Associate Area
posted on
May 18, 2009 02:35AM
A Growing Gold Producer - Africa
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/...
Rising star gold and uranium developers?
Shield Mining reports excellent early gold grades from its Tijirit project in Mauritania, a country that's been pivotal in the success stories of Red Back and First Quantum.
Author: Barry Sergeant
Posted: Friday , 15 May 2009
JOHANNESBURG -
Australia-listed Shield Mining's stock price surged 90% on Friday, following the release of a set of excellent, but early, drilling results from its Tijirit gold project in Mauritania. Shield Mining CEO David Netherway stated that the results "show the potential for another gold deposit in the style of the Tasiast gold mine 35 kilometers to the northwest of Tijirit".
Tasiast is owned and operated by global Tier II gold miner Red Back, which also operates a gold mine at Chirano in Ghana. Tasiast holds gold resources of 3.7m ounces, a number that Red Back has indicated as likely for upgrade in the third quarter of 2009. Red Back last month announced a new discovery on the Tasiast property, and referred to the new felsite zone discovery as part of a "vast under explored project package". Red Back is involved in an "extensive regional exploration initiative" on the Tasiast property; only seven kilometers of a "full greenstone belt" of at least 70 kilometers has been drilled to date. Red Back holds a contiguous land position to Tasiast, covering 6,300 square kilometers.
Mauritania also houses First Quantum's Guelb Moghrein copper-gold mine, which has proved pivotal to its overall success as an African copper-gold miner. Both First Quantum and Red Back rank among the world's best performing stocks of any kind.
Mauritania's mineral sector has long been dominated by iron ore mining and beneficiation; beyond copper and gold, the country also produces cement, gypsum, petroleum, salt, and steel. Australia-listed Sphere Investments holds extensive prospective iron ore interests in the country.
Early stage drill results are always challenging for investors; in February, Canada-listed Colossus Minerals, announced some truly astonishing high grade platinum, palladium and gold intercepts at its Serra Pelada project in Brazil, and has turned in a very convincing stock price pattern over the past while. The extent of the orebody at Serra Pelada will no doubt be further defined in due course. Vale, the world's No 2 miner by value, held the underlying title to Serra Pelada until 2007, having explored the area from 1980 to 1998, completing more than 200 drill holes in the Serra Pelada mineralised system.
Widening regional finds can be of some assistance. In recent years, a good number of pay finds have been made in the uranium field in Namibia, inevitably close to the long established Rössing mine, owned by Rio Tinto. The Rössing South discovery, recently described by owner Extract Resources as "the highest grade granite hosted uranium deposit in Namibia and potentially one of the largest uranium deposits in the world" has set afire a number of stocks holding stakes in Extract Resources, not least Kalahari Minerals, which holds 38.85% of Extract Resources.
Rio Tinto has acquired minority stakes in both entities. Other beneficiaries include NWT Uranium, which holds 34% of Niger Uranium, which in turn owns 15% of Kalahari Minerals. Last month, Polo Resources announced a holding of 5.7% in Extract.
The stock price of Australia- and Namibia-listed Deep Yellow roughly doubled in April following release of very high grade results from six deeper drill samples from its INCA project in Namibia. Paladin, Bannerman and Forsys have also done well from their Namibian experience, not to overlook August 2007, when French transnational Areva paid USD 2.5bn for Uramin, formed just two years previously to acquire and develop mineral properties, predominantly uranium, in Namibia, the Central African Republic and South Africa.
The global gold space is different in a number of ways. Competition is more intense, especially after gold bullion prices continued to hold up, if not advance, from mid-2008, when most commodity prices went over a cliff. For investors of every ilk, there are also a vast, if not confusing, number of gold developers to deal with.
