Jeff & Brian,

Just happened to see on Yahoo message board for Colossus, someone mentioning a lawsuit.

I found nothing on the company's web site or at Stockhouse.com.

I was wondering if I was just missing something???

Another question I have, is "What is a PFIC status tax consequence?" ( I never heard of a PFIC). That information was on the company website, which I read, but did not understand. I would appreciate any help. Perhaps you can put it in layman terms for me?

Thank You
Earl

www.colossusminerals.com/_resources/2010_PFIC_Statement.pdf


Yahoo message boards on Colossus Minerals has a paucity of postings. However, the one at:
stockhouse.com/Bullboards/SymbolList.aspx?s=CSI&t=LIST is very active.
(In case the link is missing, the website is stockhouse dot com, go to Bullboards, then search for T.CSI)

I read several of the posts, and there was a mention of a lawsuit filed against them.

We can give you fish, or we can teach you to fish. Earl, if there is a paucity of information, or conflicting information, perhaps a call to Colossus IR department may clarify things for you. Everything on the boards needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and independently verified. Folks love to get cheap shares that way.

Earl, this is REALLY old drivel - going back to when I first bought into the Company (lol!). It's also VERY common for the bashers to dredge up trivia like this - and then attempt to make it sound like a big deal.

At the time that Colossus outmaneuvered all of the BRAZILIAN mining companies to secure a deal with the Garempeiros (the Brazilian prospectors), one of the parties TRYING to get title to the property is claiming they were cheated. Such "nuisance law suits" occur all of the time, and I find it hard to even pay attention to most of them.

Understand that having a legal background, I know WHEN to actually pay attention to such legal "noise".

IF the party filing suit has a decent case, we will know that right away - because they will be able to obtain an INJUCTION blocking further development of the property. Why is getting an injunction so important? Because the ONLY way that the plaintiff would ever be awarded TITLE to the property is IF there had not been a lot of improvement done.

In other words, it is a basic premise of interntational law that you CANNOT take an asset from someone else via litigation IF the other party has invested millions of their own dollars in the project (in good faith).

So what I knew from Day #1 was that this law-suit was so flimsy that there was NEVER any chance of the plaintiff winning what he was asking for: ownership of the property. At that point, the worst-case scenario is that the plaintiff MIGHT win an award of damages. However, keep in mind that given that this legal action was too WEAK to even support an injunction, it is an extreme long-shot that Colossus will have to pay a penny (other than the minimal costs of defending against it).

Brian,Jeff,

I knew I was opening myself up to a "rumor spanking here". But the lawsuit question came from a former holder a year back and spoke highly of the company. The lawsuit just came up and it being the week end I didn't call IR, I called the BBC. I guess because I mention the company (as a example of good drill results) I felt responsible to answer. I usually just read these boards to get a feel of sentiment. Now I posted and now I will answer.

My other question was from the COLUF web site the PFIC tax consequence ? Never seen or heard such a thing, didn't seem to fit a non dividend holding, just wondered.

The board I was on was sandstorm, I kinda turned them on to the BBC and silver stealers about six months ago. They love you Jeff.

I venture through the boards as I said to get a feel for investor sentiment. Alot of people are holding cash "scared" or waiting for a give away bottom. It's amazing how many words they use for "graph/chart". Instead of facts and management. Which is why I mention COLUF assays. Instead of a Kimber graph with mediocer drill results.

Anyways, thanks for the renewed lesson, Jeff your fan base is growing, I don't know PFIC tax and I'm a better lurker when I leave my BBC community.

The GPL board is full of everything, they're worse than FOX news (accused paid pumpers and paid dumpers it's a real good laugh). Make up your losses on this zzz holding (.27 coal company).Gonna pop next week.

Brian, Your teaching me to fish and thank you. I need to up grade my tackle shop.

Earl

Long Colossus

Earl, I'm not familiar with the "PFIC" acronym, so I'm assuming this is a U.S. tax provision. Sorry, can't be any help there.

With regard to the pump-and-dumpers, they sound just as absurd when sentiment is as bad as it is now as the bashers sound when they try to take-down companies when sentiment is good.

The bottom-line on the BB's is that there are generally two types of posts (apart from the pure cheerleading and/or name-calling): there are posts which are 90% information and 10% persuasion; and there are posts which are 90% persuasion and 10% information.

