THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Phillips River Mining has entered into an agreement with Galaxy Resources to acquire four tenements of 3.1 square kilometres, located within the Ravensthorpe region of Western Australia.

The transaction involves the Mt McMahon tenements, situated four kilometres of Ravensthorpe.

Plan of tenements to be acquired. Source: Company announcement

“The tenements contain the prospective Mt Benson and Last Chance mines, which were historically the main producers from the Mt McMahon group,” Phillips River Mining said in its ASX announcement.

“The new tenements consolidate Phillips River tenure along the prospective Chidnup Fault zone, which is the focus of gold and copper mineralisation in the Achaean.”

The transaction, subject to certain conditions, also includes Galaxy’s interest in the Mosaic tenement, located 3km from the Kundip project, which contains shallow historic gold workings.

Phillips River will acquire the tenements through awarding Galaxy, at Philips River’s election, $250,000 in cash or the equivalent in fully paid ordinary shares based on the volume weighted average share price for Phillips River shares traded on the Australian Securities Exchange on each of the five consecutive trading days immediately preceding the completion date.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to:

–    The signing of deeds with the relevant native title claimants reflecting the change in ownership;

–    Obtaining Ministerial consent under the Mining Ac t 1978; and

–    Galaxy becoming the registered holder of the Mosaic Tenement. If this condition is not satisfied, then Phillips River has the right to exclude this tenement from the agreement and reduce the consideration to $231,000 or equivalent in Philips River shares. If all conditions are not satisfied or waived within six months then either party may terminate the agreement.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Indophil Resources has received a revised and upgraded mineral resource estimate for the Tampakan copper-gold project from project manager Xstrata Copper.

Indophil holds a 37.5 per cent beneficial interest in the Tampkan project located on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines.

Location of Tampakan copper-gold project. Source: Company announcement

The total estimated mineral resources (Measured, Indicated and Inferred) for the Tampakan deposit has risen from 2.49 billion tonnes at 0.6 per cent copper at a 0.3 per cent copper cut-off grade to 2.94 billion tonnes at 0.51 per cent copper at a 0.2 per cent copper cut-off grade.

Indophil said the figures represent a tonnage increase of 18 per cent over the previously reported October 2009 total resource estimates.

According to the report from Xstrata Copper has achieved a ‘significant increase’ the lift in the more-confident Measured and Indicated category, up from 1.69 billion tonnes to 2.27 billion tonnes.

This represents a 34 per cent increase in tonnage in the project’s Measured and Indicated category.

Estimated contained copper at Tampakan in total resources has risen from 13.9 million tonnes to 15 million tonnes while estimated contained gold has risen from 16.2 million ounces to 17.9 million ounces.

Indophil Resources chief executive officer Richard Laufmann acknowledged that even though the Tampakan deposit has already been identified as world-class, the new information contained in the Xstrata report confirmed its ranking as one of the most significant undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world.

“The enhanced level of confidence provided in this upgraded resource estimate for Tampakan is encouraging,” Laufmann said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“It is timely, and serves to restate the significance of this deposit to minerals development in the Philippines as the project partners work towards securing the range of approvals required to bring this important development to production.”

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Independence Group has completed an initial JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate for the Rosie nickel-copper-platinum group elements (Ni-Cu-PGE) sulphide deposit.

The Rosie deposit is situated within the Duketon Joint Venture with South Boulder Mines, from which Independence is earning 70 per cent of the nickel rights.

The Duketon Joint Venture is locted approximately 120 kilometres north of Laverton in Western Australia.

The new Resource Estimate for the Rosie deposit does not include the C2 mineralised zones located approximately 1.7km to the north west.

Rosie cross-section with mineralisation. Source: Company announcement

The total Rosie Mineral Resource above a one per cent nickel cut-off is currently estimated at 1.74 million tonnes at 1.7 per cent nickel (29,800 nickel tonnes), 0.4 per cent copper and 1.9 grams per tonne platinum and palladium.

According to Independence’s ASX announcement it has a further phase of exploration scheduled to commence at Duketon in February.

