Low U.S. Dollar Shades IWG's Second Quarter Results

International Water-Guard (TSX-V: IWG)
Basic Shares: 38.1 million
Fully Diluted: 45.6million


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The low U.S. dollar ate away at International Water Guard's (IWG) second quarter fiscal 2011 results but the market seemed to shrug off the relatively flat financial news in anticipation of near-term announcements on IWG's mergers and acquisition work.

Sales in the second quarter, which ended March 31st, 2011, were just over $1 million, a drop of about $100 thousand from the same quarter last year.

IWG still reported net earnings of $14 thousand but that was compared to net earnings of $54 thousand in the same quarter last year.

Overall, the six month sales to March 31st dropped just $22 thousand, compared to the same period in the previous year, to settle at $2.1 million.

The market didn't budge. In fact, there were no shares traded at all on a day that was generally not kind to small caps.

Perhaps the steady share price came because IWG announced last month that it was putting a restructuring proposal forward for shareholder approval at its annual meeting today.

That caused Fundamental Research to speculate in an update report that "this restructuring plan could be an indication that the company is close to completing an acquisition or asset sale."

Fundamental has been consistently pointing out how the market is not giving a fair evaluation to IWG in light of its relatively strong financial position with no debt and money in the bank.
So in its last report, Fundamental went further by stating:

"The proposed restructuring, we believe, would provide greater transparency and possibly unlock the value of IWG's operating business."

Fundamental ended its report sticking with its previous fair value share price of $0.30 for IWG, compared to the market price at the day of the report of $0.07, the same share price for today's close.

VentriPoint Attracts Pioneer In Pulmonary Hypertension

VentriPoint Diagnostics Ltd.
VPT - TSX Venture
Shares issued: ~79.4 million
Fully diluted: ~99.6 million

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Linked here ..... is today’s’ news release appointing Dr. Robyn Barst to Ventripoint’s Scientific Advisory Board.

This announcement is a coup as Dr. Barst is a noted, leading cardiologist in Pulmonary Hypertension, which is abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs, making the right side of the heart work extremely hard. Her vast experience will prove valuable with VPT planning the imminent launch of its PHT trials. Dr. Barst will be the principal investigator for the trials in the United States.

PHT is seen as having the potential to be an annual $1 billion market for Ventripoint’s 3D technology. Dr. Barst’s involvement is expected to drive early support for the research component.

For some time Ventripoint has been building the PH database. VPT began internally testing the database at the end of March and is now preparing to deploy VMS units into leading centres for validation trials. The objective is to prove that VMS is equal to MRI images but is much faster, convenient and affordable. The key to Ventripoint’s technology is its ability to create 3D images of the heart from ultrasound images.

Dr. Barst as the principal investigator will pick the prime sites for the trials . Dr. Barst continues to be on a number of FDA advisory committees. Her expertise will be invaluable in this inititiative.

Understandably, CEO Dr. George Adams is very pleased to have someone of Dr.Barst’s calibre join the team, as it is another step in proving VPT as an innovator of providing imaging systems to a global market. Dr. Barst is equally motivated as she believes that the VMS system has strong potential.

As we have mentioned before, each step forward brings the company closer to full scale commercialization.


Dr. Barst bio:

Robyn J. Barst, MD, FAHA, FACC, FCCP, FAAP

Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics (in Medicine)
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
New York, NY USA
Director of the New York Pulmonary Hypertension Center at Columbia University (1982-2008)

Dr. Barst received her undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY and her medical degree (Alpha Omega Alpha and the Distinguished Medical Alumnus Award of the School of Medicine) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. She completed a residency in pediatrics, and two fellowships in pediatric cardiology and pulmonary medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York, NY. Following her training, Dr. Barst was recipient of the AHA Clinician-Scientist Award and the NHLBI Clinical Investigator Award.

Dr. Barst founded the first pediatric and adult pulmonary hypertension center in 1982 and served as its director until 2008. She serves as a scientific advisor to pharmaceutical companies worldwide developing novel drugs for pulmonary hypertension. She is a consultant to the FDA, the EMEA and the NHLBI. She also served as Chair of the AHA’s Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young.

