Projects
Joint Venture Interest
The Company (through View Nickel Pty Ltd) has retained a 30% joint venture interest in the Carnilya Hill Joint Venture in Western Australia with Mincor Resources NL (Joint Venture). The tenements covered by the Joint Venture include tenements M26/47, M26/48, M26/49 and M26/453. The Joint Venture has been in production for a number of years and the current mine plan anticipates that it will remain in production until the current resource is depleted (depending on the nickel price and successful mining techniques being implemented).
Mincor Resources NL (Mincor) is the operator of the Joint Venture and has advised the Company that the Joint Venture is now in ‘harvest mode’. This means that the majority of mine development has been completed to access the remaining ore reserves and future mining operations will focus on extracting the ore available as a result of this mine development.
From 30 June 2010 to the end of December 2010, approximately 46,000 tonnes of nickel ore at an average grade of 2.8% nickel have been mined from the project. Mining is being carried out at a lower rate than in previous months (approximately 4,000 tonnes a month) to optimise the use of the underground mining fleet.
The ore from the Joint Venture is treated and acquired by BHP Billiton Nickel West Pty Ltd under an ore tolling and concentrate purchase agreement. As at 30 June 2010, the Ore Reserves for the Carnilya Hill Joint Venture (as reported by Mincor Resources NL) were as set out in the table below:
| Proved | Probable | Total | |
| Tonnes Ni (%) | Tonnes Ni (%) | Tonnes Ni (%) | Total Ni tonnes |
| 74,000 3.5 | 43,000 3.1 | 117,000 3.3 | 3,90 |
Mincor prepares resource and reserve statements at the end of the financial year (i.e. as at 30 June each year) and therefore the Company is unable to provide a resource and reserve statement current as at the 5th May 2011. In addition, the Company is unable to make detailed forecasts as to future mine production or cash flows since due to the status of the mine the actual ore production can vary significantly on a monthly basis and cash flows will be dependent on the amount of ore mined as well as the prevailing nickel price and exchange rates.
The Ore Reserves for the Carnilya Hill Joint Venture (as reported by Mincor Resources NL as at 30 June 2010) attributable to the Company’s 30% interest (i.e. 30% of the total Carnilya Hill Ore Reserves) are as set out in the table below:
| Proved | Probable | Total | |
| Tonnes Ni (%) | Tonnes Ni (%) | Tonnes Ni (%) | Total Ni tonnes |
| 22,000 3.5 | 13,000 3.1 | 35,000 3.3 | 1,20 |
As at 30 June 2010, the Mineral Resource for the Carnilya Hill Joint Venture (as reported by Mincor) attritutable to the Company’s 30% interest (i.e. 30% of the total Carnilya Hill Mineral Resource) is as set out in the table below:
| Measured | Indicated | Total | |
| Tonnes Ni (%) | Tonnes Ni (%) | Tonnes Ni (%) | Total Ni tonnes |
| 21,000 5.0 | 42,000 3.5 | 63,000 4.0 | 2,500 |
The resources above are inclusive of reserves.
The information above relating to Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves is taken from the Mincor Resources NL 2010 Annual Report.
The information has been reviewed by Mr Colwin Lloyd, who is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Lloyd is Principal Geologist of Geobase Australia Pty Ltd, consultants to the Company. Mr Lloyd has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. He has consented to the inclusion of the information above in the form and context which it appears based on the information presented by Mincor Resources NL in publicly available documents.
Exploration
There has been limited exploration undertaken by the Joint Venture since June 2010 and it is not known whether future exploration will delineate any further nickel mineralisation. As the operator of the joint venture, Mincor manages the ongoing exploration programmes and will release results from these programmes as they are available. The exploration conducted to date has been inclusive.
Notwithstanding this, the Company anticipates approaching Mincor to complete a comprehensive exploration review of the Joint Venture assets once the mining operations have come to an end.
Other opportunities
In addition to the above, the management team of the Company will actively seek out complementary and non-complementary assets, investments and businesses that have the potential to generate additional shareholder value. These other opportunities might include making investments in resource assets outside of nickel. The Company has been considering a number of opportunities in the coal, iron ore, potash, phosphate and other mineral sectors in recent times. No commercial discussions are at a stage that would warrant any disclosure.
The Company has applied for tenement E39/1641 in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. This tenement is located immediately south of the Murrin Murrin operation operated by Minara Resources Ltd and adjacent to the NiWest operation currently under development by GME Resources Ltd. The tenement is believed to have potential for both nickel laterite and nickel sulphide mineralisation. The Company is currently compiling publicly available data relating to this tenement from which it will determine the exploration strategy to be taken once tenure is granted.
