world class deposits; world class disasters, page-30

It all depends on how you describe "world class". IMO, it consists of those deposits that are able to be mined and along with a dozen or so others contribute the bulk of supply of a particular commodity.

Some quick examples: Broken Hill, Mt Isa, Olympic Dam, Oyu Tolgoi, Escondida, Chuquicamata, El Teniente, Voisey Bay, Grasberg, Lihir, Kalgoorlie Super Pit, Kennecott, Carlin, Kimberley etc etc etc etc. A list of 100+ I guess.

What do they nearly all have in common? - size, and they usually at some point are picked up by the big mining houses.

SFR's deGrussa, therefore, is not world-class, it is a cash-cow.

IMO, within those examples posted above, IRN should probably qualify with a world class deposit - Tampakan at 14Mt Cu and 16M oz Au. It was the subject of takeover by JV partner Xstrata, but has become a dud due to political problems. What is the good of a world class deposit if you can't mine it?

Other than that, PEK probably has a case from a deposit perspective. But in a fledgling and uncertain industry it too is unknown as to whether it can become a world-class mine.

So basically if you truly have a world-class deposit and it can be proven that it can be mined with some degree of certainty, it is unlikely that it will be left in the hands of retailers at the speccy end of the market for too long.

Beware the words "world class".