Perilya on the lurk
March 9 - 15, 2010
BACK-from-the-dead zinc miner (and there are a few of those around!) Perilya is showcasing its wares to the Australian market this week, with speculation being it could be an interested acquirer of additional zinc assets.
Atlas gets export tonnes on the cheap
March 9 - 15, 2010
ATLAS Iron has moved on Aurox Resources with a $A143 million merger deal that secures additional port facilities for the iron ore miner at a significant discount, as well as further consolidating emerging iron ore plays in the Pilbara.
Citadel still chasing debt for Jabal Sayid start
March 9 - 15, 2010
DEBT may be returning, slowly, as a financing option for mining companies but no-one ever said getting it would be easy. Citadel Resources, for one, is still working on its plans to sign up debt provisions for its Jabal Sayid project.
Should I go or should I stay?
March 9 - 15, 2010
IF NORTH American markets pay a premium for the better resource projects, does it not make it incumbent upon every Australian-listed company with promising production assets to list in Toronto so as to maximise opportunities of stock price uplift for its shareholder owners?
Sandfire shares likely to follow familiar pattern
March 2 - 8, 2010
KARL Simich will be heavily on the promotion trail in the weeks ahead in order to try and ensure those who bought shares in Sandfire Resources’ recent $A50 million placement get some bang for their buck ... or more precisely, their three bucks, twenty cents.
It's complicated
March 2 - 8, 2010
TWO months into the New Year and the drama of the platinum industry continues unabated. During the 2009 episode, viewers were engrossed by industrial action, a relentlessly robust rand, power problems, M&A speculation, evaporation of demand, and cash for clunkers schemes worldwide.
Enickel banking on payday
March 2 - 8, 2010
EUROPEAN Nickel has positioned itself nicely to become a low-cost mid-tier nickel producer, having consolidated its stake in the Acoje laterite project in the Philippines while sitting on another two similar deals in the making. As usual, standing in the way of Enickel’s progress is the very asset on which the company was built – its Caldag development in Turkey.
Mixing it with the big boys
March 2 - 8, 2010
TENACITY and belief helped a small service company establish a significant presence at a major Northern Territory gold mine. Norm Gardner believes the traits have helped redefine Australia’s iron ore industry. The other ingredient in the mix, of course, is loads and loads of new iron resources.
Exco looks to defining year
March 2 - 8, 2010
THE end game looks nigh and Exco Resources’ shareholders can look forward to potentially having something serious to celebrate in 2010. First gold production is a mere five or six weeks away, and by late this year a defining decision will have been taken on the development strategy for the Cloncurry copper project.
Sumitomo on the rise
February 23 - March 1, 2010
SUMITOMO has joined fellow Japanese corporations, various India-based firms such as Vedanta, and the multitude of Chinese organisations seeking to become a major gold and base metal producers.
Sandfire’s Claytons resource
February 23 - March 1, 2010
IGNORE this week’s resource estimate from Sandfire Resources' outstanding DeGrussa discovery ... it is after all the resource you get when you are not really getting a resource. On the other hand, take note of the margins being spoken of, as well as managing director Karl Simich’s travel plans for the next few weeks and his views on the North American market.
The disciplined thing to do?
February 23 - March 1, 2010
WITH the Jacinth-Ambrosia operation in South Australia formally opened earlier this month, what now for mineral sands major Iluka Resources on the development front? What chance of a project in West Africa taking its fancy?
The shipping news
February 23 - March 1, 2010
IF THERE is one thing iron ore miners won’t need to worry about in the coming year, it is a repeat of the sky high freight charges of the last iron ore boom, according to analysts at Macquarie.
Rare patience needed
February 23 - March 1, 2010
INVESTORS in resource plays can be a fickle lot, always seeking the next big thing, but Arafura Resources managing director Steve Ward says when it comes to the Nolans rare earth deposit in the Northern Territory, patience is what’s needed instead.
Market selling Tanami short
February 23 - March 1, 2010
THE market always gets it right in the end, right? Tanami Gold’s Graeme Sloan has been helpless to argue with the maxim in recent weeks, though he’d like to think the people making up that infallible court will smile on the company and its deal with Newmont Mining before long.
Mongolia puzzle only partly solved
February 23 - March 1, 2010
THE weather’s average and the neighbours can be a bit rowdy at times, but since a landmark deal cleared the way for the huge Oyu Tolgoi project in October last year, Mongolia has looked like an increasingly fashionable mining address.
Swaying market not on Straits' side
February 16 - 22, 2010
‘ESTABLISHED but emerging” was how Straits Resources described itself to shareholders last November at the company’s AGM, and it would seem an accurate description. For despite a track record that has resulted in it being flush with cash after a major coal deal was transacted last year, its market capitalisation is well short of the company's see through value. So what gives? We asked Straits Resources CEO Milan Jerkovic for his assessment.
Heading for higher ground
February 16 - 22, 2010
JOHN Gooding says it has taken time to convince the market that the Highlands Pacific of today is not the same as the formerly disappointing owner of the Kainantu gold mine. But it would seem major developments involving globally significant projects held in the company’s portfolio in 2010 should remove any last remnants of the doubting Thomas’.
China central to Centrex ambitions
February 16 - 22, 2010
NOWHERE is the importance of Chinese funding for the mining industry more obvious than the case of Centrex Metals, a South Australian-based iron ore hopeful with long term aspirations to build a 12 million tonne plus iron ore business.
Olympus joins running mate
February 9 - 15, 2010
JOHN Seton is intent on making up for lost time, and with the newly merged Olympus Pacific Minerals he chairs already in production and with a road mapped out to reach 300,000 ounces per annum in Southeast Asia by 2014, he should be able to make good time. Especially given the extremely lacklustre multiples currently being accorded the Canadian and Australian-listed company.
Vulcan's Cowden looks for re-rating
February 9 - 15, 2010
IT IS a truth universally acknowledged that junior explorers with big but challenging projects find it extremely difficult to make the leap into production. Vulcan Resources’ Alistair Cowden is hoping the merger with Universal Resources will help the new company scale the production barrier.
The capital that makes mines
February 2 - 8, 2010
MOST of the resources world heads to the North American capital markets when large licks of development funding are needed and the fertiliser industry, including miners of the key inputs, is no different. Phosphate hopeful Minemakers is currently taking a look at what’s on offer, though CEO Andrew Drummond also believes other options are available.
More money down the hole
February 2 - 8, 2010
ZINC and copper miner Kagara has endured a couple of tough years and questions about the company’s operations remain unanswered despite what looked a reasonably strong production performance in December.
Risky business
February 2 - 8, 2010
RUSSIA, Bolivia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the riskiest places for mining companies to do business yet again, according to mining consultant Behre Dolbear’s yearly world risk survey, while Australia came out on top despite the widespread local belief that Australia is a tough jurisdiction for mining plays.
Firm production path could galvanise market
January 26 - February 1, 2010
ENSURING investor interest in a stock during the drawn out period when feasibility work is underway is typically a tough ask, but Meridian Minerals managing director Jeremy Read has mapped out a year ahead to keep investors on their toes. Having some extremely positive noises about zinc’s prospects from investment banks will be a big help too.
No shortage of allies for Pacific Rim gold miner
January 26 - February 1, 2010
WITH his background in earthmoving Allied Gold’s executive chairman Mark Caruso’s no-nonsense persona is unsurprising. As is his taking of umbrage to any less than complimentary characterisations of Allied Gold such as it being an operator of tough assets with rather modest margins. Still, with $A150 million heading his way from North American institutions, Caruso has in many ways got the perfect riposte.
BGF taking Carrick seriously
January 19 - 25, 2010
WARWICK Grigor’s relatively high profile in the Australian resources sector would have made many sit up and listen when he suggested last month that the low profile Carrick Gold represented an investment opportunity. And BGF Equities, the firm in which Grigor was a founding partner, has now found investors willing to back the company to the tune of$A18 million.
Copper hedging a matter of perspective
January 19 - 25, 2010
MOST copper miners don’t seem overly fussed by Macquarie’s recent suggestion that the strong copper price and flat forward curve meant it could be time to investigate hedging some of their future production. However, developers and smaller producers are perhaps more open to the concept.
Time for Western Areas to cash in
January 19 - 25, 2010
MANAGEMENT is keeping tight lipped but assuming all goes to plan, nickel miner Western Areas looks set for a transformational year. Shareholders, especially those favouring old fashioned investment concepts, should be happy.
New mining bull phase ‘underway’
January 19 - 25, 2010
COPPER, zinc and caution are the 2010 words from Canada’s GMP Securities, with the normalisation of monetary and fiscal policies meaning the stellar performance of commodity prices and mining equities in 2009 is unlikely to be repeated. Nevertheless, the long term good news story for the resources sector remains unchanged.
The 64-dollar question
December 21 - 27, 2009
IF AN A-Z book on how to play the junior resources equities market was written, chances are the experienced Karl Simich and the company he heads Sandfire Resources would be contributors under the letter “S”. Because thus far at least, it’s looking like a text book case.
Macquarie banks on gold
December 21 - 27, 2009
THE Macquarie template has delivered another good win after Adamus Resources agreed to a credit facility provided by the investment bank.
Heaps of potential in Sardinia
December 21 - 27, 2009
THOUGH not exactly a case of putting the band back together, John Morris is heading back to an old stomping ground with a zinc-lead-silver tailings opportunity in Sardinia that could prove a big winner for shareholders of Kingsrose Mining.
Copper on a high wire
December 21 - 27, 2009
DESPITE being widely extolled for having outstanding long term price prospects, the copper price in the shorter term faces a number of potential banana peels.
Paladin still in a good space
December 21 - 27, 2009
WHILE uranium producer Paladin Energy has had a few reality checks in the past couple of years the company remains a beacon in a sector not overflowing with miners.
Sandfire smoke a prelude to bidding war?
December 21 - 27, 2009
DECEMBER 14: SOFT recent market performance by Sandfire Resources suggests investors could be wary of a possible fund raising being in the wind. Whether a predator is flushed out by a weaker share price remains to be seen.
Xstrata puts incentive price for copper at $US2.50/lb
December 21 - 27, 2009
DECEMBER 14: COPPER bulls would have been heartened by Xstrata’s briefing to analysts last week, with the big miner claiming the incentive price for new copper projects is about $US2.50/lb.
Changing Mantra: we need the money now
December 21 - 27, 2009
DECEMBER 14: MATT Yates gives short shrift to any notion that Mantra Resources is raising more than it really needs after investors backed the uranium explorer and would-be developer to the tune of $C67.2 million last week.
Analysts highlight Atlas infrastructure challenge
December 21 - 27, 2009
DECEMBER 14: ANALYSTS see infrastructure and potentially resource issues ahead for Atlas Iron though the niche iron ore producer has proven itself a nimble operator to date.
Red 5 financing trims ‘hedge’
December 7 - 13, 2009
CONVENTIONAL debt providers have “issues”, dissuading project developers from turning to them for funds and opening the door for those offering innovative and prompt service. The financing of Red 5’s Siana gold project in the Philippines is a case in point.
Offtake comes with trade-off, says banker
December 7 - 13, 2009
INVESTORS should beware of companies signing-up long term offtake agreements, cautions a former banker. While there is obvious short term gain from such deals, there is clear potential for long term pain, he says, though he also acknowledges that depending on the sector, some companies often have little choice.
Zinc miners take heart
December 7 - 13, 2009
TRUE to form zinc hasn’t exactly received a ringing endorsement from analysts at Goldman Sachs but equities in the sector will nonetheless still take heart from any validation of their thesis that a supply shortfall is imminent.
Aragon provides Fulcrum with Cue lever
November 23 - 29, 2009
HOT on the heels of a recent deal hiccup, Aragon Resources is set to put its foot on 1.5 million ounces of resources in the historic Cue district of Western Australia. The gold leverage play featuring Fulcrum Resources clearly looks a beautifully timed bit of business, and the basic metrics suggest there’s lots of upside for believers.
Beating the Aberfoyle syndrome
November 23 - 29, 2009
PETER Harold and the rest of the “highly regarded” Panoramic Resources board and Jonathon Shellabear and the board he heads at gold miner Dominion Mining are but two of a number of successful companies globally seeking to acquire new projects in what continues to be a highly competitive environment. Do they all need be aware of the Aberfoyle syndrome?
Ducks lining up at PRT
November 23 - 29, 2009
THE boys and girls at EMED Mining seem to be on a roll, finally, even if it’s just a modest one. Following the Spanish Junta de Andalucia’s (government) public endorsement of the AIM-listed company’s plans for its Proyecto Rio Tinto (PRT) development, the politicians this week asked EMED to submit all outstanding regulatory documents for approval as soon as possible, which will allow the company to stick to its latest project timeline.
Fresh look at OZ preferences
November 16 - 22, 2009
OZ MINERALS doesn’t have a huge amount of opportunities in the offing judging by recent analyst reports such as the one done by Citi this week, but in reality there is undoubtedly a lot more on offer for a company with $A1 billion in the bank and a CEO of the calibre of Terry Burgess at the helm.
Market's rays still shining on Sundance
November 9 - 15, 2009
BEING able to tell a strong story is obviously a key criteria for success in the listed equity space, and Sundance Resources has evidently been very able to do just that given it this week reported raising a cool $A85 million from institutional investors. Whether any of these same investors will still be around when the Mbalam project actually produces its first tonne of iron ore some years into the future is of course a moot point.
Ecuador deal lures Intrepid back to Latin America
November 9 - 15, 2009
SEEMING contradictions in play at Intrepid Mines are nothing of the sort according to CEO Brad Gordon, with changed circumstances simply leading to changed strategies.
Mala maverick worth Scandinavian ticket
November 2 - 8, 2009
AUSTRALIAN-listed companies continue to be drawn to the freezing north, aka Nordic countries, and their promise of great rocks in relatively unexplored terrain. But what really drove Scandinavian Resources chairman Damian Hicks out of his comfortable West Perth office on a very long trip to the obscure Swedish town of Mala was a local legend.
Nkwe shows form in struggling competition
November 2 - 8, 2009
THE platinum sector is more than a little opaque at the moment and experts are divided on where the pitfalls and opportunities lie. For investors who remain keen on platinum equities there is plenty to think about.
Chesser eyes funds for Turkey project
November 2 - 8, 2009
EVIDENTLY piquing the interest of a well known resource investment fund leads to obvious suggestions when you are a cash poor junior as per the Turkey-focused Chesser Resources.
Terramin not keen on Anglo zinc
November 2 - 8, 2009
RECENT news that Anglo American is divesting the zinc business doesn’t overly excite Terramin Australia’s executive chairman Kevin Moriarty, who said last month he was happy with what Terramin already has on its plate. He has, however, been a tad miffed of late with how the market has been valuing Terramin.
Seven lucky for Red 5
October 26 - November 1, 2009
LUCKY number seven looks the likelihood for Red 5 shareholders with final permitting and financing for the Siana gold project now in train and expected this quarter, seven years after the company arrived in the Philippines in December 2002.
Metals for the future
October 26 - November 1, 2009
DEPENDING on whom you ask and, more importantly, whom you believe, a number of lower profile commodities are shaping as good opportunities for corporates and investors to keep in mind over the next few years. However, one current favourite of the market should be treated with caution.
Ticks in right places for poised Archer
October 19 - 25, 2009
CASH-rich Hillgrove Resources is an intriguing proposition. For while it has bucket loads of cash, it’s looking for a partner to develop the copper-gold project it owns in South Australia, as it devotes itself to a major exploration focus in Indonesia and an active M&A business that last month bought a stake in promising Western Australian-explorer Silver Swan Group.
Mungana still waiting in the wings
October 19 - 25, 2009
A CHASTENED and cautious Kagara is believed to have again pulled back the timing of Mungana Gold Mines’ IPO, with suggestions that early 2010 is now a more likely date for the float.
But wait there's more, lot's more
October 19 - 25, 2009
MOLYBDENUM has been one of the many, many commodities to be strongly promoted at various times in recent years by explorers and would-be developers as being in short future supply. However, hot on the heels of a recent analyst comment about the moly promise lying beneath the massive Bingham Canyon mine, is strong exploration success in North Queensland.
Uranium market still being framed, but punters may be off
October 19 - 25, 2009
ANALYSTS are flapping around with what the Olympic Dam shaft problem may or may not mean for the uranium market and hence price.
Hot Chili fires Aragon stock
October 12 - 18, 2009
CRIKEY! Lower profile Aragon Resources more or less announces it’s going to be taken over by an even lower profile, unlisted company active in Chile and the stock jumps nearly 135% in an afternoon.
Remember the Chinese bear of 2006
October 12 - 18, 2009
A UK investment bank has urged investors to pocket the profits made from more than six months of bullish conditions in global markets, saying that a correction in metals prices is well overdue.
Giralia back with new gold vehicle
October 12 - 18, 2009
SERIAL spin-out specialist Giralia Resources is up to its old tricks, this time linking up with Helix Resources to spin out some regional gold assets in Western Australia into new company Gascoyne Resources.
Copper still high, but nickel's left the party
October 12 - 18, 2009
COMPARING scenarios faced by different commodities doesn’t usually bear close scrutiny. Nevertheless, every time copper bulls have those “it’s different this time” moments, it could be wise for them to quietly reflect on what happened to their friends in the nickel sector.
Midwest 'gatekeeper' liked
October 12 - 18, 2009
DUBBED the “Gatekeeper to the Midwest”, Murchison Metals won’t necessarily have to dilute its shareholders when it comes to funding an iron ore development in Western Australia that could cost more than $A5 billion to bring to fruition.
Stony Davis says Medusa on track for expansion
October 5 - 11, 2009
QUERYING the rather blunt Geoff Davis as to whether Medusa Mining is in nose bleed territory at a capitalisation of more than $A600 million elicits a predictable enough response.
Olympic fall good for some
October 5 - 11, 2009
URANIUM companies are set to be cheering the mishap at Olympic Dam, with one investment bank describing it as “just what the uranium market needed” – from a supplier perspective anyway!
Northern irons now firing
September 28 - October 4, 2009
AFTER a typically difficult gestation, Northern Iron is starting to get all its ducks in order in Norway with plant commissioning imminent and first concentrate delivery from the Sydvaranger iron ore project scheduled for late this month.
Nyrstar deal shows Citronen not so far away
September 28 - October 4, 2009
ANY doubts that a large, costly isolated lead-zinc project in northern Greenland might struggle to get developed would have eased considerably this week after smelting and refining heavyweight Nyrstar agreed to invest $A6.6 million in the project’s owner Ironbark Gold.
Rio has some suite problems
September 21 - 27, 2009
LOOKING at the Rio Tinto portfolio of growth projects, it’s not hard to see the teams at the major charged with feasibility, development and operations wondering about their futures, while those consultants and contractors looking for some Rio-business would be similarly have a feeling of being up in the air.
