Mining PRs and the Ottotrans™, Part 42

Today's attempt to wade through the mining industry's purple prose and get to a grain or two of truth is based upon this morning's NR from Rick Van Alphabet and the guys at Nadagold (NG):

This is what they wrote:

Press Release Source: NovaGold Resources Inc. On Thursday June 23, 2011, 9:00 am

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - 06/23/11) - NovaGold Resources Inc. (TSX:NG - News)(AMEX:NG - News) announces significant advancement towards completion of the prefeasibility study on its Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project ("Project") located in northwestern British Columbia. The study is being prepared by Galore Creek Mining Corporation ("GCMC"), owned equally by subsidiaries of NovaGold Resources Inc. ("NovaGold") and Teck Resources Limited ("Teck").

Completion of the prefeasibility study is expected by the end of July 2011 and AMEC Americas Limited, an independent supplier of engineering and project management services, is concurrently preparing a National Instrument 43-101 compliant technical report. Upon receipt of the technical report, NovaGold will announce the results and file it on SEDAR and EDGAR within 45 days of the announcement.

The partners have approved a $30.5-million budget to carry out further work on the Project during the remainder of 2011. Planned work includes infill drilling to convert inferred mineral resources to measured and indicated categories, geotechnical drilling on the tunnel alignment and geotechnical drilling to confirm open pit slopes in areas targeted for conversion of inferred mineral resources. GCMC will also complete further environmental and engineering work in preparation for feasibility level studies.

"Completion of the prefeasibility study will be an important milestone as we work with Teck to optimize the Galore Creek project," said Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, President and CEO of NovaGold. "Galore Creek is one of the most significant copper-gold projects in the world. Its timely development is important for all stakeholders, including Federal and Provincial governments as well as First Nation communities of northwestern British Columbia."

During the second quarter of 2011, Teck completed its funding requirements of $373 million to earn its 50% interest in GCMC. The Project will move forward with Teck and NovaGold equally funding further Project development.

And this is what it means:

Press Release Source: NovaGold Resources Inc. On Thursday June 23, 2011, 9:00 am

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - 06/23/11) - We cool dudes at NadaGold Resources Inc. (TSX:NG - News)(AMEX:NG - News) want to remind you all about what's happening at Galore Creek, because since the Kaplan guys sold oodles of shares earlier this year the stock is down about $5 to $9. So anyway, remember Galore Creek? Yeah that's right, the project we brought on board back in 2003 is now aggressively moving to a pre-feas stage! Wowsers, nobody can ever accuse us of dragging our heels, can they? Well in fact that's a bit wrong, because back in 2006 we already had a Full Bankable Feasibility Study done on Galore Creek that put the capex at U$1.8Bn....but then things got a bit smelly and we found out that the real cost of capex would be up to U$5Bn (yeah, five billion dollars) and so our JV partner Teck told us where we could stick our plans. So anyway, here we are nearly four freakin' years later and the new SparklySpangly Pre-Feas is nearly ready and we sure hope that you fall for our smoke'n'mirror exercise one more time, because so far you New York based sheep have been great to us.

Oh, and by the way, Teck has fulfilled its payment obligations on the JV now and so from today there's no more free ride on Galore Creek and we're going to have to burn your money on this dog that will never be a mine, new power line through the joint or not. 

Love and Kisses, Rick!

UPDATE: Message to Ian Bezek: "Widely respected?" You gotta be kidding dude...that's the last thing we'd want to be known as round these parts.

Mining PRs and the Ottotrans™, Part 41

Today we go with another one in our occasional series that uses the world famous and patented Ottotrans™ to take the gobbledegook English oft encountered in news releases out of junior mining company and turn it into something that reasonable people can grasp. Today's example comes from Zincore Metals Inc. (ZNC.to) and looks at the company NR was first seen after the bell last night.

This is what they wrote:

JUN 8, 2011 - 16:20 ET

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - June 8, 2011) -
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Zincore Metals Inc. (TSX:ZNC)(BVLAC:ZNC) ("Zincore" or the "Company") reports that, due to adverse market conditions following the recent Presidential election in Peru, it is revising the terms of the brokered private placement of units originally announced on May 24, 2011. Under the revised terms, the Company will seek to raise gross proceeds of up to $6.4 million on a best efforts basis. Units will be priced at $0.28 per unit and will be comprised of one common share and one-half common share purchase warrant ("Warrants"). The Warrants will be non-transferable and each whole Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one common share at a price of $0.40 for up to 36 months. Dundee Securities Ltd. is acting as the sole agent on this financing. 
Zincore CEO and President, Jorge Benavides, commented "The result of the recent Presidential election in Peru has created significant short term volatility in the market. For this reason, it has become necessary for us to amend the terms of our proposed financing. The fact that we are still raising these funds to carry out our programs in Peru is a testament to our belief that Peru will remain a good place to do business."
The net proceeds of the offering will be used to fund the development of Zincore's mineral properties in Peru and for general corporate purposes. 
The common shares issued with respect to this offering will be subject to a four month hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws.
The closing of this offering is expected to occur on or about June 15, 2011 and is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including that of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Any participation by insiders of the Company in the Offering, which participation will be subject to the approval of the independent directors of the Company, will be on the same terms as the arm's length investors and at or below their current pro-rata percentage ownership.
This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The common shares being offered have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and accordingly are not being offered for sale and may not be offered, sold or delivered, directly or indirectly within the United States, its possessions and other areas subject to its jurisdiction or to, or for the account or for the benefit of a U.S. person, except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of that Act.

