Gold has an appeal that’s more ancient than the pyramids of Egypt.

Canada’s northern frontiers were opened up because of it, and the gleaming yellow metal is still a place of refuge for many investors when other standards of wealth run into economic turbulence.

People spreading their investments across a range of opportunities would be well advised to consider The Great Canadian Exploration Company.

It’s currently a privately held Alberta-based mining exploration company digging for gold, as well as diamonds, in regions where these precious commodities are known to exist.

Great Canadian VP Catriona Imray and president John Hope believe their deposits in Nova Scotia and B.C. are real gems.

The company has four projects in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

Great Canadian has an offering memorandum recently approved by the Alberta Securities Commission and is now selling shares for 20 cents and 25 cents.

The 20-cent shares are RRSP-eligible, and the 25-cent type are flow-through shares. “The flow-through shares offer an immediate tax benefit in that whatever amount you purchase will come off the top of your taxable income,” explains VP Catriona Imray.

“For instance, if somebody made $100,000 in a year and they bought $10,000 worth of flow-through shares, they would then be taxed by the government on $90,000.”

Because Great Canadian is exploring for gold and currently has no assets to sell, it can defer all of the expenses it incurs.

“We can defer that to our shareholders so they can use that to reduce their taxes as well,” Imray says. And of course there’s the prospect of Great Canadian hitting a rich mineral deposit, which would drive up the value of its stock.

The company’s flagship operation is in Widow Point, N.S., a highly promising gold property that needs only a short drilling program to prove reserves.

Widow Point has assays as high as 72.8 ounces over 8 inches and 10 ounces over 39 inches (one metre). At least 10 horizons of gold bearing schists have been identified.

Great Canadian is exploring, as well, at Vowel Mountain in northwestern British Columbia, near the Yukon. It has assays as high as a third of an ounce across widths exceeding one metre.

“We believe that this property has huge potential,” says company president John Hope.

The company is also looking at a placer gold operation at Thibert Creek, B.C., and is doing diamond exploration in Alberta, near Hinton.

But its mainstay is the search for rich gold deposits. For potential investors, the timing is probably as favorable as it’s been since the 1997 scandal that brought down Calgary-based Bre-X after its alleged gold find in Indonesia was revealed as bogus.

Bre-X ultimately had a positive effect on the marketplace. Its demise led to far-reaching regulations governing what publicly traded exploration companies can claim and when they can claim it.

There are also limits to how many shares the directors can sell once the companies go public, and tough rules have been established to govern assay results.

“They have to be verified by an independent geologist, someone who has absolutely no affiliation with our company, who will benefit not at all from whether the report is good or bad,” Imray says.

Amid this strict regulatory landscape, Great Canadian is doing its part to limit risk by capitalizing on an inventory of jade it has acquired at Dease Lake, B.C., which has already been mined by someone else. The beautiful green rock, familiar to many in jewelry form, will be marketed to help offset Great Canadian’s operating expenses.

Of course, there’s more to a sound investment than a company’s properties.

There are its people. In this case, the exploration is run by individuals passionate about the business.

John Hope, 59, literally grew up in it. “My dad was a pioneer in northwestern B.C.,” Hope says. “He had a gold mine.

I was raised on his gold mine and have been involved in the mining industry most of my life.”

Imray has also got the fever.

“I love it,” she says. “I started university and took all sorts of courses that I really didn’t like. Then I took a geology course and thought, ‘Look at this – this is so much fun.’ I couldn’t get over how much I enjoyed the course work and all aspects of it.”

Although Great Canadian was founded only last March, its management is experienced in the industry and highly motivated.

Hope is confident that in the long run, gold will remain one of the world’s prized materials, and his company will prove to be an excellent investment.

For further information, call 780.443.4652 or e-mail greatcanadian@telus.net

NOTE: “No securities regulatory authority has assessed the merits of these securities or reviewed the preceding statements.”