Hi Folks,

Just to throw in a bone here - the 1918 pandemic started (they think) as an avian flu just like H5N1 (share genetic code as a matter of fact). What is causing the big panic now and all the scary talk is the possibility that H5N1 will become airborne transmissable from human to human (which has not happened to date). The big worry is that the more human contact with it - and correctly reported here that all of the cases have been direct contact cases to date - the more the likelihood that it will become airborne. (And at least in the northern hemisphere we are just about at an end to the traditional flu season... ...so the scary talk will have to wait until next fall.... ...when we can all start to worry about the ice road again... ...at least those of us that held onto our shares after the Muskox announcement.)

However, if you're in to probability theory, then you know that a lot of bad things have an extremely remote chance of ever happening. Those that are not in to probability theory, probably never leave their house because they might get hit by a meteor or something

Have a nice day

http://www.americanbulls.com/StockPa...cker=TSE&TYP=S


Once we break through that .78, it'll become a VERY strong base, according to the charts!

http://www.stockta.com/cgi-bin/analy...nd=&mode=stock

Recent CandleStick Analysis
*Very Bullish*

Are the stars aligned for another spike upward? Guess we'll see by Wednesday noon perhaps?

Have a great week!

-NTC

Here's three links. You can spent hours reading... Hope it helps.
Have fun!!!


http://stockcharts.com/ Go to Chart school

http://www.prosticks.com/education/b...32350 c934f4a

http://www.investopedia.com/university/

Actually 'Jack'....no. Mind you there are probably a few people named 'Jack' reading this post and scratching their heads. I guess anything can be said when hiding in the anonymity of a 'nic'

Very interesting... RSI going into the over-sold area too! Should see some buying action very very soon now! I'm ready for the POP!

-NTC

VERY BULLISH Pivot at .87!
http://www.stockta.com/cgi-bin/analy...nd=&mode=stock

BUY-Confirmed
http://www.americanbulls.com/StockPa...cker=TSE&TYP=S

I'm surprised that no one has tackled this question in detail for you yet. True, the Dyke, or Dam as Diavik currently exploits is the method of choice when a Kimberlite pipe is under a lake and the top of the pipe is near the bottom of the lake and the material between the water and the kimberlite is sand, silt or other material other than solid rock. This method is very expensive. Diavik is currently spending C$363M on their next phase of dyke to mine the A418 pipe. But their economics justify the expense. They have forcasted a total proven and probable resourse for this pipe to be 28M carrats. If you were to pick a worst case (hypothetical) valuation of $75/carrat, this pipe is worth a minimum of $2.1B .

As far as I know, there are four methods to mine Diamonds. There may be more, but I know of four.

First is the conventional open pit. Everyone knows that one. A carrot shape kimberlite pipe is near the surface and is covered with overburden. The overburden is removed and the pipe is mined.

Second is the combination of the open pit with first having to drain a portion of a lake such as Diavik is doing.

Third is when a kimberlite dyke is to be mined. A dyke (not like the dam of the above mentioned) is a flat sheet of kimberlite, more or less horizontally alligned formation of kimberlite which (usually) has solid rock above and beneath it. There may or may not be a pipe included. Here, conventional mining can be utilized. A vertical shaft (or ramp) is sunk and drifts and stopes are blasted to get to the kimberlite. DeBeers is currently doing this at their Snap Lake project which is also under the lake. They will not drain the lake at all.

Aluvial is the fourth. This is when the kimberlite and its included diamonds have been broken away from their original formation and have settled in a lake bed or river bed. If the river or lake still has water in it, and diamonds are found in the sediment, then the dredging method is used. A huge barge, with an included mill, dredges or pumps the sediment onboard and processes it. If the lake bed or river is dry, then its a simple matter of using front-end loaders and dump trucks to bring the sediment to the mill. Dependant on how long ago the kimberlite was deposited, a certain amount of overburden may have to be removed first. Searchgold (RSG-vn) (a Canadian company), is currently doing this on one of their properties in Africa. DeBeers is currently spending US$115 million on a new "vessel" to mine aluvial diamonds off the coast of South Africa.

