Norton

The Norton gold mine is located in the Boyne Valley, 100 kilometres south west of the industrial centre of Gladstone, in Central Queensland.

Gold Discovered at the Norton Gold Mine Site in the 1800's

Gold was first discovered and the Norton gold mine established at the site in the late 1800's. Records from that period show that 16,000 ounces of gold was produced from its underground workings up until 1900. The mine

was operated as an open cut mine during the 1990's when a further 1,285 ounces of gold was produced.

Norton Gold Fields Limited Acquired the Norton Gold Mine in 2005

The Norton Gold Fields Limited acquired the Norton gold mine in 2005 and received its first gold pour from the mine soon after. Its maiden pour netted 205 ounces of fine gold under a toll treatment arrangement with Gympie Eldorado Gold. Norton Gold Field's prospectus issued in 2005 reported the Norton gold mine having an indicated and inferred resource of 453,000 tonnes of gold bearing ore grading at 7.4 grams of gold a tonne which would realise 107,000 of gold.

Norton Mine ore Toll Treated at the Gympie Processing Plant

Gold bearing ore mined at the Norton gold mine continued to be toll treated at the Gympie gold treatment plant from November 2005 through to October 2006 when the Gympie plant closed. However, the Norton gold mine remained prospective for reopening if circumstances presented themselves whereby the ore could be treated at the Mount Morgan gold processing plant, this move was subject to approval from the Queensland Government, or alternatively by means of a tolling arrangement with another third party.

In August 2012, China's largest gold producing company and Norton's major shareholder, Zijin Mining Group Company Limited, increased its interests in Norton Gold Fields Limited to 89 percent. This move followed a recommended takeover offer to Norton shareholders.

Mantle Mining Corporate Limited Acquired Norton Gold Mine in Late 2013

By October 2013, Mantle Mining Corporate Limited acquired 100 percent ownership of the Norton gold mine. The purchase included the Norton gold mine mining licence with pre-strips in-place and Frampton Zone material that had been stockpiled for processing. The high grade Frampton Zone ore had earlier been handpicked and contained 90 grams of gold a tonne that equalled nearly three ounces of gold a tonne. Earlier metallurgical work carried out on the Frampton Zone material indicated a low cost process of crushing as well as flotation that resulted in a high value concentrate with potential gravity recovery of free gold.

The Norton gold mine is now in the process of undertaking a preliminary mining study along with shortlisting a preferred mining contractor as well as a preliminary transportation and marketing study based on the outcome of the metallurgical study that is proceeding.

Mantle Mining Corporation Limited is a mineral exploration company that is focused on acquiring, exploring, developing and mining gold, phosphate, coal bed methane, coal and other mineral resources. The company has two other gold deposits which are both in the Charters Towers area of Queensland. These are the Granite Castle and Great Britain deposits. Both these deposits were acquired from Glengarry Resources Limited. The Granite Castle gold project is situated west of the historic Charters Towers Gold Field in North Queensland.