From the Desk of Nick Nicolaas #25

April 18, 2004

Re: European Trip and Rothschild withdrawing from commodities trading including gold

Dear Friends:

I will be leaving in the next hour for Europe where I will be for the next month, however if you would like to reach me the easiest is via e-mail to nicolaas@attglobal.net

I will be following up with those individuals, banking and fund managers, who David Henstridge (President of Tumi Resources and Director of Tinka Resources) and I met during our February European Tour encompassing six cities.

However before I leave I decided to send you the Warren Pollock Newsletter below which I think is important for you to be aware of.

Regards,

Nick Nicolaas

nicolaas@attglobal.net

(604) – 657-4058

The Macroeconomic Newsletter

Warren Pollock,

pollock.warren@verizon.net

April 15, 2004

Something Significant at Rothschild

In a surprise move today Rothschild announced that it is withdrawing from commodities trading including gold. The ramifications of this are totally unpredictable as we cannot look into Rothschild's objectives. However ,we should consider that the cover story Rothschild provided

regarding profitability concerns are absurd. This move could mean the following; The political confidence of large wealth holders in the US fiduciary responsibility to global banking and governance through mutual interest may have been exhausted. Large money may be insisting that political change occur in the US. The gold leasing game for arbitrage profits has just ended. The leasing game can only safely occur when prices of gold remain predictable. Central banks would loan gold through Rothschild to bankers and brokers. Bankers and brokers would sell the gold and use the proceeds to gain easy profits between the current interest rates and the cost of the gold lease. Significant derivative problems could exist causing Rothschild to have exposures on lent gold that cannot be returned to central banks. Rothschild may be unwilling to lend gold. In banking terms this would reduce golds liquidity between banks and central banks. For individuals this would make gold more scarce. They may be unwilling to lend gold for a variety of reasons. Rothschild may be acting upon intelligence it has via its political contacts regarding pending geopolitical threats which could include a wider war in the Middle East or the further isolation of the US.

1. Rothschild may be consolidating and accumulating positions in gold in

advance of a global financial collapse, or a US financial collapse. .

2. A financial collapse could be induced or timed to meet political

objectives. This would be the equivalent of financial terror attack.

N M Rothschild

N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, London announces that it is withdrawing from

commodities trading, including gold.

This decision has been taken following a strategic review of the services offered by Rothschild and will result in the withdrawal from commodities sales and trading activities in London. As part of this decision, Rothschild will be withdrawing from the twice daily London Gold Fixing which it currently Chairs. Discussions are being held with other members of the Fixing to ensure an orderly handover of the Chairmanship. Rothschild will continue to provide advice, project finance, corporate banking and other services to its Natural Resources and Mining clients around the world. The London announcement has minimal impact on metals sales and trading services from Rothschild’s businesses in Australia and Singapore. Announcing the decision, David de Rothschild, Chairman of N M Rothschild & Sons Limited, said: "Our income from commodities trading in London, including gold, has fallen as a percentage of our total income in each of the past five years. Following a strategic review of our activities we have concluded that this is no longer a core area of activity and have, therefore, decided to withdraw from the market. "

"The sustained growth of the Rothschild Group over the past decade has been a

remarkable success story. We remain committed to growing further our activities in specialist commercial banking, private banking & trust services and objective

relationship-based investment banking advice."

For further information: John Antcliffe Smithfield 020 7360 4900