IF DELEGATES to the Australia Mining Congress in Sydney yesterday were hoping for respite from the gloom and doom surrounding equities and commodities markets, they probably walked away disappointed.
Bad news from the smaller end of the mining sector continued yesterday when Queensland Ores suspended operations at its Wolfram Camp molybdenum mine due to operational problems and the lower price of the material. Also, Panoramic Resources suspended operations at its Copernicus nickel mine.
Smaller miners are having problems gaining access to debt markets. The Philippines gold hopeful CGA Mining has arranged finance for its $US194 million Masbate project, which should produce 200,000 ounces of gold a year from February.
But even though its financing was successful, CGA's chief executive, Michael Carrick, said: "I do think it is going to get tougher before it gets easier."
A Corrs Chambers Westgarth corporate advisory partner, Andrew Lumsden, said he knew of several state-backed Chinese companies interested in investing in Australian projects requiring more than $1 billion of financing.
But backing from the Chinese could be a two-edged sword.
Tim Barker, a portfolio manager at BT Financial said: "We are in danger of allowing assets to be purchased too cheaply."