Obviously we totally ignore the latter, and tentatively accept the former - subject to being able to verify the data.

colossusminerals.com/investors/news_rele...?&content_id=169

Colossus Minerals Acquires Cutia Property

Toronto, Ontario, January 16, 2012 – Colossus Minerals Inc. (the “Company” or “Colossus”) (TSX: CSI) announces the acquisition of the Cutia Property from Cooperativa Mista do Garimpeiro de Cutia (“COOMIC”). The property is located approximately thirteen kilometres to the southeast of its 75% owned Serra Pelada Gold-Platinum-Palladium Project. The Serra Pelada Project is a Colossus-COOMIGASP joint venture located in the State of Pará, Brazil.

Claudio Mancuso, President and CEO of Colossus commented, “The relationship we’ve built with COOMIGASP and the community has led to opportunities to partner with other groups in order to expand our regional footprint around Serra Pelada. The Cutia Property, although grassroots in nature, exhibits promising geological potential. As we continue to develop Serra Pelada and come closer to commercial production in 2013, we feel that now is the time to begin building a pipeline of promising properties around Serra Pelada in order to leverage the investment in infrastructure and personnel we have made at our flagship property.”



ACQUISITION OF CUTIA PROPERTY

The Cutia Property is covered by Brazilian National Department of Mineral Production (DNPM) Process Number 850.661/2010 and is located thirteen kilometres to the southeast of Serra Pelada (Figure 1) in the mineral province of Carajas, Pará State, Brazil. Cutia is part of the Rio Novo geological unit, which also hosts Serra Pelada, and comprises 633 hectares. The property is accessed from Parauapebas using the same road currently used to access the Serra Pelada Project. Artisanal miners produced approximately 65,000 ounces of gold at Cutia in a short period of time between 1988 and 1992 before manual extraction ceased throughout Brazil.

Colossus’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Grifo Geologia e Participaçӧes Ltda., purchased 75% of the Cutia Property from COOMIC for R$3.6 million (approximately USD $2.0 million based on a USD/BRL exchange rate of 1.80). The purchase price is payable in installments as follows:

R$0.4 million (USD $0.2 million) upon execution of the partnership agreement;
R$1.5 million (USD $0.8 million) upon approval of the partnership agreement by COOMIC’s general meeting;
R$0.2 million (USD $0.1 million) upon the formation of a new company to hold the property and the transfer of the exploration permit to such company;
R$0.2 million (USD $0.1 million) six months after the event described in item “c”;
R$0.3 million (USD $0.2 million) twelve months after the event described in item “c”;
R$1.0 million (USD $0.6 million) eighteen months after the event described in item “c”;

The first payment of R$0.4 million (USD $0.2 million) was made in December 2011. The second payment is due in three equal installments over three months from the date of the general meeting. The first of the three installments of R$0.5 million (USD $0.3 million) was also made in December 2011. In addition to the purchase price detailed above, the property is also subject to a Net Smelter Return (“NSR”) royalty of 1% payable on life-of-mine production.

Other relevant details of the agreement are as follows:

Colossus will be the sole operator and will have full discretion over activities of the new company formed to hold the mineral rights including designing and conducting the exploration program, submissions and applications to the DNPM, and determining whether to extend the exploration permit beyond its current expiry date in September 2013.
Colossus is obligated to spend R$5 million (USD $2.8 million) in exploration expenditures between the date of the agreement and the expiration of the exploration permit.
Colossus is responsible for preparing a mineral reserve statement within two years of the expiration of the exploration permit (to be extended if Colossus decides to extend the permit).
Colossus will fully carry any capital costs associated with bringing Cutia into production should a production decision be made in the future.
Colossus may terminate the agreement at any time without penalty and without further obligation to pay any amount not yet due under the agreement.

The Cutia Property is located in the Carajas Region of Pará State, Brazil and is underlain by the Xingu Complex and the Rio Novo Group of lithologies consisting of numerous granitic to ultramafic intrusive bodies as well as felsic-mafic metavolcanics. The main structural feature on the property is the Cutia Fault Zone which traverses the property in a roughly east-west orientation and divides the property between felsic metavolcanics to the north and mafic metavolcanics to the south according to the DNPM maps. The mineralized breccia and quartz vein system that has been historically mined by garimpeiros occurs along this fault zone. The quartz veins range from 3-5 metres wide on surface and contain varied amounts of disseminated, pyrite, malachite and iron oxide minerals as well as the occasional speck of visible gold. A recent university study reported grab sample results of 66g/t Au, 10g/t Ag and >0.5% Cu. Furthermore, visible gold was discovered by one of our staff geologists during a recent visit to the property.

