interesting article

Thia was in The Australian yesterday. Although CZI is not mentioned, I thought it might be of interest to CZI shareholders re the Nevada gold prospect.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/us-a-happy-hunting-ground-for-our-juniors/story-e6frg9df-1226615265305

THE US is fast becoming a resources frontier Australia's junior miners are keen to explore as they chase early production projects to counter the waning investor appetite hurting the smaller end of the sector.

While previous pushes into new regions, such as Africa and South America, have not always paid off for the junior sector, many believe the US will reap early rewards because of its stable political environment, existing infrastructure and the many previously operating mines that are worth a second look.

The North American mining space also lacks a competitive junior market, making it ripe for Australian companies struggling to get ahead in the domestic domain.

DJ Carmichael analyst Paul Adams said that when he looked at future trends and examined which junior companies would get into development over the next few years, it was the exploration companies with an interest in the US that stood out.
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"Over the years we've seen progression from Australia through to Africa and through to South America, which is now becoming crowded, so where are companies going to go? Where is the next unexplored region?" he said.

"I think it's the US, and the US is the next big thing for ASX-listed juniors."

Black Mountain Resources, which has silver projects in Idaho and Montana, is hoping to cash in on the opportunities in the US. All three of its projects host previously operating mines and are located in two of the world's most developed and proven silver mining regions.

The company sees the opportunity for juniors to quickly jump to developers, without the years taken by start-ups in regions such as Australia. Chairman Peter Landau said the US did not have a junior resource market and mothballed mines or historic deposits were now starting to gain attention.

In the 1990s, Australian juniors in the oil and gas space entered the North American space.

Mr Landau said he could see that now happening in the mining space and he expected more to follow once success stories emerged. "We need to get into production and when people see what we can do that will be a trigger point for the sector," he said.

"The US is a third of the cost of Australia, while they have the same health and safety regulations.

"It is a qualified mining district and the states are hungry for business."

DJ Carmichael's Mr Adams said investors no longer wanted to hear about juniors heading off to find and develop "world-class" assets, saying he would be retired by the time any such project reached production.

"There are prospects in the US that may not be the 1 billion tonnes of copper or 10 million ounces of gold deposit, but I'm more interested in companies that say they have a tier-two, or three, asset and they think they can get it into production and do that in four years," he said.

"If a company comes to me with that mantra, with a proven management team, then I'll take notice."

He said that when looking at what the US had to offer, it was hard to pass it by, but many companies had not really thought about it as an exploration destination, as they focused on Africa or South America.

"Domestically, there isn't much of an exploration industry in the US. It's been a forgotten industry for 30 years and it's just not on their radar," Mr Adams said.

"You can still pick up projects just by going out there and banging a piece of steel in the ground and putting the claim in. It's open ground."

Another attractive feature of the US was that it lacked the "use it or lose it" policy companies struggled with in Australia, where they had to commit to a minimum spend on mining tenements to maintain the rights to the project.

Aus American Mining, which is focused in Arizona, is another Australian-listed junior that is punting its fortunes on the US and is comfortable being one of the "first-movers" in that space.

Executive director Jim Malone said Australian investors were slow to adopt the idea and were very "parochial" with their investments.

He added that the recent focus from juniors looking to expand into Africa and South America had meant investors were not yet following the North American story.

"One of the juniors needs to get a project developed for the region to gain momentum," he said. "Once people can see that you can get projects permitted and into production, the interest will come."