July 10th, 2009 (Vancouver, British Columbia). Hana Mining Ltd., (TSX-V: HMG) (Frankfurt: 4LH) is pleased to announce that The Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies (“Fraser Survey”) once again ranks favourably the investment climate in Botswana against the 71 jurisdictions (a combination of countries, provinces and states) included in its most recent survey. The Fraser Survey has become the standard by which foreign investment risk is assessed in the minerals industry, because it is tailored and focused specifically on exploration, mining activity and policy, and because it is assembled from mineral resource company inputs.
The top three scorers in the Fraser Survey were Quebec, Wyoming, and Nevada. The bottom three positions were Venezuela, Ecuador, and Guatemala. Botswana ranked 18th overall, out of the 71 jurisdictions surveyed this year, with the highest score of any African nation, and second only to Chile in Latin America. This ranking placed Botswana above such favorable mining jurisdictions as Western Australia, Spain, New South Wales, British Columbia, Queensland, Ireland, Arizona, Mexico, and Peru. In fact, on a country by country basis, using the best jurisdiction within a country as the score for that country, Botswana ranked 7th out of 41 countries surveyed, behind Canada, United States, Chile, Sweden, Finland and Australia. A second index, intended to factor in mineral prospectiveness, raises the ranking for Botswana to 17th, out of 71 jurisdictions, and still most attractive in Africa.
Hana Mining’s President, Peter Wilson commented as follows:
“Hana Mining continues to receive strong support by the federal and local governments as well as the people of the local communities surrounding our Ghanzi Copper-Silver Project in Botswana. We are committed to working with all of our stakeholders as we endeavour to develop the Ghanzi Project into Africa’s premier copper-silver deposit. The Fraser Survey result for 2009 is pleasing, in that it confirms our belief in the quality of the investment climate in Botswana.”
About the Fraser Survey
The Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies was sent to approximately 3,000 exploration, development, and other mining-related companies around the world. Several mining publications and associations also helped publicize the survey. The survey represents responses from 658 of those companies. The rankings, formed from mineral resource company responses to specific questions, consider the full range of risk profiles for various countries, including existing business and environmental regulations, mineral rights, regulatory duplication and inconsistencies, taxation, uncertainty concerning native land claims and protected areas, infrastructure, socioeconomic agreements, political stability, labor issues, geological database, and security. The companies participating in the survey reported exploration spending of US$3.4 billion in 2008 and of US$3.02 billion in 2007. Thus, survey respondents represent 24 percent of total global nonferrous exploration of US$14.4 billion in 2008 and 30 percent of US$9.99 billion in 2007 as reported by the Metals Economics Group.
About Hana Mining’s Ghanzi Copper-Silver Project in Botswana
The Ghanzi Project is located in northwestern Botswana. The property consists of license blocks covering 2,200 sq. km. The area contains sediment-hosted copper-silver deposits with a demonstrated cumulative strike length of over 16 kilometres. Power is available from the town of Maun (pop. 50,000), and the paved trans-Kalahari highway which runs from Namibia to South Africa, passes within 15 km of the property.
Hana Mining recently released results of it’s first NI 43-101 resource estimate for the Ghanzi Project (see press release dated June 1, 2009), announcing an inferred resource of 2.9 Billion lb of copper and 51.1 Million oz of silver (0.3% Cu cut-off grade). The company has sufficient working capital to continue drilling the Ghanzi Project, with the goal of making the property one of Africa’s premier copper-silver resources.
Hana Mining Ltd. is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (“HMG”) and the Frankfurt Exchange (“4LH”).
FURTHER INFORMATION
Contact :
Peter G. Wilson
President & Director
Hana Mining Ltd.
Tel: (604) 676-0824
Email: info@hanamining.com
Website: www.hanamining.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company’s future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. |