The price of uranium rose steadily from $7.10 U.S. a pound in December 2000 to as high as $138 U.S. a pound in June 2007.

Prices have moved down from that speculative high to today’s price of about $40.00 a pound. But conditions look favourable for higher long-term uranium demand.

Risks and rewards of Canadian uranium stocks

Many emerging countries, …read more »

We’ve had lots of success with the junior mining stocks we recommend in Stock Pickers Digest, our newsletter for aggressive investing.

For example, in a recent issue of Stock Pickers Digest, we updated our buy/sell/hold advice on a junior mine that’s risen more than 300% for us in the past year. See below for further details on this up-and-coming diamond …read more »

BREAKWATER RESOURCES $0.39 (Toronto symbol BWR; SI Rating: Speculative) (416-363-4798; www.breakwater.ca; Shares outstanding: 700.8 million; Market cap: $273.3 million; No dividends paid) is a Canadian-based mining company that mainly produces zinc. Breakwater has mines in Canada, Chile and Honduras.

The company earned $0.01 a share in the three months ended December 31, 2009. A year earlier, it lost $0.12 a share. …read more »

STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORP. $0.66 (Toronto symbol SWY; SI Rating: Start-up) (888-338-2200; www.stornowaydiamonds.com; Shares outstanding: 288.4 million; Market cap: $189.4 million; No dividends paid) has revealed an updated preliminary economic assessment of its 50%-owned Renard diamond project in Quebec. This new study predicts Renard could be nearly twice as profitable as expected.

Stornoway now envisions a bigger mine at the site. This …read more »

MAJOR DRILLING $26.07 (Toronto symbol MDI; SI Rating: Speculative) (www.majordrilling.com; 1-866-264-3986; Shares outstanding: 23.7 million; Market cap: $619.1 million; Dividend yield: 1.4%) has bought SMD Services of Huntsville, Alabama, for $4 million.

The purchase is small for Major Drilling, but it lets the company enter the environmental and geotechnical drilling businesses. Environmental drillers recover soil and groundwater samples to determine if …read more »

Higher commodity prices and an improving global economy have pushed up the prices of many junior mining stocks recently. And we think the best juniors have the potential to go even higher.

(In a recent Stock Pickers Digest hotline, we updated our buy/sell/hold advice on a junior mine that’s risen more than 50% in the past six months, Baffinland Iron Mines. …read more »

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $42 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 589.1 million; Market cap: $24.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; No dividends paid since July 2008; SI Rating: Extra Risk) is a leading producer of metallurgical coal, a key ingredient in steelmaking. Coal accounted for 46% of Teck’s 2009 revenue, and 54% of its earnings. Teck also …read more »

CAMECO CORP. $29.62 (Toronto symbol CCO; SI
Rating: Extra Risk) (306-956-6200; www.cameco.com; Shares
outstanding: 392.8 million; Market cap: $11.6 billion; Dividend
yield 0.8%) is the world’s largest uranium producer. Its
large, high-grade reserves, low-cost operations, significant
market share and access to a number of sources of
uranium give it a strong competitive position.

Cameco gets most of its uranium from its 70%-
owned McArthur River mine and the …read more »

In mining exploration, an “anomaly” is a geological formation that might attract a prospector’s interest. However, one rule of thumb is that you have to look at 1,000 anomalies to find one prospect. And fewer than one prospect in a thousand turns into a mine. In other words, finding a mine is a million-to-one shot.

That’s one reason why junior …read more »

SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $38 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $60.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 1.1%; SI Rating: Average) saw its oil-sands properties’ average daily production fall to 219,000 barrels in December 2009. That’s down 30.3% from 314,000 barrels in the previous month.

The drop was caused by a fire at …read more »

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $41 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 588.7 million; Market cap: $24.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.8; No dividends paid since July 2008; SI Rating: Extra Risk) owns 22.5% of the Antamina copper and zinc mine in Peru. The other partners are BHP Billiton (33.75%), Xstrata (33.75%) and Mitsubishi Corp. (10%).

