best nearology plays

Forgive me if this has already been done. However, it would be good to have an objective appraisal of the potential of ground held by each of the nearology players.

Apparently the Nova discovery is a new style of discovery in Australia. In Canada there are numerous deposits of this style, and one of the characteristics is that there is usually more than one deposit - they tend to occur in clusters. The Thompson Belt, for example, has nine known deposits. These vary in terms of tonnes/grade, but most will be valuable.

We know that a new discovery like Nova stimulates thinking about its setting/controls, and a lot of money will be spent quite rapidly looking for further deposits. It is likely, given the repetition style of these deposits, that further discoveries could be made, some of which might be even better than Nova.

So far, the following companies have popped up as having some connection in nearology terms to SIR. AAQ, AQD, BDR, BFE, BOA, BUX, ENT, HRR, MAT, PIO, RMR, SFX, SGQ, SFX, THR, WCN and Mark Creasy's new Windward IPO which is to be listed shortly. Add to those SIR which has a lot of ground in the area. I see that AGG and Teck also have ground relatively close. And there is quite a number of what look to be well placed tenements in private hands, often linked to Mark Creasy. I could have missed some as well.

The key thing of course is not just to have ground in the area. The question is which ground is likely to be most prospective. The most highly ranked companies would hold tenements that have the same or similar geology, structure, and proximity to Nova.

SGQ, WCN are really a different (but very interesting) play, so I won't include them in this attempt at ranking.

As an amateur, looking at the various maps, I have done a quick and dirty attempt at ranking the nearology plays in terms of possible prospectivity for further Nova type discoveries. My guess is as follows:

Rank 1. SIR, BOA, MAT, plus Creasy and other private.
Rank 2. BFE, BUX, RMR, SFX, THR
Rank 3. AAQ, AQD, BDR, HRR, PIO, SRI, Windward.

Clearly it is necessary to assess these in terms of their market cap, importance of this play in their portfolio, funding capacity, exploration capability etc as well as prospectivity. And these rankings could change very quickly as new results come to hand.

No doubt there will be others on HC with much better knowledge/experience than me who might have different views. Don't hold back.

I hold SIR, BOA, MAT, BFE, BUX, SFZ, AAQ, BDR. DYOR