Aeris Resources boss Andre Labuschagne has described the company's diversification into gold mining as long and painful, and in cricketing terms not unlike the effort his son Marnus would need to make a triple century for Australia.

The Aeris executive chairman said that for virtually the past eight years he had hoped to add gold mining to the copper producer's portfolio but for much of that time the Aeris balance sheet didn't allow it to be a competitive bidder.