"You're probably looking at about 2 per cent [that develop a mine]," says Michael Fowler, mining analyst at Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon Ltd., a brokerage house that specializes in junior companies. "So that's your chance."

and this

Ultimately, Mr. Stoferle says, any junior able to make a reasonable discovery will have upside, particularly from takeovers by major mining companies seeking to expand.

"The big companies desperately need high-quality deposits in stable jurisdictions," he says. "From a risk-reward perspective, I think this sector is the place to be."

Obviously, there are more opinions out there about the percentage of explorers that end up actually developing a mine.

Penderite