Amity Oil (30 October 1999)

Cuttlefish-1 at 1226m (TD). Wireline log interpretation indicates a thin non-commercial, hydrocarbon column at top Latrobe Formation position. On completion of logging the well will be plugged and abandoned.

Ballarat Goldfields (30 October 1999)

Ballarat Goldfields NL (BGF) confirmed today that positive progress is being made towards its recently disclosed diversification objective. Directors advised in the ASX Quarterly Report that negotiations to secure a strategic equity investment in an emerging data telecommunications company were progressing well. For additional information, click here.

Beach Petroleum (30 October 1999)

In the September quarter, Beach realised sales of 40,808 barrels of oil , mainly due to a jump in the average price per barrel of oil from $13.50 to $21. Beach's share of crude oil production for the period was 45,619 barrels.
Drilling is expected to start in the December quarter in the Bodalla Block, in the northern Eromanga Basin where Beach holds an 8% interest.

Beaconsfield Gold (30 October 1999)

HIGHLIGHTS - SEPTEMBER QUARTERLY REPORT

Boral (30 October 1999)

Kevin McCann, chairman of partners Allen Allen & Hemsley, has been appointed chairman-designate of Boral's energy company which will be created as part of a demerger of the company.

Croesus Mining (30 October 1999)

Highlights - September Quarter:

Gold production from Binduli operations was 14,769 ounces at a cash cost of $227 per ounce. Ore Reserves have been extended due to the strengthening gold price with ore reserves of 1.1Mt @ 2.2 g/t for 77,000 ounces representing 2 years of production from September 30 1999.

Wallbrook Hill:

• Further good drilling results from Crusader and Kingsley zones.

Binduli Ore Reserves:

• Reserves have been extended and mining at Navajo commences.

Anketell:

• BHP’s interest has been bought by the JV partners and diamond drilling is underway.

Gold Forwards:

• Cash flow underpinned - 24,750 ounces @ $470-510 and 17,320 @ $465 ounce.

Mayday North:

• The 50,000 ounce Mayday North deposit was purchased from North Limited during the quarter.

Equinox Resources (30 October 1999)

SUMMARY - SEPTEMBER QUARTERLY REPORT

The September Quarter has been an exciting one for Equinox with the substantial expansion of the Company’s activities through the formation of a joint venture on a "world class" copper resource at Lumwana in Zambia. Elsewhere in Zambia, substantial field programs are continuing on the Zambezi Joint Venture projects, with Anglo American completing drilling on several of the properties. Activities have been expanded in Sweden and discussions are continuing with potential joint venture partners. In Australia, drilling programs are underway on the Gawler and Curnamona Cratons.

In September 1999 the Company placed 15% of the Company's capital to raise $1.02 million. The placement was primarily to Australian Selection Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Lion Selection Trust) and to the M & G Australasian Fund. Lion Selection now owns 11.2% of the issued capital of Equinox, M & G about 7.9%, and shareholdings by other investment funds take the institutional shareholding of the Company to about 25% of the issued capital.

The Company is in a sound financial position with cash on hand at 30 September 1999 of $3.15m. Current exploration budgets for Equinox projects indicate that Company expenditure for the next year will be about $2.0 million, and including joint venture contributions will total about $7.0m.

Gold Mines of Sardinia (30 October 1999)

GMS is planning to open a second gold mine on the Italian island of Sardinia - work is scheduled to comence in early 2000 on a trial mine.

Grenfell Resources (30 October 1999)

HIGHLIGHTS - SEPTEMBER QUARTER

Icon Oil (30 October 1999)

Third Quarter Activities Report

USA

During the quarter Icon drilled one well in Montana known as Sand Creek No 1.

No other field activity was conducted.

Negotiations are continuing in Louisiana to acquire interests in Bayou des Glaises, Interdomal area and Bayou Choctaw. Legal problems are the principal cause of ongoing delays and settlement will be subject to legal clearance. Financial negotiations to fund the project are advanced but are subject to current due diligence enquiries.

AUSTRALIA

The drilling of a minimum of five wells in Australia in 2000 is planned, commencing in the second quarter subject to farmout negotiations currently under way.

Native Title continues to delay work in eight of our 11 blocks awarded in Queensland. Efforts are now being made to release portions of these blocks for drilling that are exempt from Native Title as a result of "freehold" status.

For additional information, click here.

