Other key factors are also converging to improve Bishop's prospects for success. For instance, the advent of new "mining-friendly" federal and provincial legislation, including favorable new tax policies, has precipitated a boom in Canadian mineral exploration. This improved business climate, combined with Canada's renowned mineral-rich geology and excellent infrastructure, once again make it one of the most attractive nations in the world to hunt for lustrous metals.

And Bishop is definitely at the forefront of the race to develop new, economically viable Canadian gold deposits. This imperative comes as a response to a global decline in "in situ" (in the ground) gold reserves in recent years. Accordingly, this undervalued gold junior is aggressively developing two advanced-stage, high-grade gold deposits in north central British Columbia (BC). Bishop is also outlining a number of rich gold zones at a similarly well-developed gold deposit near Yellowknife -- the capital city of Canada's most northerly and largely unexplored frontier hinterland, the Northwest Territories. Weighing heavily in Bishop's favour is the fact that all of these properties benefit considerably from extensive previous exploration. This includes over Cdn. $5 million that was spent in the 1980s on the Quartz Vein Gold Property in the Northwest Territories.

However, what has really galvanized the buying enthusiasm of the investment community in recent weeks is the prospect of discovering one or more major porphyry-style gold-copper deposits in the Toodoggone mining district in BC. This is where the gold-rich Kemess porphyry gold-copper mine was put into production in 1999 by Northgate Exploration Ltd. The Kemess Mine is located within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of Bishop's Lawyers and Al properties, which encompass several highly prospective, high-grade, epithermal gold-silver deposits. In fact, these properties straddle the same mineral belt that hosts the Kemess Mine and other historic discoveries, mainly located along its southern axis.

Significantly, the Lawyers Property, which covers 38 square kilometers (14.7 square miles), hosts the currently dormant Cheni Mine, which briefly operated during the late 1980s. This mine has an impressive production history of 174,000 ounces of gold and 3.6 million ounces of silver. Meanwhile, the equally sprawling Al Property covers five concessions spread over an 18-square-kilometre area (7 square miles). This property has also been the focus of small-scale historic mining from high-grade epithermal gold veins structures.

Also, ownership of the Lawyers and Al properties has been very fragmented in the past, making systematic exploration of the area's mineralized trends problematic. Bishop has an option agreement allowing the company to own both properties outright in return for staggered cash and share payments over five years. Hence, by consolidating this large 10,000-acre land package, Bishop is now in the unprecedented position of being able to evaluate and fully interpret the emerging geological model for these significantly mineralized properties. This allows Bishop to selectively explore those areas with the greatest potential for new high-grade discovery zones. On this note, the company is committed to expanding the size and scope of the two properties' known epithermal gold-silver structural complexes. Success in this regard would greatly improve their economic potential.

With this clear mandate in mind, one of Bishop's main priorities is to "prove up" a 500,000-tonne economic resource at the Lawyers Property. This currently inferred mineral inventory was written off as uneconomic during the early 1990s when low precious metal prices forced the mine's previous operators to write off this resource off as too expensive to extract at that time. However, a revitalized bull market in bullion prices has now dramatically improved the prospects for this multi-faceted gold discovery.

Also, it should be noted that the Lawyers Property consists of four mineralized bonanza (high grade) gold trends with a combined strike length of over 11 kilometres (6.8 miles). Multiple geophysical and geochemical targets along this strike length remain to be tested, while a recent trenching program in the vicinity of the small ore body that was previously mined suggests the continuation of economic grades along strike. Grades include 5.13 g/tonne gold and 20.8 g/tonne silver along the trench's entire 27.03-metre length.

There is another compelling aspect to this story that promises to generate some excitement in the coming months. It concerns management's belief that several of the known gold zones within the former mine complex have considerable untapped potential at depth. It is important to note that neither the Al nor the Lawyers properties have in the past been systematically explored below the 200-metre mark. Previous exploration and mining operations have focused almost exclusively on the easy-to-access, near-surface high-grade epithermal style mineralization. However, Bishop's savvy management team, which is well acquainted with these types of deposits, believes that the two properties' vein and structurally-controlled mineralized systems may constitute feeder zones for deeper-seated, large gold-silver-copper porphyry deposits. If so, such a development would offer Bishop a tremendous boost as porphyry deposits typically offer very large, bulk tonnage potential, albeit at lower grades. Again, the nearby Kemess Mine is a good example of such a deposit.

Meanwhile, Bishop is confident that there exists considerable potential to increase the tonnage of the existing high-grade gold-silver discovery zones at the Al Property. In the past, this property has only been systematically explored at shallow depths. However, as this property has been extensive drilled by its previous operators, an inferred resource base of 225,000 tonnes of 10.3 g/tonne gold has already been outlined that includes 120,000 tonnes of 8.5 g/tonne gold in the highly prospective Bonanza and Thetis zones. Notably, a total of 38,000 tonnes of ore has already been selectively mined from these mineralized structures by previous operators.

In September of 2003, Bishop undertook a 10-hole drill program which successfully confirmed the continuity of the high-grade mineralization within the body of the better-explored Bonanza Zone. The fact that Bishop's drilling returned grades as high as 27.85 g/tonne gold over 5.8 metres in one hole and 17.5 g/tonne over 13.7 metres in an adjacent hole confirms the existence of a very high-grade core to the aptly named Bonanza Zone. The company is presently conducting a technologically advanced three-dimensional modeling and interpretation of this gold vein structure with a view to sizing up its potential for an open pit bulk mining operation. The same modeling will also help the company test the theory that this epithermal deposit may in fact be a feeder system for a deeper-seated gold-silver-copper porphyry deposit.

