ASX RELEASE. QUARTERLY REPORT Quarter Ended 30 June 2011

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1 Aspire Mining Limited ABN: Unit 2, 454 Roberts Road Subiaco WA 6008 PO Box 1918 Subiaco WA 6904 Tel: (08) Fax: (08) ASX RELEASE Web: For Immediate Release 29 July 2011 QUARTERLY REPORT Quarter Ended 30 June 2011 Aspire Mining Limited (ASX: AKM, Aspire or the Company ) is pleased to present its June 2011 Quarterly Report to update shareholders on the Company s progress. Aspire is focused on developing its world-class 100%-owned Ovoot Coking Coal Project ( Ovoot ) in Northern Mongolia. It is also advancing the region s infrastructure to bring Ovoot coking coal to world markets. Aspire s other Mongolian assets include the Jilchigbulag Coal Project (100%), Nuramt Coal Project (100%), Shanagan Coal Project (51%) and the Zavkhan Iron Ore Project (earning 70%). Highlights Washability test results confirm theoretical 80% yields at an 8% ash content. Results collated from 100% of samples taken in 2010 exploration programme Production target for Stage 2 increased to 12 million tpa from 10.5 million tpa Stage 2 Pre-Feasibility Study set to commence in September Quarter 2011 Significant coal intersected at Jilchigbulag Coal Project confirming a growing new Coking Coal Province in Northern Mongolia Stage 1 scoping study nearing completion Commenced negotiations with coking coal marketing companies regarding Stage 1 production Board strengthened with two Non-Executive Directors and significant management appointments made Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 1

2 Aspire Confirms High Quality Coking Coal at Ovoot Early in the Quarter, Aspire released the average of all of the raw coal analysis from the 2010 exploration programme. Coal Type IM ad % Ash ad % Volatiles ad % Sulphur ad % CSN Energy Kcal\kg ad Raw Coking Coal Quality (In Situ) Table 1: 2010 Raw Coking Coal Quality 0.6% 19.5% 26.5% 1.2% 7.7 6,668 Under the ASTM coal ranking system, the coking coal from Ovoot is classified as High Volatile Bituminous B. Under the ISO coal classification standards, Ovoot coking coal is classified as Medium Rank B, high vitrinite, low ash, coking coal (washed 31.5 x 0 mm). Under both classification systems, Ovoot coking coal was confirmed as a high quality coking coal. Aspire has lifted production expectations for Ovoot based on the latest compilation of coal washability test results. The Company confirmed the high wash yield expectation for the Ovoot coking coal resource following receipt of 90% of its washed coal sample analyses from the 2010 drilling programme. The Company has now received all of its wash yield analysis and can reconfirm the theoretical wash yield of 80% to produce an 8% ash product with a CSN between 8 and 9 and volatiles at between 25% 28% on an air dried basis. Conceptual Ovoot Production Targets Lifted The coal washability test results confirming a high 80% yield to a coking coal product has lead Aspire to lift its conceptual production targets for the Ovoot Coking Coal Project to 12 million tonnes per annum ( tpa ) from 10.5 million tpa (refer Note 1). If achieved, this would potentially make Ovoot coking coal one of the lowest ash coking coal products in Mongolia. The revised production target assumes run-of-mine ( ROM ) coal of 15 million tpa which would position Ovoot as one of the largest coking coal mines globally. Note 1: These production targets are conceptual in nature and are based entirely on the existing mineral resource base of the Ovoot Coking Coal Project. Whilst Aspire believes that a sufficient amount of the existing mineral resource base has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, we note that there has been insufficient work done at this stage to define an ore reserve and it is uncertain if that further work will ultimately result in the determination of an ore reserve. Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 2