Montague Gold (30 October 1999)

HIGHLIGHTS - September Quarterly Report

New Hampton Goldfields (30 October 1999)

HIGHLIGHT - SEPTEMBER QUARTER

North Limited (30 October 1999)

North Limited shareholders at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in Melbourne today have voted strongly in favour of the Jabiluka Mine.
North Limited Managing Director, Mr. Malcolm Broomhead, said the North shareholders, who voted on three resolutions, supported the company’s position on the Jabiluka project by a majority of around 20 to one. About one-quarter of the company’s total shareholding was involved in the ballot and the level of support for the company’s position on each of the three motions was at least 94%.
The Jabiluka mine is being developed by Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) in which North Limited holds a 68.4% interest.

Oil Search (30 October 1999)

HIGHLIGHTS - September Quarter

• Revenues for the September quarter totalled US$40.32 million (A$62.12 million), marginally down from the US$42.39 million (A$64.08 million) in the previous quarter. This was due largely to a drop in oil liftings an minor drop in production over the reporting period. These factors were offset by a 10.9% increase in average realised oil price from US$15.93 per barrel in the June quarter to US$17.66 per barrel in the September reporting period.
• Production of oil for the September quarter was 2.113 million barrels, marginally down on the previous quarter, despite higher production from the Gobe Project and better than forecast production from Kutubu. Production was affected by a long test programme carried out on Moran IX and a short term shut down of production from Moran due to a land slip, affecting the pipeline between Moran and Agogo.
• Appraisal drilling in the Gobe Project area continued to have a positive impact on production and reserve confirmation, with the SE Gobe 7 well successfully testing the southern extent of the SE Gobe field in an area not previously included in reserve estimates. The well has increased the proven reserves in the field, as well as confirmed the reliability of subsurface information derived from recently acquired seismic data in the area. This represents a significant technical advancement in exploration in the Foldbelt area of Papua New Guinea.
• An extensive seismic programme commenced in key Foldbelt licences, concentrating in areas close to Kutubu, Moran and Gobe. Exploration prospects in the Kutubu area at Hedinia Footwall and Arakubi are the targets for initial acquisition in preparation for a major drilling programme of up to 10 wells through 2000 and into 2001.
• Solid progress has been made in bringing the large PNG to Queensland Gas Project to commercial reality, with the signing during the September quarter of a conditional gas sales agreement with Ergon Energy, representing customers primarily in Townsville and Gladstone. This follows the signing of an agreement with Energex for the supply of gas over 20 years to customers in Gladstone and the Brisbane area. Front en engineering and design work commenced in August, with a material increase in activities, including preparations for a marine survey of the pipeline route planned for the last quarter this year.
• Recent analysis of pressure information taken in the Hides 4 well has confirmed that gas-bearing reservoirs seen in this well, Hides 1 and Hides 2, are likely to be in pressure communication. This is encouraging in confirming a large gas resource at Hides.

Portman Mining (30 October 1999)

Portman has approved construction of a new iron ore storage facility and the purchase of new rolling stock. The company is also to ebnact a share buyback scheme - of up to 10% of its issued capital by the end of next April. Portman shares closed at 61 cents, well below the cash asset backing of 72 cents/share.

Precious Metals Australia (30 October 1999)

Highlights For The SeptemberQuarter : Windimurra Project 98% complete Project construction on schedule and within 1% of budget 500,000t of ore stockpiled Commissioning of Beneficiation circuit commenced 21 October Over 500,000 man-hours worked at site without a lost time incident Project wins 1999 Western Australian CASE Earth Award for environmental excellence Equity issue of $14.6m completed Project loan provided by Xstrata $5m Convertible Note provided by Rothschild Golden Arrow Fund

For details of the September Quarterly Report, click here.

Western Metals (30 October 1999)

WM will seek additional international backing as it pursues further growth.

Western Reefs (30 October 1999)

Gold production in the September quarter was a record 20,862 ounces, up from 19,360 ounces in the June quarter
Cash operating costs at the Dalgaranga Gold Mine near Mt Magnet in WA ( 49.9% interest ) - dropped to $318 per ounce in the three months to September, down from $340 per ounce in the June quarter.
Western Reefs also completed a feasibility study into mining for gold below the current design at the Western Queen pit at Dalgaranga. The study forecast a mining cost in the order of $230 per ounce including royalties and ore cartage to the Dalgaranga Mill.

AGL (29 October 1999)

AGL is expected to lose about $30 million from its profit if the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal adopts its draft decision for a two-thirds cut in network charges for big industrial customers. The decision, contested by AGL, would bring gas costs in NSW into line with those paid by big business in Vic.

Anaconda Nickel / Preston Resources (29 October 1999)

Preston's major shareholder, Resolute Resources, has agreed to support Preston in raising capital and then give Anaconda an option to buy its 38 to 41% interest in the expanded capital of Preston. Anaconda has the right to exercise the option at any time until 31 January 2001.
Anaconda, which owns the $1 bilion Murrin Murrin nickel-cobalt laterite mine, will examine a fourfold expansion of Preston's Bulong laterite nickel mine to 40,000 tonnes of nickel/year, in return for a 60% managing stake.

