Latest news with #EasternGoldfields
News.com.au
06-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Kristie Batten: Brightstar maps path to 200,000ozpa of gold
One of Australia's top mining journalists, Kristie Batten, writes for Stockhead every week in her regular column placing a watchful eye on the movers and shakers of the small cap resources scene. It's been a busy couple of weeks for Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) as ticks off milestones on the road to its goal of becoming a 200,000 ounce per annum gold producer by 2029. The up-and-comer is already ramping up to become a 35,000-40,000ozpa gold producer from its Second Fortune and Fish underground mines via an ore processing agreement with Genesis Minerals. But the company has bigger aspirations of becoming a gold producer in its own right and in the process, becoming a major player in the Eastern Goldfields. A week ago, Brightstar released a definitive feasibility study for the staged development of its Menzies and Laverton gold projects. Based on a maiden open pit reserve of 210,500oz at 1.63 grams per tonne gold, the project would produce 338,528oz, or an average of 70,000ozpa, over five years at all-in sustaining costs of $2991 an ounce. Using a base case gold price of $4500/oz, the project returned a pre-tax net present value of $203 million and an internal rate of return of 48%. Increasing the gold price to around $5000/oz, which is closer to spot, increases the NPV to $316 million and IRR increases to 73%. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding to process Menzies ore through the Paddington mill for up to two years while the Laverton plant is being built. Total project peak funding requirements for the Menzies and Laverton projects is $120 million, while payback from the commissioning of the plant, expected in early 2027, is one year. Brightstar has received letters of intent or term sheets from multiple domestic and offshore commercial banks, as well as interest from non-bank lenders for debt financing of up to 70% of the capital requirements. The company has also received a non-binding term sheet from an offshore precious metals specialist investment company for a funding package comprising a gold doré offtake and equity financing at a premium for A$120 million. Brightstar managing director Alex Rovira described Laverton and Menzies as 'a really financeable project with great return on investment'. The bigger prize A prefeasibility study is also underway for Brightstar's larger Sandstone project, due for completion next year. Sandstone hosts shallow resources of 1.5Moz at 1.5g/t gold and Brightstar has 80,000m of drilling planned across the project this year. The PFS will consider a 3-5 million tonne per annum open pit development. The company is aiming to move straight into a DFS on Sandstone next year, with the aim of making a final investment decision in early 2027, coinciding with first gold from Laverton and Menzies. Brightstar is aiming to self-fund at least part of the Sandstone development from its other operations. 'We see Sandstone as the flagship, tier one asset within our portfolio and the ability to fund that from existing and near-term operations is important,' Rovira said. Canaccord Genuity analyst Tim McCormack is modelling a $250 million, 3Mpta operation which would pour first gold in the June quarter of 2029. 'We expect the project to support production of around 130,000ozpa at an AISC of $2655/oz for six years,' he said. McCormack maintained a speculative buy rating and $1.50 price target for Brightstar, which is more than three times its Friday closing price of 46c. Deal brewing Brightstar has been one of the more acquisitive juniors in the gold space. Over the past two years, Brightstar has merged with Kingwest Resources, acquired unlisted Linden Alliance, merged with Alto Metals and bought Gateway Mining's Montague project. In October last year, Brightstar revealed it had made an offer to Sandstone neighbour Aurumin (ASX:AUN) over a potential joint venture. Last week, the two companies announced they were in merger talks, which would create a larger Sandstone project with a resource of 2.4Moz. Under the proposed deal, Brightstar would offer one share for every 4.6 Aurumin shares held, implying a value of 11.7c per Aurumin share, a 17% premium to the previous close. The companies are carrying out mutual due diligence. 'For context, Aurumin's ground is encapsulated entirely within our portfolio,' Rovira said. 'They have 900,000 ounces of resources, and importantly, the old mill site where Troy Resources mined and operated, so a potential transaction here delivers some great open pit resources that would be perfect to go through any mill in the district, but also key licences, permits and infrastructure.' Rovira pointed out that there were no major mills within 100km of Sandstone, but there were a handful of other junior companies with resources in that radius. 'We think ultimately there's a lot more consolidation that should happen in Sandstone that will be for the betterment of all sets of shareholders and the market in general,' he said. 'I'd love to have a business here in Sandstone that's underpinned by 3-4 million ounces of resources, on mining leases, that is near-term development. 'That opportunity, in my view, doesn't exist anywhere else in the Eastern Goldfields of WA. 'That would underpin a significant valuation for this business in the future, but also probably importantly, it would be a very opportune target for the mid-tier sector, which is looking for growth opportunities, so we're excited about the opportunity that we can build out here in Sandstone.'
