An article of interest to you mining bugs out there....

The Billion Dollar Club

• Not so long ago, a billion dollars was considered to be a lot of money and a
junior explorer/developer with a billion dollar market cap was the stuff of myth
and legend. Oh, how times have changed. Today, the combination of strong
metal prices and success with the drill bit has propelled a number of companies
into the billion-plus market cap club. In this week’s edition of Junior Mining
Weekly, we provide a list of 17 non-producers that have qualified for inclusion in
the Billion Dollar Club.

In this week’s Junior Mining Weekly, we highlight a growing list of non-producing junior
mining companies with market caps that exceed $1,000,000,000. Some of these
companies will be acquired and others will be advanced through to production. While we
can’t tell you which companies will be next to join the Billion Dollar Club, investors can
be sure that if metal prices continue to strengthen, this list is likely to lengthen.


The billion dollar club

Market Cap Primary Asset/
Company Name Ticker C$M Country
1 Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. TSX : IVN $17,590 Oyu Tolgoi - Mongolia (66%)
2 Osisko Mining Corporation TSX : OSK $5,143 Malartic - Quebec (100%)
3 NovaGold Resources Inc. TSX : NG $3,150 Donlin Creek - Alaska (50%)
4 Gabriel Resources, Ltd. TSX : GBU $2,710 Rosia Montana - Romania (80%)
5 Detour Gold Corporation TSX : DGC $2,615 Detour Lake - Ontario (100%)
6 Tahoe Resources Inc. TSX : THO $2,209 Escobal - Guatemala (100%)
7 Fronteer Gold Inc. TSX : FRG $2,164 Ong Canyon - Nevada (100%)
8 Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. TSX : NDM $1,648 Pebble - Alaska (50%)
9 Ventana Gold Corp. TSX : VEN $1,421 La Bodega - Colombia (100%)*
10 Seabridge Gold, Inc. TSX : SEA $1,352 KSM - British Columbia (100%)
11 Perseus Mining Ltd. ASX : PRU $1,264 Central Ashanti - Ghana (90%)
12 Romarco Minerals Inc. TSX : R $1,159 Haile - S. Carolina (100%)
13 Great Basin Gold Ltd. AMEX : GBG $1,152 Hollister - Nevada (100%)
14 Nevsun Resources Ltd. TSX : NSU $1,091 Bisha - Eritrea (60%)
15 Mirabela Nickel Ltd. ASX : MBN $1,076 Santa Rita - Brazil (100%)
16 Rubicon Minerals Corporation TSX : RMX $1,067 Red Lake Projects - Ontario (JV’s)
17 Rainy River Resources Ltd. TSXV : RR $1,010 Rainy River - Ontario (100%)
Market cap as of close on Friday, February 25, 2011.
Source: Canaccord Genuity, Intierra Resource Intelligence, Capital IQ