BeMaX Resources (29 October 1999)

HIGHLIGHTS - SEPTEMBER QUARTER

BHP (29 October 1999)

It is rumoured that BHP has been selected to develop the US$700 million Ohanet onshore natural gas field project in the emerging Algerian oil and gas market BHP will have a 50% stake in the "wet gas" field.

BHP Iron / Rio Tinto (29 October 1999)

Iron ore producers have warned Japanese steel mills that investment in the Pilbara is at risk unless there is "a return to market fundamentals" as Asian economies recover from financial turmoil. BHP and Rio are aiming to recover last year's significant 11% cut in contract prices for Austrakian lump and fines iron ore.

Cluff Resources (29 October 1999)

Cluff has announced a further 160 gem-quality diamonds (weighing 21 carats) had been recovered at the Monte Christo mine in NSW.

Delta Gold (29 October 1999)

Delta chief executive officer Terry Burgess has left the door open for Delta to launch another bid for Acacia.

Delta founder and former chairman Peter Vanderspuy wil step down from the board in order to concentrate on the Zimplats platinum mine in Zimbabwe.

Golden Cross Resources (29 October 1999)

HIGHLIGHTS - 1999 ANNUAL REPORT

Goldfields Kalgoorlie (29 October 1999)

GKL, owned 87.7% by Goldfields, says exploration near its 2 core WA gold mines (Paddington and Kundana) will be the core focus this financial year.

Minotaur Gold (29 October 1999)

Newcrest Mining (29 October 1999)

Report - Three Months ending 30 September 1999
Overview
Financial

• Net profit after tax up 77% on the June 1999 quarter to $13.6 million ($13.5M after tax and minority interests).
• Achieved gold price of $621/oz ($617/oz last quarter).
• Earnings before interest and depreciation up 71% on the June 1999 quarter to $54.5 million.
• Cash on hand of $57.5 million.
• Mark to market for gold and copper hedging of $203.8 million and negative $35.1 million respectively.

Production

• Gold production up 31% to 232,552 oz. *
• Total cash cost down 21% to $273/oz.
• Gosowong became operational on 1 July 1999 and contributed 42,404 oz at a total cash cost of A$159/oz for the quarter.
  * Gold Institute Standard production and cost data. Comparisons with the June 1999 quarter.

Development

• Pre-feasibility drilling programmes completed at Telfer.
• Trial mining and testing activities advance at Ridgeway.

Exploration

• Cracow’s Klondyke drilling continues to intersect significant grades.
• Extensive intersection encountered at Cadia Far East – 117m at 2.6g/t Au and 0.48% Cu.

Newcrest is on track to more than double last year's $20 million profit.
Newcrest is concerned about unrest between 2 small villages - that provide the majority of the workforce at the Gosowong mine in Indonesia.

North Limited (29 October 1999)

THE SEPTEMBER QUARTER RESULT

Financial
North is on target for an improved result before abnormals compared with last financial year. Although operating profit was down on the corresponding prior year quarter which was a record assisted by a very weak AUD exchange rate, it was a threefold improvement over the third quarter last year and steady against the immediately prior quarter.
Asset Sales - Pursuant to the Company's focus on managing its portfolio for value, the sale of Warman for A$460m and the conditional sale of Kanowna Belle for $90m were announced. The sale of Kanowna Belle also resulted in the release of hedging gains of $24.5m which will be booked in the next quarter.

GROUP REVIEW
North Limited's Managing Director, Malcolm Broomhead said: "There were a number of promising signs evident in the first quarter which have the potential to translate into stronger earnings this year. These included a general strengthening in commodity prices and an upturn in steel demand in the United States should have a positive flow on to IOC if sustained.
The company's commitment to improved efficiencies and cost savings is progressing well and it is expected that North's operations will achieve the targets set for this financial year.
The successful sales of both Warman International and Kanowna Belle have established an excellent base from which to prudently pursue growth opportunities which meet our investment criteria," Mr Broomhead said.

Perilya Mines (29 October 1999)

Perilya has reported a slight fall in gold production in the September quarter to 27,257oz; however cash cost of production fell to a low of $225/oz. Perilya's hedge book was adversely affected by the jump in the spot gold price, with the hedge book currently running at a market to market shortfall of $1.3 million.
Perilya re-estimated the Lena inferred resource at the Moyagee project to be 1 million tonnes @ 9.4 g/t Au (305,000 oz Au).

