Will 2015 be the year of the Resources Turnaround?

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THE CONFERENCE CALLER: There is probably no great surprise that the two worst performing sectors for 2014 were Energy and Resources.

However, the stark reality has not really been demonstrated to the masses in such brutal terms as a slide presented during his opening address to the 2015 RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle.

 

Obviously one of the key reasons the materials sector had such a bad trot has been the plunging of the price of iron ore, albeit having seemed to have settled at around US$60 per tonne.

“Iron ore is a key determinate of what the materials index does,” Patersons Securities resources analyst Jason Chesters told the opening morning crowd at the RIU Explorers Conference.

One aspect facing the resources sector for 2015, according to Chesters, will be the sector having to confront a continued phase of introspection, with cost savings being a necessity to conserve cash.

New resources projects will continue to be hard to get up and fund as the market maintains its current focus on the other darling sectors of property trusts and healthcare.

Chesters said that, in Patersons’ view, the worst of the commodity price falls, or corrections, have been and gone.

“For many commodities, the next 12 months we will see price increases instead of declines,” he said optimistically.

Chesters did acknowledge market sentiment towards resources is liable to remain negative for the immediate future as investors still feel the pain of the negative returns they have endured from the recent past.

This pain is most likely to be passed on to the junior exploration companies as they struggle to attract the funding needed to get their new projects up and running.

“Despite that, there are signs and there are cases where there are substantially cashed up off-shore funds, in particular private equity funds, that are looking to invest,” he said.

“But from an Australian perspective they are nervous about the currency loss, as they have seen the recent 13 to 24 per cent decline in the Australian dollar.

“So clearly they are still a little nervous about investing in Australian stocks.”

Chesters highlighted Patersons research which discovered that of the 600-plus explorers gracing the boards of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) less than half have little to no cash on hand.

 

The statistics show only 325 of these companies have more than $1 million in cash, two thirds of which have less than $500,000, 40 per cent have less than $250,000 and 25 per cent have less than $100,000.

“If all of those 325 companies were to raise money today – just $1 million to keep the lights on – would require $324 million of fresh capital.”

On a positive note the Patersons’ research found there are 39 of the 600-odd companies with net cash backing greater than 100 per cent of their market cap.

According to Chesters the recipe for a successful resources sector includes the following ingredients:

Global growth improving – The IMF forecasts global GDP growth of 3.5 per cent for 2015 (up from 3.3 per cent in 2014), rising to 3.7 per cent in 2016. Led initially by advanced economies;

Commodities with supply constraints maintain their appeal (copper, zinc, uranium, etc.);

Cost controls over the past few years coupled with lower energy prices should place companies in a stronger balance sheet position;

Merger and Acquisition activity – In the current depressed environment and with strong balance sheets, it may be more attractive to acquire than to discover;

Cash flows and yield remain an area of focus. Therefore production or near term production is preferred. The market remains focused on dividend yield in a low interest rate environment.

What the Analysts Say

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WHAT THE ANALYSTS SAY: Interesting news and views from across the Resource Analyst universe.

Website: www.beerandco.com.au

Company: Energia Minerals (PLS.EMX)

In June 2014, EMX announced it had purchased Mining Leases at Gorno, to facilitate its development.

Gorno has an Exploration Target of 6 million tonnes to 10 million tonnes at 7 per cent to 10 per cent zinc plus lead.

EMX is delivering
EMX has awarded a contract to rehabilitate the decline into Gorno. By September 2015, EMX will have under‐ground drill platforms to facilitate drilling to deliver a JORC resource.

EMX will then complete a feasibility study. Beer & Co expects this will be done by March and we expect first ore by December 2016.

Gorno Zinc project
Our valuation of Gorno is currently $107 million, based on:

Capital costs of €55 million, including feasibility studies to (re‐)develop a 500,000 tonne per annum mine and mill;

Operating costs of €19/t mining, €19/t milling, €4/t site admin, €6.5/t (of ore) for product transport plus €6/t sustaining capital (mostly mine development);

A mining inventory of 6.5 million tonnes grading 6.25 per cent zinc, 1.25 per cent lead and 4.5 grams per tonne silver, and then 1.5 million tonnes at 5.5 per cent zinc and one per cent lead; and

Our commodity prices are about the current levels for AUD‐USD and EUR-USD, with lead 95c/lb and zinc $1.05/lb, for most of the mine life.

