Murchison United Nl Share Discussion Threads

[vanbrussel] 22/8/2007 06:09

MUR +4.5% on 1,114,785

[vanbrussel] 21/8/2007 11:28

Murchison is trying to reinvent itself, it takes time to regain confidence from the investor community; right now they are still in the camp of the losers, things are changing however

1.In early 2002, Murchison United Ltd. of Australia agreed to acquire Rio Tinto plc.'s 49% interest in Somincor. The remaining 51% was owned by the state holding company Empressa Desenvolvimento Mineiro S.A. Murchison was, however, unable to get approval from the Government by a July 31, 2002, deadline for financial acquisition arrangements.
This meant that Murchison's planned financial placement to raise $42 million, which had been fully underwritten, was cancelled.

! The world class Neves Corvo mine is one of Lundin's core assets right now


! Lundin Mining Drills 55 Metres of 8.5% Zinc at Neves Corvo
Since the last exploration update in April 2007 (see news release April 12, 2007), assays have been received for an additional 6 drill holes, including the widest high-grade zinc intersections yet encountered in this world-class deposit. These new drill results include hole NF22A which intersected a 55 metre section which returned 8.51% zinc and 2.47% lead, and hole ND20A-1 which intersected a 35 metre section grading 9.44% zinc and 3.16% lead. The intersections in these two holes are 425 metres apart.



2. In May 2003 due to low tin-prices the Renison Bell tin mine (West Coast Tasmania) closed:
Employees are leaving Zeehan to obtain work interstate as the mine remains closed and Murchison United gives no indication when operations will restart.
Murchison United suspended mining and treatment operations at Renison Bell on May 27 to allow it to carry out maintenance in a stoping area where a worker was killed in a rock fall on May 6. The suspension was expected to last six to eight weeks and the Zeehan community reportedly getting increasingly nervous as time ticks on and no formal announcement is made about when work will resume.

[gerri-c] 21/8/2007 08:19

Even with broader market influence, I've been mystified by the lack of price reaction to the recent news. Was it not good news?

[cyberian] 20/8/2007 13:13

van...any news/thoughts on the Australian partnership drilling where they have a program partly funded, but which should give them some early (positive!!) indication of exceptional value...ie. coulod really push the share price higher? Thanks in advance and for your other posts.

[vanbrussel] 20/8/2007 11:48

Monster strike? Who cares? That only impresses newbies,
theAustralian was the only wire that used such a header.
But you have to see it in perspective,
a month ago I thought this deposit could end up useless.
So with this kind of articles one is stimulated in more indepth DD
And I must say Murchison really has quality projects (and is well funded!)

[fingolfin] 20/8/2007 11:05

I hold these so I'm hopeful of the companies prospects, but the drill results in Guinea TO DATE do not support the term 'monster strike' by any stretch of the imagination

[vanbrussel] 20/8/2007 10:22

A reaction on III-board is that all this is hyping by the local politicians

Monster strike was the expression used Down Under

- Combination U3O8 & REE & height & strike is impressive
- Guinea is no chickensh*t country, they now what size is
- Guinea possesses over 25 billion Mt of bauxite, perhaps up to 1/2 of the world's reserves
- Guinea's mineral wealth includes more than 4 billion tons of high-grade iron ore
- Other Ozzy U3O8 players are 1. Acclaim Exploration NL (AEX)
with only recent Guinea Acquisitions (31/07/2007 Quarterly Activities Report)
- And 2. Nova Energy Ltd (NEL) which is merging with Toro Energy (TOE)



Aditya Birla Minerals posted their AGM-presentation today:
slide 23 is on the Maroochydore-JV Development Project
- again the word RESOURCE is used:
- Near surface resource of 50Mt @ 1%Cu, OXIDE and supergene
- Drilling for resource confirmation and metallurgical test work started in July



And them the MUU concessions on the Reguibat Shield in Mauritania
- Very efficient Ministry of Mines; only 30 days for an exploration permit
- Worldbank funded a US$10 airborne survey on the Reguibat Shield (by Fugro)
a couple of years ago, a whole lot of work is already been done
- Have a look at the MiningJournal special publication on Mauritania (feb-06)

- Or have a look a the Japan-Mauritania project (completed in March 06)and more specific on the simplified-geology-and-mineral-deposit map on page 2
U3O8 is not mentioned but what do you see: Yep, Archean and Proterozoic granites