Pima Mining (29 October 1999)

HIGHLIGHTS - SEPTEMBER QUARTERLY REPORT

South Australian magnesium Metal Project - SAMAG Ltd (Pima 80%)

• SAMAG acquired full access to Dow Chemical Company's magnesium process technology and patents providing SAMAG with 50 years of know how in magnesium metal production and eliminating the need for a pilot plant.
• A definitive feasibility study (DFS) completed by Hatch Associates and Thiess Contractors Pty Ltd estimated total capital cost at US$375 million and total cash operating costs estimated at US$0.60/pound of magnesium.
• Total measured, indicated and inferred resources in the Leigh Creek deposits stand at 516 million tonnes grading 42.0% MgO.
• Detailed In-fill drilling at Mount Hutton, 20 kilometres northwest of Leigh Creek, has lifted the total resource from 74 million tonnes to 113.3 million tonnes at 42.0% MgO (24% Mg).
• Mr Raymond J Soper, a Director of Resource Finance Corporation Limited ("RFC") has been appointed to the Board of SAMAG.
• RFC has committed to fund its 20% share of SAMAG's funding through to 30 June 2000 showing strong endorsement of SAMAG's magnesium metal project.
• Since the end of the quarter, Mr Frank Petitti has been appointed a Director of SAMAG Limited. Mr Petitti was previously Global Business Director, Dow Magnesium.

Platinum (29 October 1999)

Platinum jewellery demand is surging with countries such as China and Japan increasing purchases according to London precious metals refiner Johnson Matthey.

Woodside Petroleum / Oil Search (29 October 1999)

Woodside has increased its stake in Oil Search from 11.5% to 14.3%.

Battle Mountain (28 October 1999)

US miner Battle Mountain, which owns 50% of the Vera Nancy mine in Qld, has announced a US$14 million loss in the September quarter. However, cash production costs were reduced by US$18/oz for the 198,000 ounces produced.

Black Range Minerals / Helix Resources (28 October 1999)

Black Range is to acquire Helix's Owendale tenements at Fifield in NSW - near Black Range's Syerston nickel-cobalt project.

The acquisition gives Black Range access to the Owendale intrusion, where Helix has estimated the potential for 2 million tonnes of laterite at 0.35% Ni and 0.18% Co, in addition to significant potential for the discovery of additional high grade laterite material and platinum potential.
"The tenement represents the single largest intrusive in the area and represents the best potential for additional feed to Syerston," said Black Range's Executive Director, Dr Alistair Cowden.
"The acquisition effectively gives us control of all prospective nickel-cobalt laterites within 80 kilometres of the Project," he added. "It also gives the Project important additional space for waste dumps."

Coal & Allied Industries (28 October 1999)

CAIL has recorded increased production in the September quarter from the Hunter Valley operations and Mount Thorely mine . The Hunter Valley Operations, which now include the Howick mine (recently purchased from Rio Tinto) produced 933,000 tonnes of coking coal, and 1.773 million tonnes of thermal coal. The Mount Thorley mine produced 615,000 tonnes of coking coal and 593,000 tonnes of thermal coal.

Exodus Minerals (28 October 1999)

Exodus is to fast-track development of its Mikado gold deposit near Laverton in WA after almost doubling the prospect's resource base and confirming the potential for further increases through infill drilling and drilling of extensions and newly identified targets.
Exodus announced a measured, indicated and inferred resource for the Laverton deposit of 1.144 million tonnes at 3.93 g/t Au (containing 145,000 ounces). This compares with a previously announced estimate of 87,000 ounces.

MIM (28 October 1999)

MIM chairman Leo Tutt succumbed to shareholder pressure yesterday, promising to resign if the year did not bring improved profits.
Meanwhile, MIM has revealed a new 15-year plan for its giant Alumbrera copper-gold JV mine in Argentina following a downgrading of reserves in August. Average annual production for the next 10 years is estimated to be about 178,000 tonnes of contained copper in concentrate.

Normandy Mining (28 October 1999)

Report on Activities for the three months ended 30 September 1999

Consolidated profit after tax and outside equity interests (including share of associate companies on a similar accounting basis) for the September 1999 quarter was $32.2 million, 21 percent above the previous quarter.
The result was driven by a strong operating contribution of $122.9 million, up 27 percent, with improved results at six mines. The $50.0 million profit before tax was a 39 percent increase. Gold production rose 16% to 541,875 ounces.

Pasminco (28 October 1999)

Pasminco is confident of a return to profit this year - after 1998/99's $8.3 million loss. Chairman Mark Rayner says there are early signals of increasing demand in key markets, which have been accompanied by changes in metal prices.

Petroz (28 October 1999)

Petroz advises that development of the Bayu-Undan Liquids project has move another step forward with the approval of the Development Plan by a majority of co-venturers, including Petroz.