Shoregold has a problem all their own. Their deposit, in Saskatchewan, is basically an undisturbed volcano. It has not been eroded by glaciers.It`s huge, but it is also covered with nearly 90m of overbuden "consisting mostly of sand, mudstone and glacial till". I really don`t know how they will tackle this. To conduct the bulk sample for their pre-feasibility study, they have sunk a shaft through the soil down to the kim. But you can't sink a shaft in loose soil. So what did they do? They employed a method which is commonly used by the oil and gas industry: they froze the soil first, then drove the shaft down. (so that part answers your muskeg seepage question) Then they line the shaft with concrete. If they proceed with a mine, I don`t know if they will choose to go with an open-pit or with conventional mining. They do talk about "stripping ratio" in their literature though.

Also, Tahera has demonstrated that a spiral ramp can be driven in the "country rock" to access kimberlite at depths. They will do this at Jericho but only after the top portion of the pipe is mined out by open-pit method. I don`t know if the spiral ramp method would be possible right from the begining. What I was wondering was, could this method be employed at Muskox, instead of the dyke & drain method?

And about your question: "miss the kimberlite all together because distance and angle." Don`t worry, mining engineers employ surveyors who use lasers to guide the drills, so if they were to go that route, there would be no chance that they would miss the pipe.

So there you have it. You know what I know.

Very good post! Thanks for that!

__________________
Have a great one!

Excellant post. It answered alot of questions, thank you.I guess that will become the next debate possibly. The cost/profit ratio for Muskox. I read alot of hype on the '2.5' times the size in ref to Muskox compared to Jericho but what will the cost be to get them out. It'll be an interesting year ahead as some of this information hopefully trickles through.
I guess the point I'm trying to bring forth is that the Media knows, the investors know that Jericho is a small mine especially compared to the heavy hitters brought forth as examples. I would assume that Muskox still remains a small mine compared to the larger ones we talk about.....
But you would have some of the same initial costs for extracting. You still need the equipment and that would not necessarily be proportionate to mine size.

I just wanted to say thanks for being the counter balance over at SH (a much busier board). Without your input and that of two or three others, I have no doubt that the bashers would have driven the share price down. If they had, then it follows that, it would have had that much further to climb during the nest rally and would likely not have risen as far.

And terrific post Caching!!!......

A buy rating was confirmed last night on SH as well as Small Cap Center......Today could be interesting.........enjoy all.

Brent

very interesting that it just hit 74 cents (9:45am).. :S

"Canadian miners hampered by fragile Arctic ice road

By Rachelle Younglai
TORONTO, March 14 (Reuters) - For a small window of time, temperatures become cold enough to freeze some lakes in Canada's Arctic, creating an ice road that allows companies to send truckloads of crucial supplies to their remote mining sites.

But mild weather has thrown a wrench into the ice making process this year, slowing down the transportation of goods along the road, which runs some 568 kms (353 miles), and leaving miners racing against time to get supplies "

So much for charts and strong "buy" indications, one little news article and charts go out the window.

hmmm, I guess you can't always rely on charts......The RSI was favourable and the 'Buy if" had been confirmed at SH.

I suppose, because of the emotion tied to this comapny and the pending news it is also hard to determine current value. The shorts must also be having quite an effect. They continue to keep the ask full at low levels. At least, that is what I think is happening. Just when the asks look to be about depleted, indicating an uptick, they seem to get topped up again.

I do see though, that almost 2 million shares have traded already, so in one form or another, the day should still be interesting.

Enjoy the day..................Brent

Just read this on the CBC website and thought I'd post the link...don't worry, I'm not a basher, just trying to pass on some info that I thought was relevant.

http://www.cbc.ca/north/story/ice-ro...-13032006.html

Chaching, nice post on mining methods, very informative.

Have a great day!

[quote=Heloman]"Canadian miners hampered by fragile Arctic ice road


The article doesn't even say very much and seems incomplete. I have been watching the weather around Yellowknife and it is alway been below -10 C. It just goes to show you the hunger for some news. Looks like a good time to buy... just need to find some spare change though!

[quote=Heloman]Which article is incomplete? The one you posted on the fragile Arctic ice or my link? I agree, excellent time to buy, a month ago I thought we'd missed the low $0.70s range...as with you, if only I had some spare cash!

Have a great day!