This will be testing a number of targets including:

Strike and depth extensions of the Rosie deposit targeting thicker, higher grade zones in the “Contact” mineralised domain;

Possible repeats of Rosie-style mineralisation between Rosie and the C2 disseminated nickel sulphide discovery 1.7km to the north west; and
Higher grade zones within C2.

Independence will be incorporating its proprietary Transient Electromagnetic (TEM) system, which it said had been instrumental in the initial discovery of Rosie, during the upcoming exploratory work.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Highlands Pacific has been advised by Xstrata Copper that the latter is set to exercise its US$10.8 million option over the high‐grade Nena copper/gold deposit in Papua New Guinea and include it in the Frieda River copper/gold project joint venture.

Highlands said it expects to receive the proceeds in the coming month, which will provide a healthy boost to its bank balance increasing it to approximately US$17m.

Until now the 51 million tonnes at 2.4 per cent copper Nena deposit has remained outside the Frieda River copper/gold joint venture.

The option dates back to a 2002 agreement between Highlands and Noranda, which was subsequently acquired by the Xstrata group.

By exercising this option, Xstrata Copper will hold 81.82 per cent interest (with Highlands 18.18 per cent interest) in the entire Frieda River project area inclusive of the major copper porphyry deposits such as Horse, Ivaal, Trukia and Koki and a number of other prospects within the Exploration Licence.

“Xstrata Copper exercising this option further demonstrates their belief in the potential of the Frieda River project,” Highlands pacific managing director John Gooding said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“This will take their project spend to date to over US$270m, and with the finalisation of the feasibility study this December, the total project spend will be approximately US$290m.”

“Including Nena, the Frieda River joint venture has a truly world class resource inventory of almost 11.6 million tonnes (25.6 billion pounds) of contained copper, 18.2 million ounces of gold and 49 million ounces of silver.

Highland’s 18.8 per cent share of this at 2.1 million tonnes (4.6 billion pounds) of contained copper, 3.3 million ounces of gold and 8.9 million ounces of silver is a significant endowment for a junior company and we have the benefit also that much of this inventory is in the highest resource confidence levels.”

Xstrata Copper is currently completing a Feasibility Study, which is required to be completed by 21 December 2012.

Highlands has been ‘free carried’ by Xstrata Copper through to 23 January 2012 (today), and will now be carried, under a carried funding loan arrangement, through to the lodgement of a Special Mining Lease application for the project.

THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Potash West has made inroads in its quest to identify a commercial process to produce potash from its Dandaragan Greensands project, located to the north of Perth in Western Australia.

Following a series of tests conducted over the past nine months, Potash West has defined two flowsheets that produced laboratory quantities of potassium chemicals, which the company considers to have the potential to be important ingredients in the production of fertilisers.

The company said it is now on target to finalise a flowsheet by mid-2012 which it views as a critical milestone in bringing Dandaragan into development.

“Our technical development program has identified a number of process options that we will further define in 2012,” Potash West managing director Patrick McManus said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.

“The prize of being able to economically extract potassium is so compelling that we will continue our investigation on a broad front.

“Our knowledge of glauconite processing has grown enormously, and now forms a valuable asset of the company.

“We are on track to have a flowsheet defined by July to enable us to commence a scoping study in the second half of 2012.”

By the end of 2011 Potash West had conducted over 280 individual tests aimed at developing workable flowsheets for potassium production.

Two flowsheets have been developed in enough detail to produce laboratory quantities of potassium chemicals.

One flowsheet produced potassium chloride, the other potassium sulphate.

Both flowsheets produced products of marketable quality.

Product quality, compared with commercial product. Source: Company announcement

McManus said that while it is still early days in the process development cycle, significant new and innovative intellectual property has been generated by the work undertaken to date.

“Computer modelling of the flowsheets has commenced to better define the mass and energy balances of the processes,” he continued.

“This will enable a preliminary economic appraisal to be undertaken.

“In line with the business plan outlined in the IPO prospectus, Potash West is aiming to have at least one process developed in sufficient detail to be the basis of a scoping study by mid-2012.”