Portman Mining (28 October 1999)

Portman produced record tonnages of coal from the Burton Coal Project during the September quarter. The project produced 1,122,982 tonnes of coal, more than double the same period last year, reflecting the impact of the mine expansion.
In September 1999, Portman announced that it had sold the Burton Coal project to RAG Australia Coal Pty Ltd for approximately $200 million. This transaction will leave Portman essentially debt free and it is wel placed to pursue an aggressive growth strategy.
Iron ore sales from Koolyanobbing and Cockatoo Island totalled 459,299 tonnes of iron ore, up 44.2% from the previous quarter.
The feasibility study of the Lithgow Silicon Metal Project has been completed. The project is expected to consist of a quartz mine at Glenella (200kms west of Lithgow) producing about 80,000 tpy of quartz pebble and a silicon smelter at Lithgow, (130kms west of Sydney) with a combined design capacity of 31,500 tpy.

Rio Tinto (28 October 1999)

During the September quarter, Rio was able to maintain or increase production of most commodities . Iron ore production from Hammersley increased to 16.485 million tonnes, reflecting higher demand.
Coal production was 4% higher than the previous quarter, partly due to the increased output from the newly acquired Kestral Coal. Total coal production for the quarter was 36,118 million tonnes.
Lower grades at Escondida (Chile), Grasberg (Indonesia) and Bingham Canyon (USA) resulted in copper production falling marginally to 213,700 tonnes of copper concentrate and 99,700 tonnes of refined copper.
Gold production rosep 7% to 767,000 ounces, due to higher production at Kelian (Indonesia) and Cortex (USA).
Aluminium production increased 2% .

Geo 2 (27 October 1999)

Environmental technology group Geo 2 has joined forces with a US plastics recycling company (METSS.orgLLC) to develop a world-first process to recover precious metals and plastics from a number of industries, including the electronics and IT industries.

Goldfields (27 October 1999)

Cash production costs for gold in the September quarter fell 26% to $247/oz due to the best quarterly performance by Porgera (25% stake) in PNG and good performances by all other mines. Total attributable production was 126,392 ounces.

Gold (27 October 1999)

The gold price continued to ease overnight, closing at US$288.90, down US$9.60/oz.

Highlands Pacific (27 October 1999)

Iluka Resources (27 October 1999)

Iluka has announced a detailed feasibility study into proposals for a $US100 million expansion of the company's operations in the USA. The expansion involves a 70 per cent increase in production to meet a growing demand for the company's North American ilmenite. "The complete expansion to increase annual production by 220,000 tonnes of mineral product would be implemented in stages over four or five years," said Managing Director Malcolm Macpherson.
The decision reflects the buoyant market for the high quality ilmenite produced at the company's USA operations. Currently Iluka is world's second largest producer of titanium mineral and world's largest supplier of zircon. Mr Macpherson said, "If the development plans are confirmed by the feasibility study, construction would begin late in 2000."

Imperial Mining (27 October 1999)

Imperial Mining is increasing its stake in Catcha.com - an unlisted company that aims to consolidate the SE Asian web portal search engine market. In August, Imperial paid $500,000 for an initial 5% interest and in September paid $2.5 million for an additional 8% with an option to acquire more at a similar price. Imperial shareholders have been promised an entitlement in a float of Catcha.com in the new year.

Leo Shield Exploration (27 October 1999)

CHAIRMEN'S REPORT TO THE SHAREHOLDERS

After two difficult years for Leo Shield and the gold industry in general it is a pleasure to be able to report on recent positive developments.

Leo Shield acquired full ownership of the Manso Nkwanta Joint Venture in December 1998 and after infill drilling of the Abore North project it completed a pre-feasibility study in September 1999 which indicates the project is profitable using a US$260 per ounce gold price. With the current gold price over US$320 per ounce the project looks extremely attractive and the US$1,470,000 purchase price for 50% of the project is well justified. The Company is proceeding to full feasibility with the aim of producing gold in the first half of next year.

Your directors have also taken the decision to broaden Leo Shield's activities to maximise shareholder returns. A number of strategic investments have been made and more are under consideration as the Company develops a venture capital division. Plexus International Limited, in which Leo Shield invested $1,570,000 listed on the Australian Stock Exchange today. The market price at the end of the day values Leo Shield’s investment at $4,500,000. An investment in the Careers-r-us university placement business and the plan to invest in the Euroz Securities stockbroking business have both been announced recently and a proposal to rename your Company Shield Equities Limited to reflect its change in emphasis will be considered at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Leo Shield's West African staff continue to operate efficiently and with ingenuity in often difficult circumstances. On behalf of the Board we thank all staff for their dedication and loyalty throughout the year. For additional information, click here.

