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3rd November 2004
Reletting of Copeton Shaft contract

The Company has terminated its present contract for the sinking of its shaft at Copeton. The shaft will be completed from its current depth of 45.5 metres to its programmed target horizon of 50 metres by grouting the poorly consolidated sediments present over this interval.

This technique involves drilling holes into the sediments and pumping cement under pressure through these holes and into the surrounding rocks. When set, the cement consolidates the sediments, enabling completion of the shaft through a 1.5 metre thick zone of cemented rock. Conventional shotcrete lining will then be applied to the shaft walls.


The Company is calling new tenders for the completion of the shaft, and is holding an onsite meeting for interested tenderers late next week.

Peter Kennewell,
Managing Director



26th October 2004
Upper Hunter Shire Council consent: Gloucester Ruby Project

The Company is pleased to announce that consent was given yesterday by the Upper Hunter Shire Council to its development application for the Gloucester Ruby Project. This follows the approval given by the Gloucester Shire Council last week.

Cluff now has all required local government approval to proceed with its Phase 2 mining operations under the agreement with CPH Limited. This will involve processing up to 250 tonnes of gravels per day, and aims to establish the mine as a world class source of natural Australian ruby.

The issue of several state government licences, the terms of which have already been set, and lodgement of a Mine Operation Plan will be necessary before mine operations commence. The Company is preparing the necessary documents at present.

The feasibility of future larger scales of operation and marketing will be assessed during Phase 2.

Peter Kennewell,
Managing Director





21st October 2004

Development consent for Gloucester Ruby Project

Operating conditions determined by Department of Environment and Conservation, Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, and the Gloucester and Upper Hunter Shire Councils and proposed to be included in the Development Consent are acceptable to the Company.

Because the project falls into both the Gloucester and Upper Hunter Shire Council areas, a similar recommendation by the Upper Hunter Shire is required before joint Development Consent for the project can be granted. Consideration of consent to the project is proposed by Upper Hunter Shire Council on 25 October. The Councils are proposing common operating conditions to their consents.

Should the Councils jointly approve Development Consent, it would be granted quickly. The issue of several licences and lodgement of a Mine Operation Plan will be necessary before mine operations commence. The Company is preparing the necessary documents at present.

Peter Kennewell,
Managing Director



9th September 2004
Diamond shaft sinking continues at Copeton

Two dewatering bores have been completed immediately north and south of the Company’s exploratory shaft for diamonds at Copeton, and have been equipped with pumps. Both are thirty centimetres in diameter, and contain gravel packed around twenty centimetres of screening, which extends for eight metres from the top to the bottom of the gravels being dewatered and evaluated.

Pumping has been continuing for the last week and a half, and the water level has been dropping approximately half a metre per day. The sands have now been dewatered to the top of the pump, and sinking of the shaft through the dewatered sands and into the underlying granite basement will recommence on Monday.

The shaft is presently at 42 metres, and granite basement is at approximately 50 metres depth. Gravels extracted over this interval will be processed through the Company’s plant at Copeton to determine their diamond content.


Peter Kennewell,
Managing Director


20th August 2004
Diamond bulk sampling, Collas Hill

Bulk samples CH 20 and CH 21, comprising sands from Collas Hill, have been processed at the Company’s Mount Ross processing plant. Results are below:

Sample Number Tonnes No of diamonds Weight of diamonds Grade
CH 20 100 Nil Nil Nil
CH 21 80 2 0.43 carats 0.54 ct/100 t

CH 20 did not include the basal material in the sands, whereas CH21 included both basal material and overlying sands. The two diamonds recovered were yellow in colour, and rounded in shape, typical of stones from Collas Hill. Further mapping of the old mine reopened by the sampling will be undertaken to determine whether underground sampling is warranted.
The Mount Ross plant has been refurbished in preparation for samples from the Copeton shaft, and was successfully commissioned on the Collas Hill samples.

The Copeton shaft has encountered a small inflow of water from poorly consolidated sands and gravels at 43 metres depth, which has delayed shaft sinking progress. This is despite pumping for some weeks from a previously drilled dewatering bore with screening accessing water at the base of the sediments.

Rather than progress under wet conditions, two additional dewatering bores, each only a few metres from the shaft and with screening letting water flow laterally from the total eight metre thickness of the loose sediments, will be completed this week. These will allow pumping of the water from the area surrounding the shaft, and will facilitate the metal casing of the shaft being lowered shortly with minimum problems.

