Development – Update Nov 07

• Refurbishment of existing underground development has been completed and will now facilitate stope definition diamond drilling of the upper sections of the orebody scheduled to be mined in the first 18 months of production, with drilling beginning in early December.
• Metplant Engineering, the Company’s EPCM engineer, are progressing well with the project engineering including appointing a Vietnamese engineer now engaged in identification of local material and equipment suppliers, in addition to identifying and progressing all necessary long lead items to point of award of contract.
• Construction to enlarge the administration and accommodation facilities using local contractors is well underway and communications and internet facilities have been linked into the nearby government telecommunications system.
• Refurbishment of all underground mining equipment required to develop the ramp and decline access to the orebody has been completed.
• A Knight Piesold engineer is now on site to set up the materials testing laboratory and is working with BPNM to source suitable contractors and equipment for earthwork construction. 
• Metallurgical test work has commenced on selected higher grade (0.75 – 1.0% Ni) portions of the disseminated resource that lie adjacent in the footwall of the upper levels of the massive sulphide orebody. The test work will investigate the viability of blending this disseminated material with the massive sulphide resource without materially impacting planned concentrate specifications. If successful, this will lead to a review of the practicalities of increasing the production plan and mining reserves, as the used ball mill already purchased by BPNM is expected to have a grinding capacity in excess of that required to treat the massive sulphide ore.
• In addition to the progressive build-up of engineering activities, the commercial setup of the business has also progressed well. Supply International is assisting the Company in sourcing the multitude of supplies required to setup a mining operation, such as the recent purchase of sufficient explosives for the first 6 months of mining, now warehoused in Vietnam. The international freight handling group, Toll International, has been appointed to facilitate all movement of materials and equipment to Ban Phuc, with the first containers of equipment passing through customs without issue. The Pronto mine accounting and inventory control system, used in a number of existing Asian mine operations has been purchased and the first training of BPNM staff has been completed.