News.com.au
04-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Resources Top 5: Western Mines at starting blocks for extensive Mulga Tank exploration
Phase 4 drilling at Mulga Tank is aimed at infilling and extending the mineral resource estimate DY6 has identified visible natural rutile, including large residual nuggets, at Central Rutile project in Cameroon Six new gold anomalies have been identified at the Burbanks East project in WA's Goldfields Your standout small cap resources stocks for Friday, July 4, 2025 Western Mines Group (ASX:WMG) At the starting blocks for the resumption of exploration at Mulga Tank nickel-cobalt-copper-PGE project in WA's Eastern Goldfields is Western Mines Group, which increased 40% to 28c. A team has mobilised to the site on the Minigwal Greenstone Belt to prepare for a phase 4 RC drilling program aimed at infilling and extending the mineral resource estimate within the main body of the Mulga Tank Complex. The 1.968Bt MRE for Mulga Tank contains 5.3Mt of nickel, 257,000t of cobalt, 161,000t of copper and 1.1Mt of platinum+palladium. WMN also plans high-impact diamond drilling targeting the western margin of the complex following a prospectivity review of the basal contact. The extensive exploration program in the second half of 2025, funded by a recent $1.287m capital raise and $440,000 in WA Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) grants, will include a Down Hole ElectroMagnetic (DHEM) survey and follow-up diamond drilling around MTRC046 which previously returned shallow high-grade intersections. Two diamond holes targeting komatiite channels within tenement E39/2134 will be drilled with the aid of an EIS grant and a further EIS-funded deep diamond hole will test revised interpretation and a basal MobileMT anomaly in the centre of the complex. A DHEM survey crew is scheduled to mobilise to site in the coming weeks to survey a number of phase 3 RC holes including MTRC046 5m that returned 1.92% Ni and 0.21% Cu from 283m, and MTRC055 with 4m at 1.16% Ni and 0.13% Cu from 182m, including 1m at 2.46% Ni and 0.43% Cu from 183m. Ongoing exploration modelling, targeting work and results from the DHEM surveys will likely add further drill holes as the programs progress. 'The team is looking forward to getting back on site to commence further drilling at the Mulga Tank Project,' WMG MD Dr Caedmon Marriott said. 'It has been just under nine months since we completed the phase 3 RC program and the company has tried to carefully manage capital through the current trough in nickel prices. 'We've planned a combination of further RC and diamond drilling for the third quarter of 2025. 'With a significant initial mineral resource defined, the company can now 'swing the bat' a bit with further diamond holes testing for basal massive sulphide accumulations in what we believe is a hybrid Type 1-2 system. DY6 Metals (ASX:DY6) A strong performance from DY6 Metals, which moved 35.6% higher to 21c and has more than doubled this week, prompted a price and volume query from the ASX with the company now in a trading halt pending a response. On June 30, DY6 announced that it had identified visible natural rutile, including large residual nuggets, at the Central Rutile project within the Bounde licence in Cameroon. The rutile was observed in alluvial and eluvial sources in a new area during a reconnaissance sampling program with the nuggets ranging in size from 2cm to more than 4cm. Heavy minerals and residual rutile mineralisation were encountered over a 100km2 area. The reconnaissance program consisted of some auger drilling and the collection of channel, surface grab and stream sediment samples. Samples are being prepped for laboratory analysis in Cape Town, South Africa, with results expected in the September quarter. The identification of rutile across the entire tenement package is highly encouraging for DY6 as it confirms that this region is an emerging, globally significant rutile province. 