Gilbert George has been around the minerals exploration block a couple more times than many and has the resume to prove it.
AMONG the many achievements Gilbert George can put beside his name are the discovery of a significant mineral sands deposit in Malawi, Sipa Resource’s Mt Olympus gold project in the Pilbara, and Riversdale Mning’s Benga coal in Mozambique (now owned by Rio Tinto).
On home soil in Western Australia, he is most commonly associated with uranium and iron ore miner Mindax, of which he is the founding chairman.
In recent years, however, Mr George’s focus has turned to what he describes as a highly prospective deposit in Mozambique.
Metals of Africa, the company that owns the deposit, is planning a public listing.
The Mozambique venture has shown indications of holding large deposits of copper, silver, lead and zinc, and Metals of Africa has a plan to begin drilling more or less as soon as the company is listed.
Now is not the best environment for launching an initial public offering in Australia, however, with investors remaining cautious about where to direct their funds.
Mr George is more than happy to admit that point and is aware the restrained market has resulted in failure for a number of attempted IPOs.
However investor interest in the launch of Metals of Africa appears anything but reserved.
The IPO for $3 million was oversubscribed in only two weeks, prompting Mr George and his Metals of Africa colleagues to close the offer a week earlier than initially anticipated.
The offer consisted of 15 million shares being put on the table at an issue price of 20 cents each.
The company now expects to publicly list a week earlier than the initial timeframe set out, and to begin trading by the end of next week - a fairly good outcome for an exploration company competing for funds against numerous other juniors.
“I guess it’s a testament to the actual project and our team that we’re oversubscribed and have managed to raise the money much quicker than anticipated,” Mr George told WA Business News.
“The money is there, it’s just being more selective in what it’s being invested in.
“Some people who are more knowledgeable about this stuff than I am have told me they think our timing is perfect.”
Enticing the investor dollars is Metals of Africa’s Mozambique project, which Mr George said had the potential to become a “Broken Hill-type” deposit; the Broken Hill Ore deposit in New South Wales is arguably one of the richest lead, zinc, and silver ore deposits in the world.
Mr George said his confidence in the project is initial exploration work indicating some large anomalies, but also evidence of previous workings.
“That indicates people have been working on this maybe 40 or 50 years ago - what they were getting we don’t know, but it provides us with a very strong clue as to where to start our drilling,” Mr George said.
The project was previously a BHP site -sold off about three years ago when the GFC hit and BHP opted to withdraw from green-fields exploration.
It was at that time that a private company, in which Mr George also has a small share, took ownership of the project.
Metals of Africa has subsequently struck a deal with that group of private prospectors to obtain the project in return for a third share in the new company.
Despite the subdued market, Mr George said now was the time to launch a public offering,
“We’re at a stage where we need a bit of extra cash to unlock the secrets of the site; drilling and exploration is often beyond the capabilities of small private companies, so listing to raise the funds was the best way to try and unlock those secrets,” he said.
Mr George has been involved in exploration in Mozambique for about 10 years -since the end of the civil war - and considers it to be one of the most stable locations in Africa.
“Once the civil war came to an end the World Bank became involved and reviewed and updated the legal system, as well as providing some considerable assistance; it’s a stable democracy now,” Mr George said.
Because of the civil war, and the ongoing threat of leftover landmines, exploration efforts in Mozambique have so far been relatively stunted; providing a promising opening for companies such as Metals of Africa.
“It presents a very exciting opportunity for juniors,” Mr George said.
“Compare that with Australia where there’s been a stable environment for exploration and much more exploration money has been spent.”
But Mr George doesn’t subscribe to the view that conditions in Australia are killing the mining industry and prompting explorers to go offshore.
“I think Australia has widely become known as a very high-cost area, but I think if you have the right project in Australia you can deal with the high cost of development and still do very well,” he said.
“I guess people are saying the chances of getting a major discovery are probably higher in Africa.
“It’s been a tough couple of decades in Mozambique and we’re very happy to be working there and getting started.”
