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Glenfine Location

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Map extracted from LRGM Services Report on Glenfine July 2008

The sampling program at Glenfine has for its primary purpose the building of confidence about the material to be treated to recover gold known present from recent analyses.

We have completed 4 sampling programs. No further sampling is planned. The work completed included -

1. detail work based on a 4 line 10m x 15m grid, collecting samples from 3 horizons,
2. 5 larger 1 metre diameter pits, to give visual exposure, and 10kg samples from each successive 250mm depth slice in each of 5 pits, and
3. sampling of another group of infill smaller pits.

The 4 line grid and position of the first excavated pit at Glenfine (10/12/2008) are shown on the oblique photo below

This photo from the air shows the location of the sulphidic tailings within the other "deep lead" tailings.

These distinctions are describing sources of "ore" of two different origins, mined at the same location. The "deep lead" tailings are the wastes from processing the gravels and sands hand dug from an old river channel buried under the basalt. The gold in this material is transported from up-stream, and is generally free of other substances.
The "sulphidic" material refers to contaminants now present in the waste rock "pile". These contaminants were present in the hard rock ore as mined after April 1899, through to 1905, as naturally occurring trace elements. This ore came from immediately below the present waste rock pile. Left as tailings on surface in the open for more than 100 years, the contained elements began to oxidise, and move within the confined tailings.

The indications are that existing conditions like these do persist, unless corrected.

Appreciation of the mineral weathering in the waste rock pile requires the Company develop an understanding of the relationship between mineralogy, waste texture, element distribution, and the like.

It appears rainfall provides the fluids which initiates dissolution of the surfaces of mineral particles residing in these sulphidic waste piles. The dissolution brings about redistribution of trace elements, and the on-site formation of unusual secondary minerals.

The Company has yet to fully characterize these waste rock materials.
It does appear as though 35% of the material is quartz sand which seems to be unattached to any mineral. Larger scale tests will be necessary to confirm this initial belief.

Sulphides in these sands are oxidising constantly. Scraping away the surface exposes the stae of oxidation. The present task is to confirm exactly the gold location.

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The following photos are a sequence to illustrate how the samples were collected.

The detail grid samples go to the assay office, to be conventionally analysed for gold and troublesome elements. The pit samples are much larger, and go to the metallurgist for bench-scale trials. These are treated with chemicals, all mixed in 25 litre sealed drums, rolled continuously for various time periods, to see what kind of combination works for best recovery.

The detail grid

Sample tools for this activity are seen in these photos. There are

• a 50mm diameter tube sampler, to extract sample of length 250mm. This sample is 4 x the area of the original thin tube sampler, and one-quarter the sample length.

	Remove the overburden. Clear to top of tailings. Use 50mm dia. sampler to extract sample from first 250mm depth			Excavate the upper sampled depth. Repeat the procedure. Routine samples 2nd and 3rd layer, then thin tube sampler extends coverage to full depth.

The pit procedure

• the pits, of 1000mm diameter are excavated to insert a working ring sheild each of 250mm depth. In this way each 250mm horizontal slice within the excavation can be sampled in a representative manner by use of the 50mm diameter tube sampler, as illustrated by the photos.

The sampling principle

The plane across the top and bottom of each shield are the two constant parallel planes required for representative sampling.

The sub-sample is cut top to bottom between those two constant planes, as many times as seems reasonable (we use 13).

A volume bucket runs a check, and allows visual inspection of each collected sub-sample.

Pit 1 Location

	To begin			Upper overburden out			Lower covering material appears, examined, and treated also as artificial cover
	Pit protection in place and upper surface of oxidised tailings exposed			50mm holes into 3rd slice Sampled material aggregated in volume bucket			After 4 "slice" sampling the next slice needs no protective ring
	Photo looking Southeast Hard working sampler in the hole at final depth			Removal of sheilds then allows ready observation of the materials sampled. Good pit walls enabled a further deepening and a channel cut down the pit wall			Close-up of upper section
	As can be seen, the pit has not yet reached the original surface on which these old tailings were deposited circa year 1900			Backfill to make safe for the present - and before moving to pit 2			Job done!

Glenfine is the name of Rowe's homestead circa 1870's, recognised by Heritage Victoria as significant. Any activity there requires prior permits, issued by that State agency.

Mount Rommel is proposing to clean-up the last of the gold on this site, left behind at the close of past operations about 1905. Its first Permit has been issued for test work.

The historic status of this place and precinct comes about through the mine having a history of both a deep lead (or underground alluvial) mine and a quartz gold mine - same place, same time, gross yield over 61,000 oz gold, about half from highly mineralised quartz.

Shaft No.1 was set up as though only for a deep lead mine - the quartz being unsuspected at the outset. Here's how its "top gear" looked in 1899.......

According to reporter William Bradford, the main No.1 shaft was first sunk to a wash-dirt depth of only 210 feet, and positioned in the vicinity of a run of alluvial (wash) as demonstrated by (government) bores.

Later opened out well below the washdirt level, crosscuts east and west of the shaft set out to investigate the ground from No.1 shaft, it entered a quartz formation (....and the rest is history....) below is a sketch by William Bradford, which appears with his two page report on this discovery, in the Australian Mining Standard, 15 June 1899.

In these times, William Bradford was known for his use of sketches and photographs where possible to illustrate for readers what could be seen - here in this rare underground photo of Glenfine, we have a permanent record of his underground inspection in the company of the mine manager, Mr. Jonah Ward, the up-standing gent who appears on the right of this photo.

What we know from the week to week mine records (telegrams from Mr. Ward to the Ballarat newspapers for publication with all those from other mines in each Monday paper) is that a second shaft was sunk to develop just the quartz lode. The telegram which explains why is this one-

Monday. 7th March, 1899.. from Glenfine South : The west bottom level extended 28 ft.,total , 198 ft., and now 21 ft. ahead (meaning further west ) of wash drive. Passed through 27 ft. of solid quartz. Bottom of drive is now soft slate reef ; top ( of drive ) in quartz . Little gold seen in casing (of quartz ) Result : shares trading before Easter at 8 shillings opened at 15 shillings and quickly advanced ..By the 1st. of May , shares were at 45 shillings (gold proved )

The rest -- history -- is ready for it's new chapter...Mount Rommel plans to pick up the lost gold, and use it to expand resources elsewhere. It seems clear (from later telegram reports) that the mineralogy changed with depth, and the result is that the quartz workings were suspended. Gold not trapped at that time passed to the tailings, then still carrying gold locked up in sulphides of various kinds. Weathering over more than 100 years (prolonged periods both "wet" and "dry") have brought about the disintegration of those natural sulphides, and an opportunity exists for gold yields, as we recognise today.

The Company proposes remediation works, for the benefit of the landowners, to leave for posterity sands in a benign and stable state relieved of the gold and other metals.