A MODEST SELECTION OF GOLD DEVELOPERS |
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Stock |
From |
From |
Value |
|
|
price |
high* |
low* |
USD bn |
|
AUD 0.18 |
-21.7% |
200.0% |
0.015 |
||
AUD 0.36 |
-33.3% |
260.0% |
0.042 |
||
ZAR 1.97 |
-34.1% |
140.2% |
0.150 |
||
CAD 0.28 |
-31.3% |
358.3% |
0.009 |
||
CAD 2.13 |
-37.9% |
54.3% |
0.041 |
||
CAD 1.59 |
-60.6% |
205.8% |
0.058 |
||
CAD 0.56 |
-17.6% |
166.7% |
0.061 |
||
AUD 0.26 |
-49.5% |
155.0% |
0.047 |
||
CAD 6.88 |
-16.0% |
234.0% |
0.336 |
||
USD 0.61 |
-75.1% |
84.8% |
0.028 |
||
CAD 0.77 |
-51.3% |
120.0% |
0.027 |
||
CAD 2.89 |
-26.1% |
344.6% |
0.282 |
||
AUD 1.56 |
-17.3% |
265.9% |
0.537 |
||
CAD 0.38 |
-78.4% |
47.1% |
0.009 |
||
AUD 0.25 |
-72.2% |
38.9% |
0.087 |
||
USD 0.41 |
-37.9% |
310.0% |
0.090 |
||
CAD 2.61 |
-69.4% |
262.5% |
0.151 |
||
GBP 0.09 |
-65.1% |
362.5% |
0.043 |
||
GBP 0.29 |
-44.8% |
11.5% |
0.013 |
||
CAD 0.12 |
-71.4% |
118.2% |
0.007 |
||
CAD 0.26 |
-73.5% |
333.3% |
0.012 |
||
AUD 0.05 |
-71.6% |
15.0% |
0.011 |
||
CAD 0.83 |
-7.8% |
176.7% |
0.059 |
||
CAD 2.44 |
-9.3% |
205.0% |
0.061 |
||
AUD 0.08 |
-66.7% |
0.0% |
0.010 |
||
CAD 0.29 |
-47.2% |
1040.0% |
0.025 |
||
CAD 0.33 |
-41.1% |
842.9% |
0.032 |
||
GBP 0.75 |
-59.8% |
56.3% |
0.138 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-85.2% |
166.7% |
0.017 |
||
CAD 0.23 |
-19.6% |
1025.0% |
0.033 |
||
AUD 0.11 |
-48.8% |
175.0% |
0.008 |
||
CAD 0.68 |
-57.2% |
126.7% |
0.141 |
||
CAD 1.69 |
-81.1% |
111.3% |
0.090 |
||
AUD 0.07 |
-73.1% |
80.5% |
0.014 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-75.0% |
200.0% |
0.002 |
||
AUD 0.16 |
-31.9% |
77.8% |
0.048 |
||
AUD 0.07 |
-85.9% |
70.7% |
0.005 |
||
CAD 1.70 |
-77.0% |
198.2% |
0.080 |
||
CAD 0.37 |
-75.3% |
82.5% |
0.026 |
||
PHP 8.20 |
-60.0% |
69.1% |
0.016 |
||
CAD 0.98 |
-24.6% |
180.0% |
0.014 |
||
CAD 0.55 |
-38.9% |
450.0% |
0.040 |
||
CAD 0.02 |
-92.7% |
300.0% |
0.002 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-57.9% |
220.0% |
0.034 |
||
CAD 1.67 |
-69.2% |
62.1% |
0.081 |
||
AUD 0.63 |
-55.9% |
23.5% |
0.058 |
||
CAD 0.04 |
-86.0% |
14.3% |
0.003 |
||
AUD 0.08 |
-24.8% |
315.8% |
0.062 |
||
CAD 1.18 |
-16.3% |
174.4% |
0.995 |
||
GBP 0.02 |
-95.1% |
85.7% |
0.004 |
||
GBP 0.03 |
-53.1% |
130.0% |
0.007 |
||
ZAR 5.50 |
-67.6% |
83.3% |
0.156 |
||
CAD 0.17 |
-39.3% |
1600.0% |
0.024 |
||
AUD 1.64 |
-25.5% |
105.0% |
0.314 |
||
AUD 0.24 |
-4.1% |
