Long

The Long underground nickel mine, that is located in the Eastern Goldfields Region of Western Australia, near the mining centre of Kambalda, is owned by Independence Gold through its wholly owned subsidiary Lightening Nickel Pty Ltd. The mine was acquired from WMC Resources Limited in 2002.

Long Nickel Mine Re-commissioned in 2002
Since September 2002, when the Long Mine was re-commissioned, it has
produced 1.88 million tonnes of ore with a reconciled grade of 73,936 tonnes (3.9 percent) of nickel. Successful exploration at the Long Mine has seen the discovery of further nickel bearing orebodies such as McLeary in 2005 and Moran in 2008. This has considerably expanded the company's reserves and has given the Long Mine a productive life to at least 2017 if mining is maintained at about 9,000 tonnes a year.

Long Mine has Off Take Agreement with BHP Billiton Nickel West
Independence Gold have an ongoing off take agreement with BHP Billiton Nickel West Pty Ltd. This agreement allows ore mined from the Long operation to be taken to the Nickel West Kambalda Nickel Concentrator Plant for toll treatment in the production of nickel concentrate. This nickel concentrate is then sold to BHP under the agreement that exists until 2019.

Various Mining Methods Used at the Long Underground Mine
Mining methods used at the Long Mine varies from hand held mining in the extraction of blocks in narrow stopes where mechanisation is not suitable, to long-hole open stoping with paste or mullock back fill and mechanised jumbo flat-back stoping. Whenever it is found to be necessary non-entry mechanised mining methods are used for safety reasons. In order to minimise geotechnical and dilution risk, mining methods have been specifically adjusted as is the spacing of sub-level stoping.

Promising Ore-bodies Attached to the Long Mine Deposit
There have been four other nickel bearing orebodies identified at the Long Mine area, other that that of the Long ore-body itself, these being:
1. McLeay ñ This ore body is open to the south of the Long Mine main deposit. It consists of mineralisation at the southern end of the existing nickel bearing resource that involves difficult drilling conditions that have, to date, prevented further testing from taking place. It is planned to use the McLeay decline in order to extend drilling past the troublesome porphyry swarm to more definitely identify the continuation of the McLeay system.

2. Long North ñ Follow up extension and infill drilling in 2011 upgraded the prospectivity of the Long North deposit. Further exploration is expected to disclose even further mineralisation extension of this particular ore-body.

3. Moran South - This particular ore body remains open to the south but bad ground conditions have resulted in drill holes having to be abandoned before target depths were realised. Drilling is planned to be continued at a later date.

4. Moran ñ The Moran deposit contains high grade mineralisation and belongs to the same lava channel that hosts the over 200,000 nickel tonne Long ore body. The Moran deposit has a 700 metre strike length and is open to the north and south west. It is located one kilometre from the Long ore body.

Independence Group NL is an ASX listed company engaged in mineral exploration and nickel ore mining. It employs around 160 personnel.
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