This article is part of a 20 article special report on "Metals, miners and money".

"When building a portfolio of junior mining stocks, stick with the best -- not just the cheapest," says money manager and advisor Adrian Day in his industry-leading The Global Analyst.

Although he is cautious on gold prices for the near term, Adrian Day suggests, "Gold is still only part way through its current bull move, one that likely still has years to run." Here, he looks at five favorite top-quality junior miners.

"Gold has had an extraordinary run, based partly on the decline in the dollar, which appears overdone in the short term. The fundamentals for a weaker dollar and for a stronger gold price remain intact, but I would be cautious about chasing markets now, especially the seniors.

"But it would be a mistake to sell too much, particularly in an attempt to trade the market and buy back precisely the same stocks at lower prices. Such attempts often end badly, as one fails to buy back favorite companies after selling at perhaps intermediate tops.

"Meanwhile, gold will eventually go much higher, as will the companies that own, produce, or discover the metal. If I were building a gold and resource portfolio today, from scratch, I would look among the top-quality juniors. Admittedly, many of these stocks have seen tremendous runs, but the companies themselves, on a fundamental basis, are still reasonable value with a lot more room to move in a bull market. My favorites would be the following.

"Vista Gold (AMEX: VGZ) owns about 0.4 oz of gold per share in the ground, making it cheap on an asset basis. The company has a strong balance sheet and is moving to monetize its assets, including moving forward on production from one advanced property.

"The business model, with lots of known but high-cost ounces in the ground, gives it good leverage to the gold prices.

"Altius Minerals (TSE: ALS) is a hybrid: it has strong cash flow from a royalty on the Voisey's Bay nickel project; its has several joint-ventures on properties at various stages of development in uranium, gold, and base metals; and it has numerous other early stage properties.

"But its potential crown jewel is its proposal to build a refinery in Newfoundland, which would be the first new refinery in North America in two decades, and one of the largest and most-modern plants in the world.

"The project is moving through the provincial permitting process smoothly, and we expect Altius to retain an ownership and royalty interest in the project as the huge capital costs are raised.

"Virginia Mines (TSE: VGQ) is a successful prospect generator in Quebec. It has over a dozen active projects, with four current drill programs, mostly in joint-venture with others who spend the money to earn into Virginia's projects.

"It has a new discovery, a polymetalic property called Couson. The company has cash and a royalty on a gold property it sold last year, and on an asset basis, remains good value.

"Allied Nevada (AMEX: ANV) was formed earlier this year by merging Vista Gold's Nevada properties with a private Nevada exploration package, which together constitute the second largest privately owned land package in Nevada. One former producer is moving back to production; others are in joint ventures. The company has cash and very strong management.

"Silver Standard (NASDAQ: SSRI) has over one billion ounces of silver in the ground at various projects around the world, with two moving towards production. The company is well cash up, with about $250 million in cash, bullion, and marketable securities, and offers strong leverage to the silver prices.

"The stock prices of all these companies have moved strongly in recent weeks and months. But arguably, because of developments, these companies are better value today than there were a year or so ago at lower stock prices.

" Particularly if you are new to the sector, I would focus on buying the best and not necessarily the cheapest (and certainly not the lowest-priced), recognizing that the gold sector is inherently volatile but being prepared to hold throughout the cycle."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com website features the latest investment commentary and favorite stock picks of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.