Topic: How To Invest

Hello Pat: What is your opinion of Mercator Minerals as a speculative stock? Thanks!

Article Excerpt

Mercator Minerals, $0.56, symbol ML on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 108.2 million, Market cap: $60.6 million), is a mining company. Mercator owns one producing mine: the Mineral Park mine near Kingman, Arizona. Mineral Park produces about 5 million pounds of copper per year. Mercator also has interests in two other exploration projects: It owns 49% of the Minera Serrana zinc/silver/lead property in Mexico and 49% of the Pabellon/Porvenir silver project in Chile. Mercator is in the process of expanding Mineral Park’s production capacity. Phase one of the expansion, completed in December 2008, will raise the mine’s copper production by roughly 20%, to 15 million pounds a year from about 12 million. The company has also added a mill that will let it produce molybdenum at the mine. Phase two of the expansion, now underway, should take the mine’s copper production to 30 million pounds, or double the amount expected at the end of phase one. In the three months ended September 30,…