Fox Resources (FXR) 90.5c CRITERION: Tim Boreham | June 13, 2008
JUDGING by the company's flood of ASX announcements, a lazy dog would struggle to keep up with this quick Fox. Any development is breathlessly disclosed, even the availability of an updated corporate fact sheet.
But we are not here to sneer. Any mining junior needs to be proactive with promotion, even if it means taking continuous disclosure far too seriously.
For those of a polymetallic bent who like to be fully informed, the Pilbara-centric Fox is a handy one-stop exposure to sulphide nickel, copper and iron ore (plus zinc if anyone cares at current prices). Notably, Fox is also a producer, churning out modest copper and nickel from its Radio Hill mine.
Fox chief Don Harper yesterday was roadshowing in Hong Kong after the company early this week said it would start diamond drilling at its Mt Oscar iron ore project, 30km south of the port of Cape Lambert. Rock-chip samples indicate a magnetite deposit grading 44.1percent.
Mt Oscar is also near Cape Lambert Iron Ore's 1.6 billion tonne project, which it is selling to China Metallurgical Group for $400 million.
In the March quarter, Radio Hill managed 408 tonnes of nickel and 648 tonnes of copper, for total output of 8478 dry metric tonnes. These cyclone-affected stats will not bother the boys from BHP or Rio, but add up to useful pin money.
Overall, Radio Hill's deposit measures 39,000 tonnes of nickel, 71,000 tonnes of copper and 35,000 tonnes of zinc. Attention then turns to Scholl B2, 6km down the road, which contains 32,000 tonnes of nickel and 36,000 tonnes of copper.
Fox's fortunes were promising enough to attract the presence of China's Jinchuan Group, which invested $17.8 million for an 11percent stake. Interestingly, Jinchuan paid 95c a pop when the shares were trading at 65c.
Fox recorded $22.9 million of revenue and a $3.77 million loss in the December half, with the disappointing numbers attributed to a $5.8 million shipment being delayed from December to January.
Fox has much to prove but we rate the stock a speculative buy for cunning investors to hunt. A key challenge for Fox is to properly use its 425,000 tonnes a year nickel and copper processing plant.
Fox chairman Terry Streeter is also chairman of Western Areas and has a golden touch when it comes to nickel. That is why he debuted on BRW's Rich List this year with a guesstimated net worth of $250 million.
With so many targets in its well-funded exploration portfolio, one is bound to come good -- statistically at least.
Article continues with a few other stocks...
Ends.
Cheers, Pie :)
FXR Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
