article in the australian

Nice write up in The Australian:

Kevin Andrusiak | October 04, 2007
OLYMPIC Dam in South Australia might soon become the biggest mine of its type in the world, but the hottest ticket at the moment is a claim to land within a short drive of the BHP Billiton behemoth.

Shares in Sydney-based junior Argonaut Resources have surged 60 per cent in the past week as the company prepares to drill its first holes at the Torrens Project after receiving initial environmental approval from South Australian authorities.

Torrens is a mere 75 kilometres southeast of Olympic Dam and Argonaut claims the tenement - which had previously been owned by BHP, Xstrata and WMC Resources - has a bigger target than that of Olympic Dam.

WMC is believed to have passed over the ground in favour of exploring Olympic Dam when access issues on the ground became too tricky.

Argonaut is the sole owner of the tenement while Perth-based Straits Resources has the option of earning a 70 per cent interest in the project after funding $7 million worth of exploration.

Drilling is expected to begin next month.

Both Straits and Argonaut still need to clear environmental hurdles before they can proceed to feasibility studies, as the tenement, which is bigger in size than Olympic Dam, straddles a national park.

"The project contains strong magnetic and gravity anomalies, with previous drilling by WMC intersecting intense magnetite and hematite alteration typical of the Olympic Dam and Carapateena ore bodies," Argonaut told the Australian Securities Exchange this week.

Copper results from exploratory drilling have returned grades averaging 1.3 per cent.

Shares in fellow junior explorer WCP Resources surged 4 per cent yesterday after it announced first drill results from the Lake Torrens project, in which it has an option to earn a 65 per cent interest.

The tenements, which border Olympic Dam to the north and west, also were previously targeted by WMC Resources.