3 Stage 1 Scoping Study: Ovoot Coking Coal Project (100%) Aspire progressed plans for a two stage development of the Ovoot Coking Coal Project, and during the Quarter has progressed the scoping study for a Stage 1 Starter Open Pit. The scoping study is nearing completion. The Company has advanced the Stage 1 scoping study by undertaking a programme of infill drilling, water bore drilling and two large diameter bore holes to provide geotechnical data and bulk samples for coking test work and marketing trials. Baseline environmental and archaeological surveys have been completed. The large diameter geotechnical holes have provided over 600 kilograms ( kgs ) of samples which will be used for marketing and coke batch testwork. The Stage 1 scoping study has the potential to be a low capital, relatively higher operating cost operation based on a section of the Ovoot deposit which has low ash and is relatively near surface. The scoping study assumes Stage 1 production would be limited to 0.5 to 1 million tonnes per annum due to road capacity limitations. The rationale for a Stage 1 development is to demonstrate the Company s ability to deliver commercial quantities of direct ship quality coking coal consistently to a broad range of potential customers across North Asia, Russia and China. Subject to the Company s Board and other approvals and licencing processes, the Stage 1 Starter Open Pit can commence as early as March 2012 with first coking coal production in the December Quarter Key parameters of the scoping study include: Starter Open Pit targeting a 5 million tonne, low ash near surface portion of the overall million tonne JORC Compliant Resource. Limited pre-strip with steady state waste to coal of less than 4:1 (tonne to tonne). Coal processing limited to simple materials handling, crushing and sizing. All power and water requirements are readily accessible. The coal will be trucked to a rail siding at Erdenet to access the Trans Mongolian Railway to be railed to end markets and potentially to a port(s) to access seaborne markets. The Company received indicative overall truck and rail cost proposals from the Ovoot Project to the Russian far eastern Port of Vostochny. The Company is continuing discussions regarding access to a number of ports in Russia s Far East. Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 3

The indicative raw coal specifications are: CSN Ash Volatiles (ad basis) Sulphur P RoMax 9.0 10% 27% 1% 0.05% 1.15 1.

4 The indicative raw coal specifications are: CSN Ash Volatiles (ad basis) Sulphur P RoMax % 27% 1% 0.05% Table 2: Indicative Raw Coal Specifications, Stage 1 Stage 2 Pre-Feasibility Study: Ovoot Coking Coal Project Work conducted to date on the Stage 1 Project has provided Aspire with confidence to immediately commence planning for the Stage 2 development of the Ovoot Coking Coal Project. Stage 2 involves the development of a 15 million tonnes per annum ROM open pit mine which, based on the current indicative wash yield of 80% will produce as much as 12 million tpa of coking coal product (refer Note 1). Stage 2 requires the establishment of a rail link from the Ovoot Coking Coal Project through to the town of Moron and then on to the Trans Mongolian line at Erdenet. The Company is currently canvassing proposals from a number of technical service providers in order to complete a pre-feasibility study by the end of December 2011 in respect of the Stage 2 Project. Completion of a positive Stage 2 pre-feasibility study by then will allow for the movement to a Bankable Feasibility Study by January Production from Stage 2 could begin by 2016 as the following indicative timeline shows. Table 3: Timeline Infrastructure Developments The Company has been planning for access to the infrastructure required for both Stage 1 and Stage 2 developments at the Ovoot Coking Coal Project. Power The site of a planned permanent camp, office and workshop facilities lies adjacent to an existing high capacity power line that runs through the Ovoot leases. This power is being sourced from Russia at present. However, by the latter part of 2012 this will be replaced by a new privately-owned 60MW coal fired power station currently being built 70km from the Ovoot Project. The Company has entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with the power station s owners to supply coal to the facility. Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 4

Figure 1: 110 kva Power Lines adjacent to planned Permanent Camp and workshop area Water The Company has appointed Aquaterra, an international hydrological services company, to develop a water

5 Figure 1: 110 kva Power Lines adjacent to planned Permanent Camp and workshop area Water The Company has appointed Aquaterra, an international hydrological services company, to develop a water acquisition strategy for the Ovoot Project. Water monitoring bores have been established and flow rates are being measured. Plans are in place to establish a permanent water bore to support the camp and exploration activities. Road Road infrastructure is being developed locally. A sealed road is currently being constructed from the city of Erdenet through to Moron, a distance of 390km. This sealed road will replace the existing gravel roads that currently connect Erdenet to Moron. From Erdenet there are high quality roads through to the capital Ulaanbaatar and north to the Russian border at Naushki. The construction is expected to be approximately 100km east of Moron by the end of 2012 with the final section of this road being completed by the end of The Ovoot Coking Coal Project will require the upgrading of the existing road from Moron to Ovoot (180km). For the Stage 1 Starter Open Pit development this will also be used as a coal haulage road. An application for approval for the Company to commence the construction of this road is nearing completion. Assuming the granting of Board and Government approvals this year, it is possible that construction could start in March 2012 and be completed in six months. Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 5

Rail An extension of the Trans Mongolian Railway from Erdenet to Moron and to the Ovoot Coking Coal Project is required for the Stage 2 development to proceed.

A Mongolian rail consultancy group will be appointed shortly to complete a study to support the grant of a license to build the Erdenet to Ovoot rail extension.

