Gunson Resources gunning for growth

Named after an old copper mine in South Australia, Gunson Resources Ltd has grown slowly but confidently since it was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange eight years ago.

"It's a small company but it has a high growth potential, with certainly strong connections with China," explained Gunson's Managing Director, David Harley.

"Being small, we can act quickly and that's very important for people who are short of raw materials," he added.

The company's promising prospects have attracted the attention of industry giant Billiton, which invested $500,000 in its initial public offering (IPO) in 2000.

Gunson also owned a mineral sands exploration property containing mostly zircon and titanium dioxide minerals during the IPO in 2000.

After gaining environmental approval from the government to start operations at the site in 2007, Gunson linked with China Triumph International Engineering Co Ltd (CTIEC) to explore and mine the property.

Gunson announced this year that results of drilling on the property show a mine lifespan of at least 17 years. It is currently the third-largest greenfields zircon development project in the world.

"We're not just going to mine for two years and then go away. Ours are long-life projects. We are looking at about 170,000 tons of heavy mineral per year, of which 82,000 will go into China as a concentrate," said Harley.

Gunson has signed two agreements with CTIEC for both the financing and development of the zircon project. "My vision is that we have a good relationship and that we both make money together," said Harley.

Gunson has also recognized a global shortage of copper as reflected the commodity's record high prices. The company is looking into mining copper at its Mount Gunson project in South Australia within a year and a half. Shallow resources at Mount Gunson total 200,000 tons of contained copper metal.

www.gunson.com.au

(China Daily 08/07/2008 page41)