It was good prattle actually. You make some good points - basically try and achieve the highest valuation possible before making yourself a takeover target, to maximise gain.

Excuse my cut-down reply, the last one got 'moderated'

It was good prattle actually. You make some good points - basically try and achieve the highest valuation possible before making yourself a takeover target, to maximise gain.

Gold is a funny one. I sold out of ALK when I clearly shouldn't have, and I also sold my LGL and NCM shares a bit early too. I guess I am expecting a bit of a speculator blow-back before mid this year (but that is going purely by what I assume the market is doing psychologically). Also I am wary of the inflated share prices of companies that clearly will not be reflected in earnings per share. Extremely high P/E ratios are a symptom of the financial world we just left...I have no intention to revisit them unless I want take a gamble in surfing this bubble a bit.

That said, I am more than happy to speculate on the small-caps, as you are, because the gains can be amazing (i've personally done better out of small caps in my 18 months of investing that anywhere else).

Maybe the bull run is nothing more than a simple rebound on a (previously) heavily oversold stock. Maybe the interest of any medium size buyer will always have this impact on an oversold microcap. Maybe there is information out there, I don't know about, that the company needs to clarify.

I understand that the company is likely to dig the pine plantation shallow bonanza grade area at Cappers using above ground techniques then extend a tunnel from there to the Chewton deposit and go down . They are punting that Chewton is a similar prospect to the old Wattle Valley mine.

Toll treatment of high grade Cappers ore will be an easy path to a quick profit. The low grade stuff from the tunnel, will I guess,need to be heaped until such time as on site processing becomes available. Processing facilities cost millions that the company currently does not have so any fast tracking would need a partner or finance or both. owever, I hope they don't think to big too quickly like BDG once did. If the Toll arrangement works fine for a small to medium operation perhaps they should stick with it. The risk that Gold prices can bubble then burst (just like anything else) can be managed by not over capitalising.

Although the Castlemaine deposits tend to have steeper declines than those at Bendigo they are similarly narrow. A BDG comparison is therefore relevant. Underground, BDG recently pulled a $2m cash surplus from $12m revenue earned in its mining trial so I will guess that CGT can do the same or better.

Not withstanding the fact that a company like CGT is takeover target in the current climate, my feeling is that shareholder interest may be best served if the Company completes its resource estimates before it goes looking. A fair price needs a valuation basis. CGT has enough resource to get their money back then some BUT the company's worth will grow by magnitudes IF and only IF further drilling demonstrates multiple Wattle Gully type reefs. For this we need patience.

Sorry for the prattle but thinking aloud is sometimes helpful.

I do notice that CGT is doing well though. Great for everyone who bought in at the 3c distribution. I noticed that CGT looked promising afterwards as most trades were well above the distribution price.

In the short-term I am a bit bearish on everything at the moment. I may try get into some oil shares around June...but might wait until July 1 in the hopes of lower prices after a end-of-financial-year selloff. I could be very very wrong of course.

Congrats on two winners though, very good work

I'm doing some more research on BDG but haven't bought yet. My wife spent most of the play money on a holiday instead.

My real and ongoing dread remains the passive (non) investment strategies of my super funds which are exempt from the superannuation choice legislation.

The key risk associated with this stock is water - which is in short supply around Dubbo, Parkes and Orange. Basically ALK will need to purchase the water rights then be very careful about how they use it. My gut feel is that the ALK's gold prospects are doable but water management issues will add to (otherwise low) costs and may reduce the feasible rate of extraction.

One reason you might buy this stock is that appears to be wedged between some of the big players - and at some stage (don't know when) Newmont will green light the McPhillamy’s gold project - giving ALK the usual 25% revenue share. Newmont could swallow ALK if it wanted to. otherwise, the McPhillamy’s revenue could be assigned to the development of ALKs other prospects as can the BCI revenues (when that eventuates). The other big end of town relationship through Ian Gandel. Alliance Resources which will generate significant revenue for Ian (who is the primary ALK shareholder) when the Four Mile Uranium prospects comes on line.

I don't know about the rare earth at the moment - but there is a 200 to 400 year supply of the stuff at Dubbo. The market assigns a zero value to this resource not withstanding a global shortage and difficulty getting it out of China. Surely it has some value.

For the immediate future it may be noted that this company has zero debt, about $7.5m cash in the bank and a market capitalisation of about $30m. It is selling at 12.5c down from a high of about 51c.

I would be interested to read about any other resource junior Crusoes out there, particulary if there is a Gold tangent. I'm looking for a discussion rather than advice (I tend to do my own research on the latter). Cheers.

" CASTLEMAINE Goldfields has reported high-grade gold from shallow depths at its Cappers project in Central Victoria – including an intersection grading 539.6 grams per tonne gold. source: miningnews.net "

The price has been murdered from about 17c to 5c as it falls whenever the market drops then fails to rebound during the rallies. Basically nobody is interested not withstanding the fact that Robinson and Man Friday could probably dig it out with a pick, a shovel, some timber (and a bit of time as they would need to go down 50m.) For me its a hold regardless of where the market goes. A strike will always be a strike!