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The CDNX has overcome its March jitters and the short-term signal has just become very bullish (despite the pullback last month, the bullish long-term trend was never in question).

The Venture Exchange decisively broke through critical resistance today, closing at its high of 2354 as Gold suddenly took off and finished above $1,450 for the first time ever.

John’s updated CDNX chart below says it all (the next major target for Gold is $1,500 – John’s $1,600 target by June outlined in mid-January is looking very plausible).  Fasten your seatbelts, everyone – this ride has the potential to be a wild one, particularly if the CDNX shoots through the early March high of 2465.

We’ll be looking at some specific situations in tomorrow’s “Morning Musings” that have the potential of performing extremely well in the current environment.

Gold is making a major move today and has hit a new all-time high…as of 8:45 am Pacific, the yellow metal is up $13 an ounce at $1,448…it got as high as $1,452 and a close above $1,450 would be hugely bullish…Silver fell as low as nearly $38 this morning but has also reversed sharply and is now up 34 cents at $38.93…light crude is down 8 cents at $108.39…contrarians will like this…a recent Reuters’ survey of analysts’ Gold price forecasts showed fewer than 1 in 10 believed Gold would end the second quarter more than 5% above current levels…at BMR, we’re not the only ones wondering what Ben Bernanke has been mixing into his morning coffee but he’s helped us all make money over the past year so we shouldn’t be too critical…Bernanke was interviewed after giving a speech in Atlanta last night and stated that the recent increase in U.S. inflation is driven primarily by rising commodity prices globally and is unlikely to persist…”I think the increase in inflation will be transitory,” Bernanke stated…”Our expectation at this point is that in the medium term inflation, if anything, will be a bit low…We will monitor inflation and inflation expectations very closely”…Bernanke argued that supply and demand factors are driving energy and commodity costs higher but that these should eventually stabilize, allowing the United States to avoid any inflation troubles…of course this is the same individual who declared on July 1, 2005, that the U.S. was not experiencing a housing bubble…he stated, “I think what is more likely is that house prices will slow, maybe stabilize, might slow consumption spending a bit”…Bernanke’s comments last night suggest the Fed Chairman is committed to maintaining historically low interest rates and completing a $600 billion stimulus program as scheduled in June, despite calls from some of his colleagues to consider cutting the stimulus effort short and perhaps raising rates beginning in the fourth quarter in light of an improving economy and rising inflation…meanwhile, China’s central bank raised interest rates today for the fourth time since October in a bid to bring stubbornly high inflation under control…the tightening of monetary policy in China adds to six official increases in bank reserves over the same period and follows a declaration by China’s top leaders that controlling inflation was their most important task this year…benchmark one-year deposit rates will be lifted by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent and one-year lending rates will be raised by 25 basis points to 6.31 percent…China still has a negative real interest rate, however, which is bullish for Gold…after an impressive 25-point jump yesterday, fueled in part by New Gold Inc.’s (NGD, TSX) planned takeover of Richfield Ventures (RVC, TSX-V), the CDNX gave back a few points in early trading but has since reversed with the jump in precious metals…the CDNX is currently up 7 points at 2331 and if it’s able to close above 2330 on strong volume, the near-term technical picture will improve dramatically…the next few days will be interesting…Richfield is up 15 cents at $10.07…the stock has gained 739% since we added it to the BMR model portfolio in December, 2009, at $1.20… we’re very excited about our newest addition, Visible Gold Mines (VGD, TSX-V), which is unchanged at 42.5 cents…not only has Visible Gold Mines assembled an impressive land package in the Rouyn-Noranda region of northwestern Quebec but the company is armed with a strong treasury (nearly $9 million or 20 cents per share) and a powerful team of people with an ideal mix of business, geological and marketing expertise…VGD’s senior geologist is Robert Sansfacon, highly respected within Quebec geological circles…Sansfacon honed his skills for many years with Lac Minerals and was also instrumental in the discovery of Osisko’s (OSK, TSX) Canadian Malartic Deposit…technically, a reversal in VGD‘s 50-day moving average (SMA) appears imminent – a favorable entry point…we suggest investors,, particularly those with very speculative appetites, perform some immediate due diligence on White Tiger Mining (WTC, TSX-V) which came out with a very interesting news release this morning from its Phase 2 drill program at its Marshall Lake Property near Thunder Bay…the company appears to have intersected significant zones of chalcopyrite mineralization with assays pending…this play could get very interesting…White Tiger has just 15 million shares outstanding after raising $1.3 million in February in hard cash at 30 cents..the President and CEO is Ron Coombes (chairman is Doug Mason) who have both enjoyed previous success in the market…White Tiger is up 16 cents at 51 cents on 2.8 million shares…Seafield Resources (SFF, TSX-V) gave an update on its Quinchia exploration program in Colombia this morning…10 holes have been completed at Dos Quebradas with drilling continuing there and assays pending…drilling has also started at the promising Santa Sofia anomaly just one kilometre north of Dos Quebradas…Seafield is currently off a penny at 32.5 cents…