And this is what it means:

Zincore CEO and President, Jorge Benavides, commented "The result of the recent Presidential election in Peru has tanked our stock to kingdom come. For this reason, it has become necessary for us to cut the price of of our proposed financing otherwise nobody's gonna go near it, we'd be left with diddlysquat in the treasury and wouldn't be able to carry out our programs. The fact that we are still desperate to raise these funds to carry out our programs in Peru overrides the wishes of current shareholders so we've decided to dilute their asses even more than even they expected."

DYODD.

Mining PRs and the Ottotrans™, Part 40

Our occasional series today features yesterday's NR from the serial sophists at South American Silver (SAC.to), the mini-nadagold currently trying to bunko people into investing in Bolivia because it's all nice and safe and that.

This is what they wrote:

Press Release Source: South American Silver Corp. On Wednesday May 4, 2011, 6:16 pm EDT

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - 05/04/11) - South American Silver Corp. (TSX:SAC - News)(PINK SHEETS:SOHAF - News) today provided an update on the situation in Bolivia and the Malku Khota silver-indium project. Over recent days media coverage has reported that Bolivian officials were making changes to legislation from 1985, which among other things had allowed for the privatization during the 1990's of the operatorship of certain specific mines owned and operated by COMIBOL (the Bolivian State Mining Corporation), but that now are under operating agreements directly or indirectly with COMIBOL.

Bolivian government officials have confirmed that these changes are primarily focused on the COMIBOL owned mines and private investments in mining will continue to be respected. Specifically, South American Silver has been assured by government officials that its 100% owned Malku Khota project will not be impacted by these proposed changes for government owned mines. The Company confirms that the Malku Khota project is a private investment and that there has never been COMIBOL involvement in the project. The Company also confirms that its concessions covering over 50 square kilometers are in good standing.

Recently, the Bolivian press reported that the Bolivian Vice Minister of Mining emphasized the government's wishes to attract foreign investments in mining and respect legal security and private investment. In that same article, the Vice Minister further stated that the Bolivian government intends to support the development activities at South American Silver's Malku Khota project this year as one of the largest new mining projects in the country.

Greg Johnson, President and CEO of South American Silver, stated "With the completion of the recent positive Preliminary Economic Assessment study on the Malku Khota project the Company is moving into Pre-Feasibility study activities for the remainder of 2011 and into Feasibility in 2012. We appreciate the support from the Bolivian government for the development of the Malku Khota project. The project has the potential to become one of the largest new primary silver producing mines in the world and would also be one of the largest producers of the high-technology metals, indium and gallium. At conservative base-case metal price assumptions of $18/oz silver, cash flows, project valuations and rates of returns have all strengthened considerably over previous studies, highlighting the value of this long life asset. The successful development and operation of the project will provide significant economic benefits to the local region and to Bolivia as a whole."

And this is what it means:

Dear suckers: Will you please stop selling our stock? Pleeeease??

x

Mining PRs and the Ottotrans™, Part 39

Today's Miner-NR-Into-Normal-English falls to Sinchao Metals (SMZ.v):

This is what they said:

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 20, 2011) - The Board of Directors of Sinchao Metals Corp. ("Sinchao" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:SMZ) reports that, further to the announcement made on February 7, 2011, regarding the ownership status of four of the property claims comprising the Sinchao Project, it has determined that title to the claims were not properly transferred to a subsidiary of Andean American Gold Corp. ("Andean"), the party that purported to transfer the claims to Sinchao. As a result neither Andean nor Sinchao holds any proprietary interest in the claims, which claims contain approximately 40% of the inferred resource previously disclosed by the Company. The Company has been striving to reach an agreement with the parties that Andean originally dealt with in order to remedy the deficiencies in title however it has been unable to reach such an agreement. The Company is therefore not optimistic that it will be able to remedy the deficiencies in title, and will make the necessary adjustments to its financial statements to reflect the write down of these four properties.

And this is what it means:

We're screwed.

ddx
UP

 UPDATE: SMZ just opened after being halted all day:

The SMZ mothership, AAG.v, having a bit of a drop too.

When an IKN reader hijacks the Ottotrans™

Your humble scribe got this mail from A. Reader yesterday, which was 1) fun 2) worthy of sharing and 3) spot on with its economic geology...unlike the BS merchant who wrote the NR for Nuinsco (NWI.to). Read on....

Title: You  should run this through the Ottotrans™

 

I love the part I underlined (and now in red)... Translation: "extremely low-grade mineralization suggests the potential for high-grade mineralization". Freedom is slavery, ignorance is knowledge...

