CanAlska was a "swing for the bleachers" bet on a high-grade uranium discovery in Canada's Athabasca Basin, home of the highest-grade uranium deposits in the world. The company had already intersected high-grade uranium in previous drilling, and thought it knew where to drill to find more and better. With some success in hand, I thought it was worth a shot, but, unfortunately, the follow-up drilling was disappointing. On the brights side uranium prices rallied this year, enabling me to get my money back, minus brokerage fees. This was arguably a win, by a fraction of a penny, but with the fees, it was a loser, and I won't pretend otherwise.

Back on the bright side, with a bit of patience (not rushing to the exits with everyone else), I did get most of my money back and have it ready to deploy on my next speculation.

Also, as regards the company, I should say that while disappointing, the results earlier this year did not actually kill the project, or even the specific target. The company's geologists may be able to use what they learned from the last round of drilling to obtain better results in the next round. But the uncertainty makes it riskier than I'm willing to bet on. If the company does start hitting consistently thick, high-grade uranium intercepts, I might buy back in. Even if that's at a higher price, it will be with much less risk. For now, I'm out.