Mining Indaba

South Boulder Mines Managing Director and CEO Lorry Huges is going to present on Wednesday, 8th February at 11:30am at  the 18th Annual Investing in African Mining Indaba Convnetion in Cape Town.

The Mining conference will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from the 6th-9th of February 2012. With some 6500 professionals, representing more than 1000 international companies and about 45 African and non-African government delegations from all the major mining countries of the world, Mining Indaba is the sector’s largest gathering of influential decision-makers, financiers, investors (institutional, hedge funds, sovereign funds, merchant banks, stock exchanges, and commodities exchanges), stakeholders, mining professionals and governments.

Mining Indaba’s delegations represent 100 countries across four continents. From chief executive officer of the world’s largest mining company to chief investment officers of renownded international banks, you will find an elite gathering of professionals all interested in one common deonominator – fuelling investments in the African mininv value chain.

South Boulder Mines Ltd recently announced the appointment of Mr Flavio Garofalo in the new role of Chief Financial Officer, effective from February 2012.

Mr Garofalo is an experienced finance and corporate executive who has over 20 years experience in the mining industry and was previously Chief Financial Officer and Finance Director for Kagara Ltd.

Mr Lorry Hughes CEO and MD of South Boulder said that “The appointment of Mr Garofalo reflects the growth of South Boulder as it continues the transition into a significant potash producer from the Colluli Potash Project in Eritrea. Mr Garofalo has successfully undertaken the transition of a number of listed companies from developer to producer and has strong financial links and experience from within the Asia region.”

In addition Mr Garofalo will make significant strategic contributions to South Boulder’s development of the Duketon nickel and gold projects and the planned in specie distribution of the assets to shareholders.

For more information visit: Mining Indaba

Mines and Money London 2011, December 6-7, Business Design Centre, Islington, London.

With London’s established prominence as the financial partner in the global mining industry, Mines and Money London is an invaluable channel for the global mining industry to cultivate long term partnerships with the city’s mining stakeholders and investors.

Mines and Money London brings together some of the most influential decision makers within mining companies, the investment community, governments and professional services.

Recognised as the best international forum for networking in London, Hong Kong, Beijing and Sydney, these events are fixtures in the diaries of industry leaders. Amongst the exhibitors: South Boulder Mines, Sunridge Gold, Chalice Gold and others with projects in Eritrea.

http://www.minesandmoney.com/london/

Geocongress Asmara

As part of the Arabian Nubian Shield, Eritrea is now being acknowledged for its substantial mineral potential that ranges from VHMS polymetallic deposits associated with NeoProterozoic rocks of this Shield, to epithermal gold and Potash deposits in the younger Red Sea Rift-related sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Tertiary and Quaternary Periods.

The commencement of commercial production of the first modern mine at Bisha and the presence of different advanced projects of gold at Koka (Chalice Gold Mines, Zara project), base metal and gold deposits at Debarwa, Embaderho and Adi Nefas (SunRidge Gold Corp., Asmara Project) together with that of the Potash deposit at the Denakil Depression (South Boulders, Colluli Potash Project) makes Eritrea an attractive destination for potential metallic and non-metallic minerals exploration and mining.

In an attempt to promote the exploration and mining activities of the country and the region in general, the Ministry of Energy and Mines is organizing the Second Asmara GeoCongress 2011, to be held in October 4-8, 2011 in Asmara. The Ministry hereby invites all interested parties to attend the Congress.

The objective of the GeoCongress is to bring together earth scientists, mining experts, investors, service providers and regulators, to share experiences and to discuss, on current activities of exploration, mining and on various topics of interest. The event will provide a good opportunity for the participants to gather valuable information on recent views on the evolution of the geology of the region, new techniques and approaches in exploration and mining for metallic and nonmetallic minerals, and the social, environmental, financial and legal challenges associated with exploration and mining activities.

The GeoCongress is also expected to promote the mineral resources of the Shield and enhance regional cooperation and coordination. SUNA reports that Sudan’s Ministry of Minerals is going to take part in the Geocongress in Asmara and that the two sides will secure the  border mining projects and share data and experience on the Arabian Nubian Shield.