In light of rising …read more »

CRESCENT POINT ENERGY CORP. $39.59 (Toronto symbol CPG; Shares outstanding: 202.4 million; Market cap: $8.0 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 7.0%) and PENN WEST ENERGY TRUST $19.30 (Toronto symbol PWT.UN; Units outstanding: 420.9 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 9.3%) have agreed to an asset swap. The move will let them consolidate their …read more »

Today, many investors worry about a “W” shaped recession. That is, they worry that we are on the brink of a second recession that follows shortly after the first.

Others are concerned that inflation will rise as the economy recovers. This explains the recent run-up in gold prices, for example, and the popularity of certain resource stocks (including crude oil stocks), …read more »

CAMECO CORP. $33.01 (Toronto symbol CCO; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (306-956-6200; www.cameco.com; Shares outstanding: 392.7 million; Market cap: $13.0 billion; Dividend yield: 0.7%) has agreed to sell its 48.5% stake in Centerra Gold (Toronto symbol CG) for $872 million.

Cameco currently holds 113.9 million Centerra shares. It will sell 88.6 million of these to the public for $10.25 each. It will …read more »

Here are two of the most promising early-stage diamond stocks. Both have speculative appeal, but they are buys for highly aggressive investors only.

DIAMONDS NORTH RESOURCES $0.28 (Toronto symbol DDN; SI Rating: Start-up) (1-866-802-2010; www.diamondsnorthresources.com; Shares outstanding: 77.3 million; Market cap: $21.6 million; No dividends paid) has interests in seven exploration projects covering over four million acres in Nunavut and the …read more »

CANALASKA URANIUM $0.16 (Toronto symbol CVV; SI Rating: Start-up) (1-800-667-1870; www.canalaska.com; Shares outstanding: 137.8 million; Market cap: $22.0 million; No dividends paid) has announced an exploration budget of $15 million for 2010.

So far in 2009, CanAlaska has spent $6.8 million. The company’s joint-venture partners funded $4.8 million of that total. These include Japan’s giant Mitsubishi Corp., Chinese mining firm East …read more »

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $55 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 490.2 million; Market cap: $27.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.0; WSSF Rating: Average) is one of the world’s largest gold-mining companies. Newmont has major mines in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Peru and Ghana. It gets about 80% of its revenue from gold. The remaining …read more »

Iraq’s instability has weighed heavily on its oil exports. That’s caused many oil companies, including some Canadian oil stocks, to hold off on investing in the country.

However, the situation has presented some real bargains for foreign firms willing to take larger interests in Iraq. For example, China’s Sinopec recently paid $8 billion U.S. for Addax Petroleum, which was developing …read more »

HECLA MINING COMPANY $6.28 (New York symbol HL; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (208-769-4100; www.hecla-mining.com; Shares outstanding: 236.5 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion) explores for, mines and processes silver and gold in the U.S. and Mexico.

In 2008, the company paid Rio Tinto plc $750 million for the 70.3% stake in the Greens Creek mine in Alaska that it didn’t already own. …read more »

CAMECO CORP. $31.89 (Toronto symbol CCO; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (306-956-6200; www.cameco.com; Shares outstanding: 392.7 million; Market cap: $12.5 billion) has resumed removing water from the flooded 50%-owned Cigar Lake project. The project first flooded in 2006. The company expects that it will take six to 12 months to remove the water.

Cameco is the world’s largest uranium producer. The company …read more »

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $34 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 588.7 million; Market cap: $20.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.3; SI Rating: Extra Risk) is a leading producer of metallurgical coal, a key ingredient in steelmaking. It also mines copper, zinc, lead, gold, silver, molybdenum and other metals.

