more rare earths, more gold, less gas

More rare earths, more gold, less gas

* Robin Bromby
* From: The Australian
* February 01, 2010 2:12PM


CERIUM is the most abundant of the rare earths and previous drilling at a South Australian prospect hit ore containing up to 1.2 per cent of that metal.

It is used in glass polishing, lighting, as a catalyst in petroleum production and has applications in the nuclear sector.

When, over previous decades, the former Western Mining, the former MIM, the former CRA and pre-Billiton BHP explored the Maitland project, rare earths were probably of least interest, but the cerium results went into the data file anyway. They also found copper, gold and uranium.

But, one expects, it could be the rare earths potential that may dominate thinking about the new life being given the Maitland project on the state's Yorke Peninsula.

The speculators in our midst take little interest, it seems, in Minotaur Exploration. The company has a lot of interesting joint ventures, especially with its Japanese partners, and it has a substantial holding in several other resources companies. But it seems to evince little more than yawns whenever it makes an announcement.

No doubt that will apply today with news that MEP has farmed into the Maitland project, owned by Red Metal. Our guess is that, sometime, several of MEP?s projects will come together in a happy confluence, and suddenly investors will realise they have a goer on their hands. And now MEP has rare earths in its mix.

At the start of the month, we predicted that rare earths would be one of the big 2010 stories - but this is developing much more quickly than we expected.