Ann: NMR Expects to Pour First Gold at Blackjack Next Week, page-5

Beale, I have read the same, but I'm not sure what the brokers comments are based on. This Blackjack mill was owned by Charters Towers Gold/Citigold up to 2017. Charters Towers Gold had developed the three pits at Blackjack in the 1980s and developed a heap leach operation on the shallow mined ore from the three pits. The mill and Blackjack mines were sold to Maroon Gold in 2017, who did no mining at Blackjack, but did run the mill, essentially as a toll mill. Maroon went broke in about 2020, and through 2021-2024 Ashby Mining tried to float and restart the Maroon project with a mill restart and mining from resources in the Charters Towers area. The Ashby float didn't happen, and NMR acquired the project from the Maroon creditors in late 2024.

The improving gold price makes the project much better than even a couple of years ago, and NMR has sought to make the Blackjack mine the starting mine. There has been a lot of historic drilling and NMR has completed a diamond and RC program in just recent months. But NMR has only released a limited number of assay results from the drill program, and to me, what they have released are not a set of consistent and strong results. NMR says they have a consultant group doing a resource/reserve study and a mine scheduling plan, but nothing has been reported yet.

As mentioned, a good gold price allows consideration of low grade ore and NMR has announced a gold production soon with remnant material. They could also likely retreat the 1980s heap leach material, again remnant material.

I know from personal mining experience that narrow, shallow dipping ore zones are not easy to mine as open cut material. The Blackjack gold mineralisation is high grade but narrow and shallow dipping. Really good control is required for the blast and then excavation following the blast.