Peter Kennewell,
Managing Director



25th June 2004
Diamond shaft commences at Copeton

Sinking of the shaft to evaluate the inferred resource of 500,000 carats of diamonds (200,000 tonnes at 250 carats per hundred tones) on the Copeton diamond field has commenced. The shaft head frame has been installed, the reinforced concrete shaft collar completed, and the shaft sunk to six metres with the first steel liner in place.

The contract for sinking the shaft was awarded to Craigs Mining Services. The shaft will be a circular steel lined shaft, which is safer to sink and more stable in the soft ground conditions expected at the base of the sediments. The shaft will be 2.4 metres in diameter, and will use 6 metre long cylindrical steel liners which are subsequently lowered into the shaft and welded together to produce a continuous shaft lining. This method, developed by Craigs Mining Services and recently used successfully at the Chariot Mine (NT), is protected by an international patent application.

Sinking will be mainly by jackpick, with some blasting envisaged during the initial Stage 1. Broken material will be removed from the shaft by vacuum ore lift, and ventilation will also be provided by this method. It is proposed that the shaft will be sunk initially to a depth of approximately 52 metres below surface, with the last few metres of lining safely secured and grouted into the hard granite bedrock.

At approximately 50 metres below surface, an exploratory crosscut and drive will be established over a total development length of about thirty metres. This development will be 2.2 metres high by 2.0 metres wide, into which arched steel sets and timber lagging will be installed as required. On completion of the level development, the shaft will be deepened to 57 metres in the granite.

Stage 2, if implemented, would entail establishment of a plat (open area) at about 57 metres depth with adequate clearance to allow rail and timber access. A development drive 2.2 metres high and 2.0 metres wide would extend from this, and vertical rises 1.2 metres square would be excavated upwards to the previous development level at 50 metres depth. These rises would enable systematic and safe sampling of the rocks from this level. Subsequent shaft deepening to 61 metres would be necessary.

Peter Kennewell,
Managing Director



21st May 2004
Values of Gloucester Rubies

The Company has become aware of an article written in ‘Australian Jeweller’ magazine (May 2004 issue) which gives specific information with regard to the values of rubies mined by the Gloucester Ruby Project. The Company feels this information to of interest to the sharemarket, and a transcript of the relevant section of the article is reproduced below:

‘GEMS – AN INDUSTRY UNFOLDING’ by Deborah Yonick

NEW SOURCES

Meanwhile, phase one of a three-phase mining project is complete for Australia’s first major ruby deposit. Located in New South Wales, on a property owned by media mogul Kerry Packer, the mine is being developed under agreement with Cluff Resources Pacific, which had been digging test trenches on the land since 1999. Packer’s company, Consolidated Press Holdings Limited (CPH), purchases all mined corundum and processes and markets the stones through an exclusive agreement with New York City–based gem cutters and dealers Manning International.

"Our goal is to develop the deposit as a single source of highly refractive, very clean, completely untreated natural fancy colour sapphire and ruby," says Gerry Manning of Manning International. He also notes that distribution will be highly selective. Colours range from white to pink to red in three grades wholesaling from US $45 to US $800 a carat.

Further enquiries as to the value of the rubies are referred to www.premacut.com, the website for the cutting factory contracted by CPH to cut the Gloucester ruby and sapphire. This displays a pricelist for the wholesale purchase of natural ruby and sapphire of the cut and quality to which the Gloucester Ruby Project aspires. The prices indicated on the site are consistent with Mr. Manning’s statement.

The value of any gemstone is dependent on the four Cs of colour, clarity, cut and carat. Despite the world class cutting standards achieved by Premacut, there is a large variation in the other three characteristics within the Gloucester gemstones, and accordingly values vary greatly from stone to stone. As part of Phase 2 operations, which have recently commenced, Manning International is now classifying over 200,000 gemstones cut during Phase 1 to determine the proportions which fall into each value category. When completed, and the results known, the question of the average value of these gems will have been answered. CPH is also actively working on a plan to place the stones in the wholesale jewellery market.

Peter Kennewell,
Managing Director





5th May 2004
Final payment of $150,105 for Phase 1 production received from CPH Limited

The Company is pleased to advise the receipt today of a $150,105 payment from CPH Limited, with respect to the most recent parcel of gemstone concentrate delivered to CPH’s processing and marketing operation.

