4:00 am Pacific

Gold has traded between $1,246 and $1,256 so far today…as of 4:00 am Pacific, the yellow metal is down $8 an ounce at $1,247…Silver is 36 cents lower at $19.96…Copper is off a penny at $3.33…Crude Oil is up 31 cents at $94.68 while the U.S. Dollar Index has added nearly one-fifth of a point to 81.33…

Gold has been building some technical momentum but needs to conquer the $1,250 level with the next major resistance area after that being $1,275 as John outlined in his Saturday chart…interestingly, managed money traders have added to their long positions in bullion for four straight weeks according to the latest COT report issued last Friday for the period ending Jan. 14…

Mineweb’s Lawrence Williams touched on some key points in an excellent piece yesterday (“Is Confidence Returning to the Gold Markets”?) at www.mineweb.com.  “Gold movements through the Shanghai Gold Exchange are running at near record levels,” he pointed out, while “the timing of Goldcorp’s Osisko bid could also suggest that the big Gold miners are also beginning to see an upturn in confidence with the Gold major putting in a pre-emptive strike before a rising Gold stock sector would make such a bid hugely expensive.”

In addition, Williams noted, “There have also been reports circulating that China has officially confirmed a big increase in its Gold holdings, more than doubling them from 1,054 tonnes (last updated officially five years ago) to 2,710 tonnes, but until there is official confirmation of this from both China and the IMF, one has to remain at the very least a little skeptical.  The total new Gold reserve figure quoted in the reports ties in EXACTLY with some recent Bloomberg estimates.”

Today’s Markets

Asia

Asian markets were strong overnight as fears over a credit squeeze in China eased…the Shanghai Composite rebounded from a six-month low yesterday to get back above the 2000 mark – it closed up 17 points today at 2008 – after the People’s Bank of China moved to inject liquidity into the market, easing short-term money rates…meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei climbed 154 points or 1% to finish at 15796…

Europe

European shares are modestly higher on a busy day for corporate earnings…in the U.K., various media outlets are reporting that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could upgrade Britain’s growth forecast for the second time in just three months today, cementing its status as one of the fastest growing major economies…

North America

Stock index futures in New York as of 4:00 am Pacific are pointing toward a positive open on Wall Street after a three-day break with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday yesterday…despite no trading in the U.S., the TSX was bold and jumped 102 points yesterday while the Venture added nearly 4 points to finish at 979.77…a “confirmed” technical breakout on the Venture may very well come today…

Doubleview More Than Doubles As The Sheslay Valley Begins To Show Its Incredible Potential

The Sheslay Valley in northwest B.C. has been hugely under-explored and contains all the necessary geological ingredients to produce not just one, but several world-class Cu-Au porphyry deposits over a wide area…a high-grade Gold discovery is even a possibility in this well-endowed region, some geologists believe, so investors need to think BIG…yesterday’s discovery news from Doubleview Capital Corp. (DBV, TSX-V) is just one of many new chapters that could be added to the history book of B.C. exploration thanks to the vast potential of this area which is no longer being ignored…we strongly suspect that the Sheslay Valley will rapidly develop into one of the hottest exploration camps in the country – the evidence to make that statement is now more compelling than ever…Lawrence Roulston in our view was correct when he responded to a question from Rick Rule on Sunday at the Vancouver Resource and Investment Conference by stating, “There’s no other place in the world with more geological prospectivity than British Columbia.”

What really drove Doubleview yesterday was not just the grades and lengthy intersections of holes #8 and #11 at the Hat Property, with mineralization increasing at depth, but the fact that this is essentially “virgin ground” (no previous drilling at Anomaly “B” except H-6) and the horizontal distance from mineral zones in drill hole H-6 to H-8 is almost one kilometre…Anomaly “B” is just one of several targets identified at the Hat…

“Speculatively,” as DBV’s news release stated, “if the newly discovered mineral zone is, as appears likely, continuous with the historic Hoey Copper-Gold zone that lies two kilometres south of the drill hole H-8 and has closely similar geologic and mineralogic characteristics, the horizontal extent may be in excess of three kilometres.”