In addition to a site visit, as part of the due diligence process, an airborne geophysical survey was conducted over the Cutia property. The survey was conducted over a two day period by Geotech Ltd., of Aurora, Ontario, using their proprietary VTEM (versatile time-domain electromagnetics) system which measures the magnetic and electromagnetic signatures of the underlying property. A total of 303 line kilometres were flown over the property with line spacing’s of 50 metres in an N-S direction with tie lines flown perpendicular to the survey lines in an E-W direction and spaced every 500 metres. The data was interpreted by geophysicist Eduardo F. Henrique of Reconsult Geofisica, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The survey was successful in delineating a roughly 4.8 kilometre long contact zone between two major lithologies. The auriferous quartz vein system on the property occurs at this contact zone. Several highly magnetic bodies as well as weak electromagnetic anomalies were found in the data and will be ground truthed during a follow-up mapping and prospecting program. Numerous inferred lineaments also resulted from the geophysical interpretation. These lineaments may represent fault and shear structures and make for good exploration targets as they may host auriferous vein material similar to the known showings on the property.

About Colossus:

Colossus is a development-stage mining company focused on bringing its Serra Pelada project into production. Serra Pelada, located in the mineral prolific Carajas region in the State of Pará, Brazil, is host to one of the highest grade gold and platinum group metals deposits in the world. Between 1980 and 1986 Serra Pelada was host to the largest precious metals rush in Latin American history. Coverage of this famous mining rush by 60 Minutes can be viewed by following the link below. Colossus Minerals shares, warrants and notes trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbols CSI, CSI.WT.A and CSI.NT respectively and in the United States using CUSIP 19681L109. The Company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=299887

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD‐LOOKING INFORMATION

Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the timing and nature of future exploration and development programs that are dependent on projections that may change as drilling continues, or if unexpected ground conditions are encountered. The Company does not currently have any mineral properties that are in production or that contain a reserve as defined by National Instrument 43-101. In addition, areas of exploration potential are identified which will require additional drilling to determine whether or not they contain similar mineralization to areas that have been explored in more detail. Significant additional drilling is required at Serra Pelada to fully understand system size.

Except for statements of historical fact relating to Colossus, certain statements in this press release relating but not limited to the Company’s exploration and development plans, activities and intentions, constitute “forward‐looking information” within the meaning of the Securities Act (Ontario) or "forward‐looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent management's best judgment based on current facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable. Forward‐looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as “target”, “plan”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, believe”, “anticipate” and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “appear to”, “may” or “will” occur. Forward‐looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward‐looking statements. The factors include but are not limited to risks related to the joint venture operation, actual results of exploration activities, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, delays in obtaining government approvals, the uncertainties of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, the uncertainties inherent to conducting business in Brazil and the rest of Latin America, the availability of equipment and supplies, unexpected adverse climate conditions, the reliance on only a few key members of management, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company’s most recent Annual Information Form filed with Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities and other regulatory filings which are posted on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Unless required by law, Colossus undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward‐looking statements.

Debsyl, while it's always nice as a shareholder to see a company expanding its land package, this illustrates a more general pattern with these Canadian junior miners (and Colossus in particular).

Because these junior miners are regarded (around the world) as being "honest brokers" in their business dealings AND good citizens in the local communities, they tend to get FIRST CRACK at all of the most promising properties.

Serra Pelada is a classic example. Here we have the site of the largest "gold rush" in the history of Brazil, in a country with a large DOMESTIC mining industry of its own, and who ends up getting to develop this fabulous property? A CANADIAN junior miner.

Note that (at one time) this property was partially-owned by Vale (one of the world's largest mining companies, and Brazil's largest miner), so it would have been NATURAL for the Brazilian prospectors who ultimately gained title to the property to have done a deal with Vale.

Instead, Colossus comes in, does a great job in developing the resource AND in getting along with the Garempeiros (Brazilian prospectors) who are known to be tough-minded negotiators. And now ANOTHER prospector cooperative has done a deal with them.

This is TOTALLY opposite to the "business models" of AMERICAN mining giants like Newmont Mining and Freeport McMorran. THEIR modus operandi is to BUY their way in at the top (via corrupt government officials) - and then strip-mine the resources in the most profitable manner possible, irrespective of environmental damage/poisoning.

Freeport McMorran is one of the world's WORST-polluting companies with its giant Grassberg Mine in Indonesia, while Newmont Mining is currently being investigated in Ghana for systemic poisoning of drinking water.

Ultimately it is DIFFICULT to build/operate huge mines AND be "environmentally friendly", thus if/when people choose to invest in large-cap miners, you are putting your dollars into a MUCH different type of company than the juniors...

I was doing a little bulletin board surfing and spotted this from an observant poster:

Sprott is planning to launch a "physical" platinum/palladium fund.

While we don't talk about the PGM's (Platinum-group metals) very much around here, the one exception would be Colossus - which sports the fattest platinum/palladium grades of any mineral deposit I'm aware of, and will soon be SELLING that ore.

