VMS DepositA good VMS deposit is something to behold. Good grade, especially the copper-gold combo, can give very high margins. Mining parameters (such as tonnes per vertical metre) are often excellent and processing straightforward. They can produce clean, valuable concentrates that may even attract a premium from smelters. Many VMS deposits, though, possess a number of negative characteristics, chiefly that they are too small to be economically significant. Processing can be problematic and concentrates penalised. The hunt for VMS deposits usually takes place in a basin which already hosts known deposits, or in the vicinity of a new discovery. In either case it is usual for existing discoveries to represent the majority of the total metal of the basin. Nonetheless, under certain circumstances, they are a worthwhile target for smaller exploration companies. However this requires a high level of geological expertise and a number of favourable factors, such as the precise geological setting, to be aligned. But then, serendipity plays a large part in exploration success. So an investor could do a lot worse than backing a company undertaking exploratory drilling (in the appropriate geological setting and with the appropriate geological expertise) near a recently discovered VMS deposit.