BETA HUNT UNDERGROUND MINE

The underground Beta Hunt Mine, located 600 km from Perth in Kambalda, Western Australia, is a deposit with the very rare feature of hosting both gold and nickel resources in adjacent discrete mineralized zones. The mining tenements on which the Beta Hunt Mine is located are held by Gold Fields Limited. Karora Resources operates the Beta Hunt Mine by virtue of a sub-lease agreement with Gold Fields Limited.

The Kambalda mining district in Western Australia is a long-established major mining centre with excellent existing infrastructure, a skilled local workforce, and nickel and gold processing mills nearby. Beta Hunt was originally developed and operated by Western Mining Corporation (WMC) in the 1970's and the mine was sold to Gold Fields in 2001. In 2003, Reliance Mining Limited (RML) acquired the nickel rights and resumed production. 

Consolidated Minerals Limited acquired RML in 2005 and invested in both increasing resources and expanding production. The mine operated continuously until the end of 2008, when it was placed on care and maintenance due to the financial crisis and associated collapse in metal prices.

Transactions during the period 2001 - 2003 resulted in the separation of nickel rights from the gold rights. Salt Lake Mining subsequently acquired the property in 2013 and succeeded in re-combining the nickel and gold rights. Nickel operations were re-started in 2014. Initial gold production occurred in June to July 2014 then ceased and recommenced at the end of 2015. The mine has been in continuous operation since then. Karora Resources acquired 100% of SLM in 2016 under its previous business name RNC Minerals. The main gold production areas are currently Western Flanks and A Zone.

The Beta Hunt land package includes significant exploration opportunities at Beta Hunt to add to the Mineral Resources alongside production. There are numerous gold zones at Beta Hunt, including Western Flanks, A Zone, Larkin, East Alpha and Fletcher – providing significant potential for gold Mineral Resource expansion at low cost and near mine infrastructure. There are also new nickel zone discoveries - 50C Nickel Trough in the Gamma Block and 30C Nickel Trough in the Beta Block - providing significant ongoing potential for nickel Mineral Resource expansion and increased by-product credits. 

Beta Hunt is situated within the central portion of the Norseman-Wiluna greenstone belt in a sequence of mafic/ultramafic and felsic rocks on the southwest flank of the Kambalda Dome. Gold mineralization occurs mainly in subvertical shear zones in the Lunnon Basalt and is characterized by shear and extensional quartz veining within a halo of biotite/pyrite alteration. Within these shear zones, coarse gold sometimes occurs where the shear zones intersect iron-rich sulphidic metasediments in the Lunnon Basalt or nickel sulphides at the base of the Kambalda Komatiite (ultramafics).

Nickel mineralization is hosted mainly by talc-carbonate and serpentine altered ultramafic rocks (Kambalda Komatiite) that overlie the Lunnon Basalt. The primary sulphide minerals are typically pyrrhotite > pentlandite > pyrite with trace chalcopyrite.

The Beta Hunt Mine is owner-operated using conventional underground mining methods. Current operating capacity is approximately 1.0 Mtpa of mined material transported through a single decline. An expansion to double capacity to approximately 2.0 Mtpa through the construction of a second decline and associated infrastructure, including increased ventilation capacity, commenced in the first quarter of 2022. The second decline portion of the expansion was completed in the first quarter of 2023.

All gold processing is conducted at Karora’s Higginsville and Lakewood mills. Nickel mineralization is trucked and toll treated at a third-party toll mill in the Kalgoorlie area.

Technical Report Beta Hunt Operation Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia

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Beta Hunt Gold Mineral Resource as at September 30, 2023

Beta Hunt Gold Mineral Reserve as at September 30, 2023

1. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the Mineral Resources estimated will be converted into Mineral Reserves.
2. The Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources are inclusive of those Mineral Resources modified to produce Mineral Reserves.
3. The Mineral Resource estimates include Inferred Mineral Resources that are normally considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves. There is also no certainty that Inferred Mineral Resources will be converted to Measured and Indicated categories through further drilling, or into Mineral Reserves once economic considerations are applied.
4. The Gold Mineral Resource is estimated using a long term gold price of US$1,700/oz with a US:AUD exchange rate of 0.70.
5. The Gold Mineral Resource for Higginsville deposits is reported using a 0.5g/t Au cut-off for open pits (0.4g/t Au cut-off for Mt Henry Project) and a 1.3g/t Au cut-off grade for underground (1.6g/t Au for Spargos underground). The Gold Mineral Resource for Beta Hunt underground is reported using a 1.4g/t Au cut-off.
6. The Nickel Mineral Resource is reported within proximity to underground development and nominal 1% Ni lower cut-off grade for the nickel sulphide mineralization.
7. The Mineral Resource is depleted for all mining to September 30, 2023
8. The Nickel Mineral Resource assumes an underground mining scenario and a high level of selectivity.
9. To best represent "reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction" the mineral resource for open pits has been reported within optimized pit shells at A$2,429 (US$1,700) and, for underground resources, areas considered sterilized by historical mining are depleted from the Mineral Resource.
10. Mineral Resource tonnage and contained metal have been rounded to reflect the accuracy of the estimate, and numbers may not add due to rounding.

Detailed Footnotes relating to Mineral Reserve Estimates as at September 30, 2023

1. The Mineral Reserve is estimated using a long-term gold price of US$1,500/oz and a long term nickel price of US$17,500/t with a US:AUD exchange rate of 0.70.
2. At Beta Hunt, Underground Gold Mineral Reserves are reported at a 1.8 g/t cut-off grade while Nickel Mineral Reserves are reported at a 2% cut-off grade. At Higginsville, Underground Mineral Reserves cut-off grades vary between 1.6g/t to 2.0g/t. The cut-off grade considers Operating Mining, Processing/Haulage and G&A costs, excluding capital.
3. At Higginsville, Open Pit cut-off grades vary between 0.8 g/t to 1.0g/t. The cut-off grade considers dilution, mine recovery, mining and processing/haulage costs. Dilution and recovery