"Sprott plans physically backed platinum, palladium fund"

www.sharenet.co.za/news/Sprott_plans_phy...6da9d25c75bf74d8d4f5

NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Sprott Inc, the investment company run by high-profile precious metal bull Eric Sprott, will launch a physically backed exchange-traded fund worth $115 million that will invest in physical platinum and palladium, according to a filing.

Aimed at retail and institutional investors, the fund will make it easier to get exposure to the spot price of the precious metals, which have surged in value in the last decade, without the inconvenience and cost of taking delivery and storing them.

The fund, similar but not the same as those run by ETF Securities, will invest in the long term, rather than speculating on short-term price changes, the trust said in a preliminary prospectus to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

Platinum prices, which closed at $1,489.75 per oz on Friday, have increased threefold and palladium prices, ending the day at $636.72 per oz, have doubled in the last decade due to falling supplies, from major producers such as South Africa and Russia, and rising demand from the jewellery and autocatalyst markets.

The details of the trust are the same as Sprott's two other physically backed exchange traded alternative investment vehicles, which invest in physical gold and silver.

And then the BB poster added this little "nugget" as well...

Sprott Asset Management's Charles Oliver: “When I first came to Sprott, Colossus was one of the first two companies that I put into the Sprott Gold and Precious Metals Fund”

(open & scroll down)

www.theaureport.com/pub/na/6457

BULLISH FOR PRICES

The removal of more physical metal from the market may help to boost prices further, market participants said. Many analysts attribute the rise in prices over the past two years in part to the rise in popularity of physically backed ETFs.

"It may drive investor demand. It's basically the hoarding of platinum. If they're going to be buying and storing platinum it will take industrial supply off the market," said Sean McGillivray, head of asset allocation at Great Pacific Wealth Management in Oregon.

The prospectus warned that purchases may affect prices, but the trust's initial $115 million purchase would be a fraction of global output based on current prices.

As part of its launch, the trust will issue 11.5 million shares worth $10 each, representing $115 million of physical metal.

Based on a platinum price of $1,500 per oz, that would represent just over 7,666 oz of platinum. Global output in 2010 was 6.05 million oz.

With a palladium price of $630, it would be 18,200 oz of metal, out of global 2010 output of 7.36 million oz.

Based on data by Johnson Matthey, each 10,000 oz of physical palladium and platinum purchased by the trust would represent 0.13 percent and 0.11 percent, respectively, of total supply in 2010, the prospectus said.

Investors will be able to buy and sell those units in the closed-end mutual fund trust on the NYSE Arca and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols "SPPP" and "PPT.U", respectively.

The timing of the issue was not given in the prospectus.

TRACKING SPOT PRICES

A glance at Sprott's gold fund supports the view that shares track spot prices.

If an investor had bought shares when the Physical Gold Trust launched at $10 in early 2010, they would have seen their shares rise by 60 percent to above $16 just as gold prices hit record highs in September.

This is the same percentage rise as the gold price, which peaked at $1,920 per oz, compared with trading around $1,200 in early 2010.

Shares were at $14.48 per share on Friday, down 9 percent from the peak, largely in line with the gold's performance since then.

This would not be a net profit though as an investor would have to pay transaction fees on top.

LOWER COST, MORE CONVENIENT

The fund will charge investors fees for any transactions, but they will be lower than the costs associated with buying and selling physical platinum and palladium bullion, as well as storing and insuring the metal, the prospectus said.

Investors will be able to redeem a minimum of 25,000 units on a monthly basis for physical platinum and palladium at an aggregate net asset value of the units, minus delivery and redemption fees.

The Sprott fund differs from traditional ETFs, which issue and redeem units daily. Sprott investors can redeem the physical metal, something that not all ETFs offer, it said.

Apart from the cash to pay expenses and cash redemptions, the trust will only own physical platinum and palladium bullion that is certified as Good Delivery Standard of the London Platinum and Palladium Market. The metal will be stored with the Royal Canadian Mint.

Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets Corp will act as co-lead underwriters for the offering of the units in the United States. RBC Dominion Securities and Morgan Stanley Canada will act as co-lead underwriters for the offering in Canada.

