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MINCOR AND NIUMINCO STAFF AT EDIE CREEK
We deliver
millions of tonnes of iron
ore to our customers every year
We deliver
outstanding results
for our shareholders
We deliver
millions of dollars a year
to governments for spending on vital
services such as health and education
We deliver
to the community by
creating jobs, training workers and
supporting programs designed
to improve people’s lives
Find out more about how Atlas is
delivering at
atlasiron.com.au
We deliver
so much you’d be excused
for thinking we’re couriers
Subject (as always) to nickel price outcomes, this should enable
the company to generate strong operating cash flows and maintain
its robust balance sheet, with approximately $90 million in cash
and no debt at the end of the 2011 financial year.
The healthy cash kitty will also enable Mincor to continue to
fund new business development opportunities, as well as a share
buy-back launched earlier this year.
“We have plenty of opportunities to spend our money on,
including overseas ventures, so the buy-back allows us to return
some excess cash to our shareholders while still leaving us plenty
of funding for future exploration and development programs,”
Mr Moore said.
In May, Mincor announced its biggest new business
development push in several years, unveiling a $30 million
exploration joint venture with Niuminco Ltd in PNG. “We have
been looking for growth opportunities for quite some time now,
but the PNG joint venture is a significant step for us, given the size
and quality of the exploration targets it brings to our portfolio,”
Mr Moore said. “This complements the other exploration
initiatives we have underway in Australia such as the Tottenham
copper-gold project in NSW.”
Mincor’s most advanced target in PNG is the Edie Creek project,
which lies just five kilometres from the giant Hidden Valley
gold deposit. Edie Creek is a known epithermal gold system with
a long history of production and access to infrastructure, but with
minimal modern exploration.
Mincor will spend $15 million at Edie Creek to earn a 51%
interest, with a staged earn-in that allows the company to earn
17% for every $5 million spent – so it can effectively withdraw
from the project at any time and keep whatever stake has been
earned up to that point.
The company also sees exceptionally high potential in the
May River and Bolobip Exploration Licences, where it can up
earn up to 72% and where exploration preparations are already
well advanced.
Mr Moore said an attractive aspect of the PNG venture was that
all the money is spent on exploration, with the only upfront cash
being an investment of $5 million in Niuminco, giving Mincor
around 13.5% of that company.
EARTHMOVING EQUIPMENT
AT THE EDIE CREEK MINE SITE
Our recently announced
exploration venture in PNG
ticks all of the boxes in terms
of the criteria we have always
applied as a growing mining
and exploration company.
These include clear, obvious
exploration potential,
a strategic location in a
mineral province known for
its world-class deposits and an
established mining jurisdiction.