Investments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Investments

Investments

4.Investments

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with a maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Short-term investments include investments with maturities greater than three months, but not exceeding 12 months, or highly liquid investments with maturities greater than 12 months that the Company intends to liquidate during the next 12 months for working capital needs.

The Company determines the appropriate classification of its investments in equity securities at the time of purchase and re-evaluates those classifications at each balance sheet date.  Available for sale investments are marked to market at each reporting period with changes in fair value recorded as a component of other comprehensive income (loss). If declines in fair value are deemed other than temporary, a charge is made to net income (loss) for the period.

The following tables summarize the Company’s investments at September 30, 2012:

September 30, 2012	Cost		Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Value
	(in thousands)
Investments:
Short-term:
Warrant to purchase common stock	$	124	$	—	$	—
Available for sale common stock	$	270	$	417	$	417
Total available for sale	394		417		417
Total short term	$	394	$	417	$	417

Available for sale investments at December 31, 2011 had a nominal carrying value of less than one thousand dollars.

The Company holds warrants to purchase common stock of a junior mining company. The warrants were acquired in a transaction related to the Company’s exploration activities during 2010.  The warrants will expire during the fourth quarter 2012, and had a nominal carrying value of less than one thousand dollars at December 31, 2011 and at September 30, 2012.

The available for sale common stock consists of 262,500 shares of a junior mining company received during the first quarter 2012 in a transaction related to the Company’s exploration activities and 3.0 million shares of another junior mining company received during the third quarter 2012 related to the 2011 sale of the Company’s Paca Pulacayo property in Bolivia.

Quoted market prices at September 30, 2012 were used to determine the fair values of the above investments.  See Note 13 for further discussion on the fair value measurement techniques used by the Company to value the above investments.