Leo Shield Exploration / North Star Resources (27 October 1999)

Leo Shield has agreed to invest $500,000 in North Star Resources Limited ("North Star"), as part of a $2.09 million capital raising by that company. The issue of shares at 8 cents is subject to North Star obtaining shareholder approval.

North Star announced earlier today that it is acquiring an 88% interest in the business and assets of Wet Dreams, an established manufacturer and distributor of surf accessories based in Margaret River in the south west of Western Australia, for $843,333. For additional information, click here.

Michelago Resources (27 October 1999)

• relinquished projects where exploration has significantly reduced the chance of delineating economic mineral deposits;
• actively sought new joint ventures on many of its projects; and
• carefully monitored all exploration and corporate expenditure.

The Company continues to evaluate opportunities, both within the minerals industry and in other business sectors, that will provide it with an early cash flow as well as for long term growth.

Mr Roy Swan resigned as a director at the end of June following the cancellation of the Parkes Gold Mine purchase. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Roy for his contribution as a director.

I would like to thank our Managing Director, Mr Sam Lees, and his team for their continued dedication throughout this very challenging year. I also thank my fellow Directors for their support.

North Limited / ERA (27 October 1999)

The Northern Land Council (NLC), which negotiates on behalf of Aboriginal Traditional Owners, has today advised Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) of a resolution of its Full Council meeting held October 19-21 relating to the Jabiluka development.
The Chairman of ERA, Mr Malcolm Broomhead said that ERA had been advised that the NLC has decided not to consider any proposal in relation to trucking ore from the Jabiluka mine to the existing Ranger mill for processing until at least January 1, 2005.
As such, ERA’s remaining option would be to build a new mill at Jabiluka.
Therefore, the current strategic review and evaluation studies being undertaken in relation to the Jabiluka mine, which is common to both milling options, will now focus on refining the best outcomes that can be delivered by developing a milling operation at Jabiluka.
While expressing disappointment with the NLC resolution, ERA remains focussed on building trust and confidence between itself and the local Aboriginal people to better understand community issues. ERA also remains committed to progressing a cultural heritage management plan in consultation with Aboriginal people so that their concerns can be addressed.
At the Jabiluka site, the first phase of construction has been completed. The site currently includes initial surface facilities, excavation to the ore body and drill core samples recovered for geological evaluation.

Orogen Minerals / Nord Pacific / Highlands (27 October 1999)

There are rumours that Orogen is contemplating acquisition of Nord Pacific's stake in the Ramu laterite nickel project in PNG.

Sons of Gwalia (27 October 1999)

Sons of Gwalia Ltd has outlined its strategies for substantially increasing tantalum (Ta₂O₅) production from its Greenbushes and Wodgina mines in Western Australia if market demand for the rare metal continues to increase.
The company told the 40th General Assembly of the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Centre, currently being held in Perth, that production increases could be achieved by investing in expanded processing capacity, continued exploration and the establishment of an underground mining operation.
Combining these strategies would enable Sons of Gwalia to increase Ta₂O₅ production from its current 1.2 million to 1.5 million pounds per annum within two years.  Based on Gwalia's world class ore reserves, production could then be further increased to 2 million pounds per annum if the market required.

Anaconda Nickel (26 October 1999)

Anaconda has announced that Stage 2 expansion at the Murrin Murrin nickel-cobalt mine would be stretched out over 4 years. Anaconda will claim $300 million in damages from engineer Fluor Daniel for problems at the plant.
Shareholders also approved a second placement to South Africa's Anglo American Corp making it Anaconda's largest shareholder with 23%, and the appointment of 2 Anglo nominees to the board.
Glencore International's representative on the board was dumped in a surprise move.

Astro Mining (26 October 1999)

During the September quarter Astro discovered highly weathered kimberlite in West Liaoning, China. In addition Astro has signed an option agreement in India and also in Inner Mongolia over areas prospective for diamonds.

BHP (26 October 1999)

BHP has increased its iron ore marketing drive in Asia and Europe as producers and Japanese steelmakers meet in Tokyo this week for preliminary talks on contract prices - which are forecast to be "rolled over" for 2000-01.

Burdekin Resources (26 October 1999)

Turnover in Burdekin topped 36 million shares yesterday; however no substantial shareholders have energed after 2 weeks of heavy trading. Burdekin's share price has jumped from 4 cents at the beginning of October to a high of 15 cents, closing at 13 cents.
Burdekin is examining a $10 million processing plant upgrade at the Mt Kasi gold mine in Fiji to produce an average 50,000 ounces of gold over the next 4 years at a cost of just over $254/oz.
Burdekin announced in August it is to acquire a 30% stake in Netline Technologies Australia, with an option to move to 45%. NTA provides a service for users of any phones to access emails from anywhere.

