I was buying it, you'd buy, and push the price up against me.  If this sounds wrong, it's not.  It's common sense, and it's how the market works.  People bring what they have to sell to the market place and advertise it.  That's capitalism and the free market at work. If you tell me about a silver stock not on this list, I expect that you would have invested in it first.  I wouldn't want to put your recommendation on this list, and drive up the price of your hot undervalued silver stock before you buy your great tip!  So, buy it first, and then tell the world what you did and how smart of an investor you are and how much homework you did to find your favorite unknown silver junior.

So, because I have a market reach, I also receive a lot of tips about silver stocks.  And thus, I may have invested in some of the best ones that came my way.  If you believe I may have an edge based on my work and position... then the best way for me to share this with you is to is tell you where I put my money.  It's not investment advice.  I offer a monthly "look at my portfolio".  Try it for a month, and see if it works for you.  I do not issue recommendations, and I don't list number of shares or the size of my portfolio, but I will show the top investments in my portfolio, by rank, updated monthly.

Price: $29.95/month or Price: $295.00/year
To order: http://www.goldismoney.com/available-reports.html

To read about my religious bias, see my other website, bibleprophesy.org There are two essays near the top of the page that explain why I believe the entire world will return to using gold and silver as money again before the end times.  Hint, see Ezekiel 38.  To read more about my religious bias when it comes to investing, see my essay, Biblical Guidelines for Managing your Money

If you want to receive an email notice of when and where this FREE weekly report is published, sign up at goldismoney.com   Anyone who signs up will also get a FREE e-book that explains the bullish case for gold and especially silver.  If you have studied the silver market at all, then the time has come that you ought to be a teacher, and you ought to explain the silver story to all who will listen.  goldismoney.com is designed to help spread the word. I suggest you email the link to your address book.

Kitco reports silver at $7.71 as of Friday, 2:19 PM West Coast US, which was used to calculate the following figures. The CAN $ / US $ conversion factor is .7583.  I will use .76 for ease.  Silver continues to rise, from Friday to Friday for the past 5 weeks.
Report #27: $7.53, #26: $7.03, #25: $6.95, #24: $6.70, #23: $6.49
How to read the following table:
Stock Symbol that works at Yahoo! Finance (Company name) / Silver oz. "in ground"** for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock. / valuation price change since last week relative to silver price change (and stock dilution, and resource changes, if any) /  additional comments (EXPT is "exploration potential")  
  1. HL (HECLA MINING CO)                                .43 down --current producer (gold bonus) cash rich.
  2. ABX (BARRICK)                                            1.1 even  --infamous hedger (18 mil oz. gold hedged, 3 yrs production)
  3. CDE (COEUR D'ALENE)                                 1.2 even --current producer, (gold bonus) in debt.
  4. IPOAF.PK (INDUSTL PENOLES)                    1.5 way up --current producer, mostly family owned.
  5. SIL (APEX SILVER)                                        3.6 down  --large zinc bonus, low grades, cash rich--$345 million! in debt
  6. ECU.V ECUXF.PK (ECU SILVER MINI)            3.9 even --(11 EXPT)  --50% gold bonus
  7. CFTN.PK (CLIFTON MINING)                        4.4 down -- (104 EXPT) (colloidal silver patent bonus)
  8. HGM.V  HOGOF.PK (HOLMER GOLD)             4.4 up --silver project in cuba, large gold project bonus.
  9. GRS GAM.TO (GAMMON LAKE)                     4.4 way up --current producer, owns 26% of Mexgold
  10. MFN MFL.TO (MINEFINDERS)                       4.6 down  --significant gold bonus, $35 mil cash on hand.
  11. FSR.TO FSLVF.PK (FIRST SILVER)                 4.7 way up  --current producer, (not profitable '03 3rd q.) unhedged
  12. KBR.V KBRRF.PK (KIMBER RSCS)                   4.9 down  A one property company, high grades, with exploration potential.
  13. PAAS (PAN AMERICAN SILVER)                     5.4 down  --current producer, in debt.
  14. WTZ WTC.TO (WESTERN SILVER)                 5.6 down   -- (24 EXPT) large mine development cost.
  15. * TM.V TUMIF.OB (TUMI RSCS)                      5.9 up -- (12 EXPT) recent bonanza grade silver discovery
  16. SSRI SSO.V (SILVER STD RSC)                       7.3 down --multi-property company, understands silver story
  17. CZN.TO CZICF.PK (CDN ZINC)                        7.4 down  --large zinc bonus, high grades, low start up costs, great EXPT
  18. ORM.V OREXF.PK (OREMEX RES)                   9.7 even  (41 EXPT)
  19. MGR.V MGRSF.PK (MEXGOLD RSCS)             8.2## up (##exploration target) -- bonanza grade discovery on Jan 13th
  20. SRLM.PK (STERLING MINING)                       13 down --(35 EXPT) acquired the Sunshine in Cour d'Alene
  21. FAN.TO FRLLF.PK (FARALLON RSCS)            15 down  --(25 EXPT) low grades, silver 1/3; also gold & zinc bonus.
  22. RDV.TO RDFVF.PK (REDCORP VENTURE)      17 down --60% gold bonus
  23. EXR.V EXPTF.PK (EXPATRIATE RECS)           18 down  --significant zinc bonus 60% zinc, 25% silver
  24. ADB.V ADBRF.PK (ADMIRAL BAY RSCS)         19 up --actively expanding resources. (Huge gas bonus)
  25. HDA.V (HUSIF?) (HULDRA SILVER)                 19 up   --very tiny, no debt, zinc bonus, low start up costs.
  26. * SVL.V STVZF.PK (SILVRCRST MINES)         20 down  --(36++ EXPT) --(Silver in Honduras) ++ acquired silver props.
  27. CHD.V CHDSF.PK (CHARIOT RSCS)                 22 even   (explorer, with inferred resources)
  28. GGC.V GGCRF.PK (GENCO RESOURCES)         24 down
  29. * MGN (MINES MGMT)                                    23 even  --60% copper bonus (low grades), start up cost ~ $250 mil
  30. * PLE.V (PLEXMAR RES INC)                          24  -- new
  31. ASM.V ASGMF.PK (AVINO SILV GOLD)           25 down --owns 49% of the Avino  +4 other silver props. (silver bonus)
  32. UNCN.OB (UNICO INC)                                     60 down  --lease expiring on largest property, June 1 2004.
* = I own shares

Explorers (by market cap):
  1. EZM.V EZMCF.PK (EUROZINC MINING)
  2. MCAJF.PK (MACMIN LTD)
  3. CDU.V  CUEAF.PK (CARDERO RSCS) 46-78 "exploration potential"
  4. AOT.V ASOLF.PK (ASCOT RSCS) -- owns percentage of Cardero, CDU.V
  5. * IMR.V IMXPF.OB (IMA EXPL)
  6. TVI.TO TVIPF.PK (TVI PACIFIC) --current producer of a dore silver bar 96% silver, 4% gold
  7. * FCO.TO FCACF.PK (FORMATION CAPTL)  Cobolt (and Sunshine silver refinery)
  8. IAU.V ITDXF.PK (INTREPID MINRLS) 7 "exploration potential" 
  9. MAG.V MSLRF.PK (MAG SILVER)
  10. CAUCF.PK (CALEDON RES)
  11. MAI.V MNEAF.OB (MINERA ANDES)      (gold bonus)
  12. * NPG.V NVPGF.PK (NEVADA PAC GOLD) 33-164  "exploration potential"  (owns 1 silver property, 10 gold properties)
  13. * MMGG.OB (METALLINE MINE) --zinc/silver (historic high grade silver) (low cost revolutionary oxide zinc process)
  14. * OTMN.PK (O.T. MINING)  very large exploration potential
  15. * FR.V FMJRF.PK (FIRST MAJESTIC)  -- Bought a former silver producer. Acquiring silver properties.
  16. SPM.V SMNPF.PK (SCORPION MINING)
  17. MMM.TO MMAXF.PK (MINCO MINING)
  18. BZA.V ABZGF.PK (AMER BONANZA)
  19. * EDR.V EDRGF.PK (ENDEAVOUR GOLD)  A PRODUCER (I could not yet find a listing of resources or reserves)
  20. DNI.V DMNKF.PK (DUMONT NICKEL)            exploring Clifton's property
  21. SML.V SMLZF.PK (STEALTH MNRLS)
  22. NBG.V NBULF.PK (NEW BULLET GP)  35 - 95 "exploration potential"
  23. SDR.V SDURF.PK (STROUD RSCS)
  24. * CBE.V CBEFF.PK (CABO MINING) --Historic Silver and Cobalt district
  25. EXN.V EXLLF.PK (EXCELLON RSCS)
  26. EPZ.V ESPZF.PK (ESPERANZA SILVR)
  27. BCM.V BCEKF.PK (BEAR CRK MINING)
  28. NJMC.OB (NEW JERSEY MIN)
  29. CHMN.PK (CHESTER MINING)
  30. * KG.V KDKGF.PK (KLONDIKE GOLD)
  31. * CMA.V CRMXF.OB (CREAM MINERALS)
  32. GNG.V  GGTHF.PK (GOLDEN GOLIATH)  --Historic silver district in Mexico
  33. MMG.V MMEEF.PK (MCMILLAN GOLD)
  34. * KRE.V KREKF.PK (KENRICH ESKAY)
  35. EGD.V EGDMF.PK (ENERGOLD MINING)
  36. LEG.V LEGCF.PK (LATEEGRA RSCS)
  37. SHSH.PK (SHOSHONE SILVER)
  38. BGS.V BLDGF.PK (BALLAD GLD SLVR)
  39. * AUN.V AUNFF.PK (AURCANA CORP)
  40. SRY.V (STINGRAY RSCS)
  41. PCM.V PAOCF.PK (PAC COMOX RES)
  42. BBR.V BBRRF.PK (BRETT RES)
  43. TUO.V TEUTF.PK (TEUTON RES)
  44. ASLM.PK (AMER SILVER MINI)
  45. ROK.V ROCAF.PK (ROCA MINES INC)
  46. CBP.V CPBMF.PK (CONS PAC BAY MIN)
* = I own shares
** = "in ground" counts all "silver oz. in the ground" as the same, but they are NOT EQUAL.  Some are more certain and others are more speculative.  Some are higher grades, some are lower grades.  They range from most certain to least certain such as: "proven & probable reserves," "measured, indicated, inferred resources."  This single number next to each stock symbol above represents the approximate number of ounces of silver in the ground you are buying title to when you invest the equivalent of one ounce of silver by buying shares in the company at current prices.  (It does not include zinc, or copper, or lead, but it does include gold at a 1:10 ratio of gold:silver.)  At goldsheetlinks.com, they add 100% of proven & probable reserves, but only 70% of measured & indicated resources, and only 50% of inferred resources.  I don't do that.  I count them as all the same.