Nickel price faces acid test
September 21 - 27, 2009
GROWING supply to the nickel sector has encouraged investment bank Citigroup to stick to its base case nickel price of $US10,580 per tonne for the rest of 2009 and the duration of 2010, however, if pyrrhonism surrounding laterite processing graduates to large-scale operational failures the metal could be back at $US22,040 in a year.
Hera a great start for YTC
September 21 - 27, 2009
HARTLEYS is predicting “robust” free cash flows of up to $A28 million a year for YTC Resources from 2011 from the Hera underground mine in New South Wales, the acquisition of which was to be concluded this week.
O'Callaghans worth $335m, first pass
September 21 - 27, 2009
THE opaque world of tungsten may get a tad more transparent in the months ahead and give investors improved insight into whether they should be invested in the Australian and Canadian-listed stocks focused on the metal.
Sage deftly offloads with new goals in mind
September 21 - 27, 2009
FOR sale: stake in iron ore project in Sierra Leone. Price $US100 million. Apply Cape Lambert executive chairman Tony Sage. For sale: shares in a significant new copper mining IPO. See Tony Sage. For sale: shares in future phosphate-uranium IPO. And so the list goes on and on … and on.
Time right to consolidate gold juniors
September 14 - 20, 2009
BETTER operating conditions and a stronger gold price since early this year has prompted a brighter run for the swarm of junior gold producers dotted around Australia. The transformation has attracted the attention of at least one resources fund management house in London, which believes consolidation in the sector represents the best value for investors.
Avoca's conundrum
September 14 - 20, 2009
WHILE Avoca Resources would likely have to pay a tidy sum to buy out the Morgan Stanley royalty right now, if you believe in the prospectivity claimed by the miner the longer it leaves it the worse it could get.
Smoke draws Black Fire
September 14 - 20, 2009
THE Steinepreis boys have re-structured yet another publicly listed company with Black Fire Energy and its new directors heading into the backblocks of Western Australian to look for gold in the Tropicana belt as project owner PacMag Metals goes looking for high-grade gold projects in the USA or Asia.
Analysts wary of platinum sector
September 14 - 20, 2009
THE platinum industry has had its share of bad press recently as South Africa battles its way through strikes, a stronger rand, and underlying power problems. But as supply constraints put some heat under the platinum price and gold leads other precious metals higher still, investors may be tempted to look past the negatives and put their faith in platinum equities.
New copper supply thin on the ground
September 14 - 20, 2009
ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has joined the long, long chorus line of investment banks positive on copper’s prospects, with supply constraints the basis of its support for miners of the red metal.
Uranium price needs powerful shock
September 14 - 20, 2009
THOSE who believe in the ongoing uranium renaissance continue to argue that significant price appreciation is required to trigger most developments currently on the drawing board.
Atlas aims to stay on low-cost track
September 7 - 13, 2009
THE Atlas Iron tie-up with Warwick Resources and the flurry of activity elsewhere in the iron ore sector gives a strong signal that confidence has returned with regards raw material supply to the steel industry.
African zinc sources taking shape
September 7 - 13, 2009
TWO significant zinc discoveries currently being drilled-out by Anglo American near existing operations in southern Africa look likely to influence the supply side of the sector in the medium term.
Berkeley has nice inner glow
September 7 - 13, 2009
SPANISH uranium play Berkeley Resources isn’t going to become a miner for a couple of years yet but that makes it a near term producer in the world of uranium mining, and one that enjoys a number of advantages over many of its peers.
Turkey’s doubters still to be converted
September 7 - 13, 2009
LONDON mining analysts have balked at a reported figure predicting the Turkish mining industry would grow by more than 70% in the next four years to be worth almost $US13 billion by 2013.
Vulcan might fire cold Roseby
August 31 - September 6, 2009
HOW Vulcan Resources intends going about development of Universal Resources’ Roseby copper project in Queensland following the expected tie-up between the two remains to be seen, but it’s fair to say the mooted $A200 million project has thrown up a question or two during its long gestation.
Marengo cashed up and ready to go
August 31 - September 6, 2009
ASK Les Emery what he’s going to do with the $A16.3 million he’s just raised in Canada and Australia for Marengo Mining, and you get a succinct and clear answer: “Drill holes”.
Tough at the bottom, so Sugden decided not to stick around
August 24 - 30, 2009
QUITE a turnaround in fortunes is underway at Venturex Resources based on managing director Tim Sugden’s belief that the company now has the assets in place to be a 10,000 tonne per annum copper (in concentrate) producer in 2011-12.
Tanami steps back into exploration mode
August 24 - 30, 2009
TANAMI Gold expects to be able to fund the planned build-up in exploration around its producing Coyote gold mine in north-east Western Australia from operational cash flow, with any call on shareholders only coming in the event of a major find in the desert region.
A crushing problem overcome
August 24 - 30, 2009
WHILE it is drawing too long a bow to suggest the takeover of Polaris Metals by Mineral Resources sends a new and strong message to the hordes of other iron ore juniors in the resources sector, it certainly reinforces two or three themes investors should probably remain cognisant of.
Copper view fine in the long run
August 17 - 23, 2009
COPPER keeps on keeping on with yet another forecaster, this time Credit Suisse, making the case for a positive outlook for the red metal. The investment bank’s significant raising of its long run price forecast could raise eyebrows because of its rareness, while fellow banker Macquarie suggests the copper price action in the background is indicative of general bullishness.
Sandstorm lands Oz interest
August 17 - 23, 2009
AUSTRALIAN investment banks and brokers weren’t the only ones trawling for nuggets among the junior gold company promoters at the recent Diggers & Dealers conference at Kalgoorlie. Vancouver-based Sandstorm Resources maintains interest in its “metal stream” financing option was keen.
Bauk baulks at facing shareholders
August 17 - 23, 2009
REMEMBER their names is the shrill cry from one poster on a popular share trading forum following the resignation last week of the board at Indago Resources in what looks one of the more obvious cases of largesse at the expense of shareholders to arise in the resource sector in the last boom.
Green light for red metal
August 10 - 16, 2009
AUGUST 13: CHINA’S State Reserve Bureau (SRB) will finally pull back its copper stockpiling campaign over the coming months causing a correction in the runaway copper price, according to London investment bank Fairfax. But the correction is likely to be short-lived as opportunists in the near-term and supply-side issues combined with escalating demand in the longer term push the red metal toward historic highs.
Ferrochrome revival prompts IFM U-turn
August 10 - 16, 2009
DAVID Kovarsky, skipper of International Ferro Metals (IFM), has masterly tacked his ship to take advantage of the winds of change sweeping across the ferrochrome industry – coming mainly from the Far East – and is looking to guide the group back into the black by year’s end.
Getting a FTSE in the door
August 10 - 16, 2009
RUSSIAN-focused Peter Hambro Mining has the ability to double in value and force its way into the FTSE 100 index early in the New Year, according to a London investment bank.
OceanaGold, Avoca have ground to make up
August 10 - 16, 2009
INTERESTED in significant ASX-listed gold producers? Merrill Lynch provides a snapshot, though the investment bank’s gold “universe” has at least a couple of notable absentees.
Kalgoorlie’s consolidated gold miners
August 10 - 16, 2009
AMERICAN Cole Porter wrote the song, “Who wants to be a millionaire?” It wasn’t a question worth asking the CEOs of emerging gold companies at this week’s Diggers & Dealers. But several could be heard humming “I do” in response to the improvised version: who wants to lead Australia’s gold mid-tier?
Diggers UnCut ... Avoca, Grange, Western Areas, Barrick Gold
August 10 - 16, 2009
IT’S hard to see Avoca chief Rohan Williams taking a backward step in the fight for ownership of Dioro’s 49% stake in the Frog’s Leg gold mine west of Kalgoorlie. In any case, he’s started punching for local gold sector middleweight honours and got industry tongues wagging about other contenders in a division that has been bereft of serious challengers (pun intended Dominion) for some time.
Growth path looms for OceanaGold
July 27 - August 2, 2009
FOLLOWING negotiation of a difficult few quarters, OceanaGold is now “back in the game” with production profitable and the funds recently raised allowing the company to increase reserves and undertake additional exploration. Meanwhile, in the background, Didipio looms.
Signature deal has surface appeal
July 27 - August 2, 2009
THOSE who think there aren’t any more promising assets still out there going cheap need think again if the example of Signature Metals’ has merit.
Masquerade deal hides value
July 27 - August 2, 2009
DROPPING names is a crude form of social climbing but UK-listed junior Ormonde Mining would happily trade social niceties for some market recognition if it were allowed to reveal the identity of the “major” earn-in partner at its La Zarza copper-gold-zinc project in Spain.
China backs three-way tie-up
July 27 - August 2, 2009
NEW South Wales-focused minerals explorer and developer YTC Resources was set up to explore for tin and base metals in the often neglected state and has now delivered in a hurry on part two of its original brief. CEO Rimas Kairaitis hints that corporate activity will continue to be a natural function of the company in future.
Back off the shelf
July 20 - 26, 2009
WHETHER it’s the third owner or the fourth owner of the pub that makes the real money – according to the common saying – isn’t as important as the concept itself. And so it is that while a few different companies have previously held the Lennard Shelf base metal project, the new owner, being the freshly cashed up Meridian Minerals, reckons it could do very nicely by exploring with a new processing scenario in mind.
Reality to bite for yellowcake hopefuls
July 20 - 26, 2009
THE uranium boom of 2007 and 2008 spawned a cast of thousands worldwide and if the executives of those juniors want to be realistic about the future, they’ll know they’ve either got to have standout deposits in their portfolio, or be very smart strategically. It’s a corporate advisor's paradise, though for investors the rewards would seem definitely less assured.
Lihir can be more productive in Africa
July 20 - 26, 2009
MARKET sentiment has been positive on Lihir Gold (LGL) selling its Ballarat gold project, though that’s all to do with ridding the company of a cash drain rather than profiting from the sale. Brave bidders now required.
Kagara’s new start
July 20 - 26, 2009
KAGARA executive chairman Kim Robinson says the company’s new major shareholder may become a conduit to mining opportunities within China, and could help speed development of the $A1-1.5 billion Admiral Bay zinc-lead-silver project in Western Australia’s Canning Basin.
New chief aims to lift Excalibur
July 13 - 19, 2009
THE historically bountiful Tennant Creek region in the Northern Territory features three main players and a supporting cast of smaller juniors. The “big three” are Emmerson Resources, which certainly had its bona fides confirmed earlier this year via the major backing of Ivanhoe Australia; Westgold Resources, whose Rover 1 project is routinely flagged by analysts as one of the more promising new finds in Australia; and Excalibur Mining, which, to put it mildly, needs to establish its credentials.
Results buoy Forte holders
July 13 - 19, 2009
URANIUM companies have enjoyed solid support in recent months and the AIM and ASX-listed Forte Energy has been no exception with a $A10 million capital raising put away in June for its emerging uranium projects in Guinea and Mauritania. Importantly, a maiden resource with grade potential is now in place to build upon.
Intrepid deal brings Tampakan comparison
July 13 - 19, 2009
INTREPID Mines’ deal with Vale has been applauded by analysts, with the Brazilian giant to spend $US40 million, and fund the Tujuh Bukit sulphide project in Indonesia to bankable feasibility status in order to earn up to 60% interest.
Tan in no mood to wait
July 6 - 12, 2009
WHILE lithium’s common use as a mood stabilising drug is not the primary driver of Galaxy Resources’ emerging Mt Cattlin lithium project – think batteries, electric vehicles and the green revolution – it’s fair to say the company’s managing director Iggy Tan will be in a far more relaxed frame of mind when a 30% stake in the venture is sold in the next month or so, paving the way for development.
Waiting for the credit thaw
July 6 - 12, 2009
BIG ticket resource projects are currently a hard sell the world-over no matter what the colour of their metal, but those parties with viewpoints extending beyond the short term and those developers with faith in their projects press on regardless. Ironbark Gold and its massive Citronen zinc project in Greenland is an obvious case in point.
Thoughts, and more thoughts on Ravensthorpe
July 6 - 12, 2009
ASIDE from your local scrap metal merchant – and Sims was cited! – who on earth would want BHP Billiton’s Ravensthorpe laterite nickel project? A poll of executives and analysts has thrown up all manner of names, with the Professor, aka Clive Palmer, an unsurprisingly common nomination.
Hard-hitting Davis looks to change the order
June 29 - July 5, 2009
AS A sales pitch, Xstrata’s Mick Davis was convincing in elucidating the entrepreneurial beauty of the Xstrata model during an address to a Melbourne Mining Club dinner at Lord’s in London this week. While Cynthia Carroll at Anglo American would seem unlikely to be beguiled given indications to date, much of what Davis says should surely give executives throughout the mining world pause for thought.
Forcing the pace
June 29 - July 5, 2009
FOR the giants moving mountains of high-grade iron ore from the Pilbara to Asian markets, low-lying mesas such as those at Nullagine are insignificant specks in a timeless landscape. It has taken a little force to move them into a short-term development window, though BC Iron boss Mike Young acknowledges the big picture for the region may also have shifted in favour of small companies such as his.
Major merger a ‘net positive’ for juniors
June 29 - July 5, 2009
Emerging iron ore producers are likely to be buoyed by the proposed $US116 billion merger of BHP Billiton’s and Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore assets. The deal, which has backed China into a corner, is expected by many to support the spot price and increasingly force Chinese steel mills into the arms of the junior sector as they search for alternative sources of supply.
Dubbo resource is rare earth
June 29 - July 5, 2009
RARE earths may be all the rage at the moment but according to those who have long been chipping away in the arena, advanced projects are rather rare beasts themselves.
Rosy outlook for Blackthorn?
June 29 - July 5, 2009
BLACKTHORN Resources may have had a very cloudy recent history but current directors are continuing to back the company in by making regular share purchases on market.
ABC spells out gold's attraction
June 29 - July 5, 2009
EMERGING gold companies of significance are continuing to attract plenty of professional market interest in their stories, with the ABC of Andean, Banro and Centamin each finding strong support in the past week.
Going, going ...
June 29 - July 5, 2009
WHILE vestiges of a tungsten market revival seem thin on the ground there is still plenty happening behind the scenes, according to Wolf Minerals managing director Humphrey Hale. Plenty for a junior would-be tungsten producer to be enthused about that is.
Equity credit makes a comeback
June 29 - July 5, 2009
STRONGER commodity prices and confidence that the worst has passed should pave the way for a return to more vanilla financing in the second half of the year, according to a London mining analyst. Ironically, the comments were prompted by a relatively rare form of financing that is being made available to select resources companies on AIM.
Extract answers ... gone with the win
June 22 - 28, 2009
TRANSPARENCY can be a difficult concept for some public companies to get their heads around, and what it does do is leave shareholders in the dark guessing as to what’s actually going on behind the smoke and mirrors of the press releases dished out by the company that they in fact own. Take the case of Extract Resources.
Copper still underlying Straits focus
June 22 - 28, 2009
GOLD bulls ought not get too excited by the fact that Australian miner Straits Resources is investing in some of the hopefuls in the sector. Because it’s essentially small change and more to do with “liquidity management” than any great ambition to be a gold miner.
Should I stay or should I go
June 22 - 28, 2009
THE owners (read shareholders) of the mothballed El Valle/Carles gold-copper operation in Spain's north-west have a decision to make. Their options: to show faith that a management team that has run into difficulty can deliver on the undoubted upside of the project, or take a cash offer from a rival Toronto resources company and run.
Nickel standout has elevated appeal
June 22 - 28, 2009
WITH other nickel miners now trading on broadly similar 2011 multiples, RBC last week assessed miner and explorer Western Areas to be the standout company in the Australian nickel space.
Friends in deed
June 15 - 21, 2009
THE demise of Kagara and others is not a good story for the mining sector, reinforcing the perception of the sector as being a destroyer of capital – the key reason the likes of Warren Buffet generally advise investors to keep their distance. For how is it that after the biggest commodity price boom for decades a company such as Kagara must put its hand out for up to $A262 million in new equity?
Juniors shine despite dull platinum
June 15 - 21, 2009
THE PGM outlook is mixed at the moment depending on which investment bank takes your fancy, but whatever the case, juniors such as Platinum Australia and Magma Metals look particularly well placed.
Future copper supply trough deepening
June 15 - 21, 2009
THE investment case for copper continues to be built with potential seen for a six million tonne shortfall supply in a decade’s time based on long term copper demand trend rates. That that equates to about 30% of current and about 25% of projected production signifies the gravity of the situation.
Dioro waits for market leg-up
June 1 - 7, 2009
RHOD Grivas is undoubtedly a very busy executive as he gets on and off phones and planes desperately trying to drum up third party interest in Dioro Exploration, the Avoca Resources-threatened company he heads. That’s clearly why he’s proved so difficult to contact over the past few weeks – as opposed to being because he might be a tad embarrassed talking on the record after KPMG valued Dioro at multiples of what the market has deemed fair value to be in recent times.
Sluggish platinum forecast released
June 1 - 7, 2009
MAJOR autocatalyst and technology supplier Johnson Matthey has predicted a six-month trading range for platinum of between $US950 per ounce and $US1350/oz in its annual PGM review published last month – a far cry from the $US1775-2500 it forecast for the six months following its 2008 review.
PanAust raises lot of questions
June 1 - 7, 2009
ANALYSTS are unsure about just what the rationale is for PanAust raising all of $A358 million, with none of the obvious reasons looking particularly compelling. However, that debt is no longer an issue is unarguable which, given some of the market debacles over the past 6-12 months, is clearly a positive situation.
Value in the right leadership
June 1 - 7, 2009
MINING service sector leaders remain in the spotlight despite the death of the boom-time ‘celebrity CEO’, according to analysts, with the focus now on past performances and whether these can be reproduced in the current testing times.
JV may change the game for iron juniors
June 1 - 7, 2009
BUY the sector was evidently the market cry immediately following news of the BHP – Rio Tinto iron ore tie-up, though whether this turns out to be a game changing event for iron ore juniors or merely just more background noise, albeit it loud volume, for brokers to take short term advantage-of, remains to be seen.
Dry spell may be over
May 25 - 31, 2009
GREAT slabs of equity doled out over the past week or so will undoubtedly have those down at the microcap end of the market hopeful of some relief after the market tap was abruptly turned off last year.
Copper supply may need, and get, boost
May 25 - 31, 2009
ONE semi constant through the boom and the bust has been regular positive analyst noise about the copper price outlook. However, could copper’s strong performance be sowing the seeds for its future demise (relatively speaking) ala what happened to nickel?
Hard to extract any sense here
May 25 - 31, 2009
THAT Kalahari Minerals is just a tad miffed about the way things have turned out for it in Namibia would be no surprise to anyone. But surely the AIM-listed outfit is going to have to come up with a better reason for a board spill than the current one it’s peddling – which surely rates one of the worst lines of all time!
High hopes for mine funds
May 25 - 31, 2009
DEVELOPMENT of Scotland’s first commercial gold mine, and a breakthrough plant sale by an Australian company, may hinge on a significant funding commitment by a mystery group of European investors within the next two months.
