As copper becomes ever hotter property and the tantalising price of $3/lb heaves into view, at least for the optimistic among us, companies with their focus on the metal naturally become more interesting. A recent newcomer to the London market, Kalahari Minerals [AIM:KAH] can offer investors no less than three copper projects, with a uranium joint venture thrown in to add piquancy to the proposition.

Altogether, Kalahari can already boast an estimated 250,000 tonnes of copper in the ground across its Namibian ground, which makes it clear that the company has moved beyond exploration and into the pre-feasibility phase with its two key projects. The area in which the company is operating was explored preliminarily by other players back in the 1970s, and a sizable portion of the presently known resources originate from this spell, but failure by those then exploring to come across any very large targets plus a deteriorating political situation in Namibia brought proceedings to a halt.



Now that the copper market looks very different and the politics of Namibia have improved, Kalaharis ground is a lot more desirable. Indeed, the companys Chairman Mark Hohnen admits that it has been lucky to have been able to stake the areas it has, which essentially amount to a large slice of the Namibian section of the Kalahari copper belt, which has some geological similarities with the much storied Zambian copper belt.

Kalaharis first order of priority is the Dordabis project, within which it has homed in on a deposit known as Koperberg. Drilling here has identified oxide and sulphide zones of mineralisation and recorded some good intersections, the highlight of which has been 5 metres graded at 3.43% copper. A small scale pilot processing plant is already recovering copper cathode on site.

The Koperberg resource is still open, and an alluring possibility raised by Hohnen is that it could conform to the Olympic Dam geological model. That is, a massive body of IOCG (iron oxide copper gold) mineralisation with significant smatterings of uranium. It is too early to tell whether this is the case or not, but such a scenario is certainly something pleasant to dream of for Kalahari shareholders, and the company has allocated funds specifically towards testing this hypothesis.

Kalaharis second key project goes by the name of Witvlei, and hosts five known copper deposits along with a number of prospects. The next step for the company will be to try and expand the existing deposits and define resources at the prospects in order to come up with a total resource of a potentially economic size.

If this resource development programme comes up with the goods, Hohnen suggests that an attractive option for Kalahari at Witvlei may be the tried and tested development model of establishing initial cash flow from oxide material before moving on to trickier-to-process sulphides. The same development path could also be worth considering at Koperberg if the Olympic Dam model is not found to hold true there.

Kalaharis only grassroots stage project is Ubib, which has been is known to host copper gold mineralisation with a hint of uranium but needs appraising more thoroughly before much more than this can be said. The project is located some 15 kilometres from Anglo Gold Ashantis Navachab gold mine, which obviously auspicates well. Current work is centred on stream sampling to help identify prospective target zones for the application of more advanced exploration techniques.

The Husab uranium project, which is a joint venture with Extract Resources [ASX:EXT] structured to give Extract 51% and Kalahari the remainder, has surprised both companies. Hohnen says that little was thought of Husab until last year, when some great radiometric anomalies were turned up. The presence of uranium along with other metals has now been confirmed, and diamond drilling to test the deposit at depth begins in the next couple of weeks.

Husab is located right between the Rossing uranium mine, owned by Rio Tinto [LSE:RIO; NYSE:RTP], and the Langer Heinrich deposit, which is being developed by the uranium darling of the Australian market, Paladin Resources [ASX:PDN]. Extract has already gained significant recognition from its constituency of investors for Husab, and if drilling confirms the joint venture partners optimism, then the project could well help win Kalahari some fans in the London market, where uranium plays are not as numerous as they could be, and hence much in demand.

Investment Outlook

Kalahari has raised 6 million by way of its AIM listing, and intends to devote the largest portion of this sum to work at Dordabis. Therefore, this is the project that investors should be keeping their weather eye on. Significant progress down the road to feasibility is sure to add value to the company, other things, such as the copper market, being equal.

