AXG - Antipodes Gold [formerly GEL - Glass Earth]

[elZorro]

We will get a better idea of what GEL is getting into in the coming months. They will start to surrender 1/3 of thier EP and then another 1/3 (i think) after that. They have certainly overlooked one nice spot, and have gifted me a surrender to seek my own mining permit...

Welcome back Aotea, thanks again for your mining industry input. That would have to be a tough decision for GEL - which EPs to give up on. Maybe they're hoping enough funds will come in to hold onto more of it. Can you give us any info on the likely setup for McAdie and Ophir, and how the alluvial dredge might go with ODC? What size operation are you intending?

[Aotea]

Thanks,
The requirement to reduce the EP area was due to Crown Minerals, and allowing them to claim such a vast area in the first place. This info can be found on the CM website. Small miners were getting twitchy about the claim over virtually all of Otago stopping hobby projects. The 1/3 and 1/3 reduction was about mitigating that. Re the new project, I dont really know. Kilgour knows his stuff and has been working with GEL as 'their alluvial specialist'. Will be interesting, but my personal opinion is not taking into account water availibilty issues, GEL has real promise. I dont hold any, but have. Maybe wll buy in again. Info re water availability can be found on the Otago Regional Council website.

[elZorro]

Thanks,
The requirement to reduce the EP area was due to Crown Minerals, and allowing them to claim such a vast area in the first place. This info can be found on the CM website. Small miners were getting twitchy about the claim over virtually all of Otago stopping hobby projects. The 1/3 and 1/3 reduction was about mitigating that. Re the new project, I dont really know. Kilgour knows his stuff and has been working with GEL as 'their alluvial specialist'. Will be interesting, but my personal opinion is not taking into account water availibilty issues, GEL has real promise. I dont hold any, but have. Maybe wll buy in again. Info re water availability can be found on the Otago Regional Council website.

Hi Aotea, I didn't find much on the CM site, but there is a list of permits and recent partial and full surrenders. I'll look later when I get time. At least L&M got theirs off the ground recently, in the same area.

Published on Otago Daily Times Online (http://www.odt.co.nz)
Gold mining project starts at Earnscleugh
By Lynda Van Kempen
Created 23/06/2009 - 05:00

Click photo to enlarge
[1]
The multimillion-dollar gold-mining operation on the Earnscleugh Flats near Alexandra began yesterday. Mine manager Mark Coleman is pictured on site next to what will become drains to the settling ponds. In the background are historic gold dredge tailings. Photo by Lynda Van Kempen. Stage one of a seven-year, multimillion-dollar gold-mining project began at Earnscleugh yesterday, just a short distance from dredge tailings left by gold-mining operations a century ago.
L&M Mining Ltd recently reactivated plans to mine 255ha at Earnscleugh, near Alexandra.

The company was granted consent for the operation in 2001 and its plans were amended following an Environment Court appeal in 2004.

The company had shelved its plans until gold prices improved but announced last month it was proceeding and expected to retrieve 110,000 ounces of gold.

Exploration manager David Manhire said the first stage of work included the construction of settling ponds and drains, earth bunds to screen the site, and the stripping of top soil.

"It will be a few months before there is any gold extraction. We need to get everything set up on site first."

There had been a considerable amount of work behind the scenes before any earthworks began.

"There has been a lot of background work done already before any earthmoving began.

"We had to set up models to establish monitoring for groundwater and dust, before we got to the point of starting work on site.

"Those things are covered in the conditions for our consents [to mine] for the public's protection, and they are pretty comprehensive conditions, done carefully and well by the Otago Regional Council and Central Otago District Council."

Opponents of the project had been concerned about the impact of dust from the mine on orchards and vineyards in the area.

Gold Mine Action Group spokeswoman Sue Edwards could not be contacted for comment yesterday and Elisabeth Hinton, who appealed the original consents to the Environment Court, declined to comment.

Six people will be employed on site in the initial stages but at its peak, the gold-mining operation will be staffed by about 40 people.

The first stage involved mining land on the eastern side of Earnscleugh Rd, and the work will be carried out in daytime hours, Monday to Friday and half of Saturday.

The mining operation, using water rather than chemicals to extract gold from gravel, was similar to the one at Island Block, near Ettrick a few years ago, Mr Manhire said.