Notably, the Bonanza Zone is just one of a total of 19 known mineralized zones that are situated along a strike length of over 19 kilometres (12.8 miles) -- most of which are exposed at surface. Virtually all of these targets have only seen very limited exploration work to date. To address this situation, Bishop intends to conduct a comprehensive geophysical exploration program to investigate the potential for extensions of these mineralized zones both along strike at a greater depth than has been tested to date. The results of this survey will help Bishop determine which targets hold the best promise when the property is more extensively drilled during the summer.

It should also be noted that both the Al and Lawyers properties are situated less than 65 kilometres (40 miles) from the Kemess Mine. This offers Bishop a major advantage in terms of minimizing capital costs should the company decide to recommence a mining operation at either or both of these two highly prospective properties. By having ready access to the multi-million dollar Kemess mill, Bishop would be able to truck ore to the mill for processing in return for allowing Northgate share in the revenues.

Elsewhere, Bishop owns another advanced-stage gold deposit at Gordon Lake in the Giant Bay area, which is only about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Yellowknife. Known as the Quartz Vein Gold Property, it benefits from an extensive exploration history that includes Cdn. $5 million worth of drilling dating back to the mid 80s. High-grade intersections have been encountered throughout this property, particularly at the Number 1 Zone in a mineralized structure known as Kidney Pond. Drill intersections of up to 60.6 g/tonne gold over an apparent width of 2.1 metres have been intersected. Moreover, work that was conducted underground in the past has determined that the deposit has excellent continuity of these types of grades down the plunge of the zone. Or in other words, the mineable gold veins are believed to continue to a considerable depth, the extent of which has not yet been determined. However, Bishop's geologists know that it certainly exceeds the 200-metre mark where underground development previously took place. Such a scenario suggests the prospect of a potentially significant gold find at depth.

Meanwhile, a recent trenching program established the economic potential of several key zones that are part of an extensive near-surface gold vein complex. Assay results were very positive. They include the Bulge Zone which has a strike length of at least 60 metres and a width of 15 metres. The only portion of this mineralization that has been sampled to date yielded an eye-catching 18.71 g/tonne gold over 3 metres. Several other zones also provided less lustrous but nonetheless very encouraging results, including 3.58 g/tonne gold over 2.6 metres in the V8 Zone.

This vein complex will the focus of an upcoming drill program that is expected to commence as early as February or March of 2004. Particular emphasis will be placed on the bonanza-grade Bulge Zone, as well as the equally prospective Number 1 Zone. A successful drill program would set the stage for a potential near-surface open-pit mining operation. In fact, other similar epithermal gold deposits have also been profitably mined in the vicinity of Gordon Lake in the past. Also, the prospect of a low-cost, open pit mine would also dramatically improve the economics of an underground mining operation, assuming that future drilling proves the existence of a deep-seated gold deposit.

On a corporate note, Bishop benefits from a strong, accomplished management team. Its president, Arthur Fisher, is a well-respected mining engineer with over three decades of experience in the mining business. During this time, he has been involved in numerous mine development and exploration projects around the world and has a wealth of experience in the management of junior resource companies. He currently also serves as president of Lysander Minerals Corp., PMI Ventures Ltd. and Camden Capital Corp.

Mr. Fisher's mining and corporate development expertise are complimented by the talents of the company's exploration manager, Lesley Hunt. With more than 20 years of experience as a geologist, she has spent most of her career in Canada where she has gained invaluable experience with both major mining companies and a number of well-known juniors. Bishop shareholders will be encouraged to learn that Ms. Hunt is well-known for her expertise in the exploration and development of epithermal gold deposits, especially in Western Canada.

From a technical perspective, SmallCapMedia believes that Bishop is undervalued for several key reasons. First of all, the company is developing several advanced-stage properties that have seen millions of dollars of exploration to date. Extensive drilling on each property has outlined a number of high-grade vein and stockwork structures, all of which clearly exhibit economic potential. Secondly, there is also considerable "blue sky" potential for the discovery of large-tonnage, porphyry-style gold resources at depth on all three properties.

Then, let us consider the fact that we are entering the third year of a secular bull market in bullion prices. This situation has already led to surging prices in most established gold juniors in 2003. Many such companies have greatly appreciated in value during this time frame without any dramatic improvements in their project fundamentals. However, Bishop did not really show up on the radar screens of most investors and brokers, alike, until the summer of 2003. It was at that time that the company was restructured with an emphasis on ushering in a dynamic new management team. Around this time, Bishop also entered into option agreements to acquire the highly prospective Al and Lawyers properties.

Since then, the company has been a very active trader. It is no coincidence that Bishop's revitalized share price comes on the heals of the company topping up its treasury with close to Cdn. $1.4 million (US $1 million) to fund the development of its three properties. With an aggressive mandate to build up ounces in the ground, Bishop appears to be primed to break out of its recent Cdn. $0.20 to $0.25 trading range in the coming months. SmallCapMedia believes that the likelihood of a near-term flow of positive exploration news will establish a sustained up-trend for Bishop's share price in the coming months.