But in addition to Dordabis, there is scope for either or both of Witvlei and Ubib to shape up and grab investors attention. Husab already stands out, and with a high level of market interest in new uranium projects still apparent, it is a nice asset for Kalahari to have.

nice "after hours" announcement will assuredly do sp no harm tomorrow - wish AFR was that certain!

Kalahari Confident Of Delivering Strong Results
Kalahari Minerals is projecting significant exposure to one of the world's largest uranium discoveries whilst at the same time being in a strong financial position to develop its Namibian copper and lead mining projects.

The Group reports a loss of 11.1m for the year to 31 December 2008 which was in line with management expectations but says its levels of expenditure should reduce significantly as it has now moved into the collating phase of its copper and base metal projects.

Where is the top for this sp ?, it can't keep on rising forever !......boy ! does this remind me of a real life VOG of old !, (the rising version I mean). This company will have to raise funds at some stage....good prospects but money needed to develop all the assets.....so when the sp pullback ?.

required field: It reminds me of Pancontinental in the 1970s. Like RIO, Getty bought a 25% stake when the shares were trading at much lower levels, about 6/8p in old money. Pan' had found a huge deposit of uranium in the Northern Territory, on an Aboriginal reserve. Their shares went through the roof, hitting 20 at one time.

so long as it is not like Poseidon then or even ARM or VOG of more recent vintage

What was wrong with Poseidon? Made a killing out of them as well.

i thought Poseidon collapsed down a big black hole at the end of the day.

have a peek at Wikipedia on the Poseidon bubble ..... an entertaining but salutary read

Canadian miner defies Rio Tinto over Namibia

Peter Koven, Financial Post
Wednesday, April 01, 2009

A group of investors are engaged in a battle of wills with mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd., which they feel is trying to get control of a prized uranium deposit without paying a full price for it.

The group includes Canadian mining entrepreneur Stephen Dattels, who has invested heavily in the project in recent days and wants to see it properly auctioned off. Also lingering in the background is the government of Iran, which is involved with Rio Tinto and has a controversial nuclear program.

The project in question is the Rossing South deposit in Namibia. It is controlled by a Toronto-listed company, Extract Resources Ltd., which is based in Perth and is 40%-owned by London-based Kalahari Minerals PLC.

Recent drilling has confirmed that Rossing South is a world-class resource. That drew the interest of Rio Tinto, which already owns the nearby Rossing uranium mine (together with the Iranian government and other investors).

Rio acquired stakes in Extract and Kalahari last year. It then supported a merger between the two miners, which would have allowed it to buy shares in the combined company without being subject to a 20% cap under Australian takeover provisions. The merger was called off over concerns that Rio could get control of the company without paying a premium for it.

Now Rio is talking to other Extract and Kalahari shareholders to try to gain support for a joint venture that would allow it to run Rossing South. But it is having little success.

"Why should Rio Tinto be able to muscle the shareholders of Extract and Kalahari around to suit its own benefit? In my point of view there is a much better alternative, which is to have both companies sold to the highest bidder," Mr. Dattels, one of the key executives at Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp. in its formative days, said in an interview.

Mr. Dattels sold uranium company UraMin Inc. for US$2.5-billion in 2007, and he is convinced that Rossing South is the next big thing. He bought major interests in Extract and Kalahari through two mining companies that he runs, and believes there are many potential buyers for the deposit.

"This could easily wind up being the most valuable uranium deposit in the world," he said.

One of the shareholders Rio Tinto was talking to is Toronto-based NWT Uranium Corp., which has an indirect stake in Kalahari. But those talks broke off abruptly, and NWT issued an extraordinary statement on Monday night saying it had "concern with certain questionable acts by Rio management which were not in keeping with the spirit of the discussions."

John Zorbas, managing director at NWT, said that he would also like to see Rossing South sold through a "serious bid" or an auction. He declined to comment on Rio Tinto's conduct.

The unusual situation is further complicated by the government of Iran, which is Rio's joint venture partner on the Rossing mine. In Rio's last annual report, the company stated that is transferring its interest in Extract into the Rossing mine joint venture, effectively putting it in the hands of the Iranian government and other investors.

