CONFESSION time. Dryblower has never been to Greenland. Why, you might ask, is this a subject that requires a confession? Because, dear reader, it seems that just about everyone else in the Australian mining industry has recently visited this faraway Arctic island.
Not only have Australians been visiting Greenland in record numbers, but it seems that Aussie investors have warmed to the place – which is a nifty trick in a land covered in snow and ice.
Last week was a case study. On Wednesday, The Gold Company, a business that has rarely seen its name in the media spotlight, hit the headlines after reporting a deal to acquire the Kvanefjeld "multi-element" project with, naturally, uranium at the core.
In normal times this might easily have been an announcement that sank without trace. In a boom, it sent The Gold Company's share price into orbit.
Just how high can be judged by these numbers. Before The Gold Company requested a trading suspension on December 27 last year, it had been trading around 28c. When it returned on May 23 the first sale was at $1.50, and the high for that day $2.19.
To say that The Gold Company had made a glorious return from a period in the wilderness is an understatement. The $1.91 difference between sales last December and the high last Wednesday, represents a share price gain of 682%.
That share price performance speaks loudly.
It says that a period in suspension need not necessarily hurt a stock.
That uranium is undoubtedly the hottest of hot metals.
That Greenland need not be the cold place we all think it is.
And that The Gold Company needs to consider a name change since the Kvanefjeld project, as well as containing an estimated 43,000 tonnes of uranium, is also said to contain thorium, niobium, lithium, zinc, fluorine, beryllium, tantalum, yttrium and other light rare earth elements – but no gold.
Dryblower, as with all of his favourite companies, wishes everyone at The Gold Company the best of luck with its project in Greenland – as he does those aboard a couple of other companies which have recently made Greenland their favourite destination – such as Ironbark Gold, and Platina Resources.
In October last year, Platina, which is a spin-off from Helix Resources, said it had entered into a deal to explore and development the Skaergaard Intrusion in Greenland.
Discovered as far back as the 1930s, the structure is said to potentially contain 50 million ounces of platinum, palladium, gold and other elements such as vanadium, titanium, iron and gallium.
In March, Ironbark announced that it had entered into an agreement to buy the Citronen zinc project in Greenland, which is said to be one of the world's largest undeveloped zinc resources estimated to measure 17 million tonnes at 8.3% zinc equivalent.
Dryblower, to continue the theme of confession, is stumped.
How is it that three small Australian explorers have suddenly discovered Greenland?
And how is it that all three claim to have their feet on potentially world-class mineral deposits?
The simple answer could be that the Aussies are keener to do deals than anyone else.
Or it could be that Greenland is considered a difficult country to do business and other companies from Greenland's nearer-neighbours, such as Canada, have avoided the place.
Whatever the reasons, it seems that a new Aussie outpost has been established in the frozen north, and the least Dryblower can do is pop out to buy a Lonely Planet Guide to Greenland to find out what the remote rock kickers do when not dodging polar bears.
PGM Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Not Held
