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NEWS-LEADING DEVELOPMENTS 6 E&MJ; • SEPTEMBER 2017 www.e-mj.com ly COO of Rhino as well as president of Hopedale Mining LLC. He began his mining career in 1974 with Consolidation Coal Co. as a United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) labor- er, became a foreman and, subsequently, general superintendent for Southern Ohio Coal Co. and general manager of AEP's Windsor Coal Co. He later rose to be vice president of operations of AEP's Appa- lachian mining operations. Zatezalo also worked in Australia for BHP as a general mine manager. He is a West Virginia Uni- versity graduate in mining engineering. He also has a masters of business admin- istration from Ohio University. Near-mine Drilling Pays Off for 3 Australian Gold Miners Over the span of about two weeks in late July and early August, Northern Star Re- sources, Kirkland Lake Gold, and Doray Minerals each reported significant results from near-mine drilling at their mines in Australia. For Northern Star and Kirkland Lake, the drilling produced noteworthy additions to mine reserves, and at Doray's Deflector mine, discovery of a new, near- mine, high-grade zone has the potential to extend mine life. Northern Star Resources announced a year-on-year increase in total compa- ny-wide gold reserves from 1.75 million ounces (oz) to 3.5 million oz effective at the end of its fiscal year on June 30. The increase resulted from successful ex- ploration at Northern Star's Jundee mine and Kalgoorlie Operations (the Kanowna and Kundana mines) in Western Austra- lia. The company now expects to expand production to 300,000 oz per year (oz/y) each at Jundee and Kalgoorlie over the next two years. "Northern Star now has mine life vis- ibility of 10 years," said Northern Star Executive Chairman Bill Beament. "Our production rate will grow to 600,000 oz/y or more, with scope for further significant increases as we bring our Central Tana- mi project on line and revitalize Paulsens through the impending exploration pro- gram there." The Northern Star reserve increase does not include any inventory from its discovery of the Zodiac high-grade lode at Jundee, which was announced alongside the reserve update. Initial assays from Zo- diac show multiple mineralized intercepts over a 200-meter (m) single downhole in- terval, including 4.8 m at 21.2 g/metric ton (mt), 2.9 m at 10.4 g/mt, and 0.3 m at 47 g/mt (all true widths). Northern Star has budgeted A$35 mil- lion for exploration during its 2018 fiscal year to underpin reserve replacement and potential for further growth. announced that underground mineral reserves at its Fos- terville gold mine in Victoria state in- creased 110% to 1.03 million oz over the six-month period to June 30. The main factor contributing to the growth in ounces was an 83% increase in the un- derground mineral reserve grade to 17.9 g/mt gold in 1.79 million mt from 9.8 g/ mt in 1.56 million mt. Of particular significance in the grade increase were down-plunge extensions of the high-grade, visible-gold-bearing Low- er Phoenix gold system, where the newly named Swan zone contributed 532,000 oz at an average grade of 58.8 g/mt gold in 281,000 mt. "The increase in the mineral reserve is driven by a combination of new drill data, mining recovery improvements, and a re- fined mineral resource estimation meth - odology in zones containing visible gold," the Kirkland Lake announcement said. "The estimation methodology includes more detailed domaining and refinement of estimation parameters in areas of high- grade mineralization and is supported by an external independent review by SRK Consulting (Australasia). This work has resulted in an improvement of year-to- date mine to mill reconciliation." Fosterville production guidance for calendar year 2017 stands at 250,000 oz to 260,000 oz. Fosterville continues to have a large underlying mineral resource base that is expected to support future additions to mineral reserves. Doray Minerals reported significant assay results from a newly discovered zone of mineralization, given the name of the Da Vinci lode, just north of its Deflec- tor gold-copper mine in the Murchison region of Western Australia. Early inter- cepts included 1.4 m grading 106.2 g/ mt gold and 4.4% copper from 166.1 m in one hole and 7.5 m grading 29.7 g/ mt gold in another, with the copper assay still pending. Mineralization has consistently in- tersected along 120 m of strike from the initial discovery hole, and the new zone has been investigated sufficiently to indicate potential to extend mine life at Deflector. In drilling away from the Da Vinci lode, Doray reported that a drill hole in the hanging wall to the Western Lode in the Deflector mine has returned two sig- nificant intercepts: 2.7 m grading 13 g/ mt of gold and no significant copper from 302.1 m and 18.1 m grading 65.3 g/mt of gold and 0.4% copper from 332 m, including 1.6 m grading 283.5 g/mt of gold and 3.4% copper and 1.2 m grading 435.3 g/mt of gold and 1.4% copper. The Deflector mine produced 49,130 oz of gold and 4,599 mt of copper in concentrate at the end of the fiscal year. MMG: Net Profit Up Thanks to Production at Las Bambas In its latest earnings report, MMG report- ed a net profit after tax of $113.7 mil- lion, representing $206.7 million more than the corresponding reporting period for 2016. The company said its net debt was reduced by $868.2 million during the first half of the year on the back of strong cash generation. The results were driven by strong out- put at Las Bambas with 218,440 metric tons (mt) of copper in copper concentrate produced in the first half, and 430,054 mt produced since July 2016, its first year of commercial operations. Across all operations, MMG produced 290,758 mt of copper and 37,519 mt of zinc in the first half of 2017. "Increased copper sales volumes from Las Bambas, higher commodity prices and our pursuit of group-wide efficiencies have contributed to the strong financial result for the first half," MMG CEO Jerry Jiao said. "The ramp up of Las Bambas has been an outstanding success. We are committed to further optimizing the oper- ation, increasing efficiencies and reduc- ing costs." Over the first six months of the year, the company's focus has been on re- ducing debt and further simplifying and optimizing the asset portfolio, as MMG prepares to bring its Dugald River zinc project into production this year. Dugald River is ahead of schedule with production of first concentrate expected late this year. Dugald River is expected to rank within the top 10 zinc mines in the world when operational, with annual pro- duction of approximately 170,000 mt of zinc in zinc concentrate, plus byproducts.