Apollo Minerals bargain hunts for new projects 5/12/2008 4:31:20 AM By Julie Crust
LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Australian iron ore exploration company Apollo Minerals Ltd (AON.AX
Company overview Real-time quote AON.AX , 0.200, +0, +0%) is looking to acquire other projects to take advantage of current low valuations, chairman Sevag Chalabian said.
The company's main project, Mt Oscar, is in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, home to many iron ore projects including those of mining majors BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto .
"There's going to be a lot of carcasses as most of our peers have run out of money," said Chalabian told reporters.
Apollo's A$4.7 million cash pile is sufficient to cover the initial exploration phase of Mt Oscar.
"We are exploring at a time when the costs of exploration are falling," he said.
The company expects to start initial drilling at Mt Oscar in the first quarter of next year and production to begin in two to three years time.
About 40 percent of the Mt Oscar mineralisation is on Apollo's tenement with the remainder located on that of rival miner Fox Resources Ltd (FXR.AX
Chinese steelmakers are the biggest users of iron ore and Fox and Apollo both have Chinese investors.
Chinese Iron and Steel Group has an 11.7 percent stake in Apollo, giving Apollo a potential customer for its iron ore, while China's top nickel refiner, Jinchuan Group Ltd, holds an 11 percent stake in Fox.
Mt Oscar is about 30 kilometres south of the port of Cape Lambert and on the Adelaide/Darwin railway. Apollo expects to benefit from the opening up of the iron ore rail networks after Australia's Treasurer Wayne Swann ruled in October that BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto must share access to the railways with other companies. (Editing by James Jukwey)
AON Price at posting:
20.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)