re: Ann: High Grade Mineralisation at SXG Bat... Well done to...

re: Ann: High Grade Mineralisation at SXG Bat... Well done to the Southern Cross Goldfields team with the latest drilling results at Battler Prospect.

SXG already has a combined mineral resources of 425,000 oz
gold and growing.

Shareholders can look forward to some gold production next year.

For a junior explorer with gold bearing laterite, allowing
mining and treatment by "heap leach" techniques which have the following favourable characteristics when compared with conventional open pitmining and treatment.


* Very low strip ratio means little waste has to be mined, thus reducing mining costs.

* Most of the material is likely to be free dig, meaning low mining costs.

* Geotechnical considerations are likely to be negligible.

* No mill needs to be purchased and constructed. Heap leach pad construction, pumps and reticulation, water ponds and carbon tanks are the only major capital items required.

* Hence capital and construction costs are low and the time frame from final “decision to mine” until production is relatively short.

* As the treatment basically consists of reticulating a chemical solution through the heaped up ore, the power and staffing components of treatment post stacking are very low, thus making production costs low.

*If a cost-benefit analysis (to be conducted as part of the feasibility study) suggests that additional recovery may be obtained by crushing the ore, contract crushing can be used in order to keep capital costs low.

*Carbon loaded with gold can be sent to either Perth or Kalgoorlie for stripping, thus reducing capital costs.

Based on these favourable characteristics, relatively low gold grade mineralisation can be recovered. The resource at Dulcie will be progressed through feasibility study as rapidly as possible, in order to ascertain the economic viability of mining this deposit. Metallurgical samples are currently being tested and all permitting is being fast tracked. Water search is also in hand, with production bores identified 4km north and 10km south of the project area and water tests are also being conducted as part of the deeper drilling program currently in progress at Dulcie.