5th JULY 2007
ANGUS & ROSS PLC
(Angus & Ross or the Company)
(AIM: AGU)
BLACK ANGEL UPDATE
US$30 MILLION LOAN FACILITY APPROVED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF
BLACK ANGEL MINE AND FURTHER
EXPLORATION
Angus
& Ross plc, the AIM listed mining exploration company with interests in
Greenland, Brazil and Australia, is pleased to update the market with
developments at its Black Angel mine following Mondays EGM, at which
shareholders approved the US$30 million facility
agreement with Cyrus Capital Partners LP.
This
is an important step forward for the Company especially given the fact that the
financing has been achieved before a Bankable Feasibility Study has been
completed. Now that the financing is in place the Company can start to accelerate
the development of the Black Angel project, including the start of initial ore
production in 2008 and increased exploration activity.
HIGHLIGHTS
- US$30 million loan facility agreed with 37.5 million 3
year warrant issue at 20p;
- Exercise of warrants at todays exchange rates would
amount to a further US$15 million in financing;
- Access to the financing should enable the re-opening
of the mine to take place a year earlier than anticipated;
- Onsite camp
established; civil engineering work commenced along with cable car
renovation;
- Initial production and ore shipments from the mine
expected to commence in 2008 with full scale concentrate production in
2009;
- Exploration
drilling underway with over 2400 metres already completed so far this
year and a 150 metre
extension to the Glacier discovery defined; �
- Recent offset hole
at the Glacier discovery has intersected 3 metres of
mineralization visually estimated to contain 30% combined Zn/Pb; �
- Exploration
programme being increased to test other prospects on the 259 sq km licence
area; drilling to start within the mine later in the year.
Access
The civil
engineering required for the installation of the cable car, which will enable
access to the mine, is currently underway. In addition, the cable car is
presently being renovated and will be arriving at the mine later this year.
Drilling
Once the
cable car is up and running, Angus & Ross will be able to significantly
increase mining and exploration operations within the mine. However,
exploration outside the mine is currently underway with 2,400m of drilling
already completed. This includes confirmation of a 150m extension of the 700m
strike length of the South Lakes Glacier mineralized trend drilled last year.
The first set of samples has already been sent to laboratories in Sweden
and results will be announced as soon as available. �
In
the last two days the company received a report that one offset hole to the
Glacier extension had intersected 3 metres of high grade mineralization visually
estimated to contain about� 30% combined
Zn/Pb (at a depth of around 165m). Experience from last years drilling allows
confidence that visual estimates are usually close to assayed values.
Infrastructure
The Company
continues to progress towards reopening the mine and will shortly be sending a
team in to inspect the mine infrastructure left by Cominco and Boliden. A
positive report could result in significant cost and time savings. Initial
inspection by a former Power Plant manager last week established that the
electrical installation of the mine is intact.
Camp
Refurbishment
The Black
Angel camp has now been fully refurbished and has good facilities for 44
people. The focus remains firmly on gearing up operations with further drill
crews and construction workers planned to be on site later this year.
Brazil
and Australia
Angus &
Rosss Brazilian and Australian operations continue to develop with the Company
focusing on providing a broad exploration and production portfolio. In
particular an update to the Brazilian operations was announced on 26th
June; details are on the companys website www.angusandross.com.
Angus & Ross
Chairman Robin
Andrews said: We
are pleased to have won the support of our shareholders in securing this
finance facility. We can now accelerate the development of the Black Angel
mine, with initial production and ore shipments expected to commence in 2008.
The mine reopening is now ahead of schedule and we are keen to push ahead with
our summer exploration programme.� Already
preliminary results are giving great encouragement.
With work also progressing well at our Brazilian projects, we feel this is an exciting
time for Angus & Ross, and we look forward to updating the market with
further progress in due course.
For further information
contact:
Angus
& Ross
Robin Andrews,
Chairman�������������������������������������������������������������� Tel: 01751 430988
Paul Williams, Finance Director������������������������������������������������������ Tel: 01606 855022
Bishopsgate
Communications Ltd ��������������������� ������������������������Tel: 020 7562 3350
Nick
Rome
Fran
Read
Teather & Greenwood ������ ����������� ���������������������������������������������� �Tel:
020 7426 9000
Fred Walsh
Seb Jones