Axiom Mining Limited
08
CEO’s Report
Vietnam:
Long neglected from a mining
perspective, Vietnam is one of the most
geologically gifted, fastest-growing and
most stable jurisdictions in Asia.
We continue to explore our Vietnamese tenement
holdings for large gold-bearing hydrothermal or
porphyry systems and I am pleased to report that
early exploration results have been encouraging at
our Quang Tri Project.
Exploration activities in the past year included an
extensive sampling and mapping program, which
incorporated the identification and mapping of the
prospective anomalous zones within our tenement
holding, as well as a trenching and drilling program.
The outcomes of these activities have greatly added
to our understanding of the geology of the area and
its mineralisation processes, as well as reinforced its
high prospectivity for gold and silver. Our geological
team is now well-equipped with greater geological
insight ahead of the next exploration phase, which
is scheduled for the coming dry season.
During the year, the Axiom team was also delighted
to welcome Mr Le Van Hai on-board as Exploration
Manager of our Vietnam projects. Hai is a highly
experienced and reputable geologist with a background
associated with Vietnam’s largest gold discoveries to
date. We are thrilled to have Mr Hai join our team,
and I must note that he has already made a significant
difference to our technical capabilities in Vietnam.
Queensland:
JORC Resource expected in 2013
We had a successful year with exploration activities
at our Queensland operations, with 75% of drill holes
intersecting high-grade copper-gold mineralisation
on the Cardross Mining Lease.
Essentially, both Reverse Circulation (RC) and Diamond
drilling programs encountered continuous high-grade
copper intersections, which notably also included
significant intercepts of massive sulphides. We believe
that the overall strike length of this mineralisation
could be up to 1600m and within the Cardross Mining
Lease boundaries. Importantly, we are now working
towards securing a maiden JORC Resource for the
project in 2013.
In addition, we also entered into a Joint Venture
agreement with Solomons Copper Australia Pty Ltd –
a well-established neighbouring mining company who
we engaged to drill 99 percussion holes on our Cardross
Mining Lease to test the near surface oxide zone for
potential commercial extraction.
The results of this drilling program were encouraging,
and prompted us to consider broadening our agreement
to include other deposits – discussions are underway.
Importantly for us, Solomons Copper Australia Pty Ltd
also operates an established processing plant nearby
with excess capacity and a technical team familiar
with the local geological landscape. I look forward to
providing further updates on the Cardross project in
2013, including a maiden Resource Estimate.
We have also submitted a request to the government
to consolidate our tenement portfolio, as well have
a potential area approved for mining infrastructure
development at the Cardross Project. We reasonably
expect news on our application this year.
During 2012, we also appointed Mr Tom Saunders as
Exploration Manager for our Queensland operations.
Tom’s local knowledge, expertise and accomplishments,
which include the discovery, development and working
knowledge of prominent mining operations nearby, has
already added significant value to our projects.