New York based market expertise and investment consulting firm Arrowhead Business and Investment Decisions published a report on the potential of South Boulder Mines and its mining prospects. Find below an excpert and a link to the entire report.

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South Boulder Mines Limited is an Australian-listed exploration and development company focusing on multiple gold, nickel and fertilizer prospects primarily located in Western Australia and Eritrea in North East of Africa.

One of South Boulder’s main areas of focus is on its Duketon Greenstone Belt projects which contain the exciting new Rosie NiCu-PGE discovery. The company owns 100% of all gold prospects and participates in a farm-out Joint Venture with Independence Group NL (earning 70%) for nickel sulphide prospects within the same area.

South Boulder Mines Ltd has a 100% interest in the Colluli Potash Project located in the Danakil Depression region of Eritrea (Africa), approximately 200km south east of the Capital Asmara. In January 2011, South Boulder announced the maiden JORC/43-101 compliant resource estimate for the Colluli Potash project. It reported a Measured, Indicated and Inferred resource of about 548MT @ 19% KCl including 119MT @ 23% KCl (total contained potash of 102MT) located at <100m depth. It plans to increase the exploration target to 750MT – 1250 MT @ 18-20% KCl including 450MT – 750MT @ 20-23% KCl in the coming quarters.

South Boulder is currently conducting an engineering scoping study to ascertain the optimum potash processing capacity from 1MT to 10MT per annum. Arrowhead believes that this is a significant landmark which reduces the resource risk and improves the upside potential for the company.

South Boulder also has three (90-100%) owned fertilizer exploration projects in Western Australia. Given due diligence and valuation estimations based on discounted cash flow method, Arrowhead believes that South Boulder mines limited fair share value lies in the AS$6.25 to AS$29.95 bracket. iv This valuation is based solely on the Duketon Nickel and Eritrean Potash project and does not take account of the potential value of the company’s Terminator Gold prospect. We have also presented a comparable valuation based on Enterprise Value/resource and Enterprise Value /proposed capacity to ascertain the value the Nickel and Potash prospects respectively.

South Boulder Mines – Arrowhead BID Due Dillegence and Valuation Report

South Boulder Mines

South Boulder Mines Ltd is pleased to announce that diamond drilling has resumed at the Colluli Potash Project in Eritrea. The drilling is part of an expanded 5,000m exploration program designed to further define and extend known resources. The results will be incorporated into the current engineering scoping and feasibility studies.

To date approximately 1,407m of diamond core drilling has been completed at Colluli in 17 holes.

The planned locations of the first five diamond drill holes are shown in Figure 1. The location of additional drill holes for the program will be determined based on the new results.

In addition, a trial surface gravimetric survey has been completed with results currently being interpreted. Once outstanding drill results are received and interpreted together with the gravity data, the effectiveness of the gravity survey as a targeting tool will be assessed.

A number of key activities are planned to be completed over the coming months including;

• Receipt of outstanding potash assays from holes 006 – 017 which are expected in March/April;
• At the end of March drilling is planned to commence with a second rig that has the capacity to drill deeper and larger diameter core holes for geotechnical and metallurgical test work;
• An update to the initial resource is planned to be completed in May/June and will incorporate additional drilling, downhole geophysical logging and geotechnical/metallurgical data. It is expected there will be an increase to the current JORC/43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate of; o 547.62Mt @ 18.58% KCl (total contained potash of 101.73Mt); o Includes 119.21Mt @ 23.14% KCl;
• A mining engineering study into the optimum processing and production capacity from open pit mining is planned to be completed mid-year. The study will investigate a range of production scenarios ranging from 2Mt – 10Mt KCl p.a. Outstanding assay results and details on further exploration drilling will be released as they come to hand.

Outstanding assay results and details on further exploration drilling will be released as they come to hand.

Figure1 South Boulder

Investor Coverage

Recent investor relations, corporate videos and broker/media coverage on The Company’s projects can be viewed on the website in the “Media Centre” and “Investor Centre” sections by following the link www.southbouldermines.com.au.

