High Grade
Consistent wide, high grade gold zones have been identified at Mt Kare
~ 0.5 million ounces at 10 grams/tonne gold defined in 2013
High grade zones within a larger resource of 2.1 Million ounces gold, 18 Moz silver in 43 M tonnes at 1.5 grams/tonne Au based on 454 diamond drill holes (73,639 m)
Initial target is 1 million ounces at 10 grams/tonne gold from close spaced drilling and bulk sampling for an underground development drive (adit)
Production Forecast
High grades deliver low cost, high margin production
Less than 20 gold mines or deposits have a grade of 10 grams/tonne or higher with 1 Moz
Gold mines producing in the lowest quartile of costs generate most of the profit in the gold sector
Mt Kare production forecast c.200,000 oz/year gold in mid-late 2015
Lowest quartile all-in costs forecast: US$500 - 700/oz
Payback c.1 year, based on capex c.US$100M
Growth
Major growth of high grade zones is expected as the project is similar to the adjoining world-class 500,000 oz/yr Porgera mine (15 km to NE) which has produced 17 Moz in 23 years.
Porgera started similarly from a high grade underground operation, and Mt Kare shares the same geological setting and a recently confirmed structural link between the two deposits
The technical advice from the expert geologists and underground miners consider that the grade may increase substantially, to be similar to Porgera's initial grades of 27 g/t, and that the high grade zones should be repeated at depth.
Major Value Uplift
A major value uplift is expected from the re-rating to a mid-tier gold producer status
Key milestone with decision to mine and application for a mining lease