Anatolia Minerals Development Ltd fka ANO.U

[Ed Monton]

Anatolia's World Class Turkish Mine Has a Lot More Growing to Do

http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=17716

By David J. DesLauriers

08 Mar 2006 at 06:14 PM EST


TORONTO (ResourceInvestor.com) -- When your correspondent visited the Anatolia [TSX:ANO] booth at PDAC yesterday, three or four Rio Tinto [NYSE:RTP; LSE:RIO] guys were crowded around company President Richard Moores as if he were a celebrity – which with his track record of discovery, he certainly is.

We first wrote up Anatolia in July of last year at C$1.36 per share and entitled the article “The Next Eldorado Gold at a Tenth the Price?”. Then, in late September 2005, at the Denver Gold Forum, we updated the story: “Anatolia: Fodder for the Eldorado Mill?”.




In the first instance, we wrote, “All indications are that Copler is in the same league as Eldorado’s Kisladag gold project readying for production in Western Turkey, but higher grade. This is not presently reflected in the company’s valuation.” And concluded “As a new resource estimate and a feasibility study firm up valuations even the myopic will be hard pressed to not see Anatolia as a serious value proposition. At that point, ANO shares may be in for a sizeable upward revaluation.”

Then in September, we highlighted four reasons why Anatolia was still cheap, concluding: “In the final analysis, ANO appears cheap at these levels for four reasons:”

“Further exploration potential at Copler is not currently being valued.”
“The company’s oxide ounces and total ounces are not being fully valued.”
“The potential for a home run with Rio Tinto is not being valued whatsoever.”
“Upcoming milestones should change this, and ANO is part of a small group of late stage developers that has all of the necessary attributes, which growth hungry mid-tiers are looking for.”
The Ongoing Reality

We now believe that Anatolia is too big for Eldorado. Indeed, it is rapidly becoming apparent that Copler is going to be the largest gold mine in Turkey by a significant margin. Copler looks as though it could hold more than 10 million ounces of gold! The resource will continue to grow over time as exploration continues and new targets are tested, but that is where we are going.

For that reason, it is becoming quite obvious that despite the recent run-up, Anatolia at C$3.15 is still cheap, and is in the crosshairs of the majors, including Kinross [TSX:K; NYSE:KGC] who already have a piece of the company. This is because, even if production starts at 150,000 ounces per annum possible in early 2008, three years down the road, the company could literally boost that number to 300,000-500,000 ounces of annual gold production – and still have a 20 year mine life!

Catalysts

In early April, Anatolia shareholders will get the results of a bankable feasibility on Copler and a scoping study on the Copler sulphides. These numbers will allow analysts to get a clear picture of the mine’s potential profitability and management is going to be aggressive in turning this deposit into a producing mine.

Financing

Anatolia’s principals are committed to keeping dilution to an absolute minimum (they have $13 million in the till presently) and as such are investigating various mechanisms for financing the CAPEX on Copler. Innovative ideas such as what High River [TSX:HRG] recently put together with Royal Gold [TSX:RGL; Nasdaq:RGLD] at Taparko in Burkina Faso are being considered.

Conclusion

As Richard Moores told us in an exclusive interview at PDAC “Our game plan is working on all four levels – Copler development, the Rio Tinto J/Vs, the five J/Vs outside Rio Tinto and our own exploration. We are advancing all of those, and are just about self-sufficient as far as cash flow in, to support all of our Turkish operations except for Copler development. We are in control of our own destiny, we are moving forward and if we get an opportunity with a major for participation, we’ll look at it if it makes sense for shareholders, otherwise we don’t need to wait for them, were moving forward under our own power.”

Right now, the share price doesn’t value Copler – a world-class asset – appropriately, and when you throw in all the Rio Tinto J/V goodies as well, this stock is still truly cheap and should have a takeover premium built into it.