re: Ann: Investor Update - Taylor Ranch and H...
Very nice post!
Although NGM has large tenements in Niger of close to 1,500 km2 and the mineralization is at shallow depths, it has so far only announced an inferred resource of 23 million tonnes @ 210ppm, with an estimated 11 million pounds of U3O8 at a 120ppm cut off (28 January 2010 NGM announcement).
Like NGM in Saharan Africa, untapped exploration blue sky for BLR also resides in the 100% mineral rights it holds in 2,750 acres of Keota, Colorado tenements; historic results here include intersections at 1300ppm and 1700ppm (see page 7 of BLRs 2009 Annual Report).
It is very helpful indeed to have tier 2 producer like PDN set a benchmark price for a junior, but I still can't help but compare their $A27m offer for NGM and its maiden resource with a healthy dash of Saharan blue sky thrown in with BLRs $US 19.5m ($A21.5 million) cash and scrip offer to acquire the well defined and higher grade Hansen deposit of approximately 17 Mt at an estimated grade of 0.08% U3O8 for circa 30 million pounds of U3O8.
However one looks at both proposed acquisitions, the inescapable fact is that highly prospective uranium tenements cost money right now but the tier 1 and 2 producers know that they will cost a lot more in the near future as they move to assure supplies and bulk up against takeovers.
To my mind, Hansens estimated 30 million pounds at 800ppm (a very good grade outside of Cameco's bonanza grades at Macarthur River and Cigar Lake) is a company maker for BLR for a total scrip and cash outlay of $US 19.5m.
And if you dont think that Hansen's 30m pounds at 800ppm gets you on the radar of North American analysts, consider a 20 July 2010 interview that Haywood Securities Analyst Geordie Mark gave to The Energy Report (TER) (www.theenergyreport.com: accessed 26.07.10)
(Copyright remains with its respective owners. Excerpt follows):
Dr. Geordie Mark (GM), a research analyst with Haywood Securities, focuses principally on uranium companies involved in exploration, development and production. He joined Haywood Securities from the junior exploration sector, where he was vice president of exploration for Cash Minerals, which concentrated on uranium and iron oxide-copper-gold targets across Canada. Immediately prior to joining the exploration industry full-time, Dr. Mark lectured in economic geology at Monash University, Australia and served as an industry consultant. He completed his Ph.D. in geology in 1998 at James Cook University's Economic Geology Research Unit in Australia, specializing in aqueous geochemistry and igneous petrology applied to ore-forming systems.
Geordie tells us why he's given "sector outperform" ratings to no less than 11 companies:
TER: Okay. What can you tell us about Strateco? GM: Matoush is a very nice deposit in Qubec; very handsome grades, close to 0.6% U3O8. It has a resource of about 20 million pounds of uranium U3O8small, but higher grade. Our interpretation is that Matoush is the most advanced project for a development-stage company in Canada. Strateco has a big program going at the moment another 60,000 meters of drilling this year to look for extensions of mineralization, and another 60,000 meters planned for 2011. The orebody is still open. Guy Hbert, the president and CEO, is also working out permitting. We're looking at permits for the project to start underground development for bulk sampling. TER: How long would it take for them to get the assay results from that bulk sample? GM: We're looking at a couple of years, probably 2012. They have to develop the underground workings first. The main thing in the interim is the underground development itself, and also the exploration drilling they're doing. It takes time. That's why we think Strateco is ahead of its peers in terms of submitting proposals to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for licensing and permitting approval. Canada is highly regulated, which is a good thing. It's mandated, and these things take time.
(Excerpt ends).
Company making developments take time, money and procedural and stakeholder engagement; quiet title claims and conditional use permits are par for the course in robust and fair mining jurisdictions.
Patient hands will, I believe, be rewarded by BLRs strikingly early moves into Colorado uranium and Alaskas emerging thermal coal/unconventional gas province in the Cook Inlet region.
BLR Price at posting:
2.4¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
