By Darryl Kelley

In what is quickly becoming a habit with Bard Ventures (TSX.V:CBS), another great intercept from the drilling ongoing at the Lone Pine Molybdenum Project has returned 0.06% Molybdenum over 284 meters.

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.

Investors in True North Gems (TSX.V: TGX) were treated to a rare gift this Christmas past when the company reported the discovery of a new sapphire prospect complete with a 139 carat blue sapphire on its Beluga sapphire property in Nunavut, Canada.

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.

Russian mining and exploration have had a long road toward real openness since Glasnost and Perestroika were decreed by the then president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. And forefront of juniors making headway in modern day Russia is Golden Reign Resources (TSX.V:GRR).

Teryl Resources Corp. (TRC.V: TSX) is a diversified explorer with interests in oil and gas as well as minerals. In a global mining bull market, companies, particularly on their lows, are often undervalued. The Teryl share price recently started acting like a seismograph in the first stages of registering a tremor on the TSX charts.

Astral Mining Corp.’s (TSX.V:AST) management may well have exceeded its target. Both management and investors are likely over the moon given that the company, along with joint venture partner Kootenay Gold (TSX.V:KTN), announced some stellar results from the latest round of drilling at the Jumping Josephine (JJ) Gold Project in southeastern BC.

As per its December 4 news release, True North Gems has wrapped up its 2007 drilling program with the completion of the final four drill holes on the Sarfaq and Ridgetop ruby prospects at its Fiskenaesset Ruby Project.