Bigger deal may be in Panoramic view
May 18 - 24, 2009
PANORAMIC Resources has again flagged its M&A strategy in stating this week that it is actively assessing potentially company-transforming opportunities, with a recently shuttered opencut nickel mine being speculated as a possibility.
No value in Mediterranean miner?
May 18 - 24, 2009
CYPRUS-headquartered EMED Mining is toying with the idea of spinning out its main gold asset into a separate company in order to attract fair value for its portfolio. A separate listing is just one option available to the company but it is the “rational” solution, according to managing director Harry Anagnostaras.
Moving right along
May 18 - 24, 2009
THE hunt for quality new assets is a relatively crowded space, though that’s undoubtedly more a function of the space being small than there being huge numbers of hunters. Either way it’s clearly very competitive, though it could be set to get a tad easier.
Tide turning in Toronto
May 18 - 24, 2009
TORONTO investment bank Canaccord Adams has called the bottom of the market but has warned investors that the current environment represents a “trading opportunity” rather than a return to “long-term buy-and-hold investment” conditions.
The year of living dangerously
May 11 - 17, 2009
DUE diligence by potential financiers is underway and Anvil Mining chief executive Bill Turner is hopeful a debt facility will be in place by the end of the year to allow construction completion of the almost incomparable Kinsevere copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Real goals elusive in Barcelona talkfest
May 11 - 17, 2009
HOME to the prettiest football team in the world – if not the best – Barcelona was this week hosting the heavy hitters of the mining world at Merrill Lynch’s Global Metals and Mining Conference.
False start for ferrochrome
May 4 - 10, 2009
INVESTORS who clambered on board the International Ferro Metals (IFM) train following the restart of one of its two South African furnaces have been warned not to get too excited.
Winning some, losing sum
May 4 - 10, 2009
SEEMS Australia’s junior miners can’t win. With debt very much out of fashion, Jabiru Metals won friends with the early retirement of $A39 million of project debt. Managing director Gary Comb says the measure was aimed at ensuring the company’s balance sheet remains as strong as possible in the short term. But it hasn’t pleased everyone.
Bonwick shares rationale
May 4 - 10, 2009
REST easy Independence shareholders. Share divestments by directors are nothing to be concerned about according to managing director Chris Bonwick, with Bonwick also highlighting what he described as some “interesting” exploration results at one of the company’s lower profile prospects.
Speculative heat fuels wave of reactions
April 27 - May 3, 2009
CHINESE whispers, a Kyrghystan deal, and a better spot uranium price has seen the share prices of many Australian-listed equities in the sector heating up of late, with merger and acquisition speculation being fuelled by this simmering backdrop.
Dominion at the top of its game
April 27 - May 3, 2009
SAME old, same old for one of the headline gold stocks in the Australian sector, with another strong quarter from Dominion Mining. Problem is, apart from those wondering whether the gold price might head into the stratosphere, or those forever optimistic about exploration success from an annual spend of about $A5 million, the company doesn’t exactly look a prime stock market investment destination for investors.
Background figures rise to prominence
April 27 - May 3, 2009
THE “new” emerging OZ Minerals is garnering plenty of positive comments from analysts based on the early performance and future prospects of the Prominent Hill copper-gold operation in South Australia.
Freight of a lifetime
April 20 - 26, 2009
SIGNIFICANTLY discounted freight rates have presented Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) and European steel mills with an opportunity to negotiate offtake agreements using long-term shipping contracts priced at a fraction of the cost demanded less than a year ago. The real value for FMG, however, lies in the diversification of its sales portfolio.
Rumble in the jungle
April 20 - 26, 2009
WELCOME to the AIM Arena for this lightweight bout between Gemfields and fellow African-focused coloured gemstones junior, TanzaniteOne (T1). In the green trunks weighing in at £14.9 million – Gemfields. In the purple trunks at a fighting weight of £14.7 million – T1. Sadly for onlookers there is unlikely to be a winner – especially not the shareholders combatants claim to be fighting for.
Just in case
April 20 - 26, 2009
AUSTRALIAN copper miners are generally staying pretty coy on the issue but Canada’s Lundin Mining is making sure it’s using protection in these uncertain times by hedging 40,000 tonnes of copper over the next 12 months.
Debts still rattle investors
April 20 - 26, 2009
WARINESS about debt and other liabilities continues to headline analyst assessment of miners, with the issue unsurprisingly overriding all other concerns in the current environment.
Results put air in Exco sails
April 20 - 26, 2009
COPPER and gold hopeful Exco Resources has enjoyed a better month on the market after being “dramatically oversold” during the downturn that hit the mining sector last year.
It ain't over yet
April 20 - 26, 2009
‘CAUTION, flat market performance ahead’ is the warning for miners from a prominent investment bank, with bellwether copper’s extremely strong performance in 2009 set to come to an end as a number of strong headwinds blow back into mining town.
Predicting the futures
April 20 - 26, 2009
THE introduction of cobalt and molybdenum futures is on the agenda down at the London Metal Exchange, with the LME aiming to deliver a healthy dose of risk management potential for producers of these metals while at the same time expanding its coverage.
La Mancha to add some spice?
April 13 - 19, 2009
THE most obvious company to be interested in takeover target Dioro Exploration doesn’t appear to have much prospect of spoiling the Avoca Resources party. But looks can be deceiving, and the dirt cheap price being offered by Avoca opens the door for a gatecrasher.
Tungsten still has X factor for Cook
April 13 - 19, 2009
TUNGSTEN looks to have shaped as a commodity of serious interest for the diversified Metals X group led by Peter Cook.
Mungana machinations weigh on Kagara
April 6 - 12, 2009
DESPITE having enjoyed the best commodity pricing environment in decades, Kagara is another base metal miner that is now well and truly under the cosh. Board and management will have to display considerable adroitness to extricate the company from the hole it’s now in, and relying on the proposed Mungana Goldmines IPO shouldn’t necessarily fill Kagara shareholders with a huge amount of confidence.
The banker, the broker, the advisor and the miner
April 6 - 12, 2009
GREY Egerton-Warburton might have known Sean Russo would stick around for day two of last week’s Paydirt Gold Conference in Perth. And that Russo would stick his hand up at the end of Warburton’s bullish presentation, in which he called for gold companies to shun debt and hedging and instead turn to equity project funding to “add the most shareholder value”.
Timing is everything
April 6 - 12, 2009
LEADERS within the Group of 20 countries gathered at the London Summit made a multi-trillion dollar pledge last Thursday to rescue the global economy. World markets showed their approval instantly but the truth is things are likely to get worse before getting better.
Catalpa sits on the hedge
April 6 - 12, 2009
WITH gold creaking below $US900 per ounce this week it wouldn’t take the yellow metal to fall too much further before Catalpa Resources’ extraordinary hedge book could potentially start burning a hole in the pocket of managing director Bruce McFadzean.
Intrepid following set to grow
April 6 - 12, 2009
MARCH 30: INTREPID Mining looks set to emerge as one of the more relevant new gold companies to evolve out of Australia in recent years. Admittedly the competition isn’t exactly fierce, but that’s not to detract from the junior with the very big ambitions for 2009.
Griffin casts predatory eye over lead mine
March 30 - April 5, 2009
ROGER Goodwin, finance director of Griffin Mining, pulls no punches when quizzed about his company’s recent expression of interest in the Magellan lead mine in Western Australia.
Troy lets project through the gate at last
March 23 - 29, 2009
MANAGING director Paul Benson and vice president exploration and business development, Peter Doyle, will no doubt be happy. The long hunt for Troy Resources is over, with many hundreds of potential projects being considered at varying levels over the past few years. Now it’s over to Ken Nilsson to weave the Troy Resources-magic at the undeveloped Casposo project in San Juan province, Argentina, bought this week for $US22 million.
Quantum of malice
March 23 - 29, 2009
QUESTIONING Equinox Minerals about the percentage of its share register held on the Toronto and Australian markets elicits a response involving First Quantum Minerals. Make of that what you will, though to be fair, the red metal’s better performance over the past month, and First Quantum’s more recent fund raising, has made the Zambian elephant in the room grow a little larger.
Silence is golden, for now
March 23 - 29, 2009
THEY are a secretive mob out at Conquest Mining in the Balcatta business precinct north of Perth in Western Australia, and with nearly $A30 million in cash stashed away, they can afford to be. However, whether the publicly listed company’s Mt Carlton gold-silver project evolves into something that matches the published rhetoric remains to be seen.
Lihir a Robinson Crusoe in broker’s view
March 23 - 29, 2009
LIHIR Gold has been paid the biggest market compliment of its career with Goldman Sachs JBWere (GSJBW) comparing it to the legendary gold company of the global sector, Canadian heavyweight Goldcorp.
Streeter’s reward
March 23 - 29, 2009
TERRY Streeter’s investment in Western Areas is worth about $A100 million today and nearly $A400 million this time last year when the commodities world was a better place to live. So it’s no surprise that he very much covets the nickel prospective ground in the Forrestania region.
Avoca accounts for surprises
March 23 - 29, 2009
ANALYSTS may have been flummoxed by the quantum of Avoca Mining’s depreciation and amortisation charge but the company’s managing director Rohan Williams is comfortable with the accounting treatment. As he is with the more important issue of the new Higginsville gold project achieving its reserve grade.
Trouble about Brown
March 16 - 22, 2009
HOP into bed with Alex Brown of Astron at your peril appears to be the message that should be heeded by shareholders and directors of any companies hopeful of securing a deal with the China based, Kiwi born businessman.
All-in one rule
March 16 - 22, 2009
CRIKEY, stop the press! Some analysts are suggesting that an “all-in cost per ounce” assessment rather than just simple cash cost, is a more pertinent measure of the overall cost of producing an ounce of gold. And, with this analysis comes suggestions of future trends for both the bigger and more ambitious miners, though as with all-in cost analysis, the conclusions aren’t exactly ground breaking.
Sell platinum: RBC
March 16 - 22, 2009
PLATINUM producer prospects have been panned by RBC Capital Markets, which says the contrast between cash margins and equity pricing means the PGM sector remains a selling space.
A big bite out of supply
March 16 - 22, 2009
PRODUCTION cutbacks in the world of mining have doubled over the past four months to 142 projects, with ferrochrome and nickel leading the way in terms of the biggest reductions relative to annual global supply.
Regis clarity may have come in the nick of time
March 16 - 22, 2009
THERE’S sure to be some very interested former shareholders and recent sellers of Regis Resources shares kicking themselves and studying the implications of the stoush for control of the gold company that’s emerged with the very sudden appearance on the scene of the ex-Equigold team headlined by Nick Giorgetta and Mark Clark.
A disturbing view of copper's ninth decile
March 8 - 14, 2009
HANG on for what could potentially be a dreadful run for copper should Chinese demand taper off. Because if demand evaporates in China as it has elsewhere leading to the copper price becoming more a function of cost support levels, then the red metal has a long way to fall.
The great asset hunt
March 8 - 14, 2009
STOCK, standard corporate strategy these days for those lucky enough to have a healthy bank balance but not a great deal in the way of assets, seems to be based around the belief that there are great opportunities available in these distressed times for cashed up companies. Whether that’s stock, standard nonsense remains to be seen.
Mirabela reaches for the line
March 8 - 14, 2009
STRONG Mirabela Nickel supporter Deutsche is not surprised the emerging nickel producer has now closed within touching distance of completing financing for the Santa Rita project in Brazil.
Corvette hits more gold
March 8 - 14, 2009
WELL at least Corvette Resources managing director Pat McManus can take a modicum of comfort in the fact that the gold explorer is trading above cash backing. With many peers not ‘enjoying’ such luxuries, the premium indicates there is at least some miniscule acknowledgement that the company holds a promising greenfields project.
Albidon, oh Albidon
March 8 - 14, 2009
ANYTHING to learn from the demise of yet another would-be miner, this time nickel hopeful Albidon? Not really would seem the short answer, with a confluence of factors getting the blame for the Zambian mine now on care and maintenance.
Panoramic goes full circle
February 23 - March 1, 2009
PETER Harold and the board at Panoramic Resources would likely have kicked themselves during the staggering run nickel went on in 2006-2007 after they’d earlier knocked back the chance to buy the 25% of the Lanfranchi mine that their company didn’t own. But they’ve got it now, and they’ve bought it in a week when, tellingly, further cuts in the global nickel pipeline emerged.
Platinum story has familiar ring
February 23 - March 1, 2009
PLATINUM miners shouldn’t expect much better prices than they’re currently receiving for their production, with the rare metal suffering for all the same reasons as its base metal brothers. Still, downside looks limited with supply to be an ongoing issue, while rumours of significant Chinese interest in the sector are unsurprising.
Hitting the low notes
February 23 - March 1, 2009
JONATHAN Shellabear was, as per usual, keeping the M&A chat to an absolute minimum in his public presentation performance notes for Florida and New York last week, though keeping your cards close to your chest is undoubtedly second nature when you’re a former Rothschild investment banker. But surely, in any case, you’d have to be about as blissfully naïve as Jonathan’s brilliant musical namesake is perceived to be, the one and only Jonathan Richman, to think you could pick up a gold asset for a good price at the current moment in the cycle.
Winter warmth for London gold equities
February 16 - 22, 2009
AFTER months of watching good news discarded without a second glance as investors ignore an upwardly determined gold price, selected gold equities have returned to favour with the London market.
Turkish delight
February 16 - 22, 2009
AT LAST. The Turkish Government has finally granted European Nickel the forestry permit it needs to move forward at its flagship Caldag nickel laterite project – and it only took two-and-a-half years. Less than 24 hours later the company provided confirmation that is has all but secured project financing, from China, as has become the custom.
Clock ticking on tantalum supply
February 16 - 22, 2009
THE world’s most prolific producer of tantalum closed its flagship operation late last year after failing to extract an 80-100% price increase from tantalum processors. The withdrawal of such a large chunk of material from the market is causing serious concern among processors and end users, which are scouring the globe for future supply options. The problem is there aren’t many quality players putting up their hands.
Strategic attraction still evident
February 9 - 15, 2009
URANIUM companies such as Bannerman Resources have been given another sign that they’re in demand if they have the right projects with a Japanese consortium paying $C270 million for a 20% stake in Toronto-listed Uranium One.
Over the hedge
February 9 - 15, 2009
AUSTRALIAN-born AngloGold Ashanti chief executive Mark Cutifani is getting more pats on the back from investors for turning around the fortunes of the world’s third biggest gold miner, but he’s also still bearing the weight of an 800-pound gorilla in the form of the company’s hedge book.
Laying down the red carpet
February 9 - 15, 2009
THERE are winners and grinners in every market scenario and one that looks in good position to take advantage of the current downturn is Melbourne-based royalty and exploration company Royalco Resources. Juniors short of cash with promising projects may wish to consider.
Open slather on gold
February 9 - 15, 2009
WHETHER there’s a bubble element emerging with the gold story is a moot point but what is clear is that the yellow metal is continually being flagged as the investment space of choice. Investors might want to hang on for what could prove an exhilarating ride.
Life at the bottom
February 9 - 15, 2009
AS another bearish mining service sector missive was fired by a former market bull and ASX-listed engineer Sedgman put a “minimum of 12-18 months” estimate on the duration of the downturn, HighGrade asked Alan Fenelon, Tony Sheard, Jun Cowan and Mark Warren how “new” ventures were faring in a tough market.
Coal value disturbs Straits line
February 2 - 8, 2009
STRAITS Resources knew it had a problem on its hands last year and so it moved decisively to rectify. Market conditions conspired against it, and now the problem has got worse.
Keeping it simple
February 2 - 8, 2009
CONTRARY to the sentiment in these tough times, Nick Poll at Mirabela Nickel has total confidence about finding the $US80 million still needed as part of the $US280 million required to complete the Santa Rita project in Brazil. It’s all about the quality of the project, stupid!
Looking for answers
February 2 - 8, 2009
GIVEN Kim Robinson seems to like to keep a rather low profile at the best of times, he can hardly be accused of going to ground just when the company he heads, Kagara, finds itself sliding into a deep hole full of debt. Shareholders will no doubt be praying his discussions behind closed doors go extremely well.
Playing the survival game
February 2 - 8, 2009
GARY Comb plays a straight bat to what looks a logical, if somewhat radical option for Jabiru Metals in the current environment – close the mine and protect the high grade reserve at the project for better times.
Grand farce
January 26 - February 1, 2009
LOST among the headlines of workers losing their jobs and real estate angst is just how BHP Billiton once again so comprehensively stuffed it up at the Ravensthorpe laterite nickel project.
Getting a project on the rails not so easy
January 26 - February 1, 2009
THIS time last year there was speculation about so much iron ore demand and continuation of strong prices that people were lining up from Paraburdoo to Coober Pedy to press claims they had an iron ore mine in waiting. BC Iron is one of the few companies now actively pushing to the front of the queue.
Some golds start to shine
January 26 - February 1, 2009
GOLD equities continue to be the resource sector investment of choice, with Apex Minerals and Centamin Egypt the latest emerging miners to attract the cash and global major Newmont Mining Corp set to raise more than $US1.5 billion in equity and quazi-equity. How far down the gold chain the funds will flow now remains to be seen.
Gold in hand for two in the bush
January 26 - February 1, 2009
POUNDING the CBD pavements of Australian cities seeking funds from brokers surely rates as the toughest of tough gigs for resource juniors at the minute. But having $A70,000 worth of gold nuggets in your suitcase at least gives you something tangible for the show and tell.
Zinc not forgotten by all
January 26 - February 1, 2009
THOUGH Kevin Moriarty is talking his own book, he says analyst consensus clearly points to a major looming zinc shortfall that won’t be wiped out by mine production from China as has previously been the case.
Gold juniors anyone?
January 19 - 25, 2009
GOLD equities are one of the very few (only?) resource sub-sectors realistically hoping to enjoy a decent market performance in 2009 as interest in the yellow metal remains strong. But while gold refineries report unprecedented demand, what should equities be doing to increase investor interest?
Blackthorn has modest aims at this stage
January 19 - 25, 2009
SHAREHOLDERS of boom time train wreck AIM Resources, now known as Blackthorn Resources, will hopefully get some sort of clarity in the coming months as former directors of the company including ex-managing director Marc Flory defend alleged breaches in the New South Wales Supreme Court.
Oz gold not on Canadians' M&A radar, apparently
January 19 - 25, 2009
CORPORATE activity by second and third tier North American gold companies is expected to be “significant” in 2009, according to Toronto-based Wellington West Capital Markets (WWCM). Will ASX or AIM companies figure in such scenarios?
Master of its own Dominion
January 19 - 25, 2009
AUSTRALIA’S best performed gold miner (and perhaps the most historically conservative corporate in the entire resources space) has attracted analyst coverage from UBS. However, whether Dominion Mining can increase its relevance outside of the relatively small ASX sphere remains to be seen.