235.7% |
0.013 |
||
GBP 0.25 |
-75.6% |
33.8% |
0.018 |
||
USD 0.76 |
-30.9% |
533.9% |
0.074 |
||
GBP 0.47 |
-48.0% |
353.7% |
0.083 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-92.0% |
650.0% |
0.007 |
||
CAD 3.10 |
-22.5% |
620.9% |
0.146 |
||
CAD 3.25 |
-50.0% |
203.7% |
0.146 |
||
CAD 0.13 |
-83.6% |
212.5% |
0.003 |
||
AUD 0.41 |
-27.0% |
189.3% |
0.083 |
||
CAD 0.99 |
-23.8% |
230.0% |
0.109 |
||
CAD 0.52 |
-48.0% |
420.0% |
0.011 |
||
CAD 11.91 |
-53.1% |
316.4% |
0.457 |
||
AUD 0.61 |
-55.5% |
144.0% |
0.042 |
||
AUD 0.06 |
-42.0% |
314.3% |
0.032 |
||
CAD 4.70 |
-17.7% |
347.6% |
0.142 |
||
CAD 0.49 |
-65.0% |
308.3% |
0.021 |
||
CAD 1.21 |
-35.3% |
149.5% |
0.089 |
||
AUD 0.16 |
-48.3% |
278.0% |
0.026 |
||
AUD 0.07 |
-71.1% |
225.0% |
0.003 |
||
CAD 1.20 |
-46.9% |
140.0% |
0.097 |
||
CAD 0.30 |
-84.9% |
68.6% |
0.040 |
||
CAD 1.20 |
-31.4% |
135.3% |
0.029 |
||
CAD 2.96 |
-43.8% |
169.1% |
0.453 |
||
CAD 3.54 |
-26.3% |
237.1% |
0.188 |
||
AUD 0.03 |
-56.5% |
58.8% |
0.054 |
||
CAD 3.53 |
-40.6% |
127.7% |
0.356 |
||
GBP 0.08 |
-2.9% |
6500.0% |
0.027 |
||
CAD 2.50 |
-19.9% |
152.5% |
0.544 |
||
CAD 0.20 |
-87.9% |
300.0% |
0.013 |
||
CAD 0.00 |
-93.2% |
70.0% |
0.007 |
||
CAD 0.06 |
-76.1% |
120.0% |
0.002 |
||
GBP 0.04 |
-54.8% |
43.4% |
0.014 |
||
GBP 0.03 |
-75.5% |
166.7% |
0.018 |
||
CAD 0.71 |
-68.2% |
144.8% |
0.035 |
||
CAD 0.35 |
-55.1% |
400.0% |
0.014 |
||
CAD 0.20 |
0.0% |
900.0% |
0.008 |
||
AUD 0.48 |
-81.0% |
126.2% |
0.051 |
||
AUD 0.75 |
-58.3% |
7.1% |
0.038 |
||
GBP 0.11 |
-18.2% |
38.5% |
0.019 |
||
CAD 0.09 |
-65.4% |
125.0% |
0.005 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-73.3% |
128.6% |
0.003 |
||
CAD 3.73 |
-42.2% |
603.8% |
0.167 |
||
AUD 0.30 |
-40.6% |
408.5% |
0.030 |
||
CAD 3.06 |
-43.1% |
401.6% |
0.154 |
||
GBP 0.06 |
-60.7% |
131.6% |
0.039 |
||
AUD 0.20 |
-65.5% |
170.3% |
0.020 |
||
CAD 0.30 |
-79.2% |
150.0% |
0.019 |
||
AUD 0.09 |
-30.4% |
135.0% |
0.046 |
||
AUD 0.17 |
-47.6% |
83.3% |
0.038 |
||
AUD 0.20 |
-55.7% |
170.8% |
0.056 |
||
USD 0.24 |
-38.5% |
50.0% |
0.013 |
||
CAD 4.00 |
-61.9% |
330.1% |
0.109 |
||
CAD 0.60 |
-70.0% |
252.9% |
0.042 |
||
CAD 3.29 |
-12.0% |
207.5% |
0.136 |
||
CAD 0.69 |
-77.0% |
76.9% |
0.096 |
||
CAD 0.03 |
-54.5% |
150.0% |
0.004 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-56.8% |
433.3% |
0.007 |
||
USD 2.15 |
-45.6% |
496.8% |
0.061 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-75.0% |