Source URL (retrieved on 29/08/2009 - 17:56): http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/alexa...ts-earnscleugh
Links:
[1] http://www.odt.co.nz/


© Allied Press Limited 2007. All the material on this page has the protection of international copyright. All rights reserved.

[elZorro]

Otago Regional Council, newsletter October 2008: look to be on GEL's side..

LOOKING THROUGH GLASS INTO EARTH
How do you know what’s in the ground under your feet? Otago
Regional Council has invested in an airborne geophysical survey
being conducted over Otago that’s providing valuable answers.
The $4 million 13,000sq km survey of Otago by Glass Earth last
year involved a helicopter towing a 9m-long drone, mapping
the top 100m of the Earth’s crust, from a height of 30m above
ground.
Glass Earth’s main focus was gold, however, the council is
interested in assisting the region’s economic development.
The geophysical survey will provide quantum advances in its
understanding of minerals, construction stone, aggregates and
untapped groundwater resources.
An improved understanding of the region’s landforms and
geology allows for better planning for the future, better hazard
recognition, and appropriate land use planning for the wellbeing
and economic benefi t of Otago communities. The council
contributed $1 million of the total $4 million project cost.
Council Chief Executive Graeme Martin said data from the survey
is being collated with historic and recent site investigation data
and other geological data to form a new 3D database of Otago’s
shallow ground geology.
“Traditionally, geologists looked at landforms and material from
streams and rivers, made deductions and tested those deductions
by drilling and digging. But this technology is a huge advance – it
looks under big areas of the country and gives us a new map of
what’s under our feet.”
“We felt this survey was extremely important for Otago. Its data
will be used for decades to find valuable minerals, building rocks
and aggregate and help us manage supply, access and protection
for mineral deposits. In water-short Central Otago, we can learn
more about where underground water is most abundant, how
usable it may be and where it’s most accessible.”
“As a result of this survey, the geology map of Otago will need to be
completely redrawn. This survey gives a huge body of information
that will answer many questions about the composition and
structure of the top 100m of the earth. It’s an investment for all
of Otago, as well as providing a database for major council issues
such as long-term groundwater management,” Mr Martin said.
“What it means for Otago is that there will be detailed information
for anyone involved in extracting anything underground, or in
any major earthwork, or for anyone concerned about slips or
hazards, or wanting to find groundwater. The data will be useful
for activities with a footprint area of as little as an acre.”
Glass Earth used a helicopter towing a Resolve™ drone to carry out the Otago geophysical survey.

Rest of document here: some photos.

http://www.orc.govt.nz/Documents/Con...%20-%20web.pdf

I noted that some of GEL's permits are not restricted to gold discovery, they include a lot of other minerals.

[elZorro]

One of the reasons I invested in GEL, is that I'm interested in renewable energy (something for nothing). The same scanning equipment used for gold deposit discovery can be used to spot geothermal resources, and the GEL team is way ahead of us here, as I mentioned somewhere back a few pages. Here's a bit of a timeline that I googled up, even though the geothermal work is on the backburner at the moment.

Gold rush on mud pools NZ Herald
5:01AM Monday Dec 20, 2004
By Simon Collins
The Bay of Plenty’s hot springs and mud pools may be hiding real gold.

Wellington mining company Glass Earth plans to spend $3 million to look for "epithermal gold", formed when hot fluids rise to the surface, in the volcanic triangle from Coromandel and Whakatane to Taupo.

Its exploration methods may also help it to find underground geothermal energy resources that do not have telltale surface signs such as hot springs and steam.

High world gold prices and rising power prices have sparked new "gold rushes" for both gold and geothermal energy, with state-owned Mighty River Power planning to drill new wells for geothermal power next year near Mangakino and near the Orakei-Korako thermal area.

Glass Earth was formed in 2002 by consultant geologist Ian Brown, former Otter Gold Mines exploration manager Simon Henderson and Otter company secretary Peter Liddle. It has raised British funds through London-based RAB Capital and a British Virgin Islands company, Kroy Holdings, which now hold 45 per cent of the shares between them.

It is raising a further C$3 million ($3.4 million) from British and Canadian investors and plans to list on the Toronto Ventures Exchange in mid-January.

Mr Liddle said the company had already spent $1 million on assessing Bay of Plenty geological data and had identified 29 untapped target sites for gold and about 25 for geothermal energy.

The company is working with Perth-based Geoinformatics, which can "see through" surface ash layers to analyse underlying geological formations from the air. Aircraft will be hired to fly over the target sites in February.

