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On July 21, 2011 I interviewed Michael McInnis, CEO and President, with respect to Riverstone’s then current operations and prospects. A geologist and professional engineer, Mike McInnis has over 35 years of experience in mineral exploration in North America and overseas and 20 years experience in managing publicly traded companies. He has held Board and executive positions with many public resource companies over the past 35 years, and currently is a member of the Board of Riverstone as well as 5 other publicly traded mining companies.

Riverstone (TSXV:RVS), headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral resource properties in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Riverstone primarily explores for gold. It has interests in 13 exploration permits in 6 regions covering an area of approximately 2,300 square kilometers in Burkina Faso.   The company’s Karma Gold Project contains a 1.93 million oz. indicated and inferred NI 43-101 gold resource. Riverstone has 5 other gold exploration projects in Burkina Faso, 3 of which it has optioned out to third parties, where Riverstone has a continuing carried interest. Riverstone currently has a 90,000 metre drill program in progress on the Karma project.

Login to StockResearch Portal to access Riverstone’s Company Overview page. When logged in, then access Riverstone’s:

• Segregated Board/Executive Press Releases;

• Segregated Financings Press Releases; and,

• Company (Director/Insider) Cross-References.

In Part 1 of this interview Mike provided background information on Burkina Faso, and outlined his current perception of Burkina Faso country risk as he saw things on July 21, 2011. Parts 2 – 4 of this interview cover Riverstone and its operations. This is Part 4. You can listen to all four Parts by visiting StockResearchPortal.com.

Listen to Parts 1, 2, 3 & 4 of the Riverstone interview.

Disclosure: I currently own, and control ownership of, Riverstone common shares purchased in the open market. Riverstone currently is not a paid advertiser on StockResearchPortal.com.  Neither I, nor Stock Research DD Inc., have received compensation in connection with this interview.  See further Disclosures and Disclaimers.

Visit Stock Research Portal for free stock market data, analysis, and research on over 1,600 Mining,Oil and Gas Companies listed on the Toronto and Venture Exchanges. See our Legal Disclaimer.

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I recommend you take the time to read a recent article by Reggie Middleton of the BoomBustBlog titled ‘

The Anatomy Of A European Bank Run: Look At The Banking Situation BEFORE The Run Occurs! ‘ – reading time 10 minutes. Reggie Middleton has been an unusually accurate predictor of economic events over the past few years, including the collapse of Bear Stearns and Lehman Bros. in 2008. I think his views are worth reading and thinking about. In this article, he expresses the view that he sees parallels in the Eurozone today to what he says preceded the March and September 2008 Bear Stearns/Lehman Bros. collapses, and that his fear is that we will see a European version of that sort of ‘bank run’.

This article is replete with references to prior articles, and includes two videos. Of particular note from my perspective, Middleton and I share the view that the change in ‘mark-to-market’ rules that were changed in Europe in late 2008, and changed in the U.S. in the spring of 2009 and again earlier this year, inherently must lead one to the conclusion that it is highly likely (in bolder moments I say ‘certain’) that the reported book equities (read ‘accounting’ equities reported in accordance with GAAP) of both European and U.S. banks are understated from a ‘fair market value of underlying assets’ perspective – and perhaps (in bolder moments I say ‘very likely’) materially so.

If you invest in public company equities, and particularly in bank stocks, I strongly suggest you take the time to understand the aforementioned mark-to-market accounting rule changes, think about them, and discuss them with your investment advisor. I think these accounting rule changes are going to come back to haunt their perpetrators and the equity markets generally, perhaps earlier than later, and I don’t think the results of that are going to be positive for equity investors.

Please let me know at info@stockresearchportal.com if you or your investment advisor think differently about the mark-to-market accounting rule changes than I do.

In any event, please consider taking the time to read and think about Middleton’s article on the possibility of a European Bank Run.

Visit Stock Research Portal for free stock market data, analysis, and research on over 1,600 Mining,Oil and Gas Companies listed on the Toronto and Venture Exchanges. See our Legal Disclaimer.

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Here is an article that has caused me to think about something in a way I had not previously done.

In many of my e-mails I have discussed China as a strategic acquirer of resources and resource companies (or interests in them) outside of China. However, an article yesterday has given me a new perspective on this. Titled ‘ China sets target to achieve iron ore self sufficiency ‘ – reading time 2 minutes – this article says “In an attempt to attain self-sufficiency in Iron Ore production, China has set a target to dramatically increase ore imports from Chinese-invested resources rather than other countries’”. An awkwardly written sentence, but reading the rest of the article I take it to mean that it is China’s strategy – at least with respect to Iron Ore – to eliminate its dependence on the three major global miners (BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and Vale SA) by working over time to buy its iron ore requirements only from companies in which it has an equity interest, and hence have a ‘supplier influence’ over the world iron ore price. A huge strategic undertaking, but one that if China can ‘pull it off’ over time makes a huge amount of sense to me from China’s point of view. China of all world countries has the financial clout to attempt such a thing. Interesting the article says that at least one Chinese steelmaker, Wuhan Iron & Steel Group has set a goal of “being self-sufficient in (iron) ore supplies by 2015″ – a surprising short 4 years from now.

Consider the possible impact not only on the iron ore sector, but on other base metals industry sectors if China adopted the same strategy and succeeded in executing it. If China indeed is the ‘Altas that will hold up the world economy going forward’ as many believe, in such a scenario China would be very influential in the pricing of any other such base metals as well. Far-fetched, perhaps, but also in my view something to watch for – and think about if China makes headway with its purported ‘iron ore strategy’.

I suggest you read the referenced article, think about my interpretation of it, and then reach your own conclusion as to whether my comments make sense.

Visit Stock Research Portal for free stock market data, analysis, and research on over 1,600 Mining,Oil and Gas Companies listed on the Toronto and Venture Exchanges. See our Legal Disclaimer.

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An article yesterday titled ‘

Louise Yamada: Gold to skyrocket to $5200: Silver to hit $85 ‘ – reading time 3 minutes – caught my attention for the same reason many such articles do, that being that it includes specific gold and silver price forecasts. As an indirect owner of physical gold and physical silver I sincerely hope Ms. Yamada proves to be correct. However, consistent with what I have said more than once in these e-mails, I commented on Ms. Yamada’s prognostications as follows:

In my view anyone, irrespective of prior forecasting accuracy or lack thereof, who forecasts a ‘gold price’ at any given point in time is indirectly making a precise macro-economic forecast. In these volatile economic times I don’t think anyone is able to do such a thing reliably. I do think one can intelligently forecast a gold price ‘trend’, but not a specific price. As a result I consider ‘specific gold price forecasts’ to be akin to playing the children’s party game ‘pin the tail on the donkey’, where the forecaster is made dizzy before being shoved blindfolded in the general direction of the wall where the donkey’s tail-less picture resides.

I will be interested in Ms. Yamada’s response to this comment if she elects to make one.

Many hours after my commentary was posted Ms. Yamada had not responded to it. If she subsequently does, I will publish her response.

Visit Stock Research Portal for free stock market data, analysis, and research on over 1,600 Mining,Oil and Gas Companies listed on the Toronto and Venture Exchanges. See our Legal Disclaimer.

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• Consequence of Iranian Oil Embargo?
• 2012 – More Difficult Than 2011?
• Iran v. United States!
• Banks on 2012 Gold Price?
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