Transcription of Finance News Network’s Interview with Padbury Mining Limited (ASX:PDY) CEO and Managing Director, Gary StokesLelde Smits: Hello I’m Lelde Smits for Australia’s Finance News Network and joining me from mineral exploration company, Padbury Mining
(ASX:PDY) is CEO and Managing Director, Gary Stokes. Gary welcome to FNN in Hong Kong at Mines and Money.
Gary Stokes: Thank you.
Lelde Smits: Padbury Mining is focused on the development of its iron ore assets. Where are your projects located and what’s your stake in them?
Gary Stokes: We’re 120 kilometres northwest of Meekatharra in the middle of Western Australia, some 500 kilometres from Geraldton. We have 2,500 square kilometres of tenements and we now own 100 per cent of those tenements. We’ve merged with our joint venture partner.
Lelde Smits: Looking closer at the Peak Hill Iron Joint Venture, what is the size of the initial resource and what are your expectations for an upgrade?
Gary Stokes: OK. We have 925 million tonnes already under JORC for magnetite, 11.5 million tonnes for direct shipping ore. Our expectation is that the DSO target is somewhere between 30 and 50 million tonnes and for magnetite, 3.5 to 5 billion tonnes.
Lelde Smits: And what do you believe is most attractive about operating in the mid-west of Western Australia. And what sort of infrastructure surrounds your project?
Gary Stokes: Look we see the mid-west as the next Pilbara. Within the region there’s some 50 billion tonnes of resource, so it’s a massive resource - could be mined for 100 years. I guess the key interest for everybody is there is a lot of Chinese investment already in the region, so it could actually become a Chinese development. And I guess from an infrastructure perspective, the thing that’s missing is port and rail, and that’s what we’re about as well. We have a solution for that.
Lelde Smits: And did you want to elaborate on your infrastructure solution?
Gary Stokes: Certainly. Some three-four years ago, the West Australian Government put out a tender for the supply of a port and rail solution for the mid-west. A Japanese backed consortium won that arrangement- that’s now finding it very difficult- mainly because most of the companies in the region are Chinese and we bought the intellectual property of the Chinese bid. So we think that’s the solution and the way to go, and we’re certainly getting good noise out of China to that effect.
Lelde Smits: So over the long term, what is Padbury’s vision for developing the Peak Hill Iron Joint Venture?
Gary Stokes: Look we see ourselves as a 30 plus million tonne a year producer of magnetite concentrate, mainly for the Chinese market. And we also see ourselves as producing direct shipping ore in the earlier stages to give us cash flow, so that we can get into the more expensive beneficiation of the magnetite project.
Lelde Smits: As Padbury already has an iron ore resource and infrastructure solution as you mention, what do you believe is the next step in developing the asset?
Gary Stokes: Look the next step for us quite clearly, is to get a partner to join with the development of the project. We want to be a major player in the region; we’re looking to develop into a 10 billion tonne magnetite player. And to do that we need to have a good sized and serious investor alongside with us.
Lelde Smits: So Gary, what do you believe are the most compelling reasons for investing in Padbury Mining’s vision?
Gary Stokes: Look the thing that Padbury has is we have the resource, as I said. We have a solution for the infrastructure and we’re ready to go. We just need that partner to help us along the way and that’s why we’re at Mines and Money.
Lelde Smits: So what are you looking for in a potential partner and have you identified any- or started any- talks?
Gary Stokes: We have started discussions. From our perspective, we’re looking for someone that shares the vision. There’s no doubt there’s a risk right at this point in time, but the reality is no risk, no reward. And we’re looking for somebody who wants to come along for the ride with us to develop into a major player in the mid-west region.
Lelde Smits: Finally Gary, what would you like to see Padbury Mining achieve before the end of this year?
Gary Stokes: By the end of this year, I’d really like to see us have a solution for the infrastructure. And by that I mean, have partners in place that will actually develop the infrastructure because once we get that, then it’s full steam ahead for all of us. And by the end of this year, we’d also like to be a long way down the path of finishing off our prefeasibility.
Lelde Smits: Gary Stokes thank you for the introduction to Padbury Mining.
Gary Stokes: Thank you.
Ends
