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.

Mark Hohnen of Kalahari Minerals Sees Real Value In His Stake In Extract Resources And Will Not Let It Go Cheaply


By Charles Wyatt



Back in September Mark Hohnen, executive chairman of Kalahari Minerals, proposed that his company and Extract Resources should work out a way of merging. The stimulus for this action was the fact that Rio Tinto had acquired a 14.9 per cent shareholding in Kalahari and a 10.9 per cent stake in Extract. The Rio stake in Extract was increased to 13.1 per cent shortly afterwards. The vendor was poor, beleaguered RAB Capital, under pressure to sell off its shares, and the transaction meant that Rio Tinto would have had 19.8 per cent of any enlarged company. This is below the 20 per cent limit which would trigger a bid under Aussie rules, but shareholders in Kalahari were worried that such a holding would enable Rio Tinto to get effective control of the merged company on the cheap, as well as allowing it to exert an unhealthy level of influence on future decisions. They were mindful that Rio Tintos big Rossing mine, which is only five kilometers to the north of Extracts own uranium prospects, has been in uninterrupted operation for 30 years and could probably do with more resources.
Mark Hohnen did the right thing in asking Rio Tinto what it had in mind and whether it would agree not to increase its holding in the enlarged company for a period of time after the planned merger was implemented. Rio had a few other things on its mind at the time, such as BHP Billiton, but it nevertheless it decided not to agree to the mooted standstill so Mark called the merger off. Throughout this period Kalahari had been very much in the driving seat due to its 39.05 per cent holding in Extract. The company used its muscle again at the beginning of December by proposing the removal of Bob Buchan as chairman of Extract. Bob, who made his name at Kinross Gold, had been brought in to raise the profile of Extract among North American investors and to help the company list on the TSX. Mark Hohnen had come to the conclusion that this was not working out, was a waste of money, and was taking eyes off the ball at Extract. He emphasises that he has great respect for Peter McIntyre and his crew, but that he wanted every effort to be thrown into increasing the value of the Rossing South uranium discovery

Extract is an Australian-based uranium exploration company operating in Namibia. Its principal asset is its 100 per cent owned Husab uranium project. This contains three known uranium targets - Ida Dome, Hildenhof and Rossing South - the last of these being its latest discovery in the area. Only last week Extract announced some huge uranium intersections at Rossing South, accompanied by high grade chemical assay results which confirmed it as one of the most significant uranium discoveries made in recent decades. It has now been found that uranium mineralisation remains open along strike to the south and down dip to the east, and thats raised expectations that the company will deliver up a much larger resource than was originally expected. According to Peter McIntyre, managing director of Extract, Major hits on the southernmost line of Zone 1 give strong indication that this zone is still wide open and we intend to release an initial resource estimate early in the New Year.

No wonder Mark Hohnen did not want Rio Tinto interfering in what could be a world class company maker (his words) for both Extract and Kalahari. His master stroke, however, was a placing to raise fractionally under 4 million earlier this month at a price of 32p per share. That was right on the share price at the time. He points out that this was the maximum number of shares Kalahari could issue at the time and, encouraged by demand, he will be back for more next year. The share price has since advanced to 36.25 p and as the peak for the shares earlier this year was just over 45p the company has clearly performed better than most of its peers.

Kalahari itself has a portfolio of copper and base metal prospects in western and eastern central Namibia. Two of the project areas, Dordabis and Witvlei, are prospective for sediment-hosted copper mineralization, while a third, Ubib, is believed to be prospective for gold, and is close to the operating Navachab gold mine. Kalahari has just completed a major drilling programme on the copper, and an initial resource estimate can be expected early next year.

The company also has a 90 per cent interest in the highly prospective Namib lead-zinc project centred around the old Namib lead mine, which was an underground operation from 1965 to 1992. Previous mine studies indicate surface tails and underground mining reserves of 1.65 million tonnes at 5.7% zinc, 1.6% lead and 40.2 grammes per tonne silver. Kalahari aims to take the project to the bankable feasibility study stage with a view to re-commencing mining operations in the short term. But current lead and zinc prices mean there is no immediate hurry.

Mark Hohnen went on to say to Minews from Namibia that recent results from Rossing South reinforce our belief that this is the most outstanding new deposit to come to market in recent years. I have just been speaking with the geologist in charge of the project and am now convinced that the initial resource will be right at the top of Extracts target range, with approaching 100 million pounds of U3O8. And this is just from the southeastern end of Zone 1. There will be more to come there and then there is Zone 2 which could be similar in size. Nor should Ida Dome be overlooked as it already has a JORC compliant resource of 25.1 million pounds of U3O8.

So lets be very conservative and assume a total resource of 150 million ounces. Forsys Metals, which operates in the same uranium district was recently acquired at a price of US$9.00 per resource pound, and the Forsys ore is lower grade. If we only take a price of US$5.00 per pound this would value Extract at US$750 million and it is only capitalised at US$190 million. You cant be surprised that I want to hang on to the 39.05 per cent holding and realise true value for my shareholders.

He has now requisitioned a meeting of Extract shareholders to discuss the removal of Bob Buchan, since Bob would not quit voluntarily. This should herald a new era in the relationship between the two companies. Constructive and helpful it will be, but Mark has put down his marker that he wants to see the rating of Extract reflect the value of its assets to a far greater extent.

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 40.00% interest.