We also assume that EMX brings the project into production after selling a 40 per cent stake in the project at a discount to NPV, at a time when zinc is expected to be in severe deficit.

Conclusions
EMX has near term exposure to zinc, which is projected to be in severe shortage by the end of 2015.

Beer & Co estimate that the value of EMX’s Gorno zinc project is about four times the current market cap of the company.

EMX has longer term exposure to uranium, with small expenditures until prices have recovered.

Despite the long lead time, with first product still 5 years away, Beer & Co estimate that EMX’s Carley Bore project has a positive NPV at spot uranium prices and a value of $75 million at current contract prices.

Website: www.paradigmsecurities.com.au

Company: Blackham Resources Limited (ASX: BLK)

Blackham Resources’ 1.3 million tonnes per annum Matilda gold project to produce 100,000 to 110,000 ounces per annum is coming closer to fruition with progress made on the mill rehabilitation process and the finalising of ore sources from the current 4.7 million ounce resource.

Exploration appraisals are also providing potentially significant new resources.

Higher A$ gold prices and the fall in the cost of mining contractor equipment and fuel costs should give this project even more attractive margins.

Blackham Resources has developed its Wiluna goldfield plant and resources into a significant intermediate size gold mining project.

The mill site and the mine development in open cut and underground sites have a replacement cost of well over $100 million in even today’s depressed market so the company’s achievements to date have been substantial.

BLK is well placed after the recent equity and seeks a potential debt funding package that would allow confirmation of mining reserves, development of open cut and u/ground mines and refurbishment of the mill and onsite plant.

Mine development will not only include the Matilda project open cuts but also high-grade free milling ores from nearby low capital cost open pits and underground at the Wiluna site to boost initial output through higher grades and lower unit gold production costs.

Gold production is expected by mid-2016 at a rate of at least 80,000 ounces per annum with higher numbers possible as grades and tonnes from these newly identified gold-in-quartz ores, such as the additional 120,000 ounces at 7.4g/t identified at the Golden Age reef at Wiluna, sweeten the mill feed.

BLK has also identified new ore potential of as much as 25 million tonnes at >3g/t (1.5moz) from 8 drill-ready targets and others that add as much as a further 3 million ounces to the current 4.7 million ounces.

Disclaimer: The above is intended as a guide only. The Roadhouse accepts no responsibility for investments made from this advice, successful or otherwise.

The views, opinions or recommendations of this article do not in any way reflect the views, opinions, recommendations, of The Resources Roadhouse.

The Roadhouse makes no representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the content. The content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Independent advice should be obtained from an Australian financial services licensee before making investment decisions.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it’s off to work we go

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Each week any number of junior exploration plays set out to drill their ground. Here’s a small selection of what’s been happening this week.

Drilling to start at Fisher East

Rox Resources (ASX: RXL) is preparing a number of new work programs for the company’s Fisher East nickel project in Western Australia.

The programs will take place in the first half of 2015 and are aimed at:

Expanding the known 3.6 million tonnes at 2 per cent nickel sulphide resources at Fisher East, specifically at Musket, Musket North and Cannonball;

Aircore drilling at the Cutlass prospect;

Undertaking VTEM and airborne magnetics surveys over the new Option ground south of the Cutlass prospect, with follow-up aircore drilling; and

Initiating the permitting process for a mining licence by commencing baseline environmental studies.

“The Scoping Study indicates that the project is low risk and financially robust, so we’re proceeding with expanding the resource base to add further value to the project,” Rox Resources managing director Ian Mulholland said.

“This will provide us with more options to select high grade ore for mining and processing early in the mine life.”

Drilling underway at Collerina

Helix Resources (ASX: HLX) has commenced a reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Collerina prospect in Central New South Wales.

The six-hole, 1000m RC drilling program is designed to test targets derived from recently completed DHEM surveys.

The target zone lies within a VMS system Helix identified with initial drilling late last year.

This initial program was broad spaced drilling and identified an open‐ended 350 metres of strike containing copper, zinc, silver and gold mineralisation returning better than one per cent copper results.

Off‐hole DHEM conductors were recently modelled down dip/plunge from previous drilling that returned:

14m at 4 per cent copper within 29m at 2.2 per cent copper from 80m.

This part of the mineral system was not tested by the previous drilling.


Drilling campaign underway at Banfora Gold Project

AusQuest Limited (ASX: AQD) announced exploration activities, including plans to drill up to 39,000 metres of Reverse Circulation (RC) and 150,000m of shallow auger drilling during 2015, have commenced at the company’s Banfora Gold Joint Venture project in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

AusQuest has been advised of the exploration program by its joint venture partner, Ressources Burkinor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TSX-listed SEMAFO Inc.

