Investors are betting that more treasure could be unearthed in Western Australia’s Bryah Basin, and that one explorer active in the region – Talisman Mining – could be onto something big.

Sandfire Resources , now a billion-dollar company, was once a struggling explorer until the discovery of a huge deposit at its DeGrussa copper and gold project in the Bryah Basin, which the company itself dubbed the “corridor of riches". In March 2009, Sandfire’s shares traded below 5¢. In December, they traded as high as $8.31.