6 Rail An extension of the Trans Mongolian Railway from Erdenet to Moron and to the Ovoot Coking Coal Project is required for the Stage 2 development to proceed. The Company has established a Mongolian Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to house the Company s rail interests. A Mongolian rail consultancy group will be appointed shortly to complete a study to support the grant of a license to build the Erdenet to Ovoot rail extension. This study should be completed by the end of The Company has also commenced discussions with Russian Rail regarding capacity allocations for both Stage 1 and 2 volumes. It was confirmed that there is capacity for Ovoot coking coal heading north along the Trans Mongolian Railway and that, subject to adequate Port capacity being secured, rail capacity would also be available on the Trans Siberian Railway. Another important development for the Company is the recent announcement from China Rail regarding the opening of the Inner Mongolian border crossing at Manzhouli for coal imports. This is the shortest distance to deliver coal into China from Ovoot and to connect through to North East Chinese Ports (refer Figure 2). Figure 2: Principle Logistic Routes to Market In the event that railing Ovoot coking coal west along the Trans Siberian Railway is feasible, there are now four principle logistics routes to market: Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 6

East along the Trans Siberian Railway to Far East Russian Ports. West along Trans Siberian Railway to Russian steel plants and European and Turkish customers.

7 East along the Trans Siberian Railway to Far East Russian Ports. West along Trans Siberian Railway to Russian steel plants and European and Turkish customers. East along the Trans Siberian Railway and then south into North Eastern China via Manzhouli. South along the Trans Mongolian Railway to Erenhot and Chinese markets. In addition, Hong Kong listed Mongolian Mining Corp (HK: 975) recently announced completion of a trial shipment of coking coal from its UHC Mine (near Tavan Tolgoi) through the Trans Mongolian and Trans Siberian Railways west to markets in Eastern Europe for Thyssen Krupp. Exploration Figure 3: Map of Aspire Exploration tenements plus other nearby projects Ovoot Coking Coal Project (100%) The 2011 exploration programme progressed with testing a number of seismic targets through the Quarter. Limited drilling directly to the east of the Resource area has identified a continuation of the coal bearing Jurassic sequence, carbonaceous siltstones and mudstones and multiple thin coal stringers up to 30cm. Exploration holes have planned depths of 300 metres but largely did not hit basement. To date no significant new seam thicknesses have been reported. The Company s exploration strategy is to target near surface coal to complement the existing million tonne JORC Compliant Resource. Reinterpretation of the seismic data is currently being investigated. A widespread magnetics programme will also be undertaken to assist with seismic interpretations as well as other geophysical techniques to enable targeting coal under the alluvial cover. Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 7

Three drill rigs are currently on site at Ovoot with a further core rig at Jilchigbulag expected to be relocated to Ovoot for exploration during August.

8 Three drill rigs are currently on site at Ovoot with a further core rig at Jilchigbulag expected to be relocated to Ovoot for exploration during August. The Company is targeting an exploration drilling programme into a newly identified area of shallow Jurassic sediments south of the Resource area which was previously believed to be basement. With the completion of the geotechnical drilling, exploration is now able to focus exploring the northern limit of the Ovoot Basin and to then test exploration targets further south. Initial exploration drilling has intersected the Jurassic Sediment sequence with carbonaceous sediments but in some cases drill holes were not completed to target depth. Jilchigbulag (100%) Jilchigbulag is a 2.5 square kilometre exploration license which surrounds an existing mine lease that supplies coal for thermal purposes to the town of Moron. During the Quarter the Company was able to mobilise a core drilling rig to the Jilchigbulag Project site. Drilling commenced in June and so far six holes have been completed. Coal has been intersected in five of these holes, the most promising area in a south east trending structure. Drilling intersected hard bright coal up to 8 metres in thickness. Coal is located in the lower Jurassic sequence and looks similar to Ovoot s high vitrinite coal. The coal quality will now be assessed before significant further work is conducted on the property. Discovery of coal at Jilchigbulag and at the Xanadu/Noble Group Joint Venture s nearby Nuurstei discovery, along with the Ovoot Coking Coal discovery confirms the high prospectivity of this region. As further work continues more discoveries are anticipated in what is developing into an important new coking coal province in the north of Mongolia. Aspire owns 100% of over 750 square kilometres of exploration ground in this area and is the largest license holder in this region. Figure 4: Drilling hole number 5 at Jilchigbulag Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 8