To quickly "tab" down to the company you are interested in, note the symbol. Then hit "control-F" to "FIND" the symbol below.

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WEEKLY COMMENTARY (All new in this section):

Last week, Jed's commentary on silver was very well received.  You can read all 75 positive responses Jed received at this link
http://www.bibleprophesy.org/goldismoney/jed.html
I now owe Jed 74 silver quarters.  (There was one negative response.)
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If I use a word you don't understand and is not listed in the dictionary at www.m-w.com you can look up the meaning at http://investorwords.com/
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I believe the low price of silver today is partly due to a multi-generation societal failure of the older generation to educate the younger about silver.  Of course, part of the problem also could be the younger generation's refusal to listen, and/or refusal to educate themselves.  And, also part of the problem may be due to lack of marketing to people about silver. 

Here's a neglected factor in the silver market analysis:  Very old people have silver, generally in higher proportion than their heirs, the middle aged.  When the very old die, this silver comes to market.  It is generally not cherished by the younger generation, it is instantly sold for the "free money".  This silver comes to market primarily through estate sales, or people who have inherited it, and then sell it.  It seems that the person who was getting close to dying forgot to tell the silver story to the next generation (generally in their 40's and 50's?) who are receiving the inheritance. 

Example #1: To test out the local market, I tried selling some silver bullion.  The coin dealer in Marysville, wscoin.com tried to take advantage of me, (as if I had just inherited some silver).  I called for a price indication over the phone on Monday, March 22, when silver was priced in a range from $7.59 to $7.64.  This would give a face value of 90% silver of about 5.2 to 5.4.  But the price quote indication from wscoin.com for 90% bullion was "3.5 times face", as if anyone would even know what that means!  She explained, if I was selling a silver quarter, it's 3.5 x $.25 = $.87.  That's a buy price of $3500 for a $1000 face value bag.  That's like buying silver at $4.89/oz. spot!   I complained, but they simply rebutted that they could buy at 3 times face every day from local walk-ins.   Amazing! 

Example #2:  Certain parts of the country have a higher proportion of elderly people than others.    Bullion dealers in those parts of the nation with a very high proportion of old people tend to be net buyers of silver.  They buy far more silver than they sell.  Since those dealers are primarily buyers, they end up being rather pessimistic about the future of silver due to their own supply and demand factors that they see.  And thus, the dealer is influenced by experience and business necessity to maintain ready cash so as to be able to be a buyer of silver.  Thus, the dealer likely has little silver inventory, and why should he?  From his perspective, "everyone is selling," and fewer people are coming to his doors to buy.    This also explains the odd phenomenon of "dis-hoarding" and why silver investors would be dis-hoarding at such low prices.  They are selling, because they are dying and dead! 

Example #3:  I don't know very many people on a personal level.  I don't have a wide social network, I spend a lot of my time reading (and these days, going over email).  However, since I have been a bullion advocate, I have known of two families where someone died, leaving silver bullion behind, and it came to my attention because they knew I was "into bullion".  One was a friend of my father's who was going to inherit some silver, and another was a relative of a friend who had just inherited some silver.  In both cases, the heirs wanted to sell the silver right away, and "invest" or spend the proceeds.  What tragedies upon tragedy!  A death in the family, and no knowledge of the importance of sound money, and the wisdom of silver as an investment right now!  I don't know which is worse!

Example #4:  A reader sent me the following quote:  "Coin dealing is a screw-the widow profession.  For a dealer, the big money comes when a widow or grandkids want to get rid of those dustry trays they found in a safe-deposit box."

Example #5:  One of my local bullion dealers rarely has silver bullion.  He sells whatever comes in.  But one time, he had a few bags that were due to come in, and so I bought them from him.  They came in boxes that were unopened, and postmarked 1974.  Isn't that amazing?  The boxes were unopened, still sealed, shipped directly to the customer from the coin dealer who sold them in 1974!  My dealer sold them to me without even opening the contents!  It was obvious that somebody had died, and nobody had ever bothered to even open the packages in all those years:  Not the original customer.  Not the one who inherited it.  Not the dealer.  Until me.

Example #6: Tulving.com  Tulving is one of the very well respected silver bullion dealers on the net with great prices.  About 6-9 months ago or so, I remember reading in the chat rooms that he had a large supply of silver bags, and that the source was an estate sale, and thus, "the supply would not last".  Sure enough, soon Tulving was out of silver again.  Well, although death happens to each of us only once, there are many estate sales as time goes on.  Death occurs regularly in society.

Example #7: In Grass Valley California, in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains, there are a lot of old people.  It is mostly a retirement community.  People are moving here from the San Francisco Bay Area to retire, and pushing up home values.  There are also plenty of antique shops and thrift shops in town, filled with all the things that come to market when old people die.  In these shops are old clothes, old nick knacks, old furniture, old magazines and books, old games, old tableware, and yes, old silverware.  The silverware seems as if it sells at just above the scrap value.  There is no realization among the vast majority of people in this community of the value of silver and silverware and silver flatware.  I don't even know what the silver tableware is really worth if I were to sell it on e-bay.com, because I'm just a bullion guy.  I have not studied the silverware and flatware markets.

So, what have I realized from what I consider to be this rather important revelation? Many things have crossed my mind this week about that this all means.

1.  I suppose these old people's heirs deserve such a bad deal, because the old person had not educated their heirs about the value of their silver.  There would not be a market of sellers willing to sell 90% bullion regardless of price (at a super low, 3 times face value) except that there are masses of people who are totally ignorant, and who, apparantly are acquiring silver at what appears to them as "no cost", because they will sell it as quickly and as easily as they can, for whatever they can get.

2.  It is therefore imperative to repeatedly spread the word about the value of silver to your entire family, especially if you are planning on leaving them an inheritance of silver bullion.

3.  I do not know whether the primary cause of low bullion prices are conspiracies, or bullion banks, or endless short selling, although those certainly have some effect.  Who do you blame when the situation is that a generation is ignorant about silver because of their schooling and media focus?  It is not only the fault of the deceivers.  It is also the fault of the deceived.  Thus, a reason why silver is cheap, and a reason why silver has been supplied to the market at below market prices is because an entire generation is ignorant!  A supply of uneconomic silver is coming from investors who are dying and dead, and who have not educated anyone about silver!

This, I believe, may partly answer Ted Butler's long un-answered question.  Ted has been asking, "How can silver be in a supply/demand deficit for 14 years with no uptick in prices?" His question bothered me for a long time, because I had no answer, yet I was bullish when silver prices were flat and declining for years.

But why was I bullish?  I'm bullish for two reasons.  1.  I have studied the supply and demand fundamentals as presented by the investment reports that apparantly nobody ever reads, for if they did, they would be wild buyers of silver because of the amazing industrial demand and lackluster mine supply.  2.  I have the odd perception that paper money is garbage, and that silver is real money. 

The problem is that virtually nobody in society knows the arcane reports of the supply and demand factors in the silver market, and almost nobody in society views silver as money!

Furthermore, coin dealers are notorious for avoiding reporting anything to the government.  They try as hard as possible to avoid reporting anything to anyone, and for good reason: it's nobody else's business!  Therefore, there is no truly accurate statistic for the supply coming from dying investors and their stupid heirs. 

So, Ted Butler's answer for how silver has been coming to the market at below market prices has been the bullion bank leasing and the large short postions at the COMEX, but that answer never fully satisfied me.  But I know it's not that one fraud that is causing the problem, which is why I wrote my article, Major Frauds of the U.S. Monetary System - 26 February 2004

I suppose one other way that the supply and demand gap has been filled at uneconomic prices is that silver bullion has been coming to market as people are dying.  I also suppose this means that silver investors are dying faster than people have been educated about silver from any major source.  In other words, for years, there has been more investor selling than investor buying.

However, the mine supply / industrial demand deficit is real.  Let's return to the fundamentals for silver for a moment.  There is no room for any new investor demand, because industrial demand is consuming more silver than is being mined each year!  Therefore, any new investor demand will drive the price to the sky! 

But I also know this:  Dead and dying people cannot supply the market with silver forever.  Dead people do not sell silver.  The stupid living heirs sell silver.  And the problem is not dead and dying people.  The problem is ignorance.

4.  You must shop around if and when you decide to go and sell.  And if you must shop around to find good prices when selling, it logically follows that you should shop around when buying! 

5.  Don't be afraid of the spread.  Those horror stories of low prices offered for bullion are not the real market.  That's the sucker's market, when the uninformed go to sell silver, they will go to the most convenient place, the local coin shop.  They will not take the time to shop around. 

6.  The real market is on the internet, where informed people go to buy and sell.  One such location is e-bay.com!  At e-bay.com, people cut out the middle man, and the public can buy and sell to each other!  There are a few 100 oz. bars that sell individually on e-bay, at a rate of about a few bars per day.  Unfortunately, I don't see much offered in size, and little or no 90% bullion coins. 

Also, there are dealers who publish prices on the web, so you can shop around by typing in "silver bullion" or "junk silver" or 90% silver coin" at any search engine.

Here are companies that I want to highlight, because they publish both a bid and an ask, showing a rather narrow spread on their bullion: (For Monday)
http://www.tulving.com/goldbull.html             $5,427 ask / $5227 bid ($200 difference, 3.6% of the ask.)
http://www.wexfordcoin.com/BullionBar.htm $5,442.63 ask /  $5,137.80 bid ($304.83 difference, 5.6% of the ask.)
7.  So, is this phenomenon of estate sales bullish or bearish for the silver market?  I believe it is bullish.  The living are a stronger market force than the dead.  The dead do not sell silver, only the ignorant living people.  And thus, the problem is not that people are dying, but rather, the problem is that people are ignorant.  The solution is not "government-sponsored" education.  The solution is marketing.  You can educate people with proper marketing, and I think I'm succeeding in accomplishing exactly that.  I plan to educate the masses about silver.

8.  Why was this such a difficult question to answer?  Because it is a closely guarded "trade secret"!  If you, as a bullion dealer, can buy 90% silver for as low as 2-3 times face value from idiot sellers, at almost half the market value, would you advertise your windfall to anyone?  Surely not!