About South Boulder Mines Ltd

Listed in 2003, South Boulder Mines (ASX: STB) is a diversified explorer primarily focused on potash, nickel and gold. South Boulder has a 100% interest in the Colluli Potash Project in Eritrea and a 100% interest in the Duketon Gold Project in Western Australia.

The Colluli Potash Project has a current JORC/43-101 Compliant Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 547.62Mt @ 18.58% KCl (total contained potash of 101.73Mt); Includes 119.21Mt @ 23.14% KCl; and an exploration target of 750Mt – 1.25 billion tonnes @ 18-20% KCl. The potential quantity and grade of the Colluli exploration target is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource (outside the area shown in Figure 1) and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource (outside the area shown in Figure 1). An engineering scoping study into open pit mining and processing to produce up to 10Mt p.a of potash is underway.

Within the Duketon Gold Project area, South Boulder entered a farm-out Joint Venture (JV) Agreement with Independence, whereby Independence can earn a 70% interest in the nickel rights on JV tenements held by South Boulder in the Duketon Project, by the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study within 5 years of the grant of the relevant tenement.

About the Nickel Joint Venture

The Duketon Nickel JV has had recent success at The Rosie and C2 Nickel sulphide prospects where drilling has defined intercepts of 5.20m @ 9.13% Ni, 1.09% Cu, 0.21% Co and 7.09g/t PGE’s at Rosie and 50m @ 0.92% Ni including 37m @ 1.05% Ni at C2. The deposits are located approximately 120km NNW of Laverton, W.A in the Duketon Greenstone Belt. The deposits are approximately 2km apart and the mineralisation at both prospects is considered open in most directions. A Mining Lease was granted over the Rosie and C2 deposits on the 19 th of November. The Mining Lease comprises a total of 19.13km 2 .

NGEX Eritrea

NGEx Resources Inc. (NGQ-TSX) (‘NGEx’ or the ‘Company’) announces major exploration programs underway in South America and Africa (please see attached project maps). The Company’s exploration budget is focused on large scale copper, gold, and potash targets that demonstrate the potential for world class discoveries.

In total, the Company and its partners are expecting to drill more than 20,000 meters by the end of September, 2011. This is a very significant amount of drilling for a company of our size and we believe that this program can create substantial value for shareholders by defining new mineral resources at our more advanced projects such as Los Helados, or by drilling the initial discovery drill holes on our new projects like the Bada potash project in Eritrea.

Three drill programs are in progress on copper-gold projects in South America with a fourth program scheduled to begin in April. In Eritrea drilling on both base metal and potash projects should start in April. Drilling on all programs is expected to continue through the first half of the year, with results released as they become available. In addition, Teck Resources Limited (“Teck”) plans a $4.5 million program on the Company’s GJ project in northern BC beginning in June. Around 45% of the approximately $17,000,000 expected to be spent on the company’s projects this year will come from its joint venture partners.

SOUTH AMERICA

Los Helados, Chile

Drilling is underway at NGEx’s 60% owned Los Helados project located east of Copiapo in Chile’s Region 3 where previous drilling defined a porphyry copper-gold system measuring about 1,000 meters by 600 meters and up to 700 meters thick and is open in several directions. The best grades intersected to date are associated with a large hydrothermal breccia located in the southern two thirds of the zone. Drilling this field season will focus on defining the higher grade portion of the system. See attached map for some previously released intercepts.

The prospect has recently been surveyed by deep penetrating IP-Resistivity to define zones of higher grade mineralization and any possible extensions to guide further drilling. Using two drills, the Company has completed approximately half of the initial 10 hole, 7,500 meter drill program to date. It is anticipated that this drill program will be extended with the objective of completing sufficient drilling to permit an initial resource calculation later this year.

