Sensational-Adelaide.com

Iron Road's Eyre Peninsula update

IRON Road aims to finish a pre-feasibility study on its Eyre Peninsula iron ore project early next year. The Perth company announced it had appointed Mineral Engineering Technical Services (METS) to complete the study, which would start this month.

Iron Road has an exploration target of 2.8-5.7 billion tonnes of magnetite at the project in the centre of the Peninsula.

It currently has an inferred resource of 110 million tonnes and aims to increase this to 500 million tonnes this year.

Chairman Julian Gosse said appointing a manager for the pre-feasibility study was a significant step. "The pre-feasibility study will run in parallel with an aggressive drilling campaign at the Central Eyre Iron Project during 2010, significantly accelerating progress at the project,'' Mr Gosse said.

"The company is confident of a favourable outcome and looks forward to working together with METS on this exciting piece of work.

"Completion of a favourable pre-feasibility study is the key to the next stage of Iron Road's development, as we seek to build an independent quality iron ore product producer.''

Finds fuel deep-sea oil rush
THREE significant new oil and gas regions have been identified off Australia's coast, raising the potential for a wave of offshore exploration that could create booming new resources hubs around the nation.

A combination of new technology and the high price of oil has prompted the commonwealth's Geoscience Australia survey body to push technical limits and explore frontier areas in deep water, turning up startling new resource potential.

One of the regions, the South Australian end of the Great Australian Bight, has been opened for exploration and has already attracted strong bids ahead of the April 29 deadline.

But extracting any oil and gas from this area will mean overcoming significant challenges, including heavy seas and wells deeper than any in operation around the nation.

In addition to the Bight, Geoscience Australia has uncovered strong indications of petroleum in basins near the Lord Howe Rise, 800km east of Brisbane, and on the Wallaby Plateau, 500km off the West Australian coast and next to the existing North West Shelf gas zone.

All three areas are at the deepwater edge of Australia's vast maritime zone - an area almost twice the size of the continent.

Geoscience Australia is using an advanced aeromagnetic survey also to examine basins to the west and north of Tasmania, recently collecting data over a flying distance of 140,000km. The results are being analysed.

With extra funding for frontier exploration, Geoscience Australia has employed an array of technology in the search for resources and has turned up enticing new evidence. It has found potential source rocks in the Bight, which has never produced oil or gas.

The new evidence has emerged at a time of dwindling oil production in Australia, with reserves equal to 10 years of production.

Despite its gas exports, Australia is a net petroleum importer, but with gas production set to quadruple over the next two decades this should turn into a significant surplus.

On Thursday, Barack Obama opened massive new areas to offshore oil and gas exploration as part of a strategy to reduce US dependence on imported oil. The new areas include a vast area off the US east coast and previously protected parts of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaskan waters.

Resources Minister Martin Ferguson will this month unveil Goescience Australia's analysis of seismic and other geological data obtained from the Wallaby Plateau, a new area granted to Australia by the UN two years ago.

Mr Ferguson will outline the results of seismic, magnetic, gravity and bathymetric surveys, and dredging of the seabed, completed in February last year.

The dredging has uncovered rocks that suggest the existence of "depocentres" - places where petroleum is often produced.

Before Geoscience Australia's work, virtually nothing was known about these three areas - not even the shape of the seabed.

Mr Ferguson is expected to announce next month the release of more exploration blocks in frontier areas, including the unexplored Mentelle Basin, off the coast of Perth.

Significant discoveries would have the potential to create new energy hubs, such as the vast North West Shelf operation in Western Australia, which is the single biggest resources project in the nation. Massive developments are already planned for Gladstone on the Queensland central coast to process coal-seam gas for sale as liquefied natural gas to offshore markets.

Geoscience Australia geologist Jennifer Totterdell told The Weekend Australian dredging the Bight had uncovered "amazing organic-rich rocks" - the type that can, under the right geological conditions, produce oil.

Geoscience Australia made the discovery in 2007 by launching a dredge from the RV Southern Surveyor to water depths of up to 2900m to haul rocks to the surface.

"The discovery of world-class potential source rocks has definitely improved perceptions of prospectivity in the basin," Ms Totterdell said.