Mr Henderson said epithermal (above heat) gold was formed when hot water rose through cracks in the rock and cooled where it came into contact with colder surface water.

As it rises through the cracks, the hot, chloride-rich water dissolves minerals out of the rocks, and then deposits them again closer to the surface where it cools.

Even tiny amounts of gold in those deposits can be worth mining at present gold prices, swollen by the falling US dollar. Waihi’s Martha Mine profitably extracts just 3.3 grams from every tonne of rock.

Mr Henderson said signs of gold could be seen in the Emerald Pool at Waiotapu, south of Rotorua, in orange clumps that looked like fungus around the edges of the pool.

"The orange colour is arsenic and antimony sulphides containing gold. Theoretically you could mine it, but the quantity is tiny."

Mr Liddle said Glass Earth would look to mine any economic quantities of gold it finds, and was seeking a partner to develop geothermal energy resources found in the process.

Meanwhile, Mighty River Power will start in March drilling the first of up to five test wells for geothermal energy in Carter Holt Harvey forests near the Waikato River northeast of Mangakino. Each well will cost between $3 million and $5 million.

Chief executive Doug Heffernan said drilling would also start next year on three test wells at Ngatamariki.

Crown Minerals Site
Glass Earth conducts large detailed gold-geothermal aerial survey
15 June 2005 - Wellington-based explorer Glass Earth Ltd is harnessing together a large variety of data sources with the latest technologies to pinpoint the location of new gold and geothermal energy resources in the centre of the North Island.
Glass Earth is well advanced in completing the largest and most detailed aeromagnetic and airborne gravity surveys to be carried out in New Zealand, over the volcanic plateau between Taupo and the Coromandel peninsula in Prospecting Permit 39241.

The company aims to build up enough geological and geophysical information to "see through" the surface volcanic ash layers, which are up to 150 m thick, to the rocks below by creating a detailed 3D picture of the geology and the mineral and energy resources underneath.

Simon Henderson, chief operating officer of Glass Earth, and a former exploration manager of Otter Gold Mines (a former partner at the Martha mine) said the flying for the detailed geophysical surveys was now well advanced.

He said the ultra-detailed airborne magnetic survey involved flying 40,000 line km's at 150 m spacing at an elevation of only 60 m. The survey was being carried out by Perth-based UTS Geophysics Ltd using a New Zealand built Cresco plane, a turbo powered version of the Fletcher topdressing plane. The plane is suitable for the required low flying over often steep terrain.

Another aircraft has been contracted from Bell Geospace to acquire 6000 line km's of gravity data at a 450 m line spacings and an elevation of 90 m.

Mr Henderson said that once the surveys are completed the new data can be quickly integrated into the extensive information base collected during the first stage of Glass Earth's project.

Because the area north of Taupo has been drilled for geothermal power projects and for a number of hydro-electric dams on the Waikato River there exists a larger than normal range of historical data.

All this information, collected in only five months last year, was fed to geoscience contractor and partner Geoinformatics Explorations Ltd in Perth for processing into a highly organised 40 gigabyte 3D database and viewing platform.

Mr Henderson said that none of the information in the first stage of this work was aimed at finding a gold deposit but rather at establishing the geological and structural parameters which might control gold mineralisation.

“We wanted to tease out the reasons why a Waihi might be”, he said.

The first stage enabled Glass Earth to identify a ranked list of 29 new gold targets and 22 new geothermal targets. The magnetic and gravity surveys will add extra detail to the earlier work to further refine the targets.

Glass Earth was originally founded in 2002 as a private company in New Zealand by three well-known mineral industry figures Ian Brown managing director of Wellington geological consultants Ian R Brown Associates Ltd, Peter Liddle an Auckland accountant with considerable mineral and petroleum experience and Mr Henderson.

Following a successful reverse takeover of a Canadian company BC Report Magazine Ltd, Glass Earth began trading in April 2005 on the Toronto Venture Exchange Tier 2. With the addition of former BC Report shareholders, Canadian directors have joined the board of Glass Earth. The new president is Glenn Laing, CEO and president of St Andrews Goldfields Ltd and president 6% shareholder in Glass Earth, Silverbridge Capital.

St Andrews Goldfields became a partner in 2002 with the Australian geoscience company Fractal Graphics Pty Ltd to form Geoinformatics Exploration which now works for a number of exploration companies around the world. Geoinformatics will retain a 2% royalty interest over Glass Earth's mineral targets.

