Annual exploration report year ending 31 March 2004 Howley Ridge Group MCN 377-380, 852-857, 1035, 3099-3115, 3117

Abstract

The Howley Ridge mineral claims are located 130km SSE of Darwin, NT and 8km NW of the Cosmopolitan Howley Mine in the Burnside region of the Pine Creek Geosyncline. The tenements occupy a segment of the axis of the Howley Anticline. This asymmetric fold structure is a focus for gold mineralisation within Lower Proterozoic sediments and has been traced along strike for 30km. Northern Gold N.L. has completed many individual phases of exploration over the tenements including geological mapping, costeaning and channel sampling, RC drilling, RAB drilling, RRMIP geophysical surveys, ground magnetic surveys and geochemical soil sampling. The company also conducted several technical reviews to rank and develop targets. While the Howley Ridge area has revealed several narrow and locally high grade gold intersections, these have not formed a coherent economic entity despite some grade-control-density drilling on the most promising sectors of the structure. In April 2002 Northern Gold NL entered into a joint venture with Buffalo Creek Mines P/L. This agreement included the Howley Ridge tenements as part of a wider radius of activity around the Brocks Creek gold treatment facility. As a prospect at a mature stage of exploration and with some resource promise, Howley Ridge was again reviewed by JV manager, Burnside Operations P/L, during 2003-2004. It was found to rank at a low to medium level and is dependent on the prior exploitation of more advanced, larger tonnage deposits in the district. This review was part of the overall gold endowment study in the district that has the objective of identifying sufficient economic gold resources to support renewed mining operations based on the Zapopan and Cosmo Howley deposits.