"Within a diversified portfolio of resource stocks, I like to have some small bets on the little guys," says Curtis Hesler, a noted authority on natural resource investing and the editor of The Professional Timing Service.

"Some of the smaller and, admittedly, more speculative exploration companies did not follow the mining sector during the August-November rally. This is not unprecedented.

"This failure to 'join the party' reminds one of what happened in 2005 when the lower tier gold miners failed to participate (some crashed severely) while the majors were strong. Most of them more than made up for it during 2006 when the mining stocks surged again.

"Everyone has a different financial circumstance, so you will have to decide what a prudent wager on these will be for you individually. There is risk here, but the juniors certainly do beat buying call options, and they do apppear to be poised for superior performance in 2008.

"Currently, I favor Taseko (ASE: TGB) and Great Basin Gold (ASE: GBN). They are our most recent lower tier recommendations They are buys at $4.50 and $2.45, respectively.

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, Thomas Bishop, editor of BI Research, chose Taseko Mining Ltd. (ASE: TGB) as his favorite stock for 2007. It rose 44% as of 6/1/07. Please see Tom's original recommendation for Taseko and his current favorite stock for the second half of the year.

On TGB, he now says, "Strong prices for copper continue to help Taseko Mining. I should also note that molybdenum is now over $33 a pound. This is about as high as it has been in recent years.

"This 'small' byproduct of the Gibraltar mine, at this rate, could kick in $30 million of gravy. Once Taseko upgrades and expands its mill, considerable additional profitability should be unleashed, which we expect in 2008.

"I still like this little company a lot, particularly now that the stock has digested its earlier run. This consolidation was in part followed a less robust than expected first quarter, which I think only creates a buying opportunity because the growth story remains intact -- if not more so. I continue to rate the stock a 'strong buy' "