Available For Sale Investments

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2012

Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]

Available for Sale Investments

AVAILABLE FOR SALE INVESTMENTS

The following table presents changes in available for sale investments in the first six months of 2012 and the full year 2011:

	As of June 30, 2012					As of December 31, 2011
	Riverstone					Riverstone
	Fair Value			Shares		Fair Value		Shares
Balance at beginning of period	$	1,416		2,000,000		$	928	1,300,000
Acquisitions	17,117			23,676,301		469		700,000
Dispositions	(18		)	(25,000	)	—		—
OCI - unrealized gain/(loss)	(8,950		)	—		19		—
Balance at end of period	$	9,565		25,651,301		$	1,416	2,000,000

During the first quarter of 2012, we acquired Riverstone shares. The acquisition was accomplished through two transactions. The first was an exercise of the two million warrants at an exercise price Cdn$0.45 for cash consideration of Cdn$0.9 million. The fair value of the shares acquired was $1.3 million. The second transaction was the sale of the Company's Burkina Faso subsidiary to Riverstone. The sale generated $6.6 million of cash plus 21.7 million Riverstone shares. We recognized the shares at their fair value of $15.8 million on February 2, 2012, when the sale was finalized. It is possible that some of these investments could be sold in large blocks at a future date via a negotiated agreement and such agreements may include a discount from the quoted price. The Company currently does not intend to actively trade in its holdings and it is classified as long term.  Subsequent to February 2, 2012, the quoted market price of Riverstone's common stock has decreased, such that for the period ended June 30, 2012, we have recognized through Comprehensive Income a loss of $8.95 million related to our holdings.