200.0% |
0.005 |
||
CAD 0.66 |
-64.9% |
24.5% |
0.035 |
||
AUD 0.15 |
-53.8% |
188.5% |
0.048 |
||
CAD 10.02 |
-3.6% |
297.6% |
0.500 |
||
GBP 0.07 |
-68.3% |
108.0% |
0.009 |
||
CAD 0.70 |
0.0% |
1650.0% |
0.085 |
||
CAD 2.02 |
-7.3% |
236.7% |
0.366 |
||
AUD 0.10 |
-80.8% |
100.0% |
0.016 |
||
CAD 1.06 |
-53.9% |
63.1% |
0.029 |
||
CAD 0.15 |
-70.0% |
500.0% |
0.006 |
||
CAD 0.92 |
-63.1% |
37.3% |
0.015 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-80.7% |
700.0% |
0.022 |
||
CAD 0.35 |
-89.2% |
146.4% |
0.013 |
||
GBP 0.04 |
-55.6% |
146.2% |
0.003 |
||
CAD 0.20 |
-7.0% |
700.0% |
0.017 |
||
AUD 1.62 |
-11.7% |
295.1% |
0.203 |
||
CAD 0.03 |
-90.0% |
66.7% |
0.001 |
||
GBP 0.05 |
-92.7% |
58.3% |
0.005 |
||
CAD 0.51 |
-68.5% |
137.2% |
0.023 |
||
GBP 0.13 |
-47.4% |
100.0% |
0.031 |
||
AUD 0.13 |
-72.9% |
116.7% |
0.116 |
||
CAD 0.51 |
-76.7% |
183.3% |
0.028 |
||
AUD 0.47 |
-7.8% |
141.0% |
0.046 |
||
GBP 0.64 |
-16.4% |
46.8% |
0.060 |
||
AUD 0.68 |
-32.5% |
141.1% |
0.279 |
||
AUD 0.07 |
-86.5% |
219.0% |
0.035 |
||
CAD 0.33 |
-49.2% |
100.0% |
0.013 |
||
CAD 0.25 |
-43.2% |
525.0% |
0.006 |
||
CAD 0.04 |
-75.8% |
166.7% |
0.002 |
||
CAD 0.09 |
-61.4% |
240.0% |
0.007 |
||
CAD 3.00 |
-39.3% |
354.5% |
0.269 |
||
CAD 0.47 |
-31.9% |
213.3% |
0.015 |
||
CAD 1.32 |
-55.7% |
80.8% |
0.175 |
||
AUD 0.23 |
-54.0% |
109.1% |
0.023 |
||
CAD 0.55 |
-31.3% |
120.0% |
0.032 |
||
CAD 1.51 |
-31.4% |
331.4% |
0.165 |
||
GBP 0.26 |
-16.7% |
1650.0% |
0.061 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-87.7% |
60.0% |
0.007 |
||
CAD 0.11 |
-64.5% |
450.0% |
0.002 |
||
AUD 0.31 |
-20.5% |
129.6% |
0.034 |
||
AUD 0.25 |
-31.9% |
276.9% |
0.078 |
||
DKK 184.00 |
-68.3% |
41.0% |
0.036 |
||
CAD 0.52 |
-73.5% |
200.0% |
0.004 |
||
GBP 0.28 |
-33.9% |
46.1% |
0.079 |
||
CAD 0.25 |
-18.0% |
525.0% |
0.049 |
||
CAD 0.36 |
-42.9% |
38.5% |
0.017 |
||
AUD 0.50 |
-9.1% |
244.8% |
0.020 |
||
CAD 0.67 |
-75.4% |
74.0% |
0.038 |
||
CAD 0.69 |
-15.9% |
109.1% |
0.068 |
||
CAD 5.65 |
-7.4% |
303.6% |
1.228 |
||
USD 0.27 |
-73.5% |
278.6% |
0.031 |
||
GBP 0.04 |
-23.9% |
133.3% |
0.073 |
||
USD 1.51 |
-27.7% |
586.4% |
0.094 |
||
GBP 0.10 |
-10.9% |
156.3% |
0.093 |
||
CAD 0.54 |
-56.8% |
390.9% |
0.014 |
||
CAD 0.24 |
-17.5% |
840.0% |
0.016 |
||
CAD 0.15 |
-58.9% |
150.0% |
0.012 |
||
AUD 0.87 |
-43.8% |
332.5% |
0.135 |
||
CAD 0.64 |
-71.7% |
124.6% |
0.052 |
||
