NSW cobalt miner to list on NZX

New Zealand investors will get a new mineral resources play to invest in next Tuesday, February 15, with the anticipated listing of Broken Hill Prospecting following a successful A$4.5 million capital-raising.

Dual-listed New Zealand gold producer, Heritage Gold, held 29 per cent of BHPL prior to the initial public offering and will retain a 21.7 per cent holding upon listing on both the NZX and ASX next week.

Heritage Gold shares were unchanged at 2.5 cents on the NZX, and have gained 8.7 per cent this year.

The capital raise will accelerate and expand development of BHPL's cobalt and base metal tenements at Thackaringa, near the mining centre of Broken Hill in New South Wales.

There is no corporate connection between the company and the Australian mining giant BHP Billiton.

Total inferred cobalt mineral resources have been estimated at
15 million tonnes at the company's Pyrite Hill and Big Hill prospects, with a combined average grade of over 2.1 pounds per tonne (lb/t).

Launched just days before the Pike River Coal disaster in New Zealand, the IPO was extended to close on January 31.

BHPL's recent exploration, managed by Heritage Gold, has also encountered "strongly anomalous copper, lead and zinc values in lode bearing rocks over 500 metre strike lengths at Pyramid Hill and Himalaya North base metal prospects", with follow-up drilling partially completed and initial results expected in March.