Miner will get more 'aggressive' with Sudbury exploration

Wallbridge Mining will get more “aggressive” with its exploration work in Sudbury, the company stated in a press release highlighting plans for 2012.

Wallbridge plans include completing more than 15,000 metres of exploration diamond drilling on its Sudbury area projects, focused on joint ventures with Impala Platinum Holdings Limited, Lonmin Plc. and Xstrata Nickel.

“We will build on our recent success at Broken Hammer and Parkin, and we look forward to continuing our successful strategy of generating high-potential nickel, copper and platinum group element exploration projects and advancing these through joint ventures or spin-out companies,” Wallbridge president Marz Kord said in the press release.

The planned exploration work in 2012, a more aggressive program than 2011, will continue to focus on Sudbury, Canada's premier mining region, the company said.

"In terms of metal endowment, infrastructure, community support and regulatory stability, Sudbury is the most attractive place in the world to explore for and develop large-scale copper, nickel and PGE mining projects,” Alar Soever, CEO of Wallbridge, said.

At its Broken Hammer copper-PGE project, Wallbridge completed a 30,000-tonne open-pit bulk sample in 2011.

This was processed at Xstrata's Strathcona mill in Sudbury and resulted in a net smelter return of about $4 million and estimated net proceeds of about $2.6 million, or approximately $86 per tonne.

Wallbridge has since contracted Wardrop, A Tetra Tech Company, to update the mineral resource estimate and complete feasibility studies. Permitting and a production decision at Broken Hammer are expected in 2012.

For more about Wallbridge's plans for 2012 and its highlights from 2011, visit www.wallbridgemining.com.

Posted by Heidi Ulrichsen