CAD 0.25 |
-58.3% |
66.7% |
0.009 |
||
CAD 0.15 |
-44.4% |
500.0% |
0.020 |
||
CAD 0.05 |
-82.0% |
350.0% |
0.003 |
||
CAD 0.05 |
-84.4% |
150.0% |
0.002 |
||
CAD 4.17 |
-9.5% |
448.7% |
0.204 |
||
CAD 0.16 |
-54.3% |
357.1% |
0.007 |
||
CAD 2.73 |
-42.5% |
340.3% |
0.131 |
||
HKD 5.76 |
-19.1% |
31.5% |
0.490 |
||
AUD 0.08 |
-30.0% |
250.0% |
0.042 |
||
AUD 0.26 |
-78.3% |
57.6% |
0.027 |
||
AUD 0.53 |
-3.6% |
741.3% |
0.096 |
||
AUD 0.00 |
-92.0% |
300.0% |
0.004 |
||
AUD 0.03 |
-74.5% |
23.8% |
0.019 |
||
AUD 0.72 |
-71.5% |
95.9% |
0.168 |
||
CAD 0.12 |
-81.5% |
380.0% |
0.005 |
||
CAD 4.35 |
-11.8% |
259.5% |
0.097 |
||
CAD 0.40 |
-66.7% |
185.7% |
0.009 |
||
USD 1.78 |
-9.2% |
154.3% |
0.263 |
||
CAD 0.23 |
-40.3% |
142.1% |
0.009 |
||
CAD 0.25 |
-45.6% |
716.7% |
0.022 |
||
AUD 0.17 |
-31.3% |
230.0% |
0.025 |
||
CAD 29.51 |
-2.6% |
293.5% |
0.940 |
||
CAD 0.04 |
-77.4% |
250.0% |
0.004 |
||
AUD 0.19 |
-5.0% |
850.0% |
0.007 |
||
CAD 0.30 |
-14.5% |
637.5% |
0.012 |
||
AUD 0.02 |
-42.5% |
283.3% |
0.007 |
||
AUD 0.49 |
-11.8% |
273.1% |
0.056 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-50.0% |
200.0% |
0.005 |
||
AUD 0.27 |
-60.4% |
50.0% |
0.304 |
||
CAD 0.12 |
-39.5% |
155.6% |
0.010 |
||
CAD 0.04 |
-83.3% |
250.0% |
0.005 |
||
CAD 0.22 |
-77.8% |
266.7% |
0.012 |
||
AUD 0.04 |
-21.7% |
620.0% |
0.096 |
||
CAD 1.63 |
-70.5% |
147.0% |
0.235 |
||
AUD 0.03 |
-82.9% |
87.5% |
0.002 |
||
CAD 0.23 |
-62.9% |
142.1% |
0.022 |
||
AUD 0.09 |
-81.1% |
45.0% |
0.018 |
||
CAD 0.47 |
-59.5% |
135.0% |
0.026 |
||
AUD 0.80 |
-48.4% |
58.4% |
0.030 |
||
USD 1.50 |
-40.0% |
100.0% |
0.138 |
||
CAD 0.14 |
-69.2% |
75.0% |
0.020 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-73.3% |
128.6% |
0.008 |
||
CAD 0.35 |
-88.5% |
75.0% |
0.015 |
||
USD 1.99 |
-33.4% |
423.7% |
0.204 |
||
GBP 0.01 |
-79.0% |
101.0% |
0.040 |
||
CAD 0.16 |
-46.7% |
300.0% |
0.013 |
||
CAD 0.08 |
-42.3% |
275.0% |
0.005 |
||
CAD 3.80 |
-45.7% |
68.9% |
0.095 |
||
USD 2.24 |
-53.5% |
190.9% |
0.077 |
||
NOK 1.47 |
-97.1% |
122.7% |
0.074 |
||
CAD 0.55 |
-65.6% |
168.3% |
0.034 |
||
AUD 0.32 |
-37.4% |
114.8% |
0.041 |
||
CAD 8.99 |
-43.8% |
199.7% |
0.214 |
||
CAD 0.18 |
-87.8% |
775.0% |
0.047 |
||
AUD 0.07 |
-58.9% |
289.5% |
0.016 |
||
Developer averages/total |
-50.6% |
277.1% |
18.644 |
||
Weighted averages |
|
-48.6% |
181.2% |
|
|
* 12-month |
|
|
|
|
|
Source: market data, compiled by Barry Sergeant |