A British company RAB Capital provided finance for the first stage of the project, collecting and integrating data.
Last updated 30 May 2007

Geoinformatics – Glass Earth Alliance June 16 2005 (Geoinformatics)
Geoinformatics formed an Alliance with Glass Earth to undertake a major program of data collection, integration, interpretation, 3D/4D modeling through to exploration targeting ( “Intervention”) focused on targeting for gold and geothermal energy in the over 12,000 sq km of largely unexplored terrane lying under cover in the CCVR. The Intervention ranked and scored gold and geothermal targets. Subsequently Glass Earth announced that it had assigned the geothermal rights to a private New Zealand company called GEX Limited, which assignment is still subject to approval by Geoinformatics. Several highly ranked gold targets exhibit Waihi-type (Martha Hill) signatures that are capable of hosting a world-class epithermal gold deposit. The Intervention results emphasized the importance of magnetics combined with ultra-detailed gravity to aid locating targets; hence the commissioning of the airborne gravity and magnetic surveys.

Under the terms of the Alliance Agreement, Glass Earth has the sole and exclusive right to apply for exploration permits or acquire rights with respect to all targets for the duration of its prospecting permits over the CCVR area. Geoinformatics has a 2% net smelter return royalty on any production from the targets by Glass Earth or its successors.

Inside a Feb 2006 report from Glass Earth:

The contingent royalty obligations on geothermal energy production have been assumed by Glass Earth Geothermal Limited (formerly named GEX Limited) as a result of the sale of geothermal targets and potential to GEX Limited by GENZL, in return for an identical 0.5% geothermal production royalty. This transfer is subject to ratification by Geoinformatics Exploration Ireland Ltd. Glass Earth Geothermal Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

Just a side note: Wairakei Geothermal Station is over 50 yrs old and Contact intends to keep it going for a while longer. It generates perhaps $110mill worth of wholesale power (at say 10c/kwHr) every year.

I didn't know this until quite recently, but apparently it's Geology 101: the heat from within the Earth that is the driving force of volcanoes and the tectonic plate movement, is partly retained heat from the original formation, and largely generated by radioactive decay deep underground (it doesn't mean geothermal areas are any more radioactive than normal areas). Maybe this explains the name of the Govt research group: GNS = Institute of GeoNuclear Science.

[elZorro]

The latest permit Glass Earth has obtained is EP51677. This is to the left of German Hill Road, nearly 60Ha and not far from McAdie Road. Here's a very old archive of the activity in the area over 120 years ago.

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi...10--1----0-all

[elZorro]

Here's some encouraging news from the ODT (NZ's only independent newspaper, well done them).

Volatile resource sector calming
Home » News » Business
By Simon Hartley on Tue, 1 Sep 2009
News: Business
A second surge is forecast in the global resource sector - bringing some stability - following wild swings in the share values of listed New Zealand gold explorers and producers during the past year.

Broker Peter McIntyre, of Craigs Investment Partners, formerly ABN Amro Craigs, said trading during the past year was "exceptionally volatile" for the listed resource companies on the NZX, following two years of record metal prices around the world.

"The volatility in shares were all wild swings as the market came to grips with the crescendo of the market lows reached in March," Mr McIntyre said.

During the year, East Otago-based Oceana Gold's share price ranged from 22c to $1.78, Heritage Gold from 1.3c to 3.8c, Glass Earth Gold from 5c to 20c and specialist West Coast producer Pike River Coal 67c to $1.93.

Oceana and Pike River had raised respectively $30 million and $41 million in capital, helping underpin cash flows, while Glass Earth has indicated it may seek up to $1.4 million later this year as its capital runs down with exploration costs and it plans to move into relatively small-scale gold production in Central Otago.

Mr McIntyre said mining companies had been plagued by production delays during the year.

Control of costs and managing working capital were common themes as they grappled with shareholder expectations and inevitable work flow disruptions "which are part and parcel of the mining industry", he said.

When real demand for metals recovered, with an expected upswing in the business cycle in 2010, restocking of the depleted manufacturing supply chain would likely accelerate demand and "supply and demand" fundamentals, which would once again drive the metals market.

"We remain positive on gold equities given their often noted safe-haven status and forecast that gold prices will remain buoyant," he said.

