MM: With regard to T1 area please explain the significance of the Sulphide intersections and the high levels of Titanium identified?

AB:The sulphide intersections with up to 18% elemental sulphur could indicate mineralization. Or it could be pyrite and a barren sulphide. In which case it is only useful for making sulphuric acid. Our thin film sections will see what the sulphide came from more clearly. In such a weathered and baked environment this cannot be seen clearly without microscope work. Perhaps we find some chalcopyrite, for example, showing copper to be present. Perhaps other ores. The geologist on site when we drilled thought he saw chalcopyrite. This would be a positive indicator. 

We were very excited when we found the cover was not excessively thick, and when we encountered sulphides, which show we are in a mineralised environment; we were disappointed when the sulphides tested quite low for base metals and gold. However, we are less than 50m from surface, and that is in the weathered zone where mineralization will have leached out: at Tropicana to the NE, for example, the mineralization only starts below 50m from surface. So we will drill aircore across the rest of the anomaly which has given us this discovery, but we will only really know what we have when we do deeper RC drilling into bedrock. That is justified, and is planned.

The titanium could be an enriched lateritic layer, I suppose, but we don’t know. The grade is strikingly high however. 

MM: In T3 your data substantiated the hypothesis that the greenstone belt extends further south than thought.  Could you explain the significance of this substantiation for the project and your exploration programme?

AB:It means the structure identified was not a ghost structure and not a product of a fluid pathway. The greenstone is there. This means that other anomalies and conductors along the belt are worth following up.

MM: You have announced a VTEM programme for the Kambalda Nickel/Gold license.  What has driven you to undertake this work and how will the VTEM further enhance your understanding of the license area?

AB:Our analysis shows that this small license, next to a well-known mine, may be more exciting than the whole of the Lake Johnston belt acreage held. The address is as good as it gets for nickel and gold, and the geology and previous work are promising. Explorers have constantly sought shallow targets, but the potential is all at slightly greater depth. The VTEM will look down up to 500m and give us the tools we need and that were previously unavailable.

MM: Overall does this announcement signal material progress in your exploration programme and what newsflow can we expect as the exploration
programme moves forward?

AB:We also plan more work at Bundarra, where we have been granted new licenses. This granodiorite pluton has a long copper and gold mining history, but small and shallow stuff. On the principle that the best place to find a mine is at a mine, this is an exciting mining camp with prospects for substantial discoveries. We own all of it, and some parts of the circumference are lightly explored or essentially unexplored, including one quadrant which has an unusual farmer with a shotgun and a hostile attitude. We will try Aussie charm, and if that does not work we will try Pommie charm, but we will solve it. We need to step back and systematically apply modern exploration techniques, starting with a re-interpretation of the geophysics, to generate targets. There may well be an elusive large discovery waiting to be made somewhere here. We were waiting for native title to be issued licenses, but have now signed these.  

At Mambare in PNG, we want to interpret the new geophysics and start a new exploration programme. We are finalising arrangements with our partners, with much progress this week, but it would be inappropriate for me to comment further. Shareholders already know the general direction and purpose of our JV.

We remain a focussed base metal company, with an emphasis on nickel and copper, and that’s our upside. Our downside is protected by our stake in Red Rock Resources, now a gold company with strategic holdings in steel feed and uranium/rare earth businesses and liquid assets exceeding the share price.

END