Investment in Marketable Securities

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Investment in Marketable Securities [Abstract]

INVESTMENT IN MARKETABLE SECURITIES

NOTE 5 – INVESTMENT IN MARKETABLE SECURITIES

The Company classifies the marketable securities in which it invests as available-for-sale securities. Such securities are measured at fair market value in the financial statements with unrealized gains or losses recorded in other comprehensive income. At the time securities are sold or otherwise disposed of, gains or losses are included in net income. The Company held no investment securities as of December 31, 2010. The equity securities reflected in the table below include certain equity securities of silver exploration and development companies that the Company purchased during the three months ended September 30, 2011. The following table summarizes the Company’s available-for-sale securities on hand as of September 30, 2011 (in thousands):

	Investments in marketable securities
	Cost		Gross Unrealized Losses			Gross Unrealized Gains		Estimated Fair Value
Equity securities	$	18,060	$	(5,082	)	$	906	$	13,884
	$	18,060	$	(5,082	)	$	906	$	13,884

The investments in equity securities were made on a private purchase basis through agreements with the businesses in which the Company invested. The Company is restricted from selling some of these securities for a period of four months from the purchase date.

The Company recognized an unrealized loss of $5.1 million and an unrealized gain of $0.9 million in other comprehensive gain/(loss). The Company assessed this unrealized loss and determined it to not be an other than temporary impairment. The Company performs a quarterly assessment on these investments to determine the unrealized gains/(losses) for each period. The Company has the intent and ability to hold these investments until they recover or increase in value. The Company’s management team uses industry knowledge and expertise and has determined that these losses are not other than temporary based on a review of the potential for each development company it currently holds investments in.

Gross realized gains and losses are based on the carrying value (cost, net of discount or premium) of investments sold which may have been adjusted for an other than temporary decline in market value. There were no realized gains or losses in any of the periods presented.