VentriPoint’s Breakthrough – Technology To Grab Centre Stage

VentriPoint Diagnostics Ltd.
VPT - TSX Venture
Shares issued: ~79.4 million
Fully diluted: ~99.6 million

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Late last year VentriPoint raised some eyebrows with news that it was installing its heart measurement technology in a national reference hospital in Oslo, Norway.

Now comes news that leading Rikshospitalet cardiologist, Dr. Henrik Brun will be presenting a paper next week at a gathering of peers in Norway. Dr. Brun’s audience will be fellow pediatric cardiologists. The past three months of study utilizing VentriPoint’s VMS 3D technology to remodel the area of the right heart after valve replacement is the subject of the address.

Dr. Henry Brun noted, “It is time to tell other pediatric cardiologists about our first experience and what we hope to achieve; particularly for the follow-up of Tetralogy of Fallot (a heart disease often referred to as ‘blue-baby syndrome’) patients that we have studied using the VMS™ imaging process.”

VPT management anticipates that over the next two quarters there will be several such studies presented by cardiologists from leading reference hospitals in various countries.

Investors should note the importance of today’s news and future endorsements of the merits of the technology.

In simplistic fashion, VMS 3D technology is MRI “in a box” with a specific focus on the heart.

Click here to read the news release.

Pure Nickel Scores Ringing Endorsement From Japanese Partner

Pure Nickel
(TSX: NIC)(OTCBB: PNCKF)
Basic Shares: 67.8 million
Fully Diluted: 75.5
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The news is out that huge Japanese conglomerate ITOCHU remains in the game and will continue funding the joint venture at the MAN Alaska property.

This year's exploration program will initially focus on the Platinum Group Element horizons discovered last year. Although more detailed planning is taking place between the partners with regards to drill targets, the drill holes are anticipated to be much shallower this season than in the past as the platinum sits fairly close to the surface. Further information on the exploration program is expected to be announced in the next several weeks.

The MAN property is currently under a joint venture agreement with a fully controlled subsidiary of ITOCHU Corporation of Tokyo. ITOCHU could earn up to 75% by incurring $40 million of exploration expenditures on the MAN property by 2012. To date ITOCHU has earned a 30% interest in the property by funding US $14 million on exploration since 2008. Pure Nickel will continue to earn a 10% management fee and remain as operator.

See full news release here....

Buchans Finds Copper & Cobalt At Long Range

Buchans Minerals Corporation
(TSX-V:BMC)
Basic Shares 150.9 million
Fully Diluted 193.7 million
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Buchans and its 50/50 partner Benton Resources (TSX-V:BTC) have completed an initial drill program at the JV property, Long Range in Central Newfoundland.

Nine holes were drilled totalling 1,386 metres between the Portage Nickel prospect and the Range Copper prospect.

Range Prospect:

Drilling at the Range prospect extended copper-bearing sulphide mineralization over a minimum strike length of 200 metres. The zone is open in both strike directions and at depth and new assays suggest the overall sulphide abundance, thickness and copper grades may be increasing to the north. Assays from new drilled intersections include hole LR-11-17 that returned 12.9 metres (estimated true width) averaging 0.48% Copper and 0.023% Cobalt, including 0.91 metres averaging 2.24% Copper and 0.011% Cobalt.

The companies are planning additional geophysical surveys and diamond drilling in the near term based on the "positive nature of the results". This work will focus on extending the zone to the north and down dip, where potential exists for the zone to expand into a significant copper sulphide deposit. Maps showing drilling locations and results are available at http://www.buchansminerals.com.

Portage Prospect:

Previous drilling at the discovery trench in 2009 intersected mineralized gabbro assaying 0.44% nickel, 0.22% copper and 0.016% cobalt in what appeared to be a 12 metre thick undulating layer just below surface. Unfortunately, the 2011 drilling designed to test the extent of this layer indicate that the mineralization may be discontinuous or have a limited strike extent, with the best intersection returned from the drill program assaying 0.07% Ni, 0.03% Cu and 0.007% Co over 17.6 metres core length in hole LR-11-13, including 1.09% Ni, 0.46% Cu and 0.05% Co over 0.30 metres. Given results of the 2011 drill program, the Companies now believe minimal residual exploration potential exists for discovery of a large, potentially significant, near-surface, nickel-copper resource at this location.

