Spitfire Resources makes ASX debut

Subiaco-based manganese explorer Spitfire Resources Ltd has made a steady debut on the Australian Securities Exchange after completing its successful $6 million initial public offer.

Spitfire issued a total of 30 million shares at 20 cents under the IPO, with a total of 61 million shares on issue at the listing date.

Shares in the company opened at 22 cents before closing at 25 cents today.

AIM-listed Churchill Mining is the company's largest shareholder, with a 41 per cent interest which it received as vendor consideration for the divestment to Spitfire of its asset, an 80 per cent interest in the South Woodie Woodie Manganese Project in Western Australia's East Pilbara region.

Spitfire managing director James Hamilton said the company was pleased with the level of investor support it had received during the IPO process and was looking forward to commencing its exploration programs at South Woodie Woodie in the New Year.

"Our intention is to commence an aggressive drilling program as soon as the northern wet season permits access," Mr Hamilton commented.

"Preparations for this program - including finalising access to drill rigs and completing planning for the details of the drilling activities - are already well advanced, as we intend to hit the ground running in 2008."

The South Woodie Woodie Project comprises three granted exploration licences covering an area of approximately 490km2.

The principal area of initial exploration focus lies some 50km down-strike from the 1Mtpa Woodie Woodie manganese mine, operated by Consolidated Minerals Limited.

Heritage access and other approvals are already in place, enabling Spitfire to commence drilling as soon as its logistical arrangements for the 2008 field season are in place.

The company is pursuing exploration based on a conceptual model for manganese mineralisation with extensive use of sophisticated geophysical techniques to search for "blind" deposits.

Previous work carried out by Churchill Mining on the tenements includes extensive aerial photography, satellite data, field mapping, soil sampling and surface rock chipping, as well as 6,600 line km of sophisticated airborne geophysics utilising the state-of-the-art Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetics (VTEM) heli-borne magnetics system.

The company also completed an extensive IP survey.

Mr Hamilton said he believed the high level of investor interest reflected both the quality and potential of the South Woodie Woodie Project and the high level of market interest in manganese assets worldwide following the strong price increases seen during 2008, reflecting robust underlying demand and tightness in supply.