Moved from OFEX to AIM today after demerging from Brancote just over two years ago. Brancote are probably one of teh few exploration companies that has succeeded in recent years despite all the gold hype for that sector. In that time, has gone from 1.5p to 15p currently.

Main assets are some exploration rights to land in Argentina, where the management team have great experience and 33% ownership of Landore, a Canadian precious metals exploration company.

Probably a tad overvalued at present, but IMO, worth holding for a couple of years to see if lightning really can strike twice....

Play of the Week in Shares mag last week - a few here may know that already ...

Comments / Opinions welcome.

Sorry to blow my own trumpet, but see an interview with Richard Prickett here:

http://www.fillyaboots.com/?mount=Frames/whatwe.html

HPD's main project is a 50% share in, as operator of, Patagonia Gold - their JV partners being the Argentinian industrialists who part-backed Brancote's Esquel project - and there's no two ways about it, the directors are looking to repeat their earlier success at Esquel. Low-sulphidation epithermal gold is flavour of the year!

There's scads of information on their website at www.hpdexploration.com, (very professional for an only-just-ex-OFEX company!) including an in-depth geo-report on the Patagonia tenements by Richard Sillitoe. It seems clear that the potential of this area to host decent gold projects is barely explored as yet.

I have reservations about the market cap - as the prospects are still exactly that, but not prepared to bet against the trio of Prickett, Humphries and Dare. Not to mention Marc Sale, the ex-BNC Esquel project manager, and their new head geo who has an interesting pedigree.

Patagonia Gold also have a 50% earn-in set-up with Canadian explorer APAC (so just 25% attributable to HPD) which looks promising. Plus the afore-mentioned share of Landore Resources.

Drilling all over the place in the first half-year, and results expected from Patagonia some time in May.....

Certainly worth watching, IMHO.

Some positive news this morning:

RNS Number:5173J
HPD Exploration PLC
02 April 2003

HPD Exploration Plc

("HPD")

HPD New Zealand Limited acquires exploration properties

HPD is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, HPD New Zealand
Limited, has been granted 4 Prospecting permits and 3 Exploration permits
covering a total of 1,786km2 in the highly prospective Otago area of the South
Island adjacent to and to the west of the GRD Macracs mine, New Zealand's
premier gold producer.

Those properties were selected following a review by HPD management assisted by
mining consultants, Kenex Knowledge Systems Limited of New Zealand. Historical
production has been recorded on several of these properties including the
Macetown Field which produced 1.28 tonnes of gold. Field reconnaissance is about
to commence on these properties in order to define drill targets.

Further permits are currently under application in the Hauraki area (876km2) of
the North Island in the vicinity of Newmont Mining's Waihi gold mine, and in the
Marlborough area on the South Island (1,010km2).

Bill Humphries, Managing Director, said today that "New Zealand represents a
significant strategic opportunity for HPD that compliments our existing
interests in Patagonia and Canada. As is the case with Patagonia, only limited
hard-rock gold exploration has previously taken place in New Zealand despite the
existence of highly prospective geology. HPD management will make full use of
its experience of epithermal and mesothermal gold mincralization to undertake a
comprehensive exploration programme over the next 12 months."

some more positive news..... Bill Humphries sounds to be happy with everything and the latest site....

HPD Exploration To Focus On Exploration In Chile Following Acquisition of Coyhaique Gold Project.


By complete coincidence HPD Exploration also has some properties in New Zealand which were picked up in March after the company raised 1.7 million and promoted itself from Ofex to AIM. Most of these are on the south island close to Macraes, but there are a few in the north. This deal gave the first clue to the fact that HPD Exploration would not simply be a clone of Brancote, restricting its activities to the region it knows so well around the Esquel project in Patagonia. One reason for this was the way Meridian Gold behaved after it acquired Brancote. Its lack of diplomacy in dealings with local people and politicians over its proposed development of the mine attracted objectors like bees round a honey pot. Little effort was made to foster existing relationships and company men were brought in to take over jobs previously done by Argentinians.

