And the news starts to break......from WA TodayVenture...

And the news starts to break......from WA Today

Venture Minerals

While the debate on the mainland heats up about the foreign raid on the resources sector, they have long been used to having Chinese and Indian bosses in Tasmania. Most of Tassie's mining operations are in the hands of the Chinese or Indians.

Bass Metals at Que River/Hellyer is an exception and Hamish Halliday is planning for Venture Minerals to be another, albeit with Sydney-based Chinese investor Citi-Glory sitting on the register with a 16 per cent stake.

Venture is the 2006 float whose share price has gone for a bit of a trot lately on the strength of its high-grade tungsten exploration success at its Mount Lindsay tin/tungsten project in north-west Tasmania.

Venture is well placed to chase up the multimillion-tonne potential of the high-grade tungsten zone, with $9 million in cash on hand. Tungsten is one of those strategic metals that China dominates, accounting for more than 75 per cent of global production.

Since China placed a ban on exports of tungsten concentrates, the rest of the world has grown increasingly intent on securing long-term supplies outside Beijing's control. For that reason alone, Venture's ongoing work at Mount Lindsay will be keenly watched.

Drill results suggest the new zone - best results included 12 metres at 2.04 per cent tungsten - could enhance the future economics of the project, a multi-metal play (magnetite, tin and tungsten).

Most of the world's tungsten is produced at grades of less than 0.5 per cent tungsten.