Selected Specific Company Takeaways Great Basin Gold (GBG) : Average Daily Volume: NYSE: 2,370,000, Mrkt Cap:

1.1 bl Two Properties: Hollister Mine in Nevada and Burnstone Mine in Witwatersrand, South Africa. 100% ownership of both mines. -Hollister Mine: Average annual production of 88,600 gold oz in 2010 - Doubled from 2009 and expects 2011 production: 110,000 oz. -Burnstone Mine: Initially went through several delays which weighed on the stock while gold was running. All major capital projects are now completed and commissioned. Estimated annual production for 2011 = 110,000 oz and doubling to 220,000 by 2012. This is compared to zero oz of production in 2010 @ this site. - Installation of carbon regeneration systems @ both sites will continue to improve these recoveries. - Significant growth in revenue expected in line with increased production. - Project capital at both operations essentially completed, bulk of capital expenditure for 2011 relates to Burnstone underground development capital. Requires limited development and maintenance capex. Senior Secured Notes were settled in March 2011. - Based on Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources the company trades at the very low end of peer groups. - Based on the standard model of mining company share price cycle from discovery to production both of GBG's Mining sites are in the "sweet spot" - Hollister Mine in Nevada having just entered phase 8- the production phase and Burnstone Mine in Witwatersrand finishing up stage 7- production start up. BOTH OF THE MINES ARE FINALLY ABOUT TO BE GENERATING CASH FLOW. Takeaway: Very bullish on this stock because of the company is entering the cycle of cash flow generation which usually leads to rapid share appreciation However, a sharp decline in gold bullion would crush margins for this company. Royal Gold: RGLD: Average Daily Volume: NASDAQ: 615,000 shs; Mrkt Cap: 3 bl. Royal Gold, Inc. acquires and manages precious metals royalties. The company seeks to acquire existing royalties or to finance projects that are in production or near production in exchange for royalty interests. -Company made four key acquisitions in 2010 that they believe will add to great future growth. A list of the acquisitions follows: 1) January 2010: Acquired gold royalty on the Andacollo mine in Chile from Teck Resources 2) February 2010: Acquired International Royalty Corporation (IRC), obtaining cornerstone Pascua-Lama and Voiseys Bay royalties 3) March, July and October 2010: Acquired additional Pascua-Lama royalty interests

4) October 2010: Acquired 25% of the payable gold from the Mt. Milligan project in British Columbia from Thompson Creek -Previous to the acquisitions the company only had one cornerstone production sitePenasquito. - The rationale behind these takeovers was the long life of each of these sites (all have estimates mine lives of over 20 years), near term production possibilities and all are located in attractive host countries. -Evenly distributed asset distribution throughout properties: 20 properties are in production stage, 20 properties in development stage, 25 properties in evaluation stage and 60 properties in the exploration stage. - Company's cash cost of gold production is only $452/oz vs industry avg of $532/oz. Favorable Geopolitical Distribution: currently 77% of production from United States, Mexico, Canada, Chileand Australia and 97% of reserves from United States, Mexico, Canada and Chile. -Acquisitions this year have added new long life mines replace maturing assets and provide future growth. -Economies of scale will lead to increasing margins primarily driven by cost control and revenue increases. Financials: Cash: $120M Total debt: $245M Credit availability: $110M CY2011 dividend: $0.44 per share Takeaway: The company was obviously very busy with some key acquisitions throughout 2010. Overall view on the stock is bullish but the stock has been on a significant run lately, outperforming all its peers so it might be wise to wait for a pullback (if there is one). Hecla Mining: HL: Avg Volume: 12.5 ml shs; Mrkt Cap: 2.5 bl Largest silver producer in the U.S. with 9 - 10 mm ounces annually -Two U.S. mines and two exploration properties with district sized land positions -Mining for almost 120 years with currently zero debt and strong balance sheet. - Silver reserves and resources have both grown year over year for past 5 years straight. - 2010 the company saw record cash flow of $198 ml, a 66% increase from 2009. -Coeur dAlene Basin Litigation has been weighing on the stock heavily. Stock has underperformed its peers by 30% since the announcement in early Feb. (This litigation has to do with Hecla paying for environmental effects/dumping of its mining from the 1970's and 1980's. While there were no environmental procedures that Hecla violated during that time period, the rules state that the company is still liable for the clean up. While almost all mining companies have already taken these charges, Hecla has continued to postpone addressing the issue until just this year. )

- Potential settlement in negotiation are currently taking place- Hecla is hopeful that a settlement can be achieved by the end of Q2/11. -Price/NAV: 2x vs 3-4x of majority of peers. Low cash costs and record margins. -Doubled silver production since 2007-2010 silver price increases have made mining deeper/lower grade silver economically feasible. -Attractive valuation and inexpensive on Price/Cash Flow metric. Management hinted at M/A in 2011. Takeaway: Even with the positives the company currently has going for it, I would not be a buyer here with this Environmental litigation overhanging the stock. While the company downplayed the significance of this issue, the stock has clearly been underperforming and in my view will continue to underperform until this litigation is cleared. While the negotiations are currently taking place, any delay or further costs than the company has already estimated could weigh on the shares even when/if silver prices continue to increase.