17 October 2006
Open Briefing: Heron Resources - Jump-up Study & KNP JV Update
Open Briefings aim to enhance corporate disclosure by delivering a CEO briefing directly to the broadest possible pool of shareholders, prospective investors, analysts and advisors. …
An Open Briefing is an accurate record of interview of a company representative, usually the CEO, by a Corporate File analyst. In Open Briefings, Corporate File analysts ask questions typically raised by analysts and fund managers in private briefings.
31 August 2006
Book assists culture culture and language teaching
A book to improve understanding between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians was launched in the Goldfields yesterday.
Called "Yilpanha Tjapirnku Thukurrpa" (Goanna and lizard dreaming story) its tells why the Goanna and the lizard are no longer friends - in both English and Wangkatha.
Accompanying the book is a CD which reads the story to make pronounciation easier for school students.
Heron became involved after managing director Ian Buchhorn chose to print the story in the company's 2005 annual report.
Mr Buchhorn approached Rotary assistant district governor Esther Roadnight who helped get the book to print.
7 August 2006
Open Briefing: Heron Resources Project Update & Exploration Outlook
Open Briefings aim to enhance corporate disclosure by delivering a CEO briefing directly to the broadest possible pool of shareholders, prospective investors, analysts and advisors. …
An Open Briefing is an accurate record of interview of a company representative, usually the CEO, by a Corporate File analyst. In Open Briefings, Corporate File analysts ask questions typically raised by analysts and fund managers in private briefings.
29 June 2006
Heron's deal secure
The proposed Phelps Dodge $40 billion dollar buyout of Inco and Falconbridge is another example of how the international nickel industry keeps getting smaller, according to Heron Resources managing director Ian Buchhorn.
Inco, a 10 per cent shareholder in Heron Resources, is a world leader in nickel laterite projects and has committed to undertake full feasibility studies and secure project funding for the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project. …
Mr Buchhorn said Heron had a legal binding contract with Inco and that the outcome of the Phelps Dodge takeover would not have an effect upon Heron. …
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Reprinted with the kind permission of the Kalgoorlie Miner
25 May 2006
Laterite deals proliferate
… Closer to home, Mathew Longworth, chief operating officer, Heron Resources, has been spruiking the company and its massive Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP). It was Inco's entry on to Heron's share register in March 2005 that provided the clearest indication that major miners were once again on the hunt for high quality, sizeable laterite deposits.
Assiduously buying straw hats in winter, Heron began piecing together tenements over nickel laterite deposits in the Kalgoorlie region in 1997. As the woes of the first generation of nickel laterite producers—Murrin Murrin, Cawse and Bulong—intensified, and investor interest evaporated, Heron bravely stepped up its land assembly, picking up ground for very little cash. By 2004, when it added the Bulong mineral rights, Heron had pegged nearly 5,000 square kilometres of tenure covering the ultramafic sequences north and east of Kalgoorlie, now comprising the KNP.
In March 2005, Inco did its first deal with Heron to earn up to 60% of the KNP. A few days later BHP Billiton swooped, buying 11.2% of Heron on market, prompting Inco to subscribe to a placement in the junior company a week later.
In the wash up of that deal making, Inco has emerged with 9.9% of Heron, while BHP Billiton owns 9.6%. Mr Longworth has pointed out that these two nickel powerhouses, along with other major miners like Rio Tinto and Falconbridge, have analysed in detail every major laterite deposit worldwide, the inference being that the KNP is one of the most attractive laterite deposits globally. …
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Reprinted with the kind permission of the Australian Journal of Mining
9 May 2006
Australia Heron Seeks Shortcut To Nickel Bull
SYDNEY (Dow Jones)--Australian nickel junior Heron Resources Ltd (HRR.AU) Tuesday appointed Citigroup (C) to chase projects that would speed up its access to booming prices.
Heron was itself the subject of takeover talk after majors Inco Ltd. (N) and BHP Billiton Ltd (BHP) joined its share register with an eye on the 50,000 metric tons of nickel a year slated to come out of its flagship Kalgoorie project in Western Australia.
