An annotated version of the Reuter's report. What was the purpose of this article? Certainly a controversial piece of writing IMO and from what others have posted.
MELBOURNE, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Exploration at one of Rio Tinto's RIO.L (RIO) sites (Rio is the operator at Citadel but has NOT yet fulfilled expenditure commitments to be at 51% so the site is still AZYs! not 100% certain of this so see below) in the state of Western Australia that has been touted as potentially rich in copper has so far failed to find any economic veins of ore, the miner's partner in the project said on Tuesday. (A very carefully worded and confusing sentence - The one that is mentioned is Citadel where the Calibre and Magnum prospects are known to contain Cu Au and other elements. However, the reference "to rich in copper and failed to find" create impressions that run through the article making it a fascinating read for any who have followed Barry Fitzgerald's (and others) reports that give a more positive spin on the rumours and anecdotes that are flying around what has been called the Winu discovery.
Antipa Minerals (AZY) lodged a series of exploration updates with the Australian Securities Exchange on Tuesday including one covering its Citadel project with Rio in the state's Paterson region. Antipa noted "weak mineralisation" The AZY announcement begins with the GT1 results where further follow up is being considered - this article doesn't mention that just the following RC results in the Folly target area that is part of that project, adding that at this stage there was "no follow-up envisaged". It said that no follow-up was warranted at the MB1 target area either. However, it said it was still exploring around the Calibre deposit, with the results of an aerial electromagnetic survey still pending. Rio declined to comment ON WHAT? Probably this sentence refers to Winu and not the quote that follows. "The grades are low - they didn't come up with any really high-grade intersections," said Warren Edney at broker Ballieu Holst in Melbourne. "It doesn't kill the story ... (What story - again Winu is the most likely story which is 100% on Rio's ground) this is not all of Rio's ground. It means that Rio would be prioritising their own work programme." In the past year, Rio has boosted its exploration holdings tenfold in the Paterson, beyond its shared ground with Antipa as miners step up exploration to secure growth. Rio's interest in the area, which already hosts one of Australia's largest copper and gold mines - Newcrest's (NCM) Telfer, has sparked a stampede into adjacent lots by other explorers, who see Rio's aggressive activity as an indicator of a highly-promising find. Under the terms of its deal with Antipa, Rio Tinto will make escalating payments to the explorer of up to A$60 million ($43.19 million) to reach a stake of up to 75 percent in the joint venture. If it completes the current stage to April 2020, Rio would have a 51-percent joint venture interest. "At a quick glance, the drill results (Which results? Yesterday's announcement? You don't need to be a mining engineer to know those grades and intersections at GT1 and Folly aren't high enough to be economic. If the learned fellow is referring to Winu that is a very different story which definitely is sensitive to Rio who are willing to budget a lot of money for drilling, camps, roads, airstrips etc - IS THAT NOT HIGH ENOUGH???) show that the grade isn't high enough to be economic," said a mining engineer, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the topic. "It's still early days (Early days for what? Winu? -Yes for that. However, the results being nothing to write home about would refer to GT1, Folly and MB1 (though the anomaly may not have been explained at the latter), but if this is where they are focusing and those are the kind of results they are getting, it's nothing to write home about. Particularly if you're Rio." ($1 = 1.3893 Australian dollars)
My reading of the Farm in is Rio are 18 months into the second phase but no announcement has been made about reaching 51%. Given the proximty to Winu, their staking spree, joint venture with Alloy and ??others, there is a strong possibility Rio will go through with this Farm in IMO. The potential value of Calibre alone as a satellite to a mine at Winu far exceeds $60M AIMHO.
Winu needs to be confirmed for the above to become a very likely outcome.
(20min delay)