Josemaria, Argentina

Drilling is also underway at the Josemaria project, located approximately 15 kilometers east of Los Helados in northern San Juan Province, Argentina. Josemaria has a previously announced NI 43-101 inferred resource of 460Mt @ 0.4% Cu and 0.3 g/t Au. This year’s drilling at Josemaria is focused on discovering extensions of the known deposit under post-mineralization cover and testing a strong chargeability anomaly north of the current resource. The current 2,500 meter drill program is funded by JOGMEC who are earning a 40% interest in the project. Approximately 1000 meters have been completed to date.

Filo del Sol, Argentina

A fourth drill is working at the 60% owned Filo del Sol project located approximately 12 kilometers south of Los Helados in San Juan Province, Argentina. Previous drilling at Filo del Sol has identified near surface copper oxides and gold within a large diatreme breccia. Most of the drilling to date has focused on shallow copper sulfate mineralization and deeper copper sulfide in the southern part of the project area. The main copper sulfate mineral, chalcanthite, is water soluble and potentially amenable to low cost heap leaching. Chalcanthite was an important component of copper production from Chuquicamata in the early part of the last century.

A recent review of drill data from Filo del Sol identified several compelling gold targets in the northern part of the project area. An initial 2,000 meter drill program will follow up some of the better gold results from previous drilling and as well as better define the extent of the near surface copper sulfate mineralization. The program will be extended as needed to follow-up any encouraging results.

Colmillos, Chile

Colmillos is an exciting early stage porphyry copper project located east of Ovalle, Chile. Mapping and sampling at Colmillos have defined a 4.3 kilometer trend of tourmaline breccia bodies, local visible copper oxide mineralization and anomalous copper and molybdenum geochemistry. Copper mineralized tourmaline breccias are a common feature of many major porphyry copper systems. An access road has recently been completed and an IP survey is underway. An initial drill program of up to 2,000 meters in 6 to 8 holes is planned for March.

AFRICA

Bada Potash, Eritrea

Initial mapping and geophysical surveying is underway on the Company’s recently awarded Bada potash license located approximately 35 kilometers from the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. NGEx’s license covers the northern portion of the Dallol evaporite basin which in Ethiopia hosts the historic potash deposits of Musley held by Sainik Coal Company, India and Dallol, held by Allana Resources, Canada. The Eritrean portion of the basin hosts the Colluli potash deposit which is currently being explored by South Boulder Mines of Australia. All three areas are being actively explored with resource estimates recently issued for all three projects. Recent results released by South Boulder Mines highlight the potential for shallow potash mineralization on the Eritrean side of the border.

NGEx’s license lies approximately 20 kilometers northwest of South Boulder’s license and covers the northwest extension of the same basin. Any discovery of potash on the Eritrean side of the border will have significant logistical advantages over deposits on the Ethiopian side because they have much closer access to the Red Sea coast.

NGEx has contracted experienced potash consultants and has begun an initial program of gravity and magnetic surveying to define the basin depth and geometry, to be followed by a reconnaissance diamond drilling program of approximately 1000 meters in three holes.

The initial drilling should be completed by the end of April and is expected to provide important information to guide a more extensive exploration program to commence before the end of the exploration season in July.

VMS, Eritrea

The Company holds approximately 650 square kilometers covering prospective stratigraphy near Nevsun Resources’ recently commissioned Bisha Mine. The successful development of the Bisha Mine has significantly increased investor confidence in Eritrea. The Company’s land position hosts the Hambok Deposit for which an initial NI 43-101 resource estimate was announced in 2009 as well as the high grade Aradaib discovery announced in 2010. Previously released drill results from Aradaib include 13 meters of 3.3% Cu, 5.6% Zn, 1.8 g/t Au, and 46 g/t Ag.

In late 2010 the Company completed a high resolution helicopter- borne electromagnetic, magnetic, and radiometric (VTEM) survey covering the Company’s entire land position. The survey was designed to identify volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VMS) mineralization beneath recent cover. Initial screening of the survey results has highlighted 18 anomalies to be geophysically modeled for massive sulfide bodies. A drill program to test targets generated by the VTEM survey and to follow-up on the positive results from Aradaib is planned for late in the first quarter of 2011. The size of the drill program will be determined once initial follow-up is completed.

