Reuters reported that Australia's Ironbark Gold Limited may sign supply contracts in Europe to help fund a zinc mine in Greenland which could yield up to 200,000 tonnes of metal annually starting in 5 years.

Mr Jonathan Downes MD of Ironbark Gold said that "We've got a target of 200,000 per annum of contained zinc and test work so far's shown we've got a very saleable material with none of the particular nasty impurities such as manganese or arsenic."

He said that a mixture of debt and equity financing would be used to help meet the estimated USD 400 million cost of developing Ironbark's Citronen mine supplemented with supply pacts struck. Mining will coincide with a drop off in world supplies of zinc as 2 big mines, Xstrata's Brunswick mine in Canada and Minmetals' Century lode in Australia run dry.

London Metal Exchange zinc inventories have more than doubled to more than 400,000 tonnes in the past 12 months but Mr Downes said that he was undeterred, predicting that a recovery in zinc intensive galvanized steelmaking would shrink the surplus.

Zinc miners are stepping up financing efforts to exploit projected supply shortfalls caused by older mines nearing the end of operations.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said that World zinc consumption should drop 7% to 10.7 million tonnes in 2009 but rise 6% in 2010.

Australia's Kagara Limited partly owned by GFTG Shengtuo Metals Private Limited wants investment to help fund work on its Admiral Bay mine in Australia costing up to USD 1 billion and producing at least 300,000 tonnes of zinc per year.

In Algeria, Terramin Australia has secured AUD 46 million from Chinese and European investors and reached a 5 year supply agreement with commodities trader Transmine to start work on the Tala Hamza mine earmarked to yield up to 200,000 tonnes of zinc per year.

(Sourced from Reuters)