This brings the total of payments received by Cluff from CPH Limited for production from phase 1 of operations at the Gloucester Ruby Project to $294,042.

The first payment of $34,730 for phase 1 production was received in early November 2003, and several more have been received since, as Cluff progressively mined then delivered the gemstone concentrate to CPH: $14,039 in late November, $47,215 in December, and $47,953 in January 2004.

Once mining resumes under stage 2 of the agreement, CPH Limited will continue to receive the production and reimburse Cluff for the gemstones. The ruby deposit occurs on EL 5336 held by NSW Gold, a 100% subsidiary of the Company. It is subject to a business arrangement with Consolidated Press Holdings by which Cluff Resources Pacific NL will receive 20% of the net profits from sale of gemstones marketed by CPH. CPH purchases the gemstones from Cluff at production cost plus 10%.

Peter Kennewell,
Managing Director



3rd May 2004
Security Purchase Plan


The Company has established a Security Purchase Plan for its shareholders, in order to allocate further funds towards the successful development of its current projects.

The Plan is open to all current shareholders, and provides them with the opportunity to purchase listed shares in parcels from a minimum of $250 up to a maximum of $5000.

The letter accompanying the Plan documents is shown below:

Dear Shareholder,

SECURITY PURCHASE PLAN
(Formerly the Share Purchase Scheme)

The Company has planned a vigorous work program for the coming year, with three projects aiming to produce a positive cash flow in the near future. The exercise of options in December provided the Company with funds to complete its diamond exploration shaft at Copeton, to continue production and sales of the rubies from the mining program at Gloucester, and to meet administrative costs for the next twelve months. Little surplus funds will remain.

Your Directors are not satisfied with this situation. They feel that in order to progress the Company beyond this, and into a faster growth track, there needs to be additional effort put into ensuring both a reliable cash flow, and a complementary and well directed exploration effort. This exploration aims to demonstrate the blue sky potential of our projects. A consistent thrust on both these fronts will, we feel, ensure a rising share price over the coming year.

Accordingly we are again implementing the Company’s security purchase plan to raise funds to ensure these aims are met.
We will be offering for sale an additional 10% of the Company’s ordinary shares at 2.5 cents each. This is at a 20% discount on the average trading price for the five days prior to the announcement of the offer. We remind shareholders that this is strictly on a "first come first served" basis, and that previously some applicants have missed out due to high demand. Accordingly we recommend that shareholders apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

The Board is discussing underwriting of the first $1.5 million dollars of the Plan, and an agreement on normal underwriting terms is expected shortly. If finalised, this underwriting will ensure that the funds are available, and that the aggressive development and exploration program proposed will go ahead.

It is intended that money raised will not be spent on administration, as these costs have already been budgeted for the next twelve months. All funds are planned to be directly spent on the development and exploration projects. If the diamond test shaft at Copeton is successful, additional prospecting drives will be necessary to more fully evaluate the deposit. If the deposit is suitable for smaller scale mining, a headframe will be necessary, and an additional shaft will be sunk for safety and ventilation reasons. A new diamond bearing horizon has been located on the Bingara diamond field, and further testing of this is necessary to demonstrate the potential of the field to contain a large diamond resource.

Whilst the Gloucester ruby processing operation has been upgraded over the last few months, two large six wheel drive trucks will need to be purchased to ensure the increased throughput. As well as production activities, the Company needs to continue the exploration program to locate primary sources for the Gloucester rubies, both around the area being mined at present, and throughout the surrounding region, where Cluff will be entitled to an increased 50% of the net profits from marketing by CPH.

Following the imminent grant of mining leases at our 100% owned sapphire mining project at Anakie, a test program will be fast tracked and a production plant established onsite. Although much of the necessary equipment is already owned by the Company, a crew will need to establish the plant, and operate it until a saleable parcel of sapphire has been produced and sold, and the mine is profitable.

Your Board looks forward to an exciting twelve months.

Yours faithfully,

Peter Kennewell,
Managing Director




22nd April 2004

Cluff and CPH proceed to Phase 2, Gloucester Ruby Project

The Company has achieved a major milestone in the successful progression to Phase 2 of its Gloucester Ruby Project. Consolidated Press Holdings Limited has advised the Company that it will proceed with a Feasibility Study for a large scale ruby mine.

