CONQUEST Mining Ltd's Gumlu prospect, 140km south-west of...

CONQUEST Mining Ltd's Gumlu prospect, 140km south-west of Townsville by air, just keeps looking better and better.

And yesterday, when nine Chinese investors visited the site, its chances ratcheted up several levels.

Yesterday's visit was further evidence that the Perth-based miner has a tiger by the tail down there on Strathbogie Station, between Gumlu and Collinsville.

Last year Conquest's exploration manager Peter Rea said he was confident a new Queensland mineral province featuring gold, silver and copper had been discovered. This was after drilling over only a small area.

The estimation was 850,000 ounces of gold, 21 million ounces of silver and 38,500 tonnes of copper. Impressive, but it gets better.

Yesterday he said the resource estimate was now `two million ounces gold equivalent' and `30 million ounces silver equivalent'.

In comparison Pajingo south of Charters Towers, which was Queensland's largest gold mine, closed last year after giving up nearly three million ounces of gold over a 20-year life. It has since been resold and will recommence production.

It's still early days as far as drilling at Mt Carlton is concerned. With huge tracts of mineralised land still left to explore, it is extremely likely more gold, more silver and more copper will be found. After further exploration, yesterday's figures – large even by world standards – could be overshadowed by a resource reserve of mind-boggling proportions. Certainly it looks like pushing Pajingo back into the shadows.

This is why the junior miner is looking for joint venturers such as the Chinese. The job is far too big and costly for Conquest to do alone.

The Chinese are not the first internationals to venture out into the Clarke Range country. South African miner Gold Fields Ltd, with market capitalisation of $11 billion, has already entered into a joint-venture agreement with Conquest. Under the terms of the joint venture Gold Fields will explore 1600 sq km and spend $30 million on drilling in three years.

Yesterday's visitors were from Anhui province in Central China and they represented investors from both the private and government sectors.

The Chinese, accompanied by Conquest shareholder and investment adviser Danny Chan from Hong Kong, travelled by bus and helicopter from Townsville to Mt Carlton. A flooded Bogie River between Gumlu and Mt Carlton put the kybosh on a road trip.

Mr Rea, normally reserved when talking about the project, was upbeat yesterday. "We've identified a new concept here," he said.

"This is a new deposit style and it has opened up the Bowen Basin to gold exploration in a way that has not been previously done.

"Our discovery is a major shot in the arm for the mineral development of this state."

He said the `banking feasibility' and `serious business' of engineering were still to be done – and with $22 million raised in November alone, the wellbeing of Conquest's shareholders was of paramount importance.

He said it was unlikely two million ounces of gold and 30 million ounces of silver would be left under the ground.

"In the long-term we're going to have a mine here," he said.