Underpinning buoyant gold prices would be the heavy government fiscal stimulus from around the world, investment increasing in both the retail and professional level, and a recent pick-up in purchasing by the Indian gold market.

Craigs was taking a long-term view and bullish stance on base metals, with copper and zinc its preferred exposures, but noted the outlook for metallurgical coal markets was also strong.

Mr McIntyre cited a rebound from a combination of a stronger than expected return of traditional (non-Chinese) customers to the market, ongoing Chinese buying causing supply concerns, while more rail issues in Queensland were keeping the supply side of the market tight.

Overall, the global commodities sector was likely to benefit from a weakening US dollar, global demand recovering and also a greater use of exchange traded funds, which meant easier access for investors and creation of demand, Mr McIntyre said.

[elZorro]

Tis true elZorro.

I bought myself a sneaky few with the profits from another sale on the 24th, just so all of my gold future isn't tied up in HGD. :o

This new purchase wont make me rich, but then again I wont have to learn any new 4 letter words if/when it does indeed start to fly.

Hi Yankiwi, I don't think you'll regret your move. There are still some budget version GEL shares on the TSX, might be worth a look.

Glass Earth continues to drop some smaller areas with Crown Minerals, but just today was granted an EP on 263 Ha, being the operation called Star Trek. This is near Moa Creek and Poolburn, German Hill and Wallace, again smack in the area of interest for placer mining of alluvials. EP51706. Star Trek was already mentioned as one of the forward areas (drilling in progress/on-going drilling) in the 2009/10 exploration overview.

http://data.crownminerals.govt.nz/Pe...x?permit=51706

[elZorro]

Garry Sheeran has an article in the Sunday Star Times today (pg D6), which gives some background into resources sector stocks in NZ.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/2837...ne-a-large-one

Among the new facts for me: (1) only 15% of GEL shares are held by NZers, and (2) Simon Henderson was working for Amax Mining in Australia 20 years ago when they "jointly pioneered the technique of aerial mapping to identify possible locations of underground mineral deposits".

Chairman John Dow also comments about making the GEL money last by adjusting the exploration programmes. "As a result, he expects that by late 2010 it (GEL) will have prospective drilling projects for JV partners in Central Otago and around Waihi. Even so, they would probably be precursors to what the company hopes will be a big find".

All very positive, and puts GEL in quite a good light against other resource stocks here.

[elZorro]

Just spotted another ODT press article referring to Glass Earth, some inside detail to help flesh out what is going on.

Glass Earth data value for ORC
Home » News » Business
By Simon Hartley on Sat, 29 Aug 2009
News: Business
The Otago Regional Council has fleetingly considered building a dam near Ida Burn after analysing a $4 million aerial geophysical survey to which it contributed $1 million in 2007.

Few details have emerged from the aerial survey by listed Glass Earth Gold, as collated data is historically not released publicly for several years by government mine-permitting agency Crown Minerals.

However, the Otago aerial data will all be revealed by the end of 2010.

ORC chief executive Graeme Martin was a speaker at the New Zealand branch of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) conference in Queenstown on Thursday and gave an outline of why the data was sought.

Glass Earth, which is looking to become a gold producer with holdings in the Ida Valley and near Ophir in Central Otago, undertook the $4 million, 1.3 million ha aerial survey in 2007.

Mr Martin said geophysical data was difficult for small to medium-sized businesses or individuals to access, and while Crown Minerals and the Ministry of Economic Development declined to assist financially, it was an opportunity for the ORC to participate.

In the mining sector, the involvement of the ORC was applauded, showing companies and local authorities could co-exist, with potential benefits for communities and businesses.

Mr Martin said results for the ORC would include improved groundwater knowledge, the ability to scope out potential places for dam building and infrastructure-related projects, such as roading and land stability issues.

When asked if Otago had more or less groundwater than was known about before the survey, Mr Martin said only that water was found to be sparse around the Manuherikia River and that some data had prompted consideration of a dam near Ida Burn, fleetingly.

He highlighted the ORC was bound by the Crown Minerals convention on releasing data, which was the intellectual property of Glass Earth, but he expected it to be released by the end of next year.

Glass Earth had, since the survey, narrowed down 20 prospective gold targets to about six.

Reporter Simon Hartley is a guest of AusIMM at the conference.

OK, so 20 narrowed down to 6 prospects, not sure if these are placer alluvial or the oversize deposits we're after long-term.