Comalco (26 October 1999)

Comalco's share of aluminium output in the September quarter rose to 171,600 tonnes, up from 164,900 tonnes in the previous corresponding quarter. All 3 smelters achieved record daily average aluminium production.

Duke Energy (26 October 1999)

Duke says a proposed $350 million, 330km undersea gas pipeline from the Esso/BHP plant at Longford, Vic to Bell Bay in Tasmania was commercially feasible and would be extended to Burnie and Hobart - as soon as mid 2002.

Icon Oil (26 October 1999)

Icon Oil reports that Kaycee Dome No.1 has reached its total depth of 2,030 ft. The objective Tensleep Sand was encountered low to prognosis but was without significant hydrocarbon shows. Evaluation of the open hole logs confirmed this interpretation, and the well is being plugged and abandoned as a dry hole. For additional information, click here.

Kidston Gold Mines (26 October 1999)

Kidston has made a $1.2 million loss for the September quarter, with geotechnical problems in the Eldridge pit hampering mining operations. Mining was temporarily suspended for safety reasons. Costs have risen to $488/ounce, with 49,573 ounces of gold produced during the quarter. The average gold price realised for the quarter was $567/oz.

Michelago Resources (26 October 1999)

Mineral Deposits Limited (26 October 1999)

SEPTEMBER QUARTERLY REPORT - HIGHLIGHTS

Pasminco (26 October 1999)

Pasminco is re-organising its structure to cut costs, with 80 jobs being lost - mainly in the non-technical support areas.

Placer / Goldfields / Orogen Minerals (26 October 1999)

The Porgera JV reported the highest quarterly gold production in three years with 245,934 ounces produced for the September quarter 1999 - mainly due to continued development of the high-grade ore zone, following an initial delay between pit stages earlier in the year. The shortfall in gold production caused by this delay should be made up by the end of the year.

Preston Resources (26 October 1999)

Preston expects its new Bulong nickel project in WA would be selling nickel for more than the cost of production by October. The project should be running at full capacity by January, after starting in April.
Pending the finalisation of the recapitalisation of Preston , the board has requested that trading on the ASX be suspended.

Tap Oil (26 October 1999)

NORTH GIPSY-1 - ANOTHER DISCOVERY

Tap advises that since the last announcement, the North Gipsy-1 well has been drilled to its total depth of 2,565 metres MD. The well is interpreted to have encountered hydrocarbons in two of the same reservoir intervals as seen in the Rose and Lee discoveries, located immediately north of the North Gipsy prospect.
Specifically, the well logs indicate that the well has encountered the following hydrocarbon intervals:

• North Rankin sandstones - a gross hydrocarbon column of 16 metres;
• Brigadier sandstones - a gross hydrocarbon column of 23 metres.

Hydrocarbons do not appear at this stage to be evident in the Mungaroo A and B sandstones.
The forward plan is to acquire fluid samples and pressure data from each of the above intervals to determine the nature and extent of the hydrocarbons.
The significance of this discovery cannot be underestimated. The Gipsy/Rose/Lee trend is a new play concept interpreted from 3D seismic. Every fault compartment drilled to date on this fault trend by the Harriet Joint Venture has contained hydrocarbons.
With numerous other prospects in the immediate area, along with the extensive other trending Tap acreage, this has proven to be an event of significance in Tap's strategy of exploiting value from its highly prospective Carnarvon Basin acreage, proximate to infrastructure.
The Monty prospect is planned to be the next well on this play concept and is likely to be drilled in the next two months. Another two prospects in the immediate area are also being prepared for drilling in the near future, namely Joesphine-1 and Baker-1.

Exco Resources (25 October 1999)

Exco has acquired the Windara gold tenements near Cobar in NSW from BHP in a deal which provided Exco with a quality, low-risk asset for which payment would be made after mine development.
Earlier this year Exco acquired the Mt Margartet copper-gold project in Qld from BHP -,in exchange for stock options issued to BHP.

Gallery Gold (25 October 1999)

Robin Widdup's mineral investment vehicle, Lion Selection Group, will underwrite Gallery's $1.87 million renounceable share issue. This, together with another placement, will provide Gallery with $2.18 million to finance its exploration in Botswana.

Hillgrove Gold (25 October 1999)

Hillgrove is to install an $8.5 million piece of high-tech refining and extraction equipment - an autoclave - to extract more gold from mined ore at its mine in NSW. Currently Hillgrove extracts about 4000 ounces of gold per year, but once the autoclave starts operating, gold extraction will jump to 16,000 oz/yr - and rising to 30,000 oz/yr in 2002.

