Midland Exploration Inc.

"Before we move to our discussion of companies, I note that three more of our current positions have joined our '100percenterClub,' stocks that have doubled since we recommended them. These are Goldcorp, Sprott and Midland. That makes a total of 18 of the 29 positions on our 'Current Positions' table in our club, 16 of the 22 we have held at least a year. Several of the others are up in price, although they have not yet doubled."
    -   Adrian Day's Global Analyst (11/30/09)

"Midland announced recently that it has acquired via map staking more positions southeast of the Strange Lake area of Labrador-Quebec. A total of 710 new claims in three distinct claims blocs (Ytterby 2, 3 and 4) have been added increasing Midland's land position by 22,000 hectares. Midland now controls 100% interest in 1,578 claims covering a surface area of about 57,800 hectares.

Midland's acquisition of more acreage is positive. We believe Midland has diligently compiled geochemical and radiometric data that justifies the acquisition of the Ytterby 2, 3 and 4 claim blocs within the general area of the Mistastin Batholith and in the general area of Quest Uranium's Misery Lake project.

We believe that Midland's acreage is strategically located. Midland's Ytterby 1, 2, 3 and 4 properties show indications of potential systems similar in nature to the Strange Lake Deposit and Misery Lake sectors. The area could potentially emerge as a world-class future source of rare earth metals. We reiterate our Speculative Buy recommendation with a $1.75 target price on Midland shares."
    -ERIC LEMIEUX,   LAURENTIAN BANK SECURITIES (11/30/09)

"In the JV spirit of Canadian Spirit, we like Midland Exploration for its exposure to base metal, gold and rare earth properties. Once again, use of the JV model limits capital outlay while still providing upside exposure if any one of their projects is successful. Midland generates projects in Quebec, the best mining jurisdiction on the planet. They have access to excellent public databases compiled by government geological surveys that allow for efficient prospect generation.

We were first attracted to Midland Exploration when we met with Gino Roger in Toronto to look over the data for their Ytterby Project that surrounds Quest Uranium's Strange Lake deposit.

While anyone can stake land adjacent to a discovery, it was immediately apparent that Gino's team had done their homework on the Ytterby Project. They had compiled geochemical and radiometric data that makes a compelling case for more exploration. Quest Uranium is currently valued at ~$100 million (using a fully diluted share count). We believe that a property with that kind of potential upside should have no trouble attracting partners.

We like their tight share structure and the fact that they have cash and investments on hand of $3.1 million. Their treasury will be bolstered by an oversubscribed financing that was bumped up to $2.8 million.

Midland likes to generate prospects and farm them out to partners. We can get a sense of the quality of their prospects by the quality of their partners, which include:

• Agnico-Eagle - Dunn James Bay Area gold and Maritime Cadillac gold
• North American Palladium Limited - Laflamme gold project
• Osisko Mining Corporation - Dunn gold project

TGR: You also mentioned Midland Explorations Inc. (TSX-V:MD) in our last conversation. What's going on with them?

VG:Midland's president and CEO, Gino Roger, is a very good guy. I've run into him a number of times and have had a lot of good conversations with him. That is a company that ought to be on the Discovery Channel, How Did They Do That? This company has very few shares outstanding—23 million fully diluted—is three or four years old and still has $3.2 million in the bank. That, in my mind, is very impressive. By that stage of the game, a lot of companies would have up to 60 million shares out and probably a little bit less money. So Midland's done a very good job of managing their float, managing their money, and it shows in the stock.

It also impressed me in the sense that Midland lost less than 50% of its stock value in the market crash and downturn last year and early this year, when most of their peers lost 80 to 90%. Most of their shares are in hands that they know, too, so the stock doesn't normally have a lot of downside risk, which is kind of built into their share structure. So that's the first thing I think was brilliantly done. Secondly, as a project generator they rarely spend the big money. They spend enough to get the project drill-ready or drill a couple of holes themselves and pass it on to a company with deeper pockets and a mandate to drill off a resource or develop the project. They carry an interest and their shareholders benefit from that.

This isn't a new concept. Quite a few companies do this. Midland just manages to do it well. In addition, they recently made a strategic, very well-placed acquisition of a rare earth element property not far from the Strange Lake area.
    -   The Gold Report Interview with Victor Goncalves (11/06/09)

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