The mineral deposit type at Ilovica is “Alkaline Copper-Gold Porphyry”. The deposit has characteristics which are typical for this deposit type. The mineralisation is spatially, temporally and genetically associated with hydrothermal alteration of the intrusive bodies and host rocks.

As is typical of this deposit type, stockworks, veinlets and disseminations of pyrite, chalcopyrite, bornite and magnetite occur in large zones of mineralisation in and adjoining porphyritic intrusions of diorite composition.

Subsequent supergene leaching/enrichment and advanced argillic alteration have overprinted the typical hydrothermal alteration and mineralisation pattern in the upper portion of the deposit.

Ilovica is a porphyry copper-gold deposit, located in a northwest-southeast striking Cenozoic magmatic arc, that covers large areas of Central Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Southern Bulgaria, Northern Greece and Eastern Turkey.

The Ilovica porphyry system is approximately 1.5 km in diameter and is associated with a poorly exposed dacite-granodiorite plug, emplaced along the north-eastern border of the northwest-southeast elongate Strumica graben. The exact location of the deposit is controlled by major north-south cross cutting faults and minor northwest-southeast faulting, parallel to the faulted border of the graben.

The Strumica graben is a typical post-collision extension structure, approximately 30 km by 10 km in size, and up to more than 1 km in depth. The graben has been filled with terrigenous clastic sediments and felsic volcanic rocks over the last 40 million years.

At surface, the Ilovica intrusive complex consists of a central dacitic breccia diatreme, approximately 1.3 km in diameter. The diatreme is intruded by at least one dacite and two granodiorite porphyry stocks that have generated several hydrothermal pulses, resulting in widespread, multi-phase veining within a mineralised stockwork.

The main sulphide mineral at Ilovica is chalcopyrite, followed by pyrite and secondary copper sulphides such as chalcocite, covellite and bornite. Molybdenite, galena and sphalerite are present in minor amounts, and occasional traces of sulphosalt minerals such as tetrahedrite-tennantite and tellurides of gold and silver are observed.

High temperature oxide mineralisation such as magnetite, dominates at depth, associated with pyrrhotite and chalcopyrrhotite in what is interpreted as the core of the system.

A variety of iron hydroxide group minerals are largely developed within the oxidation and cementation zones. Very occasionally gold nuggets are observed at the base of the oxidation zone.

Ilovica was known historically for minor lead-zinc (and minor copper) and gold occurrences (Cifliganec, 1993), confined to distal and peripheral silica-iron oxide and silica-alunite bodies outside of the pervasively-altered intrusive complex. Deep oxidation and leaching (up to 150 m) of the topographicallyelevated intrusive complex obscured its sulphide content.

The only visible evidence of copper mineralisation at surface includes: Traces of enargite found in one ledge; very rare green copper oxides, and thin chalcocite coatings on sparse un-oxidised pyrite deposits exposed in a creek below the leached cap to the west of the porphyry. Since the start of detailed exploration on the Property, copper mineralisation has become more obvious on surface, on newly bulldozed drill-roads.

Subsurface porphyry copper-gold mineralisation is expressed at surface by a limonitic, leached stockwork zone approximately 900 m by 600 m in size, containing 0.08 to 0.70 ppm Au, 50 to 450 ppm Cu and 10 to 128 ppm Mo.

At the highest elevations, central portions of this leached cap contain up to 50 to 100 quartz and limonitequartz veins per metre, comprising up to 25% of the rock volume, within a sericitised and intensely (supergene) clay-altered matrix.

Quartz-dominant veinlets are largely devoid of sulphide cavities and have the texture of both discontinuous veins as well as linear, centre-line veins.

Small exposures at lower elevations (circa 550 m) on the western side of the stockwork zone contain 3 to 7% veinlets and disseminated magnetite, approximately 1% goethitic limonite, and lesser quartzmagnetite veinlets, within a silicified, chloritised matrix, likely representing intermediate argillic overprint of former K-silicate alteration.

Ground magnetic surveys clearly define the subsurface magnetite alteration as a roughly north-northeast elongated, 80 to 1600 nT magnetic high, roughly 800 m long and up to 300 m wide, which appears to plunge to the east and south. Peripheral portions of the overall stockwork zone are characterised by sparse, hairline pyrite fractures with quartz-sericite halos, corresponding to D-type veins.

Surface rock chip sampling, limited drilling, and to a lesser extent soil sampling define a large body containing 0.1 to 1 ppm Au coinciding with the zone of stockwork veining.

Hypogene copper grades greater than 0.15% are largely due to disseminated chalcopyrite, which appears largely confined to the western two-thirds of the stockwork zone. The hypogene copper mineralisation is characterised by the presence of magnetite (+martite), chlorite and a relict biotite -K feldspar groundmass. The pyrite and chalcopyrite are usually present in equal proportions. There is an increase in the proportion of pyrite in the eastern zone of the porphyry at higher elevations, along with more intense phyllic/ argillic alteration, and an absence of magnetite.

A supergene-enriched zone ranging from 9 to 70 m in thickness and containing 0.25 to 0.69% Cu as chalcocite and covellite represents enrichment of about 1.5 to 3 times the hypogene grades.

