Environmental Compliance Certificate Granted for Agata Nickel Project
EDMONTON,
Alberta; May 27, 2008 - Mindoro Resources Ltd. (TSXV: MIO; Frankfurt:
WKN 906167) is very pleased to announce that the Environmental Compliance
Certificate (ECC) for the Agata nickel laterite project has been signed
by Secretary Jose L. Atienza, Jr. of the Department of the Environment
and Natural Resources, Philippines. The ECC is the major permitting
hurdle required to clear the way for the Direct Shipping Ore (DSO)
production planned for this year. Mindoro can now proceed to
acquire/process several additional minor permits/requirements necessary
to commence production. These are considerably less comprehensive and
less onerous to acquire than the ECC.
On April 30, 2008, Mindoro announced an early National Instrument 43-101
compliant mineral resource estimate for its Agata Nickel Laterite
Project, Philippines (see below About the Agata Nickel Laterite Project).
This will constitute the starter resource for the DSO operation.
Expansion of this resource is in progress.
A scoping evaluation for the Agata North nickel laterite project is in
progress. Mindoro notes that there has been a recent softening in prices
quoted for DSO nickel laterite ore. It is believed that this is a result
of the shutdown of many nickel pig iron blast furnaces in China for
environmental reasons; likely accelerated by the upcoming Olympic Games.
It is not known whether these will be re-commissioned once the Olympics
are over. Nevertheless, it is noted that the Chinese stainless steel
industry, which continues to expand, will still require nickel feedstock,
for which nickel pig iron has now formed an important source. It is
uncertain where and how this demand will be met. It is possible that the
shutdown will lead to an acceleration in the construction of processing
plants offshore, which Mindoro believes offers considerable potential for
the development of an integrated nickel laterite mining and processing
industry in the Philippines (see about the Agata Nickel Laterite Project
below).
Mindoro is continuing to receive expressions of interest to purchase material
from the Agata Project and will continue to advance all development
alternatives for the Agata nickel laterite in the best interests of its
shareholders.
There has been insufficient exploration to define mineral resources
other than those disclosed in this release; it is uncertain if further
exploration will result in additional mineral resources or that these
resources will be economic or sufficient to support a commercial mining
operation. Until a feasibility study has been completed there is no
certainty that the company's projections will be economically viable.
The ECC covers an area of 600 hectares within the Agata Mineral
Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA), including both the Agata North and
Agata South projects. Agata South is a joint venture with Delta
Earthmoving of the Philippines, who have also been operating exploration
of Agata South. Mindoro recently received from Delta the exploration
results to date from Agata South, and is currently having an independent
nickel laterite expert evaluate these.
ABOUT THE AGATA NICKEL LATERITE PROJECT
The nickel laterite prospect is situated on the Agata Project, Surigao
Gold District, northern Mindanao, Philippines. The Surigao Gold District
is not only a current and historical gold producing district but, with
the recent discovery of a cluster of porphyry copper gold deposits, it
also has high potential to become a major copper-gold camp. Mindoro has
multiple gold and copper-gold targets in the Surigao District at varying
stages of drill evaluation.
The Surigao Region is now emerging as a major nickel producing district,
and there are at least eight nickel laterite deposits either in
production or being developed; providing DSO to markets and processing
plants in China, Japan, Korea and Australia. These include the SR Metals
Mine, immediately adjacent to Mindoro's Agata nickel laterite project. A
preliminary, starter resource has been released for Agata (see below).
Agata has strong competitive advantages, with good grades, just two to
three kilometers from tide water, with corresponding low haul distance
and costs, and only two days shipping from China. Uniquely, DSO nickel
laterite operations have a low-capital cost and offer a rapid route to
production and cash-flow.
Agata North Mineral Resource Estimate
The Mineral Resource model was generated by Dallas Cox, BE (Min), an
independent qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. A total of 134 drill holes, comprising 2,921 meters of
diamond drill core and 2,874 assay samples, were used for the estimate.
An Inverse Distance Squared grade estimation method was utilized within
tightly constrained lithological and grade domains. Both dry metric
tonnes (DMT) and wet metric tonnes (WMT) are quoted since the saleable
unit for DSO production is actually WMT.
