From today's Australian (Mon 19th May). ANU gets a mention at the end
Cheers V
Latin adventures
EXPLORING in Latin America has its moments. The Bolivians and Ecuadorians have taken a rather dim view of foreign companies and want more of the gravy. Now Venezuela says it will not permit any more open-pit gold mining nor any work in the vast Imataca Forest Reserve, which has come as a blow to two Canadian companies with prospects there.
But there are still large areas not explored by modern technology, so the region is very attractive to companies looking for the big find.
Australian companies are now widely represented in South America, but less so in Central America (apart from Mexico). Golden Cross Resources (GCR) is one of the small number filling the latter gap and is reporting encouraging early signs from drilling at the Los Hatillos property in Panama. Previous underground exploration has shown gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc, and GCR says the first hole indicates the mineralised zone is broader than expected.
A GCR director, Chris Torrey, worked in Panama in the 1990s for two North American mineral companies.
Other players to watch include Crusader Holdings (CAS). It has just finished drilling at its Manga prospect in Brazil for tin and indium -- two of our favourite metals -- and it will be interesting to see the assays.
Windy Knob Resources (WKR) has begun drilling its Titiribi project in Colombia. This is an area that has been mined for 200 years, mainly for gold and zinc, but has also produced zinc, copper and lead. WKR aims for a JORC resource by December.
And Aconcagua Resources (ANU) might find that it resonates better with investors with its planned name change to South American Iron & Steel Corp. It has been reporting significant progress with smelting trials with ore from its Fierro Inco project in Ecuador. The company plans to mine iron sands to produce steel billets and slabs as well as vanadium and titanium slag.
Cheers V
Latin adventures
EXPLORING in Latin America has its moments. The Bolivians and Ecuadorians have taken a rather dim view of foreign companies and want more of the gravy. Now Venezuela says it will not permit any more open-pit gold mining nor any work in the vast Imataca Forest Reserve, which has come as a blow to two Canadian companies with prospects there.
But there are still large areas not explored by modern technology, so the region is very attractive to companies looking for the big find.
Australian companies are now widely represented in South America, but less so in Central America (apart from Mexico). Golden Cross Resources (GCR) is one of the small number filling the latter gap and is reporting encouraging early signs from drilling at the Los Hatillos property in Panama. Previous underground exploration has shown gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc, and GCR says the first hole indicates the mineralised zone is broader than expected.
A GCR director, Chris Torrey, worked in Panama in the 1990s for two North American mineral companies.
Other players to watch include Crusader Holdings (CAS). It has just finished drilling at its Manga prospect in Brazil for tin and indium -- two of our favourite metals -- and it will be interesting to see the assays.
Windy Knob Resources (WKR) has begun drilling its Titiribi project in Colombia. This is an area that has been mined for 200 years, mainly for gold and zinc, but has also produced zinc, copper and lead. WKR aims for a JORC resource by December.
And Aconcagua Resources (ANU) might find that it resonates better with investors with its planned name change to South American Iron & Steel Corp. It has been reporting significant progress with smelting trials with ore from its Fierro Inco project in Ecuador. The company plans to mine iron sands to produce steel billets and slabs as well as vanadium and titanium slag.