Burnt out by the dot.com shake-out? If the chatrooms are any guide, the new breed of internet-based share traders are now plunging down often murky mineshafts or punting on dubious derricks in far distant oil fields.

Natural resources - gold, diamonds, oil and gas - are the new dot.coms as the punters look for the next "tenbacker", a share that multiplies 10 times in double quick time. But investors lured in by potential huge gains could be literally pouring their cash into a bottomless hole in the ground.

Only a minority of "junior" mining and oil exploration companies - the small fry quoted on the alternative investment market, or in overseas markets such as Ireland or Australia - ever find what they are looking for. And even fewer make economically viable discoveries. Many just keep raising money from hapless investors to finance yet more exploration.

But that doesn't stop chat room devotees in their search for a quick route to riches - or for an escape route from a poor performer - by convincing others to buy.

Take Bula Resources, a Dublin based "black gold" play. It has been around for years, looking for oil in both Siberia and Libya. Earlier this week one investor, 'Jupiter's Lover' posted on iii: "I bought more today as I'm hearing that the announcement is now about to come - the offices in Libya have been moved into and the ceremony is either this week or next. Get into these as there is a lot of interest brewing."

But 'Sospanfawr' is a bit more down to earth. "Do you have any ideas what they are likely to go up to? I've been holding them for seven years (after a hot tip!!!)."

Bula predates the internet. Back in 1994, an anonymous Bula investor (who came from Guildford) faxed newspapers with fanciful stories about directors pretending to fly to see interests in Siberia while changing planes in Frankfurt and heading to secret deals in Libya.

The shares have been as high as 7p and as low as 0.75p - the latter following Irish fraud squad action and a disappearing director in 1998. And while Bula's latest statement (the company has gone through a complete change of management) is full of bull points such as higher oil prices, a better political situation in Libya and the "enhancement of our asset acquisition strategy", there are no words about earning any money from oil.

Alternative investment market listed Pan Andean Resources is also a chat room favourite. The shares have multiplied five times to 50p so far this year. "BUY, BUY, BUY!" enthuses 'Tom Bear' on iii. "I have done a lot of research, emailed the company etc. The risks aren't as big as some people reckon. The upside is massive and the price is cheap."

The anonymous "Citytipsters" reckon it will go to 500p, based partly on enthusiastic quotes from a director who saw plenty of oil activity from a helicopter flight over the jungle.

Some online punters are backing MinMet, in the hope that unsubstantiated rumours on the net that some unidentified person may have found a diamond as big as a cricket ball in a terrain not too far away from the company's own concession, turn out to be true.

A year ago www.minesite.com, a free service paid for by exploration companies eager to post their latest statements, set up with only a few hits a day. Now it counts 5,000 .

Its co-owner Robert Tyerman says "interest is poised to be as big as dot.com mania. We could be at fever pitch by Christmas. There are literally hundreds of stocks for the punters but few are going to make it." But he warns against punters promising "target" share prices and advises finding out about promoters - some are serial fraudsters.

Jeremy Batstone at NatWest Stockbrokers pours cold water over mines mania. "The reality is that concern for interest rates and an economic slowdown is bad news for all natural resources shares. They are just geared plays on commodity prices and these could fall. Smaller companies will be hit hardest - they have nowhere to go."

And for those still getting overexcited, there is always the example of Bre-X, the Indonesian gold mine which was quoted in Vancouver. It attracted huge investor interest. But after a director fell out of a helicopter, it was revealed that its claimed biggest precious metal find ever was just a massive hole in the ground.