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the core of exploration","to-the-core-of-exploration","article/to-the-core-of-exploration",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":687,"featured":50,"reporter":688,"_editable":692,"component":693,"seo_title":553,"categories":694,"visibility":701,"author_company":49,"featured_image":702,"seo_description":687,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":707,"formattedArticleDate":708},"8abc90b5-5041-49ea-a397-66f29b5e649b","2017-01-25 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,585,590,595,600,605,610,615,620,625,630,635,640,645,650,655,660,665,670,675,684],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"The mining industry’s explorers and developers have never quite gained the full respect of those that are in production. Those looking to bring on new supply of niche minerals such as graphite, lithium, cobalt, and rare earths are generally met with a three-phased approach: at first with raised eye brows at their lack of knowledge and specific experience, then with contempt as the heavy promotion of the asset kicks in and, finally, if the explorer progresses to a reasonable stage, fear.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":579},"Big commodities such as iron ore, copper and gold have been part of the mining industry’s exploration and development cycle for decades, but it has been a new concept to the niche or speciality minerals space in recent years.",{"type":574,"attrs":586,"content":587},{"textAlign":49},[588],{"text":589,"type":579},"For example, lithium was the first of the battery raw materials to see an exploration surge which began in 2009 and took-off in 2010. In little under one year the number of lithium explorers globally went from 9 – which included the likes of Rincon Lithium (Sentient Group), Galaxy Resources, and Western Lithium – to over 100.",{"type":574,"attrs":591,"content":592},{"textAlign":49},[593],{"text":594,"type":579},"The same lithium ‘gold rush’ has now returned but Australia alone accounts for the vast majority of companies, an estimated 75% of the industry’s exploration sector. The difference this time is that the skyhigh lithium prices, which are three times higher than the last carbonate price spike, have allowed the focus to switch from brines to hard rock spodumene, of which Australia has an abundance.",{"type":574,"attrs":596,"content":597},{"textAlign":49},[598],{"text":599,"type":579},"For graphite, the story was similar. I remember the days when Northern Graphite’s Bissett Creek and Ontario Graphite’s Kearney project were the only two mainstream exploration projects the industry had. Then when the price spike of 2010-2011 kicked in and flake graphite prices doubled in 8 months, the exploration sector surged from single digits to triple digits in 18 months.",{"type":574,"attrs":601,"content":602},{"textAlign":49},[603],{"text":604,"type":579},"Rare earths were a similar but an even more extreme story. When prices of these niche elements rocketed by hundreds to thousands of a percent bigger in a 6-month period, it reached the headlines of the mainstream press, including the front page of The New York Times.",{"type":574,"attrs":606,"content":607},{"textAlign":49},[608],{"text":609,"type":579},"This was mainly due to the political reasons behind why the prices shot up – China initiated a rare earths blockade on Japan in retaliation to the capture of a fishing boat. What all these examples have in common is the role of Australian explorers.",{"type":574,"attrs":611,"content":612},{"textAlign":49},[613],{"text":614,"type":579},"While Australia tends to be second out of the block compared to its Canadian counterparts, they usually get more traction and develop assets further down the line. It’s a curious case as to why.",{"type":574,"attrs":616,"content":617},{"textAlign":49},[618],{"text":619,"type":579},"One can look at the cultural appetite for risk in what are niche industries – Australian investors seem more willing to fund left field mineral assets even in a post-rare earths boom world.",{"type":574,"attrs":621,"content":622},{"textAlign":49},[623],{"text":624,"type":579},"You can analyse where the bulk of Australian funding comes from (Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and Singapore) compared with Canada (Vancouver Toronto, New York and to a lesser extent London). And I also think location plays a key: Australian explorers are far more willing go wide and far to search for the next Pilbara or Saudi Arabia of their respective mineral. This especially includes Africa where pre-2011 noone had looked for the likes of graphite and now Syrah Resources has raised A$461m to build the world’s biggest mine.",{"type":574,"attrs":626,"content":627},{"textAlign":49},[628],{"text":629,"type":579},"There is a general dislike of junior mining companies in the active producing industry. And it is as much surprising as it is understandable.",{"type":574,"attrs":631,"content":632},{"textAlign":49},[633],{"text":634,"type":579},"The dislike comes from a natural reaction to an outside threat. However, if the incumbent producers embraced the highest quality projects from the outset and worked with these companies in some way, then they would not only protect their business from new suppliers in the short term but also secure supply in the long term from the next generation of mines.",{"type":574,"attrs":636,"content":637},{"textAlign":49},[638],{"text":639,"type":579},"But this is never the case with the incumbents as they are so focused on discrediting new entrants, that they usually come in much later down the line and pay a much higher price.",{"type":574,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"textAlign":49},[643],{"text":644,"type":579},"In reality, without the junior mining sector, at worst we would have no new mines and at best we would have lower grade, inefficient mines being developed by the established order which do not specialise in early exploration.",{"type":574,"attrs":646,"content":647},{"textAlign":49},[648],{"text":649,"type":579},"When market prices begin to subside from the spike that has attracted a host of new explorers, those committed to the cause become apparent.",{"type":574,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"textAlign":49},[653],{"text":654,"type":579},"As we have always said at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, those still around years after the price spike are the ones to watch.",{"type":574,"attrs":656,"content":657},{"textAlign":49},[658],{"text":659,"type":579},"The long term health of the mining industry relies on explorers uncovering the next generation of mines, offering up vast quantities of free drilling data to the incumbent producers and, most importantly, being entirely open to public scrutiny.",{"type":574,"attrs":661,"content":662},{"textAlign":49},[663],{"text":664,"type":579},"Explorers also force existing producers to reevaluate their existing operations, their supply chains and the way they think – they have a fundamentally disruptive role on industries that have not changed in decades.",{"type":574,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"textAlign":49},[668],{"text":669,"type":579},"It is not to say the exploration sector does not have its issues – there are many. But to tarnish all mineral explorers with the same over-promotion or lack of experience brushes is not only harsh but you do so at your peril.",{"type":574,"attrs":671,"content":672},{"textAlign":49},[673],{"text":674,"type":579},"And Australia has to take a lot of credit for that.",{"type":574,"attrs":676,"content":677},{"textAlign":49},[678,680,682],{"text":679,"type":579},"Simon Moores",{"text":681,"type":579},"Managing Director",{"text":683,"type":579},"Benchmark Mineral Intelligence",{"type":574,"attrs":685,"content":686},{"textAlign":49},[],"The mining industry’s explorers and developers have never quite gained the full respect of those that are in production. Those looking to bring on new supply of niche minerals such as graphite, lithium, cobalt, and rare earths are generally met with a three-phased approach: at first with raised eye brows at their lack of knowledge […]",[689],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":690},{"job_title":565,"image":691,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"8abc90b5-5041-49ea-a397-66f29b5e649b\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[695,698],{"slug":696,"name":697},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":699,"name":700},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":703,"name":703,"focus":703,"title":703,"source":703,"filename":704,"copyright":703,"fieldtype":705,"meta_data":706,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/ce735a26c9/bm-cropped-cropped-cropped-background1.png","asset",{"alt":703,"title":703,"source":703,"copyright":703},"Jan 25, 2017","25th January 2017",[],[],1792773946593]