By delivering these "source rocks on a platter", as one expert put it, Geoscience Australia's work sparked interest in an area previously abandoned.

Ms Totterdell said the Bight had been regarded as "too hard" by many oil companies, and the rough seas and location of the basin made exploration work in the area "challenging".

In 2003, Woodside Petroleum, the nation's biggest independent oil and gas company, drilled the Gnarlyknots well to a depth of 4000m in the seabed, at a cost of $55m, but it had to abandon the project due to 10m swells. But Ms Totterdell's team was undeterred. They believed the bitumen rocks that washed up on beaches along the coast gave strong indications there was petroleum offshore.

Under Australia's petroleum exploration regime, all information acquired by companies must be given to the federal government. Geoscience Australia re-analysed Woodside's data, and then began looking for rocks in an area about 200km west of where Woodside had drilled.

The rocks were dredged from a 5km-wide canyon that enabled geologists to uncover samples that lie thousands of metres below the seabed in the centre of the basin, about 200km to the east. It is in the centre where the exploration blocks have been offered.

The Bight's water depth ranges from 500m-4000m; the Wallaby Plateau ranges from 2000m to 4000m and Lord Howe Rise ranges from 1300m-2500m.

National oil production has declined from a peak of 35 billion barrels a year early last decade to about 20 billion at present.

But significant gas discoveries continue to be made. Since Woodside's discovery of the Pluto field off northern Western Australia in 2005 - which will go into production next year - Woodside, Chevron and Hess have all made major new finds on the North West Shelf.

Under the Howard government, then resources minister Ian Macfarlane secured more resources for Geoscience Australia work at the frontier. In 2003, Geoscience Australia got an additional $61m for frontier work, and a further $75m in 2006. Along with the additional money, Mr Macfarlane pushed through, against strong opposition from then treasurer Peter Costello, a 150 per cent tax write-off for exploration in frontier areas.

The tax incentive and Geoscience Australia's extra funding run out next year, but Mr Macfarlane, now the opposition resources spokesman, is committed to extending both.

A spokesman for Mr Ferguson said Geoscience Australia's funding was being reviewed as part of the budget and the tax incentive was under the Henry tax review.

Exco Resources Ltd (ASX: EXS) today announced that the White Dam gold mine in far north east South Australia poured its first bar of gold.

The pour follows a six month construction and commissioning programme on this large, low grade deposit about 80 kilometres from the inland city of Broken Hill.

The precious metals content in the first ingot has yet to be announced and the partners Exco (75%) and mineral processing and metallurgical group Polymetals Group Pty Ltd said the target was to produce 50,000 ounces of gold per annum.

During last year Exco, which holds major copper projects in the Mt Isa-Cloncurry belt of north east Queensland, placed a strong focus on White Dam as it was seen as the quickest route into getting a cash flow.

The Intierra Resource Intelligence data base shows that White Dam now has a probable reserve of 5.94 million tonnes grading 1.073 grams/tonne (at an 0.4 g/t cut-off) and an indicated-inferred 4.647 Mt @ 1.038 g/t gold.

South Australia has two major gold producers - BHP Billiton's large gold byproduct from the Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine and Dominion Mining's high grade, mid-sized but remote Challenger gold mine on Mobella Station.

Prior to the development of Olympic Dam by WMC Resources (before being taken over by BHP Billiton) South Australia was often a distant last in terms of historic gold production and in the 1970s and early 1980s a State Battery at the railway town of Peterborough was, in many of these years, the only source of recorded gold.

SA mining mission heads to India

A mining mission from South Australia is heading to India to drum up investment for its booming resources sector.

SA special envoy to India, Brian Hayes, will visit large corporations in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata from April 20 to 27.

Minister for Industry and Trade, Tom Koutsantonis, says there is broad scope for Indian companies to begin or expand investment, as well as sourcing mining technology and services.

"SA has experienced a boom in mineral exploration and a number of mining projects have come to fruition or are in the pipeline," he said in a statement.

"Indian companies have already invested millions of dollars in the SA mining sector."

Mr Koutsantonis predicts SA's five operating mines in 2004 will reach 16 by the end of 2010.

Minister for Mineral Resources Development Paul Holloway said today 23 resource exploration projects have won drilling grants totaling $1.35 million from the sixth round of funding under the Rann Government’s highly successful Plan for Accelerating Exploration – or PACE initiative.

