Overview

Dominion Mining’s key asset is the 100%-owned Challenger Gold Mine in South Australia. In addition, the Company has established an extensive portfolio of gold and base metal exploration projects in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.

The Challenger Project, located 740km north-west of Adelaide, is the first-ever major gold mine development in South Australia to come on stream outside of the Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium operation. It is also the first commercial mine development in the Gawler Craton.

Construction and development of the Challenger mining complex was completed during 2002, on schedule and on budget. Infrastructure at the site includes a processing plant, a laboratory, power station, borefield and other services, as well as a mine village and airstrip.

Open pit mining operations commenced in October 2002 and the open pit phase of the operation concluded in April 2004 with the project making the transition during second half of the year to a wholly underground mining operation. Full-scale underground production commenced in the first quarter of 2005.

To 30 June 2006, Challenger had produced 250,363 ounces of gold, at an average cost of $A332 per ounce.

Gold production for 2006/07 is forecast at approximately 100,000 ounces at an estimated cash operating cost of $335 per ounce.

A major exploration program is underway at Challenger including deep drilling to increase the reserve base and extend the mine life beyond three years. As at 30 June 2006, gold reserves at Challenger stood at 279,056 ounces, after taking into account production for 2005/06 of 108,080 ounces of gold.

The Company has been successful in confirming the continuation of the three principal ore shoots – the M1, M2 and M3 – at depth and has intersected economic grades outside of the current reserve.

Drilling during the second half of 2006 confirmed the continuity of high-grade mineralization in future mining levels of the M1 Shoot as well as within the M2 and M3 Shoots.

Drilling during October 2006 returned an outstanding intersection of 25m @ 23.4g/t some 100m below the base of current reserves in the M1 Shoot. This is expected to be incorporated in a revised and upgraded reserve inventory as at 31 December 2006.

(Return to top of page)