2011 Plans:

The partners are preparing the 2011 budget with the expectation new programs will focus on further follow-up of the Goldquest gold discovery as well as select base metal targets including the Range Copper prospect and String anomaly. The work programs will kick-off after spring breakup.

See full news release here.....

Strong Drill Results On Pure Nickel Tower Property

Pure Nickel
(TSX: NIC)(OTCBB: PNCKF)
Basic Shares: 67.8 million
Fully Diluted: 75.5
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Assay results continue to shine at Pure Nickel's Tower property in which Rockcliff Resources (TSX-V: RCR) can earn up to 70%. The fall/winter drilling program consisting of 7,500 metres and 24 holes has now been completed at the property in central Manitoba.

Assay results from holes 14 to 17 are highlighted below with results pending for holes 18 to 24.

• 3.1% copper, 0.4g/t gold, 1.1% zinc and 14.4g/t silver across 2.8m including
5.9% copper, 0.7g/t gold, 2.2% zinc and 27.2g/t silver across 1.4m (Hole 14);

• 3.6% copper, 0.3g/t gold, 1.0% zinc and 19.5g/t silver across 2.7m including
6.7% copper, 0.4g/t gold, 1.9% zinc and 36.8g/t silver across 1.3m (Hole 16);

• 3.9% copper, 0.6g/t gold, 0.6% zinc and 18.3g/t silver across 4.0m including
4.5% copper, 0.7g/t gold, 0.6% zinc and 21.0g/t silver across 3.1m (Hole 17)


The drill program will kick back in full force this summer. Hopefully, results will be such that a 43-101 reserve report could then follow.

See full new release here.....

Neptune Raises $10 million - Acasti On A Roll

Neptune Technologies & Bioressources

(NTB - TSX V) (NEPT - NASDAQ)
Basic Shares: 42.0 million
Fully diluted: 45.48 million

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It's a tale of two stocks with Neptune announcing it has commitments for close to $10 million while 60%-owned subsidiary, Acasti Pharma stock was moving higher, a trend established over the past couple of weeks.

Approximately $5.9 million is coming from U.S. funds & select investors, which is a positive first time event for Neptune. The remaining portion is from Canadian funds. It's interesting to note that unit pricing in the U.S. was $2.25 (18 month - 1/4 warrant @ $2.75) and the Canadian unit was $2.15 (18 month - 1/4 warrant @ $2.65). Truly, a sign of the times and the changing fortunes of the currency market!

This financing was the direct result of Neptune's recent appearance at the Roth Capital conference in California. NTB grabbed a lot of attention and Roth Capital jumped on the opportunity.

The specific use of proceeds has not been disclosed but we are looking forward to management's future comments on that subject. Followers of the company understand that there are a lot of developments in the works and these funds (when closed) will provide fuel to the initiatives.

Acasti shares held firm in early morning trading to just over $1 - a hefty hike from the $0.50 range on April Fool's Day.

Note that with Acasti's market cap of around $65 million, 60% of that value should flow through to NTB, which should help support Neptune's market cap in turn.

For further details, please read the news release.

Neptune Basks In Two Spotlights Today

Neptune Technologies & Bioressources (NTB - TSX V) (NEPT - NASDAQ)

Basic Shares: 42.0 million
Fully diluted: 45.48 million

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It's a banner day for Neptune. It started with the publication of a glowing report by an influential U.S. writer on the health benefits of Neptune Krill Oil and how undervalued Neptune stock is. That article by M.E. Garza, co-founder of BioMedReports.com, was first sent out to his subscribers yesterday, followed by publication on the BioMedReports website today. The subscribers' notification on Wednesday set off a flurry of buying on U.S. markets causing Neptune stock to rise five per cent from $2.30 to $2.52.

Early today, the stock jumped again into the $2.70 range on U.S. markets with full publication of the article on BioMedReports website.

At the time of this writing, there was heavy trading of Neptune shares on Canadian markets, causing the share price to rise from $2.46 to $2.55, just over a five per cent (5%) gain.