And, uhh, uranium values exceeding 1 ppm are "accepted as being significant"?? They're also accepted as occurring almost everywhere on Earth. Hmm...

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 7, 2011) - Nuinsco Resources Limited (TSX:NWI - News; www.nuinsco.ca) today announced that recent drill results grading up to 71 parts per million (ppm) uranium (U) continue to indicate the potential for high-grade uranium mineralization at its Diabase Peninsula project in Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin.

"Uranium values exceeding 1ppm are accepted as being significant, with values exceeding 10ppm suggesting the presence of an alteration zone and the distinct possibility of a lens of high grade mineralization in the immediate vicinity," said Nuinsco President Paul Jones. "Drilling has encountered such significant uranium grades at numerous sites on the property, including our November-December 2010 program where uranium values peaked at 71ppm."

The November-December drilling tested coincident TEM and Gravity geophysical targets near to holes from a 2007-2008 drilling program which encountered highly-anomalous uranium values of up to 707ppm U (0.083% U3O8) located at or near the contact between the sandstone layer and graphite-bearing basement rocks (the "Unconformity") - the prime site for the occurrence of uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin.

All holes in the five-hole, 2,321m program returned uranium values as follows:

-- ND10-01 encountered 14.69m of 25.29ppm U from 378-392.69m, including 71
ppm U over 2.61m immediately at the Unconformity;
-- ND10-02 averaged 4.26m grading10.8ppm U below the Unconformity;
-- ND10-03 cut 18m of 18.06ppm U straddling the Unconformity from 379.5-
397.5m;
-- ND10-04 drilled from the same setup as ND10-03 encountered 19.25m of
11.99ppm U at the Unconformity. The final sample of the interval graded
24.8 ppm U; and,
-- ND10-05 intersected1.5m grading 14.9ppm U below the Unconformity.

"These results continue to enhance our understanding of the geology at Diabase, and are sufficiently encouraging that we have begun another round of drilling," Mr. Jones added. "This 2,000m program will again concentrate on the core of the property where numerous factors point to the possibility of a nearby uranium deposit."
Analytical facilities of the yada yada continues here

Mining PRs and the Ottotrans™, Part 36

Today's attempt to decipher mining-news-release-English into something that sentient beings have a chance of understanding comes from the IR department of Paladin Energy Ltd (PDN.ax) (PDN.to):

This is what they wrote:

PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA--(Marketwire - March 16, 2011) - Paladin Energy Ltd. (TSX:PDN - News; ASX:PDN - News; "Paladin" or the "Company") expresses its deepest condolences to the people of Japan following the tragic events of Friday 11 March 2011. "We are very saddened by the catastrophic events and extreme loss of life following the dual natural disasters of an earthquake and tsunami", stated John Borshoff, Managing Director/CEO of Paladin. "We are encouraged that Fukushima plant managers are making public safety their highest priority and although the situation remains of grave concern it seems to be progressing slowly towards stabilisation of the damaged reactors".

Paladin has had numerous queries regarding its business with Japan and the impact of recent events. While the Company endeavours to work with all participants in the nuclear sector and is developing a regional diversified sales portfolio, it does not currently have a commercial relationship with Japanese utilities. Paladin has a strong balance sheet with US$251.8M in cash as of 31 December 2010; is on track to produce 6Mlb to 6.3Mlb U3O8 in FY 2011; and commissioning of Langer Heinrich Mine Stage 3 expansion to 5.2Mlb U3O8 will occur in April giving the Company an installed capacity to provide 8.5Mlb U3O8 pa.

Paladin continues to believe that the medium and long-term outlook for nuclear power remains positive and that recent events could further exacerbate the supply situation, ironically putting Paladin in an even better position with respect to global demand. There are more than 440 nuclear reactors operating safely around the world and growth of the fleet is assured with the 62 reactors currently under construction, with further expansion forecast from the emerging nuclear economies.

Paladin will hold a conference call regarding the Japanese nuclear situation on Thursday 17 March details below (continues here)

And this is what it means:

We're fucked.

UPDATE: Two images to share. First this one, the intraday chart of PDN.to so far:

Then this one (Mex guise by reader request):

Thorium and soda served, the end

Mining PRs and the Ottotrans™, Part 35

The latest in our occasional series that tries its darndest to translate corporate babble into real English takes in this afternoon's NR from Western Uranium Corp. (WUC.v):

This is what they wrote:

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 14, 2011) - Western Uranium Corporation (TSX VENTURE:WUC - News; "the Company" or "WUC") is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved, subject to regulatory approval, a change of name of the company to Concordia Resource Corp.
The proposed change of name reflects the Company's strategy for expansion through acquisition and exploration globally, and through a shift in focus from uranium into a more diversified exploration and development company.

And this is what it means:

"Miss Jones?"
"Yes Mr. Flood?"
"That's the last freakin' straw! Get on to the lawyers and get that godforsaken word out of my corporate title NOW!"
"Right away, Mr. Flood."

DYODD, dudettes and dudes.