2001 Annual Report
Posted on 30/06/2001
Address by the Chairman
It is my pleasure to present to you the Annual Report for the year to 30 June 2001.
Most of the exploration this year, within Australia, was concentrated on the Telfer and Perrinvale projects.
At Telfer, the joint venture agreement with Normandy Gold Pty Ltd was varied at the beginning of February this year. This was at the point where Normandy Gold Pty Ltd had spent $4 million on the project. It was agreed that Normandy Gold Exploration Pty Ltd would acquire 40% equity in the joint venture, leaving the Company with 60%. The Company is now project operator
Consequently the Company had to divert a significant amount of its resources to what it believes to be one of its prime projects.
At the time of writing a drilling programme is in progress based upon geological models that have been formulated from detailed structural mapping of gold mineralisation controls. This work which has been conducted on a regional scale has developed a number of prospective targets, all of which, as a consequence of rock chip sampling, have been shown to host gold mineralisation.
In March this year the Company entered into a joint venture agreement with Heron Resources Ltd to earn 70% in the Perrinvale project, which covers the Illaara greenstone belt west of Menzies. Initial work on this project has involved surface and subsurface geochemical sampling which has produced several gold, copper and zinc anomalies. These will be followed up later in the year.
To update last year’s projects, both Mount Weld (gold) and Tay (Nickel) have had follow up work conducted on them during the year. As a consequence, it was resolved to terminate any further work on the Mount Weld project. At Tay, additional electromagnetic anomalies were drilled, all of which proved to be generated from iron sulphides as opposed to nickel sulphides.
Exploration continued on the Company’s diamond project at Tsumkwe in Namibia. The Company has now earned 75% of this project in joint venture with Kimberlite Resources Pty Ltd, which holds the remaining 25%.
Whilst to date the Company has not discovered any kimberlites, it has nonetheless received further encouraging results from drilling and loam sampling, all of which point to the real potential to discover a kimberlite within the project area.
A substantial number of kimberlitic garnets have now been found by the Company as well as ilmenites, chromites and two macrodiamonds. From these results a pattern of four discrete kimberlitic garnet anomalies is emerging which will now be subject to more close-spaced and extensional loam sampling in an effort to find their source.
In December last year Mr Clive Jones, formerly Executive Director of Exploration (Australia), resigned from the Board to join Hamill Resources Ltd which successfully floated in June this year. We wish Mr Jones every success for the future and thank him for his contribution to the Company over the past seven years.
Accordingly, Mr Jeffrey Moore, Executive Director resumed the responsibility of all exploration projects.
In February of this year, the Company announced the termination of its share buyback which it commenced in September 1999. As a consequence of the share buyback the Company’s issued share capital was reduced by 9,066,135 shares from 110,566,135 to 101,500,000 issued shares. The cost of this exercise was $1,066,000.
Finally, I should like to thank my fellow directors and all staff members for their contribution to the Company during the year.
N R FORRESTER
CHAIRMAN
Most of the exploration this year, within Australia, was concentrated on the Telfer and Perrinvale projects.
At Telfer, the joint venture agreement with Normandy Gold Pty Ltd was varied at the beginning of February this year. This was at the point where Normandy Gold Pty Ltd had spent $4 million on the project. It was agreed that Normandy Gold Exploration Pty Ltd would acquire 40% equity in the joint venture, leaving the Company with 60%. The Company is now project operator
Consequently the Company had to divert a significant amount of its resources to what it believes to be one of its prime projects.
At the time of writing a drilling programme is in progress based upon geological models that have been formulated from detailed structural mapping of gold mineralisation controls. This work which has been conducted on a regional scale has developed a number of prospective targets, all of which, as a consequence of rock chip sampling, have been shown to host gold mineralisation.
In March this year the Company entered into a joint venture agreement with Heron Resources Ltd to earn 70% in the Perrinvale project, which covers the Illaara greenstone belt west of Menzies. Initial work on this project has involved surface and subsurface geochemical sampling which has produced several gold, copper and zinc anomalies. These will be followed up later in the year.
To update last year’s projects, both Mount Weld (gold) and Tay (Nickel) have had follow up work conducted on them during the year. As a consequence, it was resolved to terminate any further work on the Mount Weld project. At Tay, additional electromagnetic anomalies were drilled, all of which proved to be generated from iron sulphides as opposed to nickel sulphides.
Exploration continued on the Company’s diamond project at Tsumkwe in Namibia. The Company has now earned 75% of this project in joint venture with Kimberlite Resources Pty Ltd, which holds the remaining 25%.
Whilst to date the Company has not discovered any kimberlites, it has nonetheless received further encouraging results from drilling and loam sampling, all of which point to the real potential to discover a kimberlite within the project area.
A substantial number of kimberlitic garnets have now been found by the Company as well as ilmenites, chromites and two macrodiamonds. From these results a pattern of four discrete kimberlitic garnet anomalies is emerging which will now be subject to more close-spaced and extensional loam sampling in an effort to find their source.
In December last year Mr Clive Jones, formerly Executive Director of Exploration (Australia), resigned from the Board to join Hamill Resources Ltd which successfully floated in June this year. We wish Mr Jones every success for the future and thank him for his contribution to the Company over the past seven years.
Accordingly, Mr Jeffrey Moore, Executive Director resumed the responsibility of all exploration projects.
In February of this year, the Company announced the termination of its share buyback which it commenced in September 1999. As a consequence of the share buyback the Company’s issued share capital was reduced by 9,066,135 shares from 110,566,135 to 101,500,000 issued shares. The cost of this exercise was $1,066,000.
Finally, I should like to thank my fellow directors and all staff members for their contribution to the Company during the year.
N R FORRESTER
CHAIRMAN
