Tertiary Minerals

Tertiary Minerals is about to start drilling to define a formal resource estimate for its Storuman fluorspar project in Sweden.

The Macclesfield-headquartered company, which has been through several incarnations since its AIM float as a tantalum play 11 years ago, indicates the £200,000 programme will involve two rigs drilling 44 holes in the 1.8 sq km project over six weeks, with periodic assay results notified to the stockmarket.

Executive chairman Patrick Cheetham, who has steered Tertiary through some stormy waters over the past decade, says the present tonnage estimate for Storuman, where the company has 100%, is 3.6m tonnes of fluorspar at a grade of 12%. He argues fluorspar, which produces hydrofluoric acid for industries ranging from plastics and refrigeration to electroplating and stainless steel, is heading for a supply squeeze, with China no longer dumping it on world markets from time to time.

Tertiary, whose tantalum project in Saudi Arabia foundered on licence problems, has also tried its hand at iron ore projects, but Cheetham stresses fluorspar is now the focus. The company has another project, at Lassedalen in Norway, containing an estimated 1.2m tonnes of fluorspar at a higher grade of 29%.

The company, which lost £200,000 in the six months to March, also lost much credibility and goodwill in the stockmarket as its previous projects stalled and the shares fell from 30p in 2003 to a recent low of 2p. Of late, however, there has been a modest rebound to 6.88p.

Faced with such a track record, investors are right to be decidedly wary and this is not one to put your shirt on. But, if the fluorspar market does hold up as expected and Storuman does not disappoint, Tertiary could repay a strong-nerved punt.