News

January 08, 2009

To Slow Down Or To Charge Forward? – That’s The Question Now Facing Starfield Resources

By Chris Cann

The next fortnight is an important one for Canadian-focused and Toronto-listed Starfield Resources. In that time the directors will review the third quarter financials due to be published next week and plot a path forward for their single-project company. Working in their favour is the 44.2 million tonne Ferguson Lake nickel-copper-cobalt resource that is still open in several directions and has an underlying platinum-palladium deposit. The company has been reporting regular good news from trials of the environmentally friendly and cost-saving hydrometallurgical process earmarked for Ferguson Lake. Most recently the company added the discovery of a diamond and diamond indicator minerals to its credentials, returned from samples taken from within the same 3.2 million hectare Ferguson Lake holding. On the downside, and working against the directors is a shallow financing pool barely deep enough to wet their feet.

Starfield is in the throes of putting together its feasibility study for Ferguson Lake. At the moment the plans are based around a 6,000 tonnes per day operation, mining ore from the Main West Zone and the West Extension. Initially, 1.8 million tonnes will be mined from an open pit before mechanised cut and fill underground mining commences at both deposits simultaneously. Starfield has been spending its money on upgrading its resources to reserves and trialling the hydrometallurgical process...