9.  Finally, realize the bullish implications of all this:  Most people think that if there is a supply coming to market at low prices, that higher prices would encourage more selling.  They assume that low prices indicate massive supply.  In this unique case of silver coming to market as old timers die, and their ignorant heirs sell, this is not true.  People are not going to start dying at higher rates just because the price of silver moves up!  This is a limited supply of low-priced silver coming to market, and it may not last if the masses become educated about silver.

10.  A higher silver price is more likely to end this peculiar market ignorance about silver.  A rapidly moving price will cause people to want to investigate and learn about silver.  So supply from people inheriting silver will more likely dry up as the price moves up.

11.  That so many people are selling their inherited silver means that silver remains a contrarian investment, and that the general public still remains clueless.  This is perfect evidence that we remain at rock-bottom prices even today.  When all of society knows the content weight and conversion factor of 90% bullion coin, then we will be at a top.  Do you even know this conversion factor?  If not, it's evidence that we are, yes, at rock bottom silver prices, because even investors who are interested in silver may not know this!

12.  Americans are bad at negotiating a deal.  Americans are trained to expect price tags on the items they buy, and therefore, they expect a "given price" to be fair on the silver they sell.  A seller of silver will walk into a coin shop, and say the following:  "I just inherited some silver.  I know nothing about it's value.  I just want to sell it. What will you give me for it?"  I'm not joking.   How can the bullion dealer not be expected to say, "Oh, I'll give you 3 times face value for it."  Furthermore, the dealer has a long list of ready excuses to back up his offer of 75% under the spot price.  He cay say he'll have to sell to the refiner at way below spot.  He can say he has a handling charge, and the time and energy to 'count the coins'.  He can complain about rent, and employees, and ads.  He can complain about taking a loss as "silver is the worst investment for the past 20 years".  He can complain about low business volumes.  He can complain about no investor interest.  He can say, "what else are you going to do with it"?  He can say "you can't spend it".  He can say, "It's not the right form of silver that the investing public wants, which is 100 oz. bars."   What can a novice seller and ignorant silver holder say to such things?  He's left speechless.  If he "works hard" he may try another "local" dealer, who will tell him nearly the same thing!  The truth is that 90% junk silver is a very tradable commodity, well recognized, and easily bought and sold in bags of $1000 face value, with a very narrow spread, even more narrow than the hallmark 100 oz. silver bars.

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I do NOT recommend that you buy certain stocks.  I recommend that you look at, and research, silver stocks.  And then do what you want, and try to trust and act on the results of the 7th grade math that you should know how to do, and should be doing. 
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How much of your assets should you allocate to physical silver and silver stocks?  Personally, at this point, I believe it should be as close to 100% as possible.  Your assets and net worth includes your home and all you own.  (I do not advocate owning overvalued real estate at this point.)

Here is how the allocation should be, depending on how you feel about silver, and silver stocks as an investment option:

Allocate to silver and silver stocks:
10% -- If you hate silver as an investment, don't know anything about it, and are just being "prudent".
20% -- If you think silver might be a good investment, but are not sure.
30% -- If you think silver is relatively cheap right now, still near the bottom of the bear market, and undervalued to gold, and you recognize the current trend is up, a 30% allocation is prudent.
40% -- If you recognize that silver is up over 50% in the past 8 months, and silver stocks are up 314% for 2003, but yet still 8/50th of the high in 1980, which, adjusted for inflation should be about $150/oz...
50% -- If you are neutral on silver, and think that silver and silver stocks will likely continue to perform as well as everything else in your portfolio, allocate 50% to silver.
75% -- If you actually like silver, and expect silver to outperform most of the other assets in your portfolio.
100% -- If you really know the silver market, and don't think there are any other better investment opportunities out there.

Now, that being said, I realize that far less than 1% of the population can buy any silver, and the price will head well past $50/oz.  Therefore, buy all you can! 

Now, I would like to ask my readers a few survey questions. 

1.  How much of your overall net worth, your total assets, including home equity, is invested in the overall silver market (silver bullion plus stocks)?
2.  Considering your overall silver investments, what percentage is in silver bullion, and what percentage is in silver stocks, and what percentage is in futures contracts?
3.  What percentage of your overall portfolio do you plan to allocate to silver and silver stocks?

Please send your emails to jasonhommel@yahoo.com   I will try my best to provide an informal, annonymous, tally, next week--even if it's just to copy and paste your responses into a page, like I did with emails to Jed, like this: http://www.bibleprophesy.org/goldismoney/jed.html

My silver allocation in my own portfolio is:

1.  Considering my own net worth, 100% is in silver bullion and silver stocks.  Considering my family's net worth of which I'm responsible for investing, about 65% is in silver and silver stocks.  It would be more, as we have had a house for sale on the market for the past 4 years, and we plan to invest the proceeds into silver, but it has not sold.  But nearly 100% (over 99%) of the investing portfolio is in silver and silver stocks.
2.  Considing our silver investments, we have 16.6% in silver bullion, and the rest in silver junior exploration stocks.  I'm a bit low on bullion right now, as I'm aiming for 20% or more in silver bullion.  Especially more bullion as prices continue to rise.
3.  I do not plan to allocate any more to silver investments, as I'm already fully invested.  Unless, of course, we sell one house. 

--------------
Let me tell you two personal stories about people I know who are now, finally, coming around to silver--and they have each been receiving my emails for the last few weeks.

This week, on Thursday, my mother wanted to buy silver bullion.  So, I sold some to her.  I asked her, "why now?"  She replied, "Jason, I've been reading your stuff, I'm no dummy."  Fair enough, but she sure took her time...  In her defense, she's only been reading the weekly commentaries for about 4-8 weeks or so.  Next, I asked her about the amount she bought, relative to her net worth, since it was so little.  She spent less than 2.8/10ths of 1% on silver bullion, and I chastised her for this.  I explained about proper diversification, that even if you hated silver, you should have at a minimum of 10% in silver bullion and stocks, and that she has less.  And if you are neutral on silver, then 50%.  And if you think silver will do well as an investment, then you owe it to yourself to put well over 50% of your net worth into it.  Otherwise, you are just a hypocrite, and not being true to what you know and your beliefs!

Next, also on Thursday, a long-time family friend of my father's came to visit, and ask me all sorts of questions about silver.  He was more enthused about silver and investing than the last time I spoke with him.  Yet, he wanted to do it the easy way, and only dedicate about one day a week to the study of the topic.  Fair enough.  At least he's "thinking" about investing in the right sector.  I hope he does not wait too long.  I've seen weeks where silver stocks move up 50% to 100% in a week, so every day's delay can be absolutely dreadful.

--------------
Supply shortage stories:

1.  NZ silver stocks
Just a quick update.  I sent you word a couple of months back that my vendor (a silver and gold recovery company) had an inventory of at least 200kg of silver.  Since, that is all gone, my latest order is backordered (at no gaurantee of price) for at least three weeks.  Their sales guy is getting requests daily for silver orders in the 50-100kg range that he can't supply.  This is a small operation that keeps a very low profile--just a web page and yellow page listings.  I cannot comment on the major
distributer of bullion in NZ.  Gold supply is not so short, but they soon won't have their usual 3kg or so in stock due to recent orders.

2.   One of my silver bullion dealers tells me that for the first time, he is receiving plenty of calls from European investors who are looking for silver in size.  They are asking for delivery of physical bullion, and have questions about shipping it overseas.  The dealer told me that he did not know of any way to ship bullion overseas, but rather, the investor needs to travel here personally, and take it back to Europe with him personally.

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See the performance of my marketocracy.com profile of silver stocks, here: http://tinyurl.com/24x2a
For the past 30 days ending March 12th, out of nearly 60,000 funds, my fund ranked 6th.  My fund is really beginning to outperform marketocracy.com  See here  http://tinyurl.com/24hgn

--------------
Articles on silver this week:
Jim Puplava is extremely bullish on silver. He writes, "In the not too distant future the price of silver will be going for what gold once sold for."
See his latest:
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Puplava/mar242004.html

CBS Marketwatch story:
The silver lining
Commentary: Silver in early stages of a major bull run
http://tinyurl.com/2bc5w

Silver Rally Boosts Fuji Costs, Coeur D'Alene Profit
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=nifea&&sid=aaJSEYbOXwSM

As many of you may know, this weekly report is published at goldseek.com and silverseek.com each week.

Bob Chapman in the International Forecaster this week writes:

"We are getting closer and closer to a silver explosion. Backwardization is just around the corner. May silver will soon start to trade over December. When that happens silver will accelerate to the upside. Many of the precious metals sites on the Internet, who have been so wrong about both silver and gold, are going to lose their credibility and viewership. We recommend Goldseek.com and Silverseek.com. These are the best sources for true unbiased information. There is absolutely no question that silver will test its 1980 high next year and many investors will get wealthy in the process.  "

------------------------------

A good question by a reader this week:

I think there is one very good reason while we will not likely see precious metal currency again.

I have seen the estimate of the amount of gold mined (and due to its nature and historical use) essentially still in existence as 3-4 B ounces. If all this gold were converted to coinage (of course it can't be) then that would average out to about 1/2 ounce per person for the world's current population. Now Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are not going to own a few ounces, it would be more like a few tons. This leaves less for you and I.  Given the distribution of wealth in fact, most people would not have any gold coins.

Silver is a little more plentiful but same arguments apply. The best we can hope for is either a massive reduction in the world's population assisted by a massive redistribution of wealth or a precious metals backed currency (which is where we've recently come from). Comment?

Best Regards,

--------------
My reply is this:  The amount of gold in the world per person has remained remarkably constant, as both grow at about the same rate, 2%.  The figures I'm aware of are that this number is about 7/10th's of an ounce per person.  I think we have about 4.6 billion oz. of gold and about 6.5 billion people, which is about .7 oz. each.  This means that new gold produced does not, at all, cause "gold inflation", since new people are produced at about the same rate, and thus, the gold per person remains the same. 

If there was enough gold in the past to be used as money, there will be enough gold in the future to be used as money.  If gold is $30,000/oz, then there will be far more than enough gold to be used as money.  Most people never have $25,000 dollars, and most people will never own 7/10th of one oz. of gold, even though that is very affordable today.  It is affordable because the general public is NOT buying, and remains totally clueless.  So clueless are they, that they sell silver, regularly, for 60-75% of it's true value.  After all, the average American today has $10,000 in debt on their credit cards.  Whether or not gold is distributed evenly, any gold at all would be better than the debt currency that we are using today. 