Little wonder, given the opening paragraph in BioMedReports which contained this sentence: "NEPT could easily be one of the most compelling undervalued stocks we have come across for some time. The story is simultaneously complex, yet appealingly simple." As a topper, Neptune issued its own news release today, announcing it is a finalist in the category of Outstanding Application in Health Management in the international competition held by Nutraceutical & Business Technology.

The winner will be announced May 11th at a gala dinner in Geneva, Switzerland.

Silvore Fox Expands Internationally with Madagascar Copper Properties

Silvore Fox Minerals (SFX - TSX.V)
Shares Outstanding: 162.4 million
Fully Diluted: 183.3 million
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With the stock halted for the day, Silvore Fox announced the signing of a Letter of Intent with Gaea Mining Co. ltd. to acquire a 55% interest on an earn in basis in two potentially high grade Copper properties in the Maindelanu region of western Madagascar.

One property Silvore Fox intends to option consists of the Copper Meteor property, which is approximately 206 km2.
The other property consists of the Copper Volcano property, which is approximately 1,500 km2.

Management states,” This Joint Venture opportunity we are announcing today in Madagascar is the second transaction closed since the signing of our partnership agreement with Donia, and represents another potentially high impact property acquisition for the company.
We have been told that grab samples in the area of our Southern Properties have shown grades as high as 50+% Copper, including native copper…We intend to aggressively explore the existing high-grade veins to test the depth of these occurrences and perform a variety of other testing to assess the potential size of the mineralization on these properties during the May - November working season for the area.
We have also been informed, by Donia, that they have access to drill rigs in Madagascar at this time which could help to expedite our work program here. The Northern Properties, with a similar geological setting, will also be worked on this season.”

In a detailed news release, Silvore Fox has committed to providing further details and its working plans for the properties in short order.

To view the full news release, please click here.

Silvore Fox Halted Pending News

Silvore Fox Minerals (SFX - TSX.V)

Shares Outstanding: 162.4 million

Fully Diluted: 183.3 million

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Silvore Fox has halted trading. The reason given: Company request pending news. We will notify you once Silvore Fox issues the news, which is expected shortly.

The halt is separate from the news issued yesterday after market close (April 11, 2011) when Silvore Fox announced that it recently expanded its Winston Lake property, located just outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The additional claims will give Silvore Fox 9,536 hectares of claims in the area, which is known for its zinc, copper, gold and silver.

View the map below for details.

Harold Cabrita, President and CEO of Silvore Fox used this opportunity to explain that the significance of the Winston Lake transaction goes beyond the land package itself: "The option agreement for Winston Lake is the first transaction we have closed since the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Beijing Donia Resource Co. Ltd ("Donia") on November 17, 2010. It marks an important time in our company's history as we begin the transition from a provincial organization to what we expect will become a multi-property company with operations in Canada and internationally."

To view yesterday’s news release, click here

AMA's Nigerian Flight Operations Centre From Nigerian Eyes

AeroMechanical Services Ltd. (TSX:V-AMA)
Basic Shares: 118.58 million
Fully Diluted: 134.33 million

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The official opening of the AMA-built flight operations centre in Nigeria's largest airport in Lagos yesterday caused quite the stir in the Nigerian press.

And rather than have us repeat details about the centre, that were already unveiled when it was first announced last March 30th, we thought you'd like to read what the Nigerians have to say about it.

But just for a little background first: AMA developed the flight centre so that all Nigerian-registered civil aircraft can be tracked via satellites - instead of the traditional land-based radar systems - throughout Nigeria. The system will identify each aircraft and show operations centre staff the aircraft's location, direction and speed.

Here is one of the most detailed press reports about the opening and its significance.

Neptune Dancing With The Bayer Giant

Neptune Technologies & Bioressources (NTB - TSX V) (NEPT - NASDAQ)

Basic Shares: 42.0 million

Fully diluted: 45.48 million

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It's finally official. One of the world's Big Pharma giants - Bayer - formally launched its omega-3 product called Arctic Wonder that uses Neptune Krill Oil.

