News

July 17, 2008

Ormonde Beats A Path Towards Tungsten Production, But Still Holds Out Hope For Copper And Gold From La Zarza

By Alastair Ford

Fraser Gardiner gets onto the phone after Ormonde’s most recent fundraising to explain just exactly what the latest is with the Irish-based, Spanish-focussed development company. The new money, £1.36 million raised in a placing of shares at 7p arranged through Davy on the Irish side and Brewin Dolphin here in England, is effectively ring-fenced for the company’s Barruecopardo tungsten project in Spain. So does this mean that La Zarza and all the other copper and gold projects the company has been working on for the past few years are now on the backburner? Not at all, says Fraser. The real plan is to take Ormonde into production as soon as possible and by any means practical. What with the La Zarza feasibility study undergoing something of an overhaul – to put it politely – the tungsten looks the best bet.

Indeed, with the tungsten price holding up pretty well, Barruecopardo represents something of a small demonstration that diversification can go a long way to digging a company out of a hole. When Ormonde first took Barruecopardo into its portfolio of assets, it looked a little out there on a limb – speculative and not particularly exciting. That was back before the Chinese put the squeeze on tungsten last year, and the price took off. It as also back when La Zarza was progressing nicely, and it...