As far as silver goes, there are 52 million oz. of silver at the COMEX.  If that were distributed among the U.S. population of about 300 million people evenly, that would be about .17 of one ounce of silver, per person in the U.S.  Go out and get "more than your fair share" and buy an ounce today! 

The essential nature of the argument above is that the value of the gold and silver cannot go up, and thus, they cannot be used as money, and since they cannot be used as money, the value cannot go up.  This is nonsense, and is a circular argument based on nothing.  Of course the value of gold and silver can go up, the values have been going up.  And as the value goes up, they can more easily be used as money.  Today, silver is rather inconvenient to use as money because it is too heavy, too bulky, and almost too time consuming to count.  A silver quarter that is worth $1.40 is not too useful.  But a silver quarter that is worth a day's wage, (as it was worth during the Great Depression), which should be worth about $100 today, is very useful as money, and is not too difficult or time consuming to count.

At one time, about five years ago, I feared that since there is so little silver left in the world, that it could never be used as money again, and I found this quite depressing.  But this is idiotic thinking.  Of course silver can be used as money, it will just be very valuable in very tiny pieces.  And this will also stimulate silver mining again, which means the soon-to-be extremely valuable, and extremely small pieces of silver, (say silver dimes worth $200) will become a little less valuable (say silver dimes worth $100).

This entire line of argument shows the essential feature and beauty of using gold and silver as money.  They work as money wonderfully, because as they become scarce, they become more valuable, which means that they will be sufficient as money.  There is always enough, and never too much, gold and silver to be used as money.  There may not be enough gold or silver in the hands of certain people to pay their debt obligations, or to fund wars, but that is also the reason why gold and silver are best used as money.  They prevent the build up of too much debt slavery, thus providing freedom, and they reduce the possibility of war. 

Gold and silver as money mean freedom and peace.

Paper money means debt slavery and war. 

Your choice, and it's not a hard one to choose. 

Buying gold and silver is the best political statement you can ever make, and is way more valuable than voting.

 --------------
A reader gives a useful tip on using gold as money:

In the last few years I have occasionally used gold coins to pay bills.  My last test was a small high quality car repair shop.  I gave them a print-out of the latest Kitco price, they took 2 minutes to decide, then 1 oz was deducted from the invoice and I paid the balance by cheque.  So far, I have never been turned down when I offer it.  --- My main reason is to educate them as to 'real money' and to 'sell/use' gold or silver in payment whenever I decide to do it.  Furthermore, I get the 'ask' price and not the 'bid' price posted by a dealer. 
--------------

Because I have a market reach, I also receive a lot of tips about silver stocks.  And thus, I believe I may have invested in some of the best ones that came my way.  If you believe I may have an edge based on my work and position... then the best way for me to share this with you is to is tell you where I put my money.  It's not investment advice.  I offer a monthly "look at my portfolio".  Try it for a month, and see if it works for you.  I do not issue recommendations, and I don't list number of shares or the size of my portfolio, but I will show the top investments in my portfolio, by rank, updated monthly.

 Price: $29.95/month or Price: $295.00/year
To order: http://www.goldismoney.com/available-reports.html

If you have been thinking about signing up, I suggest you sign up and lock in the price soon.  Because the price of silver is going up, I will be raising my prices to compensate.  I think in terms of silver, not dollars.  Since I started this, I have raised prices numerous times, and it has never slowed down the signups.  I started charging $40/year, then $100/year, then $295/year.  I'm thinking of raising prices again to $50/month and $500/year.   After all, how will I know I'm charging too much unless the signups slow down?  And if I double the price, and signups are reduced by less than half, I'm still making more money--which is all being spent on advertising and order fulfillment at this point anyway.  I suspect people would be more happy with their silver investments the more our market sector is advertised to the masses... so the return will be worth it.

And what are you doing to promote silver?

If you have any questions about billing or order fulfillment, you need to contact my support staff at support@goldismoney.com and not me.  I manage a large portfolio, and I don't have time to process billing requests.  I don't bill any cards anyway, my support staff handles all of that.  My support team is expanding and will be getting a dedicated 1-800 number that will go live on Monday to help process specific billing requests. 

------------------------
General Commentary on Silver (slightly modified from last week):

See my article: Biblical Guidelines for Managing your Money

As the New York Times, January 11, 1859, page 2 said---
"It is well known that the most colossal fortunes the world ever saw have been based on silver mines..."
--quote found by Charles Savoie

 ----------------------------
For news on the New Hampshire Sound Money Bill, that proposes to use U.S. Treasury minted Silver Eagles and Gold Eagles as money see:
http://www.nh-inews.org/
http://veritasradio.com/  

Current status of the NH bill:
The bill will live until the November elections. It'll have a different #,
but we now have 6 months or so to get EVERYONE we need on board.

Thanks to you for your efforts. Now, the fund raising part begins
so we can take it to the other states !  More on that later.

For now - V I C T O R Y  is in sight !

----------------------------
The following dealers generally have, or regularly keep, over 100,000 oz. silver bullion in inventory: (These are generally not places to call for small retail orders.  For smaller orders, call Greg Westgaard,  1-800-328-1860 Ext. 8889, and tell him Jason sent you.) 

Northwest Territorial Mint
http://www.nwtmintbullion.com/
1-800-344-6468 (also sells palladium 1 oz. bars!)

American Coin and Vault
5523 North Wall Street
Spokane, WA 99205
(509) 326-7512

California Numismatics (will accept small retail orders)
http://www.golddealer.com/
Richard Schwary
1-800-225-7531

Engles Coin Shop
Minimum order: 100 oz. gold or 5000. oz. silver.
(317) 875 0614
3520 Founders Lane,
Indianapolis, IN 46268

Miles Franklin Ltd.
http://www.milesfranklin.com
St. Louis Park, Minn.
Bob Sichel  1-800-814-3224
They believe their exclusive wholesaler is one of the top 5-6 wholesalers in size in N. America.

If there are any silver bullion dealers who have at least $500,000 worth of silver bullion in inventory on hand, please contact me jasonhommel@yahoo.com , and I will give you a FREE AD, like the ones above, in each week's silver stock report.
 ----------------------------

 The easiest way to buy Comex Silver is through a precious metals brokerage firm such as HSBC bank, or http://www.fidelitrade.com/ that charges around 1% commission, plus delivery fees of about 2-3% depending on how far to ship.  Or you could open a commodities trading account with any of the major brokerage houses who are most likely the bullion banks, and take delivery of your contract.  There are several problems with this method.  First, is the most obvious.  These are the paper contracts that are controlling and suppressing the price, that I believe must one day default.  Second, the bullion banks, since they are the ones who are likely short silver, will try their hardest to talk you out of placing an order.   I have actually had several bullion banks turn me down, and not open a commodities trading account for me when they heard I was going to take delivery of several futures contracts!  Their hypocritical excuses are amazing!   They will say on one hand that their comissions are too low, and thus, it's not worth their time to open the account for you.  And then, they will turn around and also say that you don't want to order silver bullion because the commissions will kill you!  Unbelievable hypocrites those shorts!  They will also try to scare you with "assay fees" that will be assessed if you try to return 1000 oz. bars to the exchange!  But they won't tell you what those fees may cost!  I've heard the assay fee is FREE if you use Brinks in LA! 

My 2004-2009 price predictions for gold and silver:
2004: $595/oz. gold,  50:1 ratio = $12/oz. silver
2005: $1011/oz. gold,  30:1 ratio = $34/oz. silver
2006: $1719/oz. gold,   10:1 ratio = $172/oz. silver
2007: $2923/oz. gold,  5:1 ratio = $ 585/oz. silver
2008: $4,969/oz. gold,  1:1 ratio = $4969/oz. silver
2009: $8448/oz. gold, 5:1 ratio = $1698/oz. silver
2010+: infinity dollars/oz. gold, infinity dollars/oz. silver.

I calculate the gold price rise by guessing that by 2009, M3 will have a "gold-value" like it did in 1980, which is to say, M3 was worth 2 Billion oz. of gold or less.  It also assumes M3 will about triple in that time.  These figures are conservative, because I see no reason that M3 should be valued more than the gold the U.S. actually holds, which is a mere 261 million oz., not billion.  Today, the M3 value is $8870 billion / $425/oz. = 19 billion oz. of gold M3 could buy in theory.  The silver:gold ratio is also a very, very vague guess, reflective of monetary demand chasing silver, which is more scarce than gold in above ground, refined form. I have no idea when the ratio of 15:1 will be exceeded, I'm just totally guessing.  I suppose it could happen this year or next month for all I know.  Of course my real price targets are infinity dollars per oz. for both gold and silver when all is said and done, I just don't know how long that will take, nor what year it will be.  But my point in producing the price predictions is to show my bullishness for silver and gold.

 ----------------------------
Let me say how important it is for silver stock investors to own physical silver.  There is $ 334 million dollars worth of silver in the registered category available for delivery at the COMEX.  The 59 silver stocks on my list, for which I have information available to calculate market caps, add up to $7090 million as of Dec. 5th, 2003.  If silver stock investors move 5% of their silver stock holding to physical silver in the next few weeks, that would be $350 million dollars worth of physical silver, and thus, the silver price would probably hit $10-20/oz. within a few days.  And if silver stock investors try to move 20% into physical silver, the silver demand will end the COMEX manipulation tomorrow.  We don't need anyone other than ourselves to make "the big breakout" happen at this point. 

----------------------------
I wrote an article predicting that Silver Companies will buy silver, and urging Silver Companies to buy silver with their cash, to use silver as money, and sell silver as needed for expenses.  See http://news.goldseek.com/GoldIsMoney/1069879327.php

That article is now having an effect!  It is being discussed by several large "cash rich" silver companies, who are seriously considering the idea of holding their cash in the form of silver. 

----------------------------
A great overview on silver: Douglas Kanarowski's 78 Approaching Forces For Higher Silver Prices

See also Douglas Kanarowski's article:  What Impact Will Digital Photography Have on Silver?
 ----------------------------

 See the 600 year silver chart to see how undervalued silver really is:
http://goldinfo.net/silver600.html

----------------------------
Look at the summary of the world silver survey by GFMS Limited on behalf of The Silver Institute :
http://www.gfms.co.uk/Publications%20Samples/WSS03-summary.pdf

Note, there is virtually no monetary demand. Note, the 2002 mine production (585 mil oz.) is greatly exceeded by industrial, photo, and jewelry demand. (838 mil oz.).  Note the chart on page five, "Supply from above-ground stocks".

