Mako Energy, Avalon Rare Metals, Silvermere Energy and Fluormin to present at Proactiveinvestors One2One Forum

It is impossible not to get excited when you look at the roster for our last One2One Forum before the Christmas break. We are joined at the Chesterfield Hotel in Mayfair on December 14 at 6pm by four companies we expect to explode into life in 2012. They are Mako Energy, Fluormin, Silvermere Energy and Avalon Rare Metals.

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It is the hot new oil frontier and you will be hearing a lot more about it in the next 12 months. But never forget who first told you about the Duvernay shale play in Alberta, Canada.

Hoping to ride the wave of excitement is Mako Energy (ASX:MKE), which with two other partners, holds 90,000 acres of prime land right at the heart of the area.

The investment bank Macquarie, which recently published a report on the play, its economics and its geology, has already dubbed it the new Eagle Ford, drawing parallels with the hugely prolific south Texas formation.

If this analogy is correct then brace yourself. Eagle Ford has gone from nought to 140 rigs in a little over two years, while attracting all the big hitters in shale.

But where the Duvernay differs from its Texas cousin is that it has so far failed to draw the interest from the shale majors mentioned earlier.
I say so far, because there are rumblings that the big boys are on their way. However, with most of Duvernay acreage taken in the land grab, the only way in will be to buy a slice of the action.

Mako and its partners, Kilgore and Transerv, expect to farm down their Duvernay acreage following a blue-print deployed with great effect by Aussie compatriot Aurora Energy.

Its deal with Hilcorp, now part of Marathon Oil, was in the Eagle Ford area. And it transformed Aurora from a small-cap to a billion-dollar enterprise that last year ranked as the ASX’s fastest growing company.

It must be remembered, however, that Aurora’s land package was smaller than that held by Mako and its partners and did not contain an additional productive zone such as Rock Creek.

So there is plenty to discuss when Mako joins us on the 14th.

We stay in Canada with Avalon Rare Metals (CVE:AVL), which owns the Nechalacho heavy rare earths project in Thor Lake, Northwest Territories.

NWT is emerging as one of the largest undeveloped rare earth elements resources in the world.

Its exceptional enrichment in the more valuable 'heavy' rare earths means it is one of the few potential sources of these critical elements outside of China, home to 95 per cent of world supply.

Avalon is well funded, has no debt and its work programmes are progressing steadily.

Moving several thousand miles south and east, but staying on the same continent, and we find the Mustang gas and gas condensate field in which our next guest, Silvermere Energy (LON:SLME), is a 33 per cent shareholder.

Situated in the shallow waters off the coast of Texas, it is operated by Dominion Production.

Silvermere acquired the Mustang asset for £2.8 million and future royalties. Respected industry consultants RPS Energy values the project – based on the proven and probable reserves – at £18.4 million.

But it also identified a further £59 million of possible reserves – giving a total potential valuation for the Mustang asset of over £75 million.  
If Dominion is successful in unlocking Mustang’s potential, then Silvermere investors will immediately feel the benefit. 

Finishing off this Cook’s Tour of the investing world we have Fluormin (LON:FLOR), which owns the Witkop fluorspar mine in South Africa.
Very few people will have heard of fluorspar, fewer still will understand its importance in the modern world.

However it is all around us. The mineral, also known as calcium fluoride, is used in the manufacture of aluminium, to produce Teflon that coats non-stick pans and to create the fluorocarbons used in fridges and freezers.

Fluormin is developing its business with the intention of becoming a major mover in the market for fluorspar.

Formerly called Maghreb Minerals, its focus was lead and zinc mining until the sale of those assets to Glencore over the summer.

Fluormin is now the embodiment of a strategy put together by the American hedge fund Firebird, which has spotted an opportunity in the fluorspar market.

Major shareholder Firebird is hoping to emulate the success it had in uranium where it bought companies, private and quoted, as well as positions in the physical material itself.

It was one of the first to spot that uranium stockpiles were being depleted and demand was outstripping supply.

Chief executive Al Gourley, who will be presenting, told Proactive recently: “I think when the world normalises, when the European crisis is behind us, when GDP growth returns, I think we could see a dramatic spike in the fluorspar price.

“I think the next 18 months should be exciting for the company and we will likely see, as with rare earth minerals, more and more investors coming to understand fluorspar and the investment opportunity.”

I’m sure you will agree we have lined up four real firecrackers, which we expect to explode into life in 2012. Places are at a premium for this our last get together of 2011. So to avoid disappointment register now.

Spaces are limited and registration is essential  *REGISTER YOUR ATTENDANCE HERE*

Wednesday the 14th December 2011. Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel, 35 Charles Street, Mayfair, W1J 5EB (Charles Suite). The presentations will start at 6:00pm and finish at approx 8:00pm. After the presentations are complete the directors will also be available to take questions during a free canapé and wine reception with Christmassy treats! More details on the presenting companies can be found on www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk.

Proactive Investors have run over 250 investor presentations across all the key financial centres.