The program is being managed by Burkinor and is planned to continue throughout the year.

“The company is very pleased to see such a significant expenditure commitment being made by Burkinor to the Banfora gold joint venture areas during 2015,” AusQuest managing director Graeme Drew said.

“This will give AusQuest exposure to a substantial West African gold exploration venture with the potential to deliver strong news flow and great discovery potential – building on the work that has been done in Burkina Faso over the past few years.”


Pit Design and Aquifer Drilling

TNG Limited (ASX: TNG) has commenced geotechnical drilling at the company’s Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project in the Northern Territory.

The work is part of mining studies being conducted and overseen by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants, which will facilitate the completion of the Mount Peake Feasibility Study by the middle of 2015.

The program will comprise six diamond drill holes, and will be conducted over the next several weeks.

Immediately following this, TNG will carry out a water drilling program in the broader Mount Peake area to locate a suitable source of water for the mining operation, camp supply and magnetite processing plant.

This is an important component of the Feasibility Study, which will allow the study to be delivered by mid-year.

“We are now in the final stages of completing the Mount Peake Feasibility Study,” TNG Limited managing director Paul Burton said.

“With the geotechnical and aquifer drilling underway, we are steadily ticking all the boxes towards completion with the information flowing from this drilling representing a critical input into our mining plans and conversion of resources to Ore Reserves.”

MacPhersons adds more ounces at Nimbus-Boorara

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: MacPhersons Resources (ASX: MRP) has increased the Boorara deposit at the company’s Nimbus-Boorara silver-gold-zinc project near Kalgoorlie by 47 per cent, taking it to 10.8 million tonnes at one gram per tonne gold for 340,000 ounces of gold.

MacPhersons said the expanded JORC Mineral Resource, calculated by independent consultants, CSA Global, has delivered a higher level of measured and indicated resource (74 per cent).

The new numbers have increased the company’s confidence that the Boorara tonnes will convert to mining inventory and further extend the forecast life of Boorara as it should provide further ore for the heap leach portion of the overall Nimbus-Boorara project.

MacPhersons indicated it is on schedule to deliver the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) on Nimbus-Boorara by June this year, which it believes will ensure it remains on schedule to commission the project in the December Quarter, 2016.

MacPhersons is also awaiting the Nimbus Mineral Resource Estimate currently being put together by CSA Global.

MacPhersons expects this estimate will result in an increased inventory and an extension to the project’s current 5.5-year mine life when it is released in April this year.

“This Resource increase at Boorara justifies our confidence in our ability to grow the project’s inventory and mine life,” MacPhersons Resources managing director Morrie Goodz said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“In parallel with this highly successful exploration program, we are continuing to reduce costs while ensuring that we remain on schedule for commissioning late next year.”

Email: info@mrpresources.com.au

Website: www.mrpresources.com.au

Northern Star outbids Metals X for Tanami project

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Northern Star resources (ASX: NST) has trumped Metals X (ASX: MLX) to win the backing of the Board of Tanami Gold (ASX: TAM) for the acquisition of Tanami’s Central Tanami project (CTP).

Earlier this month Tanami had struck a binding conditional joint venture heads of agreement with Metals X in regards to the project.

Just as the ink was drying on the deal, Northern Star has swooped in with, what Tanami described to be, “an unsolicited alternative proposal”.

“After careful consideration, (the Board of Tanami) is of the opinion (the NST offer) is superior to the transaction contemplated by the Metals X HoA and that the Tanami Board intends, subject to there being no superior proposals, to vote in favour of the NST Transaction and against the Metals X transaction,” Tanami Gold said in its ASX announcement.

“The Tanami Board is pleased to advise that it has entered into binding conditional joint venture heads of agreement with Northern Star pursuant to which, Northern Star will progressively acquire a 60 per cent joint venture (JV) interest in the CTP.”

The terms of the Northern Star Heads of Agreement include:

Northern Star will, at completion, acquire a 25 per cent initial interest in the CTP for a payment of $20 million, comprising of:

An $11 million cash payment; and

The issue of approximately 4.29 million fully paid ordinary shares in Northern Star.

“The Directors of Tanami have carefully considered the terms and conditions of both the Metals X transaction and the Northern Star transaction and, in their opinion, the Northern Star transaction is superior to the Metals X transaction,” Tanami said.

