Cooperative Drilling round 1

Discoveries and technical success stories

Michael Hallett, Executive Officer, Geological Survey of NSW

Cooperative Drilling – the first time round

• $2 million allocated • 36 applications received • 23 were offered grants - of 50% of the per metre

drill rate, up to a cap of $200,000 • Projects to start September 2014 and complete by

16 September 2015 • Frontiers = difficult terrain, remote regions, new

concepts and geological models, ineffective or absent prior drilling,

How does NSW compare?

• SA allocates $3M per round of drilling funding, with a different model for % of program funded and nearly 2 years to complete, with a completion rate of over 60%

• WA allocates $5M per round, with 2 rounds per year, approx 45% of funds offered actually disbursed

• NT only allows 6 months for completion • NSW allocated $2.0M, completion rate was 55%.

NSW allow a year to complete.

Who was funded in NSW?

• How much did they get? • What were they looking for? • Where were their projects? • Were there any discoveries? • Then let’s look at 4 projects

Applicant/Explorer Project / Prospect name Funds granted Commodity Location

Peel Mining Ltd Orana Project $ 54,000 Lead & Zinc 27 km NW of Ivanhoe near BH

Ausmon Resources Nuntherungie Silver $ 38,750 Silver, Copper, Lead, Gold, Molybdenum 150 km NE of BH near White Cliffs

Peel Mining Ltd Mundoe Project $ 72,250 Copper Lead Zinc 160 km SE of Cobar

Peel Mining Ltd Sandy Creek Project $ 67,250 Lead Zinc Copper Silver gold 90 km SE of Cobar

Thomson Resources Mt Jacob $ 35,000 Intrusion related Gold 40 km west of Kempsey

Thomson Resources Cuttaburra A or Cut A $ 25,550 Intrusion related Gold 32 km N of Tilpa (NW of Cobar)

Thomson Resources Cuttaburra B $ 26,750 Intrusion related Gold 32 km N of Tilpa (NW of Cobar)

GFM Exploration EL7825 Paupong $ 200,000 Gold, Silver and Copper 25 km SE of Jindabyne

Cullen Exploration Minter - Doyenwae $ 36,250 Tungsten, Tin 15 km ESE of Lake Cargelligo

Argent Minerals Kempfield $ 158,400 Lead Zinc 7 km west of Trunkey Ck (SW of Orange)

Impact Minerals Ltd Red Hill $ 121,500 Platinoids - Nickel, Copper, Gold 15 km SE of Broken Hill

Sandfire Res Wingrunner $ 46,850 Copper Gold 30 km SW of Narromine

PMR1 Halls Peak $ 90,100 Copper Lead Zinc Silver 70 km SE of Armidale

Cobar Management Pty Ltd Shuttleton $ 96,000 Copper 70 km S of Cobar, 40km west of Nymagee

Rimfire Pacific Mining NL Sorpresa $ 175,375 Gold - Copper Lead Zinc 1 km west of Fifield (NE of Condobolin)

Clancy Exploration Fairholme Project $ 198,750 Copper Gold 14 km NE of Bircher (E of Condobolin)

White Rock Mt Carrington $ 200,000 Copper Gold 4 km N of Drake, New England

WCB Resources Red Hill (Yass) $ 18,000 Copper Gold 20 km NE of Yass

Biacil Holdings Pty Ltd Frasers Find - Diggers Shaft $ 65,000 Gold 8 km west of Uralla (SW of Armidale)

Anchor Resources Birdwood North $ 101,750 Copper 50 km west of Port Macquarie

Who was funded?

23 applications were successful in being granted funds. Not all applicants used the grant funds due to financial , logistical or other reasons. Let’s look at a few examples

Where were the projects?

Impact Minerals: Red Hill

Impact Minerals Limited, Red Hill Funds granted: $121,500

Impact Minerals Limited, Red Hill

Impact Minerals Limited, Red Hill

Impact Minerals Limited, Red Hill

• Nickel-Copper-PGE project, southeastern Curnamona province

• Originally reported by government surveyor J B Baquet in 1893.

