barrick making it clear 2 anyone who listens

PNG gains credibility for exploration

Robin Bromby | April 07, 2008

AFTER the depressing margin loan revelations of the past week, we have been searching for something positive to report, and we think we have found it in what many may consider the most unlikely of places: Papua New Guinea.

One theory is that PNG is gaining at the expense of the Philippines, where exploration and mining companies have been bedevilled by land ownership problems, communist and Muslim "armies" and bureaucracy.

The International Herald Tribune reports of talk that mining companies are deciding to avoid the Philippines and look for easier pickings in the region.

PNG has had its problems, but the Government is in favour of mining and trouble with locals tends to be localised and, in most cases, resolvable.

Our man in Port Moresby says the country is beginning to get some real credibility, having turned around its image in just a few years.

Barrick Gold is apparently making it clear to anyone who will listen that it believes PNG is among the most prospective places in the world, a position it has backed up by buying the Kainantu gold mine from Highlands Pacific (HIG) and installing a 200-man exploration team there.

The US major has also lifted its stake in the Porgera mine and invested $35 million in a gold project area operated by Allied Gold (ALD).

Goldminex Resources (GMX) took a hammering on Wednesday when 4.3 million of its shares were unloaded in the wake of the Opes Prime fiasco, but it was bouncing back by the end of the week.

This junior may be in the right place at the right time.

The company, which floated in October and raised $22 million on the back of prospects in the Owen Stanley Range, still had $19.47 million of that left at December 31.

This means it is well placed to continue its exploration for copper-gold and nickel without any immediate concern about finance.

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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23494192-18261,00.html