re: bmx - for sabretoothed Sabretoothed, as you point out - the Jacinth discovery (05/11/04) was made just after the Xstrada takeover bid of WMC (28/10/04). Of course that then started a stream of theories of how WMC could get out of the takeover and make themselves look unattractive to a base metals / uranium predator. Rumours were that the best chance WMC had was to takeover Iluka and hence use up any surplus cash they may be carrying…
However, re talking up the area – would not be in Mike Fowell’s interest in the long run to talk up something that is no good – it would be doomed to failure. Besides, the JORC code does not let them release resource estimates that have not been reviewed by a competent outside geo I don’t think – anyone know?
None the less, word on the street is these guys are very excited about these two deposits. This is for a number of reasons:
1. They are world class in terms of Zircon and they have the ability to produce huge amounts. There is nothing in the world like it that has been discovered. Just to put things into prospective; Jacinth and Ambrosia will be able to produce in the region of 300,000t zircon per year. Look at what GUN is proposing - 30,000t/yr in yr 1 & 2 and 60,000t\yr for yrs 3 -5 and that with a 2500tph mining plant. What these deposits are going to do is basically squeeze little players like GUN and AZC by saturating the market – maybe not in the short term but definitely in the long term.
2. The region is new and under explored. If your familiar with mineral sands deposits, they generally don’t happen as single anomalies. For example, look at the Murray Basin. Although plagued with issues, last time I looked, I lost count of the number of deposits in the region. Jacinth and Ambrosia are not going to be the last discovered – I would bet my house on that. Who knows they may not even be the best quality or size in the region. The mother load is out there somewhere, likely to be along the ancient shore line. Hence the reason why I’m so bullish on Diatreme. Hell, until I looked into it after ILU’s success, I hadn’t even heard of the Newcastle Stock Exchange let alone a little company called Diatreme. Hardly anyone has heard or knows about them. DRL’s only problem is their focussed in on Gold and Diamonds… and are potentially spreading themselves too thinly. But I think they are waking up a smelling the roses.
3. But the icing on the cake for ILU is that because Jacinth and Ambrosia are so compact their operating costs will be very low. The whole Jacinth deposit is only a 2 - 3 km’s long and only a 1km wide (compare that to GUN’s Coburn project which is 35km long and 3km wide). What will hurt ILU is they’re out in the middle of no where so FIFO ops is likely and transport will be high. But the railway is only 40km away. Water, I hear you say? Well there is water there – evidence by the Nullabor caves filled with fresh water.
I can’t remember who mentioned it but a good point was raised earlier – ILU are now in the drivers seat as far as Zircon is concerned. In one fell swoop, finding these two deposits has basically saved them from having to make any deals with any other junior. They have and will continue to corner the market – a downer maybe for Diatreme?
BMX
bemax resources limited