The company continues to lower its debt following its $13.6-billion …read more »

BAFFINLAND IRON MINES $0.66 (Toronto symbol BIM; SI Rating: Start-up) (416-364-8820; www.baffinland.com; Shares outstanding: 255.3 million; Market cap: $168.5 million) continues to add to reserves through exploration at its Mary River iron-ore project on Baffin Island.

Baffinland aims to build an open-pit mine at Mary River over a four-year period. It then plans to produce 18 million tonnes of ore a …read more »

CANALASKA URANIUM $0.18 (Toronto symbol CVV; SI Rating: Start-up) (1-800-667-1870; www.canalaska.com; Shares outstanding: 137.8 million; Market cap: $24.8 million) continues to sign joint-venture partnerships to fund exploration drilling on its seventeen 100%-owned uranium properties in Saskatchewan’s Athabasca Basin region.

The company’s partners include Japan’s giant Mitsubishi Corp., Chinese mining firm East Resources Inc. and a consortium of Korean companies that …read more »

AMERIGO RESOURCES $0.79 (Toronto symbol ARG; SI Rating: Speculative) (604-681-2802; www.amerigoresources.com; Shares outstanding: 132.6 million; Market cap: $104.8 million) has jumped 173.3% since May on higher copper prices. Copper is up 49.0% during that period, to $2.98 U.S. a pound.

Amerigo processes copper and molybdenum from the waste rock, or “tailings,” from Chile’s El Teniente, the world’s largest copper mine.

In the …read more »

Higher commodity prices and an improving global economy have caused many junior-resource stocks to rebound. Here are three penny stocks that have cash to sustain themselves, whichever way commodity prices go. We think they have a better-than-average chance of long-term success.

MIRANDA GOLD $0.44 (Toronto symbol MAD; SI Rating: Start-up) (604-689-1659; www.mirandagold.com; Shares outstanding: 44.9 million; Market cap: $19.5 million) explores …read more »

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $30 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 487.1 million; Market cap: $14.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; SI Rating: Extra Risk) has agreed to sell two of its gold mines in Turkey to Alamos Gold Inc. (Toronto symbol AGI). Teck owns 60% of these mines; Fronteer Development Group Inc. (Toronto symbol FRG) owns the …read more »

The price of uranium rose steadily from $7.10 U.S. a pound in December 2000 to as high as $138 U.S. a pound in June 2007.

Prices have since moved down from that speculative high, to today’s price of about $42.50 a pound. But conditions look favourable for higher long-term demand. This would push up the value of a number of …read more »

TECK RESOURCES LTD. $28 (Toronto symbol TCK.B; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 588.5 million; Market cap: $16.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; SI Rating: Extra Risk) now gets about half of its revenue from metallurgical coal, which is used for making steel. That’s because Teck bought Fording Canadian Coal Trust for $13.6 billion last October. Fording owns six open-pit …read more »

As the market has rebounded, more investors have been asking me whether they should invest in junior mines.
My answer is that you should always first ensure that your portfolio is spread out across the five main economic sectors (Manufacturing & Industry, Resources & Commodities, the Consumer sector, Finance and Utilities). However, junior mines can play a role in the smaller …read more »

RUSSEL METALS $23.07 (Toronto symbol RUS; SI Rating: Speculative) (905-819-7777; www.russelmetals.com; Shares outstanding: 59.7 million; Market cap: $871.6 million) is one of North America’s largest metal distributors. Russel serves its roughly 18,000 customers through a network of 58 Canadian and 12 U.S. locations.