Precious metals are strong to begin the new trading week…as of 7:45 am Pacific, Gold is $6 higher at $1,435 while Silver has hit a fresh 31-year high…it’s currently up 64 cents at $38.47…crude oil moved above $108 but is now off a dime at $107.84 while the U.S. Dollar Index is flat at 75.81…there’s no major economic news coming out of the U.S. today after Friday’s bullish jobs report…the European Central Bank is poised to raise interest rates on Thursday…the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan also meet this week…comments by Federal Reserve Presidents will be watched closely this morning…Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans both speak this morning while Fed chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at the Atlanta Fed’s financial markets conference later today…Richfield Ventures (RVC, TSX-V), which BMR introduced to its readers at $1.20 per share in December, 2009, is being taken over by New Gold Inc. (NGD, TSX) in an all-stock transaction valued at $550 million ($10.38 per Richfield share) based on each company’s closing price Friday…Richfield closed Friday at $7.93 and is currently trading at $9.91, up $1.98…it got as high as $10.05…each Richfield shareholder will receive 0.9217 of a New Gold share for each Richfield share held…not surprisingly, New Gold (which has a great looking chart by the way) is initially off slightly on the news (down 43 cents at $10.83) but the deal seems to be a nice fit as New Gold expects to bring its New Afton Gold-Silver-Copper Project near Kamloops, BC, into production by the middle of next year…Richfield released a NI-43-101 resource estimate March 2 for its Blackwater Project in central British Columbia, showing approximately 4 million ounces of Gold in the indicated and inferred categories plus a substantial amount of Silver…this is the type of news that helps to ignite a market…the CDNX is currently up 26 points to 2324 and trading volume has picked up considerably…a close above resistance at 2330 would be a very bullish development for this market…SilverQuest (SQI, TSX-V), which is a 25% joint venture partner with Richfield on the Davidson portion of the Blackwater Project, is up 14 cents to 77 cents…Troymet Exploration (TYE, TSX-V), which announced this morning it has completed its winter drilling program consisting of nine holes at its Key Project which immediately adjoins Blackwater, climbed as high as 32.5 cents but has since pulled back to 27 cents (down 2 pennies)…Greencastle Resources (VGN, TSX-V) holds 13,000 hectares (Nechako Property) near Blackwater and is planning an exploration program for this summer…VGN is up 2 pennies at 25 cents…check out the web site, www.BlackwaterGoldDistrict.com…more good drill results from Wildcat Silver (WS, TSX-V) this morning from its Hermosa Project in Arizona…the company reported four more holes including HDS-112, near the western edge of the current Hermosa resource, which cut 36.6 metres grading 406.5 g/t Ag…three encouraging step-out holes were also released with mineralization remaining open in all directions…Wildcat is 24 cents higher at $2.35…Gold Bullion Development (GBB, TSX-V) is up 1.5 cents at 45 cents…as we’ve seen with Richfield, exciting things can happen when a company releases a 43-101 resource estimate…GBB’s 43-101 for the LONG Bars Zone is expected to be released this summer and we’re confident the number will be impressive given the drill results to date in addition to all the historical information that’s known regarding Granada…Visible Gold Mines (VGD, TSX-V) is up half a penny at 42.5 cents…VGD is rapidly developing into a powerful player in the hunt for Gold in northwestern Quebec…the company is armed with nearly $9 million in cash and is about to launch a drill program on a second property…last Thursday, Visible Gold Mines announced a deal with Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM, TSX-V) with VGD optioning AEM’s Joutel Property 150 kilometres north of Rouyn-Noranda…Joutel is a former significant producer and gave birth to Agnico-Eagle in the early 1970’s…the fact Agnico-Eagle would cut a deal with Visible Gold Mines on Joutel speaks volumes about the major’s confidence in VGD and its senior geologist, Robert Sansfacon…Sansfacon, who honed his skills for many years with Lac Minerals, is regarded as one of the top geologists in the country and was instrumental in the discovery of Osisko’s (OSK, TSX-V) Canadian Malartic deposit…Visible Gold Mines’ President and CEO is Martin Dallaire, a very successful entrepreneur from Rouyn-Noranda who has a degree in engineering and an impressive game plan for this company to rapidly build shareholder value…Gold Canyon Resources (GCU, TSX-V) is up 33 cents at $3.71 as it busted through important resistance at $3.40…the company has been delivering outstanding drill results from its Sprinpole Project in Ontario…like Richfield, GCU is a “keeper” for potentially much bigger things to come…

5:45 am Pacific

New Gold Inc. (NGD, TSX) and Richfield Ventures Corp. (RVC, TSX-V) have signed a definitive agreement whereby New Gold will acquire, through a plan of arrangement, all of the outstanding common shares of Richfield. Under the terms of the arrangement, each Richfield shareholder will receive 0.9217 of a New Gold share for each Richfield share held. The offer values Richfield at $10.38 per share or approximately $550 million, representing a 31% premium to Richfield’s April 1, 2011 closing price and a 46% premium based on each company’s 20-day volume weighted average price. The transaction value, net of cash and proceeds from all in-the-money dilutive instruments, is approximately $513 million.

Richfield outlined approximately 4 million ounces of Gold in the indicated and inferred categories at its Blackwater Project in central British Columbia in a NI-43-101 resource estimate released March 2.

The buy-out appears to be a nice fit for New Gold whose New Afton Project in British Columbia is on target to start production by the middle of next year.

Richfield closed Friday at $7.93 and will obviously gap up this morning.

BMR introduced Richfield to its readers in December, 2009, when the stock was trading at $1.20 per share.

