The 2011 Annual General Meeting is to occur on 26th November this year.

Over three years ago, on 12th August, 2008, the Company published on NSX information about its Clunes Project.  That NSX release describes the position today – except that the price of gold has changed.

The information on NSX includes a diagram of those structural adjustments seen as being associated with the pattern of veins mined along the entire length of Clunes goldfield.  It follows – veins undisclosed (and thus unrecorded) could not form part of that pattern seen in the plan of reference – that by Robert Allan, 30th September, 1891, in Reports and Statistics, Mines Department of Victoria, and confirmed by Thos. Hewitson’s plan as mine manager, 20th March, 1890.  In both plans, the central area of the main mine is seemingly devoid of veins typical of those worked in the Port Phillip mine.  The last recorded advice of the Port Phillip Company manager (3rd October, 1893) is that “the upper levels are decidedly worthy of exploration ...etc.” – a general advice, given without specific direction.

The central area is that area probed by Mount Rommel in its drilling in years 2006/2007.

The success of the Mount Rommel drilling can be explained by observations made in 1924 about past mining practices at Daylesford.  There (it is said) very little attention was given to “flat-makes” by old companies.  It is also said that the objective was invariably to follow the vertical lodes in their downward course (etc.) (Ballarat Courier, 17th March, 1924).  This is indeed the pattern of development so very apparent in the mine drawings of Clunes.  What happened in the drilling of 2006/2007 is that it disclosed “flat-makes” do exist between near-vertical lodes, which were not intersected in the past.

Mount Rommel intends to continue drilling at Clunes, exposing further the central area of MIN 5391.  The delay in renewed drilling is explained in the statement published 12th August, 2008 – and can be considered by reference to drilling by others at Clunes.  For example – in 1996, a subsidiary of Mount Isa Mines carried out an 18 hole program at Clunes which cost $518,703, of which $241,375 was paid to drilling contractors.  This information is given in Kneeshaw, A., April 1996, in Technical Report 2699 – for EL 3262 A.R. 25 May, 1996.  Available data generated through that amount of drilling resulted in no mining development activity.

The outcome described above highlights the commercial risk for investors seeking to establish gold resources by drilling at places in the Victorian goldfields.

Mount Rommel has been much more fortunate with its drilling at Clunes.  However, step-out drilling is now required for the purpose of resource characterisation.  The cost of the next round of drilling (for which there is Work Plan approval) remains an investment risk.  Hence, the Directors of Mount Rommel decided in year 2008 to pursue activities at Glenfine, MIN 5492, as a means of recovering risk capital for subsequent use at Clunes on new drilling there.

At the time of writing, an inspection of the Glenfine site by an officer of the Department of Primary Industries has taken place.  This inspection follows lodgement on 14th November of the “As Constructed” Report.  Off-site, components for the plant to process the sands are in preparation for delivery to site.

Meanwhile, the Clunes site required fire hazard reduction.  For part of that work an excavator was considered the most effective tool, following which the same equipment was used to open the first trench (or costean) across the Port Phillip mine environs – see photos below.  The land surface on the eastern side of the Port Phillip South shaft is covered by basalt lava.  By trenching, the present surface and all its 155 years of man-made contamination, is set aside, to enable investigation of the ancient surface as it existed immediately before the outpouring of lava, and subsequently.

Fred Hunt
Chairman
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