mtn !!! going north-the ferret In case of interest. MARATHON...

mtn !!! going north-the ferret In case of interest.

MARATHON RESOURCES (MTN) was all innocence yesterday when it had
to explain the "Paralana Ore System - simplified" announcement it put
out on Tuesday.
"It was not Marathon's intention to relate market capitalisation
to the comparable uranium deposits, as there are clearly other
considerations in any such valuations," it said.
"Our intention was merely to indicate that companies with
potentially similar resources vary significantly in market
capitalisation.
"Any inference that market value is related to the size of the
respective deposits nominated in the table is misconceived."
But the company got the message across and Ferret has always
liked what are basically companies' pleas for a more appreciated share
price.
Marathon said its indicated and inferred resources compared
favourably with those of other companies exploring established deposits
in Australia and overseas.
It provided in table form an indication of the size of
Marathon's resource in comparision with that of SUMMIT RESOURCES (SMM)
and PALADIN RESOURCES (PDN), "both of which have attracted considerable
sharemarket interest over recent months".
The bottom line was that Summit had a total 41,490 tonnes,
Paladin 32,811 and Marathon 33,200.
As at the close of business on Monday, it said, the market
capitalisations were:
* Paladin Resources $622 million
* Summit Resources $144 million and
* Marathon Resources $21 million.
*****
"There are a number of listed companies with which comparision
cannot be made in this way, as although they are exploring for uranium,
they have as yet no established resource, for example, CURNAMONA ENERGY
(CUY), HINDMARSH RESOURCES (HMR), SOUTHERN GOLD (SAU)," Marathon said.
"The table above shows that the size of the Mt Gee deposit
(33,200 tonnes U3O8) represents a singificant resource compared to
established deposits such as Paladin's flagship Langer Heinrich (32,800
tonnes U3O8) deposit in Namibia, which is nearing the mining stage.
"In terms of grade, Olympic Dam mines ore with a content of 500
ppm U3O8, Rossing (Rio Tinto) in Namibia mines ore with an average grade
of 400 ppm, Langer-Heinrich has an average grade of 600 ppm and
Valhalla's average grade is not known.
"This compares with the overall average grade at Mt Gee of 600
ppm U3O8.
"It is worth noting that Paladin's Langer-Heinrich deposit is
the only new uranium mine development that can contribute, within the
next 12-24 months, to the current global supply deficit, as all other
uranium plays are either at the grass roots exploration stage, in the
resource definition stage, or are operating in locations that do not
currently permit the development of uranium mines (for example
Queensland, WA and NSW)."
*****
Marathon has had a good run.
It shot up from 22c on June 27 to 91.5c on August 3.
Tuesday's case for a higher share price won it an 8c rise to 64c
but it lost most of that after yesterday's follow-up clarifier.
It fell 6.5c to 57.5c.
*****
Ironically, the disparity between the stocks became greater
despite Marathon's presentation.
Paladin rose 4.5c to $1.56 and Summit 3.5c to 77c.
Even the "for example" stocks did well.
Curnamona rose 3c to 76.5c before closing at 72c and Southern
rose 3c to 24.5c after touching 29c, while Hindmarsh was steady at 50c.
The rush for Southern followed news two large radiometric
anomalies have been identified at the Yarlbrinda South Project in the
Gawler Craton in South Australia.
The assessment by Southern of an airborne radiometric survey
returned readings up to 30 times uranium background, indicating the
presence of uranium-bearing mineralisation.
(Comments and complaints to [email protected] - no requests
for advice please.)