'The reconnaissance program has been a great success, having identified visual HM and rutile mineralisation across each licence,' technical consultant Cliff Fitzhenry said. 'What we have uncovered at the Bounde licence is particularly exciting. I have never seen rutile nuggets of this size before.' The target mineralisation type at Central Rutile is in-situ, residual, saprolite-hosted natural rutile analogous to Sovereign Metals (ASX:SVM) Tier-1 Kasiya deposit in Malawi – the world's largest primary rutile deposit at 1.8Bt at 1.0% rutile. The project borders Peak Minerals (ASX:PUA) Minta rutile project where initial sampling revealed valuable heavy minerals up to 93% of total heavy minerals, with the dominant VHMs being rutile (up to 69.8%). Exploration is moving to the next phase with a systematic regional soil sampling program seeking to identify areas of higher-grade residual rutile. Future Battery Minerals (ASX:FBM) Hitting a new 12-month high of 3.5c, a jump of 75% on the previous close, was Future Battery Minerals after an extensive review of historical exploration drilling and surface sampling data at the Burbanks East project in WA's Goldfields identified six new gold anomalies. Investigation into shallow aircore and rotary blast drilling conducted by companies such as Croesus Mining, Monarch Resource, Mt Kersey Mining and Cazaly Resources, highlighted a number of gold intercepts within regolith including: 8m at 3.37g/t gold from 32m; 6m at 1.84g/t Au from 44m; and 10m at 0.9g/t Au from 36m, including 2m at 3.1g/t Au. While most of the drilling is shallow and wide spaced, many of the anomalous intercepts are poorly understood or not closed out and remain open to future testing. FBM managing director and CEO Nick Rathjen said Burbanks East represented a compelling exploration opportunity complementary to its existing gold focused exploration strategy at Miriam. 'We see Burbanks East adding further gold upside to the Coolgardie project and are currently undertaking a litho-structural review targeting prospective bedrock structures and intrusions to generate drill-ready targets at the project.' Cavalier Resources (ASX:CVR) The appointment of Colin Bald as general manager of operations for the Crawford Gold Project near Leonora in WA has seen Cavalier Resources garner some investor support with shares at 23.5c, a 17.5% lift on the previous close. Bald brings more than 30 years of experience in the start-up, operation and closure of open pit projects worldwide, including experience in gold in WA in quarry manager and mine superintendent roles. He will contract to CVR through his company, Quarry Management Services WA, and will transition from Perth-based work to the Crawford site as the start-up of stage 1 nears. The company recently revised a PFS, incorporating higher gold prices and updating the mining and heap leach capital cost estimates, generating the following outputs: Stage 1 project life 18 months; Capital payback 9 months; Gross revenue A$103.6m; Production of 23,467 recovered ounces, Lowest quartile C1 AISC of A$1,574/oz, C3 AISC of A$1,793; NPV8 of A$51.7m; and IRR of 580%. Peak Minerals (ASX:PUA) After raising $3.5 million through a strategic placement to a European-based investor at 3.5c per share Peak Minerals reached 5.4c, a new high of more than six years and an increase of 25.6% on the previous close. 'This $3.5 million placement represents a strong endorsement of the scale and potential of the Minta rutile project and provides the funding necessary to accelerate exploration and development activities on the ground in Cameroon,' Peak Minerals CEO Casper Adson said: "Importantly, the placement was completed with no discount to the last market closing price, which happened to be at a multi-year high, and will be subject to a voluntary escrow of 12 months from the date of issue, reflecting strong confidence in the Minta rutile project. 'The support from a strategic European-based investor highlights the increasing international interest in Peak Minerals and underscores the significance of the high-value rutile, monazite and zircon discovery at Minta.'