And so we turn to winter ... even though it still feels like summer down here
December 15 - 21, 2008
THERE is said to be a Native American Indian saying that goes along the lines: “The summers have taught me nothing. The winters have taught me everything I know.” What should the mining sector learn from the big freeze that began in 2008?
Not such a long shot
December 15 - 21, 2008
WHILE much of the rest of the mining sector bunkers down with the sole aim of survival in a tough investment environment, the Mark Creasy-backed Legend Mining has put its money where its mouth is and showed refreshing initiative for a junior.
... and a happier New Year?
December 15 - 21, 2008
A BROKER, an analyst and a fund manager walk into a bar – well, not just a bar, more accurately London’s Andaz Hotel. This isn’t the start of a joke but, surprisingly, these three wise men did manage to inject a little bit of mirth and good will into some fairly cranky Christmas premonitions at the 56th Minesite Forum last week.
Market sharks Russian for cover
December 15 - 21, 2008
SET against a scene of economic Armageddon, AIM-listed Peter Hambro Mining has mustered almost $US50 million in debt to pursue its Russian gold expansion, which in turn has sent market sharks that shorted the stock scrambling for their cheque books.
‘Interesting times’ come with the Territory
December 15 - 21, 2008
THE ubiquitous phrase “interesting times” seems to mean different things to different people in the current economic environment, but “uncertain future” could be substituted in many cases. That would appear to be the market’s reading on Northern Territory iron ore producer Territory Resources.
Sweeteners might appeal to hungry giant
December 15 - 21, 2008
DEC 8: BHP Billiton has the firepower and a largely reduced field of competitors to contend with, but does it have the gumption, corporate skill and nimbleness to pick up the two best new emerging base metal projects in Australia, and arguably the world?
Kingsgate transition is nearly complete
December 8 - 14, 2008
KINGSGATE Consolidated has been in a transition stage for the past two years due to prolonged permitting issues at its Chatree North gold deposit, a situation not helped by ongoing political unrest in Thailand.
Mines and Money: not too much money, but a refreshing lack of gloom too
December 8 - 14, 2008
THEY came, they saw, and they had mixed opinions. Day one of this year’s Mines and Money conference met with a mixed reception from delegates. Some, having arrived in the expectation of a fairer hearing here than they were getting on markets were disappointed.
Hedge no buffer, but why not?
December 8 - 14, 2008
DEC 1: IGNORE for a moment the jarring contradiction of CopperCo’s sudden demise after positive quarterly reports and presentations (caveat emptor anyone?) and leave aside for another day questions about whether much value can be accorded independent assessments in related party transactions. Because there is another particularly nagging question in relation to this whole debacle.
Waiting to adjust focus
December 1 - 7, 2008
HOLDING a steady course and maintaining the faith is tough in times like these for explorers, producers and investors alike, but there are suggestions that the commodity demand drop-off could in actual fact be less extreme than it currently appears.
A tough road ahead for juniors
December 1 - 7, 2008
NOV 24: HAVING successfully called the top of the cycle, Robin Widdup has the credibility that the vast majority of those in mining markets around the world don’t have. As such, his prognosis for the future is well worth bearing in mind.
PanAust sees clear skies ahead
December 1 - 7, 2008
EMERGING copper producer PanAust is very confident short term debt it owes to Goldman Sachs JBWere (GSJBW) is a non-issue for it despite the blowtorch being applied to a number of companies in the past month.
Rio closes wallet, opens shop
December 1 - 7, 2008
CAPEX cuts across the portfolio and project sales are obvious measures that could be initiated at Rio Tinto given the company’s constrained balance sheet and the potential for tough times ahead.
End is nigh
November 24 - 30, 2008
MINERAL Deposits might not survive in its current form past the next three or four months, according to frustrated company director Nic Limb. He says that the writing is on the wall after the market again showed its disdain for the company by selling the stock down despite it netting nearly $A100 million from restructuring its hedge book.
The view from the bottom
November 24 - 30, 2008
GEOLOGISTS face tough times but experienced market watchers don’t expect any permanent damage to the junior and mid-cap resource sector in the future despite the extraordinary losses (real and/or notional) suffered by investors this year.
The case for gold
November 24 - 30, 2008
THE GOLD sector is Australia’s ship without a rudder at the moment. Buffeted by the general market malaise and seemingly unable to raise itself from a decade of decline, the sector is crying out for stand-out discoveries, mines and companies, the Australia Mining Congress 2008 heard.
Market wonders what's in store for gold
November 24 - 30, 2008
GOLD looks like it is starting to gain some significant traction with investment demand in the third quarter up 179% on the previous quarter and total demand up by 50% or 386 tonnes to more than 1133t. Meanwhile, reports continue filtering in that China wants to add to its reserves.
Waiting game is over
November 24 - 30, 2008
PETER Ingram wasn’t contemplating corporate activity last time HighGrade caught up with him, about two months ago. He is now. And he’s no longer prepared to “just wait”.
No Movember
November 24 - 30, 2008
ALAN Heap, Citi Investment Research’s managing director, global commodity analysis, might agree with Macquarie Bank’s declaration of force majeure on the super cycle but he’s not ready to call the end of the cycle. It could be seen as a close shave though.
Hip pocket hit
November 17 - 23, 2008
EXECUTIVE wallets are set to increasingly reflect the pain felt by shareholders, with waning salaries a clear recognition raising equity could prove a very difficult proposition for quite some time to come.
Funny guys
November 17 - 23, 2008
CAREFUL you don’t mistake the comedian that goes by the name Cosby (as in Bill) and near-namesake Crosby, the Hong Kong merchant bank, despite them both being good for a laugh now and then.
Moly looks for true believer ... with lots of cash
November 17 - 23, 2008
IF INDIA, China and others with a fundamental “long-term” need for the rest of the world’s minerals want to see a new wave of projects emerge they are not sending the right signals to panicky western banks and other potential backers of new mines, according to Moly Mines managing director Derek Fisher.
Ferrochrome cutbacks to protect prices
November 17 - 23, 2008
MAJOR ferrochrome producers are scaling back operations dramatically to protect against a weakening stainless steel market and growing stockpiles in China, which are threatening to collapse the ferrochrome price.
Uranium execs to hit the ground running
November 17 - 23, 2008
NEW executive appointments starting this week at uranium companies Paladin Energy and Bannerman Resources look perfect matches, while market interest in the sector gently bubbles away including a recent transaction that values uranium resources in the ground at about $US8 per pound.
All good things come to an end
November 17 - 23, 2008
THE global head of Atlas Copco’s mining and construction equipment arm has his regional business leaders battening down the hatches for a “severe downturn” but says it is still too difficult to see what is going to happen in the market beyond the middle of 2009.
Intellection receiver appointed
November 17 - 23, 2008
NOV 12, 2008: ONE of Australia’s best emerging mining technology exporters, Brisbane-based Intellection, has had a receiver appointed by its banker after its forward order pipeline dried up almost overnight. The small but dramatic collapse highlights the truly precipitous fall in mining sector fortunes in a matter of weeks.
Hellyer plant the key to a new life
November 17 - 23, 2008
GENERAL market carnage aside, the cards have started falling rather nicely for Bass Metals of late, and acquiring the Hellyer plant now on the market would be a company-changing event.
The bubble has burst: long live the super cycle
November 17 - 23, 2008
COPPER is often used as a leading indicator for broader commodity price growth and world economic health. It may currently reflect the faint pulse of world financial markets, but copper producers – and miners generally – should take heart from post-trauma charts.
Red metal outlook not so clear-cut
November 10 - 16, 2008
DESPITE its price collapsing, copper has been something of an anomaly among base metals in trading at a higher price relative to the cost curve than its beleaguered colleagues.
O Gold, where art thou?
November 10 - 16, 2008
GOLD has been asked some serious questions and evidently has failed to deliver, according to Morgan Stanley.
Regis weighs plant options
November 10 - 16, 2008
WHILE final feasibility and financing options are currently in the frame for Regis Resources at its Duketon gold project in Western Australia, CEO David Walker is adamant on one score: “We will not finance at the punishing levels recently incurred by others in the industry.”
The hedge makes a comeback
November 10 - 16, 2008
SURELY one of the better hedging positions in the resources sector is that currently enjoyed by Canadian listed Iberian Minerals.
It ain't over yet
November 3 - 9, 2008
GENERALLY speaking, miners able to weather the storm could be ultimately rewarded with metal prices that exceed the stupendous levels previously reached. However for juniors, the zenith has passed.
Ukraine iron ore plans on ice
November 3 - 9, 2008
SWISS-BASED Ferrexpo has managed down production, exchanged chief executives, and put on ice about $US6 billion worth of developments over its Ukraine iron ore complex in a bid to batten down the hatches and ride out the current financial storm. What a difference a couple of months can make.
Tungsten in its own groove
November 3 - 9, 2008
COST pressures whipped up by the global mining investment boom will need to subside quickly if a handful of minor-metal projects are to have any hope of progressing against a receding resources investment tide. A minor metal still apparently near its “boom time” peak price is tungsten, a fact that doesn’t seem to have been lost on Australia’s leading gold producer Newcrest Mining.
The uncertainties of predictable gold
November 3 - 9, 2008
GOOD old trusty gold has turned a few heads in recent months. We saw the price capitulate in August then rebound in September. The see-saw effect continued into October, when the gold value dropped again only to recover once more in the last week of the month.
World will still need food, it is believed
November 3 - 9, 2008
THOSE with strategic prescience and bandwagon jumpers need not fear the end is nigh for fertilisers, though unsurprisingly the outlook is a tad dimmer for commodities like phosphate and potash than the explosive 2008 performance. Think producer discipline.
Troy's Benson on African safari
November 3 - 9, 2008
WEST Africa is in the sights of Troy Resources as it continues the search to find useful occupation for a gold plant in storage and some $A60 million in cash.
Re-run the 1990s tape please
October 20 - 26, 2008
INVESTORS have been warned that in 12 months time they may well look back on the closing months of 2008 as the “mother” of all buying opportunities.
PRT siesta looming
October 20 - 26, 2008
ONGOING legal issues surrounding the historic Proyecto de Rinto Tinto (PRT) copper project in Spain have handed EMED Mining managing director Harry Anagnostaras more than his fair share of headaches this year. Now, as the dust finally settles from the legal disputes and the path forward is cleared for the planned restart next year, the depreciation of a formerly resolute copper price has put the operation timeline in jeopardy, again.
Cash, and zinc, up his sleeve
October 20 - 26, 2008
HUGH Bresser can afford to stay reasonably relaxed despite the market and despite the fact that he is exploring for zinc because he’s got cash up his sleeves and a promising prospect that’s about 2-3 years away from the development stage. Which ties in pretty well with current assessments of the recovery of the zinc market.
Risky business
October 13 - 19, 2008
WHAT to make of the world? That is a question now coming up more in the thoughts of junior exploration and mining company executives after the industry fanned out quickly to all parts of the globe over the past five years.
Only way is up
October 13 - 19, 2008
A SNAPSHOT of the smaller end of the Australian resource equity market by D J Carmichael highlights some of the huge potential opportunities on offer for those with a horizon beyond the current maelstrom.
No sure thing
October 13 - 19, 2008
WHILE most project developers have continued to claim that they still expect to be able to finance their various developments, the fact that a gold-silver operation with cash costs of less than $US100 per ounce can’t get off the ground at the moment indicates the battlefield at hand.
MFC awaits nickel cash
October 13 - 19, 2008
DESPITE a tough first year, Metals Finance Corp CEO Tony Treasure can only see upside from here, with a healthy cash balance set to be further boosted as cashflow starts trickling in from the company’s maiden development.
Paladin still panned
October 13 - 19, 2008
THE investment bank that was recommending investors jettison Paladin Energy when it was nearly $A10 per share has continued its negative stance on the uranium company despite it now trading for little more than one-fifth of the value it was accorded during the halcyon uranium days of 2007.
Going for broke
October 6 - 12, 2008
UNFAZED by dismissive analysts, CBH Resources managing director Stephen Dennis remains confident that the battle to make Broken Hill a one owner mining town will ultimately prove successful.
Vacillating OZ
October 6 - 12, 2008
DESPITE potential targets having market capitalisations fractions of what they recently were, acquisitions now seem off the agenda for OZ Minerals judging by a recent speech given by company CEO Andrew Michelmore to the Australian-British Chamber of Commerce.
Who's going to open the bidding, please?
October 6 - 12, 2008
IF THERE is a modicum of ambition left in the languishing Australian gold sector, then successful explorer and would-be developer Integra Mining must surely be now in the crosshairs of a predator.
Merger offer has no sparkle, says T1
October 6 - 12, 2008
THE backing of a major shareholder has given AIM-listed junior Gemfields the confidence and cash to make a play for fellow London stock and coloured gemstone company, TanzaniteOne. The ‘proposed offer’ was a predictable move by Gemfields, a self-described “consolidator” within the coloured gemstones sector, and the response from an indignant T1 was equally foreseeable.
Looking for traction on a slippery slope
October 6 - 12, 2008
YOUR news: a 35% increase in the metal inventory and $US33 million boost in the net present value of your flagship project. Your reward: a 5c, or 16%, fall in your share price. That, says Discovery Metals CEO Brad Sampson, was a good result.
Finance keeps moly project on track
October 6 - 12, 2008
AN expensive interim financing facility was the only way to keep the $A1.1 billion Spinifex Ridge molybdenum project on track for production in early 2010 after the project got bogged in Western Australia’s heavily criticised mine approvals maze earlier this year.
Citigold uncovers pot of gold
September 29 - October 5, 2008
DUBAI has shown itself to be a live funding source for small Australian miners, with Queensland-based Citigold Corporation this week banking the first $A10 million of a potential $A35 million commitment from Dubai Holdings. But Citigold managing director Mark Lynch says companies can’t expect to rock up tomorrow with a hand out for money.
The nickel kings
September 29 - October 5, 2008
WHICH one of the nickel miners will do a Warren Buffet and use their bundles of cash to opportunistically take advantage of the current malaise. Alternately, which of the nickel miners could fall prey to a more corporately aggressive mining business from, say, Canada?
Curtain call for penniless juniors
September 29 - October 5, 2008
CASH poor junior mining companies could face oblivion by the end of the year unless they are able to find funding alternatives to volatile equity markets.
Major magnetite project now within Grange
September 22 - 28, 2008
GRANGE Resources has confirmed an increase in its previous capital cost estimate for the Southdown magnetite project to $US1.6 billion and that it will most likely require a 60% debt funding component, but claims the project will not fall victim to the global credit freeze.
Merger to open up pellet plant options
September 22 - 28, 2008
TASMANIA will be considered as an alternative location to Malaysia and China for an expanded iron pellet production facility if the proposed $A720 million Grange Resources-Australian Bulk Minerals merger proceeds.
Dull Dominion a sector leader
September 22 - 28, 2008
DOMINION Mining has attracted new coverage from one of the big investment banks though tellingly, the new fan finds it difficult to identify an obvious catalyst for a re-rating of the gold company.
Red Back takes a bite of MDL
September 22 - 28, 2008
ANOTHER Australian-held African gold asset could be set to change hands after Canadian company Red Back Mining picked up a 12.8% stake in emerging new producer Mineral Deposits.
Collateral damage
September 15 - 21, 2008
NO great surprise that most directors of companies developing projects still expect to be able to access funds despite the apparent catastrophic implosion of debt and equity markets last week. And, assuming Chinese growth and hence commodity demand holds up, they’re probably right for the most part, though the timing and cost of those funds is the real question.
Diversification the key: Hill
September 15 - 21, 2008
AN UNSUAL combination at the junior end of the market is in the offing with the failed, but cashed-up Laverton gold miner Crescent Gold potentially linking with emerging mineral sands producer Australian Zircon.
Copper a byproduct in OceanaGold financing
September 15 - 21, 2008
THE credit meltdown has confirmed OceanaGold Corp’s strategy of seeking a partner to help fund its Didipio gold-copper project in the Philippines, with offtake parties among those currently doing due diligence on the new development.
One-year anniversary can’t come soon enough for NTC
September 15 - 21, 2008
‘CHINA marches to its own beat’ might still be the clarion call of resources bulls everywhere. Investors in North American Tungsten have been given reason to hope it’s more than just a slogan with Hunan Nonferrous Metals’ (HNM) belated investment in King Island Scheelite.
Copper stocks to surge again
September 8 - 14, 2008
THERE must be screaming bargain or two in the copper equity space is the inescapable conclusion to be drawn if Goldman Sachs JBWere’s assessment of the red metal is born out.
No place for sentiment in Denver
September 8 - 14, 2008
THOUGH it wasn’t a great week for selling last minute tickets to a gold conference, the faithful gathered together at one of the sector’s flagship events in Denver, Colorado, were talking up a future price of $US1400 per ounce and a “new paradigm” for the precious metal.
Oxide copper just for starters
September 8 - 14, 2008
PAY little heed to a previous scoping study and accord negligible value to the current copper resource at the Mount Oxide project in Queensland that Chalice Gold Mines has acquired from Perilya Mines in a scrip deal valued at $A25 million.
Young Turk says strategy is working
September 8 - 14, 2008
WHEN a bull market takes on bear characteristics companies without genuine production prospects are found out fast. It’s a dicey time to be alive as a junior exploration company in Turkey but some fancy footwork around the negotiating table has allowed AIM-listed Ariana Resources to keep its head above water – it’s even starting to swim a little.
More mystery about next Ivanhoe numbers
September 8 - 14, 2008
THE path to full value is one requiring patience, according to mining maestro Robert Friedland, and his listed Australian subsidiary Ivanhoe Australia doesn’t look likely to challenge that dictum in the Cloncurry region of Queensland.
IPO report highlights low value in listings
September 8 - 14, 2008
THEY may provide nice little earners for geological, legal and accounting consultancies but prospectuses are generally of very limited value for investors other than proving that the companies seeking to list on the stock exchange are conforming to a standard framework.
Take AIM - but then, what's the point?
September 8 - 14, 2008
WHAT is it with the AIM regulators? Are they blind, ignorant or simply somnolent? To many it seems that amid the summer’s conflagration of valuation all the AIM authorities did was fiddle while the market burned.
Gold above "fair value"
September 1 - 7, 2008
FINDING reasons to invest in gold stocks has lately become about as difficult as uh … finding gold itself, with the price of the precious metal little to get excited about (and equities even less so) despite almost everything bar a nuclear war happening in the world in recent times.
Simple test shows copper value gap
September 1 - 7, 2008
ENTERPRISE values in a “simplistic analysis” of more than a dozen Australian listed copper companies show the market values identified copper resources at a tiny fraction of the copper price.
Finding support in different places
September 1 - 7, 2008
ESTIMATING “cost support” levels for base metals would seem a logical assessment to make given the cacophony of background noise, mostly bearish in tone, currently in the markets.