But Kalgoorie isn't expected to start producing for another seven years at least, spurring criticism Heron will miss the boat in terms of the current commodity cycle.
"It's a significant time out to cash flow and the company is very keen to look at options for production opportunities - be they laterite through heap leach technology or through sulphides through acquisition of an advanced project," said Chief Operating Officer Matthew Longworth.
"If we were to find a sulphide deposit or resource that met our criteria, a 12 to 18 month feasibility and development lead time is not unrealistic and that would potentially give us access to the current cycle in terms of nickel," he told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.
The Citigroup team, who approached Heron after working on BHP Billiton's takeover of WMC Resources, is actively seeking projects with the potential to produce at least 10,000 tons of nickel a year, Longworth said.
That would put Heron in the same league as Australia's largest producers Minara Resources Ltd (MRE.AU), Jubilee Mines NL (JBM.AU) and Mincor Resources NL (MCR.AU).
Some of the company's existing A$10.5 million cash may be used, but the majority of financing would probably be through equity raising given the high cost of raising debt without existing cash flow.
"We're looking at a whole range of things including coming in and taking a majority interest in a project or taking a corporate interest in another party," he said.
At the same time, Heron is also looking at opportunities to use nickel laterite technology, such as that being used by Minara, to process existing resources outside Kalgoorie.
While the company is actively pursing both sulphide and laterite opportunities, it is in no rush to make a move and will evaluate each project on merit, he said, declining comment on the size of any likely investments.
"There are no specific transactions on the table at this point but we're looking at a whole range of options and Citigroup is assisting and advising us on that."
He said the company plans to retain its nickel focus while disposing of other commodity classes such as iron ore and gold through trade sales or initial public offerings.
"Projected demand for nickel over the next five or even 10 years is such that we feel comfortable that, while prices are cyclical and we're at an extreme peak in the cycle at the moment, we can make money out of it," Longworth said.
Reprinted by permission
28 April 2006
Pointon's pressure
Pressure is mounting on BHP Billiton's Stainless Steel Materials president Dr Chris Pointon to bring the group's $US1.8 billion ($A2.4 billion) Ravensthorpe nickel development on-line with minimal fuss. …
On the corporate front, BHPB has locked horns with rival Inco on the share register of laterite hopeful Heron Resources. Both mining giants have a 10% stake in the junior, while Inco is also funding a major feasability study into Heron's Kalgoorlie Nickel Project.
Does BHPB plan to buy any more Heron shares?
"Not at the moment," Pointon said, adding that Heron managing director Ian Bucchorn did a "great deal" with Inco. "They have a fairly aggressive target that they've got to meet in terms of discovery for Ian, and if they make it, terrific. We have a stake in their success."
But if the Inco deal doesn't work out, "clearly we'll talk to Tan and see if anything else can be done as a fallback".
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Reprinted with the kind permission of MiningNews.net
13 April 2006
Heron hopes for second coming
A recent technical discovery could see the second coming of the nickel laterite boom and one of the big winners is certain to be Heron Resources, owners of the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project. While KNP is not expected to be in production until 2013 it has the potential to be a 25-year 50,000 tonne a year producer.
Recent screen upgrade test work on samples from its reverse circulation drilling at the Highway Project, part of the $1.4 billion KNP in agreement with joint venture partner Inco, showed some amazing grade improvement. …
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Reprinted with the kind permission of the Kalgoorlie Miner
13 April 2006
Base metals at record levels
Gold broke through the $US600 mark late last week only to be followed by base metals with copper notching up new records and nickel reaching heights not seen for 17 years. …
For Heron Resources, which continues to advance its proposed Kalgoorlie Nickel Project, the sustained buoyancy is also pleasing.
But Heron chief operating officer Mathew Longworth said the company was feeling no pressure from the prices.
Mr Longworth said the Heron project, backed by Inco, was large enough to be in production for up to six (commodity) cycles.
"The prices are very encouraging and are reflected in the share prices of the juniors," Mr Longworth said.
