MetaLeach Limited

MetaLeach Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alexander Mining plc, formed in 2007 to enable the commercialisation of its proprietary hydrometallurgical mineral processing technologies. These technologies have the potential to revolutionise the extraction processes for many base metals deposits by reducing costs, and hence enhancing operating margins, at the mine site.

MetaLeach owns the intellectual property to two patent pending hydrometallurgical technologies, namely AmmLeach^® and HyperLeach^® , which are environmentally friendly, cost effective processes for the extraction of base metals from amenable ore deposits and concentrates allowing the production of high value products at the mine site (i.e. metal powder or sheets). These technologies were created as a result of the Company’s work at its Leon copper project in Argentina and subsequent research and development.

The AmmLeach^® process utilises ammonia-based chemistry under ambient (i.e. atmospheric pressure and temperature) conditions to selectively extract base metals (especially copper and zinc, but also nickel and cobalt). The target ores will typically be high acid consuming, although AmmLeach^® is also a viable alternative to acid leach processes as it is far more selective and offers a considerable number of technical and economic benefits.

The HyperLeach^® process utilises a chlorine based oxidant for the extraction of base metals (especially nickel, copper, zinc and cobalt) from sulphide ores and concentrates. Further development of HyperLeach ® has continued more slowly due to the emphasis on AmmLeach^®.

Commercialisation The following metals are particular targets for the AmmLeach® process:

• Copper and cobalt in carbonate and weathered oxide deposits;

• Zinc (and cadmium) in mixed oxide deposits;

• Nickel and cobalt in lateritic deposits; • Gold, silver and copper in leached porphyries;

• Pre-treatment of gold ores with high cyanide-soluble-copper levels;

• Polymetallic base metal deposits, especially uranium; and

• Leaching of base metals from roaster concentrates.

Of these, the copper (Cu) process has already been demonstrated at pilot plant scale. The zinc (Zn) process has been trialled successfully on a bench scale and testwork shows rapid leaching and high recoveries for several different zinc oxide ores
pre-treated according to the mineralogy. The cobalt (Co) process has been tested with excellent results. The nickel (Ni) process is still under development but early experiments show promise. During the year, the Company devoted a major effort in marketing its processing technologies to potential users. A global database encompassing producers, developers and advanced explorers of all sizes was created and is continuously updated. Inherent risk diversification is offered both geographically and by metal. The countries with the most prospective geology for hosting high acid consuming ores are Chile (Cu), Peru (Zn), Mexico (Zn), USA (Cu), Democratic Republic of the Congo (Cu, Co), Zambia (Cu, Co) and Australia (Cu, Co, Ni).

When compared with conventional exploration-driven mining companies, the business risks differ markedly. The stages at which MetaLeach technology is of interest to a potential user is from the project feasibility study stage, through to existing mining operations. As such, the inherent technical risks of the mining industry in discovering a potential new mine do not apply as a deposit has already been found.

The major initial commercialisation stage involves amenability testing of third party client ore samples. Initially, it was necessary for this testwork to be conducted by an independent laboratory with MetaLeach staff providing technical oversight and interpretation. However, the Company is building up its own testwork capabilities as the work load increases and this will escalate revenues significantly. To date, eleven revenue generating agreements have been signed. This work covers both existing mines and development projects.

In addition, the Company intends to maximise the potential of its technology by identifying and securing, where possible, equity interests in its own right in amenable deposits in exchange for the use of the technology.