During the work program, Cluff will continue mining operations on CPH’s property at the increased throughput rate, and CPH will purchase Cluff’s gemstones under the current arrangement, at production cost plus ten percent margin. When sold, CPH will account to Cluff for 20% of the net proceeds of the marketing of the stones.

The study will review the Mining and Processing Operations to determine the most appropriate production rate, mining methods and costs. It will also assess in detail the Gem and Jewellery Marketing scenarios, and the cost of developing this market. An Environmental Management Plan will also be completed.

The Feasibility Study will determine the viability of proceeding to Phase 3 of the Agreement, which comprises full scale mining, processing, gemstone production and marketing.

CPH will initially pay for the study, but it will be amortised over the mine life if CPH and Cluff decide to proceed with full scale mining operations. It will be carried out by consultants in conjunction with both companies.

Peter Kennewell
Managing Director



21st April 2004
Dewatering bore commences at Copeton Diamond Shaft

Drilling of both the ten inch-wide dewatering bore and the pilot hole for the fifty metre diamond evaluation shaft at Copeton has commenced, and is expected to be completed this week. Dewatering of the diamond bearing ground to ensure safe working conditions will then commence, and is expected to take several weeks.

Development Consent to sink the shaft has been acknowledged by Guyra Shire Council, and a pumping licence for the bore granted by DIPNA. The shaft site has been cleared and leveled, the Mining Lease resurveyed, and an access road established by the Company’s newly appointed site production manager. Site visits by short listed tenderers are in progress, and the contract for shaft sinking is expected to be awarded in May.

Sinking of the shaft will commence as soon as the gravels at the bottom of the shaft have been dewatered. Once a portable head frame and other necessary equipment is on site, the Company expects that the contractor will complete the shaft within a few weeks.

An inferred resource of 500,000 carats of diamonds (200,000 tonnes at a grade of 250 carats per hundred tones) that was prospected early last century is being re accessed to recover a parcel of large gem quality diamonds for evaluation. The shaft will also determine the nature of the deposit, its grade and thickness, and assist in determining future mine production methods.
Diamond bearing rocks recovered from the shaft will be processed in the Company’s operating trommel and jig plant, less than two kilometres away at Mount Ross.

Peter Kennewell
Managing Director.



8th April 2004
Cluff takes 100% interest in Queensland Sapphire Project

The Company is pleased to announce the acquisition of an 100% interest and control of its previously 50%-owned Queensland Sapphire Joint Venture.

The $250,000 buyout of the 50% share previously owned by Junior Mining Pty Ltd gives full operatorship to the Company. The purchase includes over 80 hectares of mining leases and mining lease applications over sapphire bearing ground, the dry processing plant used in the previous operations, together with a scraper, small trucks and other associated processing equipment.

Strengthening the Company's decision is the recent finalisation of more than four years of negotiations to establish and implement an Indigenous Land Use Agreement over the Queensland Sapphire Gemfields. The agreement means that many sapphire mining lease applications throughout the gemfields which have been stalled for years are now being granted. It is expected that the field will spring to life after several years’ inactivity, as private operators, as well as Cluff, are able to access new ground.

The previous Cluff/Junior Mining Joint Venture produced 1,440,232 carats of rough sapphire over a period of 2 years. This production came from within 26 hectares of leases which had been intermittently mined by underground and open cut methods in an irregular and undocumented manner over the past hundred years, meaning that most ground processed by the previous Joint Venture consisted of remnants of old workings. Whenever virgin (unmined) ground was extracted, the grade was relatively consistent at about twelve grams of corundum per cubic metre over thicknesses greater than one metre, and with better quality stone.

An inferred resource of corundum has not yet been calculated for the 54 hectares of unmined areas included in the purchase, as access for prospecting is not allowed until the Indigenous Land Right Agreement has been implemented. These unmined areas are expected on average to carry similar grades and wash thicknesses to the above. The public road between the towns of Sapphire and Rubyvale, which separates the Company’s mined and unmined areas (see attached diagram), was worked for sapphire and corundum during the 1980’s, reputedly carrying good grades. The restoration included the present bitumen road, and was paid for from the sale proceeds as a condition of mining.