"But they are pretty much what we've been seeing in the past two years and everyone realises that at some time in the future, the prices will change."
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Reprinted with the kind permission of the Kalgoorlie Miner
27 March 2006
Heron's New Techniques Improve Grades
Results of recent screen upgrade testwork on samples from its reverse circulation (RC) drilling at Heron Resources' Highway Project in Western Australia continue to demonstrate high leach feed grades while maintaining good nickel metal recovery. …
To download article see www.minebox.com
21 March 2006
The new laterite boom begins (if you listen carefully)
Nickel laterite is now seen as a game for the big end of town. But … a quiet revolution is brewing that will see laterites regain at least some of the lustre for a few hardy juniors.
John Macdonald, an independent Perth-based analyst who spent many years researching Anaconda in the first boom, points out that around 50,000 tonnes of new nickel capacity is needed each year just to satisfy the current growth in world demand.
And all of the growth will need to come from laterite sources.
… the majors realise that laterites are the future of nickel. Witness the jockeying for position on the Heron Resources share register by BHPB and Inco.
Owner of the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP), Heron will be the obvious beneficiary of Australia's Phase Two laterite boom.
Macdonald argues that the KNP offers a "rare combination of size, amenability to pressure acid leaching, political security and environmental stability".
Moreover, a recent technical discovery could mean that "high average grade" can be added to the list of KNP's attributes.
… "If successful KNP could prove to be a nickel producer's Holy Grail; a low-cost, long life, PAL project in a politically and environmentally stable location," Macdonald says.
To download article see www.miningnews.net
24 February 2006
Heron moves to the Big Smoke
According to Ian Buchhorn, Managing Director of Heron Resources, the company's great strength of Heron since its listing 10 years ago has been its base of operations in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. He says the regional base helped to deliver the competitive advantage that enabled Heron to peg some 26,500sqkm of prime mineral exploration tenements.
These tenements are now the basis of the Kalgoorlie Nickel Project (KNP) with Inco Ltd, Ochre Resources Ltd iron ore, Regent Resources Ltd gold and copper, and Balladonia Energy Ltd uranium and oil shale.
Since first seeking a partner for the KNP in October 2004, leading to the KNP farm-in and joint venture with Inco in July 2005, a majority of senior executive time is being spent in Perth, and Heron has decided to establish a Perth office.
Mr Buchhorn will head up the Perth office, with Board responsibility to expedite the various corporate priorities.
The company's Kalgoorlie-Boulder management structure has been reorganised as follows: Mat Longworth steps up to the new role of Chief Operating Officer based in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, with responsibility for Inco KNP Joint Venture liaison, government, community and investor relations, and Board technical reporting.
Dave von Perger has become Exploration Manager based in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, with responsibility for the day to day technical operations related to the Inco KNP Joint Venture and other field operations.
Sarah Calvert is continuing with her Company Secretary role and Tracy Browning is continuing with her Investor Relations role, both based in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
The West Kalgoorlie office and yard will remain as the focus of Heron technical and continuing exploration operations, and apart from Ian Buchhorn's move to Perth, there will be no changes for staff.
Reporting on the changes Mr Buchhorn said: "This is clearly a new and exciting era for Heron."
To download article see www.minebox.com
3 February 2006
100% of Highway for Heron
Kalgoorlie based Heron Resources Ltd announced yesterday that settlement has been completed with Helix Resources Ltd for the purchase of Helix's 25% equity in the Highway Lateritic Nickel Project.
Consideration for the sale totals $610,000 and has been settled by a combination of $150,000 in cash and $460,000 in shares. The share component will be satisfied by the transfer of 1,541,880 shares in Scimitar Resources Ltd from Heron to Helix.
The JORC compliant resource at Highway as previously published is 96.2 million tonne at 0.74% nickel and 0.054% cobalt for 707,600 tonnes contained nickel metal.
The acquisition gives Heron full unencumbered ownership of the Highway lateritic nickel resource and Managing Director Ian Buchhorn says this allows operational advantages for Heron in the potential future development the project.
To download article see www.minebox.com