124p now !, blimey ! and the graph does look like the old VOG on the rise....how far is this going to go ?, still in and wondering !?.

what have we all missed? - sp has tumbled heavily, though i see no news ....... fortunately i banked everything here the other day

Me too, out for the moment !.

have looked at the trades thingy, and all first biz was sales ..... nothing huge, but guess just someone liquidating their position - arguably forced

EXT down 22%, probably profit takers as fundimentals have not changed,any
such retracment here would give a great buying oppotunity.
aimho
cyril

EXT down 22%, probably profit takers as fundimentals have not changed,any
such retracment here would give a great buying oppotunity.
aimho
cyril

... cyril

Very glad I went out of these monday at 1.25p also sold URU at 25.3p for the time being.

EXT up in aussie by 10% to add to the 5%+ on friday, taking it back to au$4.
URU quitr cheap at these prices.imho
cyril

SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- China National Nuclear Corp., the country's body governing all supply of nuclear fuel for power generation, has held preliminary talks with Australia uranium miners, CNNC's vice president said Wednesday.

"We have contacted counterparts in Australia, and have held preliminary talks. But we need to verify the feasibility of certain projects before making any more details public," CNNC Vice President Jiangang Qin told Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle 2009 conference.

"We want to focus on our own production but we'd also like to make investments similar to Japan, to plug any shortage in Chinese uranium supply," he said.

CNNC already has acquired an exploration interest in Niger.

Talk of China seeking large-scale investment in Australia's uranium miners has intensified in recent weeks. One Sydney-based investment banker said contact from Chinese companies had increased exponentially over the past two months, with inquiries focusing on the coal and uranium sector.

China is particularly interested in companies already in production, such as Paladin Resources Ltd. and Energy Resources Australia Ltd. (majority-owned by Rio Tinto PLC) but also smaller miners at the exploration stage such as Extract Resources Ltd.

but only the sellers are showing any interest in KAH at the mo!

Kalahari Minerals plc, the AIM listed mining exploration and evaluation group
with a portfolio of uranium, copper and base metal interests in Namibia, is
pleased to provide an update released by Extract Resources Ltd ('Extract' or
'the Company'), in which Kalahari's subsidiary, Kalahari Uranium Limited, holds
a 38.68% interest.


Kalahari Chairman Mark Hohnen said, "Rossing South continues to yield fantastic
results and as Peter MacIntyre reiterated, these latest set of results reconfirm
that Rossing South is the highest grade granite hosted uranium deposit in
Namibia and that it continues to evolve into one of the largest uranium deposits
in the world."


Extract Announcement:


Extract Resources today announced further broad, high grade chemical assay
results from Rossing South and the renewal of EPL3138.


Highlights:


* Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy confirms renewal of EPL3138 (which
includes the Rossing South deposit).
* Rossing South Zone 2 drilling is progressing on schedule and continues to
encounter zones of massive high grade alaskite-hosted uranium mineralisation.
* Rossing South Zone 1 drilling results further define and extend the known
mineralisation.
* Seven drill rigs now operating on site (5 RC + 2 Diamond).
* Exploration drilling that will explore to the west of Zone 1 and south of Zone 2
has commenced.

Market waking up to the value of URU.
cyril

Hi,

Back from the AGM now.

This has to be one of the most productive AGMs Ive attended. If it werent for the fact that Rio Tinto sent one of their staff and that Stephen Dattels attended in person, one might take some of the statements made with a pinch of salt. Kalahari has now released their official AGM statement: http://fool.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200905121302371099S.html . Ill not mess about and just highlight the key bullet points.

- In conversation with Glynn Tonge after the meeting, he believes that it now looks highly likely that Rossing South Zones 1 and 2 link up. He has just returned from a semi-annual visit to operations in Namibia. Intensive drilling is currently underway between the zones.