Mr Holloway says the successful projects were among 63 high-quality applications for the latest round of PACE funding, which included the search for minerals, petroleum and geothermal prospects in South Australia.

“The variety of projects funded in this latest round is very encouraging, and clearly demonstrates the success of the PACE initiative in generating world-wide interest in South Australia as an investment destination,” Mr Holloway says.

“Successful proposals include new targets, new exploration concepts, and interest in a wide range of minerals.

“There is also a strong response from the energy sector, including geothermal exploration, a potential area for developing renewable power generation in which South Australia remains a national leader.”

“PACE has produced encouraging results since its inception in 2004. Significant discoveries made with vital PACE contributions include the Carrapateena prospect, the 4 Mile project, the Bramfield, Malache and Oakdale prospects and the Gullivers and Dromedary heavy mineral sands prospects.”

Mr Holloway says PACE has helped South Australia reach its State Strategic Plan target of maintaining minerals exploration spending at more than $100 million a year.

“Our challenge is to continue to increase our market share of exploration investment in the face of a higher level of competition from other States to attract resource companies,” Mr Holloway says

“The Rann Government is confident our election commitment to an updated support program -- PACE 2020 -- will continue to deliver on our recent successes in attracting exploration investment.”

From 2004 to2009, a total of 335 proposals have been received during the previous five rounds of PACE collaborative drilling projects with 168 successful submissions sharing grants worth $10 million.

PACE Collaborative Funding Round 6 – successful proposals

Proposal Company Project Name Province

DPY6-02 Tasman Resources Ltd Vulcan Gawler Craton
DPY6-03 Minotaur Exploration Ltd Aphrodite Gawler Craton
DPY6-07 Oak Dam South Oak Dam South Gawler Craton
DPY6-15 Phoenix Copper Ltd Burra North Adelaide Geosyncline
DPY6-16 Phoenix Copper Ltd Black Hills Adelaide Geosyncline
DPY6-17 Regalpoint Exploration Lake Gregory Eromanga Basin
DPY6-18 Callabonna Uranium Ltd Northern Curnamona Frome Embayment
DPY6-23 Royal Resources Ltd Pualco Adelaide Geosyncline
DPY6-24 Dominion Mining Ltd Bulgunnia Fault Gawler Craton
DPY6-25 Gold Fields Australasia Pty Ltd Delamerian Murray Basin
DPY6-27 UraniumSA Ltd Mullaquana Pirie Basin
DPY6-29 Flinders Mines Ltd Jamestown Adelaide Geosyncline
DPY6-30 PepinNini Minerals Ltd Woodroffe Musgrave Province
DPY6-33 Lynch Mining Pty Ltd Western Eyre Peninsula Gawler Craton
DPY6-36 TC Development Corporation Pty Ltd Sturt JV Lake Eyre Basin
DPY6-37 Lincoln Minerals Ltd Jungle Dam Gawler Craton
DPY6-39 Southern Uranium Ltd Ridgeback Gawler Craton
DPY6-49 Gradient Energy Ltd Leigh Creek Temperature Adelaide Geosyncline
DPY6-52 Strike Energy Ltd Coal Seam Gas Eromanga / Lake Eyre Basins
DPY6-54 Terratherma Ltd Coorichina Torrens Hinge Zone
DPY6-59 Strategic Energy Resources Ltd Cultana Gawler Craton
DPY6-61 Iluka Resources Ltd Maralinga Embayment Eucla Basin
DPY6-63 Iron Road Ltd West Gawler Gawler Craton

mattblack wrote:Wow, Gawler Craton seems to be a bit of a hot bed of activity. Whats the major resource coming out of there?

Mining super tax set for 2012 introduction
Cameron England From: The Advertiser May 11, 2010 7:23pm

THERE is no room to move on the introduction of a 40 per cent super profits tax, which the Government is "completely determined" to introduce.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said the Government was prepared to negotiate "generous transitional conditions" in the lead-up to the tax's introduction on July 1, 2012.

He specifically linked the new tax to the lowering of the company tax rate from 30 per cent to 28 per cent and other measures designed to boost personal savings.

