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.

Extract Says Itochu 'Interested' in Husab Uranium

November 04, 2010, 2:33 AM EDT By Jason Scott

(Updates with share price in seventh paragraph.)

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Extract Resources Ltd., the uranium explorer partly owned by Rio Tinto Group, said Japanese trading house Itochu Corp. wants to purchase production from its Husab mine in Namibia.

"Itochu is very interested in taking offtake," Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Leslie said in an interview in Perth today.

Extract, about 15 percent owned by Rio Tinto, aims to develop the world's second-biggest uranium venture after Cameco Corp.'s McArthur River mine in Canada. The company intends to gain from a nuclear-power revival as countries turn to the technology to meet energy demand and cut emissions.

Itochu agreed in July to buy a 10.3 percent stake in London-based Extract to benefit from global growth in demand for the fuel. It now holds 13 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The stake purchase "doesn't restrict us in any way, it just gives us more options," Leslie said.

The two companies are in talks about Itochu helping to develop the Namibian project's desalination plant, Leslie said.

Extract gained 3.2 percent to A$8.15 at the close in Sydney trading, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 percent.

Extract Resources in talks with Japanese trading house Itochu Corp.to purchase production from its Husab mine in Namibia. Itochu is very interested in taking offtake, Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Leslie of Extract Resources Ltd

With regards spot price development of uranium and the position of Kazakhstan:

"We can see a gap opening up in the market in two to three years, Leslie said. The belief is Kazakhstan is getting toward the end of the period where theyve got the easy stuff, the low-hanging fruit, so their costs are going up.

More at: http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...b-uranium.html

Not just Itochu it seems. Culled from the EXT board:

UPDATE: Japanese Companies Eye Namibian Uranium Deposit
Extract Resources (ASX:EXT)
Intraday Stock Chart
Today : Friday 5 November 2010
Extract Resources Ltd. (EXT.AU) said Thursday that a recent investment in the company by Itochu Corp. (ITOCY) has spurred significant interest from other Japanese entities in its Husab uranium prospect in Namibia.

One of the world's largest undeveloped uranium deposits, Husab is just six kilometers away from the massive Rio Tinto Ltd.-operated (RTP) Rossing uranium mine. It was originally called Rossing South but Extract has changed its name to Husab to avoid confusion.

Japan generates about a third of its electricity from nuclear power and other countries including the U.S. are turning to the energy source to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

China is undertaking a massive expansion in nuclear power, expanding its current nine gigawatts of nuclear capacity from 11 reactors to 70-80 GW by 2020 and 200 GW by 2030.

Extract, which counts Rio Tinto as a 15% shareholder, last year hired Rothschild to conduct a strategic review of its business. Options include building a stand-alone mine, forming a joint venture with the Rossing mine or bringing in more strategic investors.

The Perth-based company said Thursday that its base-case remains to develop Rossing South as a stand-alone project.

Still, it said it continues to hold discussions with external parties, with a number of groups continuing to show interest in the project.

A 10.3% investment in Extract by Itochu has led to "significant interest from other Japanese institutions" and some have visited the project, Extract Chief Executive Jonathan Leslie said in speech notes prepared for the company's annual shareholder meeting.

Japan's Foreign Affairs Secretary Osamu Fujimora has also visited the southern African nation and met Namibia's prime minister, Leslie said. "Good relationships are in place and we continue to enjoy the government's support for this project," he added.

Concerns the Namibian government could wrest control of the project from Extract have weighed on its share price but the company has consistently played down those fears.

It said a project feasibility study for a stand-alone development is now due in the first quarter of 2011, back from its previous guidance of the end of 2010. "Our target for plant commissioning is the first quarter of 2014," Leslie said.

-By Ross Kelly, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4692; Ross.Kelly@dowjones.com

Up she goes!

Chugging along very nicely..

Going well again!

Looks as though KAH has lift off!

Could this be the driver?:

Rio eyes targets on back of ore boom
Miner to buy after year of disposals

Capex to rise to $11bn in 2011
By William MacNamara
Guy Elliott, finance director, confirmed that Rio was on the hunt for acquisitions as it finished a year defined by asset disposals.

We are looking strongly at M&A, he said, but scoffed at the notion of a target anywhere near the size of Alcan, its ill-fated $40bn aluminium buy. We are not looking at huge acquisitions. I would say they are in the low-single-digit billions. But we do see some things out there. What we pursue will be businesses that have synergies with ones we already own.....

Where next?:
Mining giant Rio Tinto is to be the junior partner in a joint venture (JV) with Chinalco. The new company has been formed to explore mainland China for world-class mineral deposits. Rio Tinto will own 49% of the JV and will appoint the chief executive of the new company.

seems to have done the sp good at the mo.,.

Still looking very strong!

Good for 300p minimum....

