A healthy look returns to our junior sector. Robin Bromby | September 10, 2009 Article from: The Australian.
NINE months ago we thought it was going to be 1998-2001 all over again: juniors unable to raise money, companies going bust and - worst of all - exploration grinding to a halt, leaving the country without new discoveries.
But it looks as if we have dodged a bullet. Buckets of money has been raised in recent months and now the hills are alive with the sound of drill rigs. Best of all, new discoveries will be made that, in five or 10 years from now, should result in new mines to help sustain the wealth of all Australians (unless, of course, they are snapped up from under our noses by China).
In the past 24 hours we have seen Ashburton Minerals get going to follow up earlier drill hits at its Mt Webb project in Western Australia.
Barra Resources and Fission Energy are getting down to the hard work again and doing more drilling at their Mt Thirsty sulphide nickel project near Norseman. We still like sulphides over laterites any day of the week.
It will pay to keep an eye on Ghana (and West Africa) generally, especially after the price of Perseus Mining headed skywards this week when some punters ran with a very vague statement from Lihir Gold and assumed that a takeover of the former was in the wind. It makes a certain sense: why wouldn’t you be running the ruler over a company with more than 5 million ounces of gold in Ghana? So we noted that Signature Metals is drilling at its Konongo project in that country with a view to becoming another notable West African producer. Historic drilling on SBL's ground has produced intersections like 10m at 11.8 grams/tonne gold and 5m at 12.8g/t. Moreover, the prospect has an old pit that produced 102,700 ounces of gold at an average 8.17g/t.
Note, too, that Amex Resources has started drilling at its Breakaway Dam project near the old mining town of Menzies, following up some promising copper-silver leads. And Hawthorn Resources began drilling at the weekend at its wonderfully named Trouser Legs venture northeast of Kalgoorlie. Drilling in the early 1990s just 3.2km north of the old Anglo Saxon mine intersected high grade mineralisation, including 5m at 31.1 grams/tonne gold and 4m at 32.3g/t. There will be some gold bugs watching that one.
Two other announcements that might have slipped your notice.
One, North Queensland Metals which is already producing gold (and paying dividends) from its 60 per cent owned Pajingo mine, says drilling around the mine is looking promising. The first hole at the Moonlight prospect encountered significant gold mineralisation, NQM said. It assayed at 138m at 1.38 grams/tonne, with 8.1m of that hole returning 7.8g/t.
Two, GBM Resources said visual inspection of the first three holes at the Brightstar copper-gold project southwest of Cloncurry indicated a broad zone of mineralisation.
The writer implies no investment recommendation and this report contains material that is speculative in nature. Investors should seek professional investment advice.
FIS Price at posting:
14.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
