In September 2002, Fox acquired the Radio Hill nickel sulphide plant and underground mine which are situated 35 kilometres south of Karratha in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The purchase consisted of the Radio Hill nickel treatment plant with a throughput capacity of 200,000 tonnes per annum, a fully operational 1.8 kilometre long underground decline to a depth of 270 metres, four nickel sulphide deposits and operational base facilities all within ten mining leases.

Previous owners from 1988 to 2002 have spent over $60 million in capital.  Approximately 20,000 tonnes of nickel and 16,000 tonnes of copper metal were produced over that period from Radio Hill. 

Milling involves conventional crushing, grinding and froth flotation.  Underground mining involves level development, longhole stope production and some handheld mining.

Four months of underground drilling in late 2003 established a two year JORC Resource of 438,000 tonnes at 1.98% Nickel and 1.49% Copper, which includes a reserve of 313,000 tonnes at 1.83% Nickel and 1.17% Copper. 

In January 2004, Fox appointed Roche Mining (JR) Process Engineering to commence refurbishment of the Radio Hill nickel sulphide plant to be commissioned by mid 2004.

In March 2004, Fox signed a three year off-take agreement with Jinchuan Limited to sell all copper concentrate processed from Radio Hill.  Both Fox and Jinchuan see this agreement as the beginning of a long term relationship to develop the nickel resources at Radio Hill and the Radio Hill province.

Jinchuan Group Ltd has an annual production capacity of 130,000 tonnes of nickel, 200,000 tonnes of copper and 6,000 tonnes of cobalt.  Jinchuan Ltd’s Nickel production accounts for more than 88% of the total in China.  Jinchuan Ltd is named the Nickel city of China and is currently the fourth largest nickel producer in the world.

In March 2005, the underground mining operation at Radio Hill successfully completed the change over to owner miner.  Production improved significantly in March compared with February where production was affected by the mining contractor experiencing poor equipment availability and a shortage of experienced skilled miners which is an industry wide phenomenon.

Since Fox purchased the Radio Hill mine in Sept 2002, nickel prices have increased significantly from US $6,000 to US$14,000 per tonne as at July 2005.  This increase in price greatly enhances the viability of the Radio Hill mine and potential of other nickel deposits within Fox’s extensive square kilometre land holding.

Fox has commenced an aggressive exploration program targeting nickel sulphide systems within 15 kilometres of the Radio Hill plant. Underground and surface drilling in conjunction with geophysical testing is being used to delineate nickel resources.