AIM: EMED
14 January 2008
ENCOURAGING MINERALISATION IN 3RD PORPHYRY GOLD TARGET IN SLOVAKIA
EMED Mining Public
Limited (“EMED Mining” or “the Company”) announces that
extensive quartz mineralisation was intersected in the initial drillhole at the
Slatinske Lazy Prospect.� Slatinske Lazy is located 7.5km southwest of Biely
Vrch and 9.5 km east of Kralova, EMED Mining’s first and second porphyry
gold discoveries in Slovakia.
From visual inspection of drill core, Slatinske Lazy mineralisation is very
similar to that at Biely Vrch and Kralova, and is also hosted in a similar
suite of rocks - a quartz-vein stockwork in a potassic-altered
andesite porphyry. Assay results will be reported as received and
interpreted in due course.
During 2008 the Company
will further test the three zones discovered to date along with several more
targets identified from surface mapping and geochemical sampling by the
prospecting team within the Company’s large (1,107km2), 100%-owned
licences. The Company also intends to infill drill the Biely Vrch deposit with
the objective of defining an initial JORC-compliant mineral resource.
The Slatinske Lazy
mineralisation suggests that EMED Mining has discovered a cluster of porphyry
gold systems. The critical issue in determining economic viability will be
grade as these deposit styles are typically large-tonnage and low-grade. The
current gold price, which has recently exceeded the previously record prices of
the 1980’s, assists the economics of potential development scenarios.
Further drilling at
Slatinske Lazy will be attempted during the winter as the topography may make
this feasible in this particular location, despite below-zero temperatures and
snow cover.
A matter of equal
importance to the assessment of the technical merits of a project is the
assessment of sovereign risk and the degree of local support. As such, the
Company places an equal emphasis on in the establishment of its social licence
as it does on exploration. In this regard it is notable that the Company engages
in continuing consultation with the relevant local communities and that the Government
of Slovakia is encouraging responsible exploration and development, subject to
proper consultation and compliance with all regulations. As part of this
consultation process, the Company recently co-hosted in
Detva Slovakia,
with the local municipalities and with the Faculty of Environment of the
Technical University of Zvolen, an international conference on Responsible
Mining and Environmental Protection.
Commenting on today’s
results, Managing Director Harry Anagnostaras-Adams said:
“These initial results from
the Slatinske Lazy Prospect
are further encouragement for us to continue to seek porphyry gold deposits in
the region. Consultations with the community and regulators in Slovakia
continue to indicate strong support for our activities there.”
Further background
information on porphyry gold systems in Slovakia is available in Company
announcements dated 9 July 2007, 21 August 2007, 29 October 2007 and 8 November
2007.
-Ends-
Enquiries:
EMED Mining
|
RFC Corporate Finance
|
Fox-Davies Capital
|
Parkgreen Communications
|
Harry Anagnostaras-Adams
|
Stuart Laing
|
Daniel Fox-Davies
|
Justine Howarth / Erica Nelson
|
+357 9945 7843
|
+618 9480 2500
|
+44 20 7936 5220
|
+44 20 7851 7480
|
www.emed-mining.com
www.emed.tv
|
|
|
|
Competent
Person
References in this announcement to exploration results and
potential have been approved for release by Mr Ron Cunneen, B.Sc. (Honours).�
Mr Cunneen is Head of Exploration for EMED Mining and has more than 20
years’ relevant experience in the field of activity concerned. He is a
member of The Australian Institute
of Geoscientists
(“AIG”) and has consented to the inclusion of the material in the
form and context in which it appears.
Sampling
and Assaying Procedures
All drilling on the Kralova and Biely Vrch Prospects has been done
with PQ (85.0mm diameter), HQ (63.5mm diameter) and NQ (47.6mm diameter) size
core samples. Core recovery has averaged 95% throughout the mineralised zones.