CANADA

GJ Project, BC

GJ is a copper-gold project, located in northern British Columbia. The Company has optioned the project to Teck which has the right to earn an initial 51% by spending $12,000,000 by December 31, 2014 and up to a 75% interest by spending an aggregate of $44,000,000 by December 31, 2020. Teck has received internal approval for a $4.5 million exploration program consisting of ground geophysics and up to 5,000 meters of drilling. The objective of the program is to add to the previously reported NI 43-101 compliant resource and to test the potential for high grade copper-gold zones similar to those discovered at Imperial Metals’ nearby Red Chris project. Exploration is expected to begin in late June, 2011 and continue through to September.

Dr. Wojtek Wodzicki, P. Geo. (BC), President and CEO of NGEx, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the technical contents of this release.

On behalf of the Board,

Wojtek Wodzicki

President and CEO

NGEx Eritrea Projects

NGEx Canada Project

NGEx Vicuna Projects

Please find below an excerpt from an interesting article by Dr. Alex Cowie in  ‘Diggers and Drillers’ about South Boulder Mines, Eritrea, the Red Sea and the future potential of potash in terms of increasing global demand for fertilizer products needed to improve crop efficiency and agricultural output.

I’ll be up front about this. South Boulder is a speculative investment.

It may not be for the faint of heart. Its potash deposit is still in its infancy. And it’s two or three years until production. It’s also based in one of the riskier parts of Africa, Eritrea: a country that still disputes its border with Ethiopia.

So why have I bypassed my usual insistence on low-sovereign risk countries?

Because this potash deposit is too good to miss.

South Boulder is at early exploration stage of its 100% owned Colluli potash project. Progress has been very fast here. Drilling started on the edge of the Red Sea just six months ago, and the company has already announced its first resource figure of 548 million tonnes of potash. Let me put that in context. It is already almost half the size of Potash Corp’s 1132-million-tonne resource…  currently the largest in the world. Not bad for half a year’s work.

But what is even more remarkable is that this 548-million-tonne figure only factors in THREE of the 17 holes drilled so far. The other 14 are being tested right now. And the results will be factored into a new resource figure that you can expect to see before the end of March.

The company believes the resource figure will grow much higher, as they more than doubled the upper range of the exploration target to 1250 million tonnes. Whether this happens or not remains to be seen. But it would make it the largest deposit in the world. Is it really possible?  Let’s just say I reckon they’re being conservative! If you take into account that three holes has enabled a JORC compliant 548 million tonnes (Mt) inferred resource, you could infer 17 holes gets you to over 3100 Mt.

Of course, nothing is ever that simple in mining. But even if you halve that estimate – to be safe – you’re still looking at 1550 Mt. And that still exceeds Potash Corp’s figure.  And the company is planning a lot more drilling yet.I need to point out that most of this will be in inferred category, which is only the first hierarchy of resource classification. More good drilling results between the current holes will be needed to upgrade it to a ‘measured’ resource that you could be more confident of.

The 17 drill results so far have been very consistent. But this is typical of a deposit created by an ancient sea bed drying out. Millions of years ago this was an inlet of the Red Sea.

The land changed and the inlet was cut off from the sea. So it dried up into a twenty metre thick layer of potash, which then got covered over by a shallow layer of rock.

So it’s not like a gold or copper deposit where the grade can vary from one metre to the next. Potash deposits are more like a coal deposit, where you get a predictable blanket lying across the whole basin. It’s also important to point out that they have only scratched one small corner of their exploration license…..

To read the full article please visit http://www.portphillippublishing.com.au/osi/

Please note that Diggers and Drillers requires you to subscribe  to their paid content to be able to read the full article.