Too many waiting for the tide to rise
September 1 - 7, 2008
EDDIE Rigg has been having trouble explaining the Nile is a river in Egypt, but chances are the “denial” he claims some resource companies are under about the changed circumstances the sector now finds itself in will diminish given the market slaughter of the past week.
The numbers that lied
September 1 - 7, 2008
COMPANIES contemplating M&A transactions might note a few salient points from the sad case of Perilya Mines.
Aurum hangs onto Andash hopes
August 25 - 31, 2008
A SELF-DESCRIBED Kyrgyz Republic trail blazer is counting the cost of being blindsided by a legal challenge to its project tenure, a collision that must give other foreign exploration companies major cause for concern. “We were blazing a trail for a whole lot of people who were going to follow us into the Kyrgyz Republic and are waiting to see if we can succeed,” says Aurum Mining executive Chris Eadie.
Anvil deal at least still on the table
August 25 - 31, 2008
WHILE Anvil Mining has had to lower the price it planned to issue shares at in a major equity raising following ongoing pressure on its share-price and general market conditions, another Canadian listed company seeking to raise a similar amount of cash has been forced to cancel its placement altogether.
Nickel story to bring more tears
August 25 - 31, 2008
THE Chinese nickel pig iron story has been oversold, according to Southern Cross Equities (SCE), and those nickel fans that believe the Sydney-based broker presumably will now be taking a hard look again at the sector. However, Macquarie counters that overall rather bullish view for nickel with a long list of new projects set to emerge.
Price a key to value: Newcrest
August 18 - 24, 2008
NEWCREST Mining’s Ian Smith believes the gold price used in reserve and resource calculations will be an increasingly significant issue for the industry, with inflationary cost pressures and potential vulnerability to M&A the key impacting factors.
Lundin's cool helmsman
August 18 - 24, 2008
MARKET downturns invariably draw out the vultures and one of the more corporately aggressive global mining companies of recent years is led by an African expat executive with an MBA from Harvard, who reportedly once had designs on the top job at MIM Holdings and who was known in some quarters at that time by the nickname of “the refrigerator salesman”.
Ivanhoe neighbours not fazed about being in the spotlight
August 18 - 24, 2008
ROBERT Friedland with his new Australian scrip in hand and a smorgasbord of Australian companies suffering decimated share prices looks a recipe for M&A action. Two Cloncurry copper contenders stand out as possible target, though neither professes any great concern at the prospect.
Oz starts cutback, discounts buyback
August 18 - 24, 2008
OZ MINERALS remains confident on the zinc price and it won’t be upsetting the apple cart in terms of majors cutting back on greenfields exploration, with the company currently in the process of paring back various early stage targets that made up the portfolios of Zinifex and Oxiana prior to merger.
Metal prices hit weightless OZ
August 18 - 24, 2008
OZ MINERALS is getting off to an inauspicious start with analysts, while for those that like their sleuthing there are confusing signals as to whether the company is getting close to an M&A deal.
Juniors need more time to grow up: Cairns
August 11 - 17, 2008
BLAND public comments from managing directors are a dime a dozen which is why the sort of strident criticisms of capital markets from the likes of Integra Mining’s Chris Cairns are a refreshing change – even if they are perhaps a little wishful and short on solution.
Frog's Leg advantage could be with La Mancha
August 11 - 17, 2008
‘GRADE is king’ is the catchcry of the moment and it applies especially to the beleaguered gold sector. Erosion of the benefits of a good mine resource grade should be sacrilege but that is precisely what is happening with the million-ounce Frog’s Leg deposit 25km west of Kalgoorlie.
Golden challenge
August 11 - 17, 2008
WHILE there is undeniably a ‘chicken and egg’ aspect to it, gold exploration could currently be considered little more than a pastime for self indulgent geologists on the basis that it’s cheaper to acquire ounces than find them. Does this partly explain investor exasperation with the sector?
M&A or no M&A, that is the question
August 11 - 17, 2008
IT’S the ideal time for the adventurous and well-connected gold management team to buy a project. Undoubtedly there are a number of opportunities currently being created in an ambivalent investment climate for gold. In fact, it’s an ambivalent climate for most investments.
Hopes rise on Cigar Lake fall
August 11 - 17, 2008
BAD news for Cameco at its Cigar Lake project in Canada is naturally expected to benefit the rest of the uranium sector, but struggling markets generally and uranium’s recent run in the sun means analysts and investors aren’t tripping over themselves to jump back on the yellowcake bandwagon.
Lady starts to sing
August 4 - 10, 2008
THE merger between CopperCo and Mineral Securities is nearing completion against a backdrop of platinum corporate action and a copper development in Queensland described by an experienced mining man as the best of its type he has been involved with.
Growing up is the aim
August 4 - 10, 2008
THE number of mining companies transferring their listings across to London’s Main Market will continue to increase as miners outgrow AIM, according to London lawyer Alexander Keepin.
Blocking out risk
August 4 - 10, 2008
FORMER Snowden consultant Jon Bell has unveiled a new way for broadly assessing the implied sovereign risk discount in mining and exploration project transactions. Involving a financial derivation of the conventional block modelling used by geologists, the method is said to allow for rapid assessment of macro-investment trends and preferences for in-situ gold acquisitions in various geopolitical environments.
Value in services
August 4 - 10, 2008
NEVERMIND the current equity market malaise, the next 12 months should prove a very strong period for the mining services sector as it becomes apparent to all that the commodity boom isn’t going to unwind.
Newmont on the improve
August 4 - 10, 2008
OFTEN considered one of the ugly cousins of the gold majors, Newmont Mining is an improved beast that deserves revisiting, according to investment bank Credit Suisse.
European awaits return of confidence
July 28 - August 3, 2008
POSITIVE feasibility results at the Certej gold-silver project in Romania have given European Goldfields a much needed shot in the arm following a torrid five months on the markets, which have seen about £440 million wiped off its value. The stock was trading at £3.50 a share in late January but has since fallen by more than 50%.
Merger makes emerging mid-tier
July 28 - August 3, 2008
THE Norton Goldfields-Bellamel Mining merger seems a logical proposition, though shareholders of Bellamel would be more than hopeful that Norton doesn’t ultimately play out as yet another Australian gold company struggling with tired old assets.
Naughty gold still a safety net
July 28 - August 3, 2008
THE gold price has experienced a minor correction recently and has also showed signs of uncharacteristic volatility, but trigger-happy investors need not panic – the fundamentals for gold are as strong, if not stronger, than at any time in recent history.
Kalgoorlie doors open to diggers and dealers
July 28 - August 3, 2008
A WHO'S who of Australia's leading mineral explorers and junior miners will rub shoulders with the likes of Rio Tinto iron ore boss Sam Walsh, Barrick Gold Australia Pacific chief Joc O'Rourke and new AngloGold Ashanti CEO Mark Cutifani at next week's Diggers & Dealers conference at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. One suspects though, that it will be the new force in Australian mining, Andrew Forrest, who will dominate the spotlight at Australia's biggest mining investment showcase.
Ironbark joins OTCQX money trail
July 28 - August 3, 2008
LOOKING for a conduit to the deep North American market without the cost and compliance issues of the conventional exchanges in Toronto and New York? Try the International OTCQX in New York. Ironbark Gold is.
Resources race is not run yet
July 21 - 27, 2008
IT’S almost time for the starter’s gun to go off in Beijing, but there are few signs of nerves – at least outwardly – from explorers and miners who have heard that the closing ceremony at the Olympics will spell the end of the current commodities boom more times than TV commentator Bruce McAvaney’s sickly “special” call.
Apex looks beyond gold
July 21 - 27, 2008
MARK Ashley is clearly a big fan of gold but it’s become increasingly evident in more recent times that the company he leads won’t necessarily be betting its entire future on the precious metal as it closes in on production from its flagship Wiluna gold operation in Western Australia.
QGX deals sheds little light on pricing
July 21 - 27, 2008
PRICING junior explorers is a dark art that investors should treat with caution. The $C259 million transaction this week involving Canadian junior QGX, Merrill Lynch and private Asian holding companies Kerry Holdings and MCS Holding is a case in point.
Time for some magic from deal wizards at OZ
July 21 - 27, 2008
WITH the merger complete, attention has now turned to what OZ Minerals plans to do with its pile of cash. Given the equity market downturn, the timing would seem rather more opportune than it has in recent times, but competition for major assets at the more rarefied end of town isn’t like to slacken to any great extent.
A blast for Orica break-up
July 21 - 27, 2008
ONE onlooker definitely not rushing to join the hosts at this week’s Orica de-merger announcement party was Credit Suisse, which blasted a show-and-tell by management and queried the rationale for Orica’s $A900 million equity raising.
Trinity brings New Gold to market
July 14 - 20, 2008
ROBERT Gallagher likes the outdoors and likes keeping busy. Currently he is trotting the globe to get to know the various properties and people he has working for him as the CEO of New Gold,the company with the heavyweight board and clearly one of the more promising mid-tier producers currently emerging in the rather callow gold space.
Demand, prices point to rich Mosaic
July 14 - 20, 2008
KEY fertiliser bellwether, North American company Mosaic, believes it is the “calm before the storm” in terms of pricing, with inventories at record lows, demand strong, farm income up, and, most importantly, rising input costs.
Lihir could take heat out of majors' costs
July 14 - 20, 2008
POOR Telfer performance and geothermal-power exposure suggest Lihir Gold might be a more interesting target for gold corporates than fellow significant Australian independent producer Newcrest Mining.
Selling services still easy, on the one hand
July 14 - 20, 2008
MINING service sector analysts say some excellent buying opportunities have emerged in an “oversold” section of the market, with demand for engineering services in particular showing no signs of abating and earnings upgrades increasingly likely on the back of strong work flows and new acquisitions.
Bear market will sort wheat from chaff
July 14 - 20, 2008
TAKE heart all you directors of junior mining companies cowering in your trenches and thinking the world has come to an end just because your share prices have been falling.
Friedland talking copper and gold: is he barking or what?
July 14 - 20, 2008
IT WAS a few weeks ago now, but it will take far longer for the memory to fade – the memory of Ivanhoe Mines executive chairman Robert Friedland barking like a dog while expressing his views about gold, onstage at the World Mining Investment Congress in London.
Mirabela attraction could grow
July 7 - 13, 2008
DESPITE Vale holding a 9% stake in Mirabela Nickel, there are a handful of other companies that may well be interested in the emerging miner who is said to be on the verge of locking up financing for its Santa Rita nickel project in Brazil.
Brockman eyes development path
July 7 - 13, 2008
BROCKMAN Resources supporter Patersons believes size will matter in any new “open access” era for smaller Pilbara iron ore producers close to existing rail infrastructure in the region.
Steel support for WA magnetite
July 7 - 13, 2008
ESCALATING costs are shining an even brighter light on the economics of proposed major magnetite iron ore projects in Western Australia, though proponents are claiming that there is no shortage of potential backers if first-choice partners retreat from the front line.
Stronger for longer copper
July 7 - 13, 2008
CITI’S major upgrade to its copper price outlook means a “buy” tag on better copper equities would seem the default position for all investors confident of the general situation in China. Goldman Sachs JBWere (GSJBW) on the other hand has some general doubts.
Uranium One step away
July 7 - 13, 2008
CANADIAN company Uranium One looks looks in a strong position to benefit from Kazakhstan’s aim to emerge as a major uranium power over the next 20 years with leverage to all facets of the industry.
Bonwick casts several lines
June 23 - 29, 2008
INDEPENDENCE Group is one of those handful of Australian nickel miners that has absolutely creamed it over the past few years by being a quality operator during a period when the nickel price reached for the stars. It’s also a company that is now actively seeking to take the next step.
Technology key ingredient in new Cook coal plan
June 23 - 29, 2008
TECHNOLOGY is being promoted by an increasing number of mining companies as a mining cost and, potentially, a value differentiator. Now it seems analysts are warming to the theme with ABN-Amro Morgans citing Caledon Resources as one company that could profit and grow by successfully applying technology.
Prophet Vendt lets off some steam over Monarch
June 23 - 29, 2008
MICHAEL Kiernan’s departure from the Territory Resources board has been the signal for release of some pent-up frustration about the company’s support for Monarch Gold.
Ivanhoe IPO has plenty of value in store
June 16 - 22, 2008
IVANHOE Australia’s $A125 million IPO next month doesn’t include a single delineated copper resource pound nor gram of gold. Curiously, resources for three projects on granted mining leases are set to be reported in August following the completion of the IPO in late July.
Credible numbers
June 16 - 22, 2008
FOLLOWING an absolute horrendous three months on the market as investors reacted with sell orders to a major capital cost increase at the Didipio copper-gold project in the Philippines, developer OceanaGold now represents a “compelling” investment opportunity. For retail and institutional investors, and, possibly, corporates too.
Juniors still glowing in the dark: Deutsche
June 16 - 22, 2008
ANOTHER investment bank has backed the case for uranium, with Deutsche Bank selecting a handful of companies it believes stand to benefit given its belief that the world is on the verge of a “uranium renaissance” – with a price recovery beginning in the second half of 2008.
Old mines, troubling signs
June 9 - 15, 2008
THE biggest winner in the St Barbara Mines saga of the past decade or so has been a Denver-based private equity outfit called Resource Capital Funds (RCF) run by the prescient Australian James McClements. No doubt a few others would now be wishing they’d followed James out the door when he and RCF exited St Barbara in January.
Panoramic vision
June 9 - 15, 2008
WHILE it seems almost every second resource company these days talks about building a significant mining business, the re-named Sally Malay Mining has got a track record over the past seven years that puts evidence on the bones of rhetoric. And it’s actively recruiting additional professionals at present to boost its due diligence team as it seeks its next mining asset.
Barrick could unload non-gold assets
June 9 - 15, 2008
THREE feasibility studies due to be completed this year on non-gold assets could see the world’s number one gold producer Barrick Gold Corp spin out a major nickel and platinum group metal company.
Raising a dollar will depend on interest
June 2 - 8, 2008
BAD luck for companies that have either mistimed their run at the capital markets or chose the wrong commodity to chase. It could get a whole lot harder for many to raise capital if broad IPO trends are indicative.
Tampakan no lemon ... or orange
June 2 - 8, 2008
UNIMPRESSED with suggestions that copper transactions in South America give any credence to the takeover offer lobbed by Xstrata, Indophil has offered up various counter examples that claim to show the boys from Zug are cheapskates.
China uncertainty, strong demand support moly
June 2 - 8, 2008
INVESTMENT bank UBS doesn’t see new supply derailing the molybdenum price any time soon, despite the increasing flow of the metal from copper mines lifting output in response to high copper prices.
Pala forces Gemcom stakes up
June 2 - 8, 2008
SWISS-CONTROLLED Pala Investments AG has forced US private equity groups JMI Equity and The Carlyle Group to raise last month’s $C180 million offer for mining software leader Gemcom to $C190 million.
Minnows attract Chinese interest
May 26 - June 1, 2008
WHILE iron ore and coal assets have been the main focus for Chinese investment in Australia, two interesting minnows outside the “bulks” space have recently also been attracting Chinese interest.
PanAust has no problem with Thai knots
May 26 - June 1, 2008
DESPITE Kingsgate Consolidated’s travails in Thailand in recent times, PanAust’s confidence in the country can be simply measured by the number “seven”.
Copper, gold prices highlight Tampakan value
May 26 - June 1, 2008
WHILE long-time Indophil Resources supporter ABN AMRO Morgans has given short shrift to Xstrata’s $A1 per share bid for the junior, transactions in South America over the past 12 months are perhaps less damning of the pricing by the boys from Zug.
Deacon a good sign
May 26 - June 1, 2008
THE strong nickel exploration potential of Sally Malay Mining’s Lanfranchi and Tramways tenements near Kambalda in Western Australia is yet to be fully appreciated by the market.
Moly output set to climb
May 26 - June 1, 2008
MOLYBDENUM producers and contenders will be wondering about the long term moly price given the likely positive decision at Rio Tinto’s Kennecott Copper (KUC) business to develop an autoclave processing route that will add 30 million pounds of annual moly production from late 2010 and double that from mid-next decade.
Wild West poised for tungsten shoot-out
May 19 - 25, 2008
THE shift in the global tungsten market has created an opportunity for western miners to demand a high price for their tungsten concentrate, while turning up the heat on end-users outside of China to secure their future supply, according to a director of junior tungsten player, Ormonde Mining. Ireland-based Ormonde’s historic high-grade Barruecopardo project in Spain is one of a handful of tungsten developments worldwide.
Candente half peers' take-out price
May 19 - 25, 2008
FORMER Normandy Mining, Teck Cominco and PacMin Mining executive Steven Dean chairs a Canadian junior whose copper project in northern Peru is said to have all the hallmarks of a “company-maker”.
Zambezi appeal grows
May 19 - 25, 2008
WHETHER or not European investors get a different version of the news about shifting southern African mineral royalties and power-supply uncertainty than their Australian counterparts is probably a moot point. Having recommended Zambezi Resources to its “European mining members” last year, Fat Prophets now thinks the time is right for Australian investors to take a keener interest in the company.
Winning and losing sum
May 12 - 18, 2008
GLENCORE has added another would-be base metal producer to its books, while speculation about the private metals trader and miner’s future in Zambia unsurprisingly suggests the Zambian Government has one very unhappy investor on its hands.
Discreet Ivanhoe backing Exco
May 12 - 18, 2008
PETER Reeve has joined the board of budding Cloncurry copper junior Exco Resources but he remains as coy as ever about details of the listing of the big ticket Cloncurry copper contender that takes up 99%-plus of his time, Ivanhoe Australia.
Heard in Miami
May 12 - 18, 2008
MERRILL Lynch’s Global Metals Mining & Steel Conference held in Miami this week featured all the usual suspects. Some of the more interesting macro and micro comments reported by Merrill analysts included …
Avoca searching for a spotlight
May 5 - 11, 2008
GIVEN the pressures suffered by gold miners around the world, just how long can the only standout gold opportunity in Australia remain free from the clutches of the acquisitive and ambitious Canadians?
Straits to narrow
May 5 - 11, 2008
DESPITE indications to the contrary, Milan Jerkovic remains a true believer in diversified mining companies. The Straits Resources – Straits Asia de-merger he argues, is merely the result of history and a response to vulnerability.
Sphere back down to earth
May 5 - 11, 2008
DESPITE the incredibly buoyant iron ore sector, the market continues to be sceptical of Sphere Investments, with the would-be Mauritanian magnetite miner trading this week below its net present value and at a significant discount to upside valuation estimates.
Uranium hot ... or cold
May 5 - 11, 2008
FORGET about seeking guidance from the so-called experts on whether uranium represents a sector investors should be re-considering. There’s diametric disagreement, with poster stock Paladin Energy a simple case in point.
Lundin calling
April 28 - May 4, 2008
DOCTOR Kevin Moriarty has been making it abundantly clear that the current board sees itself as the best option for growing shareholder wealth at emerging zinc producer Terramin Australia. So just how much cash Canadian company Lundin Mining or some other potential predator might have to stump up to test shareholders’ faith in Moriarty is the obvious question after Lundin’s recent emergence on Terramin’s share registry.
