Hi Bill,
I think it's time to go down-under. Does Pasminco trade on the Australian stock exchange?
Giants stalk mining's
new frontier
By Bruce Hextall
Major mining companies have
begun investing in one of
Australia's biggest exploration
booms yet, opening up a rich
new region west of Broken Hill
with potential for projects worth
billions.
A $350 million-plus copper-gold
project by mining major
Pasminco Ltd, now approaching
the evaluation stage, has
kick-started exploration in the
60,000 square kilometre area
known as the Curnamona
Craton.
Pasminco's Portia project is
expected to be the first of a
number of major precious and
base metals projects in the
region, which could become the
backbone of Australia's mining
industry in the early part of the
21st century.
Pasminco and its junior partner,
Werrie Gold, have been joined in
the multimillion dollar hunt for
"elephant-size targets" by all of
Australia's mining giants,
including Rio Tinto, Placer
Dome, MIM Holdings, Newcrest
Mining and Normandy Mining.
BHP has also begun an
aggressive exploration effort in
the hope of proving up a major
mineral deposit that would
rebuild investors' faith in the
group.
The Curnamona Craton
geological region stretches west
from Broken Hill -- the world's
largest lead-zinc-silver deposit,
yielding more than $75 billion --
and straddles the NSW-South
Australia border.
It has the potential to hold
mineral wealth surpassing the
world-class discoveries made in
Queensland's Mount
Isa/Cloncurry Belt, one of the
world's richest base metal
provinces, with reserves worth
an estimated $US127 billion
($194 billion).
"Recent developments, including
actual discoveries and an
increasing understanding of the
geology, indicate that the region
is emerging as a new frontier for
the discovery of world-class
gold-copper and lead-zinc-silver
deposits," according to Mr Bob
Richardson, the managing
director of exploration junior
PlatSearch NL, which has
played a key role in the renewed
exploration effort across the
region. The focus on the
Curnamona Craton follows the
realisation that its geology is
similar to that of the Mt
Isa/Cloncurry mineral belt.
On the South Australian side of
the border, where the Portia
copper-gold discovery lies, there
is hope of finding another
Olympic Dam -- the deposit
discovered nearly two decades
ago which is now one of WMC's
key projects.
The Pasminco/Werrie Gold
Portia discovery is the most
advanced. The partners have
intensified their drilling program
at the Portia and North Portia
prospects.
Resources analysts now believe
the partners will be the first
company to grab a world-class
project in the under-explored
region.
Pasminco is spending $2 million
this half in the hope of proving
up a project which could rival
MIM Holdings and Savage
Resources' new $350 million
Ernest Henry copper-gold
deposit near Cloncurry in
Queensland.
"It certainly looks interesting but
we have to be careful about
raising expectations until we
know more about it," said
Pasminco's company secretary,
Mr Trevor Shard.
BHP, which owes its name to
the region, is also among the
leaders in the renewed effort to
find an orebody approaching the
dimensions of the region's
Broken Hill mine, the deposit
which for more than 100 years
has yielded immense mineral
wealth but, until now, has sat
alone.
Despite major cutbacks
elsewhere in the group, BHP
Minerals has accelerated its
mineral search across the craton.
It has recently entered a joint
venture with junior explorer
PlatSearch Nl and Savage
Resources covering the Mundi
Mundi project, an area
extending over a 50km strike
length.
The world's largest mining
group, Rio Tinto -- which has
drastically reduced its Australian
exploration effort -- also rates
the region highly, centring its
attention on the Wahratta project
50km east of Broken Hill, where
early drilling has indicated the
geological potential to yield a
significant copper-gold
discovery.
But the interest extends beyond
Australia with a number of
North American mining majors
actively seeking joint venture
agreements.
Mr John Lynch, the managing
director of Pasminco's junior
partner at Portia, Werrie Gold,
says the Curnamona is where
the Mt Isa/Cloncurry mineral
belt in Queensland was 10 years
ago.
In the mid-1980s a fresh focus
on the north-west Queensland
region resulted in a series of
world-class discoveries,
including the Ernest Henry,
Cannington and Eloise projects.
"The geology is the same age.
You're basically looking at the
same rocks so it's easy to see
why the interest is there," Mr
Lynch said.
The possibility that billions of
dollars worth of minerals will be
found has kept the mining
majors focused on the
Curnamona at a time when
exploration programs are being
slashed because of depressed
metal prices and a gloomy price
outlook.
BHP and MIM have been
among the worst affected by low
metal prices but both companies
know that the best way to
restore market support is to find
major mineral deposits through
exploration.
"There's always been a strong
view that Broken Hill couldn't
exist on its own. There had to be
some sort of geological
sequence," PlatSearch's Mr
Richardson said.
The key to the revival of interest
in Curnamona Craton was the
availability of new high-quality
aeromagnetic data which had
identified highly promising
exploration targets.
"This data has assisted explorers
to peel back the cover and
identify prospective settings for
mineral deposits and define
drilling targets," the PlatSearch
managing director said.
"In our view, the Curnamona
Craton and surrounding areas
are showing all the signs of
achieving elephant country
status, with the likelihood of
generating several new
world-class discoveries."
The willingness of major
companies to drill deep holes
and not be daunted by the
extensive and deep soil cover
has also provided evidence of the
region being a potential minerals
treasure trove.
Broken Hill owed its existence
to having mineralisation
outcropping at surface, but
beyond the immediate district
the region is extensively covered
by overburden up to 500 metres
thick.
The Portia project in the South
Australian section of the craton
is the most advanced of the
region's exploration plays.
Recent work by Pasminco has
expanded the initial discovery to
five prospects stretching over a
9km strike length.
Mr Lynch, managing director of
Werrie Gold, believes Portia is
part of a major mineralised
system which could yield a
world-class orebody.
Mr Metals |
