Wallbridge partnering for exploration projects: joint ventures lead to nearly $6 million in Sudbury projects.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: MINING - Impala Platinum Ltd. - Lonmin PLC - Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd.

At a time where drills are idling and exploration activity has taken a noticeable slide across the North, Wallbridge Mining is using partnerships to power up to $6 million in projects throughout the Sudbury area in the coming year.

Wallbridge has the third-largest land holdings in the Sudbury camp with 712-square kilometres of land, and joint venturers are powering much of the exploration activity across its 39 properties.

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President Alar Soever says, as a professional geologist, he's simply "risk-averse," and that forming such links with other firms is a good way of sharing the financial burden in these troubling times.

"When you look at exploration, you look at the individual properties and try to spread the risk as much as possible with joint-venture partners," he says.

"Obviously, you're giving away some of the downstream upside, but when you raise money and especially at these prices, you're giving away part of your company. Would you rather give away a piece of all your projects, or a piece of the one?"

When asked for a list of joint venture project partners in the Sudbury Basin, Soever laughs, sighs and takes a second before rattling off a list of names.

He soon points to four projects shared with Xstrata Nickel, and another being developed in conjunction with an Xstrata/Vale Inco partnership. Others include the likes of Crowflight Minerals Inc., and Champion Bear Resources Ltd.

These joint venture partnerships have allowed Wallbridge to control a 9.4-kilometre block of property along the Parkin Offset Dyke, which in turn has drawn in some particularly heavy hitters.

Wallbridge is also undertaking exploration partnerships with Impala Platinum and Lonmin PLC, the second- and third-largest platinum producers in the world, respectively.

As a result of many of these arrangements, Wallbridge expects to be able to see anywhere from $4 million to $6 million in exploration investments for 2009. This would be split between its own coffers and potential commitments from its partners.

This funding will allow for work to be done on the company's East Range properties, located east of Capreol and south of FNX's Podolsky Mine. This will involve following up on mineralization found on the Frost Lake property last summer, and testing geophysics on the Skinner Lake property.

Other projects will be undertaken in the company's many properties around the basin, but decisions on what money will be spent and where will depend...