Kalahari Chairman Mark Hohnen said, "These results yet again underpin that
Rossing South is one of the world's most significant uranium discoveries. The
34% increase in resource for Zone 1 to 145 million lbs of U3O8 is fantastic
news and in line with our estimates. Additionally we were hugely excited about
the increase in grade which makes Rossing South the highest grade granite
hosted uranium deposit in Namibia. We look forward to Extract publishing a
maiden resource for Zone 2 in August, which we believe will elevate Rossing
South into the world's top ten global uranium deposits in terms of contained
metal. Importantly the mineralisation at Zone 1 and 2 remains open along
strike and down-dip."

cyril

Namibia based miner Kalahari Minerals (KAH) announced an upgrade of resources at its Rossing South project. The firm said uranium resources at the site were 34% higher at 145 million pounds while an increase in grades made the project one of the countrys highest grade sources. Speaking about the announcement, Kalahari Chairman Mark Hohnen stated: We look forward to Extract publishing a maiden resource for Zone 2 in August, which we believe will elevate Rossing South into the world's top ten global uranium deposits in terms of contained metal. Importantly the mineralisation at Zone 1 and 2 remains open along strike and down-dip. Kalahari shares finished unchanged at 127p

< http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=20090722075834DP4DO
You might need to put KAH in the EPIC address box?
cyril

Another great update....still think that in time the sp will climb to the 190p's or so...

most of the RNS is highly technical geological gibberish, but the opening para as below is the bit we all want to know!

Kalahari Chairman Mark Hohnen said, "These are incredible results
which ensure that Rossing South is now one of the largest uranium deposits in
the world. The 82% increase in the resource at Rossing South and the gradequality mean this project is truly world class. Including Ida Dome, Extract
now has a JORC compliant resource in excess of 300 M.lbs U3O8 of which 267
M.lbs U3O8 @ 487 ppm is from the two zones at Rossing South. With both Zones 1
& 2 open along strike and down-dip we are confident that Extract has the
ground and potential to deliver on Kalahari's estimates of a resource in the
region of 500 M.lbs U3O8."

from a chart point of view, note that sp has now broken into all-time high ground ..... one way and another, very bullish

Yep !.....reading all the figures means nothing to me but I trust that there are people out there that do....a sharp climb has to come now as long as the price of uranium doesn't plummet.

Hanson Westhouse recently reported :-

"Extract Resources is trading at an EV/lb of US$6.53 which we believe includes a premium for both the anticipated resource announcement for Zone 2 of Rossing South in August and current corporate interest. This is inline with the agreement between Mega Uranium Ltd (TSX: MGA), JAURD (the Japan Australia Uranium Resources Development Co. Ltd.) and ITOCHU Corporation (ITOCHU) for 35% of the 23.7Mlbs U3O8 (8.4Mlbs attributable) Lake Maitland project in Australia which has an EV/lb of US$5.9 per lb. We believe this is the M&A value of pre-development uranium in the ground. "

http://www.wametals.com.au/investors/research_pdfs/090713_hansonwesthouse.pdf




au$7.58 values the updated resource at us$4.84 per pound.

At us$5.9 per pound, EXT would have a share price of au$9.24

The value of Kalahari's EXT @ au$9.24 would be 2.14 per share


EXT @ au$9.24 gives a look-through value of :-
URU = 50.43p
EML = 11.89p
PRL = 4.07p
NWT = 15.90p (Canadian 28.74c)
cyril

Well, I was expecting Lady KAH KAH here.. to rise a bit more than this today....staying put on my stock anyway...

disappointing that sp failed to hold through all-time high

Anybody any idea what the price of uranium is doing at the moment ?....

Uranium rose as high as $136 per pound in 2007 (from a low of $8 per pound in 2002). That means the price of uranium jumped about 1600% between 2002 and 2007.

However, prices soon came crashing down:

As you can see, things haven't been pretty for uranium lately. The spot price for U3O8 recently fell another $2 per pound and now stands at $49 a pound.

========
actually you can't see, because the chart didn't or wouldn't copy across

Thanks for the info....this drop might hold the sp back then...

it hasn't been a recent drop ..... indeed, price has recovered from about $40 over the last couple of months

Still climbing....gently day by day....now breaking new ground ..

9% rise so far today...160p....looking great..

Extract(pun)from todays RNS.

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 40% interest.

Kalahari Chairman Mark Hohnen said, "This is great news with preliminary cost
estimates indicating that Rossing South could support a profitable, long life,
low cost, low technical risk uranium mine producing 14.8M lbs U3O8 per year,
making it one of the world's largest uranium mines. Importantly, Namibia
already hosts other world class uranium projects including Rio Tinto's Rossing
and Paladin's Langer Heinrich uranium mines, located either side of Extract's
project, therefore providing good infrastructure and knowledge of the sector,
which would greatly assist in the development of Rossing South.

"With a JORC compliant resource of 267 M.lbs U3O8 @ 487 ppm, Rossing South is
already one of the world's largest uranium deposits. However, it has
considerable additional potential as the uranium mineralisation on all zones
drilled to date is still open at depth and along strike. This confirmed
resource and the outstanding exploration potential still to be tested across
the whole Husab project should ensure a long and successful mining operation.
As we have mentioned in previous announcements, we believe that Extract has the
ground and potential to deliver on Kalahari's uranium estimates of a resource
in the region of 500 M.lbs U3O8.

"We look forward to receiving regular updates from Extract as it advances the
Prefeasibility Study, prior to embarking on the Definitive Feasibility Study
and ultimately potentially creating one of the world's largest uranium mines."

Extract announcement:

STUDY HIGHLIGHTS

* Production rate 15.0 M tpa

* Estimated head grade 487 ppm U3O8
cyril

banked 50% of these the other day at a respectable profit, albeit that it has proved pretty premature ..... never mind

Still in and wondering where the top is ?,....in future years this should be worth several times what it is today but there is the high possibility of a takeover before then.