Molybdenum

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Many are the short-sighted who think that because of the economic downturn, critical strategic metals like Molybdenum will not return to shortage status with the resumption of economic growth. If the last boom cycle of the bull market in base metals taught us anything, it is that our capacity globally to satisfy industrial demand is easily defeated by too few high quality, high grade deposits.

Bard Ventures' (TSX Venture: CBS) Lone Pine project in northern British Columbia is just such a deposit, and the recently published N.I. 43-101 report establishes a significant measured and indicated resource of over 200,000,000 pounds of molybdenum. At today's price of $9.75 a pound, that's $2.26 billion worth of contained metal. Metallurgical test work on approximately 50 kilograms of representative quartered NQ2-size core assaying 0.060 per cent molybdenum demonstrated 90% recoverability of molybdenum.

The resource calculation was compiled from exploration data from the Alaskite Zone within the larger property boundary.

"This is only one of several known mineralized areas on the Lone Pine Property," stated Eugene Beukman, President. "This resource, as well as the recently reported positive metallurgical results (see news release dated January 9, 2009), adds critical components to the economics of the Lone Pine mineralization. We are extremely excited with the excellent results to date, and look forward to an aggressive exploration year ahead."

The Lone Pine property is well located in mining-friendly British Columbia, and is intersected by Highway 16, a natural gas pipeline, and a major hydro power transmission line. The property is 15 kilometres from the CN rail line in Houston B.C. These features reduce significantly the capital cost requirements to establish a mine.

Molybdenum pricing could quickly benefit from any infrastructure development spending by national governments around the world. Canada has just announced a $14 billion program, and Barack Obama's $68 billion program could just be the trigger to turn Moly around in the near term.

Construction steels used in bridges, highways and other transportation infrastructure are typically composed of 0.1 to 1.2% Moly.

Stainless steels, however, are more likely to contain closer to 7% molybdenum, which is used in chemical processing plants and at nuclear, coal, and gas-powered electrical generation facilities.

Beyond a point, adding molybdenum is three times more effective than adding chromium to resist corrosion. Although molybdenum-bearing stainless steels are only a small part of the overall world market for stainless steels - under 10% - some molybdenum can be found in more than 40% of stainless grades. Molybdenum use in 316 stainless steel accounts for about one quarter of molybdenum demand.

Factors contributing to future demand for moly include China, who is now reducing exports of molybdenum and, considering their own growing high rate of consumption, may eliminate all exports by 2013. Demand remains robust in China despite the economic downturn, and the Chinese oil industry continues to exert the most upward pressure on demand growth.

These two subsectors would likely lead the return of increased demand for molybdenum from projects such as the Lone Pine.

Recent assays from two holes on the Lone Pine property revealed the presence of significant Rhenium grades within the core.

Rhenium is used as an important component in super alloys for blades in turbine engines and this is the major use today. Rhenium is an ideal metal for use at very high temperatures, which makes it suitable for rocket motors. Rhenium is added to tungsten and molybdenum to form alloys that are used as filaments for ovens and lamps. It is also used in thermocouples which can measure temperatures above 2000 C, and for electrical contacts which stand up well to electric arcs. Rhenium is used in high-temperature super alloys that are used to make jet engine parts and in platinum-rhenium catalysts which in turn are primarily used in making lead-free, high-octane gasoline.

Spot rhenium prices are in the range of $US$10,350 to $10,650 per kilogram.

Rhenium is the "Son of Moly" for a couple of reasons. Not only is most rhenium today produced as a by-product of the copper and molybdenum mining industries, but like molybdenum, rhenium has some very special, if not unique, properties.

Like Moly, also, there's not much of it around. In fact, there's considerably less rhenium than there is Moly. In the Earth's crust, it is only to be found in single-digit parts in a billion. Only about 50 metric tonnes of it are produced each year, and total world reserves of the metal are probably not much more than 10,000 metric tonnes.

Of the rhenium used in the U.S. in 2007, the USGS (United States Geological Survey) estimates that 20% (15% worldwide) was used in petroleum-reforming catalysts. Bimetallic platinum-rhenium catalysts are used in the production of high-octane hydrocarbons, which are, themselves, used in the production of lead-free gas.

Continued development of Rhenium resources alongside the molybdenum could make the Lone Pine project much more valuable in the future than originally thought, and certainly more valuable than the market is giving Bard credit for.

Visit the company's web site at http://www.bardventures.com.


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