Poor market conditions put major chill on global exploration

Thomas Drolet, a nuclear expert, warns of a coming uranium deficit as Cold War-era supplies dry up.

Reuters reports that Toyota has developed a technology to substitute rare earths used in its hybrid vehicles. The company, which has a strong lead in environmentally friendlier car sales around the world said it would be able to bring the technology to market within two years if REE prices don't fall.

The Scotland Herald reports plans to build a $4.6 billion coal-fired power station in the UK with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology suffered another serious setback this week after the French firm that operates near-by reactors warned that the proposed coal plant endangers the safety of the nuclear facility.

Comex gold and silver futures prices made strong gains in morning trade Monday, with the February gold contract powering to a six week high of $1,679.50 an ounce, up just shy of 1% by midday. Gold is now up over 5% for the year, but still well of the record high above $1,900 hit in September.

While miners and explorers may be hitting the investment conferences looking for funding, NGOs are successfully using crowd sourcing to get projects started.

Paramount Gold and Silver was up 4.8% to $2.40 after announcing gold and silver values from 10 core holes drilled on its San Miguel Vein deposit in Mexico.

Pan American Silver is buying Minefinders for $1.5 billion in a cash and stock deal. Markets reacted negatively to the news with Pan American today losing 8.67% of its value and falling to $22.85 a share in morning trading.

SilverCrest Mines (CVE:SVL), a gold and silver miner operating in Mexico, announced today that the inferred resources at its La Joya property increased by 424% from 24.0 million to 126.0 million silver equivalent ounces.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 23, 2012) - Peregrine Diamonds Ltd. ("Peregrine" or "the Company") (TSX:PGD) has completed its analysis to determine the most efficient way to advance the 8,580 square kilometre Chidliak project ("Chidliak" or "the Project"), located 120 km from Iqaluit, Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada. This review was prompted by the Company's opportunity to increase its interest in the Project to 100% by acquiring BHP Billiton's 51% interest, as announced on December 20, 2011.