Kobex Minerals Inc. (TSX:KXM) has $34 million in its treasury; that's $8.5 million more than the company's current market cap. (46,082,413 shares out, last at $.55).

KXM is effectively a cashed up shell looking for resource projects. "Kobex seeks to identify, acquire, and develop deposits which have the potential to be world class, in the lower cost quartile and in an acceptable risk environment," states the company's Web site.

Fund manager and former investment letter writer Paul Van Eeden, who was replaced by Brent Cook at Exploration Insights, is the Chairman of Kobex and holds 4.188 million shares. Van Eeden has a very good reputation.

We have also heard that Sprott USA Chairman Rick Rule is a large shareholder.

phil du toit

Phil du Toit 2.0

The President and CEO of the Kobex is a friend of mine, Toronto-based mining engineer Philip du Toit, who I think is 29, but he's deadly smart and was a pupil of Boswell Capital's Glen Brown while attending the University of Toronto (Mr. Brown is a close advisor to Haywood Securities Chairman John Tognetti).

Mr. Du Toit's father, also named Phil, is a senior executive and iron ore mine developer with Lakshmi Mittal's ArcellorMittal, one of the world's largest steelmakers. The younger du Toit joined his father at Arcellor for the first few years of his career, before becoming Mr. Van Eeden's analyst a year ago.

In the CEO role at Kobex, Phil is likely a transitional leader, but he's not a bad guy for the due diligence focused job. Phil is calculating and can't be bullshitted. He could be a guy you'll see on the sidebar of this website in the future (------>).

You can buy Rick Rule, Paul Van Eeden, and Phil Du Toit's Kobex Minerals for roughly $.75 cents on the dollar. I am not a buyer of Kobex shares today but I'll be watching with keen interest what they come up with.

Stalk Phil on Linkedin and do your own due diligence.

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