SEG - Society of Economic Geologists

44 SEG NEWSLETTER No 90 • JULY 2012
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Exploration Reviews (Continued)
EXPLORATION REVIEWS
move from mining back to into exploration,
suggests that the company has a
confident view of the world uranium
price over the next decade.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics
(ABS) reports that during the October to
December quarter 2011, mineral exploration
expenditure in Australia increased
to A$945M, an increase of 35% over the
same quarter in 2010. However, the
actual meters drilled in Australia fell by
6% over the 12-month period. Of concern
is the fact that the proportion of
meters drilled on greenfields projects has
fallen since 2003 from around 45% to
just over 30%, while brownfields drilling
has increased from 55 to 70% over the
same period, suggesting that the appetite
for risk in the corporate game plan is
decreasing.
Now, a gentle reminder for those you
who have thought about a trip “Down
Under” – here is your excuse. The 34 th
International Geological Convention is
being held in Brisbane from 5 th to 10 th
August, and has a number of exciting
symposia covering many topics, including
mineral resources and mining, mineral
exploration geoscience, and mineral
deposits and ore forming processes—visit
www.34igc.org for more information.
See the online version of the SEG
Newsletter for lots of exciting exploration
news from the Australasian
region, and here are some of the highlights.
Yet again, Western Australia is
leading the pack, and our correspondent
there (Roger Thomson) has made a
first-class effort to report all the exciting
news from “the West.” Standout
announcements include the Northern
Star Resources bonanza intersection of
2.3 m @ 36 oz/t Au below its Paulsens
gold mine, the Integra Mining Cu-Au
discovery at Imperial in the Kalgoorlie
region, and the Fox Resources intersection
of 23.7 m @ 3.3% Cu at the Ayisha
project in the Pilbara. However, the
most exciting copper news is Straits
Resources’ discovery of the Avoca
Tank Besshi-style VMS deposit in NSW
with a best intersection of 84 m @
2.86% Cu (including 12 m @ 6.38%
Cu), with credits of Zn, Au, and Ag. Not
to be outdone, our friends in NZ have a
number of exploration successes,
including the announcement by the
Newmont/Glass Earth Gold joint venture
of a drill intersection of 15 m @
19.4 g/t Au at their WKP epithermal
project close to the Waihi gold mine.
EUROPE
Regional Correspondent:
Paul W. Kuhn (SEG 1983 F)
Avrupa Minerals Limited
Porto, Portugal
E-mail: paulk@avrupaminerals.com
Website: www.avrupaminerals.com
Spring has passed quickly and summer
is on us. The field season in mainland
Europe is well underway, and results
from early season work have already
found their way to corporate news
releases. From my first pass review of
more than 150 exploration and mining
companies, I see a lot of exciting activity.
As always, there is a lot of activity
to report from Turkey, Sweden, Finland,
Ireland, and Spain, but eastern and central
Europe, as a whole, are extremely
active right now, and surprisingly, even
Portugal is a busy place. I am beginning
to see more reports from the less mining
oriented (or formerly mining-oriented)
countries such as Germany,
Italy, England and Northern Ireland,
Greece, and even Austria.
Gold exploration is still the main pursuit.
Even with so-called price-of-gold
(POG) doldrums, many of the reporting
companies are truly looking for the pot
under the rainbow. Even though fundraising
is incredibly difficult for all of us
junior explorers, it is still possible to
raise some money for almost any really
good gold idea. For the rest of the precious
metal stories, though, it is indeed
difficult to do much. This may put a
damper on exploration later this summer,
unless there is a turnaround in the
junior markets. Given that market sentiment
is almost 100% negative, I
expect the turnaround at any time…
European recession fears and the lack
of strength of many of the EU members
are bullying the financial markets right
now, but with signs a European version
of QE1 or 2, or whatever, beginning to
show up with governmental changes in
France, Spain, Portugal, and (again) what -
ever in Greece, the POG will be ripe for a
good jump. Even today, as I write this
short note, US jobs data came out weaker
than the mainstream media expected and
the POG went back up over US$1,600/
ounce. Yessirree, step right-up and print
more money to race to see who can get
to the bottom first!! Good for POG!!
Still many companies are exploring
for other metals and products in Europe.
The copper price has been remarkably
resilient, considering the economic
malaise. Tungsten prices remain fairly
buoyant, if you can find an accurate
quote in this rather non-transparent
market, and I see the big zinc companies,
including European-based Nyrstar
and Glencore, among others, are buying
up whatever advanced projects that
they can find. Lundin Mining produces
zinc concentrates from a brand
new zinc plant at Neves Corvo in
Portugal. I do see less hype from the
REE sector in Europe, but in this case,
prices of the various elements are dropping
like the rocks that they come from.
My overall observation about the
European exploration theater is that new
interest is being driven by the re-opening
of a number of former mining countries.
The EU has only recently come to the
understanding that the resources it
needs and wants to drive what
economies are left (read Germany,
France, and England) will not necessarily
be available, as and when they are
needed. The realization that some of the
resources need to be produced locally,
where they are available, is late in coming,
but a real opportunity for responsible
explorationists and miners. Some of
the 150 or more companies working in
Europe are really taking advantage of the
fertile target areas in and around Europe.
SOUTH AMERICA
Regional Correspondent:
Mark I. Pfau (SEG 2004)
Tellurian Exploration, Inc.
E-mail: markpfau@fastmail.fm
Country Correspondent:
Regina Baumgartner-Peru (SEG 2008)
E-mail: regina.baumgartner@gmail.com
Three recent and unresolved conflicts
with governments in South America
should be a warning light for explorationists
on that continent. First, the
highly publicized takeover of Spanishowned
oil company YPF SA by Argentine
President Cristina Kirchner demonstrates
the length to which government
will go to force its political agenda on
to the resource sector. By raising a
ruckus in the media about nationalizing
YPF, the largest oil company operating
in Argentina, the company’s stock lost
50% of its value in the past year. Then,
the Kirchner government announced
that compensation would be based on
current market value of the company.