Coppers to follow peerless nickel peers
April 28 - May 4, 2008
IT MUST make a lot of investors wonder why they bother given copper equities have generally been rather lame performers of late. Especially given the metal they produce is trading at or near record levels. However, perhaps that could change if the explosive outlook forecast by some in the copper market comes to bear in the months ahead.
A change we weren't banking on
April 28 - May 4, 2008
BOART Longyear was judged last year’s “Exit of the Year” at the private equity Buyouts Awards in New York – a gong for former owner Advent International which might have carried a hint of menace for shareholders who climbed on board the $A2.35 billion Boart ASX float early in 2007. Many of them won’t be as sanguine about CEO Paul Brunner’s surprise departure this year.
Traders on tin tacks in Hong Kong
April 21 - 27, 2008
TIN guru Peter Kettle unsettled traders at a tin conference in Hong Kong last week with his prediction that new mine production outside of China and Indonesia will need to double in the next five years to satisfy increasing demand. Chinese and Indonesian producer representatives confirmed neither country, at this stage, would be adding export capacity during the period.
The long haul back
April 21 - 27, 2008
SMALL-cap mining service and supply companies will need to deliver on full-year growth and earnings projections during the coming reporting period or face an extended stint in purgatory while better-performing peers possibly climb back on the M&A bus, according to the co-author of a research report on the sector.
Intrepid hits the road
April 21 - 27, 2008
BRAD Gordon this week kicked-off the Intrepid Mines roadshow, with the CEO of the low profile Australian-Canadian gold miner able to tell brokers and investors a tale of low cost production growth being overseen by reputable management who are set to actively grow the business.
Mirabela remains on track: Poll
April 21 - 27, 2008
FINANCING for the Mirabela Nickel’s Santa Rita project in Brazil continues to look assured according to management at the company, as does it would seem the potential for a large-scale underground mine.
Show me the mining
April 14 - 20, 2008
IF YOU want to compare how the Philippines rates for Western-based mining and exploration companies compared to other risky investment destinations, then start with the balance sheet of Democratic Republic of Congo copper miner, Anvil Mining. There’s the best part of $A300 million cash sitting in Anvil’s bank, and if you thought you could find a peer in the Philippines that’s made even a fraction of that, you’d be well and truly mistaken.
Grange within range
April 14 - 20, 2008
SURGING oil prices don’t usually cause miners to smile. But Grange Resources chairman Anthony Bohnenn was still sounding pleased on the phone from Amsterdam about last week’s news that infrastructure spending in the Middle East was set to drive major increases in steel demand, starting this year.
Emery confident about bigger Yandera picture
April 7 - 13, 2008
ANOTHER small company with a potentially world-class project insists debt and equity markets remain supportive of quality projects. Marengo Mining’s managing director Les Emery is nevertheless satisfied that he’s got a kitty full of funds to progress the Yandera copper-molybdenum venture to definitive feasibility stage.
Mincor, Western Areas attract support
April 7 - 13, 2008
CRITICISM of Mincor Resources short mine life is not justified by the facts, according to an analyst report that says there is no fundamental reason why the miner has been the worst performer of comparable Australian-listed nickel companies this year.
No need for heroes
March 31 - April 6, 2008
DESPITE plenty of positive noise for the future of the gold price, hedging fan Sean Russo of the aptly titled Noah’s Rule outlines a compelling case for producers to use protection. Think beach houses and school fees, suggests Russo.
Flow sheet gains still to be recognised
March 31 - April 6, 2008
CASHFLOW from the Palabora copper project in South Africa is imminent for innovative new processing company Metals Finance Corp (MFC) – not that you’d know it given the company’s market capitalisation this week was equivalent to its cash balance. Still, such are the casualties of the broad market malaise.
Miners better at conserving cash reserves
March 31 - April 6, 2008
WHILE miners are said to have a history of poor capital management, one blue chip investment bank has given the resources sector a nice pat on the back for its much improved efforts in the current cycle.
Xanadu turns focus to Oz
March 31 - April 6, 2008
MARKET vagaries aside, Mongolia-focused junior Xanadu Mines remains confident of raising significant pre-IPO funds from Hong Kong and mainland Chinese investors for a pre-feasibility study at its Khar Tarvaga coal project. However, a proposed Hong Kong listing is stretching the company’s patience, and the Australian market is now looking a likely shorter term alternative.
Finning starts new chapter
March 31 - April 6, 2008
MAJOR Caterpillar equipment dealer Finning International’s new chief is expected to provide a clearer indication of the outlook for business in the company’s key market areas in the 2008-09 year when he addresses his first annual general meeting early next month.
Armenian setback
March 24 - 30, 2008
NOT surprisingly, Hugh Callagahan didn’t sound overly happy talking down the line from London given the market punishment meted out to Tamaya Resources following deferral of the Lichkvaz development in Armenia. But he remains adamant the Lichkvaz project will ultimately prove a valuable development in 2009.
Search turns to reliable cash source
March 17 - 23, 2008
WHEN one of Australia’s best explorers recently concluded that cashflow was now a critical requirement, perhaps it should have been a signal to many of the thousands of exploration juniors world-wide that the clock is now ticking loudly.
It's a mad, mad, mad world
March 17 - 23, 2008
ANALYSTS at Goldman Sachs JBWere (GSJBW) have put their thinking caps on and proffered five themes that strategists at mining and exploration companies should keep in mind should they concur with the premise that emerging companies will continue to buoy commodity demand despite the economic slowdown in the OECD countries.
Value in stricken CopperCo
March 17 - 23, 2008
SMASHED by the market since last October, new miner CopperCo has been representing outstanding value of late, according to Citigroup, with its earnings and current enterprise value currently making it a “self financing acquisition for a cash-rich mid-tier miner looking to add 30,000 tonnes of copper production to its portfolio”. There would seem a good few possibilities on that score.
At your service
March 10 - 16, 2008
IF YOU are confident of the ongoing health of the resources sector over the next couple of years, then you can expect to see earnings growth in the Australian mining and engineering sector average at least 15-20% in fiscal 2009.
A merger of equals
March 3 - 9, 2008
ANDREW Michelmore has done a fair old impersonation of US general Douglas Macarthur with his return to the Australian resources sector atop the as yet unnamed Zinifex-Oxiana. And rest assured, the market can expect one or two big conquests in the short-to-medium term by the new $A12 billion company.
Zircon to the rescue?
March 3 - 9, 2008
MANAGEMENT at Iluka Resources remains confident of the company’s future despite a macro economic environment that looks increasingly likely to decimate the earnings of the mineral sands major in 2008. A potential increase in the price Iluka receives for zircon is one of the few mitigating possibilities in the short-to-medium term, with much of the sector under severe pressure.
Credit Suisse likes Goldminex ground
March 3 - 9, 2008
YOU have clearly got something special when you’re a very early stage grass roots explorer in Papua New Guinea that is already attracting investment banks from the big end of town.
Cash in to straighten AIM
February 25 - March 2, 2008
THE beautifully named Bill Cash has some tough months ahead to negotiate as he tries to right AIM Resources after the horrendous market slip-up the company suffered over the course of the second half of 2007.
New hands change Adamus mix
February 25 - March 2, 2008
RAMSAY’S Kitchen is the TV analogy Mark Bojanjac uses to describe what’s happened at Adamus Resources over the past year. The shakeout, which saw the exit of the previous managing director and technical director, and the strong gold price, sees managing director Bojanjac adamant the company will now be taking big development strides at its Southern Ashanti gold project in Ghana.
Bank gets Tiger by the tail
February 25 - March 2, 2008
WHILE $A6.3 million makes less of dent in the bank balance of Macquarie Bank than those of your average retail investor, Macquarie’s willingness to outlay the sum on an investment in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during this period of added uncertainty is clearly a positive sign for the junior concerned. Think a targeted one million tonnes of contained copper.
Nickel miners resist bearish mood
February 11 - 17, 2008
NICKEL producers believe analysts who are forecasting significantly lower nickel prices than current levels are grossly mistaken.
Equinox faces uranium, completion questions
February 11 - 17, 2008
EQUINOX is publicly unconcerned about the fiscal regime that may be levelled at its mooted uranium project in Zambia despite the background noise coming out of the African country, and says it is looking at various “initiatives” to fund development given cashflow from its pending copper project will not be available.
Bogolyubov just needs to be patient
February 11 - 17, 2008
UKRAINIAN billionaire Gennadiy Bogolyubov is one shareholder who will be keen to see the share price of former glamour stock Jabiru Metals rebound, as well as those of aspiring iron ore and tungsten producers BC Iron and Vital Metals, respectively. Jabiru has been badly oversold since October last year, according to Fat Prophets’ Gavin Wendt.
Paladin uranium could rival Rio iron, says Aitken
February 4 - 10, 2008
PALADIN to be as dominant in the uranium market as Rio Tinto is in the iron ore market, was the bold claim made this week by Southern Cross Equities commodity bull Charlie Aitken.
Amdel IPO still on track
February 4 - 10, 2008
THE CEO of leading analytical services group Amdel says the timing of the company’s planned initial public offering has been altered by “weeks not months” by the tremors on the Australian Securities Exchange and general investor skittishness, with a prospectus still expected to be lodged by June pending progress on other fronts.
Golden future, but not for Newcrest
February 4 - 10, 2008
ANALYSTS continue to highlight the positive outlook for gold, with Citigroup’s Australian team the latest to ratchet up its forecasts for both the precious metal and the associated junior stocks it covers. It was however far less impressed with the likes of Newcrest Mining.
Cat sees bounce in US machine sales
February 4 - 10, 2008
CATERPILLAR, the world’s dominant manufacturer and supplier of construction and mining machinery, doesn’t see a US-led global economic slowdown biting it on the tail this year, declaring that it expects growth in international markets to continue to offset sluggish domestic sales.
Costs jump up, but nickel optimism still there
January 28 - February 3, 2008
SENTIMENT towards nickel heap leach projects won’t have been helped by Heron Resources’ shock decision to knock its Jump Up Dam development on the head, though the other contenders maintain their projects remain viable.
Banfora interest builds
January 28 - February 3, 2008
WHEN Newmont Mining knocks on the door wanting to buy shares in your company, it’s probably pretty fair to assume that you’re onto a good thing. Ongoing results from Gryphon Minerals’ ground in Burkina Faso are confirming that intuitive assessment, and are likely to be providing the company’s managing director Steve Parsons with an easy story to sell in Cape Town at next week’s Indaba conference.
Take the money and run
January 28 - February 3, 2008
SHOULD Independence Group cash in its Tropicana gold project by selling out, or is the promise of a stake in a long life, low cash cost operation a more alluring prospect for the ambitious nickel miner?
Further take on Ox gold vehicle
January 21 - 27, 2008
CREATION of a hybrid vehicle similar to Canada’s Silver Wheaton has been suggested as a possible option for the spinning out of Oxiana’s gold business.
Dudfield leaves Canadian door open
January 21 - 27, 2008
TIGHT capital structures ain’t what they used to be on the Canadian market, according to Energy Metals executive director Lindsay Dudfield, who said the promising uranium company was still considering a Toronto listing despite the currently planned three-for-one share split.
Southern awaits Cambodia results
January 21 - 27, 2008
MACQUARIE Bank and the colourful Ken Talbot of Talbot Holdings can be reassured of at least a couple of things with their investment in Southern Gold. They have first mover exposure to a promising geological environment in Cambodia, and they’re involved with a company whose managing director is a model of discretion.
HK backing for tin mine
January 14 - 20, 2008
METALS X has got the cash for re-starting its Renison tin operation in Tasmania after Hong Kong listed APAC Resources and Chinese nickel producer Jinchuan agreed to tip in $59.4 million of equity capital.
The long boom to come
January 14 - 20, 2008
MURMERINGS of uranium’s return to form are being heard from both demand and supply perspectives, potentially spelling good news for investors left holding equities after the heat rapidly dissipated from the sector in mid-2007.
Costs dampen tungsten revival
January 14 - 20, 2008
THE RAPID rise and subsequent stabilisation of tungsten prices over the past three years, and louder calls for new mine supply, isn’t going to be enough to bring many long-dormant, significant projects out of hibernation, according to market research by Perth-based Goodall Business and Resource Management (GBRM).
Stronger, but for how much longer?
January 14 - 20, 2008
IT LOOKS more likely by the week that the stronger for longer thesis professed as mantra by a mini-generation of mining professionals and investment banker types will come under some scrutiny over the course of 2008. Macquarie, for one, remains bullish.
Apex to debt-fund growth
December 17 - 23, 2007
PROGRESSIVE new gold miner Apex Minerals could require about $A150 million order to reach targeted annual production rates of 350,000 ounces per annum in 2010-11.
FMG: the new view
December 17 - 23, 2007
SOLD on the “drive and determination” of people on the ground, though still not buying the whole Fortescue Metals Group story – particularly the bits about resource quality, surface miner production rates and expansion costs. But Goldman Sachs JBWere now says Fortescue Metals Group is at least a stock worth holding.
OceanaGold's longer-term lustre
December 17 - 23, 2007
INVESTORS will look for an improved performance all round – production, development and share price – in 2008 from one of the companies the soaring gold price has left behind in the latter stages of this year, OceanaGold Corporation.
Treasure maps a different path
December 10 - 16, 2007
IF EXPLORATION is your strong suit, does it make sound business sense to then try and become a developer and operator when you find something potentially worth mining? Tony Treasure of Metals Finance Corp (MFC) could understand if you answered “no”, and, funnily enough, he could also suggest a solution.
Lihir raises buying power
December 10 - 16, 2007
LIHIR Gold is currently finalising a debt facility that could be used to pursue another corporate or project acquisition, while work at the company’s namesake operation to increase production to one million ounces per annum envisages using turbines from World War II battleships to power the expanded processing plant.
Equinox keeping eyes on Lumwana
December 10 - 16, 2007
EQUINOX is remaining very tight lipped on how it plans to deal with the surprise arrival on its share register of First Quantum Minerals, offering little other than the standard management fare about concentrating on building its Zambian copper mine and growing shareholder value.
Perilya gets busy
November 26 - December 2, 2007
FLINDERS, Mount Oxide, and Rio Tinto’s outgoing Northparkes project all figure on the radar of Perilya Mines as its strategy of diversifying its revenue stream away from Broken Hill continues with the assistance of corporate adviser UBS.
The view from London
November 26 - December 2, 2007
THE mood at an industry get together in London last week was much as would be expected – cautious. Looking beyond the current skittish malaise seems to be the course ascribed, though explorers shouldn’t be expecting too much capital to come their way until the situation becomes a whole lot clearer.
Backing for big platinum mine
November 26 - December 2, 2007
PLATINUM developer Platmin is raising up to $C93 million in new equity after reaching agreement with joint underwriters RBC Capital Markets and GMP Securities.
Food for thought
November 26 - December 2, 2007
GOING “long” on the agricultural sector is a clarion call that’s been getting louder in recent times, with Robert Friedland amongst those who have been publicly making positive noises about the sector’s investment prospects. The implications for the mineral inputs used in fertilisers are correspondingly positive, particularly in the case of phosphorous.
Vale CVRD
November 26 - December 2, 2007
BRAZILIAN mining giant Vale – ex Companhia Vale do Rio Doce – sees a $US59 million image makeover (yes, all those developing smallish projects, you read it right) helping its recruitment, public relations and seemingly inexorable global expansion efforts.
Worth the wait
November 19 - 25, 2007
INCREASED junior and mid-tier activity and a new exploration office on the cards for major CVRD suggests trepidation with Indonesia’s proposed new mining law is receding, with an experienced explorer in the country suggesting the decentralised essence of the law could be both its biggest strength and potentially its greatest weakness.
Drilling for rabbits
November 19 - 25, 2007
EXPECT Ed Eshuys to pull a rabbit out of the hat inside the next two-to-three years is more or less the message from analysts who have recently started assessing emerging gold miner St Barbara Mines.
Gemcom plugs into mining boom
November 12 - 18, 2007
LEADING mine software group Gemcom Software International is on track to exceed $C50 million ($US52 million) of fiscal 2008 revenues after posting a 61% year-on-year rise in the September quarter to $C13 million.
An Oxiana-Zinifex breakdown
November 5 - 11, 2007
THERE is a compelling strategic case to be made for the merger of Oxiana and Zinifex, according to a recent in-depth study. But the investment bank that made the assessment does have problems making the numbers stack up on an earnings accretive basis, leading it to see some comparisons with the negative “Normandy model”.
Clock still ticking
October 29 - November 4, 2007
NEWMONT Mining’s $C1 billion IPO of Franco Nevada could be viewed in some quarters as the first strong signal the top of the equity market is nigh according to the investment clock often referred to by Lion Selection. However, chief clockmaker Robin Widdup is far less certain the alarm bells are ringing.
Copper lot of shortfalls
October 29 - November 4, 2007
COPPER miners and contenders continue to struggle to deliver into the voracious market, with production problems, construction slippage, and cost blowouts being suffered across the globe.
COW changes may not be noticed
October 29 - November 4, 2007
A POSITIVE, though admittedly “non consensus” report on the long awaited and much feared new mining law in Indonesia believes miners have nothing to be apprehensive about, with claims that the new regulatory regime will be “largely irrelevant” to the majority of Indonesia’s mining companies.
Golden retrievers
October 29 - November 4, 2007
LEFT in the market shade by the major diversified miners, the gold heavyweights have been variously engaging in unshackling themselves of hedging, bringing in new blood, and operating on the M&A margins as they’ve awaited the precious metal renaissance that now seems finally underway.
Lion at the table
October 29 - November 4, 2007
AUSTRALIA, Africa and Asia offer different propositions and risks for resource investment company Lion Selection, which this month initiated new investments in two juniors while continuing to note strong outside interest in its minority held Cracow gold project in Queensland.
Hong Kong beckons for tin miner
October 22 - 28, 2007
THE Hong Kong stock market’s increasing importance as a first port of call for burgeoning Chinese investment funds, coupled with Asia’s centrality in the expanding tin universe, makes a HKSX dual listing a near certainty for Metals X once it restores the Renison operation in Tasmania to full production and moves into positive cash flow territory.
Sun setting on Iluka west
October 22 - 28, 2007
A RISING Australian dollar was the chief suspect in the holding cells last week when Iluka Resources admitted to its profit downgrade, but according to at least one market detective there’s circumstantial evidence that points the finger elsewhere.
Ashley keen to keep think-time
October 15 - 21, 2007
AS THE ambitious Apex Minerals hits more gold at Wiluna and initiates drilling south of Jubilee Mines’ money printing Cosmos nickel operations, well-performed managing director Mark Ashley remains on the lookout for opportunities but cognizant of ensuring management and staff aren’t overloaded and have space to “think”.