Visible Gold Mines (VGD, TSX-V)

Visible Gold Mines is the newest member of our most closely followed group of companies as we added it to the BMR model portfolio Friday at 40 cents…this is a very special situation with powerful potential…we started our due diligence on Visible Gold Mines nearly three months ago during a visit to Rouyn-Noranda…the President and CEO of VGD is Martin Dallaire, a very successful entrepreneur in that city with an engineering degree who understands the mining industry and what an exploration company needs to do to succeed in a huge way…Dallaire is fluently bilingual, presents himself extremely well and knows how to run a business and make money…he thinks big but is focused…he has also recruited some key people including Robert Sansfacon, one of the most respected geologists in the country who honed his skills for many years with Lac Minerals…Sansfacon played a critical role in the discovery of Osisko’s (OSK, TSX) Canadian Malartic Deposit…in short, Dallaire has put something together you don’t often see in the junior speculative market – a powerful dynamic of business, geological and marketing expertise with a strategic plan to rapidly build shareholder value…he wants Visible Gold Mines to quickly emerge as an exploration leader in its area…the company’s niche and sole geological focus is northwestern Quebec where it has acquired several promising land packages, mostly west and north of Rouyn-Noranda…Dallaire is taking an aggressive approach to exploration and is armed with nearly $9 million in cash (about 20 cents per share)…he’s targeting under-explored areas and past producing mines where major new extensions are possible…on Thursday, Visible Gold Mines announced a deal with Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM, TSX) that we like a lot…VGD has optioned the Joutel Property, 150 kilometres north of Rouyn-Noranda, which gave birth to Agnico-Eagle in the early 1970’s…Joutel’s Eagle and Telbel mines produced over 1 million ounces of Gold at a grade of 6 g/t Au and some Silver between 1973 and 1993 (Agnico Mines merged with Eagle Mines Ltd. in 1972, allowing for the development of Eagle Mines’ Joutel mining complex)…Agnico-Eagle closed the mine prematurely in the early 90’s in order to concentrate its efforts on the massive LaRonde Mine…the fact it would cut a deal with VGD on Joutel speaks volumes about their confidence in this junior…if anyone can unlock the value of Joutel, it would be Sansfacon…VGD’s exploration there could turn into a very exciting story…Visible Gold Mines is currently drilling its Silidor Property on the western outskirts of Rouyn-Noranda and will also commence drilling very soon near Vantex Resources‘ (VAX, TSX-V) Moriss Zone Discovery which is ground it optioned from Cadillac Mining (CQX, TSX-V) in December…technically, Visible Gold Mines has strong support around current levels and appears to be starting a new uptrend as the 40-day SMA, in decline since December, has just reversed to the upside…the 50-day has flattened out and could also reverse as early as this week…the 200-day at 40.5 cents continues to rise…volume is picking up nicely…

GoldQuest Mining (GQC, TSX-V)

GoldQuest closed Friday at 36 cents for a loss of four pennies on the week…volume was light, however, especially Wednesday through Friday…the stock is facing some technical resistance around 40 cents at the moment but that doesn’t concern us…the prospects for GQC this year are very bright given the company’s pipeline of quality Gold projects in the Dominican Republic where a mining boom is clearly in full swing…GoldQuest has been conducting a Phase 2 drill program at its promising La Escandalosa Property in the DR since mid-December and initial results are expected soon…based on the success of the last drill program, GoldQuest is getting closer to the centre of the mineralizing system at Escandalosa and we’re expecting results that could ultimately elevate this project to the 1 million+ ounce category…400,000 inferred ounces have already been outlined (43-101) based on just 25 drill holes…approximately 40 holes are being drilled in the current program…Escandalosa is a flat-lying, near-surface deposit where the Gold should be easy to extract…as Chairman Bill Fisher told us in a February interview, “the economics could be really quite compelling”…proving up a 1 million ounce deposit at Escandalosa could give GoldQuest production of at least 100,000 ounces a year…GQC’s other promising priority projects in the DR are Las Animas and Jengibre which are next in line for drilling after Escandalosa…GoldQuest released a NI-43-101 resource estimate March 2 on its Toral zinc-lead-silver deposit in Spain…it showed slightly lower grades but much higher overall tonnage than the previous historical non-compliant estimate…as a result, total resources came out 15% higher…resources in the indicated category are 4.04 million tonnes grading 11.8% lead and zinc (5.3% lead, 6.5% zinc) as well as 41 g/t Ag and 0.11% Cu… inferred resources are 4.67 million tonnes grading 9.8% lead and zinc (4.44% lead, 5.4% zinc), 32 g/t Ag and 0.14 Cu…Toral has significant exploration and development upside as a majority of the historical drilling (40,000+ metres) was conducted over one relatively small part of the property…the zone of sulphide mineralization is open along strike to the northwest toward a known lead deposit as well as along strike to the southeast and downdip…the project is also an ideal candidate for a fast-track to production…the deposit is close to a power line, highway and rail line…a large smelter is located just 300 kilometers away by rail…GoldQuest is up 85% since we introduced it to BMR readers last fall…

Greencastle Resources (VGN, TSX-V)

Greencastle gained a penny last week to close at 23 cents, its 50-day SMA which continues to decline…VGN’s strong underlying fundamental value is clearly shown in the latest financials which were released March 24…as of December 31, Greencastle held $5.1 million in cash and $2.6 million in marketable securities…some of those securities are likely shares in Seafield Resources (SFF, TSX-V) while the company disclosed it held 1,148,000 shares of Evrim Resources Corp. (EVM, TSX-V), formerly Avaranta, which started trading on the Venture Exchange January 25…at 23 cents, Greencastle’s market cap ($10 million) exceeds its working capital by just $2.5 million…the potential of higher oil prices in the coming months could bolster Greencastle’s monthly cash flow of approximately $130,000 as it receives royalties from heavy crude production at Primate in Saskatchewan…Greencastle tripled in value over a six-week period from late October to early December…since the beginning of January, though, the stock has struggled due mostly to impatient investors frustrated with the lack of news…patience is required here…over the years the successful strategy with Greencastle has been to accumulate on weakness when the stock is near cash value and then sell into strength when something develops…with $8 million in working capital, three Gold properties (including land near Richfield’s Blackwater Project) and monthly cash flow from an oil royalty, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Greencastle offers excellent value at current levels…the long-term chart remains very encouraging with rising 200 and 300-day SMA’s that are in no danger of reversing…it’s also interesting to note that President and CEO Tony Roodenburg, a large shareholder in VGN, has refrained from selling any of his holdings in recent months despite the fact the stock price more than tripled in value on high volume…this is different from past runs in the stock and adds further credence to our view that we haven’t seen the highs in this cycle yet from Greencastle – it’s poised for what we believe could be a massive breakout sometime this year…Pinetree Capital has also accumulated more shares in Greencastle, so there’s every reason to be very optimistic regarding this company’s prospects…investors need to be patient, however, as they often do with Roodenburg’s plays…Greencastle is up 64% since we added it back in to the BMR model portfolio nearly six months ago…