Kimberley Diamond Co (25 October 1999)

KDC says it has recovered a further 15 diamonds (all of gem quality) weighing a total 6.5 carats (from 125 tonnes of gravel) from its Pit 52 at the Blina Project, 100km east of Derby in WA. The largest diamond weighed 2.4 carats.

Kings Minerals (25 October 1999)

KM has taken a 40% interest in a South African offshore diamond project (132 sq.km offshore concession in Northern Cape Province) in partnership with Trans Hex of Johannesburg. KM will spend $250,000 to provide a vesel to carry out exploration to a depth of 15m.
KM has also turned its back on the Internet after a brief foray - in March KM acquired a 40% stake in Perth-based International Technology Exchange for $50,000 plus 5 million shares. This investment will be retained but there will not be any additional purchases.

Summit Resources (25 October 1999)

Summit said the Queensland Labor Government is hampering plans to develop the Valhalla uranium-vanadium project in the north-west of the state. Summit is now seeking advice from the Qld Mines & Energy Dep't on the status of the tenements, a possible freeze on spending on the project and compensation for the company's lost value at Valhalla.

Amity Oil (23 October 1999)

Amity have advised that the Sedco 702 drilling rig is moving into position over the Cuttlefish -1 well, and is expected to spud this weekend. This well is testing the Cuttlefish prospect in the Gippsland Basin, and it is expected to take 11 days to drill the 1,200 m deep well.

Energy Resources of Australia (23 October 1999)

SEPTEMBER QUARTERLY REPORT

PROFIT
Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) announced an increase in profit after tax to $3.0 million during the September 1999 quarter (1998: $0.6 million) with earnings before interest and tax increasing to $6.8 million (1998: $2.4 million).
This increase is a result of an increase in sales for the quarter. Consequently sales revenue was $27.6 million (1998: $16.2 million) consisting only of Ranger sales.
Sales are traditionally skewed towards the second half of the year. Sales are expected to increase to approximately 4,200 tonnes U3O8 this year (1998: 4,006 tonnes U3O8).
The spot market price remained low, averaging US$9.98 per pound U3O8 during the quarter, ending the quarter at US$9.75 per pound U3O8.

PRODUCTION
Production decreased by 35 per cent to 909.3 tonnes U3O8 during the quarter ended 30 September 1999 (1998: 1,395.1 tonnes U3O8). This is in line with the company's announcement in January 1999 that production would be reduced to an annualised rate of 4,00 tonnes U3O8.
ERA is currently optimising inventory levels and will use inventory to make up the difference between sales and production. In future years it is expected production will be matched to sales.

EXPLORATION EXPENDITURE
There was $60,000 of exploration expenditure undertaken during the quarter.

DEVELOPMENTS
Approximately $3.7 million of expenditure was capitalised for Jabiluka during the quarter. This included drilling work, completed on 14 September, to further evaluate a portion of the ore body, final costs associated with the first stage of decline development and ongoing work by the Jabiluka Project Team to progress remaining approvals.
Jabiluka is now in a data evaluation and planning phase and no further development work iS expected to take place during the next quarter.

Ashton Mining (22 October 1999)

In the September quarterly report, Ashton advises the Argyle mine expansion adversely affected diamond production and increased waste ore this year. Production from Argyle for the 9 months to 30 September fell 33% to 20.9 million carats. The fall was also due to a permanent fall in the average diamond grade from 4 to 3 carats/tonne.

Caldera Resources (22 October 1999)

Caldera has announced the discovery a microdiamond from processing of a 4 kg loam sample collected from an aeromagnetic target in the Tabletop Project area in WA.

Delta Gold / Acacia Resources (22 October 1999)

Delta has dropped its takeover bid for Acacia.

Exco Resources (22 October 1999)

Exco has announced a copper discovery at the northern part of their E1 copper prospect in the Mt Margaret area, east of Ernest Henry. A total of 44 holes was drilled for 4,044 m on the project during the September quarter. Best result from RC drilling was 48 m @ 1.20 % Cu, 0.17 g/t Au, including a high grade 6 m zone @ 3.1% Cu, 0.4 g/t Au. The mineralized zone appears to be truncated to the west by a fault. In addition, the zone may be dipping to the south, as a line of holes to the south ended in weak mineralisation. Diamond drilling will be used to deepen these holes. Further drilling on the previously announced main E1 zone of mineralisation has recently commenced. This prospect contains a 10 million tonne resource @ 0.9% Cu and 0.2g/t Au.

Mobil / Gorgon Gas field (22 October 1999)

The Gorgon partner have announced a second discovery (Orthrus-1) near the Geryon target in Permit WA 267-P in the offshore Carnarvon Basin off WA's northwest coast.

Straits Resources (22 October 1999)

Summary - September Quarterly Report

• Revenue of $23.5 million.