West Australian
15-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Close call for Rookies 1 in second round of Eastern Goldfields netball division one competition
Close call for Rookies 1 in second round of Eastern Goldfields netball division one competition
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Five explorers leveraged to drilling success as microcaps offer big upside
As gold prices rise, exploration success is driving microcaps to massive gains At the small end of the market a rerate can be just one hole away These five juniors have drilling programs on the go All it takes is one drill hole to drastically change the fortunes of even the tiniest explorer. Just over six months ago, New South Wales explorer Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB) had a market capitalisation of well below $5 million. A series of wide gold hits at the Enmore gold project's Sunnyside prospect has transformed the former microcap into one of the best performing stocks this year. The first and second holes at Sunnyside returned 170m at 1.75 grams per tonne gold from 77m, including 18m at 9.95g/t gold and 172.9m at 2.07g/t gold respectively. The hits have kept on coming for Koonenberry, which now has a market cap of more than $75 million, with the company reporting on Tuesday that visible gold had been encountered in seven of the first nine holes. Results from the fourth and fifth holes are expected later this month, with the sixth expected next month. OzAurum Resources (ASX:OZM) started the year with a market cap of less than $5 million, but at the start of February, its shares surged more than five-fold off the back of a high-grade gold discovery at the Mulgabbie North project in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields. Initial results included 20m at 3.57g/t gold from surface, including 10.21g/t gold, and 10m at 6.59g/t gold from 12m, including 4m at 14.17g/t gold. The company has continued to build on the results since then and while its share price has eased from February highs, it's still up more than 150% year-to-date. We've identified a few more microcap explorers which are actively drilling right now. Asra Minerals (ASX:ASR) On Monday, Asra kicked off a 1300m drilling program at its Leonora South gold project in WA, close to tenements owned by growing mid-tier producer Genesis Minerals. The program, comprising 1000m of RC and 300m of diamond tail drilling, will target down-dip extensions of the high-grade Orion and Sapphire deposits. The company will follow up high-grade results from October last year, including 1m at 47.95g/t gold from 115.2m and 1m at 23.12g/t gold from 148.7m at Sapphire, and 0.8m at 23.97g/t gold from 161.2m at Orion. Asra, which has a market cap of just $6.7 million, expects the first assays in the next 6-8 weeks. Codrus Minerals (ASX:CDR) The $6.6 million capped Codrus will fire up the rig any day now after being granted a long-awaited drilling permit for its Bull Run gold project in Oregon. The project, briefly a producer in the 1930s, has only ever had three shallow holes drilled into it, but has returned rock chip results of up to 1040g/t gold. 'There (are) some pretty outrageous grades there, so it's really low-hanging fruit just crying out to be drilled,' Codrus executive chairman Greg Bandy told Stockhead earlier this week. Induced polarisation surveying has identified multiple anomalies, while more recent rock chipping returned grades of up to 60g/t gold, 1.5% copper and 2.5% molybdenum. Codrus is permitted for up to 14,000m of drilling, which is expected to cover multiple programs. Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R) Miramar is in the process of an 11,000m aircore program at its Gidji gold project, just 15km north of Kalgoorlie, which represents the first drilling there for three years. The company has described the 80%-owned project as 'the cheapest house in the best street', sitting right next door to Northern Star Resources' (ASX:NST) 313,000oz 8 Mile Dam deposit. Early results include a best hit of 1m at 4.45g/t gold, with drilling to date increasing the footprint of the high-priority Blackfriars target. The company says it shares several similarities to the multi-million-ounce Paddington gold deposit along strike to the north. Results are expected to flow through between now and July. With a market cap of just $3 million, Miramar is highly leveraged to success at Gidji. GreenTech Metals (ASX:GRE) The stage two diamond drilling program at GreenTech's Whundo copper-zinc project in the West Pilbara is progressing. The first two holes of the program returned a best result of 7.14m at 1.46% copper, 1.23% zinc and 0.08g/t gold from 277.16m, including 6.3m at 1.84% copper, 1.4% zinc and 0.08g/t gold from 278m. Whundo has an existing resource of 6.2 million tonnes at 1.12% copper and 1.04% zinc. The project sits on a granted mining lease and GreenTech has flagged the potential to process ore through Anax Metals' nearby Whim Creek plant or Artemis Resources' Radio Hill plant. GreenTech has success in its DNA via the recent appointment of Julian Hanna as MD, the exploration expert responsible for the early progress of Western Areas and MOD Resources. Antares Metals (ASX:AM5) Last week, Mark Connelly-chaired Antares launched its Phase 2 RC drilling at the Surprise copper project in the Mt Isa region of Queensland. The 1500m program will focus on untested targets identified by geophysics and beneath outcropping high-grade copper mineralised zones and is aiming to enlarge the known mineralised envelope of the project. The first phase of drilling, completed earlier this year, returned 11m at 1.8% copper and 1.3g/t gold from 68m, including 4m at 3.8% copper from 71m. The $4.1 million company has also identified rock chips grading up to 26% copper from artisanal workings. Drilling should be getting started any day now at West Cobar Metals' Fraser Range copper-gold project in WA after receiving approvals at the start of the month. The company plans to drill eight RC holes to depths of 200-300m to test three iron oxide-copper-gold and two Broken Hill-style targets. The program is being fully funded by MinRex Resources (ASX:MRR) under a farm-out option agreement signed in March. MinRex will earn 50% of the project if it sole funds $500,000 of expenditure.