The difference between mine supply and industrial demand was met by a combination of three factors: 1.  Government selling, 2.  Private selling, 3.  Recycling

U.S. government selling is ending, as their stocks have run out, or will run out.  This factor will reverse, because the U.S. government will need silver to continue their coin program, and/or need silver when they wake up and decide they need to replenish their strategic stockpile for domestic security.  Silver is a war material.  China's selling of silver will also likely turn into buying, as China will need silver for continued industrial development, or when they also lose faith in the U.S. dollar.

Private selling has been rapidly shrinking and is now almost ended, and should turn into buying, and become monetary demand.  Monetary demand is everything in the silver supply / demand situation.  It's not now.  Now, it's nothing.  But it will become something incredible, because the dollar is dying.

----------------------------
The following is a "must read":  Ted Butler's best ever explanation of how silver is manipulated lower than it should be.
http://www.investmentrarities.com/11-04-03.html

Sign the silver petition to stop the manipulation at the COMEX:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/comex/

Ted correctly points out that a lower price creates excessive demand from consumers.  However, Ted Butler does not point out, and neglects to mention, that a perpetually low price also creates lack of demand from investors who are "trend investors". 

I think most silver experts over-analyze all the supply and demand factors of the silver market.  No factor is more important than monetary demand.  The force of photographic demand is like a light breeze compared to the hurricane or tornado of monetary demand.  Monetary demand is everything.
----------------------------

Consider the gold market for a moment:  Even short selling at the COMEX is nothing compared to monetary demand.  The short position most certainly helps to depress the price of gold as the short position is growing larger.  However, it adds fuel to the fire if there is short covering, and thus, it can boost the gold price later.  But the commercial short position on the COMEX is next to nothing compared to the non-reported "over the counter" trading that is done that does not appear on the COMEX.

(Numbers in metric tonnes, 32,152 oz. per tonne.)

870 tonnes -- the paper position at the COMEX, 280,000 contracts for 100 oz. each.
5,000 tonnes -- the official number admitted that the central banks have sold.
15,000 tonnes -- the number GATA research shows that central banks have sold / or leased.
30,000 tonnes -- the number of official central bank gold, minus either the 5000 or 15,000 tonnes.
145,000 tonnes -- all the gold mined in the history of the world.
2,600 tonnes -- annual mine supply
4,000 tonnes -- annual demand

And all of that is nothing compared to the amount of dollars out there that exist that could buy gold. $20 trillion bonds, $9 trillion M3 = $29 Trillion.  A mere 1% is $290 Billion, which, at $500 /oz. is a massive demand of 18,039 tonnes.  Do you understand what that means?  That means that far, far less than 1% of dollars, in either bonds or M3 can buy gold, because there simply is not that much gold available. 

Long before 1% of U.S. paper dollars tries to buy gold, gold will be going up well over $1000/oz., and silver will be headed up over $50/oz.

----------------------------
To scare away investors--that is the entire reason gold and silver are manipulated in the first place.  Only the trend investors can be deceived.  The problem is that nearly everyone is a trend investor.  So few investors understand value.  If people knew the facts and used their brains, the available above-ground refined silver would be gone by tomorrow, and the price would be well over $20-50/oz.  But don't trust me, follow the urls and check the numbers:

    1,000,000,000,000: 1 Trillion dollars
          1,000,000,000: 1 Billion dollars
                1,000,000: 1 Million dollars
$33,000,000,000,000: World bond market yr end, '01:  http://tinyurl.com/vr7u
$20,200,000,000,000: U.S. bond market, yr end, '02:  http://tinyurl.com/vr7g
$11,700,000,000,000: U.S. stock market, yr end, '02:  http://tinyurl.com/vr7g
 $11,038,000,000,000: U.S. annual GDP, 3rd q.'03 est.  http://tinyurl.com/vr9y
  $8,879,000,000,000: M3 (money in the banks) Nov. '03  http://tinyurl.com/vra0
  $7,001,312,247,818: US debt, 12-31-'03   http://tinyurl.com/bbp
  $2,360,000,000,000: U.S. annual budget 2004
  $1,860,000,000,000: World gold, 145,000 T @ $400/oz. http://tinyurl.com/vrcc
     $554,995,097,146: U.S. budget deficit, ending fiscal year, 09/30/'03  http://tinyurl.com/bbp
     $272,000,000,000: Market Cap of Microsoft (03-2004) http://tinyurl.com/vrcn
     $180,000,000,000: debt of Ford Motor Co. (03-2004) http://tinyurl.com/vrd1
     $104,400,000,000: US gold, 261 mil oz., @ $400/oz. http://tinyurl.com/vsr9
     $100,000,000,000: all the world's gold stocks (estimated?)
         $7,090,000,000: all the world's silver stocks (59 of them on this list, as of Dec. 5th, 2003)
            $395,000,000: 52.5 mil oz. of registered COMEX silver @ $7.53 /oz.  http://tinyurl.com/vrcw

So, what do all those stastistics mean?

For a while I was using M3 and dividing that by the US gold (261 million ounces), which implies the us dollar is 84 times more valuable than it should be, and that gold should hit $34,000/oz. after the fraud is destroyed.  Today, I realize I need to add in the Bond market, because bonds are an asset class designed to siphon away and replace real money, which is to say, gold.  This gives a price of about $111,111/oz. for gold.  At $ 430/oz, this implies that US bonds and paper currency are 258 times more overvalued than gold.

Gold is overvalued relative to silver, because at current prices, it takes 59 ounces of silver to buy 1 ounce of gold.  Historically, this ratio was 15 or 16.  Given the silver shortage, this ratio will hit 10:1 or 5:1, or even 1:1.  Thus, gold is perhaps 66 times more overvalued than silver.

Silver is overvalued relative to certain select silver stocks, perhaps by a factor of 3 or 10 or 20 to one.

Thus, if you multiply all those numbers, 258 x 59 x 10,  You will see that bonds and currency are overvalued relative to select silver stocks by a factor of 152,000 to one. In other words, if silver stocks reach their true value, and paper currency disappears as it always does, then you might expect certain silver stocks to go up in relative value by a factor of 152,000 times more than they are worth today.  By that time, you should definitely sell the silver stocks, and buy gold.

Can silver stocks really appreciate so much? Is there historical evidence for such a crazy thing?  Yes.

See http://www.sterlingmining.com/old.html
Excerpt:
"CDE rose from penny stock status (.02 in 1967) to an NYSE-listed, $60 per share stock in 1980. In fact, the average share on the Spokane Stock Exchange rose in value nearly 16000% (yes, sixteen THOUSAND percent), as America could not get enough of silver and silver stocks."

CDE rose by a factor of 3000, or 300,000%, and by 1980, the metals boom was stopped short, and paper money's death was postponed.  If paper money dies a death that lasts a generation world-wide, then even greater gains should have been expected.

For this reason, a wise silver stock investor should NEVER sell silver stocks for paper cash.  A wise silver stock investor who looks for value would never sell a fairly valued silver stock for an overvalued silver stock that traded for hundreds of thousands of times more value than it should be.  Likewise, there is no excuse for a silver stock investor to have any cash or money market or bonds in his portfolio for any reasonable length of time, except for when selling one silver stock to raise the cash for another silver stock, or for when you need to raise the cash to buy silver, or a private placement in another silver stock. 

So, if you want some fairly liquid alternatives to cash, in case you don't know what other silver stocks to buy at the time, here they are:
1.  Buy silver.  You can hold silver in an IRA.
2.  Buy CEF.  Central Fund of Canada, ticker symbol CEF.  It's gold/silver bullion fund.  It has 50 oz. of silver for every 1 oz. of gold.  The fund is fairly liquid, you can buy it as easily as any other stock, and is a good cash substitute.  Unfortunately, given the current ratio, about 60% or more of the value is in gold.
3.  Buy a fairly large cap silver stock, with fairly large volume, that is still fairly cheap on the list.  SSRI is probably the best candidate.

----------------------------

The sheer stupidity of big money not recognizing the value of the world's remaining silver is utterly shocking to the rational mind.  Clearly, bond holders are utterly deceived, and totally unaware of the situation.  All my readers should understand and know that bonds were originally invented to suck the capital and money (gold and silver) away from the people.  Bonds today are a paper promise to repay paper.  What a con game!  Are bond holders conservative and safe?  No, they are fools!  There is nothing safe about holding a paper promise to receive more paper when we have been experiencing hyperinflation for the past two and a half years! 

See my prior essay, " Inflation & Deflation During Hyperinflation "

----------------------------
And the fund investors who buy paper silver futures contracts instead of real silver are a very odd bunch of fools, for they should realize that nobody can deliver the 800+ million ounces of silver promised in the paper contracts and options that does not exist.  It's like the paper longs are betting on the bank run happening, but they all are making sure they get at the end of the long line.  Instead, they could go front and center, where there is an open window available where you can go and get physical silver, and nobody is there.  Idiots!  If you know a bank run is going to happen, and you are actually willing to bet on it, then go and withdraw your money before it is too late!  Don't bet on it happening, which, if it does happen, your contracts will be defaulted on!  Amazingly blind idiots.  Wake up!

See also my prior essay, "The Moral Failures of the Paper Longs"

----------------------------

How bullish am I on silver?  Here's an interesting way to put it: "59 times infinity" dollars per ounce.

I believe the dollar will eventually be destroyed, likely within my lifetime, hence the "infinity" part.  I believe the ratio of silver to gold may be equal during a spike, when the market realizes that above-ground refined silver is more rare than gold.  Thus, silver may outperform gold by a factor of 59 times better.  Currently, the ratio is 59 ounces of silver can buy one ounce of gold or 59:1.

I may end up selling silver for gold, some at the 10:1 silver to gold ratio, some more at 5:1, and I would sell any silver remaining at a 1:1 ratio, that we may hit during a supply/demand crunch during a paper money collapse.

How we can tell if silver is leading gold, or if gold is leading silver?  IE, which is going up more, faster than the other?  The way you can tell is by looking at the ratio.  If the silver:gold ratio is going up (say, from 60:1 to 80:1), then gold is moving up faster (because it takes 5 more silver oz. to buy an oz. of gold.  If the ratio is going down (from 60:1 to 40:1), then silver is moving up faster.  So, keep an eye on the ratio.
 
