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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold and Silver Juniors, Mid-tiers and Producers -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: heinz44 who wrote (36481)	3/21/2007 9:06:10 PM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78408

Australia: Tungsten hunt on West Coast Source: The Press metalsplace.com Small Australian exploration company Auzex Resources is looking for tungsten on the West Coast, on Conservation Department land near Reefton. It is hurrying to drill the area by May to beat winter's arrival, but the work is subject to official approvals. It will be the first exploration drilling for tungsten, though sampling for the metal was done about 25 years ago. The company said the initial drilling would have little environmental impact, though it admits "issues" would ensue if it was developed as a mine. But the nearby Oceana-Gold Globe Progress mine showed mines were possible with DOC approval. Tungsten is a hard metal used as an alloy in items such as electric light elements and stainless steel and in high-grade machinery and is used by the military to replace lead-core bullets. Tungsten sells for about $27,000 a tonne, about half the price of nickel and three times the price of copper. Auzex is a relatively new company, listing in 2005, with about 300 shareholders in the Wellington region, and another 80 in the rest of New Zealand, who together hold about a fifth of the company. Its shares listed at 50c each and have since risen to about $2. Auzex is more advanced in its molybdenum project in northern New South Wales. Also used as a strengthening agent, it is corrosive resistant and used in oil and gas pipelines. A scoping study to estimate mine and production costs should be finished by May. The mine could cost up to $A20 million to develop. The company also has a gold prospect at Seven Hills in northern New South Wales, in an area where no modern exploration has been done. The Auzex share price has enjoyed a recent run-up, partly on the strength of a drill programme which showed a 13-metre section at the Seven Hills prospect with gold at 8.5 grams per tonne of ore. Further drill results are likely in a few weeks. Auzex has entered a joint venture with New Zealand Minerals over tenements held by subsidiary Auzex Resources NZ on the West Coast, including the Kirwans tungsten prospect about 15km from Reefton. "We are progressing that very solidly," Auzex investor relations manager Brett O'Donovan said. "There is a good chance of drilling there for tungsten, within six weeks." It was a sizeable "anomaly" area, so "it could be big, we don't know until we get below surface". "It is early days and this is grass roots (exploration), but there have been very significant sniffs of tungsten at surface, at very good grades," he said. More information was expected next month. New Zealand Minerals is paying $1.7 million for a 50 per cent interest in all Auzex NZ tenements, with a minimum commitment of $850,000 required. NZ Minerals is owned by property developer Mark Gunton, who developed the Westgate shopping centre. An application has been made to the Conservation Department for an initial diamond drill programme, with hopes it will be done in May.