Perilya search continues
October 15 - 21, 2007
UNDEMANDING valuation multiples aren’t likely to be helping Perilya Mines in its stated-hunt for an acquisition or merger, with the company undoubtedly hoping the market’s search for value and related increased broker coverage will improve the hitting power of its scrip.
Straits back on acquisition path
October 8 - 14, 2007
STRAITS Resources will position itself for further acquisitions by restructuring its debt facilities after it closes out $A90 million of out-of-the-money copper hedges tied to its expanding Tritton copper operation in New South Wales.
Wright provides Paris score update
October 8 - 14, 2007
FRONTING your banker with yet another cost increase for a project that’s sat stymied in the starting blocks for the best part of two years wouldn’t be an especially sought after task for a company director, though there could be worse times to be doing it than in Paris during the rugby world cup.
Image not yet clear
October 8 - 14, 2007
ANOTHER month, another purchase of shares in mineral sands hopeful Image Resources by the company’s managing director, George Sakalidis. Which is what you’d expect from someone who believes they’ve got a world class find on their hands. The thing is, neighbour Iluka Resources hasn’t batted an eyelid at the claim, and in a sector where market share equals pricing power, that would seem a tad bewildering.
Marengo low on peer scale
October 8 - 14, 2007
MARENGO Mining Ltd is a long-shot punt on copper prices and China’s demand for the metal, but will be in good company if it can get a secondary listing in Toronto early next year, according to Shaw Stockbroking.
Heaps of pluses
September 24 - 30, 2007
MURRIN Murrin’s proposed heap leach project could potentially cost a whole lot more than some of the lower capital cost estimates that floated around the market last year, but Peter Johnston, the chief executive of 60% owner Minara Resources, maintains that such estimates were merely guesstimates and that the scope of work has significantly changed following operation of the demonstration plant.
Getting the message
September 24 - 30, 2007
JUST in case non-North American-based resource companies harbour any illusions as to their profile in the grand scheme of things in the investment world, consider the case of Centamin Egypt.
Reading the signs
September 24 - 30, 2007
THE China story lessens comparisons between commodity markets and aggressive US Federal rate cuts in 1987 and 2007. But it does appear current risks are positively asymmetrical for miners – at least in the short term.
The best of times, the worst of times
September 17 - 23, 2007
GIVEN current metal prices and most forecasts for the rest of the decade, the situation for mine developers would intuitively seem very bright. But that’s so long as said developers have got mine permitting and fiscal regimes in place, as well as an A-team expeditiously managing a fixed-cost construction that was priced ... last year. In the real world though, it seems most would-be miners have got their work cut out for them.
Manganese war heats up
September 17 - 23, 2007
IT’S BEEN billed as Gilbertson vs Kiernan vs Bogolyubov vs anyone else who wants to step into the ring, but as Consolidated Minerals chief Rod Baxter has been arguing the real star of the show is Woodie Woodie, which means the current $A1 billion asking price for ConsMin is steep.
Golden opportunities
September 10 - 16, 2007
LOOKING for some global leverage to gold outside the majors and the handful of emerging billion dollar-plus mid-cap producers? Successful explorers and those closing in on production or expansions represent obvious candidates.
Emperor's new clothes - coming soon
September 10 - 16, 2007
GET set for something big to happen at Emperor Mines. That seems the obvious conclusion to be drawn from the company’s imminent divestment of the Tolukuma gold mine in Papua New Guinea.
Sentiment weighs down Mineral Sands
September 10 - 16, 2007
DESPITE the backing of the Keith Liddell and Robert Champion de Crespigny-led Mineral Securities, Australian junior explorer Mineral Sands Ltd has got away to a less than inspiring start to publicly listed life.
Marengo to push for rail funding
September 10 - 16, 2007
MARENGO Mining Ltd may need the benefit of a major reversal of attitudes toward Papua New Guinea’s political and economic settings, and governance standards, by the World Bank or another potential backer of the country’s first significant internal railway to help shift a big component of its proposed $US1.1 billion Yandera copper-molybdenum project off its balance sheet. Accordingly, the corporate minnow is factoring in the full capital cost of a railway into its bankable feasibility study.
Bank lashes iron majors
September 3 - 9, 2007
GIVEN the cash BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have been rolling in of late, criticism of the performance of the two company’s key iron ore divisions might seem churlish. But from a strategic point of view, lost market share and the sub-market iron ore prices achieved by the two, suggests any criticism bears closer scrutiny – especially in the case of Rio.
Sally Malay aims higher
September 3 - 9, 2007
DESPITE what many consider the precipitous outlook for nickel, Sally Malay Mining aims to continue to please its owners by significantly increasing output at its two production centres over the next couple of years.
Staying calm ... under fire
August 27 - September 2, 2007
THE BBC’s “Guide to Comedy” describes the classic Dad’s Army line “Don’t panic Mr Mannering” as “perversely alarming”. It seems a particularly apt characterisation of the credit crunch backdrop facing commodity investors, despite the best calming efforts of investment banks.
Quinn decides not to persevere
August 27 - September 2, 2007
TEN years after he packed his bags at Newcrest Mining, John Quinn has announced he’ll be leaving Perseverance Corp following the difficulties the Victorian gold miner has got itself into developing the Fosterville underground gold operation. The emergence of a predator would now appear one clear possibility.
Nickel flood looms
August 27 - September 2, 2007
YET another mega nickel project has begun looming larger on the horizon with debt financing agreements worth $US2.1 billion executed late last week by Sherritt International Corp for the Ambatovy development in Madagascar.
Bang goes plant cost, schedule
August 27 - September 2, 2007
PETER Richards, chief executive of leading mine explosives supplier Dyno Nobel Ltd, ticked five of the six boxes on the cover page of a presentation wrapping up the company’s 2007 first-half results – an appraisal deemed overly radiant by analysts at UBS and Goldman Sachs JBWere.
Cash is king ... again
August 20 - 26, 2007
COMPANIES with cash enjoy an enhanced position when sector wide sell-offs hit the markets, though whether that translates into hostile bids in an era when unfriendly deals are castigated for destroying value, or merely acts as a catalyst for discussions already underway, remains to be seen.
Mirabela's Canadian tears
August 20 - 26, 2007
MIRABELA Nickel investors out of Canada who backed the big spending company to the tune of $C183 million a mere four months ago will be hoping for a major change in fortune, with the stock having been smashed almost ever since the large equity raising was completed in May.
Digging deeper, dealing with change
August 13 - 19, 2007
THE SPOTLIGHT glare at this year’s Diggers & Dealers mining conference at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, was very much on Pierre Lassonde’s suit, Andrew Forrest’s movie and the Brian Gilbertson/Michael Kiernan stoush. But it will be focused on skill shortages, rising costs, and merger and acquisition activity over the next 12 months, industry leaders told HighGrade away from the main stage.
The underside of 40
August 13 - 19, 2007
BIBLICAL references to the number 40 are many, and if copper miners have the 40 months of $US3 per pound or better currently being predicted by at least one of the big investment banks, they will indeed feel as if they have enjoyed a near-religious experience. As its name suggests CopperCo is one such company set to enjoy the good times, though it is noteworthy that it’s not leaving everything in the lap of the gods.
Platinum potential underlined
August 13 - 19, 2007
ROUTED markets last week showed little interest in emerging platinum producer Platmin on news that Xstrata was paying $US1 billion for new independent PGM miner Eland Platinum. However, continuing M&A in the small but lucrative world of platinum producers looks a reasonable expectation.
Sojitz bids for tungsten mine
August 6 - 12, 2007
JAPANESE industrial and trading group Sojitz Corporation has moved to secure a stake in the long-term supply of tungsten outside of China with its $C54 million ($US51.3 million) offer for Canadian miner Primary Metals Inc.
Flawless Gem deal
July 30 - August 5, 2007
WHILE there is little to gain in being too effusive about a takeover target until the deal is signed, sealed and delivered, Gem Diamonds will be very confident its operational and marketing form will ensure the Kimberley Diamond Co’s struggling Ellendale operation turns out to be very nice earner indeed for the London-backed raider.
Time to look at Widdup's clock
July 30 - August 5, 2007
LION Selection’s investment guru Robin Widdup is confident the resources sector remains a healthy destination for investors, with the future corporate decisions of the likes of Rio Tinto seen as key indicators of the sector’s continuing well being.
Cameco pressured
July 30 - August 5, 2007
INVESTMENT bankers and M&A types must smile smugly at times at how easily the media can be used to do their bidding for them, with the recent coverage of uranium heavyweight Cameco Corp looking a possible case in point.
Shutdown brings uncertainty
July 30 - August 5, 2007
THE RISKS today’s globetrotting junior miners take leaving home are again under a spotlight following Canadian company Eldorado Gold Corporation’s announcement earlier this month that it had been ordered to shut down its one-year-old Kisladag heap leach gold operation in western Turkey by August 20.
Bubbling over
July 23 - 29, 2007
GRESHAM Private Equity has added its name to the resources boom stronger-for-longer cheer squad with its investment in underground mining contractor Barminco. But the deal is seen in some quarters as a further sign the mining services sector is becoming a “dot-com bubble”.
Central Africa the new Chile
July 23 - 29, 2007
HALCYON days for copper appear set to continue into the next decade as another investment bank hops onto the red metal bandwagon with forecasts of more than $US3 per pound for the next few years. Short of a dramatic downturn in demand, Central Africa is pointed to as the real key for the metal’s future and, by proxy, miner’s fortunes.
Rio spring sale looms
July 23 - 29, 2007
LOOKING to buy an asset during a once-in-a-generation resources boom? Then step right up and take a look at what’s potentially on offer from Rio Tinto and, more importantly, what you might have to pay to get a piece of the hot mining action.
Cat growth slows
July 23 - 29, 2007
THE WORLD’S largest manufacturer and supplier of construction and mining equipment has jacked its full-year revenue forecast back up despite a continuing slowdown in activity in the US domestic market.
BHPB rides strong demand
July 23 - 29, 2007
VERY strong coking coal output and good levels of iron ore production were among the highlights of a June quarter performance by BHP Billiton that capped off a record year in 2006-07. On the flipside, a strong Australian dollar looks likely to nip earnings in the next couple of years.
Equigold hits Birmian trail
July 16 - 22, 2007
WELL performed, cashed up gold miner Equigold has made it clear it intends being a corporate player in Canadian-dominated West Africa, with growing market support for the company in recent times reflecting the new development underway at the quality Bonikro project in Cote d’Ivoire.
In no hurry to change
July 16 - 22, 2007
BUREAUCRATIC decision-making in Thailand continues to be an inordinately slow work in progress, though on the plus side, the likes of Kingsgate Consolidated should be reassured by the likelihood that any new government is not expected to change the investment parameters.
Hecla eyes rest of Greens Creek
July 16 - 22, 2007
NORTH America’s oldest precious metals miner has confirmed it is interested in buying Rio Tinto’s 70% stake in the Greens Creek silver-gold-zinc-lead mine should it become available. A Rio divestment has been speculated as the major seeks to reduce its gearing post the Alcan transaction.
Ox may move in Rio carve-up
July 16 - 22, 2007
RIO Tinto’s Northparkes block cave copper-gold mine in New South Wales could prove a tempting target for Oxiana should the major decide to divest the operation in the wake of its acquisition of Alcan and its stated aim to reduce its debt.
Rough diamond's lost sparkle
July 16 - 22, 2007
WHATEVER happens on the corporate front at Kimberley Diamond Co (KIM), the Ellendale production centre in northern Western Australia looks a very tough, low margin proposition based on recent operating numbers.
Releasing the brake
July 9 - 15, 2007
JUST about everyone else in the gold space seems to be doing it, and the numbers evidently look totally compelling for one of the real kings of the hedging caper, Newcrest Mining, to now follow suit.
Wheel of fortune
July 9 - 15, 2007
AS THE potential for the uranium spot price to hit $US200 per pound next year continues to be flagged by investment banks, arguments for a long-term low of $US25/lb provide a sobering riposte to those who talk of new paradigms and the like.
Extra latitude
July 9 - 15, 2007
THE timing could not have been better. In the same week that heavyweight Teck Cominco was buying Aur Resources and describing Chile as “the best country for mining and long term growth”, the ambitious copper miner Tamaya Resources added significantly to its Chilean portfolio by acquiring copper assets from AIM-listed Latitude Resources.
Confessions of a bull
July 9 - 15, 2007
TWENTY-five things BHP Billiton CEO elect Marius Kloppers reportedly commented on to London-based analysts at investment bank UBS recently:
Angostura funding kick
July 9 - 15, 2007
GREYSTAR Resources Ltd has raised $C39.6 million for development of the Angostura gold-silver project in north-eastern Colombia via a private placement of eight million shares at C60c through a syndicate led by RBC Capital Markets.
Asleep at the wheel
July 2 - 8, 2007
BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto stand accused of fiddling while Rome burns, with the aggressive response of competitors to high commodity prices putting the two majors’ pre-eminent positions in the sector at long-term risk.
SOG value is evident
July 2 - 8, 2007
THE dark years spent convincing institutions of the merits of investing in mining are long gone for Denver-based private equity firm Resource Capital Fund (RCF), though the challenge of finding value is conceivably tougher these days given the rise in commodity and equity prices.
Dual focus
June 25 - July 1, 2007
DUAL-listed Western Areas appears cognoscente the nickel-space in Canada is wide open in terms of market opportunity, and that the rewards on offer are likely to be especially rich for any junior able to snare a significant local Canadian discovery. Corporate activity is similarly on the agenda.
Rejuvenating Wiluna
June 25 - July 1, 2007
THE mine that has been a flea ridden hound in recent times finally looks to have found a loving home where it can get the attention it requires and, in particular, a decent feed.
Running low on relevance
June 25 - July 1, 2007
GOLD equities are on notice to significantly lift their game if they want to continue to attract investor interest in an investment world that is increasingly running out of patience, not to mention reasons, to invest in them.
Iron wagon to keep rolling
June 25 - July 1, 2007
A PILBARA visit has underlined the robust earning and expansion potential of Rio Tinto’s most important business to Deutsche Bank. It believes Rio Tinto Iron Ore (RTIO), even without spreading its wings in Guinea, Brazil or India, could be a $US100 billion business by 2015.
Nickel exploration goes above ground
June 18 - 24, 2007
WILL the expected sharply falling and more rational nickel price ahead be the catalyst for either BHP Billiton or the big Russian bear Norilsk to grab control of a junior they both would likely covet?
Newcrest-Lihir marriage a 'compelling' union
June 11 - 17, 2007
NEWCREST Mining Ltd is trying to acquire a porphyry deposit in Fiji and has compelling reasons to both buy out its hedging and consider merging with the only other Australian sector heavyweight, Lihir Gold.
Monarch lists in Dubai
June 11 - 17, 2007
MICHAEL Kiernan has opened a new investor support window for his gold vehicle, Monarch Gold Mining Company Ltd, as part of a plan to create a significant Australian gold mining house. Monarch’s chairman wants 15% of the company’s shareholders to be based in the United Arab Emirates, where it has become the third international gold group to list on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX).
Gold's lost lustre
June 4 - 10, 2007
WONDER no more why a gold stalwart such as Newmont Mining Corporation is looking at iron ore in West Africa and diamonds in Canada. Or why Barrick Gold Corporation chairman Peter Munk recently stated the company may consider expanding further into other non-gold precious or base metals production. Gold stinks!
Bulk prices up-rated
June 4 - 10, 2007
BUY BULK. That’s the latest signal from Citigroup, with the bank further upgrading its bullish rating on iron ore and coal after posting a none-too-retiring appraisal only two months ago.
Iluka holds the line
June 4 - 10, 2007
BEING lopped from the S&P/ASX 100 index and copping a dreaded “sell” recommendation from a blue chip broker all in the space of the past week illustrates the tough times at Iluka Resources Ltd. Management at the mineral sands heavyweight, however, remain confident.
Nickel costs heading north
June 4 - 10, 2007
THE nickel price could “easily halve” in coming months according to Citigroup, however, the structure of the industry is improving leading the investment bank to increase its long term price by 50% to $US6 per pound.
Fosterville needs to deliver
May 28 - June 3, 2007
PERSEVERANCE Corp may be labouring behind schedule at its Fosterville gold development in Victoria, but an analyst positive on the stock has maintained his faith after visiting the operation earlier this month.
Lean and mean
May 21 - 27, 2007
CRITICS can snipe that Xstrata’s bet on strong commodity prices has thus far proved a spectacular success, and that its relationship with Glencore has allowed it freedoms available to very few for growing a mining business. Fans though attribute Xstrata’s success to the use of a different business model and strong entrepreneurial streak that clearly sets it apart from its peers.
Going north
May 21 - 27, 2007
FROM a headline perspective, it looks expensive. But the evidence is compelling that a primary listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) is the best way to go to ensure full company stock value, according to gold-copper growth company OceanaGold.
Varied approaches lead to Dublin
May 21 - 27, 2007
THE Merrill Lynch shindig in Dublin this month featured optimistic majors, 320 somewhat sceptical institutional investors, and different approaches to growing a mining business, including a “significant change of course” for Anglo American.
Pigs are flying
May 21 - 27, 2007
NICKEL producers revelling in the astounding price environment they find themselves with have been given another significant warning by the budding nickel pig iron industry.
Bucyrus ready for battle
May 14 - 20, 2007
BUCYRUS International Inc president Tim Sullivan’s promise that “the best is yet to come” after an impressive 2006 for the American mining equipment manufacturer will be fulfilled if China’s coal industry continues to open up to foreign suppliers, the US coal market recovers and Canada’s oil sands investment materialises. They are three big “ifs” Sullivan didn’t care to ponder too far into the future as he basked last week in the glow from the company’s $US731 million acquisition of Germany’s DBT.
Monarch offers gold to eastern kingdom
May 14 - 20, 2007
EMERGING Australian gold producer Monarch Gold Mining Company Ltd has confirmed it is exploring the possibility of listing on the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX). As reported in HighGrade previously (March 8, 2007), Monarch is aiming to shift a substantial part of its support base to the United Arab Emirates.
Funds are still flowing
May 14 - 20, 2007
THE market appetite for growth stories in the resources sector continues unabated, enabling copper miner Anvil Mining and gold producer St Barbara Mines to complete big capital raisings hot on the heels of Mirabela Nickel’s $C183 million placement earlier this month.
Silver jubilee
May 7 - 13, 2007
NORM Seckold will hold nearly 6% of the world’s biggest silver miner upon completion of the Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp transaction. The Sydney-based mining entrepreneur says he is “stoked” by the $US1.1 billion merger on the basis that there is plenty of inherent upside to the Coeur story.
When big is not enough
May 7 - 13, 2007
THE world’s biggest gold miner has leveraged itself toward a new strategy as it faces up to the challenge of offering investors future capital growth in the face of its status as … the world’s biggest gold miner.