The Government plans to introduce a 40 per cent tax on mining company profits on a per-project basis, which will underpin many of the initiatives released in the Henry tax review last week.

The Government's forward estimates show it expects to collect $3 billion from the tax in 2012-13, before the tax take levels out at about $9 billion the following year.

Mr Swan said the Government's stance on the tax had not changed.

"We're no different from where we were a week ago," he said. "What we said is that we would negotiate generous transitional conditions."

Mr Swan said some companies were "pretending" there was room to move on the tax itself, but this was not the case.

The Government has committed to consulting over the new tax, which has many in the mining sector claiming it will reduce the attractiveness of Australia as a place to invest.

BHP Billiton has stated it would increase the company's effective tax rate substantially, while Xstrata this week reported it was shutting down a large copper exploration program in Queensland.

The new tax also led to US company Peabody reducing its takeover bid for Macarthur Coal.

The tax will be charged at 40 per cent of a project's profits, once costs for exploration and capital expenditure have been subtracted.

Companies will also continue to pay company tax, however the super profits tax will be deductible from that.

"The RSPT is a key part of the Government's reform agenda which includes phasing down the company tax rate, simplifying arrangements for small business and creating a fairer superannuation system," the Budget papers state.

"Revenues from the RSPT will also be used to establish an infrastructure fund for the states."

This fund, which will be directed towards supporting resource-rich areas, is estimated to start with a $700 million contribution in 2012-13, growing to $5.6 billion over the next decade.

The company tax rate is scheduled to be reduced from 30 per cent to 29 per cent in 2013-14 and 28 per cent the following year.

It is estimated the reduction in the company tax rate will increase GDP by 0.4 per cent in the long run.

Woomera under review
The Federal Government is examining the future of the Woomera Prohibited Area the resources-rich range in South Australia where Australia's most dangerous military tests are carried out.

A review has been on the cards since the Department of Defence blocked a joint venture between a Chinese company and iron ore miner Western Plains Resources in the prohibited area last year.

Minister for Defence John Faulkner yesterday announced the process of applying for access had been clarified amid increased interest by resources companies wanting to explore the area.

The review which will look at economic development of the area over the next 20 to 30 years will be led by Dr Allan Hawke and is expected to report by the end of the year.

Omicron wrote:Just so it's on the record, this new Filthy Mining Companies Making More Profits Than We Say They Can tax isn't high on my list of Good Ideas from the Rudd Government.

THERE'S a theory in the mining game that the best place to look for a new mine is next to an old one.

In South Australia, the theory is gaining credence among exploration companies, which have been picking over historic mining areas in the Copper Triangle and the Adelaide Hills.

But if you're going to look near an old mine, you might as well look next to the biggest one - which is what Adelaide explorer Phoenix Copper is doing.

Phoenix listed two years ago and has since built a series of adjacent exploration tenements stretching from Kapunda through Burra to Hallett, a couple of hours north of Adelaide.

In the tenement area - but at present not able to be mined for heritage reasons - is the Burra copper mine, one of the biggest mines in the world in its heyday in the mid-1800s. It produced 2.7 million tonnes of copper ore in two major mining phases, 1845-77 and 1970-81.

Phoenix believes there is still a lot of potential in the area.

It would love to explore and possibly restart the historic mine and is lobbying the Government to this end. It is already getting encouraging exploration results from its Princess Royal project.

Managing director Paul Dowd says Phoenix expects to be able to publish a copper resource for that project by the end of the year, but it is just one of many targets the company hopes to test.

It is somewhat anomalous that while there is a history of mineralisation in the area, it has been lightly tested by modern exploration techniques.

"It's a massive copper field which, if we were in South America, we would have had a lot of exploration," Mr Dowd said.

Having sole tenement coverage over the area, Phoenix does not have to negotiate with neighbouring tenement owners. It can also refine its exploration techniques and attune them to the geology of the area.

It hopes lessons learnt at Princess Royal will translate into better targeted exploration drilling in the future.

It is not only mining history that makes Burra attractive. Adchem Australia runs a processing plant in the town, which Mr Dowd believes Phoenix could use to treat its ore, generating large capital savings.

The response from the community has so far been supportive. Phoenix started consultation before listing on the stock market.