upgrades to sherlock bay nickel project resources.

SBNC
Sherlock Bay Nickel Corporation Limited
ABN 46 008 942 809
Level 4, 5 Mill Street, Perth, W.A. 6000 Telephone :(08) 9322 2288
P.O. Box 7752, Cloisters Square W.A. 6850 Facsimile: (08) 9324 2164
Email: [email protected]
The Manager
Australian Stock Exchange Limited
Company Announcements Office
4th Floor, 20 Bridge Street
Sydney NSW 2000
17 August 2004
Dear Sir / Madam,
Re: Upgrades to Sherlock Bay Nickel Project Resources.
The Directors of Sherlock Bay Nickel Corporation Limited (“SBNC”) are pleased to
announce the latest major upgrade to its nickel resource base, at its Sherlock Bay
Nickel Project located in the North West of Western Australia. This upgrade is the
result of a Reverse Circulation and Diamond drilling programme that has been carried
out by SBNC since it restarted drilling in March.
This significant upgrade has lifted the resource base at the Sherlock Bay Nickel
Project for both the Symonds and the Discovery Deposits from the previously
announced 9,000,000 tonnes grading 0.53% Ni, with a contained Nickel Metal content
of 47,700 tonnes, up to a current substantial resource base of 33,000,000 tonnes
grading 0.49% for a contained total of 161,880 tonnes of nickel metal. This
upgrade gives SBNC the ability to extend the current life of mine from 4 to 5 years to
in excess of a decade.
Resources are as indicated below:
Tonnes Ni % Contained Nickel
Metal Tonnes
Symonds Deposit
Measured 7,200,000 0.53 38,160
Indicated 3,600,000 0.53 19,080
Inferred 9,600,000 0.53 50,880
Total 20,400,000 0.53 108,120
Discovery Deposit
Measured 4,200,000 0.38 15,960
Indicated 5,600,000 0.45 25,200
Inferred 2,800,000 0.45 12,600
Total 12,600,000 0.43 53,760
GRAND TOTAL
33,000,000
0.49
161,880
SBNC
Background
SBNC is in the final stages of the completion of a bankable feasibility study. This is
expected to be able to be completed in the near term with the upgrade of the resource
estimate now completed. The company has previously announced that it intends to
mine and process 2 million tonnes of crushed ore per year from the Sherlock Bay
Nickel Project, which will produce 8,500 tonnes of nickel metal /1600 tonnes of
copper, 100 tonnes of cobalt per year, at an operating cost of AUS$1.70 per lb (after
allowing for Cu credits. Metallurgical test work carried out by independent
laboratories on the ore from Sherlock Bay has shown recovery rates in excess of 91%,
in a short leaching time of 37 days.
For and on behalf of Sherlock Bay Nickel Corporation Limited
A L Gerick
Managing Director
Technical Information contained in this report has been compiled by William D Goode. Mr Goode is a
Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy with over 20 years’ experience in the
Australian Mining Industry and has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and the
type of deposit being reported on to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 1999 Edition of
the “Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves”. Mr Goode is an
independent geological contractor and consents to the inclusion of the information in this report.