Banking on a fall
May 7 - 13, 2007
THE mere possibility of hedging evidently causes many a mining executive to break out in a sweat, even, somewhat bizarrely, during periods of ultra-high metal prices when exuberant (irrational?) optimism reigns supreme. Hard-nosed base metal miners, however, know a good price when they see one and Brian Rear, the managing director of CopperCo Ltd, is not in the least fazed by the concept.
Anvil likes the look of Zara
April 30 - May 6, 2007
HAVING proven itself more prescient and capable than most in the mining world with its highly profitable move into the Democratic Republic of Congo, copper miner Anvil Mining NL has made a second move to diversify its interests with its investment last week in Eritrean gold explorer Sub-Sahara Resources NL.
Sold! To the lowest bidder ...
April 30 - May 6, 2007
A CHINESE mining consortium has secured control of one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper deposits at a price considered cheap compared with other recent deals in the sector. The main comparisons have been with projects in Alaska, Mongolia and countries in Africa, where the world’s big mining houses are confident they can expedite projects without eroding hard-won gains made in mining’s global image battle over the past decade.
Mix and match
April 30 - May 6, 2007
ON A big picture basis, the planned marriage of copper miner Tamaya Resources Ltd and gold developer Iberian Resources Ltd looks an entirely credible match based on the wants and needs of the two incoming parties. However, in terms of specifics it remains very much a work in progress.
Philippines finally on the move
April 30 - May 6, 2007
MEXICO’S booming mining sector is expected to attract foreign investment of $US3.5 billion this year in a significant reversal of fortune for Latin America’s second biggest economy. Across the Pacific a similar though perhaps lower-key story of economic revival is opening a bigger window of opportunity for miners and mining service companies in the Philippines.
Moves will dent nickel
April 30 - May 6, 2007
NEGATIVE news for nickel miners continues to mount, though with the unprecedented cashflow being generated by a recent nickel price of around $US50,000 per tonne, most producers aren’t likely to find themselves out on the street if and when the reversal occurs.
Orica in play
April 23 - 29, 2007
GET READY for round two. That’s the consensus view of analysts watching mining services leader Orica Ltd, the target of last week’s $A10 billion private equity consortium takeover bid.
Mixed zinc outlook for miners
April 23 - 29, 2007
A STRONG rebound in the zinc price is on the cards later this year, while on a longer timeframe smelters are set to benefit at the expense of miners from 2008 as additional mine production leads to an improved bargaining position.
Lihir pure gold move surprises
April 23 - 29, 2007
LIHIR Gold Ltd’s decision to hand over $US450 million to banks and hedging counterparties so as to become a pure gold leverage play has got at least one investment bank slightly bewildered.
Diamond in the rough
April 16 - 22, 2007
CONCRETE trucks and boggy roads in northern Australia’s isolated outback is a mix that doesn’t go well together, a situation the cash-strapped Kimberley Diamond Co (KIM) is currently all too well aware of as it suffers around $A3 million a month worth of lost revenue.
Delays cut lead levels
April 16 - 22, 2007
STYMIED supply from the Magellan mine near Wiluna in Western Australia is the latest uncertainty to a strike a lead market already weighed down by project underperformance.
Contempt of Boart
April 16 - 22, 2007
NOT everyone was impressed by the $A2.35 billion Boart Longyear sharemarket float in Australia. Prior to the company’s Australian Securities Exchange listing earlier this month independent market commentators at The Intelligent Investor (TII) advised investors to “avoid (the) resources super-cycle sales pitch”.
Troy frozen out
April 9 - 15, 2007
CANADIAN company Compalex Minerals Corp is said to be resisting overtures to hop into bed with Australian-based miner Troy Resources NL and develop the multi-million ounce Meliadine gold project in the frigid Nunavut Territory. Watching on with interest and rounding out an interesting threesome is active private equity investor Resource Capital Funds (RCF).
Looking for a little Xstrata
April 9 - 15, 2007
WHILE nothing can be ruled out when it comes to the ever-entrepreneurial Xstrata plc, those in the Australian nickel market that claim further merger and acquisition activity is in the wind involving the Swiss based miner and Western Australian nickel miners are perhaps doing something else into the wind.
Avoca focus turns to royalty
April 2 - 8, 2007
IMMINENT gold producer Avoca Resources Ltd plans to approach Morgan Stanley about an onerous royalty held by the US-based financial powerhouse and, separately, is considering buying put options after raising $A125 million in equity and quasi debt for development of its Higginsville operation in Western Australia.
Cape Lambert secures backing
April 2 - 8, 2007
THE CHINESE investor Ding Liguo will emerge with about 14% of Western Australian iron ore hopeful Cape Lambert Ltd after acquiring 40 million options he reportedly will convert to ordinary shares “in the near future”.
False starts slow race
March 26 - April 1, 2007
THE RACE to develop a major new tungsten mine outside China and secure a lucrative offtake deal with an end-user has produced its second false start. Those with a bullish long-term view of the metal’s supply and demand picture are understood to be keen to avert a third stutter.
Funds back OceanaGold growth plan
March 26 - April 1, 2007
MANY talk about mergers and acquisitions, but very few move past the rhetoric let alone transact the compelling deals that make perfect sense for all investors concerned. The OceanaGold-Climax Mining merger is one of the exceptions.
Iron heads join for talks
March 26 - April 1, 2007
IN THE one small room: nine iron ore company heads (including a proxy) presiding over $A8.5 billion of market cap and more than $A8 billion of project cap-ex in Australia and Mauritania. What did they decide to talk about?
No doubting Thomas
March 19 - 25, 2007
THOSE waiting for the second coming, Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd’s second coming that is, should take a great deal of faith out of the recent $A10.53 million placement to Thai interests, according to managing director Gavin Thomas. He believes that the company’s full resurrection is now only months away.
Sands of time, winds of change
March 8 - 14, 2007
A CLICHE about the mining sector says it has a tendency to be long on capital and short on return. Booming metal prices and record profits have more or less buried that criticism, at least for the moment, though Iluka Resources Ltd continues to fit the bill. For despite the biggest resources boom for at least the past 40 years, the miner is valued at little more than it was at the turn of the century.
Drilling better ground
March 8 - 14, 2007
THE former South African-owned drilling services and equipment company Boart Longyear sees Australia as a better long-term bet than North America for its planned public float because of the superior knowledge and recognition of mining supply companies among local investors.
Copper price war gets heated
March 1 - 7, 2007
FANS of seminal US melodrama Sex in the City who also happen to follow the copper industry could have drawn some obvious analogies from the heated debate on the long-term price of the red metal following Macquarie’s “Copper in the City” gathering in New York in mid-February.
Zambezi bets on double play
March 1 - 7, 2007
IN A corporate move that flies in the face of conventional investment scenarios, the Alternative Investment Market-listed, Glencore-backed junior Zambezi Resources has decided to dual list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) as it embarks on what it claims to be one of the bigger copper-gold exploration campaigns of the year.
Crooked copper capers
March 1 - 7, 2007
LARCENY of this style could perhaps most benignly be characterised as a clear expression of unlawful free market capitalism, with copper’s climbing price in 2006 evidently putting it squarely in the sights of thieves and opportunists.
New life for zinc
February 22 - 28, 2007
ASIDE from wanting to find a home for the wad of cash burning a hole in its pocket, Zinifex Ltd’s bid for Canadian zinc hopeful Wolfden Resources Inc gives it another mining option for a commodity that has reportedly attracted relatively little exploration since 1996. Moreover, because of the few zinc discoveries in recent times, it is claimed that the metal is very much one of the strategic spaces to be in for geologists and developers with a timeframe extending beyond 2010.
Finding new Harmony
February 22 - 28, 2007
HARMONY Gold Mining Co Ltd’s genesis from junkyard dog to major greenfields project developer is taking shape in Papua New Guinea, with the South East Asia region also now confirmed as a key business development hunting ground for the world’s fifth biggest gold miner.
Nickel pulse quickens
February 22 - 28, 2007
RIO Tinto’s push into the nickel sector through projects in Indonesia and the United States appears to be gathering momentum, though production still remains some way off.
Eagle lands ... again
February 15 - 21, 2007
ABOUT 15 years after apparently dropping an option over the Meadowbank gold project in Nunavut, busy Canadian gold market darling Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd has returned, announcing a $C710 million friendly scrip takeover of Cumberland Resources Ltd.
Emperor's new reign
February 15 - 21, 2007
THIS would seem an obvious question. Why, in these halcyon days of unparalleled opportunity for experienced executives in the mining and exploration sector, is the management team described by a heavyweight international broker as “one of the best … in the gold business” sticking around at near-moribund gold producer Emperor Mines Ltd?
Heading north
February 8 - 14, 2007
A MOVE down the path followed by the likes of Equinox Minerals Ltd might be favoured by aspiring Papua New Guinea copper-molybdenum producer Marengo Mining Ltd as it seeks to grow its stunted enterprise value in Australia ahead of development of one of the world’s major copper-molybdenum deposits.
Closing the GAAP
February 8 - 14, 2007
A VITAL missing weapon in the global mining industry’s bid to close the corporate governance and disclosure gap on more tightly regulated – and investor friendly – industries has emerged after four years of development. The “new JORC code for metal accounting", already being embraced by heavyweights such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American Corporation, is expected to provide the mining industry with a more consistent and reliable means of tracking and reporting the value of minerals defined as resources in the ground to saleable product form.
Costly Panorama
February 8 - 14, 2007
CBH Resources Ltd intends to very closely manage the construction and development of its new Panorama zinc-copper project after a feasibility study delivered a sharply increased capital cost compared with what was previously expected.
Private equity bonanza
February 8 - 14, 2007
HEALTHY investment returns and an apparently favourable impact on the Australian economy augur well for the continued growth of the country’s private equity industry, which has discovered local mining technology and service enterprises in recent years.
Harder to find
February 1 - 7, 2007
INCREASING uncertainty about tungsten supply outside China is likely to see a steady ramp-up in exploration activity in Australia this year as several companies try to convert modest deposits into more substantial resources and the few in possession of the 10-year-plus supply sources tungsten users are searching for accelerate work to take advantage of a market window which opened wider as 2006 unfolded.
Ox on the move
February 1 - 7, 2007
THE ebullient Owen Hegarty has been telling all and sundry for years of Oxiana Ltd’s ambitions to become a major new Australian mining company to fill the void left by the demise of the likes of WMC Resources and MIM Holdings. And it seems the Melbourne-based company’s corporate development team has carte blanche when it comes to meeting their chief executive’s lofty aspirations.
Shifting sands
February 1 - 7, 2007
KEITH Liddell’s bread and butter is identifying commodity trends and projects before the broader market. Liddell and the team at resource investment house Mineral Securities (MinSec) cite various nickel, gold and copper projects as examples of their work, and in the next few months they are set to unveil their latest commodity focus of choice – featuring the unfashionable and oft-ignored mineral sands.
Let the 07 speculation begin
January 25 - 31, 2007
WHERE to from here for Minara Resources Ltd, the Australian laterite nickel miner that for years has been the laughing stock of the mining world? (Especially in Sudbury!) With cash currently flowing into the company’s coffers at an astonishing rate courtesy of the nickel price and an unhedged exposure, does the company have an appetite for growth beyond the 60%-owned Murrin Murrin?
Big private equity finds Mincom
January 25 - 31, 2007
AUSTRALIAN enterprise asset management (EAM) software developer Mincom will target bigger acquisitions in the mining information technology sector as part of a more aggressive growth strategy if US private equity firm Francisco Partners’ $A315 million offer for the company succeeds, according to chief executive Richard Mathews.
Resolute decision
December 21 - 27, 2006
A BIG decision looms for the number crunchers and gold price voyeurs at Australian gold producer Resolute Mining Ltd ahead of the imminent start of construction of the Syama project in Mali.
All tied up
December 14 - 20, 2006
TOUGH times for Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd should not obscure the potential this producer in Thailand has to become one of the key gold miners in Asia. Ten million ounces should comfortably see to that, though the market at the moment is unsurprisingly cautious.
Anglo next in play?
November 23 - 29, 2006
AS THE crowd at the M&A club at the very top end of town dwindles, there is one long time beauty whose attractions look increasingly luminous to those holding the means and ambitions for growth and market power.
Base case strong
November 23 - 29, 2006
NO NEED to fret resource bulls, the “super cycle” is alive and well despite some recent health concerns. Major corporates such as Goldman Sachs JBWere and Citigroup remain confident of the overall picture for miners, with the latter favouring base metals over the “bulks” and flagging bellwether copper to remain a sight for sore eyes early into the next decade.
No Cigar
November 23 - 29, 2006
JOHN Borshoff of Paladin Resources caused a few titters earlier this year when he spoke on an Australian television business show about a potential $US100 per pound uranium price. After all, the stuff at the time was already up more than 500% from the $US7/lb it was fetching a mere 5-6 years ago. However, what may have been an easily dismissible case of ‘talking up one’s book’, has all of sudden become a lot less laughable if you operate a nuclear power plant.
Tinny sound
November 23 - 29, 2006
ARE the stars starting to align for tin producers and contenders? According to a recent report, the consensus is that much higher levels of capital investment will be needed to maintain and increase tin production in line with global consumption. And for that to happen, a sustained price above levels common to the past 10 years is apparently imperative – though for tin, unlike many of its metal peers, there does appear a relatively modest price cap.
Costs the main danger
November 16 - 22, 2006
THINK Australian base metal equities look expensive? Think again. One major broker/ investment bank was this week arguing that resource stocks as a sector actually look cheaper at the moment than they did two years ago.
Four Mile for float?
November 16 - 22, 2006
FOUR MILE in South Australia, being viewed by many geoscientists as Australia’s major new uranium discovery, is also being touted as the lead attraction in a new float.
Banks lend support
November 16 - 22, 2006
EUROPEAN banks have lent support to London-based Oriel Resources Plc’s plans to establish a significant integrated chrome venture linking the high-grade Voskhod deposit in northern Kazakhstan and a new ferrochrome smelter near St Petersburg in Russia.
Change of plan gets nod
November 16 - 22, 2006
NEWCREST Mining Ltd’s altered development path for its Cadia Valley gold-copper operations in New South Wales has drawn a cautious nod from Deutsche Bank senior resources analyst Peter Rose.
Nuggety challenge
November 9 - 15, 2006
A JUNIOR that has recently been implementing a business strategy of joint venturing projects rather than diluting shareholders to advance them is now also closing in on the development of a potential high-grade gold project in its own right.
India part of Kiernan plan
November 9 - 15, 2006
KIERNAN and India – now there’s a spicy combination. That is the lure being presented to investors in the new prospectus for India Resources Ltd, a vehicle currently seeking out a beachhead deal or two on the sub-continent.
Strange bedfellows ... or big business diplomacy?
November 2 - 8, 2006
IT REPRESENTS the most unlikely marriage of the freewheeling North American entrepreneur Robert Friedland and the conservative, understated, hard nosed mining business that is Rio Tinto plc. That the pair even considered hopping into bed together hints at both pragmatism and emerging geopolitical pressures.
AIMing high
October 19 - 25, 2006
A $US145 million tripartite financing deal has set AIM Resources Ltd on the path to early zinc production from the $US3.3 billion Perkoa resource in Burkina Faso.
More mines, different signs
October 5 - 11, 2006
SOME less favourable winds may be building for copper in 2007 and beyond, but the outlook for zinc remains positive with a more severe supply squeeze in the second half of this year likely to be sustained through the next.
Olympic Dam picked up for nicks
October 5 - 11, 2006
UNDERPERFORMANCE may be the label Goldman Sachs JBWere analyst Neil Goodwill has scrawled across his BHP Billiton nickel division file, but with the sustained strength of nickel prices pushing the value of the resource giant’s ex-WMC nickel assets to $US7.6 billion, last year’s $US7.3 billion takeover of WMC appears to have been well and truly vindicated.
Back on the map
September 21 - 27, 2006
A MOVE by the world’s biggest ammonium paratungstate (APT) producer to secure at least 50% of the output from a redeveloped King Island scheelite mine in Tasmania has shored up financial support for the project and emphasised China’s systematic tightening of external tungsten supply.
Zinc's shrinking stockpile
September 7 - 13, 2006
THINK shortages of metals such as nickel and zinc and images of changing industrial and urban landscapes in China usually come to mind.
Africa benefits from new view
September 7 - 13, 2006
THE world’s appetite for resources and rising globalisation of the mining business has seen exploration and investment rise in all parts of the world. Companies, and investors, are pouring billions of dollars into the search for major mineral deposits and competition for the dollars among traditional and emerging hot spots is intense.
Tungsten tied
August 21 - 27, 2006
POSSIBLE delays to the start-up of a major new mining venture in Vietnam are understood to have increased the anxiety levels of tungsten end-users, who are facing supply shortages in the next few years if China broadens its restrictions on exports of products containing the metal.
Chinese demand fires bauxite interest
August 21 - 27, 2006
RAPID expansion of China's domestic aluminium making capacity may have put a lid on growth in global production of the metal, but the increasing reliance of some Chinese alumina refinery owners on imported bauxite is expected to create opportunities for new entrants in a field largely devoid of junior companies.
Alumina pendulum swinging: Macquarie
August 21 - 27, 2006
INCREASED Chinese domestic alumina production and higher aluminium prices in the first quarter of 2006 has continued to propel the country’s expanding aluminium industry forward after output jumped from 2.78 million tonnes in 2000 to 7.85Mt last year.
Irons in the fire
August 10 - 16, 2006
CHINA was always going to be among the most heavily used words at this year’s Diggers & Dealers forum. The “diggers” talked about China’s demand for nickel, copper, zinc, lead, molybdenum, gold, iron ore and other metals. The dealers listened intently. Former gold bug David McSweeney liked the iron ore story — with good reason.
Great expectations: what about the reality
July 10 - 16, 2006
WITH all the speculative hype around uranium exploration, investors might be excused for thinking uranium mines are about to pop up all over Australia. In fact, the country’s first new uranium mine is probably seven years away. Even with a string of green lights, it won’t be in production until 2011 or 2012.
Universal agreement
June 26 - July 2, 2006
ASPIRING copper producer Universal Resources Ltd has cleared an important development hurdle and must now sort out financing for its proposed $A240 million Roseby copper project in north Queensland.
Maximus to unleash uranium
June 26 - July 2, 2006
A NEW reading on the appetite of investors for Australian uranium exploration exposure will come in the next few months when Kevin Wills-led Maximus Resources Ltd attempts to spin-off its South Australian and Northern Territory uranium interests into an $A15-20 million float.
Earth about to move at Mount Weld
June 26 - July 2, 2006
DEVELOPMENT of the world’s richest rare earths deposit has moved a step closer following Lynas Corporation Ltd’s securing of $A75 million of funding via an $A35 million convertible note issue and $A40 million share placement.
Favourite son returns … briefly
May 15 - 21, 2006
IT WAS a master stroke to end a conference in Adelaide with a presentation by Robert Champion de Crespigny, one of South Australia’s favourite adopted business sons now setting himself up in the re-born mining capital of London.