|
Commerce Resources Corp. (TSX
Venture: CCE): Exploring For Tantalum in British Columbia
by Glenn Wilkins - AllPennyStocks.com News Reporter
August 9,2006 (AllPennyStocks.com Media, Inc.) -
Vancouver-based Commerce Resources (TSX-Venture:
CCE) is on the rise again. The company is developing their
Blue River Project with a particular focus on the unique
metals tantalum and niobium.
Tantalum is used in the production of capacitors; key
components to everyday products such as cell phones, personal
computers, digital storage devices and personal music players
(ie. Apple's iPod). In addition, tantalum is used in
electronics devices found in our cars, trucks and SUVs.
Commerce Resources was first presented to frequenters of
this site last winter, and a stream of significant news has
followed.
Late in June, Commerce released an update on the
exploration activities at their Blue River Project in British
Columbia. Based on the results of drilling the previous year,
the company will be collecting and processing a bulk sample of
up to 20,000 tonnes. This work is aimed at solidifying that,
at a commercial scale, the host rock will give Commerce a
higher recovery rate (at least 83%) than the industry standard
(55%), at lower than industry average costs.
Commerce announced earlier in June that it had entered into
a strategic alliance with Kazakhstan-based NAC KazAtomProm,
whose tantalum division will process representative
concentrate from the previously mentioned commercial bulk
sample. In addition to being a premier processor of tantalum,
KazAtomProm is the world's third largest producer of uranium,
and whose partners include Cameco Corporation and General
Electric.
Just weeks prior, Commerce aligned with Chinese processor
Fogang Jiata Metals, to keep with what its president, David
Hodge calls its "strategy of developing partnerships
vertically in the supply chain." The deal involves the
collection and delivery of up to 20 tonnes of tantalum/niobium
concentrate. Fogang Jiata will then process the concentrate
into end products, of which Commerce will receive back 50%. As
with the alliance with NAC KazAtomProm, Commerce and Fogang
Jiata will share technical expertise.
Commerce's management team comes with a wealth of
experience. President David Hodge is a veteran in the mineral
exploration and investment industry, and has built a team of
experts that can put the project into production. The team
includes such mine-builders as Charles Pitcher who joined the
company's Advisory Board in February. In 2002, Mr. Pitcher
joined Western Canadian Coal Corp. (TSX:
WTN) as Chief Executive Officer to oversee the completion
of feasibility studies and production. Mr. Pitcher brings to
Commerce experience in senior executive and management
positions in mine development - important for a company at
this stage in development.
In May, Commerce announced its intent to make inroads in
the European markets by contracting AXINO AG to represent the
company in Germany and other European countries. Only a matter
of weeks later came the company's listing on the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange under the symbol D7H, which Commerce
anticipates will increase its visibility in all European
capital markets. AXINO AG's experience in the European markets
includes work with such well-known companies as Agnico-Eagle
Mines (TSX:
AEM), Minefinders Corporation (TSX:
MFL) and NovaGold Resources (TSX:
NG).
In March, Commerce granted 500,000 incentive stock options,
at an exercise price of $0.30 per share for five years to its
officers and directors.
Last week Commerce issued a private placement of up to
6,700,000 units at 30 cents each (for a total of $2 million),
consisting of one common share and one non-transferable share
purchase warrant entitling the holder to purchase one common
share of the Company at 45 cents per share for up to a year.
The last period for which financial information on Commerce
is known is the first fiscal quarter ending with January 2006
(fiscal year ends October 31), during which cash on hand
topped the $1 million mark (all funds are in Canadian dollars
unless specified otherwise), compared to a mere $35, 496 in
the same period the year before. Net loss for Q1 was $113,
428, just slightly more than the first quarter of fiscal 2006.
The Company also revealed that exploration costs on the
properties on which it was working would top $1 million,
signifying its aggressive expansion plans.
More than 39 million shares are issued and outstanding, and
the stock trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol
CCE. Its price stretched to a new 52-week peak in mid-June at
54 cents, in contrast to a gully, down around the dime mark in
July of last year.
Investors who missed the piece on CCE last winter might
wish to look on this report as a reminder of the potential for
this company, and perhaps adjust their portfolios accordingly,
while it's well below a dollar a share.
Copyright © 2007 AllPennyStocks.com. All
rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
AllPennyStocks.com's content is expressly prohibited without
the prior written consent of AllPennyStocks.com.
AllPennyStocks.com shall not be liable for any errors or
delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
|
