About Sandfire >

Sandfire Resources NL (ASX: SFR)) is a leading Australian resource company which is developing the world-class DeGrussa copper-gold project in Western Australia as the foundation for a diversified international mining house.

Sandfire rose to national and international prominence in April 2009 following the discovery of the DeGrussa deposit – one of Australia’s most significant new mineral finds.

This 100%-owned project, located 900km north-east of Perth in Western Australia, has moved rapidly through resource delineation, project evaluation and feasibility through to commencement of open pit and underground mine development in April 2011 – with the Company now poised to commence first copper production in Q1 of calendar year 2012.

The DFS completed in June 2011 shows that DeGrussa will be an exceptionally robust, high-margin project with current forecast life-of-mine project revenue of $4.2 billion and pre-tax project operating cash flow of $2.4 billion over its initial 7+ year life, based on the four lenses of high-grade VMS copper-gold mineralisation discovered to date.

With production averaging 77,000tpa of payable copper metal and 36,000oz per annum of payable gold in the first three years of operations (FY 2013-15), the project will generate revenue averaging $730 million a year and pre-tax operating cash flow of $440 million a year in this initial period (based on the DFS parameters).

Sandfire’s development timeline for DeGrussa is targeting first production of Direct Shipping Ore (DSO) from the DeGrussa open pit and first production of sulphide ore from the underground operations during the first Quarter of CY 2012. Commissioning of the 1.5Mtpa DeGrussa concentrator is targeted for Q3 of CY 2012.

The DeGrussa Project is located within a priority 22km long corridor which is highly prospective for additional VMS copper-gold discoveries. Sandfire has an aggressive exploration commitment with a $25-30 million annual exploration budget – a significant portion of which is allocated towards copper-gold exploration at DeGrussa, with the balance spread across the Company’s portfolio of copper, lead-zinc, uranium, iron ore and manganese exploration projects in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Sandfire also holds a cornerstone 17.4 per cent stake in junior explorer White Star Resources (ASX: WWW), which is exploring and developing a portfolio of copper-gold and gold projects in northern Chile, South America.