This uniquely American combination of inferiority complex and xenophobia - exemplified by comparing the attitudes adopted by UK and US troops to Iraqi citizens - was displayed to Minews soon after the acquisition. A suggestion that Meridian might like to present to investors in London in order to capitalise on the goodwill that had been built up by Brancote was rebuffed in short order. ‘This is an American company,’ was the message, ‘and it has no need to court European investors.’ Message received loud and clear, but the company needs all the friends it can get after all the problems it has encountered at Esquel and this is the reason that HPD Exploration and IMA Exploration, to name but two, are now keeping their distance.

The latest deal by HPD takes it over the border into southern Chile where Patagonia Gold, its joint venture with the Miguens Bemberg family, has agreed an option with Westmag of Australia to buy up to 75 per cent of its Coyhaique gold project. This family has widespread industrial interests in Argentina and was a big shareholder in Brancote. It is said that they hung on to some of their Meridian paper and are less than happy with the 34 per cent fall in share price since the end of April 2002. Maybe this helped HPD to persuade them to shift the focus of exploration into Chile as this, in effect, is what is happening.

The project consists of a number of concessions covering an area of 20,800 hectares and is only 15 kilometres east of the town of Coyhaique. Homestake Mining held the properties in the early 1990's, completing preliminary exploration, including scout drilling on the visible vein structures, which effectively outlined the broad potential of the property. Fifteen extensive zones of gold-silver mineralization were identified, comprising classic low sulphidation epithermal vein, breccia and stockwork systems ranging in strike length from 300 metres to several kilometres.

The deal was brought to Bill Humphries, HPD’s chief executive, by Dick Sillitoe one of the world’s leading experts on epithermal deposits. Neither of them can work out why Homestake walked away, but that is what happens with big companies. Anyway it suits HPD for two reasons. First, because it is much more advanced than any of its projects in Patagonia so drilling can take place very soon on targets already identified by the previous work. And second, the cash required upfront is minimal at US$100,000 and the balance of US$4 million to acquire an initial 51 per cent interest will be spent on the actual drilling.

The project lies at the north-western margin of the Deseado Massif which is host to numerous significant low sulphidation epithermal gold/silver deposits, including the Cerro Vanguardia mine of Anglogold. It is also situated in the foothills of the Andean cordillera, but some 300 kilometres south of Esquel, and the topography is very similar. Rockchip sampling and scout drilling by Homestake of the exposed sections of mineralisation returned economic style grades and widths plus rare bonanza grades associated with visible gold and electrum, including a sample assay of 426 g/t gold and 5,560 g/t silver from the Lilly vein.

Several significant veins are visible on the property including the Adriana vein with a strike length of about 1000 metres and up to 4 metres in width, the Violeta vein in several sections over a strike length of 1500 metres and up to 10 metres wide and the Vargas vein with a strike length of 300 metres and up to 9 metres in width. All have proved to be mineralised and it is interesting that surface sampling carried out by HPD’s people bore out Homestake’s results including the bonanza grade of the Lilly vein, 176.5 g/t gold and 2750 g/t silver. Grades of up to 7.8 g/t gold and 93.0 g/t silver were reported from Adriana , up to 9.59 g/t gold and 68.3 g/t silver on Vargas and of up to 6.98 g/t gold and 100.0 g/t silver on the Violeta vein. Small wonder that Bill Humphries, speaking from Australia, sounds like the cat that has got the cream.

Didn't anyone tell Meridian that you upset Minews at your peril?

Still, their experience in Chubut Province does indicated that HPD are well advised to look at properties outside that region. Richard Sillitoe, mentioned by Minews, is indeed an authority on epithermal deposits (and a few other types as well!) and it is encouraging that this new prospect has his 'blessing'.

Wendy any ideas when the results are due for patagonia?

I think HPD seem to be going for good quality exploration areas......
The site in chile is just what theyve wanted for a few months now.... a more developed site, that has already had research work carried out into it....
And I find the new site v.promising after Dick sillitoe has recommended it or given it his "blessing" from one of the worlds best experts on epithermal deposits. And with Bill Humphries seeming so happy with his new site that is quite an endorsement!