[vanbrussel] 20/8/2007 04:42

Monster uranium strike in Guinea

According theAustralian.news.com (20/08/07)

Nothing new in the article, same copy as by AFP on 18th, but theAustralian uses the word Reserves* in capital letters! Did MUU drilled that much they already can state they have Reserves? LOL

RESERVES of uranium have been found in the west African country of Guinea by Australian miner Murchison United NL, Guinea's Mines and Geology Minister Ahmad Kante has announced.
The discovery was revealed by analysis of samples from the Firawa site at Kissidougou, 600km southeast of the capital, Conakry, the minister said.



*Reserves = Mineral to be mineable under the technical and economic conditions at the time of assessment

[vanbrussel] 18/8/2007 22:32

And another ozzy: Nova Energy Ltd (NEL)
which is merging with Toro Energy Ltd (TOE)

Information on previous exploration in the area is fragmentary but historical reports acquired by Nova Energy indicate that uranium mineralisation occurs in at least three units within a Neoproterozoic clastic sequence - a lower sandstone, a middle mudstone and an upper sandstone. Uranium mineralisation up to 7.5 metres thick with grades ranging from 0.01% to 0.5% U3O8 were reportedly intersected by previous reconnaissance drilling, but this requires verification. Mineralisation is interpreted to be of roll-front type.

[vanbrussel] 18/8/2007 21:48

Was looking for that S-African company mentioned in previous wires, to my surprise encountered:

Acclaim Exploration NL (AEX)

Guinea Acquisition (31/07/2007 Quarterly Activities Report)

During the quarter, Acclaim entered into an agreement with Laskara Limited to acquire the rights to explore and mine uranium in the West African nation of Guinea. The Company has been granted the entitlement to formally survey the entire Prefectures of Mali, Siguiri, Mamou, Kindia, Kissidougou, Mandiana, and N'Zerekore in Guinea and select what it believes to be the most prospective uranium rich occurrences.
Laskara has procured an enormous data base of existing uranium exploration data collected over several decades, including intensive work by Cogema, the French government nuclear agency, since renamed Areva. The data includes previous drill hole data, aeromagnetic survey data and comprehensive geological mapping of the prospective regions in the country.
Using this database, Acclaim commenced a review of the most prospective areas for immediate selection. It is the company's intention to identify blocks suitable for the immediate commencement of a number of reconnaissance drilling programs. The company is not limited to the number of blocks it may choose, however it is recognised that it is prudent to maximise its limited resources on the most prospective recognised uranium regions within Guinea.
Subsequent to the end of quarter due diligence was completed in relation to the proposed acquisition of prospecting rights over the geologically surveyed prefectures of Mali, Siguiri, Mamou, Kindia, Kissidougou, Mandiana,and N'Zerekore in Guinea.
Documentation has been lodged for approval with the Republic of Guinea Government Ministry and Acclaim is now awaiting Ministerial sign off.
In accordance with the agreement with Laskara Limited, Acclaim is now proceeding to negotiation of final terms of the acquisition. On receipt of Ministerial sign off, Acclaim expects to be in a position to enter formal agreement with Laskara Limited

[dadob1] 18/8/2007 08:54

Nice find vanbrussel

[vanbrussel] 18/8/2007 04:23

Well, in English this time!

Australian company finds uranium reserves in Guinea (18/08/07 02:43 GMT)

CONAKRY (AFP) - Reserves of uranium have been found in the west African country of Guinea by Australian mining company Murchison United NL, Guinean Mines and Geology Minister Ahmad Kante announced.

The discovery resulted from analysis of samples taken from the Firawa site at Kissidougou 600 kilometres (400 miles) southeast of the capital Conakry, the minister told an AFP journalist here.

Analysis of half the samples showed that "we are dealing with a mineral stratum of a width ranging from seven to 14 metres according to the zone, while in certain countries exploitation is carried out on mineral layers estimated in centimetres," Kante said.

"I can tell you that following work and analysis done in a Canadian laboratory, one can reasonably say that uranium does exist in Guinea," said the minister without going into detail about the dates when the samples were taken or the exact place where they were analysed.