Themes

• Geology and evolution of the Arabian Nubian Shield
• Geological, geochemical and geophysical techniques of Mineral exploration
• Mining Techniques in the region
• Social and Environmental Aspects of mining activities
• Financial and Legal aspects of exploration and mining activities

Activities (Programs)

• Two days of presentations
• Tour to exploration and mine sites
• Excursion to the pristine waters of the Red Sea Coast including a train ride to Massawa.

The Geocongress Asmara 2011 is organized by the Eritrean Ministry of Energy and Mines.

South Boulder Mines Ltd (ASX; STB) is very pleased to report that together with JV partner Independence Group NL (ASX; IGO) further highly significant Ni-Cu-PGE assays have been returned from the Rosie Prospect including a very high grade Palladium interval.

Diamond hole TBDD100W1 intersected downhole intervals of;

• 6.53m @ 2.87% Ni, 0.57% Cu, 0.08% Co and 6.00g/t 6PGE’s from 588.47m including;
• 3.77m @ 4.17% Ni, 0.67% Cu, 0.12% Co and 9.51g/t 6PGE’s from 589.23m including;
• A “massive sulphide” intercept of 0.81m @ 9.76% Ni, 1.15% Cu, 0.17% Co and 7.77g/t 6PGE’s from 589.23m including;
• 0.40m @ 2.26% Ni, 0.61% Cu, 0.29% Co and 45.93g/t 6PGE’s from 590.84m includes 44.8g/t Pd.

Further, diamond hole TBDD107 (results awaited) intersected a total downhole intercept of ~2.0m of massive and brecciated sulphides from ~509.5m (Figure 2). Preliminary geological logging has indicated there is ~1.5m of low MgO ultramafic rock between the 1.5m and 0.5m massive sulphide zones. The massive sulphides are within a larger zone with a combined downhole thickness of ~10m containing mostly disseminated, blebby, massive, breccia and stringer sulphides.

The position of the TBDD107 intercept is located ~50m above hole TBDD087 which intersected 4.55m @ 4.05% Ni, 0.70% Cu and 4.50 g/t 6PGE’s from 575.31m downhole (Figure 1). Hole TBDD087 contained 1.05m of massive sulphides with the assay grading 8.9% Nickel.

Diamond hole TBDD100W2 intersected a downhole interval of;

• 4.01m @ 1.32% Ni, 0.25% Cu, 0.09% Co and 4.73g/t 6PGE’s from 646.21m.

The results further confirm the overall continuity of significant mineralisation at Rosie.

The diamond drilling is part of a major resource definition program designed to test the continuity of mineralisation on a nominal 80m x 80m and 80m x 40m pattern. The drill out is currently utilising two rigs, will drill ~20 holes and is expected to take ~3 months to complete.

In addition a ~7,000m air-core program has commenced and is designed to test the interpreted western ultramafic contact. The program will also test interpreted extensions to the ultramafic unit that hosts the Rosie mineralisation (Figure 3).

Details on updated drill hole designs and further exploration results will be released as they come to hand.

For more information visit : South Boulder Mines

South Boulder Mines Ltd (ASX;STB) reports that significant preliminary potash assays have been returned from drilling conducted within the current compliant Mineral Resource estimate area in Eritrea.

The results continue to confirm previous visual field estimates of mineralisation and provide encouragement that an economic open pit mine can be developed. Extensive mineralisation has been defined to date as detailed in the ASX release dated 19 January 2011.

In addition significant potash mineralisation has been intersected in new diamond drilling to the southeast of the current resource. Drilling is continuing as part of a 5000m exploration program designed to define and extend known resources. The result will be incorporated into the current engineering scoping and feasibility studies.

For more information visit: Release

SYDNEY (Dow Jones) — The Australian share market retreated from a five-day high Tuesday to close mixed despite a rise in offshore markets. Falls in financial and energy stocks offset gains in materials and consumer staples.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 5.3 points, or 0.1% at 4826.4. Trading volume was solid, after Monday’s technical glitch crimped activity.

