AMFs Hall: Ive got a good idea

For Australian Mineral Fields, traditional exploration takes too long thats why the company is embracing new technology so it can find that big deposit sooner.

The technology AMF is touting uses geological and geophysical data to create 2-D and 3-D maps to pinpoint the most likely location of ore bodies. The company then integrates these maps with geochemical data to further define whether the predicted locations have evidence of a large-scale hydrothermal mineral system.

The company uses advanced techniques such as lithogeochemistry and hyperspectral mapping.

Lithogeochemistry looks at all elements in a rock sample to define the parent rock composition and the alteration of the rock.

Hyperspectral mapping is done with a Portable Infrared Mineral Analyzer (PIMA), which analyzes mineral crystallinity and composition through short wave infrared radiation. These technologies work together to more accurately find significant mineralization.

Next, the exploration team evaluates the most promising mineral systems with further geological mapping and aircore drilling to locate an economic intersection within the mineral system. A 3-D Common Earth model of the target can be developed for more complex or deeper targets. The model, made from 3D and 4D modeling techniques, is used to integrate all geological information into one 3D diagram.

All this increases the likelihood that the big deposit is discovered first and that the exploration team is not distracted by the small deposits.

AMF director Greg Hall, a former chief geologist for Placer Dome, taken over by Barrick Gold (ABX-T, ABX-N), has more than 30 years exploration experience and hes sure that its time to put more faith in the geophysics and geochemistry technology he first used at Placer Dome.

In ten years time everyone will use this approach, Hall says.

AMF is based in West Perth, Australia, but also has an office in Vancouver. Right now its a private company with plans for its initial public offering on the TSX Venture Exchange in late 2007. The company is trying to raise $5 million at 50 per share in the current offering to bring the companys market capitalization to $13 million. AMF already has two joint ventures with Barrick and two more with another major mining company.

Five of six people on the management team worked for Placer Dome. The chair and CEO, Graham Taylor, heads Vancouver-based Magnus International Resources (MGNU-Q), which has gold projects in China and Uganda.

Hall says that because there are few geochemists in the mining industry, the technology has not become widespread.

You go looking for a primary rock geochemist in any mining company and youd be hard pressed to find one, Hall says.

AMFs secret weapon is Scott Halley, the companys embedded geochemical consultant who worked on developing new exploration techniques as a consultant for Placer Dome. The technology AMF uses is commercially available but as Hall says, the intellectual property is in Scotts head.

In 2002, Placer took over Aurion Gold where Halley was working at the time, and from there, began to work on accelerating Aurions technology that distinguished large gold deposits from small without having to drill the deposit out.

Because there are few geochemists working in the industry the uptake of the technology is limited, as few people can train exploration crews to use the data. Hall believes that once the exploration industry realizes that they can use geochemical data the way geophysical data is already used, there will be a greater interest.

As mining companies must look deeper and deeper for major ore deposits, the need for a new method is recognized. A study by an Australian consulting group and Placer Dome that looked at 158 Placer Dome projects over a 15-year period was published in the Society of Economic Geologists newsletter in 2001. The study found that only 1 in 6 projects made it to the drill test phase. The results sparked a focus in developing new techniques that allow for more effective filtering of early phase projects.

Hall was directly involved with discovering the Granny Smith deposit in Western Australia, now operated by Barrick, which produced 371,000 oz. in 2005. He cringes at the 15 years and US$11.5 million spent on early-stage exploration. He believes the deposit could have been discovered much earlier with lithogeochemical technology, which would have saved time and money.

I held onto the ground because I had this feeling something was there, but ultimately, I was frightened Id walk away from something, Hall says.

But Hall has seen firsthand that the technology works – lithogeochemistry applications were used around existing Placer Dome deposits, but it was never trusted for primary exploration.

The mining industry is pretty conservative, says Hall. Embracing technology isnt as simple as Ive got a good idea and this is why it works.

Hall also believes mining companies are reluctant to trust the technology out of a fear of missing out on something big. Embracing it means trading in early-stage drilling for the 3-D maps and geochemical analyses to pinpoint where the deposits are.

The technology itself is well established but the application in mining is not. Through ongoing studies and presentations, the company is trying to build faith in its method. Currently, AMF is trying to assess a Carlin type deposit in Nevada and an iron oxide copper gold deposit in Australia.

We cant wait for people to catch up, Hall says.

AMFs focus is Western Australia. The company can earn up to 100% on the Mount Thirsty gold project a joint venture with Barrick. Mount Thirsty is a high grade vein target in which the first drill hole intersected 1 metre grading 5.41 grams gold at 28 metres.

AMF can earn up to 80% on its second Barrick joint venture for the Gregory project, which has a 15-km coherent geochemical anomaly in an established 10 million-oz. geological trend. Gregory is near Newmont Minings (NEM-N, NMC-T) Jundee camp, which has produced more than 2 million oz. gold and is estimated to have 1.5 million oz. gold in proven and probable reserves.

The company also has a strategic alliance for two other properties in Albany-Fraser province with a major mining company that cannot be named until the agreement is finalized.

The Fraser Range North is near Anglogold Ashanti (AU-N) and Independence Groups (IGO-A) Tropicana deposit. Tropicana is estimated to contain 3 million oz. gold grading 3 grams gold per tonne. Fraser Range North is along strike and adjacent to Tropicanas Beachcomber 1 zone, which had a drill intersect of 4 metres grading 43.5 grams gold per tonne.

AMF is also exploring the Salmon Gums property, where BHP Billiton (BHP-N, BLT-L) data indicated gold-in-soil and hydrogeochemical anomaly, as well as uranium potential.