By Eric Pratt

Its not often one discovers an OTC-listed mining company that has a board of directors and management team with the caliber and pedigree of Little Squaw Gold Mining Company (OTCBB:LITS).

Helio Resource Corp.’s (TSX.V:HRC) project generator model is starting to yield results, both in terms of attracting other juniors as joint venture partners, and on its own flagship SMP property in Tanzania.

By Eric Pratt

Seldom a week passes without news of another investment by Pinetree Capital Ltd. (TSX:PNP) in an emerging resource or technology company. Pinetree has a lean corporate structure and visionary business model that makes it part investment fund, part investment bank.

A novel class of hybrid materials made from metals and organic compounds is changing the face of solid state chemistry and materials science just 10 years after its discovery, with applications already in safe storage of highly inflammable gases such as hydrogen and methane.

Squeeze a crystal of manganese oxide hard enough, and it changes from an electrical insulator to a conductive metal. In a report published online this week by the journal Nature Materials, researchers use computational modeling to show why this happens.

Using a tabletop laser, University of Rochester optical scientists have turned pure aluminum, gold.

The first good news of the year for readers at Resourcex Investor was the price of gold. The start of the year heralded all-time high prices for gold easily topping $900 per ounce, driven by the weak US dollar, high oil prices and renewed geopolitical concerns. Just a month later, gold continues to break all time highs, confidently striding toward the long anticipated $1,000 mark.

By Doug Hadfield

It may not be the sexiest of metals to investors, but iron is also arguably one of the most important. That was the message of Brian Thurston, President of Raytec Metals Corp. (TSX.V: RAY) in a recent interview with Resourcex.com. The junior exploration company has turned its focus from uranium in the Athabasca Basin to iron ore in Ontario and South America.

By D. J. Hadfield

Certainly, one of the most daunting challenges an investor faces is putting on the thinking cap and calculating the value of a mining or junior exploration company share. There are countless ways of valuing and comparing companies, and tens, if not hundreds of variables to consider when making your final investment decision.

When the ancient Roman scholar Publilius Syrus said, “No pleasure endures unseasoned by variety,” he could well have been referring to mining companies. One trick ponies, as recent events are sure to prove again, live and die the by price of a single commodity, and as such, are more vulnerable to sudden or unexpected market movements than are polymetallic companies.

Nevada is the home of the new business model in gold mining: Find a past-producing mine where lots of known ore-grade material was left behind during the deflated gold price era in the later nineties, and put it back into production. It’s a straightforward approach (for mining) that has a well established track record. Harvest Gold (TSX.V:HVG) is planning just such a revival for the Rosebud Mine.

Aesop, the ancient Greek fabulist, was known for his kernels of wisdom – usually aimed at children. He advised that “it is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow,” and suggested that rewards come when you “put your shoulder to the wheel”. Even though the mining business is hardly child’s play, it’s obvious that Tribune Uranium Corp’s (TSX.V:TCB) management has integrated this age-old advice into its vision as it looks forward to a year of steady growth.