Hi GoochYes I posted about Tropicana sometime ago. It stands at...

Hi Gooch

Yes I posted about Tropicana sometime ago. It stands at about 8 m ozs now, but for those with short memories or who have just joined

1. Tropicana first discovered in 2002..actually wmc had done the soil geochem many years before, when they were looking for nickel...they found gold which did not fit their needs or the geological model, so on they went (lets not digress on this), a few other companies had found large gold geochem anomalies in calcrete to the south along the belt...and lost their shirts following these up......no prior work at Batie....so its very green..for added contrast Banfora (Gryphon) had been explored by WMC and Resolute before Gryphon even knew of the country's existence...but this gets glossed over...
2. IGO have about 300+kms of strike extent covered by permits, but have have only 30% ownership...AMX has about 150 kms, and they have 100% ownership....I like the 100%!
3. IGO got a partner with deep pockets initially, which could afford to take the initial risks (which were very very high). Now IGO can only access 30% of the project...AMX has 100% of the project (how rare is this???)
4. No resources at Tropicana in the first 3 years of exploration...AMX had 3.1 m ozs...AMX has got a better resource strike rate...but they should not let up, and I am sure they will not...
5. IGO had a large partner from the start which slowed the development story down considerably, as the project FIRST had to meet the scale requirements of the larger company (One director of IGO has maintained it would have been long in production now if they did not have to build an International airport, Olympic swimming pools etc for the larger companies standards). AMX can start small to get the free cash flow..even though it has got a project with scale now.,,masters of their destiny...(and for the posters, have a look at the AMX board...there area few guys who have been in the Mining business there...Ron Renton has about 40 years experience and was the trouble shooter for AngloGold (partner at Tropicana) prior to joining AMX)
6. IGO have one dominant style of mineralisation, AMX has several. I would have several, as generally this increases the chances of
a. Finding many more ounces
b. Blending ore types to work around met issues

So a few contrasting points to consider.

Always consider that a lot of the key printing presses in the world are going to be working overtime through Xmas and the New Year (poor things) ... it can all be done at the stroke of a key board now (so not to arduous!!!)....but the good old Polly's and their Central Banker Mates haven't found out how to print gold....my bet is they will not, and gold will rise against all of the IOU paper money/fiat currency, which only a fool would trust would hold its value into the future! Perhaps a few hiccups, but the trend is UP, just as the trend to print IOUs is UP.

Merry Xmas and wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and LUCKY New Year.

Plenty of gold left in the ground at Batie for sure!!!