The first session of the Noosa Mining Exploration 2017 Conference carried us off on a world tour that took in Argentina, Peru and Madagascar - as well as Australia.
On stage first was Graeme Drew, managing director of AusQuest (ASX:AQD), which has gold copper, nickel and zinc deposits. The most advanced of the assets is the Blue Billy, which is being drilled as part of its joint-venture with partner South32. “Over the next 12 months we want to advance all our projects to the drilling phase where the value lies,” said Drew.
Peter Williams, chief executive of Aus Tin Mining (ASX:ANW), was quite clear about what he and the company are trying to achieve. “Our vision is to become the preferred tin stock on the ASX,” he told the audience. The aim also is to grow output at the Granville Mine in Tasmania to 40,000 tonnes per year from 2,500 tonnes currently. On drilling at the Mt Cobalt Project he added: “We have had some fabulous intersections, which is a fabulous starting point.”
Bass Metals (ASX:BSM) boss Tim McManus has a similarly ambitious production plan in that he wants to expand output from the Graphmada large flake graphite operation in Madagascar to 20,000 tonnes by 2019 from 6,000 tonnes. This, he hopes, will provide the springboard that will will propel the firm from the ranks of the small-caps to become a “mid-tier materials group”.
Cobalt Blue (ASX:COB) CEO Joe Kaderavek believes there is “no other company like us on the ASX”. By that he means there are no pure-play cobalt producers in Australia and few worldwide. Normally, the metal is a by-product from copper and nickel mining and processing. “I do not care what the copper or nickel price is doing; I’m focused on just one metal [cobalt],” said Kaderavek. Cobalt Blue has a farm-in joint-venture with Broken Hill Prospecting (ASX:BPL) that will see it explore and develop the Thackaringa Cobalt Project in New South Wales.
David Mason updated us on the changes taking place at Dark Horse Resources (ASX:DHR), where the company’s coal assets are being spun out into a separate power production company called New Energy Capital. This will allow Dark Horse to concentrate on lithium and gold assets in Argentina.
Sticking with the Argentina motif, Steven Promnitz, of Lake Resources (ASX:LKE), talked about plans to unlock the “deep value” of its lithium projects in the country. “This will be done by drilling and permitting,” he told the audience.