Hey Folks;

I am starting this thread in an attempt to add a little encouragement and positivity to the hub so my fellow investors hold on to their dream in SLI---not only because the SP is in the tank, but additionally because of the state of the "World Economy." I also am of the hope that this hub "chats it up a bit because we all know in our hearts that the way the economies of the world are unfolding---its not if we may have a depression, it is when we have a depression. History does repeat itself, and in my opinion we are on the cusp of another depression like the one in the "Dirty 30s".

Every day, we hear more news of the European Debt Problems, as well as the American Debt Crisis, and it is bothersome at best, if not downright nerve wracking, because it seems that no matter what we do or say---we are not in control of our own destiny.

We used to hear the word "Recession" a lot, which conjurred up visions of economic storm clouds, but as of late we hear more and more of the term "Depression" which in turn conjurrs up visions of economic chaos.

Phrases like "Fiat Currency", Debt Collapse, Quantitative Easing, to name a few are now the headliners on our news stands and television broadcasts, and many of us just pass it off as political jibberish, only to find out later that it is we who are taking the brunt of this retoric.

I will try to put into persective what these terms have to do with our families futures as well as how many of the words most respected analysts feel this is going to play out for us all---and how we can buffer the economic storm that is inevitably coming at us.

We all know what inflation is,-- but-- do we know how it is affecting our generation as well as our future generations. Gold and Silver and other precious metals are "money" and have been for many centuries, and dollar bills are merely "currency" that is printed to represent an amount of those precious metals being held to represent that wealth.

For every dollar of gold held by our governments in vaults, we used to print currency to represent that amount of wealth, and it used to be the world standard by which all currency was printed. In the 70s when the US and other world governments decided that the US dollar should be the standard, we started printing "Fiat Currency" that was no longer backed by an equivalent amount of Gold.

Unfortunatly, they printed so much fiat currency that inflation reared its ugly head, cuz we were printing it so fast that we could not even keep up with the interest on the money we borrowed to keep up our expensive lifestyles. In order to keep from going into a "Debt Collapse" we had to print even more currency, to do what we call "Quantitative Easing"---or in other words ---buying themselves out of debt.

Problem is, we all know that can't be done---you have to work yourself out of debt. When you can no longer produce enuff product to sell to pay your debts, bankruptcy is the only option. When that happens to countries, depression is immanent, and people revert back to the Gold and precious metals as payment for goods and services. Paper money or currency becomes just so much toilet tissue, not even worth the paper its printed on.

Now, how do we protect ourselves from this imminant danger that threatens to "Wipe Out" all you have saved for your whole working life. Well-- I believe that if you go back to the last depression, and look what saved so many peoples savings, you will learn that there are what I call "5 kinds of Gold.

1. Shiney Gold---------this is gold or silver bullion.
2. Brown Gold--------- this is land
3. Black Gold --------- this is oil and gas
4. Paper Gold --------- this is stocks in Gold Producing Companies
5. Prospective Gold--- this is Gold that is discovered but not yet produced

If we analyse each catagory, we will see there are individual stengths in each one and like any good investment portfolio, diversification is probably the key---in other words ---a little in each one spreads the risk so that if one is weak the other is probably strong.

1. Shiney Gold---In this type of gold you have to understand that when "Fiat Currency" fails, everybody flocks to the precious metals and that drives the price up because of supply & demand. Most of the analysts agree that when the rush comes for the gold and silver in particular, there will be shortages in both, but many feel that silver will outperform gold because of its nature. It is used in the electronics manufacturing industry and we all know what thats about---you are actually looking thru a minute amount of silver on your computer screen. There are some who say that silver will be as expensive as gold in the near future, and it is a consumable item---gold is mostly used in Jewellry and minor amounts in electronics.
2. Brown Gold---This is a term I have given land or property, and it remains worth money because the simply do not make more of it. With the worlds population growing like it is, it can only become more valuable because of the fact that there are more people needing a place to call home.
3. Black Gold---This is a nickname given to crude oil, and when Jed Clampett was becoming famously rich with the Beverly Hillbillies, oil was only $3 dollars a barrel. We all know where it is now and I don't see it dropping alot as long as we need transportation, heating, cooling and plastics.
4. Paper Gold---This is holding stocks in Gold Producing companies like Barrick and Newmont and Goldcorp etc. As long as there is a rush to gold and silver from paper money, these stocks will continue to excell.
5. Prospective Gold---This is holding stocks in companies who go out and explore for the gold and silver. They are what you are presently holding as shares in St Elias Mines. As long as the drill and core programs prove what these explorers have discovered, these probably pay the best return because of the nature of the business. St Elias Mines has the ABILITY to pay thousands of percentage points in returns as long as the drill results prove what we all hope to be the volume we need to make this a world class find.

Soooo--I hope this all makes your investment give you the fuzzy feeling it gives me, cuz one way or the other, we're all going to be just fine---depression or not. We just have to use our investment wisely when our ship comes into port. Have a great day.!!

Rinky