The first of three concentrate containers is loaded onto a ship in Geraldton, Australia.

The 6,600 dry metric tons (mt) of DSO grading approximately 30% copper depart-ed from Geraldton on the Flinterlandfor China. The shipment has an estimated value at the current spot copper price of approximately A$13 million. The high-grade DSO mined from the open-pit will be sold under two sales contracts, with MRI Trading AG and Yunnan Copper Corp. Ltd. This shipment marks Sandfire’s transi-tion to producer status with regular DSO shipments expected over the remainder of 2012 as the open-pit mine progresses through chalcocite, oxide and sulphide material. The mine commenced in May 2011 and is on schedule, with more than 7.7 million bank cubic meters of material mined to date.

Sandfire Managing Director Karl Simich said the first shipment of DeGrussa copper ore three years after the discovery of DeGrussa marked another outstanding achievement by the company, elevating it to the ranks of Australian mining compa-nies. “The sale of this remarkably high-grade ore over the coming months will, at current spot prices, generate significant value for the Company and its shareholders over a nine-month period,” Simich said.

“The overall project is now more than 80% complete and we remain on schedule and on budget, with the overall objective of delivering first underground ore to the SAG mill during Q3 CY2012. That will put us on track to ramp up production to an annual-ized level of 77,000 mt/y of copper and 36,000 oz/y of gold by early CY 2013.”