Heres a post for everyone that Im hoping will shed some optimism on our investments.

2012 was game changing, we saw the mining sector completely devalued, and whilst the bulls from 2011 stamped their hooves, the bears sadly proved to be right in the end.

However fundamentally the world has never been in better shape for the metals market, and despite this we saw the Venture (which hosts 60% of mining companies globally) absolutely tank.

It wasnt kind...it was ruthless, painful, and many great investments suffered from peoples risk aversion, and not at all based on the merit of the investment.

Companies cant raise money, consolidations in the near future may very well become the norm, bankruptcies loom, paper losses become real losses and overall sentiment for the juniors is as low as Ive (we've) ever seen.

Ive heard comparisons in the sector to the Great Depression....no light criticism.

That being said, Id like to take a moment to remind people that most of the money made in most markets is when you buy at the low, contrarian investing. Warren Buffet says you "need to be fearful when people are greedy, and greedy when people are fearful."

Well theres panic in the streets now.

Commodities are trending higher, GDPs across first world nations arent what we were expecting, but after 2008....a new die has been cast; emerging markets will bring the world out of its rut, western economies simply cant handle their debt, moreover, any expansion we do in our own GDP is at the risk of our own debt coverage, look at the downgrades.

China is a nation of 1.3 billion people within its borders, and theres approximately another 100 million expatriates living around the globe.

Their GDP was "shrunk" to approximately 6%....numerically over 3x what the US will do.....but 2% of 300 million pales in comparison to 6% of 1.3 Billion.

China is industrializing 40 million people per year, more than the population of Canada.

Look at your average house...theres 500lbs of copper right there, let alone in automobiles, dishwashers, major appliances....you get the idea.

Imagine a whole Canada suddenly coming into a new standard of living each year, the drain on the global resources is absolutely sickening when one factors in declining head grades in copper mining, let alone the fact that we need at least one major depost going into production every year simply to keep up with demand.

3rd world nations are currently attempting to move over 500 million people into urban centres within the next 10 years, in context, thats the same undertaking western nations have accomplished since World War 2.

On top of their sheer hunger for resources, China also leads the world in the industrial aspect of smelting copper and shipping concentrate.

Resources are crucial to any expanding economy. In effect, war has historically been about the occupation of land for the exploitation of resources, well we wont see war now, we see globalization...but the effect on supply and demand is fairly similar. No sense sending troops to die when business people can work out a deal and those soldiers can become employees of a firm. Everyone "wins".

Now lets take a moment, and lets do some very simple math;

The expanding GDP of Asian economies is staggering when you put it all in numbers as opposed to percentages, and they need resources bad. We also know resources across the globe are dwindling.

In many ways, what has happened in the last year hurts to look at, but with a different perspective, this may very well be the best buying opportunity you have ever seen.

Im not portending to tell people what to do with their money, I strongly believe in facts and opinions based upon them, moreover;

Everyone has a right to unbiased information when they put their own money on the line.

Portfolios have been wiped out, people are angered, everyones waiting to see what everyone else is going to do but remember....

Theres panic in the streets now, and the greatest amount of money has always been made in contrarian investing.

I see the Venture markets changing. I firmly believe we saw a bottom in June/July this year, and I think were on the up and up from here.

Interestingly enough (if you follow TA), I find every metal with the exception of nickel is showing the same TA signs in the charts. As volume rises in the sector well see the repopulation of capital and rising equity prices.

Markets always value themselves fairly, but when you use the term fair, one is forced to account for the greater psychology of investors. After all;

Psychology drives the money which drives the markets.

Your investments will be fairly valued again soon as long as they survive this mess weve all borne witness too.

I cant accurately say when things will be booming again, but I can accurately say theyre going to have to at some point, its just a patience game.

If I was to tender a guess..Id say 6-12 months, not to be vague, but the economy is still fragile and needs a bit of time yet still to find its own legs, but I firmly believe theres one hell of a bull market for the metals just waiting to happen here.

As Ive said, resources are crucial to any expanding economy, and there aint no substitute for metals.

Its been brutal guys, but I think the worst has passed and I think the whole Venture is going up from here, lets just keep cool and wait. Weve all made the right choice for sectors in which to invest, and weve rode out the storm.

We seek safe harbor, as they say...

Rogue,