Bayer, the 148-year-old, German-based behemoth that boasted group sales of $35 billion euros last year, will start running television and Internet ads in the United States under the One A Day logo the world giant made famous mainly for its vitamin products.

Bayer, the makers of Aspirin and a host of other drugs, has the exclusive rights to market Arctic Wonder on the Internet or e-commerce in the United States.

As the relationship grows, that could change. But Neptune is not sitting idle for it's constantly working on other deals on this and other continents to gain wider distribution for its krill oil with other corporations in other channels of trade - such as stores.

No details on the expected sales of Bayer's product were released. However, Neptune President and CEO, Henri Harland, noted in the Neptune news release that the omega-3 market stands at about $1.7 billion now and is estimated to reach $3.5 billion in just four years.

Having the Bayer name attached to its product should prove to be a major boost for Neptune in its ongoing work to capture more and more of that booming market.

And being able to walk into other negotiations while noting Bayer chose Neptune Krill Oil over all the competitors out there, is a cudo any executive would love to have in his or her back pocket. To see the Bayer Internet ad about Arctic Wonder, please click here. The launch also allows Neptune to tick off another milestone in its history and brings into sharper focus the other publicized milestones it hopes to achieve this year with other huge corporations, such as Nestle and Yoplait.

Carfinco - Again A Top Pick

Carfinco Income Fund TSX:CFN.UN

Shares Outstanding: 23.97 million

Units fully diluted: 24.6 million

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Carfinco got the nod yesterday as a "Top Pick" from Jamie Horvat of Sprott Asset Management during BNN's Market Call segment. Carfinco is owned in Sprott's Opportunities Hedge Fund.

Mr. Horvat mentioned that Carfinco was cheap at 9 times PE (Price to Earnings) also noting the recent news from the company that it recently increased its bank line to $130 million from $105 million with its banking syndicate. Carfinco will also drive growth with its move into C & D credit lending.

It was also noted that Carfinco has a history of paying out a 4-4.3% yield not including special distributions.

The segment can be viewed by clicking here,

then scroll down to Market Call Top Picks (04-07-11)

Carfinco Plans To Grow - Even More!

Carfinco Income Fund TSX:CFN.UN
Shares Outstanding: 23.97 million
Units fully diluted: 24.6 million
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Coming out of a record month of new loan originations Carfinco has solidified plans to facilitate its continued growth.

Carfinco has been using the banking syndicate of Bank of America, Bank of Montreal and Wells Fargo for many years and the bankers have increased Carfinco's credit $25 million or 24% to $130 million.

New loan originations were over $10 million in March and continued growth seems achievable as the fund plans to introduce additional financing programs to its existing dealer base providing risk based pricing for those buyers with better credit.

Tracy Graf, CEO stated "the addition of these new financing tiers moves us closer to our goal of being a “one stop” non-prime financing source within the Canadian automotive industry.”

Read full news release here......

VentriPoint Announces First Study on Adults

VentriPoint Diagnostics Ltd.
VPT - TSX Venture
Shares issued: ~79.4 million
Fully diluted: ~99.6 million

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Today VentriPoint announced the 4th deployment of its VMS system, and the 2nd installation in the USA. The system has been installed at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland Oregon and will be used to study adults with congenital heart disease (CHD), a significant milestone in the company’s development. The two doctors in charge of this study are Dr. David Sahn and Dr. Craig Broberg, from the Hospital’s Adult Congenital Health Program.

This event prompted Dr. George Adams, VentriPoint’s CEO, to make the following comments:

• Just over half of the people living with CHD are adults and they must be monitored carefully and frequently as their hearts are intrinsically weak. The Adult CHD market is growing 5% a year so the numbers are increasing.


• Dr. Sahn is a world authority on Adult CHD and treats a large cohort of people with Adult CHD as well as maintaining a national imaging reference database funded by the National Institutes of Health.


• Dr. Sahn has waited a long time for the VMS to be ready to be used by cardiologists routinely and we are very lucky to have Dr. Sahn's team using the VMS and reporting on its breakthrough imaging technology to his colleagues and eventually to everyone at conferences.”

The management of VentriPoint is obviously excited about the developing market acceptance of its product. We believe the ‘tipping point’ is not far off.

To view the press release please click here.................