Robust Reports 1.18 Million Ounce Gold Equivalent JORC Mineral Resource Estimate for Romang Island

ASX: ROL

• 1.18 Moz Gold Equivalent¹ in JORC Indicated and Inferred Categories
• 592,000 Ounces Gold
• 27.7 Million Ounces Silver
• Two-thirds of Gold Equivalent Ounces in the higher "Indicated" JORC resource category
• Base metal resources in the polymetallic sulphide zone:
• Copper: 95 Million Pounds
• Lead: 697 Million Pounds
• Zinc: 678 Million Pounds
• Resource estimate based on tightly-focused drilling at Lakuwahi Project - scope for significant increase
• Aggressive $15 million exploration programme planned for 2012 with seven diamond drill rigs on site
• Project development studies underway

SYDNEY, Australia, Jan. 10, 2012 /CNW/ - Robust Resources Limited ('Robust' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce the results of the maiden JORC code compliant mineral resource estimate ("JORC resource estimate" or "Estimate") for the Lakuwahi Project on Romang Island, Indonesia. The independent estimate of 1.18 million gold equivalent ounces is in line with the Company's expectations at the current stage, and limited areal extent, of exploration.

The Lakuwahi Project is situated within a large 6km by 4km Magnetite Destruction Zone (MDZ) on the southern section of Romang Island, where Robust has mainly focused diamond drilling on three prospects - Batu Mas, Batu Hitam and Batu Hitam West. The JORC resource estimate, which was carried out by independent consultants Micromine Consulting Services (MCS) of Perth WA, is based on the results of drilling these three prospects only.

The JORC Code Compliant Mineral Resource Estimate

The Lakuwahi mineral deposits discovered so far generally consist of upper oxide, gold and silver rich caps, which are underlain by sulphide-bearing breccias containing potentially economic concentrations of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc. The mineral resource has been estimated to JORC compliant standards for both the oxide and sulphide sections of the deposit, using lower cut offs of 0.2 g/t Au and 10 g/t Ag. No top cuts for gold, silver or base metals were used or deemed necessary for the estimate².

The resource estimate of 1.18 million gold equivalent ounces is classified within the JORC Indicated and Inferred categories. Base metal resources of 95 million pounds of copper, 697 million pounds of lead and 678 million pounds of zinc are estimated to occur in the sulphide portions of the deposit.

Two-thirds of the gold equivalent ounces are classified as JORC Indicated, with the remaining one-third being classified as JORC Inferred. The Mineral Resource Table below breaks down the estimate into the various JORC categories.

Zone	Class	Mass Million Tonnes	Au Equiv g/t	Au g/t	Ag g/t	Cu %	Pb %	Zn %	Au Equiv Thousand Ounces	Au Thousand Ounces	Ag Thousand Ounces	Cu Million Pounds	Pb Million Pounds	Zn Million Pounds
Oxide	Indicated	6.8	1.49	0.84	30.8				328	184	6,763
	Inferred	2.8	1.26	0.54	33.9				114	49	3,073
	Total	9.6	1.42	0.75	31.7				442	232	9,836
Sulphide	Indicated	21.6	0.67	0.36	14.3	0.11	0.68	0.76	462	251	9,899	54	324	360
	Inferred	14.1	0.61	0.24	17.5	0.13	1.20	1.03	276	108	7,928	41	374	318
	Total	35.6	0.64	0.31	15.6	0.12	0.89	0.86	738	359	17,827	95	697	678
Total	Indicated	28.4	0.86	0.48	18.2				790	435	16,662	54	324	360
	Inferred	16.9	0.72	0.29	20.3				390	156	11,002	41	374	318
	Total	45.3	0.81	0.41	19.0				1,180	592	27,663	95	697	678

All figures are rounded to reflect that they are approximate and any apparent summation differences in totals is due to this rounding

The complete resource table from MCS can be accessed at http://www.robustresources.com.au.

The JORC Resource Estimate in the Context of the Overall Exploration Potential of Romang Island
This JORC resource estimate quantifies significant accumulations of metals. There is strong evidence that this is only the first stage of an even more substantial discovery within the Lakuwahi Project area. Figure 1 shows the wireframes defining the Lakuwahi JORC resource estimate plotted in relation to the highly prospective resistivity anomalies, which lie within the overall Lakuwahi Magnetite Destruction Zone (MDZ) mineralising system. Untested and minimally tested anomalies such as Batu Jagung, Batu Perak and Batu Hitam South, are priority drilling targets for 2012 and are considered to have a high potential for further large-scale discovery.

