Though not personally in attendance, I have none the less been not only following but doing some long-distance networking around the current Mines and Money Conference going on in Toronto.    

Some of you who have followed the evolving story of Ecuador’s mining sector know that Yours truly was virtually alone for a long time in pounding the table on the vast opportunities emerging there.  Slowly but surely some others have been waking up, however, as I have especially been covering since last Fall’s big roll-out of “the new Ecuador” down in the beautiful capitol city of Quito.

Last week the country got some new and well-deserved recognition, winning the award for the greatest country story at this gathering of mining and investment industry heavyweights. 

Among those on hand were the country’s Minister of Mines Javier Cordova (2nd from left) and the newly-installed President of the private sector National Chamber of Mines, Santiago Yepez (2nd from right.) 

 Even more satisfying, though, for those who recognized and got in early where the MONSTER Cascabel deposit is concerned, that discovery was especially featured as THE BIG NEW DISCOVERY STORY IN THE WORLD at the confab.

SolGold, plc won the ward for the biggest company story in exploration; and its C.E.O. Nick Mather (far right in the photo above) as well for being the top executive of an exploration company working in Latin America.

And of course, Cascabel minority interest owner and leading country explorer in Ecuador Cornerstone Capital Resources had a presence as well; in the center above–flanked, in part, by Cordova and Yepez–is the company’s President Brooke Macdonald.

I’m thrilled for those of you who took my earliest advice on Cornerstone especially and have made a PILE of money over the last year and a half (notwithstanding the recent profit-taking.) 

While on Cornerstone specifically, the company (with its J.V. partner on the Bramaderos Project, Avalon Minerals, Ltd.) just put out some tantalizing exploration news on the way to getting some serious drilling underway at this advanced exploration project. In an upcoming issue I’ll be fleshing out those details.

For now–and in advance of the coming spin-out of the exploration assets likely to be finalized well before year-end–Cornerstone has just updated its Corporate Presentation; you can access it with my other Featured Opportunity companies RIGHT HERE .

While my own next trip to Ecuador won’t be until next January, I continue to remain well “plugged in.”  As Members already know I have added two more companies of late operating, at least in part, in the country. 

And also in the upcoming issue I’ll have more color on THE biggest NEW J.V. story in Ecuador as well, involving a company I recommended a while back that has all the same earmarks of the kind of explosive eventual story that Cornerstone has become.