Both deals are to be voted on at a shareholders general meeting, however the directors of Tanami have made their position clear and it would appear as through the Metals X deal is to be voted down.

Email: tanamigold@tanami.com.au

Website: www.tanami.com.au

ABX puts final shine on Bald Hill

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THE INSIDE STORY: Australian Bauxite Limited (ASX: ABX) recently commenced mining activity at the company’s Bald Hill bauxite mine in northern Tasmania.

Reaching such a stage for any mining company from the small end of town in the present environment is no small feat, especially when you throw achieving such a significant milestone on schedule and below budget into the mix.

Bald Hill is the company’s first of its ‘Eastern Australian Bauxite Province’ projects to be commissioned.

 

Some people may be surprised to learn that the Bald Hill mine is the first bauxite mine to be developed on the Apple Isle.

The same people will be just as surprised to learn that Bald Hill is, in fact, the first bauxite mine to be developed in Australia in over 35 years.

With operations kicking off at Bald Hill in December 2014, ABX has seamlessly made the transition from mine developer to producer.

“In 2006 our exploration efforts led us to the discovery of gibbsite-rich bauxite in Eastern Australia – similar to bauxite exported from Indonesia,” Australian Bauxite CEO and managing director Ian Levy told The Resources Roadhouse.

“We embarked on our Initial Public Offering to list on the ASX in 2009 only 3 weeks after Indonesia passed laws banning bauxite exports from 2014.  

“Throughout this entire time our aim was to start a project by the second half of 2014, which we managed to achieve with the project starting 9 December 2014.”

Mining of two bauxite pits at Bald Hill carried out by ABX during January 2015 has already stockpiled thousands of tonnes of ore.

“We are now producing final product bauxite and from the get go we were ahead of schedule,” Levy said.

“We are making good progress and our shipping schedule commences in the second quarter 2015, as we build up large product stockpiles, sufficient for daily rail deliveries and monthly shipments.

“From there we will enlarge the daily rail shipments down to the port to build-up large enough tonnages for the largest ships we will be using at about 60,000 tonnes.

“Our plan is to bring into Tasmania – through Bell Bay Port north of Launceston – the largest ships that have ever been used in the state – initially on a monthly basis, then twice-monthly.”

 

ABX plans to ship around 0.5 million tonnes of bauxite in its 1st year and increase that figure to two million tonnes per annum in 2017-2018 by opening up additional bauxite operations at Fingal Rail and DL-130.

The company is determined to contribute to Australia’s well-deserved reputation as the world’s largest miner of bauxite.

The wide brown land has produced a great deal of the bright red commodity, pumping out 32 per cent of global production in 2011 alone.

In its Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources 2012 report, Geoscience Australia said bauxite resources at Weipa in Queensland and Gove in the Northern Territory rank amongst the world’s highest grade deposits.

The report also named major deposits located in Western Australia – being in the Darling Range, the Mitchell Plateau and at Cape Bougainville, of which the latter two have not been developed.

According to Geoscience Australia the bauxite mines in the Darling Range have the world’s lowest grade bauxite ore mined on a commercial scale (around 27 to 30 per cent aluminium oxide), which despite the low grades, accounted for 23 per cent of 2011 global alumina production and is amongst the lowest cost producer of alumina, mainly because it is gibbsite-bauxite, like ABX’s.

Historically all of this bauxite had been used in vertically integrated business strategies all the way through from the mining of the bauxite through to it refined by in-house alumina plants.  There was no market price for bauxite and no possibility of seaborne bauxite trade.
 
Then, China emerged as a dominant player in the aluminium industry moving from zero percentage of the world’s production to 55 per cent in the space of 16 years.

To expedite this, China built facilities based on imported gibbsite-bauxite – mainly from Indonesia, which worked well enough until Indonesia banned bauxite exports on 12 January 2014.

“China used its own domestic bauxite for just over half of its production, but the coastal producers, particularly in Shandong and Henan Province, built low temperature alumina plants similar to those in Western Australia,” Levy said.

“To feed these plants China relied on imported low-temperature gibbsite type bauxite from Indonesia.”

In anticipation of the ban China has reportedly stockpiled 12 month’s supply of bauxite, which is thought to be mostly low-quality and lower than official figures suggest, however pundits suggest it should be able to last for most of 2015.

The bauxite ABX is producing from Bald Hill in Tasmania is similar to that sold by traditional bauxite suppliers, Indonesia and India, in that it is gibbsite-rich bauxite.

