As they say in real estate, the three most important things are "position, position, position"..... and ROS appears to be in one of THE best position possible.
This article below - Created:22 July 2011Written by:Martin Li Reference = http://bit.ly/qwTwky
Miners target Kazakh minerals
Central Asia is the most prospective copper belt in the world, according to international mining group Rio Tinto. Rio has set its sights on major copper deposits in Kazakhstan and neighbouring Uzbekistan, and is backing its words with investment. It has an office in Almaty in southern Kazakhstan, is opening an office in the Kazakh capital, Astana, and could start drilling multiple targets in Uzbekistan before the year is out.
Prospectivity
Kazakhstan is famous for its massive Caspian oil fields, but less well known for its mineral wealth. That looks set to change as international miners such as Rio clamour to exploit the country's rich abundance of metals and energy commodities.
Jason Burkitt, leader of the UK mining practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, sees all the ingredients in place for a sustainable, profitable mining industry in Kazakhstan. He points to not just Kazakhstan's large and underexploited land mass (it is the world's ninth largest country), but also to its proximity to China, which offers "heaps of opportunities". Crucially, Kazakhstan has transport infrastructure in place to allow miners to move bulky product to market, even though the country is landlocked. This contrasts with projects being developed in parts of Africa, where prospectivity is high, but where there is no infrastructure, and a large portion of the costs of project development is required to build roads, railway lines and ports.
Doorstep demand
The size and diversity of Kazakhstan's reserves make development of its mining sector vital to many would-be consumers, not least Europe. Norbert Jousten, head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Kazakhstan, described access to raw materials as "vital to the EU economy" in his address to the recent Astana Mining and Metallurgy Congress.
However, while the EU is Kazakhstan's biggest trading partner and investor, many commodities mined in Kazakhstan will inevitably end up travelling over its eastern border into China. That country is the number one consumer of metals and has just recorded a 9.5 per cent second-quarter rise in gross domestic product to follow the 9.7 per cent first-quarter gain.
ROS Price at posting:
35.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
