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Liberty Mines Inc. is a producer of nickel and is focused on the exploration,
development and production of nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals
from its properties in Ontario, Canada. Around the south and east boundaries of
the Shaw Dome, which is centered about 25 km southeast of Timmins Ontario,
Liberty owns a 100% interest in over 12,000 contiguous mining claims and leases
as indicated in the geophysical magnetic survey below. Pre-production began at
the Redstone nickel mine mid May 2006. The ore was custom milled in Cobalt
Ontario until April 2007 and then stockpiled at the mine site to be processed
at the newly completed Redstone Mill. Commercial production at the Redstone
Mine was declared as of July 1 2007 at a production rate of 200 tonnes per day.
The 1500 tonne per day Redstone Mill was commissioned in July 2007. It will
initially operate at approximately 450 tonnes per day until the McWatters
nickel mine ramps up to full production in the fourth quarter of 2008. The mill contains a
sophisticated flotation circuit to effectively separate nickel sulphides from
the high magnesium hydroxide (talc) component typical of altered komatiite
nickel ores in the Shaw Dome Nickel Belt.
Underground drilling was completed in April at the Redstone Mine from the 213m
level drill drift to enable a National Instrument 43-101 resource calculation
to be done. A measured (274,085 tonnes) and indicated (144,846 tonnes) resource of 418,931 tonnes grading 2.32%
nickel ("Ni") to and above the 508m level of the mine was released on July 11,
2007. Deep drilling is complete to bring the mineralization below 508m to the
1200m level of the mine into the inferred resource category. Drilling from
within the mine from a drill drift at the 366m level is ongoing to enable the
inferred resource above the 670m level to be brought into the measured and
indicated categories. An updated 43-101 report is expected to be completed in
the third quarter of 2008.
Borehole R06-01 was successfully extended and intercepted 3.45m of 3.9% Ni at
the 675m level. Eleven boreholes have been completed from 789m to 1155m below
the surface of the mine. Results produced significant intersections including
4.65m of 3.62% Ni and 8.5m of 2.40% Ni which confirmed the "Inco anomaly" (see
Redstone Project) is certainly a nickel bearing orebody. A decision to build a
shaft at the mine was made in May 2007 and construction began in August 2007.
The shaft will allow an increase in the production rate at a lower mining cost
and enable the inferred resource in the lower sections of the mine to be
brought into a reserve category by definition drilling from within the mine.
Construction began in mid November 2007 at the McWatters nickel mine, located
approximately 9 km to the east of the Redstone Mine. Pre-production from the
upper zone sill development is scheduled for Q3 of 2008 with full production
to commence in Q4. It was decided to mine the deposit as an underground operation to be able to exploit the rich lower
zone one year sooner than what could be achieved from an open pit operation.
The upper zone will allow 300-500 tonnes of ore per day to be mined from the
sills as they are developed on each level. The mine plan is designed for a 1200
tonne per day operation once the ramp to the bottom level at 155m is complete.
Definition drilling was completed in November 2007 and a feasibility study to NI 43-101 standards
was announced April 2, 2008 and posted on Sedar May 16, 2008.
Drilling commenced in March 2007 at the Hart nickel project which is located
about 6 km east of the Redstone Mine. The first phase of drilling was completed in May 2008 which defined
the bulk of the mineralization to the 500m level. The ore body has been defined with an
average strike length of approximately 265m that can be subdivided into two zones
based on sulphide content and ore zone width: the upper zone contained within the top
275m below surface, and the lower zone found below this elevation. An NI 43-101 resource calculation
is expected to be reported in late Q2 2008. The Hart deposit will become Liberty's third nickel mine; application
for a mining lease has been submitted and permitting of the project is in progress.
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