This places it in the premium-priced category, as ‘low-temperature’ gibbsite-rich bauxite, often called THA or trihydrate bauxite, and enables the Chinese plants to fully-benefit from the cost benefits of the low-temperature refining process.

ABX bauxite is also valued for its low silica content, which is a major contaminant problem for bauxite suppliers.

“At the moment it appears everything seems to be going our way,” Levy said.

“When we published our business plan in 2012, we had built into it a weakening Australian exchange rate – to as low as US85 cents – and an increasing bauxite price in the order of $70 per tonne CIF China, both are currently better than that estimate.

“So overall we picked the market pretty much right and we’re even getting an unexpected added benefit from all-time low shipping costs nowadays.

“Now we need to ramp up production as fast as we can to capitalise on this once-in-a-lifetime market opportunity.”

ABX’s Australian bauxite vision reaches far beyond the shores of Tasmania to encapsulate, what the company describes as its Eastern Australian Bauxite Province.

ABX’s portfolio consists of 37 fully-owned bauxite tenements in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania covering 5,029 square kilometres.

The company’s selection criteria includes: good quality, gibbsite-rich, low silica bauxite; near infrastructure connected to export ports (eg. ABX’s DL 130 deposits in northern Tasmania are within 75km of the Bell Bay Export Port); and free of socio-environmental constraints.

As well as Bald Hill, the company has also reported Mineral Resources at Inverell and Guyra in northern NSW, Taralga in southern NSW, Binjour in central QLD with total JORC resources exceeding 116 million tonnes.

All of these bauxite deposits are favourably located for direct shipping of bauxite to both local and export customers.

“The Binjour project in Queensland is still the company’s flagship,” Levy stressed.

“It is probably the best bauxite investment in the Pacific Basin that isn’t already owned by one of the major mining companies.

“However it does have a much higher capital cost at $150 million and we will be exploring there around the middle of the year.

“All I can say at this stage is – watch this space – it is a major project.

“We completed a raising in November 2014 of $3.75 million, much of which was specifically designated for the exploration at Binjour – it’s all looking good.”

Australian Bauxite Limited (ASX: ABZ)
…The Short Story

HEAD OFFICE
Level 2
131 Macquarie Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Ph: +61 2 9251 7177
Fax: +61 2 9251 7500

Email: corporate@australianbauxite.com.au
Web: www.australianbauxite.com.au

DIRECTORS
Ian Levy, Paul Lennon, Ken Boundy

Doray includes Suzie to increase Andy Well Resource

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Doray Minerals (ASX: DRM) has released a maiden high-grade Resource for the Suzie Zone, situated within the company’s Andy Well gold project in the northern Murchison region of Western Australia.

The Suzie Zone is located parallel to the operating Wilber Lode underground mine and the Judy Lode, which is on scheduled to commence underground mining in the not-too-distant future.

The Suzie Zone Resource is the third high-grade gold deposit Doray has defined at Andy Well since its discovery of the high-grade Wilber Lode gold deposit in 2010.

The Indicated and Inferred Resource for the Suzie Zone comprises 468,000 tonnes at 8.1 grams per tonne gold for 123,000 contained ounces.

The Andy Well Resource inventory has now been increased to over 500,000 ounces from three deposits.

With the inclusion of the recently-acquired high-grade Deflector gold-copper-silver deposit, the total Doray Resource inventory is now over 1.1 million ounces.

“This high-grade Resource at Suzie takes the total Andy Well Resource to over half a million ounces for the first time, in addition to the production of about 130,000 ounces so far, and is further evidence of the mine life upside at Andy Well with systematic exploration,” Doray Minerals managing director Allan Kelly said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“When combined with the newly acquired Deflector deposit, Doray now has over one million ounces at almost 8 grams per tonne, a fantastic high-grade Resource Inventory.”

Doray indicated ongoing resource Extension Work at Andy Well is to include near-mine exploration, with a view to continuing to replace Resources depleted due to mining and to extend the known mine life.

Underground drilling is currently underway to test below the current base of the Wilber Mineral Resource, above deep intersections encountered by Doray last year.

The company also flagged underground drilling underneath the current Judy Resource area, which will be undertaken early in the 2016FY as access is gained from the Judy link decline.

Having completed the calculation of the maiden Mineral Resource at Suzie, Doray has engineering evaluation work underway to evaluate the potential for small scale open pit mining, scheduled to complement the current stage 2 open pit campaign at Wilber.

