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t4NBTIJOHZFBSPG Australia SFDPSETGPS4U#BSCBSB Business Council Published by: Aspermont Limited (ABN: 66 000 375 048) EDITOR: Barry Avery WRITERS: Paul Oates, Haydn Black, Kristie Batten GROUP HEAD OF PRODUCTION: Tim Peters SENIOR LAYOUT DESIGNER: Catherine Hogan LAYOUT DESIGNER: Laurence Meyer INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING SALES: Gregory Leech – [email protected] M: Aus +61 419 048 507 M: PNG +675 7656 6438 ADVERTISING PRODUCTION: Sharon Evans ([email protected]) SUBSCRIPTIONS: Six issues per annum and 12 month online access to PNGIndustryNews.net: $A368.00 (GST included) Subscription records are maintained at Aspermont Limited, 613-619 Wellington Street, CONTENTS Perth, Western Australia 6000 12: GEOPACIFIC’S Creditorial 2 CIRCULATION: 7600 copies 5 EXECUTIVES: WOODLARK News Sean McKeown – General Manager Diary 43 Nishil Khimasia – Chief Financial Officer HEAD OFFICE: Appointments 46 Aspermont Limited 613-619 Wellington Street Perth, Western Australia 6000 PO Box 78, Leederville WA 6902 Australia Ph: +61 8 6263 9100 Fax: +61 8 6263 9148 Email: [email protected]; [email protected] Website: www.pngindustrynews.net

COPYRIGHT WARNING: All editorial copy and some advertisements in this magazine are subject to copyright and cannot be reproduced in any form without 22: EMPOWERMENT the written permission of the editor. Offenders will be prosecuted. DISCLAIMER: Aspermont Ltd (ABN: 66 000 375 048), publisher and owner of PNG Report (‘the publisher’) and each of its directors, officers, employees, advisers and agents and related entities do not make any warranty whatsoever as to the accuracy or reliability of any information, estimates, opinions, conclusions or recommendations contained in this publication and, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the publisher disclaims all liability and responsibility for any direct or indirect loss or damage which may be suffered by any person or entity through relying on anything contained in, or omitted from, this publication whether as a result of negligence on the part of the publisher or not. The publisher does not hold itself out as an investment adviser, nor is it in the business of providing investment advice or any other advice whatsoever. Reliance should not be Cover picture: Geologist Ron Heeks placed on the contents of this magazine in making a commercial or other decision and all persons are advised to seek independent professional advice in this regard. Resources, which recently announced Some company profiles have been commissioned by the featured an earn-in deal with Kula Gold on the company. 29: SOVEREIGN BONDS Woodlark Island gold project

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AW_182x60_v1.indd 1 For regular news updates on check PNGIndustryNews.net 6/28/13 3:48 PM Subscribe today! Visit www.industry-news.net/subscribe, phone +61 8 6263 9100 or email [email protected] COVER STORY Stars align for Geopacific on Woodlark Island The stars have not aligned terribly well for the global mining industry over the past few years and if the more gloomy pundits are to be believed, things are not going to get better in the near term.

12 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 PNG REPORT ut pessimism is ‘This is a simple task, which can be achieved by rebasing the completely absent in the project’s capex and opex and conducting a selected drilling Bexploration company program to move existing inferred and indicated resources into proven and probable categories’ to make the Woodlark island gold – Ron HEEkS, GEoPAcific RESoURcES MAnAGinG diREcToR “this is a game changer for by spending the cash in stages over the company’s aim is to increase the gold price achieving record

The population of Woodlark Island is about 6000 traditional landowners in a number of different population centres, living a mainly subsistence based village lifestyle

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 PNG REPORT 13 Ron Heeks Mark Bojanjac Milan Jerkovic Scott Munro

the reserve life of Woodlark and and longevity to attract development at its advanced exploration copper- can be achieved by rebasing the drilling program to move existing challenging environments and on proven and probable categories and the board and senior managers have been involved in the highlighted the potential to increase physically or socio-economically as technical manager for straits Asia discoveries into viable deposits and involved in the relocation of the appropriate homes and amenities on An example of the nuggety gold found at the Woodlark Island gold project

14 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 PNG REPORT listing and extensive drilling took place over several years to arrive at “it has all the environmental tailings permits and a granted mining

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 PNG REPORT 15 grade of 2gpt over the entire mine Looking down on the Woodlark Island camp Long-term potential of the area is said the corporate approach did not envisaged a nine-year life at capital A technician checks weather monitoring equipment on Woodlark

16 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 PNG REPORT Woodlark island has the potential to “to believe that there is the The Woodlark Island core shed

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 PNG REPORT 17 COVER STORY Woodlark Island: facts and history The Woodlark Island gold project is about 600km east of Port Moresby on Woodlark Island in .

the location of the second World War is part of the trobriand W the island has a long history of gold mining dating back to the late the island terrain is relatively estimated pre-second World War base of local level government and

18 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 PNG REPORT the island has been extensively been an important cash economy to The airstrip, built by United States troops during the Second World War, on Woodlark Island limited geophysics and diamond exploration in the past concentrated The Kula Gold nursery on Woodlark Island. The island has been heavily logged for ebony

The kind of terrain typical on Woodlark Island

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 PNG REPORT 19