Deflector Deposit

Within the North Eastern part of the Gullewa Project South Murchison, WA

Deflector Deposit – Total Resources

Classification Tonnes Au (g/t) Au (oz) Cu (%) Cu (t) Ag (g/t) Ag (oz)
Measured 1,040,000 4.6 150,000 1.34 14,000 8.7 290,000
Indicated 1,060,000 5.7 190,000 0.79 8,400 5.9 200,000
Inferred 1,300,000 4.5 180,000 0.5 6,000 3.2 130,000
Totals* 3,400,000 4.9 530,000 0.85 29,000 5.7 620,000

 

Deflector Deposit Gold/Copper Target

  • 2.5 million oz of Gold (range 1.65m to 2.5m oz Au) and 40,000 to 80,000 tonnes of Copper

Three Stage Program:

Figure 1: Gullewa Project - Geological Map
  1. Along strike
    Open pitable of 2 to 4Mt of mineralisation grade 3-5g/t Au and 0.5 to 1%Cu for an additional 250,000 to 500,000 Au and 20,000 to 50,000 tonnes Cu.
  2. Below 160m (RL) to 500m (RL)
    Down plunge target of the order of 1 to 2.5Mt at 5 to 8g/t Au and 0.5 to 0.7% Cu for an additional 300,000 to 450,000 oz Au and 6,000 to 12,000 tonnes Cu situated between 120m and 500m from surface.
  3. Below 500m to 1,000m
    2.5 to 4Mt at grades between 5 and 8 g/t Au and 0.5 to 0.8% Cu for 500,000 to 1,000,000 oz Au and 18,000 tonnes Cu

Scoping Study – February 2011

Highlights:

  • Scoping Study completed into development of Deflector deposit in Western Australia, with cost model covering first ten years only
  • Cash surplus of AUD$427M after payback of AUD$52M capital cost and State Royalties
  • Annual production of 50,000oz Au, 2,000 tonnes Cu and 34,600oz Ag
  • Cash costs over life of mine estimated at AUD$524 / oz
  • Contained gold ounces of 578,000oz (including 100,000oz open pit and 478,000oz underground)
  • Estimated average production grade of ore ranges from 4.1 g/t Au to 6.5 g/t Au
  • Gullewa to become processing hub for other company owned gold asset

The Scoping Study completed in February 2011 confirmed the economic and technical viability of development of the Deflector deposit and achieved its two primary objectives:

  1. To determine that the up-front capital requirements of project development are low; and
  2. To increase the level of confidence that the operational and financial outcomes are extremely profitable and robust.

The study outlines a two-stage operation with an expected minimum 10 year mine life over both phases, based on currently identified mineral resources.

Importantly, the study delineates a clear pathway to production for Mutiny, with the capital cost estimated to be AUD$52 million, including AUD$19 million for plant upgrade and AUD$12 million for the first three months working capital.

The studies, based on the current Resources (see Table 1), envisages a 10 year mine life, including 3½ years open pit and at least 6½ years of overlapping underground mining. The underground development program will commence approximately eight (8) months after the commencement of open pit mining, with underground production starting towards the end of the open pit production (i.e. approximately two years after production at the project commences).

The current planned operation would produce approximately 50,000oz of gold per annum at a competitive cash operating cost of A$524/oz from the Deflector operations. This production profile will establish a strong production profile and pave the way for the longer-term mining operation. The net cash Surplus over the first 10 years is forecast to be $427m.

Mutiny has taken steps to ensure that the Deflector Deposit Scoping Study will prove to be an accurate reflection of actual production outcomes. To this end, the Company has been cognisant of the need to prepare operating assumptions with an appropriate degree of conservatism so that market participants can have the confidence that anticipated financial outcomes will be met.

Production Profile

The proposed production profile from the Deflector Deposit has been divided into two phases of production. The first phase is based on mineralisation sourced from open pit mining down to a true vertical depth of 100m. The modelled plant feed from the open pit totals 651,000 tonnes grading 4.8g/t gold and 1.3% copper to produce 87,000 ounces of gold and 6,600 tonnes of copper over approximately two years. The open pit strip ratio for the Scoping Study is 16:1.

Open pit production is also expected to increase above the model as the extension drill program along strike is progressed. However, the extensions have not been fully drill tested, there has been insufficient exploration to define further Mineral Resources and it is uncertain if the exploration will result in the further resources being discovered.