South Boulder Mines has released the Quarterly Operations Report for the quarter ending 31 Dec 2010.

To view the full report please Click here

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GOLD and potash/phosphate followers have a lot to think about.

First gold. So far this month, the yellow metal has lost 5.7 per cent of its value. Now, as regular Pure Speculation readers will know, this column is well and truly in the bull paddock when it comes to gold.

But that does not make us blind to evidence. So, if you are knee-deep in gold or gold stocks, you should know that this 5.7 per cent drop in January is the largest for the first month of the year since 1997, when it fell 6.3 per cent. Then it proved to be harbinger of worse to come: that year gold fell from $US358/oz to close at $US294/oz. This, of course, is not to say that we’ll see a repeat. Most unlikely in fact – but we thought we should point out what happened 14 years ago this month.

But we were cheered to see two penny stocks get a little interest today. Each Monday we’re trying to search through the 10c and under stocks for any signs of life. Well today Liontown Resources managed a 17.6 per cent gain to 10c (at time of writing) after reporting that it has entered a joint venture to look for gold in Tanzania. In our view, East Africa has been unjustly neglected while the other side of the continent has been getting all the gold glory.

Another sleeper stock, Rimfire Pacific Mining, lifted – again on thin trade – by 0.02c to 5.4c on news from its Sorpresa gold and base metal project near Fifield, NSW, and located on the same geological corridor as the Cadia and North Parkes copper-gold mines. (By the way, we read elsewhere today that gold companies are increasingly anxious to grab any gold projects where there is also the promise of copper.)

Trenching at Sorpresa has produced two assays above 70 grams/tonne gold. It’s early days but the words of executive chairman John Kaminsky are worth noting. “The fact that the Sorpresa area had not been discovered or mined previously yet has the capacity to contain such elevated gold grades continues to encourage the company that this area is very promising,” he said.

Also worth noting today was that Pacific Nuigini, which is headed by high profile mining figure Peter Cook, declared a new gold-silver-base metal discovery in Papua New Guinea. Sampling has produced a number of high grade assays up to 23.7 grams/tonne gold, 156g/t silver, 7.77 per cent zinc and 12.2 per cent lead. The stock was unchanged at 37.5c.

Meanwhile, South Boulder Mines posted a BBC report today on the looming world hunger crisis. STB pointed out that this could be good news for potash (and we would add phosphate, too) as countries race to increase food production.

The British Government issued a study, to which 400 experts contributed, claiming that the globe is facing a crisis of severe food shortages.

The report classified the DR Congo and Chad as “extremely alarming” in terms of future famines, with the “alarming” category including India, Tanzania and several other African countries. Mongolia was classed as “serious”. Plenty of others were on the next level of priority, including China.

There were also reports today that cabbage prices in South Korea are soaring, making the vegetable – which is used in the staple kimchi dish – unaffordable to many.

Not surprising then that Aguia Resources was up 22 per cent just before the close. The company already has phosphate in Brazil and has added potash deposits there. Brazil now imports the bulk of its fertiliser so there’s a ready local market.

brombyr@theaustralian.com.au

The writer implies no investment recommendation and this report contains material that is speculative in nature. Investors should seek professional investment advice. The writer does not own shares in any company mentioned.

The Ausralian

Australian finance and investment advisory house Gresham Advisory Partners Limited published the January edition of ‘Group 150′, a ranking of the top 150 ASX listed resources companies (excluding oil and gas), by market capitalisation. According to the report 2010 was an outstanding year for the resources sector. The total market value of the 150 best companies was $606 billion at the end of December, which was an increase of 5.9% compared to November and 16.1% year over year.

The latest edition of the benchmark report complied the top performance by market capitalisation and share price for the 12 month period (only including companies currently in the Group of 150) and a summary of the performance of the 66 resource IPO’s completed during 2010.

South Boulder Mines Ltd has been ranked amongst the top 10 of ‘Group 150′, a ranking of the top 150 ASX listed resources companies (exluding oil & gas) , by market capitalisation.

