Silver Swan is located within the Boorara Domain of the Kalgoorlie Terrane. There are two main lithological associations recognised; the Morelands and Gindalbie Formations. The Gindalbie Formation is of a felsic metasedimentary rock association and contains the Black Swan Komatiite Complex (BSKC). It also hosts the Kanowna Belle gold mine 25 km to the south of Black Swan. The Black Swan area is in the upper greenschist, lower amphibolite facies Boorara Domain. The major structural feature of this domain is the Kanowna–Scotia anticline, which has the BSKC on its east facing, east dipping limb. To the east of Black Swan, the Boorara Domain is separated from the Kurnalpi Terrane by the Mt Monger Moriarty Shear and to the west it is separated from the Kambalda Domain by the Boorara Shear.

Nickel sulphide mineralisation at Black Swan is hosted by the Black Swan Komatiite Complex (BSKC), a 3.5 km long by 0.6 km thick arcuate lens of olivine cumulate and spinifex-textured komatiite flows. The complex is enclosed within a broad NE dipping sequence of intermediate felsic lavas and associated volcaniclastics. Graphitic black shales have been recognised in the enclosing felsic sequence approximately 700 m above and below the BSKC.

Mineralisation at Black Swan occurs within the complex as massive, semi massive and disseminated nickel sulphides developed on and adjacent to the basal contact. The Silver Swan massive-sulphide nickel deposit consists of a series of steeply dipping lens-shaped shoots of mineralisation situated on the basal contact of the BSKC. Individual shoots include Silver Swan, White Swan, Goose, Fledgling, Canard, Odette, Trumpeter and Mute Swan. This mineralisation plunges steeply towards the north along the southern flank of a substrate topographical high, the Silver Swan footwall dome.

The mining area will be accessed through the existing Silver Swan portal and decline. Previous mining was completed in 2008 and the mine has been kept dry and on care and maintenance since this time.

• The Silver Swan Ore Reserve is planned to be mined using a bottom-up modified Avoca method with unconsolidated backfill. This mining method is based on detailed dynamic geotechnical modelling. Diesel powered trucks and loaders will be used for materials handling. Diesel-electric jumbo drill rigs will be used for development and ground support installation, and diesel-electric longhole rigs used for production drilling.

• The mining methods chosen are well-known and widely used in the local mining industry and production rates and costing can be predicted with a suitable degree of accuracy. Suitable access is available through the existing workings, which have been kept pumped dry during care and maintenance.

The Black Swan open pit ore rock hardness was 30kWhr/t however Aphrodite’s ore is typically less than 20kWhr/t therefore the Black Swan facility is likely to be able to process over 2Mtpa of gold ore.

The Black Swan Operations, expanded in 2005 by LionOre at a capital cost of over $70 million (shown below in Figure 1) is a 2.2 million tonne per annum (Mtpa) processing facility that includes a conventional SAG mill, 5 ball mills, 2 flotation circuits, multiple thickeners, 3 ceramic filters and a large concentrate storage shed. With the addition of a carbon in leach (CIL) circuit the process plant is capable of processing nickel, oxide and refractory gold ores. The process is controlled remotely via a central control centre.

• Cobalt has been included as a by-product in the Ore Reserve estimate.

• The Silver Swan Ore Reserve estimate has been determined based on a sale of DSO to a customer in China. The payable metal content of the ore has been provided by POS based on an existing ore offtake agreement with Tsingshan.