Conakry delivered "more than six prospecting permits" to Murchison for Firawa, Kante said, but also for other sites at Cece in the southeastern Nzerekore region and Bohodou Kerouane in the far eastern region of Kankan.

He did not give the size of the zones concerned.

"Now we are in a phase of prospecting," the minister said. "Exploitation is a higher phase that comes after the prospecting phase.

"But there, it's really promising. I think that with Murchison it is certain that the results they'll obtain on the two other sites will enable rapid movement to the phase of exploitation."

He went on: "I know in advance that these results will bring keen interest from the different mining companies that specialise in prospecting for uranium."

Kante said that other companies were also looking for uranium. They included a South African company, he added without giving details.

"We are waiting for the results. (...) Guinea is known to be a country with bauxite or rich in precious matters such as diamonds and gold. The discovery of uranium enables us to speed up diversification in prospecting," Kante said.

Murchison said on its website that it "holds eight Uranium Prospecting Permits in the Republic of Guinea covering 3,563 km2 over three separate concession areas: Firawa, Bohodou, Sesse."

An initial drilling programme was successfully completed in Firawa during May 2007, it said, while in Bohodou "an initial drilling programme is planned for later in 2007."

Meanwhile, Murchison also said on its website it had been granted six uranium exploration licenses in Mauritania to the north "covering 8,200 km2, with two more permits awaiting approval. The Company is well placed to secure additional exploration licences."

The company "is currently negotiating access to a drilling rig in order to commence a drilling programme on one of its licences in the Bir En Nar region of Mauritania," it added.

[vanbrussel] 18/8/2007 03:59

Firawa: 7-14 meters of mineralisation!

In an article on the AFP-wire minister of Mines Ahmad Kanté states:

"...Analyse of half the samples allow us to conclude we have a mineralised zone with a hight of 7 to 14 meters, compare this with other 'producing' countries were mineralisation is measured in centimeters"

"It's really promising, I think that concering Murchison, it's sure that with the results they will get on their 2 other properties they will fast-track towards production phase."

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Des réserves d'uranium découvertes en Guinée: (AFP-17/08/07 21:53 GMT)

Des réserves d'uranium ont été découvertes sur différents sites en Guinée par une société minière australienne, Murchison United NL, a annoncé vendredi le ministre guinéen des Mines et de la Géologie, Ahmad Kanté.

La découverte résulte de l'analyse par Murchison d'échantillons prélevés notamment sur le site de Firawa, à Kissidougou (600 km au sud-est de Conakry), a expliqué le ministre dans un entretien avec un journaliste de l'AFP à Conakry.

"L'analyse de la moitié des échantillons qui ont été prélevés ont permis d'établir que, selon la zone, nous avons affaire à ► une couche de minéralisation d'une épaisseur qui va de 7 à 14 mètres, alors que dans certains pays l'exploitation porte sur des épaisseurs de minéralisation estimées en centimètres", a déclaré Ahmad Kanté.

"Je puis vous dire qu'à la suite des travaux et de l'analyse qui a été faite dans un laboratoire canadien, on peut raisonnablement dire que l'uranium existe bel et bien en Guinée", a ajouté M. Kanté, sans donner de détails sur les dates de ces prélèvements et le lieu exact de leur analyse.

Selon lui, Conakry a délivré "plus de six permis de recherche" à Murchison pour Firawa, mais également pour d'autres sites à Cécé (région de Nzérékoré, sud-est) et Bohodou Kérouané (région de Kankan, extrême est).

L'étendue des zones concernées n'a pas été précisée.

"Actuellement, on est en phase de recherches. L'exploitation, c'est une phase supérieure qui découle de la phase de recherches", a affirmé le ministre.

"Mais là, c'est vraiment prometteur. Je pense qu'avec Murchison, il est certain que les résultats qu'ils obtiendront sur les deux autres sites permettront rapidement d'aller à la phase d'exploitation. (...) Je sais par avance que ces résultats entraîneront un engouement des différentes sociétés minières spécialisées dans la recherche de l'uranium", a-t-il poursuivi.

Il a par ailleurs révélé que, outre Murchison, d'autres sociétés étaient "en phase de recherche" de la même matière. Parmi elle, figurerait une compagnie sud-africaine, a-t-il indiqué, sans donner d'autres détails.

