bReason for comment/bbrbr bBoard strengthened/b pOn November 24, 2008, the company announced the appointment André Caillé, former President of Hydro-Quebec and Gaz Metropolitain, as senior strategic advisor. It should be recalled that Gaz Metroplitain was for eight years a major shareholder in Sofame. pThe appointment lends much needed weight and ‘cred’ to Sofame’s presence in the market place. It should facilitate contact with key industry players and enable the company to better expand its distribution network - a key plank in Sofame’s ambitious marketing plan. pThe consultancy agreement with Mr. Caillé means that he will not receive any salary as such, rather he has been granted a total of 1,690,000 stock options. A total of 845,000 options will vest as at the date of the consulting agreement while the remaining 845,000 options will vest quarterly over the next two years. The options may be exercised for a period ...

After two strong sessions, the Canadian Markets took a breather during Tuesday trading to digest the recent gains. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added a modest 0.02%, while the TSX Gold Index fell back 0.7% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, lost 0.39% with the declining issuers outpacing the advancers by a 445 to 314 margin on volume of 145 million shares traded.

Bravo Venture Group cut 24.9 grams gold and 1,042.9 grams silver per tonne at its Homestake Ridge project in northwestern British Columbia. Bravo ended the day up C$0.04 at C$0.48.

Not as well received was Dynamite Resources’ 75.89 metres running 2.86 grams gold per tonne and 0.69% copper at its Upper Scorn Ridge target on the Mike Lake project in west-central Yukon. Shareholders are concerned about the continuity because Dynamite ended the day down C$0.02 at C$0.04.

Knight Resources’

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Coming off the worst one day drop since 1987, the Canadian Markets managed to bounce off the mat during Friday’s session. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange added 5.58%, while the TSX Gold Index surged 27.4% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, gained 1.72% with the declining issuers outpacing the advancers by a 419 to 397 margin on volume of 153 million shares traded.

HudBay Minerals and Lundin Mining have agreed to join forces in an effort to fight the current downtrend. Under the proposal, Lundin shareholders will get 0.3919 of a Hudbay share for each Lundin share held. Hudbay ended the day down C$2.07 at C$3.16, while Lundin added C$0.04 to close at C$1.05.

Finally, a sign that there is equity financing out there for the right deal, Red Back Mining has entered into a bought deal comprising 17.15 million shares

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bReason for comment/bbrbr NioGold Mining Corp continues to generate encouraging assays from its Marban Block property in northwestern Quebec. The company has assays from seven new holes completed during its 2008 drill programme on the property. Two holes each encountered the near-surface wedge zone and the dip extension of the Mine zone. Four tests intersected a new high-grade mineralised zone within the Hanging Wall Ultramafic zone, located above and north of the Wedge zone. pThe one test of the Wedge zone yielded 6.14 grams of gold per tonne over a 2.4-metre interval, and the one Mine zone hole produced 7.65 grams of gold over 4.6 metres, within a broad 73.4-metre interval averaging 1.06 grams of gold per tonne. pNioGold's assays from the Hanging Wall Ultramafic zone include 31.68 grams of gold per tonne over 2.2 metres, 18.11 grams of gold over 3.7 metres and 16.6 grams of gold over 1.2 metres, all at ...

Canada’s resource-rich economy is feeling the strain of tumbling commodity prices and falling demand in the US. And that’s bad news for the Canadian dollar. J. Christoph Amberger says the days of parity with the US dollar are long gone. He thinks it’s time to short the loonie.

This taken from Today’s Financial News:

With its main source export revenues plunging down over 50%, the outlook for the Canadian economy and the Canadian dollar is getting bleaker by the day.

Oil prices dropped once again after the U.S. government reported a 0.3% contraction in the U.S. economy in the third quarter.

Light, sweet crude oil for December delivery fell by$1.91 to $65.59 a barrel on the NYMEX. Overall, oil prices are now down 55% since the peak of $147 a barrel in mid-July.

