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Morobe Mining Joint Venture

The land holding encompassing the Wafi-Golpu and Hidden Valley projects has now become part of the Morobe Mining Joint Ventures strategic alliance area, where both Harmony and Newcrest have agreed to operate as joint venture partners. This tenement package comprises 3 276 square kilometres of tenure and is centred on the Morobe goldfields.

The Morobe district is a growing gold province. The total known gold endowment is more than 19 million ounces of gold. In addition, the 4.1 billion pounds of copper, 47 million pounds of molybdenum, and 84 million ounces of silver add significant value to the known resources in the district.

Since Harmony began its exploration activities here in 2002, the resource inventory for Morobe Mining Joint Ventures has grown from 7.3 million ounces to 15.6 million ounces of gold. In FY09, exploration was successful in converting the Nambonga North prospect into a resource of over 1.0 million ounces of gold and 86 000 tonnes of copper, of which 50% is attributable to Harmony.

Exploration was undertaken on 19 separate prospects during the year. Initiatives to accelerate prospect turnover and development have been successful. Exploration statistics for FY09 include:

• 39 385 metres of diamond drilling
• 12 059 surface samples (soils, rock chips, trenches)
• Over 12 000 line kilometres of detailed airborne magnetics
• Geophysical IP-EM surveys at Biamena and Kesiago Prospects

The drilling component represents a threefold increase on FY08.

This momentum is set to continue in FY10, backed by the combined skill-sets of both Harmony and Newcrest. A budget of $AUD 22.8 million for the Morobe exploration joint venture – 42% for greenfields, 58% for brownfields activities – has been approved by the venture partners.