"Nous attendons les résultats. (...) Vous savez que la Guinée est connue comme étant un pays bauxitique ou riche en fer ou en matières précieuses telles que le diamant et l'or. La découverte de l'uranium permet d'accélérer la diversification au niveau de la recherche minière", a conclu M. Kanté.

[vanbrussel] 10/8/2007 09:08

Off topic: New use for Lanthanun (Firawa-Guinea)

Ceramic tubes promise cleaner energy

British engineers believe that by controlling the fossil fuel combustion process with tiny ceramic tubes, carbon emissions from power stations could be virtually eliminated.

Scientists at Newcastle University carried out research on a material known as LSCF, which possesses the remarkable property of being able to filter oxygen out of the air.

Tubes made of LSCF, which stands for Lanthanum-Strontium-Cobalt-Ferric Oxide, could allow pure oxygen to be delivered to power plants. By burning fuel in just oxygen, it is possible to produce a stream of almost pure carbon dioxide, which has commercial potential for reprocessing into useful chemicals.

LSCF was originally developed for fuel cell technology, but chemical engineers Newcastle University, in collaboration with Imperial College London, recognised its potential for creating cleaner power stations.
The technology is currently being developed for gas-fired power stations, but the team hope that it could be adapted to coal and oil electricity generation.

Conventional gas-fired power stations burn methane in a stream of air, producing a mixture of nitrogen and greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

Separating out the gases is not practical because of the high cost and large amount of energy needed to do so.

However, the LSCF tubes would allow only the oxygen component of air to reach the combustion chamber, resulting in the production of almost pure carbon dioxide and steam, which can easily be condensed out as water.

The resulting stream of carbon dioxide could be siphoned off and piped to a processing plant for conversion into chemicals such as methanol, a useful industrial fuel and solvent.

The LSCF tubes look like small, stiff drinking straws and are permeable to oxygen ions – individual atoms carrying an electrical charge.
Crucially, LSCF is also resistant to corrosion or decomposition at typical power station operating temperatures of around 800°C.

Further testing before commercial applications

When air flows around the outside of the tubes, oxygen is able to pass through the wall of the tube to the inside, where it burns with methane gas that is being pumped through the centre of the tubes.
Laboratory testing on the ceramic tubes has been successful, and the design has attracted interest from the energy industry.
The Newcastle team is now carrying out further tests on the durability of the tubes, to confirm that they could withstand the conditions inside a power station combustion chamber for a reasonable length of time.

Although it has not yet been attempted, it should be possible to assemble a power station combustion chamber from a large number of the tubes, with space between them for air to circulate.

In theory, the technology could also be applied to coal and oil-fired power stations, provided that the solid and liquid fuels were first converted into gas. This operation would be relatively simple, but would add to the cost and complexity of running a power station.

"The cheapest way to dispose of waste carbon dioxide from combustion is to release it into the atmosphere," said Professor Ian Metcalfe, a member of the research team. "We have been doing this since humans first discovered how to make fire. "The technology we have developed may provide a viable alternative, although whether it is economical to introduce it will depend largely upon the carbon credit system that Governments operate in the future," he concluded.

[fingolfin] 09/8/2007 20:41

Maybe it isn't, but the market doesn't always pick up on a good find straight away, see the article below for example.

[curlly] 09/8/2007 20:26

Its not as good as it sound why do you think the share price went down.

[fingolfin] 09/8/2007 20:11

Excellent find vanbrussel! - here's hoping the market picks up on this soon.

[vanbrussel] 02/8/2007 08:32

Uranium captured in clay, bad news indeed, call it refractory uranium
Extraction cost rise, still a leaching process is applied

Japanese have resolved the problems related to clay (let's say they have a patent)


Brief Description of the Prior Art

For recovery of metal components contained in uranium ores and other ores by a leaching treatment, there has generally been adopted a process in which an ore is leached at a normal temperature or under heating for a long period of time by using a low concentration acid or alkali solvent. According to this conventional process, however, the speed of reaction caused by contact between the metal component in the ore and the solvent is very low. Accordingly, when a relatively refractory ore, for example, a uranium ore, is treated according to this conventional technique, the uranium recovery rate is low and further, since a long period of time is required for completion of the leaching treatment, the equipment expense becomes tremendous. Therefore, this conventional process involves many technical and economical problems which are difficult to solve. For example, when a clay uranium ore is leached with a low concentration acid or alkali according to this conventional technique, silicates contained in the ore or clay come into contact with water or dilute acid, large quantities of various colloidal substances such as SiO.sub.2.xH.sub.2 O, having a variety of structures are dissolved out and dispersed in the leaching system, and therefore, the rate of the uranium extraction is drastically reduced by the presence of these colloidal substances. Accordingly, the leaching treatment of a clay uranium ore by the conventional technique is not only extremely difficult but also leads to great difficulties in the solid-liquid separation to be conducted after the leaching treatment. This results in a serious defect, namely a drastic decrease in the uranium recovery rate.