Thanks to lower energy and resource prices and a surging dollar, yearly consumer inflation in the United States peaked at

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The Canadian markets made it two winning days in a row as investors scurried to buy beaten down resource stocks. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange rallied 3.82%, while the TSX Gold Index surged another 8.5% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 5.14% with the advancing issuers swamping the decliners by a 595 to 256 margin on volume of 160 million shares traded.

Sherritt International posted third quarter earnings of $133.1 million, or $0.45 per share, up from the $65.4-million or $0.28 per share tallied in the same period a year earlier. Falling commodity prices have the company looking at reducing its capital spending. Sherritt ended the day up C$0.53 at C$4.60.

The fifth set of diamond results from underground bulk sampling of the Orion South kimberlite, within the Fort a La Corne joint venture in Saskatchewan resulted in the recoveries of

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The Canadian markets rebounded strongly from its second biggest one day percentage drop in history as investors went bargain hunting for select issues during Tuesday trading. For the tale of the tape, the TSX Exchange rallied 7.2%, while the TSX Gold Index surged 14% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.98% with the declining issuers out pacing the advancers by a 442 to 394 margin on big volume of 259 million shares traded.

Andean Resources came out with a prefeasibility study for its Cerro Negro high-grade gold and silver project in Argentina. The study envisions production of 350,000 ounces of gold per year with cash costs ringing in at $198 per ounce generating an internal rate of return of 40%. The probable reserves stand at 7.2 million tonnes running 6.4 grams gold and 75 grams silver per tonne. Andean ended the day down C$0.02 at

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History of Zinc (from International Zinc Association, (http://www.iza.com/uses.html) Centuries before zinc was discovered in the metallic form, its ores were used for making brass and zinc compounds, its ores were used for healing wounds and sore eyes. It is believed that the Romans first made brass in the time of Augustus (20 B.C. - 14 A.D.). In the 13th century Marco Polo described the manufacture of zinc oxide in Persia. At Zawar, India, both zinc metal and zinc oxide were produced from the 12th to the 16th century. From India, zinc manufacturing moved to China in the 17th century where it developed as an industry to supply the needs of the brass industry. In 1743, the first European zinc smelter was established in Bristol in the United Kingdom. A major technological improvement was achieved in Germany which led to the erection of ...

It was a quiet news day during Friday trading on the Canadian markets as investors bailed out of the gold stocks and went bargain hunting for undervalued base metal plays. For the tale of the tape, the TSX exchange rallied 3.16%, while the TSX Gold Index fell 2.9% and the TSX Venture Exchange, Canada’s largest junior exploration bourse, added 0.89% with the declining issuers inching past the advancers by a 444 to 419 margin on good volume of 169 million shares traded.

Shares of Hudbay Minerals (HBM) added C$0.38 to close at C$5.35, while Lundin Mining failed to attract interest losing C$0.05 to close at C$1.95.

Diversified miner Teck Cominco (TCK) added C$1.20 to close at C$16.30.

Shares of Blue Note Mining (BN) hit C$0.01 after the company announced that its Caribou and Restigouche zinc and lead mines in eastern Canada are being put on care and maintenance. Current zinc

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Aurizon Mines Ltd. is an emerging gold producer, exploration, and development company. Trading on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) with a market capitalization of $235.29 million, Aurizon is focusing on becoming an intermediate gold producer. The Company is working to achieve this end by exploring and developing large land positions in favorable geological trends that are close to infrastructure. They also look for land positions, which are in politically stable pro-mining regions.

Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Aurizon owns the Casa Berardi Mine Project as well as their Joanna Gold Project and their Kipawa Exploration Property. The Company’s combined property holdings cover over 300 square miles in the Abitibi area in the Canadian province of Quebec.

The Casa Berardi mine is their 100 percent owned gold mine project. Gold production at this site began in 2007. The company expects this site to produce approximately 160,000 to

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