Howdy PortableAlpha, Found this article through kitco, and started looking at all 3 companies mentioned. Thought this might be of interest to you,and other holders. I do not hold any of the stocks mentioned. Cheers Commy
Link is http://www.mineweb.net/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page66?oid=39637&sn=Detail
A good day for Australian copper growth Today was a positive reporting day on the Australian Stock Exchange for several aspiring copper producers including Redbank Mines , Exco Resources and Golden Cross Resources.
Author: Ross Louthean Posted: Tuesday , 13 Nov 2007
PERTH -
Redbank Mines Limited (ASX: RBM) said the positive pre-feasibility study on its Redbank copper project in the Northern Territory showed that the project has robust costs for a 6,300 tonnes per annum contained copper operation.
The company will move into a definitive feasibility study to quantify a proposed $A19.4 million ($US17.3 M) staged development that could see a "low cost oxide operation" starting within 12 months.
The company's managing director, Jerome Vitale, said the oxides stage should achieve capital payback within 15 months and generate a pre-tax operating surplus of $16.2 M ($US14.54 M) over an estimated 3-year mine life, making it a highly attractive development proposition. The sulphides stage will achieve capital payback within 18 months.
The oxide phase would deliver total revenue close to $A200 M ($US178.4 M) over the projected five-year mine life based on resources within the top 100 metres alone, with an average EBITDA of $A11.2 M ($US9.99 M) per annum. The project has an Internal Rate of Return of 58%.
The project is in the McArthur River Basin near the Queensland border.
Redbank acquired the Redbank project in late 2005 and within 12 months, has secured a life-of-mine off-take agreement with international commodities group, Swiss-based Glencore. Earlier this year, it announced an upgraded resource within four oxide deposits and three sulphide deposits to 5,028,000 tonnes @ 1.4% copper for 71,000 tonnes of contained copper metal.
Exco Resources Ltd (ASX: EXS) has been able to increase the prospectivity of its Monakoff East, E1 North and Notlor prospects on its vast holdings in the Cloncurry-Mt Isa region of far north west Queensland.
Monakoff and Monakoff East are 200 kilometres north east of Cloncurry and already Monakoff has a resource, indicated and inferred, of 1.9 million tonnes at 1.58% Cu and, 0.48 grams/tonne gold and 183 ppm U308.
Exco's managing director, Michael Anderson, said previous drilling on the ironstone trend about 3 km east of Monakoff has intersected "consistent zones of mineralisation" over a strike of more than 400m.
Latest hits included 8m at 2.14% Cu, 0.63g/t Au and 256ppm U308; 12m @ 1.43% Cu, 0.39 g/t Au and 268 ppm U308; 36m @ 1.56% Cu, 0.18g/t Au and 131 ppm U308, including 8m @ 4.58% Cu, 0.38 g/t Au and 377 ppm U308.
Anderson said the mineralisation appears similar in style to that seen at Monakoff and overall results from Monakoff confirm that the grades are also consistent with the existing resource base.
He said Exco expects to be in a position to calculate an initial inferred JORC resource within the next few months.
Earlier drill campaigns and pit optimisation studies at E1 Camp identified total resources of 26.2 Mt containing 223,000t of copper, based on drilling to 200m depth.
Anderson said all three deposits on this property (E1 North, South and East) remains open at depth. Assays from the first deeper holes below the mineralisation produced 17m @ 1.18% Cu, 0.35 g/t Au and 154 ppm U308 from 249m.
Anderson said drilling on E1 is ongoing and results from new holes across E1 Camp will be combined with a comprehensive geological review of the deposit for prioritizing deep targets for the current campaign.
The Notlor prospect, 10 km SW of Cloncurry takes in historic workings over a strike length of about 2 km. It is near the company's acquired Great Australia leases where there is a significant resource.
The Australian subsidiary of Robert Friedland's Ivanhoe Mines group is Exco's major shareholder with 12.1% and a joint venture partner on some of its southern leases in the Cloncurry belt. Ivanhoe is looking at an Australian float.
Positive assays have been obtained by Golden Cross Resources (ASX: GCR) from its Power project which is 3 km south east of the company's large, low grade Copper Hill project.
Managing director Kim Stanton-Cook said the maximum assays are from a sample collected within 10m of a small historic working -- where a previous rock chip sample returned 7.1 g/t gold and 1.99% copper - were "most encouraging, and fit the model frequently observed in porphyry copper-gold settings. The setting is similar to the Ridgeway monzonites (held by Newcrest Mining) located near the Cadia deposits, 45 km SE of Copper Hill."
Market observers belief Golden Cross needs to come up with substantially greater resources and reserves in the Copper Hill region, and that Power may provide part of that lift - and Stanton-Cook concurs with that observation. In August Golden Cross produced a revised resource for Copper Hill of a measured-to-inferred 132.8 Mt @ 0.318% copper and 0.282 g/t gold.
GCR Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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