----------------------------
For a list of bullion dealers:
http://www.goldismoney.com/buy-gold.html

For a list of Brokers that handle Canadian issues and/or pink sheets:
http://www.bibleprophesy.org/SilverStockExtra.html

To track the 150 ticker symbols of the 100 stocks on this list at yahoo:  (Updated on Jan 30th)
http://www.bibleprophesy.org/SilverStockExtra.html

To learn All about Canadian law, 43-101, about reserves and resources:
http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/Publications/mineral_projects_sept03.pdf

A good website that hosts posting boards for many of the smaller canadian stocks (that Yahoo! finance does not have boards for) is stockhouse.com
Click on "Bullboards".
----------------------------

This is a list of primary silver stocks. 

I count a company's ounces of gold as 10 oz of silver. Why? Because I have a very strong positive bias in favor of silver over gold.

Given my bias in favor of much, much higher silver prices, then, to me, the grades of silver are far less important than buying more oz. in the ground.  More oz. in the ground at a lower cost is the most important consideration for me. 

My method is simple. Cost per ounce in the ground. How much do you get (silver reserve totals), and how much does it cost (market cap)? The cost is the market cap divided by the silver reserve totals. Cheaper is better. Buy low, sell high.

Disclaimers, Warnings, and Advice: I have gathered the information below over the course of several months. I believe it is accurate to the best of my ability. I may have made mistakes. I probably did. I'm human. I have collected the information from public sources such as company web sites and public information found at yahoo.com to get the stock prices. This report in no way guarantees the accuracy of the information below, since the information may change at any time. The number of outstanding shares can change as a company engages in new share issues to raise more capital through private placements, or if outstanding warrants (and options) are exercised and converted into shares, or if shares are bought back. Shares can be consolidated, or split. The number of ounces of silver in the ground can also change, as these are often only estimates. The number can also change up or down, depending on drilling results.

This report is not investment advice.  This report contains information that may or may not be up to date, and may be inaccurate.  I urge you to contact the company and do your own research to verify the information contained in this report.

This report is not an offer to buy or sell any securities.  I am not a broker.  Only your broker can buy or sell securities for you.

I urge you to consult with your investment advisor to determine whether these kinds of investments are right for you. 

I also caution you to be aware of your investment advisor's advice, they are sometimes paid to push things like mutual funds, bonds and other securities that may not be in your best interest to buy.  Some investment houses are short physical metal, and thus, they may attempt to strongly discourage you from buying precious metal or precious metals investments.  I believe that the propaganda machine in support of frauds such as bonds and the dollar is so strong, that they may even believe what they say when they give bad advice to avoid the safety and protection of precious metals.  It is most likely that they simply do not understand the precious metals market as well as you do.

All total estimates of "ounces in the ground" can vary widely. There are "proven and probable reserves" which are the highest category of certainty which is obtained through many drill holes, and then at the least accurate, there are "inferred resources" which are hardest to estimate. Additionally, every miner always has "more silver properties that need to be explored, which probably contain more silver". For the purposes of this report, I have added all those numbers together. It is believed that all these "ounce in the ground" estimates can be profitably mined at $5-6 per ounce silver, or lower. Thus, I believe that when silver trades for $15/oz. or above, that all of these ounces can be mined at a substantial profit.

I may be wrong. (I probably make mistakes in every article, and there have been updates and corrections made each week, especially as prices change.)

Mining is a risky business. You need to be willing to sustain a total loss of your investment for various unforeseen accidents. Silver stock companies can do stupid things to shareholders such as take on debt, or issue more stock at too low prices which reduces the percentage of the company you may own (dilution). Yet, they need to issue shares to raise capital for drilling, and then an even bigger dilution to build a working mine. They may sell YOUR silver too cheaply, or worse, hedge the price of YOUR silver just as it begins to go up if they lock in a price which then proves to be too low if the dollar is destroyed. Mining is a risky business as estimates of assets in the ground can change. There is political risk and environmental risk. They can't franchise the business, are stuck in one location, are subject to government confiscation, or taxes, or union wage negotiations, and corporate looting.

Do your own research.  Be responsible for your own investment decisions.  Again, please, before investing in a mining company, call up the company, and speak either with the CEO or the Investor Relations contact person.

So, at the very least, check the company web site, read the annual reports, check my numbers, check my math, and email the company. That's what they are there for, to answer your questions, and to speak about the opportunity of the company. Don't trust everything you read over the internet. I am a biased source. I own silver mining stocks. And I'm not a broker, nor an investment advisor. I'm just a private investor trying to make sense of this crazy world, and sharing my information and thoughts on silver companies.

Surely, there are scammers in the mining industry in the past, and there will be scammers in the future.  Remember the fraud of Bre-X.  The new 43-101 compliance laws put in place after Bre-X will not prevent a "certified" geologist from lying if he feels lying will create a better payoff.  The Bible warns, "trust no man", yet at the same time advises us to "cast our bread upon the waters", and to not issue "false allegations" against others.  Physical gold and silver provide the "payment in full" as long as the coins or bars themselves are genuine and not fake.

This report may be copied, and transmitted by other people, and may become outdated by the time it reaches you.

I can't tell you how you should invest your money, of course. The reason is that I don't know how convinced you are of the silver bull market, nor do I know how soon you will be needing the money back, so I don't know how long you can wait to see results, nor do I know how much liquidity you need. Nor do I know the size of the money you have to invest. It is very hard to invest large quantities of money in a small market cap stock.

That being said, my investment strategy seems to be working for me, so far. And so, here is how I have valued the following silver companies to make my own investment decisions.

----------------------------
(Market cap is always converted to US dollars and denominated in US dollars because I divide by ounces of silver, which are also denominated in dollars)

The Market Cap is the usual tool to value a company.  It is what the company "costs to buy" if you could buy the entire company, all the shares, at the latest share price.  It is calculated by multiplying the share price, by the total number of shares that the company has issued.  In reality, you could almost never buy an entire company at the price of the Market Cap, but only a small portion.  Usually, even small buying pressure, such as trying to buy 1% of a company, can push up the price of a stock by up to 10-50% higher.  In my reports, I list Market Cap in terms of millions of dollars as "$75 mil MC".

To calculate the Market Cap, I try to get and use the number of "fully diluted shares".  A company creates shares when they sell them to investors in what are called "private placements", or "initial public offerings" (IPO).  A private placement is done usually before there is ever an IPO.  These usually consist of shares and warrants, sold for cash that the company will need to grow and expand.

The "outstanding shares" is the number of shares that exist out there if you count them all, and it does not count the warrants, which are like options. The investor can "exercise the warrants" which is a right, but not an obligation, to buy more shares from the company at the set price of the warrant.

If the company does well, and the stock price moves up, all the warrants will be, or should be, exercised and converted into shares, especially if they become "in the money", and the warrants are significantly cheaper than the stock price.

Now, "fully diluted shares" is the total number of shares, plus the warrants, counting warrants as if they were all exercised and became fully trading shares.  I think "fully diluted shares" is a better number to use to calculate market cap than by using "outstanding shares" as most do.

Finally, I go beyond valuing a company based on Market Cap alone; instead, I value a company by dividing the Market Cap by the assets of the company, which are usually the silver reserves in the ground.  Thus, I can get a sense of what you are getting for what you are paying.   And then, I denominate the whole thing in terms of silver, and not dollars, to get a more constant measure.

----------------------------
(These first three companies, BHP, GMBXF.PK, and BVN  produce a lot of silver, but are way to expensive to buy for the silver exposure for your portfolio.)

BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP)
http://www.bhpbilliton.com/
--'produces 40 mil oz. silver annually from one mine'
Additional comments:  unfortunately, BHP has a 53 Billion market cap, so we can't buy BHP for the silver exposure.  IE, $53 Billion / oh, say, 1000 million?????= $53/oz.

Dear BHP:  By all means, keep mining the silver if you want the silver exposure, and want to be in the silver business.  But don't sell the silver.  Keep it.  Let the profits of your entire company accrue as an increasing physical supply of physical silver.  In fact, do as Buffett did, and buy more silver if you can.  It would be infinitely easier for you to buy silver from yourself than it would be to buy 40 million ounces of silver from the COMEX, which, today, might be impossible. 

Grupo Mexico SA de CV (GMBXF.PK)
http://www.gmexico.com/indexi.html
651,646,640 shares (2002 annual report)
@ $4.00/share
$2606 mil MC
"Grupo Mexico ranks as the world's third largest copper producer (copper at $1.24), fourth largest producer of silver and fifth largest producer of zinc."
They produced 28.2 million oz. of silver, worth $129 million, in 2002.  (P. 5, annual report.)
Total value of produced metals: $2527 milllion. (but the company lost money in 2002).  They mainly produce copper, 900,000 tons worth $1.5 billion in 2002.  Thus, silver, at 2002 prices, is only 5% of their production value.  Silver is a by-product for them, not a main product.
I don't have silver reserve figures, nor do I see any need to find them or add them, since they are not a primary silver producer, and I don't think anybody would be buying them for the "silver exposure".
If we assume 280 mil oz. of silver (ten years reserve for production), then we still don't have anything exciting for the silver alone.
$2085 mil MC / 280 = $7.45/oz. cost.

Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (BVN)
Minas Buenaventura
NYSE:BVN
- Peru´s largest publicly traded precious metals company
--produces over 10Moz of silver per year
--looks way too expensive for the silver alone: 3.6 Billion market cap.
-------------- -------------- --------------

HL (HECLA MINING CO)
http://hecla-mining.com/
hmc-info@hecla-mining.com (208) 769-4100
115 mil shares
@ $8.18/share
$941 million Market Cap (MC)
near zero debt, cash: $123 mil (Feb., 2004)
(est. 2003 production 9 mil oz. silver)
(the La Camorra gold mine, 412,000 oz gold.) ... (x 350/5 = 28 mil silver equivalent oz.)
San Sebastian silver mine, (proven & probably reserves) 8.7 mil (produced 3 mil)
the Greens Creek silver mine (proven & probably reserves) 31 mil (produced 3 mil) Hecla owns just under 30% of it!
the Lucky Friday mine (proven & probably reserves) 14 mil. (produced 2 mil)
Total silver = 32 million oz.
Plus 412,000 oz. gold x 10 = 4.1 mil oz silver equiv.
Total silver equiv. reserves = 36 mil oz.
(Since my method values silver in the ground as a key asset, I should also value the cash as a "silver asset" which will be "marked to market" if silver goes up, and cash goes down.  If HL is smart, they should be able to turn the cash into increased "silver exposure" either through buying silver properties, silver equities, or physical silver.)
($123 million cash / $7.71/oz = 16 mil "silver equiv" oz.)
16 + 36 = 52 mil oz.
$941 mil MC  / 52 mil "oz." = $18.09/oz.
You get "approx" .43 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.

