for those who have not read.COMPAÑÍA MINERA SANTA BÁRBARA:...

for those who have not read.

COMPAÑÍA MINERA SANTA BÁRBARA: Wyndham Explorations S.A. and Leonardo J. Fa rkas Klein own 51% of the shares; and Admiralty Resources owns the remaining 49%.

PROJECT: Japonesa Mine

COUNTRY: Chile

TYPE OF ORE: Iron

INITIAL INVESTMENT: US$ 45 million.

LOCATION: Ferriferous belt located south of Vallenar (N20ºW: average length approximately 15 km and width 5 km).

OWNERS: Compañía Minera Santa Bárbara, owner of the Japonesa, Japonesita, Gibaiju, Soberana, Negrita, Mirador, Natasha, Tanati, Pamela and Tina mines and mining concessions.

DESCRIPTION: Compañía Minera Santa Bárbara has decided to renew iron ore production in Japonesa Mine and in the other mines and concessions held by the company.

The project contemplates an annual production and subsequent export of between 1.5 to 5 million metric tons of iron ore with a minimum Fe content of 62%. It also includes on-site mining operations, on-plant production and bulkage of dressed ore, railway and overland transportation, and port operations in Caldera.

Both the processing plant and the bulkage plants, where ore is stocked prior to transportation, will be located on sites leased by the company near Vallenar.

The iron ore will be sold overseas, with definite take or pay contracts.

OPERATIONAL TARGET PERIOD: An initial stage of ten years.

ESTIMATED WORK FORCE: 400 (directly and indirectly employed workers).

FIRST SHIPMENT: September 2006.

MARKETING: Via Cometals (a Commercial Metals Company subdivision, listed in the New York Stock Exchange, with sales for over US$ 5 billion).














• THE PROCESS

The production process starts with the extraction of iron ore from the Japonesa Mines (Japonesa, Japonesita,Gibaiju, Soberana, Negrita, Mirador, Natasha, Tatiana, Pamela and Tina) that are part of the ferriferous belt that lies south of Vallenar, in Chile’s Region III.
Drilling and Blasting.



Drilling and Blasting.

As Santa Bárbara is an alluvial mine, it requires neither drilling nor blasting.
Loading
The power shovels load 15 tons of material per bucketful which are loaded on to mining trucks with a capacity of up to 30 tons. The transported ore is bulked for subsequent crushing.
Crushing

A sequence of crushers reduce the ore, from one cubic metre blocks to three millimetre (1/8”) pebbles.
Magnetic separation – Dry Magnetic Concentration

Magnetic revolving drums capture the magnetite particles and produce enriched sinter fine particles with an Iron ore fine of approximately 63%.

The Japonesa plant has 14 magnetic drums and 2 magnetic pulleys.

Transportation and Loading

The ore is loaded on to 30 ton trucks and travels 230 kilometres to the Port of Caldera, from which it is shipped to its final destination, China.

· THE PRODUCT

Fines

Marketable iron ore created by sinter agglomerates, under 63 millimetres or ¼” that is processed as direct load for steel producing blast furnaces.





STATISTICS







PROJECTIONS