Tim Boreham | January 01, 2008 IF the mining boom has indeed peaked, someone forgot to tell our panel of expert share tipsters, who remain heavily weighted to the resources sector in 2008.
Of our eight tipsters' top 10 share picks, more than half are in the resources sector. BHP Billiton remains the exposure of choice, with five of them opting for the safety of the Big Australian in their portfolio.
PNG gold producer Lihir and gold and copper miner Oxiana are also favourites, as is BHP's love interest Rio Tinto.
Elsewhere, retail stalwart Woolworths remains popular, as does Toll Holdings and Qantas.
Our new chum on the panel, Cranport Hedge Fund associate director Mark Fichera, expresses the strongest vote of faith in mining, with all 10 tips exposed to the sector.
Aquila Resources has an attractive suite of large-scale coal and iron ore projects, including its Belvedere coal joint-venture with Brazil's Vale. It's also well cashed up.
Terramin Australia should generate first revenues from its Angas zinc mine in 2008 and progress to feasibility stage on its Algerian zinc project.
BHP stands to win from rising oil and bulk commodity prices. If it doesn't win Rio Tinto, there are many other opportunities.
Mirabella Nickel has a large nickel sulphide project under construction and is extremely cheap compared with its peers.
Lihir is purely leveraged to gold production, with great economies of scale. It's set for another year of record production under new management.
Centamin Egypt should bring a 10 million ounce gold mine - the Sukari gold mine 700km south of Cairo - into production.
In the gas sector, Po Valley Energy is set to sell gas to the receptive Italian gas market, with negligible capital expenditure.
Strike Resources has unusually high-grade magnetite project in Peru and is undervalued relative to peers, considering the size of its ore body.
Ammtec has benefited from strong demand for metallurgical services and is cheap versus other mining services companies.
And Energy Resources Australia reaps the benefits from higher realised uranium prices, a production turnaround and from exploration activities.
Commonwealth Securities equities economist Craig James chooses BHP and Rio for exposure to continued industrialisation in China and the benefits of mining sector consolidation.
There's a sniff of a turnaround in the rural sector as the rain falls. James expects better seasonal conditions for GrainCorp, as well as ABB Grain.
Leighton has significant work in progress and its order book just keeps growing.
Woolworths dominates the supermarket sector, is well managed and will benefit from faster population growth. Need we say more?
And when they're not buying the essential groceries, the populace will flock to Harvey Norman for computers and electrical goods, all made cheaper by digital goods deflation and the Aussie dollar's strength.
Cape Lambert Iron is in a booming sector but has underperformed other iron ore exploration and development companies. It's a speculative buy for latecomers.
Old favourite CSL dominates the global market for blood plasma products, while the Packers' recently demerged Crown is well-positioned to grow its casino and gaming interests.
Angus Geddes, of Fat Prophets Funds Management, also has a resources bent.
Oxiana has a flat earnings profile for 2008, but picks up strongly in 2009 and 2010.
Lihir Gold had production setbacks at the end of 2007 which dragged full-year performance down. But Fat Prophets still likes the longer term story.
Drilling services company Boart Longyear should continue to find plenty of work, while the LNG assets of Oil Search have solid long-term appeal.
Cockatoo Coal is an emerging coal company with an interesting suite of assets in Queensland's Surat Basin. Platinum Australia is an emerging platinum producer with a number of developments in South Africa.
Then there's the poetically-dubbed Coeur D'Alene. Following the takeover of Bolnisi Gold, the North American silver producer is now listed on the ASX. It's the world's largest primary silver producer and worth buying for the poetic name alone.
Westonia remains a highly leveraged play on the $A gold price. Patience was required in 2007, but with our bullish view on gold, 2008 could be the year it all comes together.
Away from resources, it's been a terrible year for Japan and property trusts in 2007, which makes Babcock & Brown Japan Property Trust one for the contrarians.
Patersons' private client director Andrew Bostock takes out BHP and Rio as an insurance policy and also likes Oxiana and emerging African uranium producer Paladin.
On a more esoteric note, there's EquiGold, which should unlock value from its Greenstone turf on the Ivory Coast.
The recent listing of Mesbon China Nylon offers a rare chance for a direct investment in a Chinese manufacturer, while optoelectronics innovator Arasor capitalises on surging demand in China and India.
Wilson Asset Management's Geoff Wilson chooses a diverse mix of mainly smaller industrial plays.
Small business software house Reckon gets the nod for its excellent management, great cash flow and potential to boost earnings per share via acquisitions.
Telco service provider eServGlobal has been growing earnings at 15 per cent a year, trades on a low PE and has takeover appeal.
Tower NZ is in the early stages of a big turnaround. Mitchell dominates the internet advertising business after its Emitch takeover, while Solomon Lew's Premier Investments is cashed up after selling out of Coles Group and trading at a 23 per cent discount to net tangible assets.
The Australian's business desk is risking its formidable reputation by picking a slew of small mining stocks. These include the Chinese-backed lead, zinc, copper and silver hopeful Abra Mining and a quiet achiever of the WA gold sector, Norton Gold Fields.
Among the industrials, the Geoff Lord-backed telco ComTel will prove to be wildly undervalued if it can fulfil its ambitions, after buying the "permission marketing" group Empowered.
Finally, the word from the pyschic is to retain faith in the tried and trusted: the Big Four banks, Woolies, Woodside and - yep - BHP and Rio.
ASX Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)