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Mining in
Mexico with Great Panther By : Richard Mills |
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As a
general rule, the most successful man in life is In 1992
mining laws were changed in anticipation of the North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA). The new laws allowed 100 percent foreign ownership of
Mexican mines (except for hydrocarbons, radioactive materials and salt). Under
the Mexican Constitution the exploration, exploitation and beneficiation of
the minerals will have preference over any other use for the land.
Exploration concessions are granted for six years and are not renewable.
There are no limits for the mining concession surfaces. Production
concessions are awarded for 50 years and are renewable for a similar period. In
1994 the North American Free Trade Agreement was implemented and the Peso was
devalued. Because of low metal prices and a devalued Peso many walked away
from toiling in the earth, shutting down their mines and finding new
livelihoods. But
in the late '90's a new era was beginning as Canadian miners quietly began to
accumulate projects. Great
Panther Res. GPR:TSX http://www.greatpanther.com/s/Home.asp Great
Panther is primarily a silver producer with two 100% owned operating mines in
Mexico. The centerpiece of the Company's operations is the world class
Guanajuato Silver-Gold Mine in the state of Guanajuato. Great
Panther also owns and operates the Topia Silver-Lead-Zinc Mine in Durango
State. The Company has increased production to a new all time high and is
growing the resource base through continued surface drilling and underground
development. The
Mapimi project is an advanced stage exploration project with a global
resource of 28.6 million silver equivalent ounces that appears amenable to
open pit mining. Great
Panther is one of the fastest growing silver producers in the industry -
313,000 oz in 2006 to 1.21 million oz in 2008. The company is strongly
leveraged to future rises in the price of silver. Free
cash flow should show sustained quarter over quarter improvements and this
should continue through 2009 and into 2010. FIRST QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
GPR
recently released its second quarter production results and these numbers
generated a huge sigh of relief among investors. Total metal production
reached a new record, they negotiated a new lower cost concentrate sales
contracts for Topia and have their first NI 43-101 compliant 5 million Ag eq
oz resource for the Guanajuato Deep Cata Clavo zone. This
is definitely a company being steered in the right direction, here's the
second quarter production numbers:
Investing
in Silver itself, through ETF's, has become the main driver of silver's bull
market. In this author's opinion the most leverage to silver's price rise is
gained from investing in one, or a few, primary silver producers. Great
Panther appears well-positioned to leverage silver's gains and to greatly
reward investors over the course of this bull market. Great
Panther is going to continue to grow and is going to be one of the largest
silver producers in Mexico. If you're an investor looking at the PM's, in
particular silver, then as strongly leveraged to future rises in the price of
silver as GPR is, it definitely warrants your further DD. Share
Structure as of Tue Jun 2, 2009 Shares
Issued: 86,789,521 Treasury Currently,
the treasury has a little over $2 million. Great Panther management has been
able to keep ahead of costs and a financing is not contemplated at this time. As of
March 31, convertible notes total $6 million: $2 million is due in 2010 and
$4 million in 2011. If you're interested in the junior resource
market and would like to learn more please come and visit us at. http://www.aheadoftheherd.com/ Disclosure: Great Panther
Res. GPR:TSX is an advertiser on www.aheadoftheherd.com Richard Mills Richard is
host of www.aheadoftheherd.com and invests in the junior resource
sector. His articles have been published on over 60 websites including - Wall
Street Journal, 24hGold, Kitco, USAToday, Safehaven, SeekingAlpha, The
Gold/Energy Reports, Gold-Eagle and Financial Sense. Legal
Notice / Disclaimer:
This document is not and should not be construed as an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to purchase or subscribe for any investment. Richard
Mills has based this document on information obtained from sources he believes
to be reliable but which has not been independently verified; Richard Mills
makes no guarantee, representation or warranty and accepts no responsibility
or liability as to its accuracy or completeness. Expressions of opinion are
those of Richard Mills only and are subject to change without notice. Richard
Mills assumes no warranty, liability or guarantee for the current relevance,
correctness or completeness of any information provided within this Report
and will not be held liable for the consequence of reliance upon any opinion
or statement contained herein or any omission. Furthermore, I, Richard Mills,
assume no liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage or, in
particular, for lost profit, which you may incur as a result of the use and existence
of the information provided within this Report. Richard
Mills may from time to time, have long or short positions in, and buy and
sell the securities or derivatives (including options) of companies mentioned
in this article Information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be
reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. It is not intended to
constitute individual investment advice and is not designed to meet your
personal financial situation. The opinions expressed herein are those of the
author and are subject to change without notice. The information herein may
become outdated and there is no obligation to update any such information.
The author, 24hGold, entities in which they have an interest, family and
associates may from time to time have positions in the securities or
commodities discussed. No part of this publication can be reproduced without
the written consent of the author. |
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