Cost-conscious major miners look to agility of junior explorSept.20th,2016-
investors have convinced major miners that a cheap, timely way to ensure a strong pipeline of quality assets is to team up with junior, With that in the background, Rio last year agreed explorationdeals with Canada's Avala Resources on a gold-copperprojectin Serbia and signed a similar deal with Reservoir Mineralson its Timok Magmatic Complex in Serbia.
Generally under such deals, the larger miners invest capital to pay for miningequipment and the skills needed to develop the mineral site that is mainly run by the smaller exploring company.
"Investing in juniors allows the majors to spread risk," saidClive Burstow, fund manager at Baring Asset Management, adding that junior partners often bring local expertise.
BHP Billiton cut its 2016 capital and exploration budget 42% to $6.4-billion. But it has earmarked about $60-million for green field exploration for 2016-2018, BHP geoscientistLaura Tylersaid in June.
Tyler said BHP sought "projects with junior explorers to derisk projects and secure future options".
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