the rumblings have started

It is now well over a quarter century ago that WMC gave up on Lake Torrens due to native title, environmental and anti-nuclear hurdles; as well as being diverted with the discovery of Olympic Dam some 75km away.

And it is now nearly 3 years since Straits had to halt drilling due to Native Title issues.

And it is just over 2 weeks now that we have had announcement after announcement, giving us an indication that we getting ever so close to drilling commencing.

Lets take a quick look :-

1. On 26th August, Grace Portolesi Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, when criticized by aboriginal groups over her decision to allow Straits the rights to drill in the Lake Torrens area, was quoted as saying that her decision was "not up for negotiation" and that "they had failed to provide information about the sites significance during a seven-month consultation period".

2. On 30th August, Straits signs a joint venture agreement with UXA to explore in tenements in and around Lake Torrens (Why would they bother if the there was to be an extended wait)

3. On 2nd September a notice is given that the SA Minister for Mineral Resources Development Paul Holloway proposes to grant an Exploration License to Straits over the Lake Torrens area (I presume the reason for ARE's price spike on that day).

4. On 6th September, the Straits CEO makes a presentation stating that "Native title issues being progressed by SA Government ...Commence drill test of priority targets during 2010".

5. Straits website has recently been updated with "Straits has recently received approval from the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation for its application under section 23 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 in South Australia. This approval paves the way for drilling to commence at the project"

6. On 9th September, ARE in its speeding ticket response to the ASX states that "The Torrens Joint Venture is currently committing significant resources to finalizing an agreement pursuant to Part 9B of the South Australian Mining Act, 1971. It must be noted that the matter of a 9B agreement is yet to be concluded".

And Straits, has given absolutely no indication of recommencing drilling over the past 3 years while embroiled with native title negotiations and court cases for almost that entire period... until the past couple of weeks.

We are definitely at the last stages of this approval process; and one gets the feeling that a surprise announcement will be made in the next few weeks.

Surely a triumph for Straits and a triumph for ARE!

The rumblings have started!