The development of the underground portal and drives will commence eight (8) months after commencement of open pit production with production of underground ore scheduled to commence 1½ years later. Importantly, both the metallurgical recovery and gold grades increase at depth. The current study has underground mining down to a line depth of 400m, however as cited in the 28 January 2011 exploration and development announcement, the Company will be testing for additional ore between the 400m and 1000m levels through extensional drilling activities, with the expectations of increasing mine life. The combination of the existing resource and Mutiny’s targets gives a total Deflector Deposit target in the order of 9 to 14Mt at grades of between 4 and 8g/t Au and 0.5 to 1% Cu for a total of between 1.65 and 2.5Moz Au and 40,000 to 80,000t Cu.

Based on current estimates the Company is planning to commence production from the Project in Q4 2012.

Gullewa Plant

Feed from the open pit and underground mine, will processed through an upgraded Gullewa processing facility. Modifications to the existing plant will be the inclusion of a flotation circuit and revamped mill and gravity circuits to provide a plant capacity of 320,000 tonnes per year.

In addition, there is at Gullewa substantial supporting infrastructure including offices, workshops and a 30man camp, all of which are planned to be upgraded.

The project will initially source power from the existing on site diesel fuelled power station. The upcoming Feasibility Study will review the option of drawing from mains power supply.

Metallurgical Recoveries

An earlier Metallurgical test program established the following estimated Metallurgical recoveries:

Circuit Oxide Ore Transitional Ore Primary Ore
  Gold Copper Gold Copper Gold Copper
Gravity 40.0%   50.0% 65.5%
Flotation 41.0% 64.0% 42.0% 84.0% 26.1% 93.7%
Total 81.0% 64.0% 92.0% 84.0% 91.6% 93.7%

The majority of the mineralisation which will be treated from the Deflector Deposit will be from the primary zone. The Gold and Copper recoveries from this mineralisation are good, however it is believed that these can be improved and a test program is underway to confirm this.

A test program is also underway to improve the recoveries from the oxide and transitional mineralisation zones. As noted the oxide and transitional zones make up only 10% of the total modeled production. The above Metallurgical recoveries have been used in the Scoping Study. Improvements in Metallurgical performance derived from the ongoing test work will enhance the profitability of the operation.

Deflector Deposit Geology

Figure 2: Deflector Deposit - Geological Setting

The Deflector Deposit is situated within a northeast striking volcano-sedimentary sequence that contains basalts, ultramafics, felsic volcanics, and black shales. The sequence is intruded by granite in the west of the area and by trachyandesite in the east. Two northeast-trending shear zones cut the basement. Gold mineralisation is associated with both of them (Figure 3). The western shear follows an ultramafic unit and contains the Golden Stream Pit, mined in 1996 for 50,000t at 2.5g/t Au.

The eastern shear zone contains three sub-parallel mineralised shears, from west to east, Deflector West, Deflector Central, and Contact Zone. Within the vicinity of the deposit, significant weathering is only present within the shear zones. The deposit is covered by partly lateritised alluvial sediments, which are 3 to 12m thick.

Deflector Mineralisation

Figure 3: Deflector Deposit Lodes

The Deflector mineralisation is confined to the shears, which are typically from 1m to 5m in width. They are vertical to sub-vertical and strike grid north (040o) for approximately 600m. The Deflector West Lode exhibits good vertical and horizontal continuity, although it pinches and swells on a 50m scale. The thicker shoots, which contain higher-grade mineralisation, appear to plunge at a shallow angle to the south. Stage 1 pits have been mined on both Deflector West and Deflector Central to depths of about 17m and 27m respectively.

The lodes contain both gold and copper mineralisation, the copper grade being higher for the Deflector West mineralisation. Figure 4 displays a plan view of the lodes and Figures 5 and 6 are cross-sections through the mineralisation, showing drill intersections. The mineralisation is open at depth, the deepest intersection on line 19240N being 9m @ 65g/t Au and 4.4% Cu.

Figure 4: Deflector Deposit - Cross-section 19300N

The West and Central Lodes are hosted within an essentially massive basaltic unit, with the Contact Lodes occurring along the boundary between basalt to the west and sediments to the east.

Au-Cu mineralisation in the West Lode is characterised by steeply east and west dipping quartz-sulphide veins within a sub-vertical shear zone. The Central Lode is typically comprised of one or two planar laminated to massive quartz-sulphide veins, with shearing along the margins of these veins restricted to only very narrow zones. Sulphide minerals associated with the Deflector mineralisation are typically pyrite and chalcopyrite, with minor amounts of pyrrhotite. Chalcocite has also been reported in very high grade intersections.

Figure 5: Deflector Deposit 19240N Cross-section

In general, only oxide minerals are present above 20m depth (265m RL); a mixture of oxide, secondary sulphides, and primary sulphides is between depths of 20m and 50m (265 and 235m RL); a mixture of secondary and primary sulphides is present between 50m and 85m (235 and 200m RL), and primary sulphides only, are below 85m depth (200m RL).

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