Dragons and Dragon Slayers

The Master and the Apprentice might be a better title for this month's Chinese duo. Jake Klein and Sino Gold are widely recognised as the pioneer of the gold development scene. Sino is also the company that China pioneered its experience with in outside mining investment. Sino has been a story of frustration and success as it has persistently accrued a fine portfolio of projects in China. The Jinfeng Mine is making gold at namplate and on target to produce 150,000 ounces in 2008.

Capitalising on its success, White Mountain Mine has been developed very quickly and will produce gold before the end of 2008 - a refreshingly short four years after its discovery. After the ramp up of White Mountain during 2009, Sino Gold will be looking down the barrel of 250,000 low-cost ounces per annum. Its Beyinhar Project is progressing towards a development decision later this year. A little recognised asset is the high-grade Eastern Dragon deposit which has strong potential to produce gold at <US$100/oz. Four rigs are on it now with the aim of defining initial JORC-compliant resources and reserves this year. With low-cost gold production, excellent exploration projects and a strong balance sheet (and a great share price) Sino (SGX) is one to watch.

And watching closely has been Andrew Richard's Dragon Mountain Gold (DMG) whose focus is on the major Lixian Gold Project in Gansu Province. Lixian is shaping up to be a world class gold camp with numerous kilometre-scale deposits outcropping within the licence area. On June 30 2008, the first anniversary of its ASX listing, DMG announced an inferred 1.1 million ounce JORC-compliant resource which is additional to the significant Chinese classified resources defined within the project. Now that’s quick. The resource averages 66m thickness and extends to at least 225m depth - open in all directions. It contains a significant high grade component and is the first of at least 15 deposits to be investigated. Feasibility studies and the first step to a Mining Licence are under way. Perth-based Dragon has been in China since 2003 and its effective interest in the Lixian Joint Venture is 76% increasing to approximately 82% with ongoing exploration and development funding targeting a multi-million ounce gold system. Not to be missed!

Please remember to book early and avoid any late booking charges applicable within three days of the event!

For further information please contact: info@sydneyminingclub.org

October, 2008. 7th Annual Excellence in Exploration & Mining, Sydney

October - Sydney Mining Club - Annual Mining Awards Dinner

31 October - 02 November - Mining2008 Conference, Hilton Brisbane

To Register go to http://www.verticalevents.com.au/

November, 2008

On the eve of the publication of his book Emissions Trading - Why Bother?, and with Australia's Rudd Government moving quickly to an emissions trading regime, Professor of Mining Geology at Adelaide University Ian Plimer will present an array of arguments that the thesis of Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth might itself find inconvenient to recognise. Planet Earth has form in producing Greenhouse gases - major form - particularly from volcanic eruptions. The quantity of solar radiation the Sun gushes at Earth each year also varies dramatically as flares and gravitational orbit wobbles change the amount of heat we intersect. There are also concerns that the way we measure temperature is skewed in favour of a warming Earth. So against the backdrop of geological time - and our inability to distinguish any anthropogenic affects - why says Plimer bravely punt severe impact to Australia's economy, and most notably the well-being of its buoyant primary producers, by volunteering the nation as a pioneer in the emissions trading concept.

Not only has the Earth endowed us with great resource wealth but also with detailed tracers of the past. The rate and amount of modern climate change is well within past variability. The current rate of sea level rise is low, changing sea levels is normal, sea levels can over geological time change by up to 600 metres. The atmospheric CO2 content at present is the lowest for millions of years. CO2 levels have been up to 25 times higher than at present yet, during the history of the planet, CO2 has not created acid oceans. Natural processes capture and store CO2. Planet Earth is a warm, wet greenhouse planet that has had ice for only 20% of geological time. Extinction of life on Earth is normal and life is most commonly stressed by cold climates. Temperature is buffered by the water cycle. Supernova eruptions, the Sun, the Earth's orbit, tectonics and the water cycle are the primary drivers of climate. In the past, CO2 changes have followed temperature changes. The hypothesis that humans change climate is not in accord with history, archaeology, geology, chemistry, physics and astronomy, and is rejected. Conserving energy might be a jolly good idea he says, but until there is a workable energy policy in Australia, then fundamental errors of policy can only decrease the standard of living and quality of life. All this and a lot more science to ask in capital letters - "Why bother with Emissions Trading?"

The downside Plimer says is great. What is our risk in bankrupting primary industries? Will we export the remains of our manufacturing industry offshore? How will the increased fuel, food and other costs hit consumers? Is it an act of Russian roulette that only the wealthy Australians want to play? And lurking beneath the bureaucracy and regulation is there a future of emissions trading scams?

We thank you for supporting your Sydney Mining Club and for your interest in the current affairs and issues that drive our industry. Students $15, all others $55 (incl. GST). Sign-posted corporate table of 10, $550. The Tattersalls Club is at 181 Elizabeth St. Ties and Jackets no longer required.

The 7th Annual Victorian Gold 2008

Held in conjunction with the Melbourne Mining Club Luncheon
The Supper Room, Melbourne Town Hall
For further information please contact via registration@informa.com.au