Adventure Gold (AGE, TSX-V)

Adventure Gold was off just a penny for the week, closing at 61 cents…it enjoyed a strong first quarter of the year, outperforming the market with a 29% gain…the latest financials, released after the close Friday, show the company with $3 million in working capital at the end of January…AGE runs an efficient operation and knows where to direct its energies…the stock remains in an overall long-term uptrend with the supporting 100-day moving average (SMA) at 52 cents…the rising 50-day SMA at 57 cents provides excellent support as well…the company released results recently from the first two holes at its Pascalis Colombiere Gold Property near Val d’Or…both holes were drilled approximately 150 metres west of the former L.C. Beliveau Mine and intersected Gold-bearing structures at various depths which is encouraging…the system is showing strong similarities to the one observed at L.C. Beliveau…hole #13 returned 5.4 g/t Au over 20 metres which included 2.9 metres grading 34.6 g/t Au…hole #14 intersected 7 g/t Au over 4.8 metres…results from seven more holes are pending…six of them were drilled west of the former mine while the other, which may prove to be very important, was drilled at depth to test the geometry of the Gold system below the underground workings…this former mine was a low cost producer and holds excellent potential for extensions laterally and at depth…it’s still early but Adventure Gold appears to be on track with its exploration goals at this property based on these early results…we expect AGE will begin drilling its Granada Extension Property in the near future…February’s results from Gold Bullion and the latest drill map on the GBB web site reveal exciting new potential over the far western portion of GBB’s Preliminary Block Model which supports Adventure Gold’s geological interpretation that it holds part of the western extension of the LONG Bars Zone…we first mentioned Adventure Gold to our readers in an article September 29, just a couple of days following the company’s announcement that it had acquired land at Granada, when the stock was trading in the low 20′s…we officially added AGE to the BMR model portfolio at 34 cents October 28, so the gain since then is 79%…Adventure Gold has been around only since late 2007 and we are impressed by the company’s solid portfolio of properties (19 in six strategic areas in Quebec and Ontario)…also of immediate interest is AGE’s partnership with Lake Shore Gold (LSG, TSX) on the Meunier 144 Property where deep drilling is still testing the down plunge extension of Gold zones located at the Timmins and Thunder Creek deposits…the current initial deep drill hole onto the Meunier JV property is continuing and is on track to reach the 2,400 metre target level by the end of May…if a discovery is made, AGE could explode…

Sidon International (SD, TSX-V)

Sidon seems to have found its footing after a brutal sell-off March 8 that essentially chopped the share price in half…Sidon climbed another half penny last week to close Friday at 7.5 cents…it appears the 20-day SMA is about to reverse to the upside after a decline that started in January…the CMF shows that buying pressure has increased recently…the company has arranged a private placement of up to $2 million at 8 cents and has also announced it has signed an option to acquire 80% of a property adjacent to Canaco’s (CAN, TSX-V) Handeni Project…initial drill results from Morogoro, announced March 8, fell short of market expectations…the six shallow holes that were drilled in December did not produce significant results, the best hole showing 3 metres grading 1.7 g/t Au…the company has drilled four deeper holes with results for those still pending…what the initial six holes have given Sidon, however, is a better understanding of the Morogoro geological structure which should help in future drilling…exploration, especially at such an early stage, is never easy and disappointing initial results don’t necessarily mean a property doesn’t hold excellent potential…the company is also trying to develop a placer operation at Morogoro…ground near Canaco’s discovery also helps…there is certainly hope here for better days ahead…from a technical standpoint, previous support between 9 and 10 cents will now provide resistance over the short term…Sidon is up 50% since we introduced it to BMR readers a year ago at a nickel…the company currently has approximately 140 million shares outstanding for a market cap of $10.5 million…

Seafield Resources (SFF, TSX-V)

Seafield hit a low of 29 cents last week before closing Friday at 32 cents (its 200-day SMA) for a loss of 1 penny for the week…volume picked up last week with the first 1 million+ share day in 12 sessions…the rising 300-day SMA at 28 cents is providing excellent support…on March 7, the company reported assays from the first three holes completed at Dos Quebradas with hole #2 intersecting a whopping 511 metres grading 0.58 g/t Au…the hole ended in mineralization…hole #1 delivered 269 metres grading 0.37 g/t Au while hole #3 was drilled to define the eastern limit of mineralization and returned no significant results…a total of nine holes were drilled at Dos Quebradas by early last month…significant intercepts well outside areas of historical drilling would start to get the market excited…a second rig has started drilling at the nearby Santa Sofia Property…the company has identified a promising porphyry target measuring 1,050 metres in length and 850 metres in width at Santa Sofia…a third target, La Loma, also appears very interesting…the geological case for Seafield’s Quinchia land package is compelling and we’re looking forward to more results from Dos Quebradas and elsewhere…the company has already outlined a NI-43-101 inferred resource of nearly 800,000 ounces at its Miraflores Property, a number that’s expected to increase following the 12-hole, 4,000 metre program recently completed there…patient investors have an opportunity to do extremely well with this play given the geological merits of Quinchia and the real potential for 5 million+ ounces from several potential deposits…the company is sitting on approximately $15 million in cash and has a very modest market cap of $48 million…Seafield has gained 433% since we made it the first company in the BMR model portfolio in the summer of 2009…it’s encouraging to see that Anglo-Ashanti Ltd., the world’s third largest Gold producer, pans to spend $300 million over the next three years on further exploration in Colombia…

