phosphate fever

i thought this may be of interest to STB holders of which I am one . This article appeared on Sunday in the the Australian .

Phosphate still flavour of the month

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PURE SPECULATION: Robin Bromby | June 02, 2008

TAKE your sunscreen. That's the advice from London-based commodities analysts CRU Group.

They're talking about iron ore, metallurgical coal, manganese -- and phosphate rock. CRU sent us a copy of their "Commodity Thermometer" that went out to clients showing what their analysts regard as hot in 2008. Hence the "take your sunscreen" for the four commodities with the top reading.

Next down -- classed as "sunny spells" -- are gold, copper, lead, sulphuric acid and bauxite. Then comes "mild" -- aluminium, tin, platinum, palladium, urea. molybdenum and vanadium. Those with forecast "scattered showers" are nickel, silver, cobalt and alumina (a few surprises there -- especially cobalt).

About to suffer a "cold snap" at the lowest temperature is poor old zinc.

We talked to another analyst about the mineral du jour -- that's phosphate, obviously -- and he commented: "They're all coming out of the woodwork."

Indeed they are.

Jim Richards, who used to run United Minerals Corp (UMC), has emerged heading Phosphate Australia (POZ), which is setting out to raise $10 million through an IPO. Given the number of investors out there caught up in phosphate mania, that should not be a problem. The new company has the Highlands Plains project in the northern part of the Georgina Basin -- remember that basin's name? You'll be sick of hearing about it by the time everyone else has jumped on the phosphate bandwagon (it'll be the "working families" of the minerals industry). It runs from Tennant Creek to Mount Isa.

Highlands Plains has been drilled and has a non-JORC resource of 82.6 million tonnes at 20 per cent phosphate.

There's not much that Heron Resources (HRR) hasn't had on its tenements over the years. Back in 2005, for example, there was a great deal of blue sky: laterite nickel -- its main play -- but also sulphide nickel, gold, iron ore, oil shale, mineral sands, uranium and lignite were on the company's list. So why not phosphate? Heron has been applying for ground south of Derby and last week reported grab samples grading up to 22.5 per cent phosphate.

Krucible Metals (KRB) gave its share price another tickle with the announcement on Tuesday that it has laid hands on two drilling rigs for its phosphate project in the Georgina Basin. (Didn't we tell you you'd be hearing that name a lot?) And, while we're in the neighbourhood, South Boulder Mines (STB) is applying for seven tenements in that very basin to expand its already extensive phosphate portfolio.

But you have to hand it to Bonaparte Diamond Mines (BON) for initiative, with its plans to use its marine mining experience to dredge phosphate from the seabed off the coast of Namibia.