In the three months ended March 31, 2009, Russel reported a loss of $55 million, or $0.92 a …read more »

Uranium prices peaked at 1979 to $43 U.S. a pound, on fears of production shortages. Many nuclear power plants then began hoarding uranium. However, supply disruptions never materialized. As operators used up their uranium inventories in subsequent years, the price of uranium fell to as low as $7.10 U.S. a pound in December 2000. Prices moved up steadily after that, …read more »

NEW GOLD $2.18 (Toronto symbol NGD; SI Rating: Speculative) (888-315-9715; www.newgold.com; Shares outstanding: 212.8 million; Market cap: $463.9 million) has agreed to buy Western Goldfields (symbol WGI on Toronto) in a $292-million friendly takeover offer. New Gold is offering one of its shares and $0.0001 in cash for each share of Western Goldfields. New Gold will issue a total of …read more »

CAMECO CORP. $21.22 (Toronto symbol CCO; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (306-956-6200; www.cameco.com; Shares outstanding: 392.4 million; Market cap: $8.3 billion) is the world’s largest uranium producer. Its large, high-grade reserves and low-cost operations, significant market position and access to other supplies of uranium give it a strong competitive position. Cameco is also one of three commercial converters of enriched uranium …read more »

IVERNIA INC. $0.14 (Toronto symbol IVW; SI Rating: Speculative)(416-867-9298; www.ivernia.com; Shares outstanding: 180.2 million; Market cap: $25.2 million) now has government approval to resume shipments of lead ore from its Magellan mine in western Australia. Ivernia stopped shipping ore in March 2007 after it appeared that loading the ore onto its ships in the port of Esperance caused local birds …read more »

BHP BILLITON LTD. ADRs $37 (New York symbol BHP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; ADRs outstanding: 2.8 billion; Market cap: $103.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; WSSF Rating: Average) is the world’s largest mining company. It has major operations in Australia, Chile, South Africa and the U.K. The company took its current form through the 2001 merger of Australia’s BHP Ltd. …read more »

EUROPEAN GOLDFIELDS $3.53 (Toronto symbol EGU; SI Rating: Speculative) (44 (20) 7408 9534; www.egoldfields.com; Shares outstanding: 179.4 million; Market cap: $633.2 million) holds a 95% interest in Hellas Gold.

Hellas owns three gold and base-metal deposits in northern Greece: the Stratoni zinc/ lead/silver property, the Olympias gold/zinc/lead/silver project and the Skouries copper/gold property.

Production at Stratoni started in September 2005. Permits to …read more »

CENTERRA GOLD $5.30 (Toronto symbol CG; SI Rating: Speculative) (416-204-1953; www.centerragold.com; Shares outstanding: 216.3 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion) owns 100% of the large Kumtor gold mine in Kyrgyzstan and 100% of the Boroo gold mine in Mongolia.

Centerra also holds joint-venture exploration prospects in Nevada, Turkey and Russia, and 100% of the Gatsuurt property in Mongolia. Cameco Corp. owns 53% …read more »

Gold is now at $978 U.S. an ounce, up 36% since November 2008. That’s mainly because investors fear that low interest rates and government stimulus spending will spur inflation. Gold should also continue to gain as the credit crisis makes it harder for gold companies to fund new projects and increase production.

We still think the best way to participate in …read more »

HECLA MINING COMPANY $1.77 (New York symbol HL; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (208- 769-4100; www.hecla-mining.com; Shares outstanding: 206.3 million; Market cap: $365.2 million) has sold 36.6 million shares at $2.05 each to raise $75 million. Hecla has also rescheduled all 2009 debt payments to 2010 and 2011.

Hecla’s debt (net of cash) of $117.3 million before the share issue was somewhat …read more »

NEWMONT MINING $39.99 (New York symbol NEM; Shares outstanding: 477.6 million; Market cap: $19.1 billion; SI Rating: Average) has agreed to buy the 33.3% of the new Boddington gold mine, in western Australia, that it does not already own from AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. Newmont will pay $1.1 billion.

Boddington will begin operating later this year, and will increase Newmont’s annual production …read more »

NEWMONT MINING CORP. $39 (New York symbol NEM; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 454.3 million; Market cap: $17.7 billion; Price to- sales ratio: 3.4; WSSF Rating: Average) is one of the world’s largest gold mining companies, with major operating gold mines in the United States, Canada, Australia, Peru, Bolivia and Ghana. Gold accounts for about 85% of Newmont’s …read more »

NORTHGATE MINERALS CORP. $1.24 (Toronto symbol NGX; SI Rating: Speculative) (604-681-4004; www.northgateminerals.ca; Shares outstanding: 255.7 million; Market cap: $317.0 million) owns and operates the Kemess South open-pit mine in north-central B.C. However, Northgate expects to exhaust the ore at Kemess South in late 2010.

