Report on Argentina Gold Mining

 Abridged Version - October 10, 2007

  Content found herein is not investment advise see Terms of Use, Disclosure & Disclaimer

Special Advisory/Review - Case Study: Soltera Mining Corp. (OTCBB: SLTA chart news)(Frankfurt: SN7) offers tremendous potential for gold in Argentina (in the province of Jujuy, located in the Andean Cordillera in the extreme north-west of Argentina near the international border with Bolivia) as Soltera possesses a large gold-rich quartz vein up to 14 km long and 14 m wide known as the El Torno Project. Soltera's operation is backed with a highly skilled technical team that includes SLTA's President Dr. Fabio Montinari and Dr. Kevin Ashworth, both whom have extensive knowledge and background in the mining industry. A particular clue for investors would be the calibre of individuals involved; Dr. Ashworth is retained as an adviser by several London investment organizations and Dr. Montinari has personally relocated from his university professorship in Italy to Soltera's El Torno property in order to ensure proper execution of their plan and maximize shareholder value.   The El Torno Project is a past producing gold mine that was worked by the Incas, Jesuits and Spanish in parts using only the simplest of means (within the last year the upper 2 to 3 m of parts of the vein and an alluvial deposit near to the vein were mined; the gold was recovered as particles and micro-nuggets); Soltera is confident that modern exploration techniques will allow for the further extraction of gold from the area and is expeditiously moving to exploit the mining concession. Highly qualified opinion (non 43-101) is that characteristics for 2M ounces exists in just one small section of the vein that has had work performed on it by Puma Minerals and Latin Americas leading producer of refined gold, Peñoles. Peñoles re-interpreted Puma Mineral's exploration drill data and after further work Peñoles estimated (non 43-101 compliant) that a 1.3 km length of the vein would have the potential for more than 500,000 ounces of gold to a depth of 100 m and that a 2 to 2.5 km length to a depth of 400 m would have potential for more than 2 million ounces (assuming a grade of 10 g/t). The vein has more than 1,000 m of underground galleries. The vein extends north-south, is sub-vertical, and is accompanied in places by a stockwork system of small quartz and pyrite veins that can extend up to 300 m from the main vein.   Soltera Mining Corp. is an exploration stage company primarily focused on the exploration of its El Torno project. The El Torno gold prospect is a past-producing gold mine and Soltera believes that modern exploration techniques will allow for the further extraction of gold from the area. The site has good infrastructure basics in place, the region is at altitudes around 4,000 m and the nearest permanent habitation is the village of Santa Catalina about 20 km to the east. The property consists of four mining rights covering a total area of 7,800 hectares. Soltera plans to commence the exploration program with geochemical prospecting to evaluate the presence of mineralization along and around the complete vein, as well as in specific areas of the stockwork system.   Upside Valuation: We anticipate potentially significant upside share price movement and higher valuation as the story of this new listing to the market gets better known and exploration results verify historic data. With less than 45M shares outstanding, this new issue currently trades under US$1 per share. Independent Links for further DD on Soltera Mining Corp.

Notable Mining Participants in Argentina

Three major projects have been responsible for growth:
 
1) Bajo de la Alumbrera Project (copper and gold) - owned by Minera Alumbrera S.A. (MIM Holdings, North and Rio Algom)
2) Salar del Hombre Muerto - Fenix Project (lithium) - owned by Minera del Altiplano SA (FMC Lithium Co.)
3) Cerro Vanguardia Project (gold and silver) - owned by Minera Mincorp SA (Anglo American associated with local Perez Companc S.A.)
 

Although not in production, two other important projects are:
 
1) Pascua-Lama - a bi-national Chilean-Argentine project run by Canadian company Barrick. The company will invest $950 million to develop the project in the San Juan province.
2) Agua Rica - the mine is situated along the side of huge mountains in a very heavily mountainous area. The Veladero gold-silver project in Argentina’s western San Juan province is part of the El Indio gold belt that straddles the borders of Argentina and Chile.
 

Other prospects include the Pirquitas silver, tin and zinc mine in north western Jujuy province, owned by Sunshine Mining.

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The majority of the large mining projects are controlled by the local subsidiaries of multinationals. There are also several smaller, listed, foreign companies that are active in exploration and development.