News.com.au
09-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Resources Top 5: Forrestania a star performer with up to 25.6g/t gold
New results include the highest gold intercept seen at Ada Ann from Forrestania drilling White Cliff Minerals continues to ride high after a 175m intersection at 2.5% Cu from 7.6m Jameson has updated economic outcomes of a BFS for the Crown Mountain coal project in Canada Your standout resources stocks for Friday, May 9, 2025 Forrestania Resources (ASX:FRS) Golden drilling results from Ada Ann prospect at the Bonnie Vale Project near Coolgardie in WA's prolific Eastern Goldfields have made Forrestania Resources a star performer. Shares were as much as 54% above the previous close at a daily high of 6c and it has been a steady move northward for FRS from 0.9c on February 5, 2025. 1m drilling results from the second phase of drilling at Ada Ann have returned more encouragement after the first stage defined strong, consistent, high-grade gold with grades up to 21g/t. They have confirmed consistent mineralised structures at Ada Ann and include the highest gold intercept seen at Ada Ann from FRS drilling – 25.6g/t gold - and the second highest ever intercepted at the prospect confirming the high-grade potential. The second phase of 14 RC holes for 1017m returned best results of: 7m at 4.3g/t gold from 72m, including 1m at 25.6g/t; 3m at 7.8g/t from 74m, including 1m at 22.2g/t; and 3m at 5.9g/t from 82m, including 1m at 16g/t and 2m at 3.6g/t from 70m. The Ada Ann footprint has been extended ~60m south and ~30m north of historical mineralisation and it remains open at depth and along strike in both directions. The strike of gold mineralisation has increased to ~310m. 'These 1m results from Ada Ann are highly significant, with grades up to 26g/t Au, underlining the high-grade potential of the system. Pleasingly, we are seeing some thickening of the mineralised zones at depth,' Forrestania Resources' chairman John Hannaford said. 'The drill program extended the known mineralised zones to the north and south and the prospect continues to remain open in all directions. 'We look forward to coming back to drilling at the Bonnie Vale project later in the year.' With the Au mineralisation continuing to extend north and south, the company is hopeful of extending the mineralisation in both directions and increasing the strike extent with further drilling. The company will now focus its attention on drilling at the Lady Lila prospect, whilst continuing analysis and planning for further drilling at Ada Ann and the Bonnie Vale project. White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) A string of positive news from its projects in Canada's remote northwest, and particularly in relation to copper, has driven White Cliff Minerals to a new high of more than eight years. The company has reached 37c, an increase of 23.34% on the previous close on volume exceeding 158m. WCN has surged 185% from 1.3c on April 9. Most of the good news has come from the Rae copper project with the latest being a 175m intersection at 2.5% Cu from 7.6m while the nearby Great Bear project has also delivered encouraging survey results pointing to IOCG and epithermal potential. Results from Rae on Tuesday increased the spotlight on WCN and have seen it as one of the week's best performers. The 175m hit in hole DAN25008 also included 8.66g/t silver with a sub-section of 14m at 7.55% copper and 25.8g/t silver from 138m. This hole averaged 3.9% copper and 14.96g/t silver in the last 60m to the final depth of 182.88m and it ended in mineralisation with the last 1.5m sample returning 4.46% copper and 11.58g/t silver. 'We believe this drill hole ranks among the most significant copper intersections globally within the last 50 years and comfortably sits within the top 10 globally reported 'grade-metre' copper results,' WCN managing director Troy Whittaker said. Another hole, DAN25001, returned 52m at 1.16% copper and 3.43g/t silver from surface, including 7.6m at 3% copper and 9.5g/t silver from 18.28m. The Rae project is home to a number of historical non-JORC and 'blue sky' resource estimates, as well as up to 64.02% copper from rock chip assays indicating widespread outcropping copper throughout the 805km2 licensed area. It represents a district-scale opportunity at the pre-discovery stage, underpinned by the presence of high-grade volcanic-hosted copper-silver lodes and the prospect of a large tonnage sedimentary hosted copper deposit. Follow up diamond drilling is being planned to drill out the mineralisation boundaries at Danvers, while the next five assays along strike from DAN25008 are due in the coming weeks. Jameson Resources (ASX:JAL) Revised capital and operating costs and coal price assumptions have enabled Jameson Resources to update the economic outcomes of a bankable feasibility study (BFS) for the Crown Mountain hard coking coal project in the Elk Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Results confirm that increased coal price forecasts arising from concern about reduced supply of premium steelmaking coal significantly outweigh any capital and operating cost increases that have occurred since the BFS was completed in July 2020. Using the updated economic inputs, the review resulted in an estimated increase to pre-production capital (without contingency) of 28% to US$394m and a 15% increase in cash operating costs (FOB Vancouver) from US$89.41/t in the Yield Optimisation Study to US$102.79/t. The outcome of the increases to capital and operating costs and coal price forecasts resulted in an overall 200% increase in pre-tax NPV10 from US$469m in the Yield Optimisation Study to US$942m. 