Gold Bullion Development (GBB, TSX-V)

Gold Bullion closed at 43.5 cents Friday, a 2.5 cent loss for the week…the first quarter was not kind to GBB as the stock dropped in half but we encourage investors to stay focused on the fundamentals that drove this play so hard in 2010 – the growing LONG Bars Zone and the potential of it to develop into a multi-million ounce system…technically, the stock has been under some pressure with declining 20, 50, 100 and 200-day moving averages…however, if one looks at a five-year GBB chart (plot the 300 and 500-day moving averages) it’s not hard to come to the conclusion that the February/March sell-off was merely a correction in an ongoing major bull phase for this stock…the 20-day SMA has the potential of reversing to the upside this week which would clearly be a positive sign though there is certainly some overhead resistance beginning around 50 cents…as our recent article demonstrated, results from over 80 Phase 2 and Phase 3 drill holes (only about one-third of the total drilled so far) demonstrate that the LONG Bars Zone continues to have extraordinary potential…mineralization remains open in every direction with six kilometres of untested strike length going east…continuity between the Preliminary Block Model and the Eastern Extension has been established in our view, though much more drilling in the Eastern Extension is still required…at 43.5 cents, Gold Bullion’s market cap is only $70 million…this seems cheap given the 2.4 to 2.6 million ounce potential of just the Preliminary Block Model area as outlined by GBB nearly a year ago…the NI-43-101 slated to be released this summer will help considerably…while we’re disappointed GBB isn’t in a stronger cash position and that there are still just two drill rigs at Granada nearly a year after the Phase 2 program started, the fact remains that Gold Bullion is sitting on a potentially huge near-surface Gold deposit in one of the best jurisdictions in the world for mining and exploration during the greatest bull market in history for the yellow metal…GBB has gained 521% since we introduced it to BMR readers 15 months ago and we’re sticking with it for the long haul because we believe the best is yet to come from Granada…

Cadillac Mining (CQX, TSX-V)

Cadillac was unchanged for the week at 19 cents with volume drying up considerably…as with Gold Bullion, patience is the key here…the opportunity with Cadillac is immense in our view given the company’s strategic land package in northwestern Quebec, the astute acquisition of a former Gold-Silver mining camp in Utah, and the tight share structure…the current market cap is only $4.85 million which allows for plenty of upside potential…management’s challenge is to “seize the moment” and capitalize on the excellent opportunities the company has been blessed with in order to drive shareholder value…technically, while the chart has suffered some short-term deterioration recently, the stock is strongly supported by a rising 200-day SMA at 16 cents…Richmont’s (RIC, TSX) success at its Wasamac Property west of Rouyn-Noranda is very bullish for Cadillac which is now preparing an exploration program including diamond drilling for its adjacent 100%-owned “Wasa” claims…Richmont, which released a NI-43-101 report on Wasamac Friday, has started a new 35,000 metre drill program to upgrade and further expand resources at the growing Wasamac deposit where the principal structure hosting Gold mineralization plunges north at a dip between 50 and 55 degrees toward Cadillac’s claims…while there’s no guarantee, of course, in theory there’s certainly the possibility that Cadillac’s Wasa claims at depth could host a significant high-grade extension of Richmont’s deposit…this is what Cadillac will be examining…in addition they’ll be going after some highly prospective VMS targets on the property…the infamous Horne Creek fault runs right through the Wasa claims and Cadillac discovered a zone last year (by deepening the only hole they’ve ever drilled on the property) that’s interpreted to be a feeder system typical of those seen under VMS systems in the Noranda camp…Cadillac’s Wasa clams have excellent potential and we’re pleased to see they intend on proceeding with a drill program…actions speak louder than words, however, and investors want to see some positive developments as quickly as possible…other CQX ground along the Cadillac Trend is about to be drilled…Visible Gold is expected to start a 9,000 metre drill program any day now as part of the agreement they worked out with Cadillac in December on over 7,000 hectares of land in the Rouyn-Noranda region…the first four holes of that program will be drilled on ground adjacent to Vantex’s (VAX, TSX-V) Moriss Zone discovery at the Galloway Project west of Wasamac…we encourage readers to listen to our informative interview with Cadillac President and CEO Vic Erickson posted March 4…Part 2 of that interview is coming soon…

Abcourt Mines (ABI, TSX-V)