A robust season of drilling planned:

Colossus Minerals Inc. Announces 2012 Exploration Program
ORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -01/18/12)- Colossus Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Colossus") (TSX: CSI.TO - News) announces the details of its 2012 exploration program.
An exploration budget of approximately R$18.2 million (USD $10.1 million) has been approved for surface exploration by the board of directors for work to be conducted in 2012. In addition, a budget of approximately R$3.1 million (USD $1.7 million) has been approved for underground exploration and forms a part of the Company's ongoing underground development budget.
Claudio Mancuso, President and CEO commented, "Our 2012 drill program has been designed with the goal of expanding the CMZ and GT Zones as well as targeting promising new regional targets on the Serra Pelada and Cutia properties. With a minimum of five surface and two underground rigs, the program balances exploring for extensions and improving our understanding of the grade distribution in both the CMZ and GT Zones in preparation for production in 2013. Additionally, the regional exploration is intended to identify a pipeline of promising properties in order to leverage the investment in infrastructure and personnel we have made at Serra Pelada, our flagship property. Earlier this week we announced the addition of the Cutia Property, 13 kilometres southeast of Serra Pelada, and it is our intention to commence drilling on that property later this year."
The 2012 surface and underground exploration programs consist of the following drilling:


-- 15,000 metres of surface drilling on the Central Mineralized Zone (CMZ)
and GT Zone.
-- 15,000 metres of underground drilling on the CMZ and GT Zones.
-- 5,000 metres to be drilled on new targets within the Serra Pelada
property boundary.
-- 2,000 metres to be drilled on the newly acquired Cutia property.

Surface drilling in 2012 will continue to focus on both the CMZ and the GT Zone. Drilling will focus largely on both infill and extension drilling on the CMZ and definition on the GT Zone to better understand the extent of this gold and platinoid rich breccia. In addition, drill testing will be done on the highly prospective Elephante and Young Garimpo areas of the property where anomalous soil samples and follow-up auger drilling have proven the areas to contain gold and platinoid mineralization. The exploration program also includes drilling on the newly acquired Cutia Property.
The fold hinge hosting the CMZ can now be traced for over a kilometre from the edge of the historic pit and drilling efforts in 2012 will concentrate on expanding this length as well as search for additional high grade gold, platinum and palladium mineralization that characterizes the CMZ.
A diamond drill is currently drilling from an underground drill bay established in the ramp that is being driven towards the CMZ. The current drilling from underground is twofold. It will serve to help establish ground conditions ahead of the ramp development and it will help establish horizontal widths ahead of the planned delineation drilling in the upper part of the CMZ where a bulk sample is scheduled to be taken from the orebody in 2012.
The GT Zone consists of a mineralized iron oxide rich breccia and forms part of the lower limb of the large fold structure, the nose of which hosts the Serra Pelada orebody. The GT Zone essentially remains open and will be the target of drilling in 2012 in order to better understand the extent of the breccia zone and its mineralization.
Exploration work on the newly acquired Cutia property will consist of detailed mapping of the existing pits, shaft locations and outcrops followed by soil sampling along the untested strike length of the Cutia Fault Zone. Once this work has been completed a short diamond drilling program will be conducted to test for the auriferous vein material below the historic garimpeiro pits which currently define the known mineralization along a strike length of 600 metres.
About Colossus:
Colossus is a development-stage mining company focused on bringing its Serra Pelada project into production. Serra Pelada, located in the mineral prolific Carajas region in the State of Para, Brazil, is host to one of the highest grade gold and platinum group metals deposits in the world. Between 1980 and 1986 Serra Pelada was host to the largest precious metals rush in Latin American history. Coverage of this famous mining rush by 60 Minutes can be viewed by following the link below. Colossus Minerals shares, warrants and notes trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the symbols CSI, CSI.WT.A and CSI.NT respectively. The Company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=299887

I have never before seen a letter from a President and CEO. Is this normal practice to issue these?

colossusmineralsinc.wordpress.com/2012/0...f-the-president-ceo/

From the Desk of the President & CEO
Posted on February 22, 2012

We are pleased to report that Colossus continues to make excellent progress with its metallurgical process testing at Serra Pelada. The latest metallurgical testing (the results of which were released in December) has resulted in the production of a sizeable gold button (0.62 grams, pictured).

Metallurgical testing of Serra Pelada core samples continues to confirm the amenability of CMZ mineralization to the gravity plus intensive cyanidation process and further validates our previously released gold recovery parameters. As part of the gravity process testing, several composite samples of gravity concentrate, and high grade core from SPD-113 (74.40 metres at 31.17 g/t gold, 3.02 g/t platinum and 6.78 g/t palladium) were tested for amenability to intensive cyanidation and electrowinning. The 0.62 gram gold button was recovered from these tests.

We are currently progressing well with detailed design of the gravity process announced in December 2011. Sourcing of critical process facility equipment is well underway and construction is on-track with previously released milestones.

We look forward to reporting the final intensive cyanidation results once they become available as well as providing a further update on construction and development

Claudio Mancuso
President & CEO