Seven of the nine junior miners grew in value from September 2010, as the drilling and exploration results came in

Last week, I got an email from a geologist friend heading up to the Yukon Territory. It said, "The drills should start turning in a couple weeks."

I love hearing this news. To a junior mining investor, it's the big test. If we did our homework and get a little lucky, we'll see our investments double, triple, or more as the drill results come in.

The Yukon is best known for the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s. But as I told you last fall, it's now the site of a brand-new gold frenzy. Dozens of tiny junior explorers are in the region looking for the next big gold strike...

Here's the thing: In Canada's Yukon Territory, drilling season is short. The crews will get into camp in April and get frozen out in September. During the winter, with no news coming out, share prices tend to sag. But once the drills start turning, things change...

Over the summer and fall, we'll hear whether they've actually found any gold. And these stocks will really get moving. Take a look...

This is Pacific Ridge Exploration (TSX: V.PEX, Stock Forum), one of the stocks I told you about last fall. Its chart shows the classic "stair step" of good news. In this case, last summer's drilling results sent shares up from 13 cents to 40 cents. That's a 207% gain in just six weeks.

Then, as you can see, shares came off the high through the dull weeks of the winter. But as we near field season again, they've come roaring back.

That's exactly what we're looking for when we invest in junior miningcompanies.

Last year, I told you, "There will be eight or 10 losers for every winner here. Speculators in these stocks must do the homework, use trailing stops, and never invest more than they can afford to lose."

But so far, we've seen a remarkable string of winners. The frenzy is building. You can see it when you look at how the rest of the companies I told you about have done since my last essay:

As you can see from the table, seven of the nine companies grew in value from September 2010 as the drilling and exploration results came in. (The other two held their value.)

Don't forget, this is still a risky area to invest. But it's easily one of the top five emerging gold districts in the world... so careful speculators could make another 500% or more in the Yukon. And these companies are a great place to start if you want to cash in on the next big gold rush.

Disclosure: The author does not hold positions in any of the stocks mentioned