Abcourt was off another 2.5 cents last week, closing Friday at its still-rising 100-day SMA at 17 cents…the company has arranged an 18-cent financing with Alliance Securities Inc. to raise between $3.5 and $5.5 million…boosting its cash position will help Abcourt but this is a company that needs to tell its story more effectively in order to maximize shareholder value…Abcourt is sitting on some tremendous assets that simply aren’t being fully valued by the market…the most effective strategy for Abcourt moving forward, we believe, is to re-brand itself as an exploration play only and drop any plans for putting any of its properties into production…all they need to do is drill, drill, drill at both Elder-Tagami and Abcourt-Barvue as both properties still have considerable exploration upside…as resources increase, other companies will be watching and Abcourt can then put itself into play as a potential takeover target…this would be a much simpler strategy and one that we believe would resonate with investors…Abcourt released more positive assay results March 3 from its ongoing 10,000 metre drill program at its Elder-Tagami Gold Project near Rouyn-Noranda…mineralization continues to expand to the west of the former underground Elder Mine…the Tagami area to the north, meanwhile, has untapped potential including some higher grades…the latest NI-43-101 resource estimate of 216,000 ounces was released in the summer of 2009…the possibility of Abcourt expanding that resource beyond 500,000 ounces certainly exists given the encouraging results to date (look what Richmont has done at Wasamac)…meanwhile, Abcourt released results February 15 from six more holes at its Abcourt-Barvue Silver-Zinc Property near Val d’Or and the numbers continue to be very encouraging…the holes were all drilled 150 to 200 metres from surface and five of them intersected two zones of high-grade silver and zinc…Hole #16 cut 152.26 g/t Ag over 12.7 metres…the 10,000 metre drill program at Abcourt-Barvue continues with the goal of upgrading and augmenting existing NI-43-101 reserves and resources…Abcourt-Barvue is a former producer and one of the best silver assets in the country with nearly 20 million ounces in all-category reserves and resources (plus nearly 300,000 tonnes of zinc)…the heavy accumulation that began in Abcourt in December was no fluke in our view…this is a company with significant assets that could justify a substantially higher valuation…nearly 60 million shares of ABI changed hands on the CDNX in December and January – record volume for this stock, accompanied by a price jump from 14.5 cents…we’ve seen these type of volume surges before and they are always a very positive sign…Abcourt is being accumulated, and our best guess is that some savvy players like the assets in the ground…continued drilling success and even higher prices for Gold, Silver and zinc would be exciting developments for this stock which has a history of major moves…from mid-2005 to early 2006, Abcourt rocketed from 15 cents to nearly $1.40…

Currie Rose Resources (CUI, TSX-V)

Currie Rose was off half a penny for the week at 14.5 cents…the stock is now trading between its 200-day SMA at 17 cents and its 300-day SMA at 13 cents…both long-term moving averages are rising which is a positive sign though the 100-day has recently started trending downward…the rainy season has not been as severe as usual in northwest Tanzania and that’s good news as Currie Rose prepares to launch a major drill program during this second quarter…one of the key technical events we’re looking for with CUI over the coming weeks is a reversal in the 50-day SMA which has been in sharp decline since January and is now starting to flatten out at 17 cents…significant accumulation started in Currie Rose during February and has picked up again recently as demonstrated by the CMF indicator…while its Tanzanian properties are the market’s major focus, Currie Rose could benefit over the coming weeks and months from continued good exploration news from Trueclaim Exploration (TRM, TSX-V) which is currently conducting an 8,000 metre drill program at the Scadding Gold Property near Sudbury…Trueclaim, which released assay results March 4 including 15.78 metres grading 5.36 g/t Au near-surface, is in the process of earning a 51% interest in Scadding by carrying out a $2 million work commitment…Trueclaim can acquire a full 100% interest by completing a feasibility study, paying $2 million to Currie Rose, and giving Currie Rose a 3% net smelter royalty…CUI announced a joint-venture deal January 25 with Australian-based Liontown Resources for Currie’s Jubilee Reef Gold Project in Tanzania…CUI’s focus is on the Sekenke and Mabale Hills Projects, so finding a partner for Jubilee Reef made sense…the deal commits Liontown to at least 5,000 metres of drilling at the property this year which will give Currie Rose a minimum of 23,000 metres of drilling at all of its properties in 2011…while Currie Rose has had its market cap shaved considerably, from a high of nearly $40 million to the current $13 million, what hasn’t changed is the quality of this company’s project portfolio which remains as high as it ever was in our view…Currie Rose has all the cash it needs ($2 million) to complete an initial major round of drilling (10,000 metres) this spring and summer in Tanzania, so there will not be any dilution of the stock at current levels as confirmed by President and CEO Harold Smith…

Richfield Ventures (RVC, TSX-V)

Richfield continues to make many investors very rich…the stock rocketed to a new all-time high of $8.00 last week, closing Friday at $7.93 for a weekly gain of $1.45…RVC is now up 561% since we introduced it to BMR readers in December, 2009…at $7.93, Richfield’s market cap now stands at $343 million…on a fully diluted basis (56 million shares) the market cap is $444 million which puts a value of $100 on each ounce in the ground (Gold equivalent ounces if one includes the Silver) based on the NI-43-101 resource estimate for Blackwater which was released March 2…using a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off grade, the estimated global indicated resource is 1.83 million ounces of Gold (53.46 million tonnes grading 1.06 g/t Au) with an additional 2.34 million ounces in the inferred category (75.45 million tonnes grading 0.96 g/t Au) for a total of 4.17 million ounces…some 20 million ounces of silver are also in the indicated and inferred categories…initial metallurgical testwork has indicated an average of 92-per-cent Gold recovery using conventional whole ore direct cyanidation…the company has also contracted a series of consultants to prepare a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), planned for completion in the fourth quarter of 2011…the study will consider the potential for a large-scale, open-pit mine and ore processing facility…with cash on hand of nearly $17 million, the company has ample reserves to complete a 30,000 metre drill program this year as well as the PEA…given the state of the Gold market and the likelihood of continued exploration success at Blackwater, Richfield’s current market cap of $343 million still gives it considerable upside potential for the balance of 2011…we were very pleased to see that Richfield got a well-deserved buy recommendation recently from GMP Securities which has initiated coverage on RVC with a 12-month target price of $11.10 per share…the primary trend remains up with Richfield and there’s every reason to expect more excellent drill results throughout 2011…we believe the company’s ultimate objective is to find a buyer who can put this deposit into production…if good drill results continue as we expect they will, we’re confident that objective will be met and the takeover price could be significantly higher than the current $7.93 per share…

TSX Venture Exchange and Gold

The Venture Exchange (CDNX) was off 16 points this week to close at 2298.  It finished a volatile month of March down 96 points or 4%, its worst monthly performance since June of last year.  But the CDNX managed to stage an impressive recovery from a mid-month low of 2054 after a wild 17% plunge over just seven sessions.

