dividends revisited, page-19

If gold miners didn't have a good year in 2011 then one can ask when do they intend to have a good year. 2011 saw gold @ $1900/oz; an historical high.

Sure return on equity is fine for the company and once the mine is depleted
we hope that the company would return the capital to the shareholder.
If you believe this, then good luck!

Even if IGR's drill program costs $20 mil annually, there's plenty of cash left
to pay a divvie and for moderate acquisitions.

If IGR believes that it needs the cash box to acquire proven resources then
it should have second thoughts about spending so much on drilling. My argument is that they should not be spending so much on internal growth
(drilling) if it needs a war chest of cash for acquisitions to improve mine life leaving itself vulnerable to a cheap takeover.

Gold miners come and go due to mine life (unlike iron ore or coal who have
generations of mine life) and the proper thing for a board to do is to look after
the shareholder by paying a decent divvie.

Last night on "your Money Your Call",David Novac, a self professed gold bug
and a knowledgeable technical and fundamental analyst said that producing gold miners have to return capital to shareholders if the want serious investment.

A similar opinion is also held by Howard Coleman from Team Invest who regularly appears on Your Money Your Call.

Anyway, comparing IGR SP growth with that of KRM (Krm is an emerging gold miner like IGR who has decided to pay its first divvie in April) over 2012
and if IGR's capital appreciation beats KRM, then I'll agree with you. In the interim, I'll stick with my hypothesis that dividend paying gold miners attract
insto investors better than non- divvie payers and that extra buying volume
by instos push up SP in a sustainable manner.

Not many instos are willing to wait until a mine runs out to get a capital return.

Cheers and the best of luck for 2012.

Moorookamick