Companies with gold exploration properties in Argentina (Names are expandable in the non abridged version of this report):

ALEXANDER MINING PLC AMERA RESOURCES CORPORATION ANACONDA MINING INC. ANDEAN RESOURCES LIMITED ANTARES MINERALS INC. APEX SILVER MINES LTD AQUILINE RESOURCES INC ARGENTEX MINING CORP ATW VENTURE CORP. BALLAD GOLD & SILVER LTD. BARRICK EXPLORACIONES ARGENTINA S.A. BARRICK GOLD CORPORATION BHP BILLITON CANYON RESOURCES CORP CARDERO ARGENTINA S.A. CARDERO RESOURCE CORP. CASCADERO COPPER CORPORATION CLOUDBREAK RESOURCES LTD. COEUR ARGENTINA S.R.L. COEUR D ALENE MINES CORP COGNITO LIMITED COMPANHIA VALE DO RIO DOCE - CVRD COMPANIA DE MINAS BUENAVENTURA S.A.A. COMPANIA MINERA ESPERANZA COMPANIA MINERA SOLITARIO DE ARGENTINA S.A. COMPANIA MINERA TRENDIX S.A. CONDOR RESOURCES INC. CONSOLIDATED PACIFIC BAY MINERALS LTD. CORO MINING CORP. ESTELAR RESOURCES LTD.

EXETER RESOURCE CORPORATION FOMENTO MINERO DE SANTA CRUZ S.E. - FOMICRUZ S.E. FREEPORT MCMORAN COPPER & GOLD INC GEOCOM RESOURCES INC GLOBAL COPPER CORP. GOLDEN ARROW RESOURCES CORPORATION GOLDEN CHINA RESOURCES CORPORATION GOLDEN PEAKS ARGENTINA S.A. GOLDEN PEAKS RESOURCES LTD. HOCHSCHILD MINING PLC HUNTMOUNTAIN RESOURCES IAMGOLD CORPORATION IMA EXPLORATION INC. INTREPID MINES LIMITED LA MANCHA RESOURCES INC. LA PLATA GOLD CORPORATION LAKE RESOURCES NL LATIN AMERICAN MINERALS ARGENTINA S.A. LATIN AMERICAN MINERALS INC. MANSFIELD MINERA S.A. MANSFIELD MINERALS INC. MARIANA RESOURCES LTD. MARIFIL MINES LIMITED MARIFIL S.A. MAURICIO HOCHSCHILD ARGENTINA S.A. - MH ARGENTINA S.A. MERIDIAN GOLD INC. MINAS ARGENTINAS S.A. MINERA ANDES INC. MINERA ANDES S.A. MINERA ANTARES ARGENTINA S.A.

MINERA AQUILINE ARGENTINA S.A. MINERA EL DESQUITE S.A. MINERA MARIANA ARGENTINA S.A. MINERA PATAGONIA S.A. MIRASOL ARGENTINA S.R.L. MIRASOL RESOURCES LTD. OPAWICA EXPLORATIONS INC. OROPLATA S.A. PACIFIC RIM MINING CORP. PACIFIC RIM MINING CORPORATION ARGENTINA S.A. PALLADON VENTURES LTD. PATAGONIA GOLD PLC PATAGONIA GOLD S.A. PORTAL RESOURCES LTD. RIO DOCE ARGENTINA S.A. RIO TINTO ROME RESOURCES LTD. ROYAL GOLD, INC. SILVER STANDARD RESOURCES INC. SOLTERA MINING CORP. STEALTH MINERALS LIMITED SURAMINA RESOURCES INC. TECK COMINCO LIMITED TNR GOLD CORP. VEGA GOLD LTD. XSTRATA PLC YAMANA GOLD INC. YAMIRI GOLD AND ENERGY INC.

Gold exploration properties in Argentina (Names are expandable in the non abridged version of this report):

AGUA NUEVA (LA CABEZA NORTH) AGUAS CALIENTES AMARILLO AMICHE ARGENTINA PROJECT ARIZARO-LINDERO ARROYO CASCADA ARROYO VERDE BAJO POBRE BATIDERO GOLD CALCATREAU CANADON CANADON LARGO CARRIZAL CERRO CHOIQUE CERRO MOJON PROJECT CERRO MORO CERRO NEGRO CERRO PUNTUDO CLAUDIA - CERRO VANGUARDIA CONDOR - YAMANA CRESPO DIABLILLOS DIENTE VERDE PROJECT DON SIXTO/ LA CABEZA EL ACAY EL CAMINO EL DORADO (SALTA) EL TORNO ESQUEL ESTRELLA - YAMANA FAMATINA