The leached cap generally contains approximately 150 ppm Cu. Molybdenum averages 20 to 80 ppm throughout the copper/ gold mineralised zone and is present largely as molybdenite in quartz veinlets that lack regular distribution.

Ilovica is a combination of open pit and hillside quarry type mining, with an elevation range of 830 m to 240 m, the split between the two occurring at 480 m. The open pit portion will require an internal switchback ramp that starts at 240 m and exits at 515 m. The hillside portion requires a system of internal ramps, working bench haul routes and temporary haul roads that connect with an external system of haul roads that follow the contours and switchbacks that meet the pit rim at intervals.

A crusher and ROM pad are located on the western side of the open pit at an elevation of 520 m. Access to this in the early years is via haul roads running along the topography. Later, an oxide stockpile adjacent to the ROM pad will allow access as the open pit is extended. A conveyor runs from the crusher to the processing plant at the top of the hill. The mining infrastructure is located on the downhill side of the open pit with an access haul road that connects it with the crusher, ROM pad and principal haul roads.

The mining infrastructure is located on the downhill side of the open pit with an access haul road that connects it with the crusher, ROM pad and principal haul roads.

Currently it is envisaged that mining will be undertaken by owner operated equipment and labour. The practicality of involving a mining contractor will be investigated in more detail in the next phase of engineering design.

The working and final pits designed by DMT are based on the following design parameters:
- Typical bench height: 10 m and 20 m; worked as two 10 m flitches
- Bench face angle: 75 degrees
- Berm width: 5 m and 10 m
- Haul road width: 26 m
- Overall final pit slope angle: 45 degrees and 60 degrees.

There will be a need to phase the open pit in order to keep the stripping ratio as even as possible. Prior to production of fresh ore there is a requirement for a pre-strip period of one year to provide waste material for the construction of the starter TMF. This material will come from the top of the hill which has the benefit of easy access. It also helps to reduce the strip ratio during subsequent pushbacks. A starter pit in higher grade material is envisaged, with a series of pushbacks out to the final pit. The nature of the mineralisation and grade is such that it lends itself well to a starter pit on the lower eastern side. This will allow easy access to the crusher and ROM pad area in the early years.

A thin layer of soil covers some of the area which is mainly forested. An estimate has been made that there is a thickness of 0.30 m of soil over the surface area of the pit which equates to 338 000 m3. This will be stripped off wherever possible and either stored in a separate bund around the perimeter of the pit to act as an environmental barrier for later reuse or re-spread directly over adjacent land for agriculture.

All the waste, including most of the oxide ore and the fresh ore below cut-off grade will go to the TMF embankment construction and any surplus will be placed against the TMF embankment.

The upper feed rate limit at 1 500 t/h. Each throughput simulation on the variability samples was run to identify the limiting factor for that particular combination of ore properties: limitations were either the SAG mill, the ball mill stage or the maximum plant flow rate limit of 1 500 t/h.

ROM ore with a feed size F80 of 416 mm is transferred via haul trucks to the process plant and dumped directly into the ROM bin. Material is drawn from the ROM ore bin by gravity into the crusher. A primary crusher product with a product particle size P100 of 318 mm is produced. The crush product is discharged to the coarse ore stockpile.
Grinding is carried out in a two-stage milling circuit with pebble crushing. The primary mill duty is performed with a SAG mill and the secondary mill duty is split between two parallel ball mills. Crushed ore feeds into the SAG mill where it is pulped with water. The SAG mill is sized to operate with a ball charge of 12% by volume and a total charge of 30% by volume. Trommel screen undersize discharges into the mill discharge hopper and screen oversize with a top size of 75 mm feeds into the pebble crusher. The pebble crusher product with a P80 of 13.2 mm is recycled to the SAG mill.

The mill discharge slurry is diluted in the common mill discharge sump with water for density control. The slurry is pumped to two separate ball mills via cyclone clusters for classification in a closed ball mill circuit. The milling circuit is designed to target a flotation feed F80 of 75 microns. The pulp is discharged from each ball mill via a ball mill trommel screen into the mill discharge hopper. Ball mill trommel screen undersize is discharged into the mil discharge hopper for cyclone classification. The oversized scats are discharged into the separate ball mill scats bunkers. The ball mills are sized to operate with 29% ball charge by volume.

The process plant will be constructed for a 10 Mt/a capacity. The design is based on a flow sheet that produces a saleable copper concentrate (78.8 kt/a (dry)) and maximises the overall copper and gold recoveries. The Ilovica ore is derived from a porphyry copper- gold deposit that is amendable to both flotation and cyanidation.

Flotation
Cyclone overflow discharges into the flotation conditioning tanks via trash screens. Each flotation bank has a conditioning tank used for reagent dosing and pH adjustment where required. Rougher and rougher scavenger concentrate is collected and feeds into the regrind circuit. The rougher scavenger tails are discharged into the tails thickener for tailings disposal. The regrind circuit is designed to target a mill product P80 of 25 microns. Milled slurry feeds into the cleaner flotation circuit. The cleaner flotation circuit consists of cleaner, cleaner scavenger and recleaner cells. Cleaner concentrate feeds into the recleaner cells. ........