Valley of riches

BILLIONS of dollars in revenue are up for grabs as mining companies sharpen their focus on the resource riches in and around the Clarence Valley.

Last week Centius Gold announced it was lodging an application to extend its minerals and gold exploration lease situated to the west of Nana Glen, known as the Bobo Gold Project.

The total project area could yield up to 1.4 million ounces of gold, according to the company.

At the recent market price of $1690 per ounce, this is equivalent to over $2.3 billion in revenues for Centius.

The new lease area borders the eastern fringes of the Nymboi-Binderay National Park, according to Centius chairman Scott Brown.

The primary focus of Centius Gold is to explore tenements in old goldfields.

A geological mapping program of the area has identified a number of previously unreported quartz reefs in the Bobo to Black Bull areas of the tenement.

Drilling sites associated with these old workings have been identified, and with the latest techno- logy the company is able to trace these targets over much greater distances.

If the gold reserves are proved then Centius has plans to construct a shallow open-cut mine together with a treatment plant in the area, but this is not expected to happen in the short term.

In the next six months the company will drill test wells at roughly 20 sites in the area, Mr Brown said.

The new exploration area is also adjacent to Anchor Resources' Wild Cattle Creek project that has the potential to become an antimony mine.

Red Sky Energy has also signalled to investors that it envisages gross revenues of $4 billion from its Clarence Moreton Project.

This coal-seam gas project involves a well situated 70 kilometres north of Grafton just off the Summerland Way and a second well situated closer to Casino.

The company is considering local generation and distribution of power within the greater Clarence Valley area.