Listed in 2003, South Boulder Mines (ASX: STB) is a diversified explorer primarily focused on potash, nickel and gold. South boulder has a 100% interest in the Colluli Potash Project in Eritrea and a 100% interest in the Duketon Gold Project in Western Australia.

Within the Duketon Gold Project area, South Boulder entered a farm-out Joint Venture (JV) Agreement with Independence, whereby Independence can earn a 70% interest in the nickel rights on JV tenements held by South Boulder in the Duketon Project, by the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study within 5 years of the grant of the relevant tenement.

The entire report is available under: Gresham Report

South Boulder Mines commences trading after a news announcement that it upgrades its exploration target to 500 to 750 million tonnes of potash ores from the initial 300 to 500 million. More detailed reports on the new potash intersection are expected to be released in the coming days. The stock reacted with a daily gain of 9% and was the first time braking clearly the 3 AUD mark (3.39 AUD).

South Boulder Mines Eritrea

By Tim Boreham, The Australian

We suggest that 99 per cent of the room wouldn’t raise their arms, and those who do are fibbers or fertiliser tragics. Given the Big Australian’s ballsy ploy, we’ll be hearing much more about the potassium-rich substance that is as crucial to growing food as phosphate.

For the uninitiated — that is, the 99 per cent — potash is the catch-all name for various potassium salts. Most fertilisers consist of three core elements — nitrogen, phosphate and potassium — with the consistency varying according to the type of crop.

Potash global consumption stands at 50 million tonnes a year and unlike most raw materials Australia doesn’t produce an ounce of it. Production is dominated by Russia’s Silvinit and Uralkali, rumoured merger partners that account for more than half of global production. Traditionally, Germany has been the leading producer.

South Boulder Mines (STB) chief Morry Hughes says there are barriers to developing potash deposits, including their depth: the last new mine started in Germany in the late 1980s. But on the plus side they’re usually uniform in quality and also extensive. Potash Corp, the biggest single producer, acts as oil’s equivalent of an OPEC swing producer, curtailing or increasing production according to demand trends.

The global potash price has been favourable, hovering at about $US340 a tonne. This compares with the average $US620 a tonne at the 2008 peak, but is well up on the $US175 a tonne level of 2006.

As with phosphate, potash pricing was meant to be immune from the global financial crisis, despite the perception that fertiliser is immune from the cycles because everyone has to eat.

In truth it is more complicated: corn and palm oil growers created a spike in demand when oil prices soared because their product was being used for biodiesel.

Locally, there are three or four resource juniors playing in potash, although not necessarily exclusively in that commodity.

South Boulder Mines has been better known for its Duketon nickel venture in Western Australia with Independence Gold, but it’s also appraising its “world class” Colluli potash project in Eritrea.

South Boulder had a tenement at Lake Disappointment, next to fellow potash hopeful Reward Minerals (RWD), but native title difficulties sent the company scouring the world.

It settled on the emerging mining province of Eritrea, where potash has been used for centuries.

“We have been involved in potash for some time, which not many people have given us credit for,” Hughes says.

But with BHP getting into potash in a humungous way there are more investors coming on board. He estimates between 20 per cent and 25 per cent of South Boulder’s share base has been attracted by potash.

In a 50-50 venture with Rum Jungle Uranium, Reward is working two exploration leases over a 150km expanse in central Australia, from Lake Amadeus to Karinga Creek.

“An analogous model would be the Great Salt Lake in Utah, the largest potassium sulphate producer in the US, [or] the Dead Sea.”

Speaking of Utah, Transit Holdings (TRH) has earned a 75 per cent interest in a tenement spanning 390sqkm, in the state’s sparsely populated southeast. The parties are aiming for an “exploration target” of 2.3 billion tonnes.

Completing our potash troika, Elemental Minerals (ELM) recently started drilling on its Sintoukola project in the Republic of Congo, part of a four-year effort to take it to bankable feasibility stage.