How do you own silver in the ground? You purchase stock in debt-free junior mining company of great value. Please note that the novice investor should purchase physical silver before owning stock in any mining company. However, if you insist of investing in juniors, O.T. (Our Turn) Mining Corporation appears to be one of the better prospects. It is my largest holding and is certainly worth exploring if you are not risk averse and own enough of the white (and / or yellow) metal, and want to include O.T. Mining stock in a well-balanced precious metals stock portfolio. The President of O.T. Mining, James Hess, has wisely employed a group of professionals with numerous, world-wide mining success to their credit. Using the full spectrum of modern geology, geophysics, and innovative geochemistry, they seek to provide extraordinary shareholder value by confirmation of precious metal resources with the intention of selling properties to mining companies better equipped to extract the metals. Currently, however, it is a non-drilled project. The capital has been raised and weather conditions will dictate when drilling will begin on their first project, the Kit Carson. At the Ruby property, 15/18 men are in the field surveying and doing the Titan 24 ground geophysical survey. Mr. Hess tells me that the approximate drill target date is the last week in June, but most likely will be the first week in July. It's a great time to talk to Mr. Hess about his company before drill results are returned. If results are positive you can imagine what would happen to their share price and how often his phone would be ringing! You may not have much time to until results are returned but the good news is that every share is non-diluted so you will be purchasing valuable shares, from a well-managed explorer. In July of 1980, O.T. Mining acquired the Ruby Mines Property and Mineral Claims (approximately 614 acres in the Lowland Mining District of Jefferson County, Montana). This purchase included 5 patented and 31 unpatented mining claims. And as of June 2003, they added an additional 232 unpatented claims to the Ruby Property. With extensive target areas and mineralized zones of Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, and Zinc, Mr. Hess believes that the Ruby property alone may return the state of Montana to predominance of precious metal wealth in the U.S. It may contain ore potential equal to or exceeding that of the its neighbor 14 miles to the south, “The Richest Hill On Earth." Historic silver production for this Butte district, from was 714,643,005 oz. from 1880 to 2000. I recently asked Mr. Hess other important details about his company. Below are the questions and the replies: What number of outstanding shares and fully diluted shares exist? As of 31/12/03 outstanding shares,
6,926,599; fully diluted shares 9,648, 806.
Approximately 1 million shares of the approx. 5 million (at most) free trading. **Outstanding shares -- The
number of shares issued and outstanding, (not options nor warrants.) Ninety percent of the shareholders listed in 1990 hold their stock so it is a very thinly traded. Recently, 250 shared traded and the share price was up 17%. And until the recent private placement, Jim Hess personally knew most shareholders. Of particular interest to shareholders are O.T. Mining's acquisition of the aforementioned 'patented' mining claims. Patented claims are worth more to a mining operation because they own the minerals AND the land. This allows the owner to construct permanent structures and possibly sell the land like deeded real estate. The Ruby Property, consisting of two claims, was patented in 1888 when significant mineral values were proven to exist. With 5 patented properties and the use of innovative geochemical techniques, airborne surveys, and detailed mapping and sampling the target goal of locating ore rich in precious metals looks promising. Though mined irregularly since the 1870s, the Ruby Property was found to hold very rich 'bonanza' grade mineralization. According to old records, about 200,000 tons of ore was removed from the Ruby between 1885 to 1915, averaging 2.44 ounces of gold and 38.66 silver per ton. Past mining history Much of O.T. Mining's reserves in the Ruby Property are believed to consist of substantial 'bonanza' grade mineralization. Bonanza deposits usually consists of 'shoots' whereby a portion of an ore body's precious metal content far exceeds that of the ore body as a whole. The Ruby Property was often found to contain numerous pipe-like shoots, that if mined on their own, would average several tens of ounces of gold per ton. These structures usually occurred at the junction of two separate veins and were considerably deep but limited in length and width. A bonanza shoot could be mined out in a matter of days or weeks while the existing ore body could have reserves for years. Such shoots are not predictable through normal drill exploration due their small horizontal cross-section and are found only as a result of normal mining activities. The Ruby Property ore body averaged 0.4 ounces of gold per ton with possible bonanza shoots containing 20 ounces per ton. Of further interest is information from a 1966 Ruby Property extension of the 600 foot level adit (nearly horizontal tunnel from the surface) from 217 feet to 3045 feet. This extension was an attempt to intersect the 'bonanza' ore shoots from below and yielded copper, lead, zinc and a silver vein. Net smelter payments were on 1.33% copper, 5.16% zinc, 7.6% lead and four ounces of silver per ton, returns considered to be excellent grades per ton. In addition to the Ruby Property, the O.T. Mining Corporation owns 17.4% of NAMEX Explorations, Inc. MMI geochemical surveys have proved that NAMEX ore bodies contain the base metals Copper, Zinc, Lead, Cobalt, Cadmium and Nickel, which has prompted the desire to pursue drill testing. So far, third party reporting has shown a large property of substantial mineral deposits Further use of metallurgy studies will determine if all metals can be extracted from the ore efficiently together. For example, if nickel contained in the ore bodies is in a form that is not economical to recover, the metallurgical formula for processing the rest of the metals will yield substantial amounts of the other metals. Further, O.T. Mining purchased a mill with property consisting of approximately 27 acres, for $300,000 in March of 1988. A portion of the purchase price ($192,550) included the price of the land and property rights. The mill and property is located near the Ruby Property in Jefferson County, Montana and includes a laboratory building and equipment. I surmise that this purchase would make a sale more attractive to any mining company ready to begin extraction. The future looks bright for the continuation of the silver bull market so it's a great time for junior mining and exploration companies. That guy in the Oval Office nominated Greenspan for a fifth term by issuing a statement that the U.S. economy is growing at the fastest rate in two decades. Do you believe him? It can only be true if you consider the countless paper dollars printed to pay for the Iraq invasion and occupation! So take some of that inflated paper and diversify into physical silver and juniors. Be one of the smart ones and don't let the path he and Greenspan have chosen affect you. The Ruby Property could be sitting on hundreds of millions of ounces of silver and the wonderful bonus of metals recently enjoying increased demand. So if you need to add to an already diversified portfolio, please contact O.T. Mining's friendly president, James W. Hess. Telephone # (514) 935-2445. He welcomes any calls to discuss this article. Additional information is on their website, otmining.com. If you would like to see an interview with Mr. Hess, click on the IDNR-TV banner at the top of O.T.’s home page or go directly to resourceschannel.com. If you do not have internet access or a high speed connection, O.T. Mining is willing to send you a CD Rom or a VHS tape of the interview. ---------------------------- I own stock in the O.T. Mining Corporation. I am not paid by them to write this article. I am sharing my personal research but am not an investment professional. The information contained herein is accurate to the best of my knowledge. With any investment, exercise extreme caution and do your own research. Greg Kyle |