Lefroy Exploration Limited announced that Gold Fields Limited is due to commence a major aircore (AC) drilling program on the Company's tenements at Western Lefroy. The program is part of the $25 million Farm-In and Joint Venture (FIJV) agreement between Lefroy and Gold Fields. Gold Fields is a South African based gold producer with seven operating mines in Australia, Ghana, Peru and South Africa with a total attributable annual gold-equivalent production of 2.2 million ounces.

Mining assets in Australia include a 100% interest in St Ives, Agnew and Granny Smith in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia with a combined annual production of 935koz. Gold Fields also has a 50% interest in the Gruyere gold mine with Gold Road Resources also in the Eastern Goldfields. The tenements form part of the Western Lefroy tenement JV package that cover 372km2 adjoining the St Ives gold camp.

Western Lefroy is part of the wholly owned greater Lefroy Gold Project (LGP) located 50km south east of Kalgoorlie. The program will involve completing approximately 1318 vertical holes spaced 400m apart on traverses 400m apart to cover most of the land area of the Western Lefroy tenement package. This program will yield foundation geological and geochemical information that will be interrogated in conjunction with the geophysical data to deliver specific targets for AC, RC and diamond drilling.

The air core program is expected to take 6 months to complete, but dependent on land access. Results material to the Company will be reported to the market as the program progresses. The AC drilling is a reconnaissance technique, searching for both geochemical anomalies and geology from the bedrock or top of fresh rock (TOFR) beneath the surface and oxidised rock that comprise the regolith.

The depth of the regolith and TOFR is highly variable, ranging from 5m to 100m vertical and averaging 35m. The variability in the depth to TOFR is also controlled by the distribution and thickness of palaeochannels (ancient river channels) that mask the underlying older bedrock. The interface between the palaeochannel material and bedrock can have a variable thickness of pebble gravels and or sand that can be mineralized.

The gold bearing gravels and sands can be used as a vector to locate the primary source in the bedrock.