Solid prospect in old diggings Cameron England From: The Advertiser May 25, 2010
THERE'S a theory in the mining game that the best place to look for a new mine is next to an old one.
In South Australia, the theory is gaining credence among exploration companies, which have been picking over historic mining areas in the Copper Triangle and the Adelaide Hills.
But if you're going to look near an old mine, you might as well look next to the biggest one - which is what Adelaide explorer Phoenix Copper is doing.
Phoenix listed two years ago and has since built a series of adjacent exploration tenements stretching from Kapunda through Burra to Hallett, a couple of hours north of Adelaide.
In the tenement area - but at present not able to be mined for heritage reasons - is the Burra copper mine, one of the biggest mines in the world in its heyday in the mid-1800s. It produced 2.7 million tonnes of copper ore in two major mining phases, 1845-77 and 1970-81.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. Related Coverage New Adelaide explorer plans $5m listing Adelaide Now, 9 hours ago Four SA projects get drilling funding Adelaide Now, 12 May 2010 WA's IMX takes a mining partner Perth Now, 13 Apr 2010 OZ Minerals, IMX in SA joint venture Adelaide Now, 13 Apr 2010 A surfeit of suggestions on strategy The Australian, 24 Jan 2010 End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Phoenix believes there is still a lot of potential in the area.
It would love to explore and possibly restart the historic mine and is lobbying the Government to this end. It is already getting encouraging exploration results from its Princess Royal project.
Managing director Paul Dowd says Phoenix expects to be able to publish a copper resource for that project by the end of the year, but it is just one of many targets the company hopes to test.
It is somewhat anomalous that while there is a history of mineralisation in the area, it has been lightly tested by modern exploration techniques.
"It's a massive copper field which, if we were in South America, we would have had a lot of exploration," Mr Dowd said.
Having sole tenement coverage over the area, Phoenix does not have to negotiate with neighbouring tenement owners. It can also refine its exploration techniques and attune them to the geology of the area.
It hopes lessons learnt at Princess Royal will translate into better targeted exploration drilling in the future.
It is not only mining history that makes Burra attractive. Adchem Australia runs a processing plant in the town, which Mr Dowd believes Phoenix could use to treat its ore, generating large capital savings.
The response from the community has so far been supportive. Phoenix started consultation before listing on the stock market.
PNX Price at posting:
15.8¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
