The Bibra deposit is part of a large-scale Archaean aged gold mineralised system. Most of the mineralisation at Bibra is hosted within a package of deformed meta-sediments and is developed along two parallel, shallow dipping structures; the Main Footwall Lode and the Main Hanging Wall Lode. Recent exploration has also identified another potentially significant zone of mineralisation known as the Portrush Trend further into the hanging wall of the system. Laterite mineralisation has developed over the structures close to surface. The deposit is oxidised to average depths of between 50-70 m.

The Bibra deposit will be mined by open pit mining methods using conventional mining equipment. The FS assumes that load and haul will be undertaken as an owner operator which utilises a peak operating fleet of four 100 tonne haul trucks and eight 130 tonne haul trucks, a 300 tonne, 200 tonne and 100 tonne excavators along with ancillary equipment including dozers, graders, loaders and watercarts. Drill and blast activities and grade control drilling will be undertaken on a contract basis. Detailed fragmentation modelling was undertaken by George Boucher Consulting to determine appropriate blasting techniques and powder factors in the various ore and rock types. Drill and blast will be on 5m benches in ore and 5m and 10m benches in waste. Grade control drilling will be undertaken by reverse circulation drilling, predominantly on a spacing of 10m x 10m, which targets the main zones of mineralisation and a 5m x 8m pattern in more discrete hanging wall lodes. Grade control hole orientation in the first 20 metres of the pit (including laterite zones) will be vertical and thereafter is planned with inclined holes at 60 degrees to the east.

The pit will be mined in three stages with the first stage comprised of three oxide pits.

A life of mine open pit production schedule was prepared using the staged designs and based on the primary target of achieving the mill production feed rate which varied between 3.0 Mtpa and 3.75 Mtpa. This was achieved throughout the mine life without exceeding any practical physical mining limits. Pit production is planned to commence one quarter prior to the treatment of ore to provide waste material for infrastructure requirements and to ensure that mill feed material is available for commissioning.

Pit production is planned to peak at around 7 Mt per quarter and this rate is maintained for just over one year before dropping to a consistent rate of approximately 4.5 Mt per quarter for almost 3 years. The production profile then follows a natural downward trend with mining sourced only from the Stage 3 pit as the mine plan approaches completion.

The selected mining method, design and extraction sequence are tailored to suit orebody characteristics, minimise dilution and ore loss, defer waste movement, minimise rates of vertical mining advance, utilise planned process plant capacity and expedite net cash flow in a safe manner. The open pit has been scheduled based on realistic mining productivity with readily achievable mining rates along with consistent material movements.

The schedule also smoothed material movement profile across periods to ensure uniformity in fleet mobilisation across years while also avoiding ore stockpile build-ups over extended periods. A major scheduling constraint applied to this schedule was a limit on the vertical rate of advance. It was required that no pit or stage would have a vertical advance of more than 60 metres annually. This constraint was based on Cube Consulting’ experience in similar mining operations.

Planned pit walls at Bibra will be mined through, para-amphibolite, amphibolites, mafic schist, tuff sandstone and tuff siltstone rocks and their weathered equivalents. Maximum final pit wall heights of up to 215 m will be limited to the north-west corner of the pit. Other wall sectors range in height from approximately 50 m to 150 m.

The Karlawinda process plant is designed to treat 3.0 Mtpa of primary ore, producing an average of 100 000oz of gold per annum from the Bibra deposit. During the treatment of the laterite and oxide material, expected during the initial two years of operations, the process plant is designed to treat 3.75 Mtpa and therefore some plant components have been up-sized to achieve this higher throughput. The plant design comprises:

• Crushing Circuit
• Crushed Ore Stockpile
• Grinding and Classification
• Gravity Recovery
• Leaching and Adsorption
• Elution and Electrowinning
• Smelting.