Production and sale of rough sapphire and corundum is planned as soon as practicable, once test pitting has confirmed the extent of the resource. Profits from this production are intended to exceed the administrative costs of the Company, enabling funds raised from shareholders in the future to be applied directly to exploration and development projects.


Peter Kennewell
Managing Director.

24th February 2004
Gloucester Ruby Project - Larger rubies recovered from Trench 4 area

The Company has completed the processing of 120 tonnes of ruby bearing gravels from the Trench 4 area.

The concentrate recovered from this section revealed rough gemstones of a much larger size than the recently excavated ruby pit area. Ruby grade was lower than from the pit area, at 4.7 carats per tonne, however there was a larger proportion of facet quality gemstone. The largest stone recovered was a 10.8 carat low quality corundum, and large gem quality sapphires were also found. Some of the larger stones recovered are shown.

Weight (carats)
Colour and Description Quality
10.8
Deep red, some internal fracturing Corundum
3.6
Red, translucent Cabachon/Corundum
8.1
Deep green sapphire, no fractures Facet gem quality
5.7
Deep blue sapphire, semi-translucent Cabachon
6.3
Green/yellow sapphire, dog's tooth shape Facet gem quality
5.4
Green/yellow sapphire, no fractures Facet gem quality

The gemstones from this area appear to be derived from a different source to those contained in the upper terrace gravels, and are thought to originate from a large depression in the upper reaches of the Gummi River. A Statement of Environmental Effects and application for approval for bulk sampling in this depression is in preparation.

Development Applications and an Environmental Impact Statement for the Gloucester Ruby Project have been lodged with the local Councils, and a meeting was held last week on site to allow the various organisations charged with approving the operation to familiarise themselves with the proposed affected areas, discuss any environmental concerns, and to observe the mining methodology. After approval of Development Consent and lodgment of the bond, the Company's plant will be permitted to increase its throughput from 150 tonnes per day at present to its full capacity of 250 tonnes per day.


Peter Kennewell
Managing Director



23rd January 2004
Reopening of Trench 4, Gloucester Ruby Project

The Middle Terrace near Trench 4, from which the largest rubies were obtained during the bulk sampling program, is to be reopened and a 120 tonne bulk sample taken. 15 and 11 carat flawed rubies, together with four gem quality rough stones larger than seven carats were obtained from Trench 4. Over 30% of the rubies recovered were larger than 4.5 mm in size. When processed, this bulk sample is expected to yield about 500 carats of larger rubies, many of which will be suitable for use in CPH Ltd's marketing program as feature stones.

Development Applications and an Environmental Impact Statement for the Gloucester Ruby Project have been lodged with the local Councils, and are currently being considered. A Notice of Intention to Mine Privately Owned Mineral, relating to the mining agreement previously signed with CPH Ltd, has also been lodged with the Department of Mineral Resources, and a suitable bond is being assessed. After approval of Development Consent and lodgment of the bond, the Company's plant will be permitted to increase its throughput from 150 tonnes per day at present to its full capacity of 250 tonnes per day.

Sufficient gravels have been included in these applications to allow mining for about three years. Further environmental approvals will be necessary for larger scale production, and application for these will be considered when economics and possible mining methods have been determined.

The ruby deposit occurs on EL 5336 held by NSW Gold, a 100% subsidiary of the Company. It is subject to a business arrangement with Consolidated Press Holdings by which Cluff Resources Pacific NL will receive 20% of the net profits from sale of gemstones marketed by CPH. CPH purchases the gemstones from Cluff at production cost plus 10%.

Peter Kennewell
Managing Director


13th January 2004
Sale of $117,000 cut sapphire parcel in New York

The Company is pleased to advise the sale of a large parcel of cut sapphire in New York. The parcel consisted of around 25,000 carats of blue and green sapphire mined from our Queensland operations. A wide variety of colours and sizes were represented in the parcel, the majority consisting of small round and oval cuts (less than 0.5 carats in weight).

The A$117,000 sale was negotiated with a large US-based company which operates a broad network of home shopping channels. The company has purchased the parcel with a view to making jewellery and promoting the sapphires as a distinctive natural Australian gemstone. It is anticipated that this approach will establish these sapphires as a ‘new’ product in the minds of consumers in the USA, and could lead to ongoing sales and higher prices for our production in the future.

Scott Enderby
Company Secretary

 

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