Stavely Minerals Limited announced that it is preparing to embark on a significant new phase of exploration activity at its 100%-owned Stavely Copper-Gold Project in Western Victoria after completing a review of regional and near-resource discovery opportunities. It should be noted that, while the respective drill intercepts are hosted on three different structures - the ultramafic contact fault (UCF, host to the Cayley Lode), the copper lode splay (CLS) and the north-south structure (NSS) - it is the mineral assemblage of each that is demonstrating thermal progression from a distal to a porphyry-proximal setting. It is possible that the system is driven by more than one porphyry phase and that there is temporal overprinting of mineralisation phases.

SMD032, 542.5m drill depth; SMD032 intercepted 6m at 6.73% Cu, 0.84g/t Au and 15g/t Ag from 538m drill depth. This sample clearly demonstrates that the earliest sulphide was massive pyrite which was then veined, brecciated and infilled by abundant chalcocite and later enargite. Enargite is a characteristic high sulphidation copper-arsenic sulphide.

It can be inferred that the enargite formed in cooler conditions. This can occur either at some distance away from the porphyry source, or as a late overprint as the entire system cools. SMD044W1 - 859.0m drill depth; SMD044W1 was a wedge `daughter' drill hole drilled to get a second intercept on the north- south structure at a depth of approximately 850m drill depth.

SMD044W1 intercepted 18m at 3.62% Cu, 0.28g/t Au and 15g/t Ag from 848m drill depth. The intercept demonstrated spectacular textures, again showing an early massive- to semi- massive pyrite phase, then brecciated and infilled by high-tenor copper sulphides bornite (purple), chalcocite (gun metal grey) and covellite (bright blue) with minor digenite, enargite and colusite also noted in petrology. Covellite, digenite, enargite and colusite are classic high sulphidation copper sulphides.

Colusite is a copper-vanadium-arsenic sulphide with a type-locality /first identified from the Colusa Claim at Butte, Montana. SMD050 - 85.3m drill depth SMD050 was the discovery drill-hole into the Cayley Lode. By the time drill-hole SMD049 had been drilled to a depth of 1.8 kilometres, having ended in the barren core of a phase-2 porphyry (the QDP or quartz diorite porphyry), two of consultants, Dr. Scott Halley and Dr. Greg Corbett, had recognised that the high-grade structurally-controlled mineralisation, as seen in previously described intercepts in SMD032 and SMD044W1, as being similar in character to those reported from the Butte, Montana and Magma, Arizona lode-style copper-gold-silver deposits.

Dr. Halley suggested that a junior exploration company may be challenged to fund continued deep exploration and that the structurally-controlled high-grade copper-gold-silver mineralisation should be targeted closer to surface. Stavely Minerals took that advice on-board and SMD050 was drilled to test the ultramafic contact fault near surface. SMD050 intercepted 32m at 5.88% Cu, 1.00g/t Au and 58g/t Ag from 62m drill depth.

The intercept in SMD050 was dominated by early massive- to semi-massive pyrite (as previously described in SMD032 and SMD044W1 above) which was subsequently fractured, brecciated and infilled by abundant high-tenor copper sulphides bornite and hypogene chalcocite . SMD173 - 390.6m drill depth; SMD173 was one of the last diamond drill holes completed during the Mineral Resource drill-out. Some investors and analysts had expressed some concerns that the Cayley Lode mineralisation did not extend below the low-angle structure and SMD 173 was designed to confirm Stavely Minerals' strongly-held conviction that mineralisation did continue at depth.

SMD173 intercepted 43m at 2.60% Cu, 0.42g/t Au and 10g/t Ag from 378m drill depth. Of significance is that the character of the mineralisation in SMD173 had changed relative to intercepts from previous drill holes. The early massive- to semi-massive pyrite phase was less evident and the interval was more dominantly characterised by jigsaw breccia to stockwork veins of quartz-chalcopyrite- hematite-specularite-magnetite.

There is very little pyrite in this interval. SMD182 - 423.5m drill depth SMD182 was the last drill hole completed in the Mineral Resource drill-out. The objective of this drill-hole was to further test the down-plunge extent of the Cayley Lode beyond SMD173.

SMD182 intersected 10.4m at 4.34% Cu, 3.17g/t Au and 11g/t Ag from 421m drill depth, including 4.9m at 6.74% Cu, 6.45g/t Au and 19g/t Ag. Two important observations from SMD182 are; 1) the clear association of hematite-specularite-magnetite-chalcopyrite with very little pyrite the near parity of gold grade in g/t to the copper grade in %. While the mineral association will be discussed in the next section, the potential economic significance of an increase in gold grades with high-grade copper in this intercept cannot be overstated.

As mentioned in the original announcement, more drilling is required to confirm this increase in relative gold grade but it is not unexpected given the change in the character of the mineralisation.