Extracts from an article in "the Australian" newspaper.A couple...

Extracts from an article in "the Australian" newspaper.
A couple weeks old but still of note.

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."

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.