Additional comments: HL has more oz. than listed in the "proven & probable" category used in this calculation. Vein mining makes reserve calculations difficult, and HL has rarely had more than about a 3-4 year picture of reserves ahead of them in 100 years of production.  

I have been counting their papar cash as if it could be silver, but it still does not help boost their valuation much.  They are still the most expensive company on the list in terms of cost per oz. of silver in the ground.  But if HL bought 18 mil oz. of physical silver, they might end the silver manipulation, and significantly boost their own profitability.

Earth to Hecla:  Is silver useful as money, or not?  It's a simple question, and your actions speak volumes. 

HL was downgraded Jan 6th by CIBC Wrld Mkts from Sector Perform to Sector Underperform http://biz.yahoo.com/c/20040106/d.html?hl

I have thought about moving HL to the "explorer" list, since the have so few reserves and resources.  (Just to be fair.)

I believe silver bullion will continue to skyrocket, and I expect silver bullion to continue to outperform HL stock at these prices.

ABX (Barrick)
http://www.barrick.com/
535 million shares
@ $22.76/share
$12,176 million Market Cap
5.5 million oz. / year gold production.
--production hedged out for 3 years, or about 18 million oz.  (most notorious hedger of the industry, the "leader")
--price of hedges locked in near the market lows, perhaps $340/oz. on average, nobody knows for sure, because Barrick will not say
--reportedly, Barrick is trying to "unhedge".
--reportedly, they plan to deliver 1/3 of production to hedges, which means they will be hedge free in about 10 years.
--the size of the hedge, 18 mil oz. gold, at $400/oz., would be valued at $7.2 billion dollars.  At $500/oz, it's $9 billion.
--but they claim to be "debt free", if you ignore the gold they owe for delivery, at locked in, low prices.  (only true if gold is not money)
--cash "rich" of about $1 billion dollars.
Silver Reserves reported to be 850 million ounces! 
Gold Reserves reported to be 86 million oz.  (x 10 = 860 mil oz. + 850 silver = 1710 mil oz. "silver equiv."
$12,176 million Market Cap / 1710 mil oz. = $7.12/oz. silver
You get "approx" 1.08 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.

Additional comments:  Over the years, Barrick has hedged their production, which many claim has helped to depress the price of gold and silver, by artificially adding to supply.  (Barrick's promises becoming the extra supply.)  The declining price of the precious metals has put other miners out of business, which Barrick has acquired at low prices.  If Barrick goes bankrupt due to their hedges, and rising gold and silver prices, then perhaps Barrick's many properties will, once again, be sold at distressed prices. 

Barrick boasts a "cash cost" of $189/oz., for gold for 2003, yet their cash has dropped from $2 billion down to $1 billion.  It could be due to the hedging, locking in precious metals prices at low prices, and/or hedge covering that explains the monetary loss in the light of their low cash costs.

I believe silver bullion will continue to skyrocket, and I expect silver bullion to continue to outperform ABX stock at these prices.

 CDE (COEUR D'ALENE)
http://www.coeur.com
coeurir@coeur.com (208) 769-8155 or (800) 624-2824
213 mil shares (Issued 32 mil new shares late Oct. 2003)
@ $6.61/share
$1408 mil MC
cash $38 mil (I think this is an outdated cash figure)
San Bartolome (Bolivia) reserves 146 mil silver
Silver Valley Silver reserves 32 mil silver
Rochester reserves 43 mil silver
Cerro Bayo reserves 3.7 mil silver
Total: 224.7 mil silver
(to Produce 14.6 mil oz. silver in 2003)
$1408 mil MC / 225 mil oz = $6.26/oz.
You get "approx" 1.2 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.

Additional comments: A few weeks ago, CDE announded their intention to try and raise $150 million in the capital markets by issuing shares.  http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031211/sfth014_1.html

The first week of January, CDE announced a deal for $160 million in convertable bonds!   Beware of debt!

CDE continued to lose money in third quarter 2003, a loss of 10 cents/share, and they realized low prices for silver sales, $4.77.  I believe they have hedged their gold production at low prices. 

CDE looks like they owe both gold and dollars.  A double debt warning for CDE investors!

Again, their listing of ounces is in the "reserves" category (more certain) not the "resources" category, which is less certain.  They may have "resources" but like HL and Industrias Penoles, they give no estimates.

I believe silver bullion will continue to skyrocket, and I expect silver bullion to continue to outperform CDE stock at these prices.

IPOAF.PK (INDUSTL PENOLES)
http://www.penoles.com.mx
397.5 mil shares outstanding (2002 annual, unchanged since 2001)
@ $5.50/share
$2186 mil MC
419 proven and probable reserves of silver (from 2002 annual report on website)
$2186 mil MC / 419 oz. silver = $5.23/oz.
You get "approx" 1.48 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.

Additional comments:  Industrias Penoles is the world's top producer of refined silver.  They actually derrive more revenue from silver than any other source.  But they lost money in 2002. 

The word late Feb. is that Penoles has hedged several year's worth of silver, that is, they have locked in contracts at set prices.  Set when prices were lower.  How much lower, and at what price, is anyone's guess.  As reported at lemetropolecafe.com, "We know the market is so tight even the world’s largest silver producer, Mexico’s Penolas, wasn’t thrilled about supplying 1 million ounces for a special project with ECU Silver, led by their extremely able CEO Michel Roy."

78.5 million oz. silver refined by the metals division in 2002, and 1 mil oz. gold.
They probably refine almost all the silver that comes out of Mexico.
They probably produce about 34 mil oz. of silver from their mines annually, and they have expansion plans. 

I've heard this stock is tightly held, most is family owned. 

Their oz. numbers are "proven & probable reserves", which is much more certain than most of the others which are mostly "inferred and indicated resources."  They undoubtedly have "inferred and indicated resources" in addition to the "proven & probable reserves," I just could not find any info on that at the website or in the annual report.

Given the report that Penoles has hedged silver for two years, I believe silver bullion will continue to skyrocket, and I expect silver bullion to continue to outperform IPOAF.PK stock at these prices.

SIL (APEX SILVER)
http://www.apexsilver.com/
information@apexsilver.com (303) 839-5060
45,023,760 ordinary shares outstanding. (Jan 30th press release)
@ $21.85/share
$983 mil MC
cash on hand: $350 million after Jan 30th share offering, and March 16th convertable debenture.
San Cristobal (Bolivia) (proven & probably reserves) 454 mil silver
(forecast capital costs for construction to total approximately $435 million)
(Produced zero silver in 2002)
7.8 billion pounds of zinc, and 2.9 billion pounds of lead
$983 mil MC / 454 mil oz = $2.16/oz.
You get "approx" 3.56 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.

Additional comments:  A reader emailed me saying that Apex has 35 exploration properties.  I have not yet confirmed this report.

March 16th, Apex raises $144 million in a convertable debenture deal to help finance the development of San Cristobal.  They now have 350/435, or 80.4% of the capital costs needed for construction.  Raising the last bit should now be very easy to do.  If, while raising money, they held their cash in the form of silver bullion, they would probably not need to raise any more cash at this point, since silver has moved up over 50%.

Apex is now the most cash rich silver stock on the list.  About $350 million!  Amazing.   Their plan, as they have stated all along, is to wait until higher silver and zinc prices to develop their deposit.  I wonder if they will be smart, and hold their "cash" in the form of silver bullion while they wait for silver bullion to go up in price?  Seems so basic even a child could understand it.  One key problem standing in the way is that there are position limits on paper longs, and thus, APEX could not probably not buy that much silver bullion even if they wanted to.  Ironic, isn't it?  It is the most natural and sensical thing for Apex to buy silver while they wait for higher silver prices, and doing so would push up the price, but they likely will not act, and almost cannot act due to the problem of scales of size.  This, to me, is so bizzare, I cannnot fathom it.  I think I understand a lot, but this.... it is simply mind boggling.  It's the result of a system so out of balance, it's insane, and the rational mind has no answer for the bizzare things we see today.

Look, COMEX is the last place on earth to buy silver now, in any really big size.  Reports are coming in from all over that there is no bullion in significant size for sale available anywhere. 

My advice to Apex would be to buy every bit of silver they can get.  Even hold out a sign, put up a website, hire people to take the orders, and start buying silver, in all forms, at 10% and even 15% above the spot price.  Just make yourself become the "market maker" and start buying silver from all over like a sponge soaking up water.  Let the silver find you!  In the long run, a 10-15% commission is nothing when the trade is this good.  There may be position limits at the COMEX, but it's not illegal to offer to pay what you are willing to pay to the free market.  Forget the COMEX, and make your own market!

Apex silver primarily has institutional investors. 

Apex has a lot of zinc. That's an added bonus that is not factored in to my method of valuation. Zinc prices have been heading up soon, so that's another bonus. Plenty of zinc is especially good if zinc is moving up in price.  Zinc is now up to $.51/lb., from a low of about $.35/lb. For zinc prices, see http://www.metalprices.com

And, they are not mining now, but are waiting for higher silver prices. That's also a plus. The management also seems to understand that silver will move upwards a lot. Another plus. Finally, George Soros, Billionaire, owns a bit of this one, just under 10% I read recently. That's another plus, in general, for the silver market if Billionaires are paying attention to it.  There are several other zinc / silver plays on this list that investors might also consider: CZN.TO, EXR.V, MMGG.OB (I own MMGG.OB, but not SIL.)

I do not have an idea on whether or not SIL will out perform silver bullion or not.  It's hard to say, because of that huge zinc bonus.  I expect most of the other stocks on this list to outperform or significantly outperform silver bullion in the long run from today's prices.

