Really Useful Gold thread's Stock Picks for 2006

mentioned HIF earlier, here is a pretty good summary from the chairman as to what they are up to. Very undervalued imho

Chairman's Statement


Introduction

The year ended 30 September 2005 has seen your Company undergo considerable
change as management embarked upon exploration activity and a series of
acquisitions and disposals designed to provide the Company with a focus in
several of the world's premier mining regions where your Directors believe there
is significant opportunity to convert advanced gold exploration opportunities
into meaningful value for our shareholders. We have developed a two-pronged
strategy of direct exploration on projects where can achieve a majority interest
and can utilise our particular management expertise such as in Argentina and
Alaska and the farming-out of non-core projects to companies with the management
and resources to develop them further.

South America

Argentina, an area in which your management has enjoyed considerable gold
exploration success, is soon to become the principal focus of the Company's
direct exploration activity. To this end, for the past several months we have
been engaged in due diligence and transaction completion matters for the
acquisition of the East Santa Cruz gold projects of Yamana Gold Inc. Certain
administrative matters to be completed by the vendors have slightly delayed
completion into the New Year. Notwithstanding this delay, the Company is well
advanced with its exploration plans which will commence during February with
field work and a substantial drilling programme. This exploration work is
designed to increase both the size and confidence in the present estimation of
the gold mineralization on the East Santa Cruz projects, on which Yamana and its
former partner Minera Buenaventura had identified 136,000 ounces of gold. It is
expected that this exploration programme will lead to the commencement of a
feasibility study on the project in 2007.

The Company's other joint venture projects in the Patagonia region of Argentina
with Minera Sud Argentina will be the subject of a more modest exploration
programme as the Company focuses on the East Santa Cruz projects.

During the year the Company also managed to conclude a number of important
transactions on its gold exploration projects in Minas Gerais, Brazil, including
the buy-out of our partner, Brazilian Diamonds from the Cata Preta joint venture
in November. We have also been able to expand our property position in the area
with strategic licence acquisitions at both the Cata Preta project and Sumidouro
Dome located approximately 25kms from Cata Preta. The "Cata Preta West" licence
provides the opportunity to increase the gold resource within the enlarged Cata
Preta project through a potential northeast extension of the "Carvoeira" deposit
and untested vein targets to the west.

During the year the Company also carried out field exploration at Sumidouro Dome
particularly on the two newly acquired licences. This programme has already led
to a number of potentially important gold showings, none of which has been
drilled, related to historic mine workings.

North America

In September 2005 the Company exercised its option to acquire a 50% interest in
the Golden Zone gold project, in the Alaska Range, central Alaska, from Piper
Capital Inc, a TSX quoted company in which Hidefield has a 16% shareholding. As
a part of our earn-in arrangements, we funded the second of a two phase drilling
programme on the project and this proved highly successful in demonstrating
continuity of mineralization to a depth of +200m, in the GZ Breccia Pipe within
which a resource of 253,000 ounces gold at a grade of 2.8 grammes per tonne had
been established by earlier drilling. Over the next several months we and the
team at Piper Capital will be undertaking an evaluation of the exploration work
carried out over the recent northern summer and expect to have a revised and
upgraded resource estimate available during the latter part of the first quarter
of 2006.


In order to earn its 50% interest in the Golden Zone gold project, Hidefield is
committed to carry out additional exploration to the value of US$1.2 million
over the next two years. In addition to the exploration activity at the Golden
Zone project itself, the joint venture acquired, through staking activity, 108
mineral claims totalling 6,680 hectares at an area known as South Estelle,
adjacent to Rio Tinto subsidiary, Kennecott's "Whistler" copper gold project at
Mt Estelle. Reconnaissance sampling on these licences during September produced
very encouraging results and these will be followed up with further work during
the coming northern summer field season.

Associate Companies

At Alto Ventures (36% owned) most of the activity during the past year has been
focused on its Despinassy gold project in the Abitibi greenstone belt, near Val
d'Or, Quebec, Canada where a substantial drill programme over the northern
winter resulted in confirmation of significant high grade gold mineralization
over a 300 metres zone now known as the "DAC deposit". Of equal importance to
the establishment of the continuity of mineralization at the DAC deposit, the
programme confirmed the excellent exploration potential of the more than 6kms of
identified strike length of the mineralization being explored. We are
encouraged by Alto Ventures' progress with its first drill programme and Alto
has now announced that this is to be followed up by a second programme of
approximately 5,000 metres of drilling to commence in late January, to bring the
DAC deposit mineralization up to a defined resource category.

Hidefield's other significant associate company investment, Columbus Gold (27.5%
owned) has now filed a draft prospectus in preparation for its IPO on the TSX
Venture Exchange in Canada and this is anticipated to occur in late January or
early February 2006. Columbus Gold has been very busy over the past year with
its exploration and project acquisition programmes in Nevada and Arizona. These
activities, which have taken place against a background of heightened investor
and mining company interest in areas of Nevada in which Columbus Gold operates,
should provide the basis for a very successful IPO.

Results

The unaudited results for the year ended 30 September 2005 show a loss on
ordinary activities before tax of #739,086 (2004 - #1,209,048). This 39%
reduction was chiefly as result of the profit on sale of two coal licences in
Canada, to which I referred in my annual statement in March, but also due to
reduced administration costs despite the significant increase in activities.

Shareholders should also note that during the year we changed the Company's
accounting reference date to 31 December and as a consequence the next audited
accounts will be in respect of the period of fifteen months to 31 December 2005.

The last six months has been an especially busy period for the Company and the
considerable progress made in building shareholder value through the many
activities and acquisitions undertaken could not have been achieved without the
significant effort of my colleagues on the Board and our talented colleagues in
North and South America.

On behalf of the Board I wish to thank all of our people and our shareholders
for their continued efforts and support and look forward to an exciting 2006,
during which time the benefit of our efforts over the past twelve months should
start to become evident.


Kenneth P Judge
Chairman
23 December 2005