GARCIA - RIO DE LAS TAGUAS GASTRE GUALCAMAYO / QUEBRADA DEL DIABLO HUACHI HUALILAN INCAHUASI INCAMAYO LA BREA/LAS CARACHAS LA BRECHA LA CAROLINA LA ESPERANZA/ ANDEAN LA FORTUNA PROJECT LA MANCHURIA LA ORTIGUITA (LA ORTIGA) LA PALOMA - SYRAH (PATAGONIA) LAGUNA DE LOS TOROS LAGUNA VERDE LAGUNAS LOS PATOS LAS BAYAS (EVELINA) LAS CARACHAS LAS FLECHAS LEJANO LIRIO/ JOSEMARIA LOS AZULES / SAN JUAN LOS DESPOBLADOS LOS DOS BUHOS LOS MENUCOS (EL PUESTO ET AL.) LOS MENUCOS CERRA LAMINA LOS MENUCOS CERRO ABANICO MADRYN RIFT MANCHA BLANCA MESA (LAS MELLIZAS)

MICMAR - MARTINETAS MILAGRITO MINAS AZULES MOGOTE MORRO (#36) NORTHERN PROPERTIES PARAMILLOS PENASCUDO PINGUINO PONCHA RACHAITE RANCHILLOS / RIO BLANCO REGALO RIO GRANDE ROSARITA SALAMANCA SALAR DE ORO SAN FRANCISCO - PACIFIC RIM SAN JORGE (VALLE DE USPALLATA) SAN JOSE (JUJUY) SAN RAFAEL (ANCHORIS) SAN ROQUE PROJECT SANTA CRUZ (24 PROPS) SANTA CRUZ PROJECT SASCHA SIERRA DE LAS MINAS SIERRA NOVA TACA TACA TORUEL TRES HERMANAS VARVARCO VICUNA

Economic and Political happenings in Argentina
Note: Madison Avenue Research is neutral in stance; the following are from contributed commentary by political, economic, and media pundits in-the-know:

A presidential election is set for October 28, 2007; Cristina Kirchner, the wife of the current president, Nestor Kirchner of the Partido Justicialista (PJ, or Peronists), and a popular PL senator, is well placed (according to Argentine political/media pundits) to place first. Mr Kirchner has enlarged his influence over the bulk of the Peronist party, which has a majority in Congress, while successfully courting sections of the opposition and obtaining the support of 2/3 of provincial governors thus forming a broader political alliance. Mrs Kirchner’s honeymoon period may prove short-lived, since she faces a number of challenges if she is to preside over a smooth transition from rapid GDP growth rates in 2003-07 to more sustainable levels. If Mrs Kirchner is successful, her ability to govern is likely to be relatively firm, at least until the congressional election in 2009, as she will enjoy support from the political alliance that her husband had fostered.
 
The economy has rebounded from a recession and less than stellar performance during 1999-2002, stirred by peso devaluation and high commodity prices. Some economists predict the closing of the output gap, bottlenecks and the scarcity of financing should temper GDP growth going forward. Inflows of foreign direct investment should average around 2% of GDP. A decline in fiscal surpluses is also predicted. The next government may address the issue of US$25 billion in “hold-outs” who did not participate in the 2005 debt exchange. A government under Mrs Kirchner is likely to continue to maintain a more interventionist role for the state, especially with regard to infrastructure and energy, continuing to set aside free market tendencies of the 1990s. Unorthodox measures, such as price controls, are a likelihood in order to achieve policy goals, at least until the 2007 election and quite possibly in 2008. In terms of effects on the mining industry... continued support and no surprises.
 

Related Mining in Argentina Links
The Mineral Industry of Argentina - USGS (2005) [PDF]: http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/country/2005/myb3-2005-ar.pdf

MBendi, Argentina Mining - Overview: http://www.mbendi.co.za/indy/ming/sa/ap/p0005.htm

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Disclaimer & Disclosure: The information contained herein is believed to be accurate but this cannot be guaranteed. The analysis does not purport to be a complete study of securities and issues mentioned herein, and readers are advised to discuss any related purchase or sale decisions with a registered securities broker. Companies mentioned herein may be very early stages of development and thus can therefore be subject to business failure, and are to be considered speculative and high risk in nature. Reports herein are for information purposes and are not solicitations to buy or sell any of the securities mentioned. The author may or may not hold a position (long or short) in the securities mentioned herein. This is a journalistic article and the author is not a registered securities advisor, and opinions expressed should not be considered as investment advice to buy or sell securities, but rather opinion only. The publisher may make take journalistic liberties employing the use of pseudonyms as reference contacts and accepting information at face value from what it believes to be credible sources. Further disclaimer and disclosure regarding various aspects of this report / article including compensation and other points may be seen at http://www.madisonaveresearch.com/disclaimer.htm.