Recent announcements by Robust illustrate the fact that the substantially drilled prospects of Batu Mas, Batu Hitam and Batu Hitam West remain largely open for further extensions and discovery. The drilled area is a small proportion of the overall mineralising system.

Development Path
While the discovery of additional mineral resources on Romang Island is a priority for Robust, the JORC resource estimate announced today is an important milestone that will form the basis for development studies necessary for the commercialisation of the mineral deposits.

The Company is currently investigating the viability of mining and treating the near-surface gold-silver deposit in the short to medium term. Metallurgical studies are well advanced and will continue into 2012. Results so far confirm the early indications that the oxide gold - silver mineralisation is highly amenable to standard, low-cost processing methods.

The fact that two-thirds of the JORC resource estimate is classified as "Indicated" means that these mineral resources can form the basis of a prefeasibility study and infill drilling which will lead on to a feasibility study if successful. It is the company's intention to complete the front-end work for mining, processing, marketing and environmental pre-feasibility studies on the oxide project in 2012.

Detailed metallurgical testwork is proceeding in order to define a treatment path for the sulphide mineralisation. The sulphide project is potentially large and should require a greater capital outlay. The Company is optimistic that development of the sulphides can proceed soon after the oxide project is brought into production.

Managing Director Gary Lewis said: "The completion of the Company's maiden JORC resource estimate is undoubtedly a major milestone for the company; and the results thus far confirm our initial geological modelling and understanding of the Project.

"It is important to stress however, that this maiden JORC resource estimate is based on the drilling results of a small area within the Lakuwahi Project. As such, we have every confidence that this maiden resource will continue to increase as our exploration activities advance in 2012 and beyond. The future discovery potential for Romang Island is significant.

"Robust intends to continue aggressively exploring Romang Island with seven drills on-site and a $15 million exploration budget earmarked for fiscal year 2012. This exploration is fully funded and will continue in unison with our project development efforts.

"We are now on the path to becoming a producer and are advancing our front-end project development studies. We will continue to update shareholders on our exploration and development activities on Romang, as well as on our exploration efforts in the Philippines".

About Robust
Robust Resources Limited is engaged in the discovery, exploration and development of precious and base metal mineral deposits in Indonesia and the Philippines. The Company's most advanced project is the Lakuwahi gold-silver-copper-lead-zinc deposit on Romang Island, in eastern Indonesia. Lakuwahi is a significant greenfields discovery with high potential for expansion of the currently stated JORC mineral resources of 1.18 Million ounces gold equivalent plus base metal credits. Robust's dual focus is to become a significant low cost precious and base metal producer on Romang Island as well as making new discoveries from its exciting portfolio of exploration properties in Indonesia and the Philippines. Robust trades on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the symbol ROL.AX. More information is available at www.robustresources.com.au.

Competent Persons Statements

The Lakuwahi mineral resource estimate is based on research and information compiled by Mr. Serikjan Urbisinov who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Urbisinov is a full-time consultant to Micromine Pty Ltd trading as Micromine Consulting Services and has greater than five years experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the estimation of mineral resources. Mr Urbisinov has reviewed the contents of this announcement that refers to Mineral Resources and has provided prior written consent to the form and context in which it appears.

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results is based on data compiled by John Levings BSc, who is a Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and who has more than ten years experience in the field of activity being reported on. Mr Levings is a director of the Company. Mr Levings 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 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr Levings consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

1. Gold Equivalent = gold assay + (silver assay / 47) where the number 47 represents the ratio where 47 g/t Ag = 1g/t Au. This ratio was calculated from the average of the 12 months of Financial Year 2011 from July 2010 to June 2011 taken from published World Bank Commodity Price Data (http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTDECPROSPECTS/0,,contentMDK:21574907~menuPK:7859231~pagePK:64165401~piPK:64165026~theSitePK:476883,00.html). The metal prices thus used in the calculation are the average Gold price of USD $1371.36 per ounce and average Silver price of USD $28.96 per ounce. 2. The Lakuwahi JORC Resource was estimated by MCS two ways: a) using no top cuts and b) applied top cuts for Au (12 g/t) and Ag (350 g/t). Please refer to the file that shows the resources both for uncut and top-cut values. Since not many assays are above the top cut values; therefore, the resource totals are very similar.
   

To view Figure 1, please click here http://files.newswire.ca/365/RobustMaps(1).pdf

Gary Lewis - Managing Director on [phone]