Tampakan

Description of Operation

The Tampakan project is located on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao, approximately 65 kilometres north of General Santos City. The current project area is situated on the tri-boundary of three Provinces, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao Del Sur.

The project was the subject of a pre-feasibility study (PFS) into future mine development by ASX-listed company Indophil Resources NL and its Philippines affiliate Sagittarius Mines Inc, which was completed in September 2006. On 21 December 2006, Xstrata Copper exercised its option to acquire 62.5% of the Tampakan Project and management control was transferred to Xstrata Copper on 30 March 2007. In December 2007, Xstrata Copper published an upgraded Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource for Tampakan of 2.2 billion tonnes at a grade of 0.6% copper and 0.2 grams per tonne gold, containing 12.8 million tonnes of copper and 15.2 million ounces of gold using a 0.3% copper cut-off grade.

Brief History of the Operation

Mineralisation at Tampakan was discovered in the 1980s by the Tampakan Group and Xstrata acquired its option in Tampakan through its purchase of MIM Holdings in 2003.