There’s nothing like a roaring gold price to bring out the forecasters! Investors are scuttling for a refuge from the slumping dollar and surging energy costs. And low and behold, Citibank, Gold Fields and leading US coin dealer Blanchard, to name a few, all see $1,200 gold on the horizon!

It ain’t much fun being a miner in these torrid times. It’s raining supply problems, infrastructure problems and energy costs are rocketing. Time for investors to be really picky!

For most South African miners it was a time of darkness. But on the day that Statistics SA released truly dismal 2008 first quarter figures, a stunning debutant proved the mining sector is not all gloom.

Adventure holidays are the usual line for one of Africa’s tiniest countries — Gambia. For one Brit, however, Gambia is proving an adventure too far.

Alberto Bailleres obviously hopes that 1 and 1 will make not 2, but 3, 4 or even 5! The Mexican billionaire owns the giant diversified mining and chemical group, Penoles. Penoles has floated part of its business on London’s stock market.

The Pebble mineral project is said to be one of the biggest unexploited copper-gold-molybdenum prospects in the world. It also happens to be located in the delicate natural ecosystem of South Western Alaska.

Hip hip hooray! New and significant finds are still possible! The news from AngloGold Ashanti’s Columbian project has finally been officially confirmed. And this gold producing major could now be sitting on one of the ten biggest gold reserves in the world.

Forgive junior miners for despairing. Even encouraging news on future production seems to have no real impact on share prices.

The weather has certainly improved! And long may it last. Erin was beginning to wonder if I suffered from seasonal affective disorder. SAD was certainly how I felt until the sun finally came out last week.