Overall size potential, continuity of mineralization – critical factors that got investors excited about DBV’s news yesterday, and we don’t think that enthusiasm is going to wane anytime soon…there is going to be a healthy appetite in our view to finance this company for much more drilling at the Hat, so in a fascinating – even startling – way, DBV could become a “rags to riches” story through the Sheslay Valley…that is why the junior exploration market can be so exciting, and potentially rewarding…holes #8 and #11 both ended in strong Cu-Au mineralization, so there’s plenty to speculate about here with investors eagerly anticipating the next round of drilling…

Technically, as John’s chart showed yesterday, DBV was poised for a breakout if it could overcome resistance at 15 cents which it did, closing up a dime at 18 cents on total volume (all exchanges) of 5.8 million shares…below is an updated chart (John’s Fib. “target” is not a price target, just a theoretical level based on Fib. and technical analysis)…

Garibaldi’s Grizzly – Host Of The Sheslay Valley “Heat Engine” And The “Feeder System”?

Watch out now for Garibaldi Resources Corp. (GGI, TSX-V), by far the largest landholder among juniors in the Sheslay Valley region with its Grizzly Property which has “size potential” written all over it…GGI is also healthy financially and hasn’t had to do a major financing in almost five years…

Garibaldi has been analyzing extensive current and historical exploration data from the Grizzly as well as adjoining properties, and has already reported that it has outlined “multiple targets” along a 15-km corridor stretching from Grizzly West to Grizzly Central (including a prominent “pipe-like” structure at Grizzly Central) with more details expected shortly…

One highly regarded prospector – not connected with Garibaldi, Prosper Gold or Doubleview, and one of the first individuals who gave us valuable insight into the Sheslay Valley region last spring – told BMR yesterday that he now believes Grizzly Central is a potential “feeder system” for the entire area due, in part, to offset faulting…it’s also where a higher-grade “motherlode” could exist at depth…with an outstanding geological team that includes Charlie Grieg (Pretium) and his C.J. Grieg and Associates group, one can be sure that GGI is considering all possibilities and is preparing to fire on all cylinders…they are formulating their “deposit model” for this 175 sq. km property…

One fact is certain – most of the Mount Kaketsa pluton (northwest of Grizzly Central) is situated on the Grizzly…a strong case can be made that this pluton is a critical “heat engine” for the Sheslay district, driving mineralizing fluids throughout the area…

GGI closed a penny higher yesterday at 13 cents – expect interest to pick up significantly in the days ahead with the company gearing up to report on the Grizzly, while drilling continues at its La Patilla Gold Property in Mexico…John’s 3.5-year weekly chart shows a bullish flag formation and a growing likelihood of a near-term breakout…

With Doubleview’s dramatics, the known potential of Prosper’s Sheslay Property, and the massive Grizzly hosting targets over a 15-km corridor, the geological and market possibilities of all of this are astounding to say the least…Hollywood couldn’t have scripted this any better…

But at the end of the day, this won’t be just a three-company show…more players are involved (at least on the periphery at this point) and will become involved…

Investors following the Sheslay Valley story shouldn’t forget about Ashburton Ventures Inc. (ABR, TSX-V) which is trading at just a nickel and holds the Hackett claims (852 hectares) adjoining the eastern border of the Hat Property (one of the mineralization trends as you can see in the map above follows right onto the Hackett Property)…volcanic-sedimentary assemblages and intrusive rocks on the Hackett are similar and are believed to be part of the Stuhini group…historic aeromagnetics for the project identified a magnetic high on the southern portion of the claims, and there are reports of some very visible outcropping from the air over at least the western edge of the property…

Like many juniors, including Doubleview, Ashburton needs to raise money, but the Sheslay Valley could be the catalyst it needs…ABR also holds ground near Iskut and in the Athabasca basin, and just recently acquired claims in an emerging PGE district west of Whitehorse…below is a 2.5-year weekly chart from John showing ABR in a horizontal channel between support at 3.5 cents and resistance at 10 cents…

TSX Gold Index Chart Update

Interesting technical developments with the TSX Gold Index which has pushed above a downtrend line on this 18-month weekly chart…a “confirmed” breakout above the 200-day moving average (SMA) is also a distinct possibility in the near future (this has already occurred with the Venture)…

Note: John and Jon both hold share positions in GGI.  Jon also holds share positions in PGX and DBV.