Summary of the Mineral Resource Estimate:
Resource: Combined limonite and saprolite @ 0.8% Ni
cutoff grade
|
Category
|
Mil. WMT
|
Mil. DMT
|
Ni%
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Co%
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Fe%
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Measured
|
1.22
|
0.9
|
1.27
|
0.063
|
23
|
Indicated
|
3.18
|
2.36
|
1.24
|
0.064
|
23
|
Total Meas. + Ind.
|
4.40
|
3.26
|
1.25
|
0.063
|
23
|
Inferred
|
2.45
|
1.83
|
1.23
|
0.062
|
22
|
- Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves
do not have demonstrated economic viability.
- The estimate of mineral resources may be
materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title,
taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
- It is uncertain if further exploration will
result in upgrading the Inferred mineral resource to an Indicated or
Measured mineral resource or the Indicated mineral resource to a
Measured Resource category.
While much of the Surigao District nickel laterite
production has been as DSO to processing plants in Japan, Australia and
China, several attractive alternatives are emerging for local processing,
which include; at the low technology end of the spectrum, constructing a
blast or electric furnace for nickel pig iron production (low grade
ferro-nickel product which is increasingly entrenching itself as a
substitute for refined nickel in stainless steel production), heap
leaching for which pilot testing on another Philippine laterite deposit
has produced promising results, atmospheric (tank) leaching, and a new
generation of High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) plants. HPAL technology is
currently being used with great success by Sumitomo on its Philippine
Coral Bay operation, and show considerable promise for the local
processing of Surigao ores. In fact, Sumitomo recently announced plans to
proceed with permitting to construct an HPAL plant in the Surigao
District. This HPAL technology has a proven track record in the
Philippines.
Construction of a local processing plant, rather than simply shipping out
raw product, would greatly increase the returns to all stakeholders;
including Mindoro, its Philippine partner, the local people, local
government units, and to the Philippines itself.
As noted in a February 7, 2008 news release, there is abundant evidence
of the beginning of a trend for local/on-site processing of Philippine
laterite ores and the growth of a large high-value industry in the
Philippines. Mindoro expects that the prolifically nickel
laterite-mineralized Surigao District will be an important part of this
evolution.
Programs are carried out under the supervision of Tony Climie, P.Geol.,
president of Mindoro, who is a qualified person as defined by National
Instrument 43-101. Sample preparation and assaying were performed by
McPhar Laboratory of Manila, an ISO 9001/2000 accredited laboratory. Ni,
Co, Fe, MgO and Al2O3 assays are performed by AAS after an HCl-HNO3-HClO4
digest, and SiO2 by gravimetric method. Normal Quality Control and
Quality Assurance procedures are being carried out, using a system of
duplicate samples. MRL has also conducted assays verification by using
standard samples and re-assaying of field, coarse and pulp duplicates.
ABOUT MINDORO
Mindoro is a Tier 1 Issuer trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (MIO) and
the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN 906167). In addition to advancing the
Agata nickel laterite project towards production, Mindoro has announced
National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimates on both its Kay
Tanda gold-silver project (Batangas region) and on its Agata nickel
project (Surigao region). The company has also identified 22 porphyry
copper-gold prospects in the Philippines and has an aggressive strategy
of drilling multiple targets in 2008. Additional technical and investor
information is available on Mindoro's website at www.mindoro.com.
For further information, contact:
HEAD OFFICE
Penny Gould
Executive Vice President
Phone: 780.413.8187
Toll Free: 1.877.413.8187
E-mail: penny@mindoro.com
Website: www.mindoro.com
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INVESTOR RELATIONS-CANADA
Trent Dahl
Ascenta Capital Partners Inc.
Phone: 604.628.5800
Toll Free: 1.866.684.4209 ext. 228
E-mail: info@mindoro.com
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INVESTOR RELATIONS-EUROPE
Richard Mayr
Argentuminvest GmbH
Phone: +49.9421.785250
Fax: +49.9421.785255
E-mail: info@argentuminvest.com
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The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This
release may contain forward-looking statements including management's
assessments of future plans and operations, and expectations of future
production. These statements are based on current expectations that
involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks
include, but are not limited to, the risks associated with the mining and
exploration industry (e.g. operational risks in development, exploration
and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or
development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve
estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to
production). The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements,
although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to
be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on
forward-looking statements.
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