• THX AR 2003 Cover Copy.Indd
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2003 ANNUAL REPORT CONTENTS Chairman’s Report 02 Statements of Cash Flows 23 Review of Operations 04 Notes to Financial Statements 25 Directors’ Report 13 Directors’ Declaration 40 Corporate Governance Statement 19 Independent Audit Report 41 Statements of Financial Performance 21 Additional Shareholder Information 42 Statements of Financial Position 22 Schedule of Tenements 44 CORPORATE DIRECTORY Directors Registered Office Philip Crabb Level 33, QV1 Building FAusIMM MAICD 250 St Georges Terrace (Chairman) PERTH WA 6000 Frank DeMarte Telephone: +618 9321 9680 B.Bus FCIS, MAICD Facsimile: +618 9321 9670 (Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer) Email: [email protected] Brian Richardson http://www.thundelarra.com MAusIMM, BSc (Hons) Visitors to our web site will find information (Executive Director) on the Company including shareholder Jeremy C Caddy reports, press releases, quarterly reports Bsc, C Eng, FIMM and annual reports. (Non Executive Director) Share Registry Rick W Crabb Computershare Investor Services Pty Limited B.Juris (Hons), LLB, MBA Level 2, Reserve Bank Building (Non Executive Directory) 45 St Georges Terrace Malcolm R J Randall PERTH WA 6000 B.Applied Chem. Home Exchange (Non Executive Director) Australian Stock Exchange (Perth) Ltd Secretary Exchange Plaza 2 The Esplanade Frank DeMarte PERTH WA 6000 Solicitors Bankers Blakiston & Crabb National Australia Bank 1202 Hay Street 50 St Georges Terrace WEST PERTH WA 6005 PERTH WA 6000 Auditors Scotiabank Stanton Partners 1500-885 West Georgia Street Level 1, 1 Havelock Street Vancouver BC WEST PERTH WA 6005 CANADA V6C 3E8 focused ON MINERAL EXPLORATION IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA Thundelarra has a quality portfolio of exciting nickel, diamonds, gold and platinum projects. NICKEL > largest tenement holder in the East Kimberley Halls Creek Orogen, one of Australia’s most prospective and under explored nickel sulphide provinces. > 2,800 square kilometres of tenements containing 50 prospective mafic- ultramafic intrusions and over 100 nickel-copper-platinum group metals occurrences. > near surface nickel-copper sulphide resource at Copernicus subject to feasibility study by Sally Malay Mining Limited. > $5 million regional joint venture with LionOre Mining International Limited, one of Australia’s most successful nickel and gold explorers. DIAMONDS > large tenement holding in Central Kimberley surrounding Aries kimberlite, Australia’s largest diamondiferous kimberlite. > extensive Falcon™ airborne gravity survey flown by joint venture partner Diamond Mines of Australia Pty Ltd identifies new targets. GOLD > advanced prospects, resources and new discoveries in the Southern Murchison and Norseman mineral fields. PLATINUM > numerous and poorly tested platinum group metal occurrences in East Kimberley and Southern Murchison provinces. THUNDELARRA EXPLORATION LTD 2003 ANNUAL REPORT CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Dear Shareholder This year was Thundelarra’s most successful and the additional areas. Importantly Thundelarra is free to rewarding both on the exploration and corporate continue exploring in its own right, on its retained 50% front. Your Company is now well positioned to take of the total project area. advantage of the very strong global demand for nickel, These two joint ventures and the associated fund an increasing gold price and a general improvement in raising will facilitate in 2004, the most intensive phase the resource market. of nickel exploration seen in the East Kimberley since In the East Kimberley, Thundelarra has a very large the 1970’s. LionOre, Sally Malay and Thundelarra are and prospective tenement holding, covering some expected to spend in excess of $3,000,000 on the 2,800 square kilometres and containing over 100 East Kimberley tenements in 2004 and, if there is early nickel-copper-platinum group metal occurrences. This success, substantially more. region can be regarded as the most prospective and Even though the Company focused on its nickel project under explored Proterozoic nickel province in Australia during the year, exploration continued on the Phillips and we are one of the major players in the area. In Range diamond project and the various gold projects at March 2003, an important joint venture agreement Norseman and in the Southern Murchison. Details of was signed with Sally Malay Mining Ltd (“Sally Malay”), this work and the results are presented in the Review to explore, mine and process the Copernicus nickel- of Operations. Thundelarra’s main gold exploration copper sulphide resource through the nearby Sally programs will recommence in December following the Malay plant. Under the terms of the joint venture, Sally winding down of the Kimberley operations