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

Taseko Mines (AMEX: TGB) "operates the Gibraltar open-pit copper mine in British Columbia, which it is significantly expanding and upgrading," notes Tom Bishop, editor of BI Research. "One of the big advantages of investing in Taseko is that its operations are all located in North America, which removes a lot of uncertainty.

"An even bigger advantage is that with copper prices soaring (and sticking to the ceiling around $3.50 a pound), Taseko has actually been able to step up to the plate and relatively quickly (and inexpensively) essentially double production capacity.

"The Gibraltar expansion everything appears to be on track. A combination of higher grade ore and better recoveries, not to mention copper prices around $3.50, should spark some more earnings improvement in the coming quarters.

"Meanwhile, don't forget their giant Prosperity project -- one of the largest open pit gold-copper deposits in North America in development. It is estimated to have 4.5 million recoverable ounces of gold and 2 billion recoverable pounds of copper.

"The project cost is $800 million and production is expected to average 108 million lbs. of copper and 247,000 oz. of gold. Prosperity continues to move through the permitting process. I see earnings per share of $0.50 - $0.55 for 2008. Taseko has more than lived up to my expectations as my favorite for 2007 and I continue to rate the stock a buy."

Last December, over 100 stocks were featured in our Top Picks for 2007 report. Now, at mid-year, we turn to the 20 advisors whose picks showed the strongest gains to get an update on their previous picks, as well as a new favorite stock for the second half of the year.

Thomas Bishop, editor of BI Research, chose Taseko Mining Ltd. (ASE: TGB) as his favorite for 2007, which rose 44% as of 6/1/07. Please see his original recommendation and his current opinion on the stock.

NutraCea (OTC: NTRZ) is his new stock pick. The advisor explains, "Rice is the most consumed grain on the planet and is a primary food source for 70% of the world's population. However, 65% of its nutritional value is in the bran covering that is routinely stripped off. NutraCea offers a patent technology that preserves these nutrients.

"NutraCea had developed a technology that stabilizes rice bran into an FDA-certified edible product, leaving the nutritional value of the bran intact with a shelf life of one to three years. There is tremendous interest in this highly nutritional product, especially from humanitarian relief organizations, the nutraceutical industry, and both human and animal food companies.

"NutraCea's client roster has 187 customers, including the likes of General Mills, Pepperidge Farms, Con Agra, Archer Daniels Midland, and Purina. In addition, some 500 companies have signed nondisclosure agreements with NutraCea to test using its product in their products.To cut to the chase, NutraCea is facing demand that is expected to exceed its ability to supply it for years to come.

In my recent posts, I have been reviewing the most popular sectors for the coming year, according the the newsletter advisors who participated in the Top Picks from 2007 report. In my last post, I highlighted stocks in healthcare, tech, and telecom. Today, I want to review the resource sectors -- energy and metals -- that remain very popular among advisors, despite being out-of-favor in recent trading.

First, let's look at the metals, where gold remains a popular choice. Sy Harding chose ASA Bermuda, a closed-end gold fund, Curtis Hesler selected Yamana, and Martin Weiss opted for Kinross.

Pamela Aden selected the bullion tracking exchange-traded fund, the streetTracks Gold Trust; Mark Leibovit also chose streettracks Gold. Meanwhile, Mary Anne Aden chose the iShares Silver Trust.

Outside of the precious metals, Tom Bishop chose copper play, Taseko Mines, while Neil Macneale selected steel stocks.

Equally as volatile as metals -- and currently out-of-favor -- has been energy. The energy sector has been high on the list of Top Picks for the past 4 years. This year, however, there is a noticeable shift.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Taseko Mines Ltd. (ASE: TGB) is the favorite speculative play for 2007 from Tom Bishop, editor of BI Research. He notes, "After living hand to mouth for five or six years during lean copper and gold prices, Taseko bought the Gibraltar mine, which it picked up for a song when copper was down in the low $0.60/lb range.

"Today copper is around $3/lb, the mine is back into production and now its cash stash, including proceeds from a $30 million convertible, is steaming towards C$100 million. The company just added about 38% to its mineral reserves, which now stand at 256 million tons (equating to a 15-year mine life) grading 0.32% copper and 0.01% molybdenum.

Note the molybdenum alone adds over $20 million to revenues annually. The company is upgrading and expanding its Gibraltar mill/production facility, and will be moving to a higher grade softer ore part of the ore body in 2007. Therefore, with mill improvements I expect production to increase 20 to 30% this year and generate about $0.65 to $0.70 of cash flow, which is not bad for a company trading at $2.60.