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for continuously leaching and extracting metal components contained in ores. More particularly, the invention relates to a process for the continuous leaching of uranium ores and other ores for recovery of metal components contained in these ores, wherein a plurality of unit layers composed of a pulverized uranium ore or other ore are laminated while a minimum necessary amount of an acid, alkali or organic solvent (hereinafter referred to as "solvent") is uniformly sprinkled on the flat surfaces of these unit layers respectively, each unit layer having a specified thickness sufficient to attain uniform mixing of the ore with the solvent, and in the state where the concentration of the solvent mixed into the ore is maintained at a high level, the heat generated by exothermic reaction caused by contact among the solvent, ore and water is effectively stored and used for thermally curing the ore, whereby the speed of extraction of the intended metal component can be increased, the leaching time shortened, the filtration characteristics improved, with the result that a highly concentrated pregnant liquor can be recovered at a high efficiency. The present invention relates also to an apparatus for practising this continuous leaching process. Throughout the specification "unit layer" means a layer having a specified thickness determined as being a sufficient thickness for attaining uniform mixing of the ore with the solvent.


Brief summary of the invention

We have conducted various investigations with a view to developing an effective leaching process and apparatus in which the foregoing various defects and disadvantages involved in the conventional processes and apparatuses can be eliminated, and found that if a predetermined amount of an extraction solvent is continuously sprinkled on the surface of each unit layer, at the step where a plurality of continuous unit layers having a specified thickness are continuously formed from a pulverized ore and these unit layers are laminated in many stages, very uniform mixing of the ore with the solvent can be attained. Based on this finding, we have now perfected the present invention. According to the process of the present invention, unit layers of a thickness which allows uniform mixing of the ore with the solvent are formed and they are laminated continuously and statically to whatever thickness is desired. Therefore, if required, a large quantity of the ore, that is, a large number of unit layers or ore, can be uniformly mixed with the solvent by the use of a simple apparatus and uranium or other metal contained in the ore can be continuously extracted at a high efficiency. The process of the present invention characterized in that unit layers composed of a pulverized ore and a solvent are formed and are laminated in many stages is a novel leaching process that has not heretofore been attempted.

According to the process of the present invention, even if the solvent-to-ore mixing ratio is lower than the 100 l/ton ratio that is a critical value for uniform mixing of the ore with the solvent in the conventional techniques, the fact that it is possible to determine the unit layer thickness necessary for attaining uniform mixing while the concentration of the solvent mixed with the ore is maintained at a high level makes it possible to effectively store and use the reaction heat for the thermal curing of the ore by laminating these unit layers. Accordingly, the speed of extracting uranium or other metal is remarkably increased and the solid-liquid separation after the leaching treatment greatly improved. Therefore, a high concentration pregnant liquor can be recovered at a high rate in a very short leaching time according to a simple filtration method.

Not only can the problems involved in the conventional techniques be easily solved according to the process of the present invention, but various additional advantages can be obtained. For example, since the process of the present invention is a static and continuous process in which uniform mixing is attained without particularly using a mechanical power and since the treatment is conducted continuously, it is possible to treat a large quantity of the laminated ore without limitation on the thickness of the laminated mass of ore. And as pointed out above, the reaction heat can be stored and utilized effectively for the thermal curing of the ore by lamination of the ore per se.

[bugrlugs] 02/8/2007 07:57

As per poster on hot copper ... av grades above 800 ppm (0.08%)= mineable ...800 - 400 ppm (0.04% ) = high cost minable ... below 400 ppm non economical .... the Uranium is in clay so the guess is that it is cheaper and easier to extract than hard rock ...

[bugrlugs] 02/8/2007 07:36

Very easy to mine at these values .. cheers border ..