Papillon's West African prospects turn out to be golden opportunities
Richard Hemming - March 19, 2012
Papillon Resources' share price has more than doubled this year and for many, it sums up just what's on offer in one of the hot spots for gold and mineral exploration in the world: West Africa.
Things started to take off last year when it made a discovery at its Fekola prospect in Mali showing multimillion ounce potential.
And potential is all it is at this stage. At $1.39, its market cap is $410 million, which is amazing because the company (ASX: PIR) hasn't even released a "resource" yet. It hasn't told the market the amount of gold it thinks it might be sitting on.
Advertisement: Story continues below It's been a confluence of events that has propelled its share price since Radar first rated Papillon in April last year, when its shares were at only 43¢ and it had a market cap of $46 million.
First up, mining entrepreneur Ian Middlemas becoming a stakeholder and chairman brought in the "pied piper effect". He's an accountant who has been involved in some success stories like Mantra Resources.
The resignation of affable New Zealander Alan Campbell on March 1 as managing director was a surprise. What it means is anybody's guess.
What isn't in question are the positive announcements of fellow gold explorer Gryphon Minerals taking up a 6.72 per cent stake, which is a big vote of confidence, and most important, some drilling samples at Fekola have come up with a high presence of gold.
One fund manager thinks it is the most exciting prospect on his books, while another thinks it's the most expensive gold company around. We'll see.
