Nickel Laterite Exploration

GlobeStar's strategy for its nickel laterite concessions is to maximize value to the Company by identifying mineralized material that may be processed economically through existing nickel facilities, or by other processing alternatives, including development of a stand-alone operation. The potential to utilize existing smelting infrastructure may provide GlobeStar with an advantage compared with similar greenfield, stand-alone nickel laterite projects.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS Three concessions, C1, Corozal and Cercadillo, held 100% by GlobeStar totaling 60 square kilometers (6,000 hectares) over the nickel laterites of the Dominican Republic. Indicated mineral resources of 3.0 million tonnes grading 1.49% nickel and Inferred mineral resources of 3.2 million tonnes grading 1.5% nickel at cut-off grades of 1.0% nickel at the Cumpié Hill project located on the C1 Concession. View technical report Conceptual mining study for the Cumpié Hill project completed in 2008 and environmental impact assessment study underway and to be completed in 2009. Two other projects in the vicinity of Cumpié Hill are Corozal and La Leonora. The southernmost concession, Cercadillo, holds potential for saprolitic ridge top in-situ lateritic horizons and also for significant transported limonitic/saprolitic blanket mineralization NICKEL LATERITE EXPLORATION Location and Access                                                                                                                                                                                                         GlobeStar's concessions cover the largest nickel laterite occurrence in the Dominican Republic outside the mining leases held by Falcondo. GlobeStar's C1 Concession is immediately adjacent to the Falcondo complex. Cumpié Hill is GlobeStar’s most advanced nickel laterite exploration project and is just 7 kilometers from the Falcondo smelter. The Corozal Ridge project is located approximately 3.5 kilometers east of Cumpié Hill and 1.5 kilometers west of the Company’s Cerro de Maimón copper/gold operation. The Cercadillo concession is approximately 20 kilometers to the southeast of Cumpié Hill and is located at the southern end of the Dominican nickel laterite belt, of which GlobeStar controls approximately 44 linear kilometers. Geology of the Dominican Nickel Laterite Belt Nickel laterite deposits in the Dominican Republic are associated with a belt of alpine-type serpentinized ultramafic rocks (peridotites) that extends over a distance of 95 kilometers along the eastern flank of the Cordillera Central. The geological setting of GlobeStar’s concessions is similar to that of Xstrata’s Falcondo property and to other nickel laterite deposits, such as Loma de Hierro in Venezuela and Onça Puma in Brazil. Under the tropical weathering conditions of the Dominican Republic, nickel grades may be enhanced in the laterite which develops over the peridotite. The typical laterite weathering profile here consists of an upper zone of high iron limonite with typical grades of 0.2-1.5% nickel which is underlain by saprolite with typical grades of 1.5-2.0% nickel. The laterite profile over the peridotites in the Dominican Republic is approximately 30 meters thick, with the zone of nickel enrichment ranging from 2 to 20 meters in thickness. A typical cross-section through any of these deposits shows the nickel mineralization to be thickest on the hilltops and to thin and finally pinch out on the flanks of the hills. Cumpié Hill Project Two main areas of nickel laterite development have been identified in the Cumpiê Hill project area, designated as the  Cumpié and the Loma Mala sectors. The Cumpié sector consists of three separated areas of nickel laterite which together cover an area of 33 hectares over a combined strike length of approximately 1,250 meters in a north-south direction and with an average width of 300 meters from west to east. The thickness of the laterite profile ranges from 2 to 40 meters with an average thickness of 20 meters. Limonite, transition, and saprolite horizons are developed at Cumpié, although, generally, the limonite is less well developed and/or preserved than the transitional and saprolite zones. The contact between the laterite profile and the underlying ultramafic peridotite bedrock contact is generally gradational and barren peridotite remnants and boulders are common within the laterite zone.

Cumpié Hill drilling program                           Cumpié Hill drilling program                                 Nickel Land Position                                     click to enlarge

Cumpié Hill Project Location                                                                    click to enlarge

The Loma Mala sector covers an area of 8.4 hectares over a strike length of approximately 400 meters in a north-south direction and with a maximum width of 400 meters east to west in the northern part, narrowing to around 150 meters in the south. The thickness of the laterite profile ranges from 2 to 20 meters with an average thickness of 13 meters. As at Cumpié, limonite, transition, and saprolite horizons are developed at Loma Mala, and the limonite is less well developed and/or preserved than the transitional and saprolite zones. The contact between laterite and ultramafic bedrock contact is generally transitional and barren rock remnants and boulders are common in the laterite. Mineral resource estimates were reported in February 2008 for the combined Cumpié and Loma Mala deposits on the Cumpié Hill project at a range of cut-off grades, as shown in the table below: A preliminary conceptual mining study for the Cumpié Hill deposits was completed by independent consultants in 2008 and an environmental assessment is in preparation by a Dominican Republic environmental consulting company.

Representative cross section of the Cumpié Hill Ni laterite deposit                                                               click to enlarge

Cumpié Hill Mineral Resource Classification Cut-Off Grade (% Ni) Tonnage (million tonnes) Grade (% Ni) Contained Ni (thousand tonnes) Indicated 0.8 3.7 1.38 51   0.9 3.4 1.43 49   1 3 1.49 45   1.1 2.6 1.55 41   1.2 2.3 1.61 37   1.3 2 1.67 33   1.4 1.7 1.72 30           Inferred 0.8 4.1 1.3 53   0.9 3.7 1.4 52   1 3.2 1.5 48   1.1 2.7 1.5 41   1.2 2.3 1.6 37   1.3 2.1 1.6 34   1.4 1.7 1.7 29