- He also said that the exploration rig was currently working around the Salem area but that Extract would not reveal results, even to him. He said that results of the explo drilling will be announced in August. [I am surprised that they would hold back any significant discovery].

- The helimag survey will start next week and should take 2-3 weeks

- Mark Hohnen stated in the formal meeting that he is now confident that the total zone 1 and zone 2 resource will be 500Mlb+ - yup, that isnt a typo :0))) (though obviously not by the time of the August zone 2 maiden resource declaration)

- In response to a question from Laurie Kennedy* of Rio, Mark Hohnen confirmed that, as a gesture of goodwill towards Rio, Kalahari had agreed that it did not intend to increase its stake in Extract beyond 40%

- In response to another question from Rio, it was confirmed that David de Jongh Weill was representing Niger Uranium on Kalaharis Board. In a chat with David after the meeting, he confirmed that whilst he has known Stephen Dattels for 7 years, his introduction to SD was through Mike Beck, who he knows much better. He also confirmed that Chiliogon has been acting in a corporate finance capacity on behalf of Niger (but not Kalahari).

- In the post-meeting chat, it was mentioned that Rossing South looked bigger & better than Rossing (4th largest U mine globally). LK did not disagree.

- I chatted briefly with LK who spoke about the current volatility of the U market. There was a big grin on his face when I pointed out that whatever the U price was, Rossing South would be one of the worlds most profitable U mines, due to its low cost.

- I also chatted with DdJW after the meeting. He confirmed that it would not be unreasonable for me to expect an announcement concerning URUs funding soon (dont forget, he is a barrister ;0)). Most importantly, he said that the Board intended to minimise the fund raising (just to meet short term needs) & dilution. Not much funding was required to progress the Henkries project at present.

- Speaking to Mark Hohnen & Glynn Tonge after the meeting, they emphasised that they were very keen for Extract to become a Namibian company and establish its HQ there (this makes sense to me). Zaamwani is keen to know Extracts intentions for moving the project forward. They were non-committal about working with Rio but re-emphasised that if the three companies were to work together, Rio would have to make a full and fair offer.

- Before the meeting I spoke to Stephen Dattels, who was quite friendly (but a bit irritated that the meeting got off to a late start, I think whilst waiting for certain shareholders to arrive). I mentioned that I was not invested in Polo as I found GCM a bit complicated. He confirmed that the negotiations around that were rather a headache. He seemed happy about prospects/progress at Caledon - but obviously cant say much about that.

* It would appear from this: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20706111-643,00.html that Laurie Kennedy is Rios Chief Counsel. ;0)

Those are the key points. I asked some questions on the accounts amongst the formal business:

- Most of the admin expense is accounted for by their base metals explo & study. This expense has not been capitalised.

- LK asked about the sketchiness of the directors remuneration report. I pointed out that it is not mandatory under AIM and referred him to note 4. [He needs to get up to speed on AIM rules!]

- I asked about the big jump in salaries shown in note 4. Duncan Craib stated that this was a timing difference, and that whilst the report showed just 9 employees last year and this, considerably more were employed whilst the base metal explo programme was more active.

There was no presentation this year but after the formal business I spoke to Glynn Tonge about the base metal projects. He confirmed that Indium was present in the samples from the Namib lead/zinc tailings and the mine itself. He wouldnt comment on concentration but indicated that this would be included in the resource report which should be published in the not too distant future. Base metal price volatility made it difficult to assess feasibility (suggests to me that the economics arent brilliant). MH said he expected theyd be able to bring the base metal projects on stream as the markets for those metals were in their next proper upswing.

Considering what appears to me to be a slackening of the pace on explo and studies of the base metal projects, my feeling is that theyre currently taking rather a backseat to developments at Extract.

I have added to my URU holding at 19.5p today (at their current SPs each URU share represents 28.9p of Kalahari or 28p of Extract) and stand ready to add to my (larger) Extract one, should the price dip.

Regards,

Mark

From a trusted and (KAH's AGM)and well respected poster.

cyril