FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August
26, 2008 - Toronto
- Pele Mountain
Resources Inc. (TSX Venture: GEM)
("Pele" or the
"Company") today announced that it has
assembled a world-class technical team to develop its recently-named
Eco Ridge Mine project in Northern Ontario's historic Elliot
Lake uranium camp. In October 2007, Pele received a positive scoping study for the
project which outlined a NI 43-101 compliant resource of 6.4 million
pounds of "indicated" U3O8 and
36.1 million pounds of "inferred" U3O8 and
which provided the basis for an economically-viable,
environmentally-compliant uranium mining and processing operation.1
Complementing Vice President
of Uranium Operations Fergus Kerr, whose 35-year career includes 14
years in Elliot Lake
with Denison Mines, Pele's technical team now
also includes industry veterans Roger Payne and Don Hovdebo,
as well as SRK Consulting and SNC Lavalin.
Pele has also engaged leading strategic
communications firm, Hill & Knowlton, to assist the Company in
advancing the Eco Ridge Mine project.
"The name 'Eco Ridge Mine'
reflects our commitment to sustainable development as we lead the next
generation of uranium mining at Elliot Lake,"
explained Pele President and CEO Al
Shefsky. "The name was
carefully chosen to convey the unique nature of our project. Our
top-notch technical team is leveraging leading-edge,
environmentally-friendly technologies never before deployed in Canadian
uranium mining to develop a safe, secure, and reliable operation that,
we believe, will deliver significant long term benefits to the region
and to our shareholders."
Mr. Kerr added, "Our team is
committed to achieving environmental, economic, and social
sustainability at Eco Ridge. Every phase of this project, from
development through operation and decommissioning, is being designed to
safeguard the environment while providing Canada
with a dependable, long-term energy source."
Mr. Kerr is leading efforts
to finalize the license application and project description for
submission to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the
federal government's Major Projects Management Office. These documents
will detail Pele's innovative approach at Eco
Ridge, marking a significant advancement over methods used historically
at Elliot Lake. The mining,
processing, and waste management plans at Eco Ridge are the result of
optimization studies pursued since the release of the scoping study
which presented a "base case" scenario to support an 18-year
mine life with 826,000
pounds of annual uranium production.1
Roger Payne joins the Pele team as a technical consultant to provide
engineering and operational expertise. Mr. Payne has more than 40
years of professional engineering experience in Europe, Africa and the Americas,
including 17 years with Rio Algom Limited
where he held several senior positions.
Don Hovdebo
has also been retained as a technical consultant, advising Pele on permitting issues and the preparation
of its environmental impact assessment. Mr. Hovdebo
has more than 16 years experience in uranium mining and related
permitting issues, serving as project manager to both industry and
government on new mine environmental impact assessments and on mine
site decommissioning, reclamation, and final closure projects. He
is a principal at SRK Consulting.
SRK
Consulting is leading Pele's pre-feasibility
study at Eco Ridge, scheduled for completion in March 2009, in
collaboration with SNC-Lavalin. SRK
Consulting is developing the mine design and updating the NI 43-101
resource estimate, while SNC-Lavalin is
leading efforts to optimize ore processing and waste management.
SRK Consulting is an independent, international consulting practice
with wide-ranging experience in all phases of mining from exploration
to final closure. SNC-Lavalin is one of
the world's leading engineering and construction groups, with vast
experience in operations and maintenance services.
About Pele
Mountain
Resources
Pele Mountain Resources is committed to the sustainable
development of the Eco Ridge Mine in the historic Elliot
Lake mining camp. The company is developing a safe,
secure, and reliable uranium mining operation in order to deliver
lasting benefits to local communities and its shareholders. Pele also holds a diverse portfolio of gold,
diamond, and base metal projects in Northern
Ontario. Pele stock is
listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "GEM".
For further information
please contact Al Shefsky,
President, at (800) 315-7353, or visit the Pele
website at www.pelemountain.com.
- The Scoping Study is preliminary in nature and includes
both indicated and inferred mineral resources. Inferred
mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to
have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable
them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no
certainty that the preliminary assessment will be realized.
The TSX-V has not reviewed
and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking
statements, such as estimates and statements that describe Pele's future plans, objectives or goals, including
words to the effect that Pele or management
expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since forward-looking
statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature,
they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results in each
case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such
statements. The economic viability of the 43-101 mineral resource at Pele's Elliot Lake Project has not yet been
demonstrated by a preliminary feasibility study.