According to Dow Jones Newswires technical analysis, the index has support from a weekly uptrend line at 4820.0 and minor resistance at 4880.0. The near-term target remains 5070.0, based on a bullish triangle pattern.

Overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% on stronger-than-expected U.S. personal income and manufacturing data, as well as a stabilization in crude oil prices after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait said they could make up for any lost production in Libya.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 was up 1.2% and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.8%. However, traders said geopolitical tensions in North Africa and the Middle East remained a constraining factor for the Australian equities market.

“The market is in limbo because there’s a fair bit of uncertainty on the geopolitical front,” said IG Markets Strategist Ben Potter. “While there wasn’t anything new in from the Middle East and North Africa overnight, you are not seeing money flow out of save-haven assets like oil and gold, so you are not seeing risk bets back on in a big way.”

In the financial sector, major banks fell 0.1%-1.1% and QBE Insurance fell 0.9% to A$17.98. Among materials, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto rose 0.6% to A$46.37 and 0.5% to A$85.31, respectively, while Equinox Minerals fell 6.1% to A$5.84 after it made a US$4.9 billion hostile bid for Lundin Mining.

In mid-caps, Lynas Corp surged 8.2% to A$2.11 on an upbeat investor presentation. At the smaller end, CuDeco jumped 7.7% to A$3.49 after announcing that it had entered into a contract with China’s Sinosteel to supply the three-million-metric-ton-per-annum mineral processing plant for the Rocklands Group Copper Project near Cloncurry in Queensland state.

South Boulder Mines surged 9.3% to A$6.00 as its investor roadshow moved to Toronto, where the Potash prospect is presenting at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada.

Origin Energy fell 57 cents to A$16.13 after going ex-dividend 25 cents. Elsewhere in the sector, Santos fell 1.5% to A$14.13, although Nymex April crude oil futures were up 47 cents at US$97.44 in Asian trading.

Among consumer staples, Woolworths and Wesfarmers rose 0.6%-0.8%. February retail trade rose 0.4%, slightly above expectations, while Australia’s February manufacturing PMI rose above the 50.0 threshold for expansion of activity for the first time in the past six months. The data had no impact on the market.

The Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates steady at 4.75%, as expected.

JPMorgan strategists said the Australian share market had demonstrated a “glass-half full” approach to companies facing cyclical challenges in the recent earnings period.

“It makes sense that investors are becoming more willing to look through cyclical challenges,” said the broker. “The soggy nature of the Australian economy is well known and the household savings rate is already high, providing something of a buffer against further deterioration.”

WSJ

Nevsun Resources Ltd and South Boulder Mines Ltd will be presenting at the annual International Convention and Trade Show of Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) in Toronto.

Both companies have promising mining projects in the Red Sea State of Eritrea. Nevsun has just announced that its Bisha mine has reached commercial production in February 2011 and South Boulder Mines spectacular share price surge seems not to be running out of fuel due to the huge potential investors see in potash and Eritrea.

PDAC is one of the most important investment trade events in the world of exploration. With over 22,000 industry representatives and delegates from over 118 countries the trade show hosts 400 exhibitors promoting mining industry services, products technology and jurisdictions.

The convention is known to be attended by many company representatives seeking out for the right investment and trade deal as well as Geoscientists, Mining media, Mining service sector representatives, International government representative and other industry stake holders.

Other exhibitors from secondary industries include Air Transportation Services, Insurance Companies, Internet Services, Labatories/Labatory Suppliers, Law Firms, Software Companies, Satellite Communications, Universities and more.

Nevsun Resources will be presenting on Monday, March 7 at 11:00 am in Room 801B in the Volcanogenic Massive Sulphides Session and exhibiting at booth 2608A on March 7 and 8 at the Investor Exchange floor.

South Boulder Mines Managing Director Lorry Hughes will be presenting on Tuesday, March 8 at 10:50 am in Room 715 AB, in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building.

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

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