Mid-tier miners on show at NSW Round-up 17:16 AEST Thu May 12 2011
A crop of emerging mid-tier miners and junior explorers are lining up to showcase their projects for investors at the eighth annual Sydney Resources Round-up.
Among the 76 companies presenting are emerging success stories like Atlas Iron Ltd, a mid-tier miner that has achieved a series of milestones over the past year.
Atlas turned its maiden profit of $30.1 million in the first half of 2010/11 after commencing mining at its second mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia last June.
Atlas chief commercial officer Mark Hancock said the past year had been a dramatic turning point for the company.
"We're really in that phase now where the business is generating serious cash flow," Mr Hancock told delegates.
"Over the course of the first quarter (of calendar 2011) we generated more than $100 million in net operating cash flow, so from where we were, it is a significant change in the business."
Booming commodity prices are evident by the price of coking coal jumping 75 per cent in the year to March 31. Silver was up 75 per cent, iron ore climbed 52 per cent, copper was up 37.5 per cent, thermal coal was up 32 per cent, nickel added 27 per cent and gold was up by 15 per cent, according to broker Paterson Securities.
Perhaps the standout was rare earths, a group of metals used in such items as electronics - which rose by 900 per cent to $US118.80/kg over the year, Paterson Securities said.
Resource development company D'Aguiliar Gold Ltd says there is still plenty of upside to come for commodity prices.
"Commodities are priced in US dollars and the US government, with quantitative, easing (is) devaluing the dollar," managing director Nicholas Mather told the conference.
"Commodities will become more valuable as the US dollar recovers."
Gold miner Integra Resources is another rising star, pouring first gold last September from its Randall's project, which includes the Santa, Maxwells and Cock-Eyed Bob deposits, near Kalgoorlie in WA.
Integra, which has a market capitalisation of $374 million, plans to begin trial underground mining at Randall in September.
"We're not getting any value for the underground production potential in the share price at the moment," managing director Christopher Cairns said.
"As a consequence, we are going to go mining at Cock-Eyed Bob - probably the most difficult of the three - in September and demonstrate to the market that this can be mined at a profit."
The Resource Round-up, hosted by Resource Information Unit, continues on Friday.
There will be presentations by Africa-focused Sundance Resources, WA-gold producer Navigator Resources and emerging Pilbara producer BC Iron Ltd, among others.
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