EXT closed at A$9.25. So seems we have more to come. But, by how much do you value a huge resource with RIO on the doorstep?

Uranium surges as Beijing goes nuclear
Created: 8 December 2010
Written by: Mark Robinson
Spot prices for uranium have recently bubbled up to around the $67 (42.38) mark following confirmation that China's plans for its nuclear industry are far more ambitious than previously thought. At the recent International Nuclear Symposium held in Beijing, Chinese authorities announced that the People's Republic intended to construct up to 245 reactors over the next 20 years, at a projected cost of $511bn (323bn).

China's ambitious urbanisation programme, coupled with unrelenting industrial demand, have placed great strain on its existing power infrastructure. Currently it is reliant on coal-fired power stations for 65 per cent of its energy needs, but as demand steadily rises, the country is facing the prospect of perpetual energy deficits unless alternate sources are brought on stream. By 2020, it is estimated that China will require at least 35 per cent of the worlds current output of uranium ore, and thats before the majority of the new reactors come on stream. Other countries, such as India, are also determined to expand nuclear capacity.

The recent hike in the spot price for uranium means it has now risen around 45 per cent since the start of this year. And come 2013, the supply of 'above-ground' uranium that has come from the gradual decommissioning of a vast arsenal of Sovier-era missiles will cease. That could throw the underlying supply-demand picture into sharp relief and have significant implications for the spot price.

See also: Coking coal hots up

WAYS TO GO NUCLEAR...
Polo Resources and Kalahari Minerals both offer indirect exposure to the massive Rossing South uranium deposit via their interests in Australian-listed Extract Resources. Other quoted uranium plays include Vane Minerals, Forte Energy and Red Rock Resources.

There's also Geiger Counter, a Jersey-listed closed-end fund that invests mostly in uranium shares, and the ETF Securities Global Nuclear Energy exchange-traded fund, which goes by the imaginative TIDM of NUKE.

having really been using KAH as a quick trading stock in recent months - and done pretty well out of it too - but am glad i jumped back in a few days ago, almost on a whim

=============

but all something of a damp squib this morning

predateur

Summary from Extract Resources announcement dated today.

" Extract Resources Ltd has agreed to issue 7,299,069 ordinary shares in the Conpany by way of placement to Kalahari Uranium Limited a 100% subsidiary of Kalahari Minerals plc. ( Kalahari)

On completion the shares will e issued at a price of A$8.35 representing a 5% discount to the 3-day VWAP of Extraxct shares from 3rd December 2010 to 7th December 2010.
The placement is expected to raise A$60.9m.

Following completion Kalahari's interest is expected to increase from 100,043,018 shares representing 41.12% of the shares on issue to 107,342,087shares representing 42.83% of the 250,601,367 shares on issue.

The proceeds of the placement, together with existing cash balances of approximately A$39.7m as of 30th November 2010 will provide funding to complete the Company's current drilling programme for further value engineering and optimisation initiatives in support of the Definitive Feasibility Study on the Hurab Uranium Project and will, in due course, permit initial engineering and pre-developement work to commence at the project.

The placement is conditional upon the Company and Kalahari entering into a formal subscription agreeent and confirmation by ASX that it will not exercise its discretion under ASX Listing Rule 10.11.12or, if this confirmation is not forthcomingshareholder approval

Confirmation of the placement is expected to occur on or before 7th January 2011 or if shareholder approval is required witin two business days of shareholder approval "

The closing price of Extract on ASX was A$9.18.

If approved could add further value to Kalahari price.

Grevis 2

I think you will find that Polo Resources sold its complete holding in Extract in August this year.

See announcement dated 13th August, by Polo.

" Second tranche , 18,650,849 shares sold for A$7.00. "

Relative to today's closing price A$9.18..............ouch

Thanks predateur; I had thought as much.

Kalahari Minerals to move to main market
StockMarketWire.com
AIM - listed Kalahari Minerals is to apply to move to the main market.

The Group's main asset is a 42% holding in Namibian- mining group, Extract Resources which is currently developing the Husab Uranium Project, projected to be one of the largest uranium mines in the world

Chairman, Mark Hohnen comments: "After a very successful four years on AIM, Kalahari has now reached a size and stage of maturity such that the Board believes the Official List is the most appropriate platform for its future growth.

"We are confident that this move will provide the Company with greater share liquidity, enhanced market exposure and a wider shareholder base, befitting to a company of Kalahari's increased profile.

"As Extract Resources' Husab Uranium Project approaches its development phase, our position as a major strategic shareholder in Extract becomes increasingly prominent.

"We are committed to remaining a supportive investor in Extract, as highlighted by our recent announcement regarding the private placement that we initiated in Extract, and we strongly believe that a listing on the Official List will leverage our influence and ability to guide the development of the Husab project."

Today's RNS: Apac of Hong Kong have added around 9 million shares to their holding