News & Analysis

Finders Resources Limited (FND: AIM) review and analysis

By PSQ Analytics

Finders Resources Limited (Finders) is an exploration and mining company with copper and gold mining projects in Indonesia. The company is incorporated and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with dual listing on the AIM and Australian Stock Exchanges under the ticker FND. The company's mining assets are:

Wetar Copper project: Finders owns a 94% stake in the Wetar project. Wetar comprises 2 high-grade copper deposits; Kali Kuning and Lerokis, whose geology is suitable for open pit mining. These deposits contain JORC compliant proved and probable ore reserves of 8.18 Mt at 2.5% Cu using a 0.5% Cu cut-off. The project also includes a potential 1Mt copper resource at 2.3% grade at Meron (non-JORC compliant), which has been kept on the sidelines for the time being. Wetar has already been used for gold mining and the project benefits from existing mining infrastructure and the expertise of local inhabitants. Finders is currently running a demonstration solvent-extraction electro-winning (SX-EW) copper cathode plant, with a nameplate capacity of 1,800 tpa, which will be scaled up to 23,000 tpa in the coming 18-24 months.

Ojolali project: Finders owns 72% of the Ojolali project, with an option to increase to 100% on completion of a Feasibility Study. Ojolali comprises gold and silver resources, including Jambi oxide gold deposits and prospective resources at other sites including Tambang. The Ojolali district has inferred and indicated gold and silver resources of 1 Moz gold equivalent, (JORC compliant). Preliminary exploration has indicated the presence of additional potential gold resources. Management aims to monetize the Jambi gold resource in the next 18-24 months. Its exploration is currently focused on increasing its oxide gold resource to 300,000 oz to establish economic viability for commencement of gold production (up to 50,000 oz/annum) through open pit mining.

In December 2009, Finders acquired a SX-EW plant in Whim Creek in Australia in an all share deal worth AUD5.25 mn. The plant can produce up to 18,000 tonnes of copper cathode per annum. The company is dismantling the plant and aims to be  ready to ship the equipment to Wetar by the end of April 2010 for incorporation with existing machinery. In addition to its operational assets, the company owns a 4% stake in ASX-listed Geopacific Resources Ltd.