9 The proposed rail alignment comes within five kilometres of this project area. The strategy is to identify open pit or accessible underground coking coal resources that can access the Moron to Erdenet railway. Coal samples taken from Jilchigbulag drill holes have not been analysed at this time. The coal is logged as hard bright coal. Hole Coal Thickness (m) Coal From (m) Coal To (m) JB JB JB JB Table 3: Jilchigbulag Drilling Results (Intersections greater than 0.5 metres) NB: Taken from geological logs, still to be geophysically verified. Nuramt Project (100%) The Company currently controls 250 square kilometres of the Nuramt Basin. This basin is approximately seven kilometres wide and 35km long and contains widespread mapped Jurassic sediments which contain coal at Ovoot and Jilchigbulag. Nuramt is 20km due west of the recent Xanadu/Noble Group discovery at Nuurstei. In 2010, the Company drilled six holes adjacent to a significant outcrop of oxidised coal and Russian trenches. Most holes intersected carbonaceous material with one intersection of 12 metres of weathered coal from near surface. A seismic survey has just been completed over a large proportion of the license and is awaiting processing and interpretation for drill targeting. All available drilling resources are focused on Ovoot, so planning for a drilling programme in 2012 has now commenced. Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 9

10 Zavkhan Iron Ore Project (Earning 70%) The Company has the right to earn into a 70% interest in a six square kilometre exploration license that covers a known magnetic anomaly associated with surface grade magnetite and hematite at surface. A magnetics survey will commence shortly which will be at a higher resolution and will more specifically target the magnetic anomaly. A gravity survey is also being considered. The strategy behind Zavkhan is to investigate whether there are commercial quantities of Direct Ship Ore that could be added to the freight requirement for the proposed Ovoot to Erdenet Rail Line. Shanagan Joint Venture (Earning 50%) A short drilling programme was conducted to understand the stratigraphy of the coal bearing Permian age sediments mapped in this tenement. Thin ashy coal was intersected in one hole. The next phase of exploration is now being considered for Board and Management Appointments During the Quarter, Aspire announced the appointments of Mr Mark Read and Mr Andrew Edwards and as Non-Executive Directors of the Company and the resignation of Non- Executive Director Mr Russell Lynton-Brown. Mr Mark Read joined the Board effective 1 July He is the immediate past CEO and Managing Director of ASX listed coal engineering and technology company Sedgman Ltd. Prior to his appointment as chief of Sedgman, Mr Read was General Manager of Mining and Metals and Executive Director of engineering services firm Sinclair Knight Merz, where he was employed for 20 years. Mr Edwards also joined the Board, effective 01 July He a recently retired senior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers ( PwC ). Mr Edwards had a distinguished career with PwC spanning 35 years in Perth, Auckland and Sydney. He served as Managing Partner of the Perth practice for five years and led the Perth Advisory business. During the Quarter the Company also made two important management appointments. Mr Glen Ainsworth joined the Company in the role of Country Director based in the Company s Ulaanbaatar office. Mr Ainsworth was previously the Environmental Manager of Oyu Tolgoi, the massive copper and gold project and single largest mining undertaking in Mongolia. Mr Iestyn Broomfield also joined the Company in the role of Exploration Manager based in Mongolia. Iestyn has had considerable experience in coking coal for the BHP\Mitsubishi (BMA) joint venture in the Bowen Basin, and coal exploration in Indonesia. He also has had a significant background in a broad range of geophysics techniques. ---Ends-- Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 10

11 About Aspire Mining Limited Perth-based Aspire Mining Limited (ASX: AKM) owns 100% of the Ovoot Coking Coal Project in northern Mongolia. Ovoot has a 330 million tonne resource (93.3mt Measured, 182.4mt Indicated and 55.0mt Inferred). Aspire is currently targeting resource upgrades at Ovoot, as well as progressing development of key infrastructure including access to rail. For more information contact: Corporate David Paull Aspire Mining Ltd Managing Director Media Jane Grieve FD Competent Persons Statement In accordance with the Australian Securities Exchange requirements, the technical information contained in this announcement in relation to the Ovoot Coking Coal Project in Mongolia has been reviewed by Mr Neil Lithgow Non-Executive Director for Aspire Mining Limited. Mr Lithgow is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Lithgow consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears. The technical information contained in this announcement in relation to the JORC Compliant Coal Resource for the Ovoot Coking Coal Project in Mongolia has been reviewed by Mr Chris Arndt and Dr Bielin Shi of CSA Global Pty Ltd. The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Dr Bielin Shi, who is a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Dr Bielin Shi has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which she is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Arndt and Dr Shi of CSA Global Pty Ltd consent to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears. Aspire Mining Limited Announcement Page 11

Ovoot Coking Coal Project (100%)

NEW MAJOR MONGOLIAN COAL RESOURCE Ovoot Coking Coal Project (100%) ASX Announcement 13/10/2010 14/10/2010 ASPIRE MINING LIMITED ABN 46 122 417 243 Unit 2, 454 Roberts Road Subiaco, WA, 6008 P.O. Box 1918