To replace production from Kemess South, Northgate bought Australian gold miner Perseverance Corp. last year for $257 …read more »

HECLA MINING COMPANY $2.23 (New York symbol HL; SI Rating: Extra risk) (208-769-4100; www.hecla-mining.com; Shares outstanding: 169.5 million; Market cap: $378.0 million) explores for, mines and processes silver and gold in the U.S. and Mexico.

Earlier this year, the company paid Rio Tinto plc $750 million for the 70.3% interest in the Greens Creek mine in Alaska that it didn’t already …read more »

CANALASKA VENTURES $0.08 (Toronto symbol CVV; SI Rating: Start-up) (1-800-667-1870; www.canalaska.com; Shares outstanding: 137.7 million; Market cap: $10.3 million) holds nineteen 100%-owned uranium projects in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan. The company has added partners to help pay for exploration drilling. These partners include Japan’s giant Mitsubishi Corp. plus a consortium of Korean partners including Hanwha Corporation, Korea Electric …read more »

AMERIGO RESOURCES $0.36 (Toronto symbol ARG; SI Rating: Speculative) (604-681-2802; www.amerigoresources.com; Shares outstanding: 93.4 million; Market cap: $33.1 million) processes copper from the tailings (waste rock) from Chile’s El Teniente, the world’s largest underground copper mine.

In the three months ended September 30, 2008, Amerigo’s revenues rose 4.8%, to $29.9 million from $28.5 million a year earlier on record production. (All …read more »

BAFFINLAND IRON MINES $0.15 (Toronto symbol BIM; SI Rating: Start-up) (416-364-8820; www.baffinland.com; Shares outstanding: 233.1 million; Market cap: $35.0 million) is now looking for a major partner for its Mary River iron ore project on Baffin Island.

Baffinland still hopes to start building an open-pit mine in 2010, with completion scheduled for 2014. It then aims to produce 18 million tonnes …read more »

MIRANDA GOLD $0.23 (Toronto symbol MAD; SI Rating: Start up) (604-689-1659; www.mirandagold.com; Shares outstanding: 44.9 million; Market cap: $10.1 million) is a gold exploration company focused mostly in Nevada.

Miranda holds $12 million in cash. That’s enough for four to five years of exploration. The company also has joint ventures with Barrick Gold, Teck Corp, Piedmont Mining, White Bear Resources and …read more »

Junior resources stocks have been particularly hard hit lately, not just by falling commodity prices, but also by investor fears that they won’t be able to continue to raise financing for exploration and development.

Here are four penny stocks that all have promising prospects, as well as cash to sustain their operations. We think they have a better-than-average chance of long-term …read more »

IVERNIA INC. $0.12 (Toronto symbol IVW; SI Rating: Speculative)(416-867-9298; www.ivernia.com; Shares outstanding: 180.2 million; Market cap: $19.8 million) is still not able to sell ore from its Magellan lead mine in Western Australia. Ivernia was ordered to suspend production at the mine in April 2007, after the Port of Esperance blocked shipments due to bird fatalities from lead poisoning.

Ivernia believes …read more »

COMPTON PETROLEUM $1.25 (Toronto symbol CMT; SI Rating: Speculative) (403-237-9400; www.comptonpetroleum.com; Shares outstanding: 130 million; Market cap: $162.5 million) has dropped its plan to sell the company. In February, 2008, Compton initiated a strategic review in response to repeated requests from its largest shareholder, New York-based private equity firm Centennial Energy Partners. Centennial holds a 19.8% interest in Compton. In …read more »