due to the Malay has the right to earn 60% equity in a 1.2 square summer monsoon season. kilometre mining lease application (MLA80/540), covering the Copernicus resource by completing a I would like to thank our geological and field staff, Mr Bankable Feasibility Study. This study is scheduled for Frank DeMarte, our Director/Company Secretary and completion by December next year and production is his office team and my fellow Directors for what has expected from Copernicus by mid to late 2005. been a demanding but fruitful year for the Company. I personally feel this was the most significant year in the In October, a strategic agreement was signed with progress of our Company since I became involved and, LionOre Mining International Limited (“LionOre”) I would particularly like to thank our loyal shareholders covering Thundelarra’s entire East Kimberley project. who have contributed so willingly over recent years. LionOre is one of Australia’s most successful nickel Your Company goes forward into 2004, well funded and gold explorers and is also a substantial nickel and with a number of very exciting opportunities and I and gold producer. The agreement involves a regional encourage you to closely follow our activities over the joint venture, a placement to LionOre of 7,800,000 coming months. shares at 0.45¢ to raise $3.5 million and the issuing of 11,000,000 free options exercisable at 0.68¢. LionOre Yours faithfully, now has the right to earn 60% equity in approximately THUNDELARRA EXPLORATION LTD 1,400 square kilometres of Thundelarra’s tenement holding by sole funding the first $5,000,000 of exploration expenditure. Once it has earned this equity, LionOre may increase the joint venture area by Philip G Crabb spending 150% of Thundelarra’s total expenditure on CHAIRMAN 2 THUNDELARRA EXPLORATION LTD 2003 ANNUAL REPORT THUNDELARRA EXPLORATION LTD 2003 ANNUAL REPORT MANAGINGREVIEW DIRECTOR’S OF OPERATIONS REPORT PROJECT LOCATION PLAN THUNDELARRA EXPLORATION LTD 2003 ANNUAL REPORT 3 REVIEW OF OPERATIONS ( c o n t i n u e d ) EAST KIMBERLEY NICKEL PROJECTS > To form a strategic alliance with a major nickel-PGM explorer and producer, and Thundelarra Exploration Ltd (“Thundelarra”) is the largest landholder in the East Kimberley, one of the > To generate a cash flow for the Company in the short most prospective and under explored nickel provinces to medium term. in Australia. The management of Thundelarra firmly At the end of 2003, Thundelarra has achieved the believes that the East Kimberley Proterozoic Halls Creek first two objectives and is well on its way of achieving Orogen (“HCO”) has the potential to host significant the third. The Company now holds over 2,800 square nickel-copper sulphide deposits of the Voisey’s Bay kilometres of tenements containing approximately 50 style, associated with mafic-ultramafic intrusions within prospective mafic-ultramafic intrusions and over 100 the Company’s extensive tenement holding. During nickel-copper-PGM occurrences (see East Kimberley 2003, Thundelarra enjoyed considerable exploration Project map). In October 2003 the Directors of success, defining a shallow nickel-copper resource Thundelarra announced the details of a strategic at Copernicus, discovering a number of new nickel agreement between LionOre Mining International sulphide occurrences and defining numerous as yet Limited (“LionOre”) and Thundelarra on the East untested priority targets. Importantly, the Company formed two joint ventures, one of which may transform Kimberley nickel project. LionOre is one of Australia’s Thundelarra from explorer to producer in the short most successful nickel and gold explorers and a term while the other will facilitate in 2004, the most substantial nickel producer. intensive phase of nickel exploration seen in the East To achieve its third objective, Thundelarra entered into Kimberley since the 1970s. a ‘production’ joint venture with Sally Malay Mining During 2003, Thundelarra completed the most Ltd (“Sally Malay”) covering the Copernicus nickel- systematic and comprehensive review of the HCO copper sulphide resource in March 2003. Sally Malay ever undertaken. All relevant historical reports were is scheduled to commence production from their assessed, over 300,000 individual assay results namesake deposit in July 2004 with production from from numerous stream-soil-rock sampling and Copernicus expected in 2005. drilling programs were captured and entered into The details of the various joint ventures and prospects the Company’s GIS database along with all available are presented on the following pages: geophysical and geological data sets. This database, still being expanded, has enabled Thundelarra to systematically assess its current tenement holding and to generate over 100 priority targets for on-going exploration. Preliminary field assessment of a