Name:  Lac des Iles mine (LDIM).

 C ontrolling company:  North American Palladium (NAP).

Location: The mine is located about 85 km north-west of the city of Thunder Bay, in Ontario, Canada.

Brief history: Geological investigations in the area began with reconnaissance mapping in the early 1930s and again in the late 1960s, sparked by the discovery of aeromagnetic anomalies in the late 1950s.

Various exploration programmes were conducted over the next 25 years by several companies. In 1992, LDIM acquired the property, with openpit production starting in 1993. Until 2008, LDIM operated a combined openpit and underground mine from the Roby zone and a 14 000 t/d processing plant, producing a bulk nickel-copper-platinum-group element concentrate with gold credits. On October 21, 2008, NAP announced that, owing to depressed metal prices, it was temporarily placing Lac des Iles Mine on care and maintenance, effective as from October 29, 2008.

When palladium prices began to recover in December 2009, NAP announced that it would restart operations only as an underground mine. On April 14, 2010, NAP announced that the Roby underground mine was back in production, with a potential two- to three-year mine life.

Mine expansion started in early 2010 to access the Offset zone. Mine expansion plans consisted of shaft sinking and the extension of the ramp from the Roby zone to the Offset zone. Mining of the first Offset zone stope has started and the shaft sinking is in progress.

Brief description: LDIM, one of only two primary palladium mines in the world, is transitioning into a long-life, low-cost operation. The primary deposits on the property are the Roby zone and the Offset zone, both palladium deposits, with some platinum, gold, nickel, and copper by-products.

In addition, the company has identified three new mineralised zones in the vicinity of the Offset zone – the Cowboy zone, the Outlaw zone and the Sherriff zone.

Mining method: Longhole stoping, with cemented rock fill.

Products: Palladium, platinum, gold, copper, nickel.

Major infrastructure and equipment: LDIM has been operating as an openpit since 1993 and became an underground operation in 2006. The Offset zone project started with preparations for shaft sinking in 2010. To date, the project has added to the site infrastructure with the completion of the hoist house, the installation of all hoists, including commissioning of the service and auxiliary hoist; the construction of the headframe, and construction of the surface electrical substation. Accordingly, the site infrastructure that has supported these historical efforts is regarded as sufficient by LDIM to continue to meet the ongoing needs of the Offset zone Phase I project and the needs of the future underground mining plan.

Geology: The Lac des Iles deposit is hosted within an Archaean aged suite of mafic, ultramafic intrusives called the Lac des Iles Intrusive Complex.

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at June 30, 2012, were 8.88-million tons with a grading of 4.21 g/t palladium, 0.30 g/t platinum, 0.29 g/t gold, 0.11% nickel and 0.08% copper.

Resources: Total measured and indicated resources as at June 30, 2012, were 33.58-million tons with a grading of 2.78 g/t palladium, 0.23 g/t platinum, 0.20 g/t gold, 0.08% nickel and 0.05% copper. Total inferred resources were 13.67-million tons, with a grading of 3.59 g/t palladium, 0.30 g/t platinum, 0.23 g/t gold and 0.09 % nickel and 0.08% copper.

Prospects: The mine expansion has progressed substantially, with most of the surface infrastructure completed.

Contact person: Director investor relations and corporate communications, Camilla Bartosiewicz.

Contact details:
North American Palladium
Tel +1 416 360 7590
Fax +1 416 360 7709
Email camilla@nap.com
Website: www.napalladium.com