ECU.V ECUXF.PK (ECU SILVER MINI) 
http://www.ecu.qc.ca/indexen.html
ecu@ecu.qc.ca (819) 797-1210
fully diluted shares = 103.3 million (6 January 2003)
@ $.59/share Cdn x .76 US/Cdn = $.45
$46 mil MC
http://www.ecu.qc.ca/reservesen.html
See the url above for the numbers from the company's website, which are:
Proven & Probable & Possible: 7.6 mil oz silver, 93,000 gold. = 8.5 million "silver equiv" using my method of counting gold as 10:1
"Potential" total: 21.2 mil oz silver, 221,000 oz. gold.
According to my valuation method, that's 2.2 mil oz. of "silver equiv" for the gold, plus the 21.2 mil oz. silver, for a total of 23.4 mil oz.
Exploration potential:
From http://www.ecu.qc.ca/english/pdf/Annual_rep.pdf
page 6 (or 8), the company says:  "Exploration will mainly be targeted to verify the silver-bearing potential of certain properties, in line with the objective of increasing our reserves from 37 million to 100 million silver-equivalent ounces."  (note, the 100 mil oz. "silver equiv" spoken of by the company undoubtedly counts gold as silver at the normal ratio, not my 10:1 ratio.  Therefore, my 23.4 mil oz. re-calculation is 63% of their 37 mil oz. number, and so, likewise will I count 63% of their 100 mil oz. target)
ECU.V is also exploring other gold properties.
$46 mil MC / 23.4 mil oz. silver equiv. = $1.98/oz.
$46 mil MC / 63 mil oz. silver equiv. = $.73/oz.
You get "approx" 3.89 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.
Exploration potential = 11

Additional comments:  (Still not trading) Although ECU stopped trading last week, it's most likely nothing to worry about.  Simple reporting requirements or concerns that will probably be resolved soon.

See also regarding ECU's exploration potential:  http://www.ecu.qc.ca/indexen.html
ECU recently recovered title to properties that were in dispute.  See: http://tinyurl.com/x691

CFTN.PK (CLIFTON MINING) 
http://www.cliftonmining.com/
clifton@cliftonmining.com 801-756-1414   (303) 642-0659 Ken Friedman
45 mil shares fully diluted  (Oct. 2003)
@ $1.65/share US
$74 mil MC
http://www.cliftonmining.com/wsreview.htm   --source of 100 mil oz. resources est.
http://www.cliftonmining.com/resource.htm
From: http://www.siliconinvestor.com/stocktalk/subject.gsp?subjectid=13531
"A previous geologist has talked about a possible resource of 1 billion oz. of silver, and 5 million oz. of gold."
100 mil oz. silver
+500,000 oz. gold x 10 = 5 mil oz. silver equiv.
= 105 mil oz. silver.
up to 1000 mil oz. silver "exploration potential".
Clifton has a complex JV agreement with Dumont Nickel.  In sum, here is what Keith Moeller VP, Clifton Mining Company wrote to me:  "If Dumont produces a positive feasibility study on an individual property piece, then they gain a 50% interest in that piece alone, not in the rest of the property.  If they spend more than 5 million dollars (US) on any one piece and they produce a positive feasibility study on that piece, then they will gain a 60% interest in that one piece of property, not in the rest. If they stop at any time or fail to produce a positive feasibility, then they will gain no interest in any of our property.  Right now we have around 7 different pieces of the property that have "Stand Alone" mine potential.  If Dumont stakes or purchases any property within five miles of the joint venture property, then we automatically receive a 50% interest in that property."
My problem is how to quantify that.  First, there is the range of potential silver resources.  Second, there is the range of potential ownership, which is highly variable, and not subject to the entire property, nor necessarily subject to spending by Dumont, but subject mostly to Dumont doing a positive feasibility study on each of many properties .  At the extreme ranges, the values are:
40% to 100% of 105 = 42 - 105 million oz.
40% to 100% of 1000 = 400 - 1000 mil oz. "exploration potential"
$74 mil MC / 42 mil oz. = $1.77/oz.
$74 mil MC / 1000 mil oz. = $.07/oz.
You get "approx" 4.36 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver.
Exploration Potential: 104

Additional comments:  Note the "exploration potential" is very large.

For more info on what's going on with Clifton, see http://www.dumontnickel.com , JV partner. 

Clifton has 25% ownership of a biotech firm that makes a colloidal silver.  The biotech firm has a patent on a "super" colloidal silver solution made with 10,000 volts that adds oxygen that gives it more powerful antibacterial properties, and is safer since it uses less silver, which would prevent "blue skin" argyria.  Normal colloidal silver that you can make at home with 30 volts works to kill bacteria by disrupting the oxygen metabolism of the cell wall, killing bacteria with oxygen.  The market for safe antibiotics is in the multi Billions of dollars. 

See the human study data released on their colloidal silver product:
Clifton Mining Company - New Human Study Data Released

HGM.V HOGOF.PK (HOLMER GOLD)
http://www.holmergold.com/
1-877-859-5200 ask for John Robinson, or George White
48 mil shares fully diluted (March 2004)
@ $.43/share Cdn x .76 US/Cdn = $ .33 US
8.9 mil oz. silver resources in cuba, according to final feasibility study.  Short mine life.
$15.6 / 8.9 mil oz. = $1.76/oz.
You get "approx" 4.37 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.

Additional comments: silver in cuba. (final feasibility study completed by Rescan-Hatch) gold in Timmins, Ontario. 
Most of the value of Holmer is in the gold property in Timmins, not the silver property in Cuba. 
--final approval by the Cuban Govt. is expected within few weeks. 
--Capital needed for the silver project, approx. $6 million.

GRS GAM.TO (GAMMON LAKE)
http://www.gammonlake.com/
gammonl@sprint.ca (902) 468-0614
Fully Diluted 58.7 mil shares (Nov 30, 2003)
+3.33 mil special warrant financing (Feb 27th, 2004)
Fully Diluted: 62 mil shares (Feb 27th, 2004)
@ $6.47/share
$401 mil MC
Total Ocampo Inferred: 1,124,000 oz. gold,   50,438,000 oz. silver
Silver equiv = 11.24 mil oz. + 50.44 mil oz. = 62 mil oz.
Total Ocampo Measured & Indicated   2,207,800 oz. gold,  108,438,000 oz. silver
Silver equiv = 22 mil oz. + 108 mil  oz. =  130 mil oz.
Total Ocampo Measured & Indicated plus Inferred = 182 mil oz.
Gammon owns 26.3% of Mexgold, MGR
Since Mexgold owns 185 mil oz. of "target exploration potential", 26.3% of that is 48.6 mil oz.
182 + 49 = 231 mil oz.
$401 mil MC / 231 mil oz.= $1.74/oz.
You get "approx" 4.44 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.
**Note** most of Mexgold's oz. that are added in are an "exploration target" not yet "inferred resources".

Additional comments:  Drill results released Jan 7th:  http://biz.yahoo.com/cnw/040107/gammon_lk_drill_rslts_1.html
At current prices of a 64:1 silver:gold ratio at $425/oz gold and $6.60/oz silver, the resources are worth $1048 million of silver, and $1411 million worth of gold.  Cash cost is $85/oz.  Life of mine is 7 years. 

MFN  MFL.TO (MINEFINDERS)
http://www.minefinders.com/
Shares Fully Diluted 34.1 mil (Late 2003?)
@ $9.63/share
$328 mil MC
Cash on hand, Fully Diluted: C$34 million
"over 3.5 mil ounces of gold resource and 160 mil ounces of silver" --Dec. '03
silver conversion = 3.5 x 10 = 35 mil + 160 mil oz. silver = 195 mil oz. silver
At 70:1 ratio, 3.5 x 70 = 245 "silver equiv" of gold, and 160 mil of silver = 405.
245/405 = 61% of the mineral value is in the gold, 39% silver.
At 10:1 ratio, 35/195 = 18% of the mineral value is in the gold, 82% silver.
"In addition to the resources already drilled, Minefinders controls a strong portfolio of properties in Nevada, Arizona, and Mexico which have the potential to host new multi-million ounce discoveries over the next few years."
$328 mil MC / 195 mil oz. = $1.68/oz.
You get "approx" 4.58 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver.

Additional Comments:  At 70:1 silver to gold ratio, over half of MFN is in gold, so consider this a significant gold bonus. MFN also now lists their resource figures on their website's main page.  I'm sure investors appreciate this.  I do. 

FSR.TO FSLVF.PK (FIRST SILVER)
http://www.firstsilver.com/
info@firstsilver.com (604) 602-9973 or (888) 377-6676
38.6 mil shares fully diluted (Jan 2004)
 @ $2.35/share Cdn x .76 US/Cdn = $1.79 US
$69 mil MC
From the Company's main page at their url:
"As at December 31, 2001, First Silver's mineable reserves were 12 million ounces of silver and inferred resources totaled 30 million ounces of silver. The mine is developing a 1000 plus meter exploration drift to upgrade currently identified inferred resources to mineable ore reserves and to discover new reserves."
12 + 30 = 42 mil oz.
$69 mil MC / 42 mil oz. = $1.64/oz.
You get "approx" 4.70 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.

Additional comments: This is a high grade, producing miner.  The high grades, about 300g/ton, are a plus.   They are also actively exploring, another plus.

3rd quarter, 2003, FSR.TO produced 389,154 oz. silver, and 604 oz. gold. and revenue was $2.09 million for the 3rd quarter.  They produced at a loss, (a penny per share).  They are unhedged, and remain committed to remaining unhedged.

KBR.V KBRRF.PK (KIMBER RSCS)
http://www.kimberresources.com
info@kimberresources.com (604) 669-2251
31.2 mil shares fully diluted (Jan 20, 2004)
http://www.kimberresources.com/sharestructure.html
@ $2.35/share x .76 US/Cdn = US $1.79
$56 mil MC
from http://www.smartstox.com/reports/kbr.pdf
30 mil oz. silver resources Measured & indicated, plus inferred
540,000 oz. gold x 10 = 5.4 mil "silver equiv."
$56 mil MC / 35.4 mil oz. = $1.57/oz.
You get "approx" 4.90 ounces in the ground for 1 oz. silver's worth of stock.

Additional comments:  A one property company.  The Carmen gold-silver deposit on their Monterde property in the Sierra Madre belt of Chihuahua State, Mexico.  Significant exploration potential.

It was reported by a press release that 16%-17% of KBR.V is owned by silver bull Jim Puplava of http://www.financialsense.com, which I think is a rather solid endorsement of the company.

PAAS (PAN AMERICAN SILVER)
http://panamericansilver.com/
info@panamericansilver.com (604) 684 -1175
58.2 mil shares fully diluted. (Sept. 2003)
+ 3.33 mil share financing (Feb 27)
61.5 mil shares fully diluted (Feb 27, 2004)
http://panamericansilver.com/s/CorporateInformation.asp?ReportID=26039
@ $17.40/share
$1070 mil MC
10 silver prop