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They’re moving mountains in Nevada in the quest for gold.

Mines are running at full-bore in a modern-day gold rush fueled by never-before-seen prices that make Nevada, if it were its own country, No. 5 in the world for gold production.

The operations along the rich Carlin Trend some 300 miles northeast of Reno are both scraping the surface on pits a mile across and tunneling down a third of a mile or more.

Typically, it can take five to seven tons of ore — enough to fill a dump truck — to get one ounce of gold through a lengthy process of crushing, grinding and chemical processing.

It’s a lot of work for a little return, and the payout is hard to see — the gold produced in Nevada isn’t visible until the final stages when it’s separated from gray sludge and poured into 900-ounce, 90 percent-pure bars.

But at $1,600 or more per ounce on world markets, that works out to $1.3 million per bar. And in 2010, Nevada mines produced 5.34 million ounces of gold — the equivalent of 5,933 bars.

That’s big business, for sure, for several mining enterprises led by global corporate giants Newmont Mining Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp., which operate side by side on the Carlin Trend, considered the most prolific mining district in the Western Hemisphere.

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by David L Roberts, Marketing consultant to renewable energy start-ups

When was the last time the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of clean energy? Or agreed with the Senate — and the President — on any legislation in recent memory? Well, the new “Jumpstart Our Business Startups” (JOBS) Act, was overwhelmingly and quickly passed by both houses and signed into law by President Obama April 5. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has 90 days to weigh in. But assuming the intent of Congress prevails, here’s what’s possible….

The new law has the potential to change the rules for raising capital for clean energy startups, entrepreneurs, and other small companies, defined by the law as “Emerging Growth Companies” (EGC’s). Once formalized with final SEC language — theoretically, by Jul 5 — small companies will have more relaxed timing and thresholds for advertising, accounting and SEC registration.

Who Can Benefit?

Any EGC with less than $10 million in assets, $1 billion in gross revenue, and fewer than 2000 investors can now seek access to capital markets, according to the new law, notwithstanding the SEC 90-day window for amendments. In addition, individual investors will have access to share in the growth of these emerging companies, previously unavailable and unknown to them. Here’s Part 4 of a well-written 4-part discussion of the JOBS Act, with parts 1-3 at the bottom of the post.

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When most of us hear the term, "the placebo effect," we think of drug trials and the tendency for some patients to experience positive results even when given a harmless pill with no therapeutic benefits.

A similar effect can happen in the workplace to the benefit of your small business, if handled correctly.

Simply put, when you tell yourself you can or can’t do something, you not only predict your future; you make your future. The same is true for your employees. For example, when you tell them, "We’re in for a fight," you are telling them it’s inevitable. Since you’re the boss, they believe you. Now your staff is in "fighting mode," on the defensive and approaching every situation with hostility. Pretty soon, your company is in a full-on battle with whichever competitor or vendor you predicted you’d end up fighting.

If, on the other hand, you tell your employees something like, "This situation will be resolved easily and peaceably," you’ll "placebo" your team into being a calm, rational staff behaving in a way that would ensure that your prediction is true. Again, they believe you, and the appropriate action follows belief. That is the power of the mind.

I think back to an employee we nicknamed Shaq. He was short, and so obviously the name was ironic. But it was really an enabling name, because the real Shaq is a successful basketball player, an icon. We could have called our guy Stretch, but calling him Shaq pumped him up. He owned the name, performing above our expectations every single day.

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