The question on our readers’ minds is, what’s in store for April?  We’ve been cautious regarding the CDNX on a short-term basis since March 10 when the Index dropped below important support and then proceeded to fall another 8% to the March 15 low of 2054.  Trading volumes have dropped off considerably and other indicators have suggested the possibility of a “3-wave” correction.  On the other hand, the CDNX displayed impressive resilience early last week in the face of a drop below 2300 and some weakness in Gold.  We remain cautious.  Downside risks still exist but a case can now be made that the near-term picture has improved somewhat.

The coming week should be extremely interesting.  There is a band of resistance on the CDNX between 2300 and 2330.  A close above 2330 (which would also put the Venture above its 40, 50 and 60-day moving averages) on strong volume would be an immediate buy signal.  If that should occur, then what we should expect is an imminent re-test of the March 7 high of 2465.  Something else to watch out for next week, likely toward the latter part of the week, is a possible reversal to the upside in the 20-day SMA.  That would be a significant bullish development and would draw in more speculators.

John’s updated CDNX chart shows a market looking for near-term direction:

The CDNX took a much-needed breather in the first quarter of 2011, gaining just 8 points or one-third of 1%, after a blistering 34% advance during the fourth quarter of 2010 and a 6% increase during the second quarter.  The CDNX, however, managed to outperform the TSX Gold Index which declined 5%.  The Dow gained more than 6%, its best quarter since 1999, the Nasdaq climbed 4.8% while the TSX was ahead 5%.

Despite the flat performance of the CDNX during the first quarter, there were still good opportunities to make money in select situations.  A rising tide to the extent that we saw in the fourth quarter is not a common occurrence and lifts virtually all boats.  While we’re still in the early stages of what we believe is a multi-year CDNX bull market, it’s important right now to focus on companies with strong balance sheets, healthy stock charts, smart management and exciting properties with excellent potential to produce significant discoveries.  We added a new company to the BMR model portfolio Friday (Visible Gold Mines, VGD, TSX-V) that possesses all of those key ingredients.

Gold fell as low as $1,412 Friday after the release of a stronger than expected U.S. jobs report but rebounded strongly to finish the day at $1,429 for a loss of just $1 for the week.  Silver continues to perform exceptionally well and gained another 55 cents last week to close at $37.83.

Gold rose 1.3% in the first quarter, its 10th consecutive positive quarter, though that was rather unimpressive considering the weakness in the U.S. Dollar and the multitude of uncertainties the world had to deal with from the ongoing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa to the disaster in Japan.

The fundamental case for Gold, however, remains incredibly strong – currency instability and an overall lack of confidence in fiat currencies, an environment of historically low interest rates and negative real interest rates (inflation is greater than the nominal interest rate even in pats of the world where rates are increasing), massive government debt from the United States to Europe, central bank buying, flat mine supply, physical demand, investment demand, emerging market growth, geopolitical unrest and conflicts, rising oil prices…the list goes on.  It’s hard to imagine Gold not performing well in this environment.  The Middle East is being turned on its head and that could ultimately have major positive consequences for Gold.

For those pundits who mistakenly claim that Gold is in a “bubble”, its interesting to note that Gold ownership as a percentage of global financial assets is only 0.7% vs. 0.2% in 2002 at the beginning of the current bull cycle (a majority of that increase has been fueled by Gold’s sharp price appreciation).

As an asset class, Gold is still very much under-owned. And the “masses” still haven’t piled into Gold stocks.  We’re not even close to a bubble in Gold.

All eyes will be on the Federal Reserve later this month when Ben Bernanke holds a first-ever media briefing after the April 27 FOMC meeting.  There’s no question the U.S. economy is picking up steam as demonstrated by Friday’s jobs report.  “We’re at a point where productivity is maxed out, so job growth is going to come,” stated James McNerney, chief executive officer of Boeing Co., at a recent conference in Washington, DC, hosted by the Export-Import Bank.  McNerney said Boeing, the world’s second-biggest plane maker, will add 3,000 jobs this year to “fund demand”.  So with the U.S. employment picture brightening, is the Fed’s easing cycle about to come to an end?  We’ll have to wait until April 27 to get some answers but there are still significant risks to the economy including troubling high levels of debt at every level of government, a housing market that is still very weak (one in four mortgages are underwater and prices continue to decline in many areas) and now an increase in oil prices which has the potential of hitting consumers hard.  Interest rate increases in the U.S. appear to be out of the question until at least sometime next year though the Fed may elect to end its asset-purchase program in June as scheduled.  While the Fed may have been successful in slaying the deflation dragon, the economic recovery is still somewhat fragile.  Wage pressure, a critical component of inflation, has also not yet shown up in the U.S. economy with the latest statistics showing that annual wage growth is running at just 1.7%. Bernanke is walking a tightrope.  We do know he prefers a weak U.S. Dollar and we believe it’s safe to assume he doesn’t want to do or say anything that would precipitate a major drop in the markets.