• One of the Cu-Ni-Pt gossans was mined between 1906 & 1937

• CRA drilled two holes in 1968 with no result • Impact Minerals acquired the project in 2013,

mapping the nickel rich host ultramafic unit

• The maiden drilling funded by Cooperative Drilling intersected a 30m wide zone with contained high grade Ni and Cu over 6 zones.

• Assays were announced on 17 December 2014, with highlights of:

9.9m at 1.4% Cu, 0.3% Ni 6.7g/t Pt-Pd-Au and 19 g/t silver from 67m depth and another 4.2m at 2.6% Cu, 0.5% Ni, 10.6g/t Pt-Pd-Au from 71.6m depth.

Cross-section through Red Hill mine prospect showing significant assays

Extensive oxide and sulphide PGM-copper-nickel mineralisation in RHD0008 The hole returned 29 metres at 2.7 g/t platinum, 0.5 g/t gold, 5.5 g/t palladium, 0.5% nickel, 2.4% copper and 57.8 g/t silver

Sovereign Gold: Frasers Find

Sovereign Gold Frasers Find Funds granted: $65,000

• Frasers Find is located in the Woolomin – Texas

block of the New England fold belt • Main mineralisation is Reduced Intrusion-Related

Gold Systems, within the Rocky River-Uralla goldfield

• 4 Cooperative Drilling holes were planned. The program was targeted through interpretation of airborne magnetic / radiometric surveys and follow up with ground EM.

• The holes were designed to test the depth and strike extensions of high grade narrow gold bearing structures associated with an interpreted blind gold-bearing pluton.

Sovereign Gold - Frasers Find

Sovereign Gold - Frasers Find

• Cooperative Drilling holes intersected a new mineralised structure and identified the “smoking gun” evidence associated with a deeper fractionated pluton interpreted to be the source of gold rich fluids deposited in the area

• Subsequent drilling has returned screen fire assay results of 5.17g/t Gold over 0.32 metres and associated arsenopyrite, pyrite, galena and sphalerite.

Argent Minerals – Kempfield Funds granted: $158,400

Argent Minerals: Kempfield

Argent Minerals - Kempfield

• The Kempfield polymetallic project south of Orange, NSW, is located 41 kilometres from Cadia.

• Drilling commenced in December 2014 over four holes to test for depth extensions to existing lenses and to confirm geological concepts proposing enhanced mineralisation in an overturned VMS model.

Argent Minerals - Kempfield

Argent Minerals - Kempfield

Argent Minerals - Kempfield

• Initial results confirm key aspects of deposit model • 1m @ 1065 g/t Au and Cu 1.2% • Hole 1 intersected significant gold grades

including 5m @ 4.0 g/t gold from 353m. Hole 2 was completed and announced on 17 March 2015, 52m beyond the originally planned depth. Intersects included 2m @ 0.28g/t Au from 398m and 1m @ 0.54g/t from 522m.

GFM Exploration – Paupong Funds granted: $200,000

GFM Exploration: Paupong

GFM Exploration - Paupong

GFM Exploration - Paupong

GFM Exploration - Paupong

Near surface gold-arsenic bearing quartz vein system – Tom’s Vein prospect

GFM Exploration - Paupong

Drilling funded by the Cooperative Drilling program has returned strong copper, gold and silver intercepts open at depth

GFM Exploration - Paupong

• GFM Exploration learned that vein-hosted Cu-Au-Ag mineralisation is continuous along a 1.5km strike length and to a depth of 200m from surface.

• The system is open to the east and west and at depth. Follow up will be to extend known mineralisation, and to test the porphyry model at depth.

Cooperative Drilling round 1: How do we measure up against stated goals? • Increase in exploration in frontier regions like the Thomson or the

Stawell • Increase in the number and diversity of exploration targets • Increased knowledge of geological and tectonic settings • Investigate new geological concepts in established areas • Search for new mineralisation in areas previously not explored with

modern technology • Integrate of drilling results with geoscience databases • Improve perception of NSW as a place to explore • Build a better relationship between government and industry

Cooperative Drilling round 2:

• We’ve revised the amounts of project funding in response to stakeholder feedback.

• We’re hoping to continue the positive results from round 1

• We’re continuing to build relationships with the exploration industry