In anticipation of a positive outcome from those studies, Doray has commenced required permitting for open pit mining at Suzie.

Further evaluation work will be carried out to evaluate the potential for underground mining of the deeper sections of the Suzie Lode.

Email: info@dorayminerals.com.au

Website: www.dorayminerals.com.au

Kin Mining secures $1M funding deal

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THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Kin Mining (ASX: KIN) has signed a Binding Term Sheet for an investment of up to $1 million to take advantage of an early stage mining opportunity at the Lewis prospect, located within the company’s Cardinia project area.

Kin Mining managing director Trevor Dixon said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This funding arrangement allows Kin to take advantage of an early stage mining opportunity at the Lewis prospect.

“Our focus is to transition Kin to a gold producer in a gold precinct that is renowned for gold production.

The Lewis trial mining area represents an outstanding opportunity which has undergone extensive preliminary mine planning, providing a clearly defined pathway to production.

“Previous mining at Cardinia was extremely successful as the mined grades were better than expected.”

Kin Mining acquired the Leonora gold project one year after the company listed on the ASX, after Navigator Resources appointed voluntary administrators due to operating difficulties at the Bronzewing Mine.

The Leonora gold project boasts Indicated and Inferred Resources of 12.29 million tonnes 1.9 grams per tonne gold for 745,000 ounces of gold.

As part of the Leonora gold project, the Cardinia project area hosts the Cardinia Resource, which totals 4.8 million tonnes at 1.3g/t for 200,000 ounces of gold.

Email: info@kinmining.com.au

Website: www.kinmining.com.au

PharmAust updates PPL-1 trial progress

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THE ROADHOUSE PHARMACY: PharmAust Limited (ASX: PAA) reported an update to its ongoing anticancer drug trials, in which it claims a further patient analysed for levels of the p70S6K tumour marker has demonstrated a reduction following oral treatment with PPL-1.

The company said preliminary analysis of pharmacokinetic serum levels of PPL-1 in patients receiving the drug in trial at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) has confirmed absorption following oral dosing and indicates PPL-1 is active in the high nanomolar range, which is similar to other cytotoxic drugs used during chemotherapy.

“Even though we are dealing with small numbers of patients in our analyses so far, it is exciting to see that we have achieved a statistically significant drop in p70S6K levels in white blood cells in the 5 patients examined so far (p<0.001 at day 3 of dosing),” PharmAust executive chairman Dr Roger Aston said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“It is furthermore encouraging that the reduction in the p70S6K tumour marker appears to correlate with blood levels of the drug.

“The Clinical Research staff monitoring the trial, have not noted any serious adverse events further supporting the low side-effect profile of PPL-1.”

PharmAust explained that p70S6K is thought to be a marker and indicator of the aggressive behaviour and prognosis of carcinomas.

Overexpression of p70S6K is generally associated with aggressive disease and poor prognosis among cancer patients and patients with elevated p70S6K often have poor survival rates and metastases.

Reductions of p70S6K in blood cells may reflect blocks to tumour progression.

PPL-1 is an approved veterinary drug launched in recent years by one of the leading global animal health corporations for the treatment of parasitic diseases in sheep.

PharmAust, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Pitney Pharmaceuticals Pty Limited, owns patents on the use of PPL-1 in cancer and malignant disease.

Website: www.pharmaust.com

Senex claims new oil discovery at Martlet North-1

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THE ROADHOUSE BOWSER: Senex Energy (ASX: SXY) announced a Namur oil discovery at Martlet North-1, located on the western flank of the South Australian Cooper Basin.

The Martlet North-1 exploration well (PRL 148: Senex 60 per cent and operator, Beach Energy (ASX: BPT) 40 per cent) spudded on 29 January 2015.

Senex said the well had been designed to evaluate the oil potential of the Namur Sandstone, with a secondary target in the Birkhead Formation.

The well encountered oil shows in the target reservoir.

Senex explained that a subsequent evaluation of logs indicated vertical net pay of 3.2 metres.

The well also encountered oil shows in the Birkhead Formation.

The well is located approximately 1.1 kilometres north-west of Martlet-1 which is producing from the Namur horizon and has been cased and suspended as a future Namur oil producer.

“The timing of a tie-in to the Martlet-1 infrastructure will be subject to field development planning over both fields to achieve the most economical development scenario,” Senex said in its ASX announcement.

Website: www.senexenergy.com.au