GFMS, one of the world’s foremost metals consultancy firms, has reiterated its bullish outlook on Gold due to numerous economic and political factors. GFMS sees Gold trading as high as $1,600 this year.  The firm says their outlook depends on how major economies of the world grow and how governments of major economies attempt to maintain this growth.

Late Breaking News…China’s Minmetals Resources Ltd. has launched a hostile bid for Equinox Resources (EQN, TSX) of $7.00 per share (the stock closed Friday at $5.71).  The bid is being financed through a mix of cash reserves, long-term credit facilities offered by Chinese banks and equity investments from Chinese companies.

Gold is rebounding after dropping as low as $1,412 following the U.S. March jobs report…as of 9:30 am Pacific, the yellow metal is down $8 an ounce at $1,424…Silver fell just above $37 but is now off only 2 cents for the day at $37.65 while the U.S. Dollar Index has reversed sharply…it climbed as high as 76.60 but is now off one-tenth of a point at 75.96…U.S. employment recorded a second straight month of solid gains in March and the jobless rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8 percent, marking a decisive shift in the labor market that should help to underpin the economic recovery…nonfarm payrolls rose 216,000 last month, the largest increase since May, the Labor Department said this morning…January and February employment figures were revised to show 7,000 more jobs than previously reported…most experts agree the American economy is still facing significant headwinds and it could take several years to get the unemployment rate much lower…massive debts at the municipal, state and federal government levels pose serious risks to the economic recovery while the housing crisis has yet to bottom out…there will be considerable debate in the days and weeks ahead as to when the Fed’s easing cycle will start to come to an end…rate hikes still appear to be a long way off but Bernanke faces the critical decision of whether or not to continue with the Fed’s quantitative easing program beyond mid-year…in other economic news out of the U.S. today, the manufacturing sector grew at a marginally slower pace in March after accelerating at its fastest rate in nearly seven years the month before while construction spending fell more than expected in February to its lowest level since October, 1999…China’s official March purchasing managers’ Index (PMI) data, released this morning morning, showed the country’s manufacturing sector grew for a 25th straight month while factory inflation eased…New York and Toronto are both higher today…the CDNX is off 3 points at 2293 but seems to be strengthening…BMR has added Visible Gold Mines (VGD, TSX-V) to its model portfolio…we’ve mentioned this company quite frequently the past few months in our “Morning Musings” and we’ve researched it thoroughly during that time…the article we just posted outlines the “big picture” with VGD as we see it…this is an aggressive and well-run company with many strengths – not just its properties but its people…the fact Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM, TSX) would cut a deal with Visible Gold on its Joutel Property (announced yesterday) speaks volumes…we’ll be getting into more detail with Visible Gold Mines in the near future…technically, the stock has shown tremendous support in the mid-to-upper 30’s and the 40-day moving average (SMA), in decline since December, has just swung positive…the 50-day has flattened out and could reverse to the upside as early as next week…the company has a healthy balance sheet with nearly 20 cents per share in cash…VGD is currently down 2 pennies at 40 cents…Abcourt Mines (ABI, TSX-V) is one of the CDNX trading leaders this morning…ABI is unchanged at 17 cents on volume of 2.5 million shares…the company is in the process of completing a financing at 18 cents that could add more than $5 million to its coffers…while the announcement of the financing took the wind out of the stock’s sails recently, it’s a positive move for the longer term as it will give the company the money it needs to possibly ramp up exploration efforts at its two key properties – Elder-Tagami and Abcourt-Barvue…both are former producers and contain significant 43-101 resources, especially the Abcourt-Barvue Silver-zinc deposit, but we’d rather see the company focus on continued and aggressive exploration at both properties rather than worrying about putting either into production…such an approach – making this an exploration play only – would be a much simpler strategy and would set-up ABI as a potential takeover target…Gold Bullion Development (GBB, TSX-V) is off a penny at 42.5 cents on light volume…given 500 holes of historical drilling in addition to initial results from the more than 250 holes GBB has drilled, it’s hard to imagine the 43-101 coming out this summer won’t confirm the company is sitting on a potential deposit of several million ounces or more…we encourage investors to keep focused on the Gold at Granada because we continue to believe there’s lots of it…it’s funny how people get excited about a Wal-Mart Rollback sale but often don’t see the same opportunities in what amounts to a stock rollback sale……Richfield Ventures (RVC, TSX-V) continues to head higher…it’s up another 30 cents this morning to $7.80…Richfield has been a tremendous success story which underscores the importance of staying focused on the fundamentals…sometimes it takes a while for the market to fully catch on to what a company is developing…investors who see the opportunity early and stick with the story can make a fortune…we added RVC to the BMR model portfolio in December, 2009, at $1.20…the stock fell as low as 90 cents in late June/early July of last year even when the fundamentals were improving…Richfield has already outlined 4 million ounces (43-101 indicated and inferred) at its Blackwater Project in central British Columbia and the current round of drilling will upgrade and likely add to those resources…a company with an even potentially bigger deposit on its hands is Gold Canyon Resources (GCU, TSX-V) with its Springpole Project about 100 kilometres northeast of the Red Lake mining area…Gold Canyon has been releasing some terrific results and is about to commence some deeper drilling with a fourth rig…a lot of our readers like stocks that are trading under 50 cents, like we do, but jumping in on a play like Gold Canyon at $3.30 makes a lot of sense if this company has an excellent shot at proving up 5+ million ounces as it does…assuming Springpole does contain at least 5 million ounces, each ounce in the ground is currently valued at only $75 on a fully diluted basis…plenty of upside in this play yet just based on simple math…GCU is currently unchanged at $3.30…