'The feasibility update has indicated significant increases to the project's high-level economics,' Jameson's chair Nicole Hollows said. "With the continued progress of the Environmental Assessment process, this update highlights the advanced position of the project compared with greenfield projects in Canada, Australia or other key producer locations. "There has been more than US$20 billion in steelmaking coal M&A in the last year highlighting that existing producers have limited options for organic growth. 'Crown Mountain's position as the most advanced steelmaking coal project in Canada and its substantial underlying value is further enhanced by the feasibility update which demonstrates the project's cost competitiveness compared to current and planned production. 'Continued progress of the regulatory process will enable the project to be developed to meet the identified shortfall in premium steelmaking coal supply in the medium and long term.' As a result of the positive review, Jameson's shares were one-third higher to 4c. Aureka (ASX:AKA) The appointment of a world-class exploration manager by Aureka (ASX:AKA) is expected to provide new impetus as it advances a suite of advanced stage high-grade gold projects across Victoria. As well as significant experience gained during more than 25 years in the field and the last four years as Barrick Gold's exploration manager, Jozef Story brings to Aureka the benefit of more than 12 years focused on numerous Victorian gold projects including early-stage Fosterville exploration. The appointment adds increased experience to Aureka's existing technical team with project assessment, exploration, planning and execution skills. While at Barrick, Story was responsible for managing, developing and exploring that company's entire +5000km2 exploration portfolio throughout Tanzania. 'We are delighted to have secured and to welcome a senior exploration manager with such credentials, to our already talented team at Aureka, which recognises the significance of our portfolio of existing and future discoveries,' AKA managing director James Gurry said. 'Jozef's time with Barrick and other projects globally, along with his experience with successful Victorian projects, ensures we have the very best opportunity for Aureka's success and growth.' Aureka's current contract exploration manager Peter de Vries will continue to consult to the company through his firm Geological, Educational & Mining Services (G.E.M.S) P/L. While Story takes responsibility for exploration strategy, de Vries will continue to oversee the practical elements of the Irvine and St Arnaud drilling programs. "I'd also like to thank Peter de Vries for his efforts in getting Aureka back drilling after its 2-year hiatus,' Gurry said. The company's shares reached 14,5c, a 31.82% increase on the previous close. Augustus Minerals (ASX:AUG) Augustus Minerals has been as much as 40.7% higher to 4.5c after executing a binding share purchase agreement to acquire ACM International's ACM Contract Mining PNG Ltd, a PNG company with a valid third in line licence application for the Mt Kare gold project. Two earlier applications for the advanced PNG project made by unrelated third parties for the same project area will be considered prior to ACMPNG's application. Mt Kare, which is about 600km northwest of Port Morseby and 145km west of Mt Hagen, is prospective for gold and silver, hosting a historical JORC 2004 mineral resource of 43Mt at 1.5 g/t Au for 2.1 Moz Au and 18 Moz Ag. Nearly 75% of this is in the higher confidence measured and indicated category, based on 454 diamond drill holes for 73,639m as at July 2013. This historical estimate has not been reported in accordance with the JORC Code 2012. The total consideration payable by Augustus under the acquisition is $250,000 in cash, excluding GST. As the application has not yet been granted and is contested ACMPNG does not have an actual or contingent right to undertake exploration and development activities, or to exploit the historical resource estimate and there is no guarantee that the application will lead to a licence being granted over the project. Based on ongoing due diligence investigations, the company understands that in excess of $2 million has been spent by ACM to date in relation to the application process. The company also understands that ACMPNG has approximately $80,000 (in PNG Kina) in funds available, resulting in the effective purchase price being approximately $170,000. The board of the company considers that the quality of the Mt Kare project places it as one of the premier gold development opportunities in the Australasia-Pacific Region. Following completion of the acquisition, Augustus intends to actively pursue the application and grant of an exploration licence.