All core has been logged and separated into 1.0m lengths. PQ size core has been
quartered, while HQ and NQ sized core have then been cut in half by a diamond
saw. The split core has then been sent for assay.
Sample preparation has been done by ALS – Chemex in Romania
and assayed for gold by 30gm fire assay (method Au-AA25). Both standards and
blanks have been used in the sample batches sent by EMED to ALS – Chemex
in line with EMED company quality control procedures.
Laboratory sample preparation, assaying procedures and chain of
custody are appropriately controlled. The Company maintains an archive of
half-core samples and a photographic record of all cores for future reference.
Notes to Editors: About
EMED Mining Public Limited
EMED Mining was admitted to trading on AIM in May 2005 following a
placing of its shares. In the two years since then the share price has increased
from 8p to the current 20p and market capitalisation has increased from approximately
�4 million to approximately �30 million. The Company is based in Cyprus and has a strong commitment to
responsible development of metal production operations in Europe,
with an initial focus on copper and gold.
The Company’s rapid growth reflects the experience of its
specialist team and the clarity of its strategy.
The Group’s region of interest are the tectonic belts
spanning across Europe and over to the Middle East.
The strategy is to evaluate exploration and development opportunities in
several jurisdictions throughout this quality mineral belt and to promote
sustainable development practices through implementation of European Union and
other leading-edge international standards. The Company has, from the outset,
strictly implemented its Environmental &
Community Policy which includes:
�
Integrating environmental management into
our business, planning and reporting processes.
�
Promoting a strong environmental ethic
throughout the company and the community.
�
Complying with, as a minimum, all applicable
local and European Union laws and regulations.
�
Communicating with community stakeholders
in a responsible and transparent manner.
EMED Mining has now established a strong position in the following
selected zones:
�
Exploration areas in Slovakia
are centred on a cluster of volcanic centres. Low-detection geochemical methods
are being applied to these areas for the first time together with open pit bulk
mining concepts. The principal targeted mineralisation style is low-grade,
bulk-mineable porphyry gold. The company has announced gold discoveries at
Biely Vrch, Kralova and Slatinske Lazy.
�
The mines at Rio Tinto in Spain
are probably amongst the best known in the world. They are, with the possible
exception of those in Cyprus,
the oldest capable o f still being worked. EMED Mining’s goal is to
restart copper production at its projects in both of these well-endowed,
historical mining districts. Both Spain
and Cyprus
are progressive members of the European Union and EMED Mining has been made to
feel welcome in both host countries. The styles of mineral deposits and
production techniques are similar in both mining districts. A goal of the
Company is complete the acquisition of an initial 51% interest in and to
restart production at Proyecto de Rio Tinto (“PRT”) in 2008 and
commence producing significant cash flows and profits. This remains subject to
satisfaction of conditions precedent, the principal one of which is regulatory
consent to the restart.
�
EMED Mining’s main prospects in Georgia
are gold prospects within the Upper Racha Licence, the country’s largest
minerals licence with many untested prospects. The Company has confirmed
Russian Resources of 1.0 million ounces gold at the Zopkhito Prospect (detailed
in 2006 Annual Report).
�
Exploration areas in Turkey
were vended into 32%-owned KEFI Minerals Plc which was admitted to AIM in
December 2006. KEFI Minerals owns carefully selected licence areas in Turkey,
as well as an extensive proprietary database of regional and specific
exploration data providing a pipeline of further projects to evaluate. The KEFI
Minerals team has mobilized into the field to explore the company’s
tenements and to expand the portfolio of licenses as opportunities warrant. See
www.kefi-minerals.com.
For further information on the
Company’s activities, visit www.emed-mining.com
or www.emed.tv.
Erica Nelson
Parkgreen Communications
Pegasus House
37-43 Sackville Street
London W1S 3EH
T: +44 (0) 20 7851 7480
F: +44 (0) 20 7494 9085
M: +44 (0) 7974 562 102
This email and
any files transmitted within it are confidential and intended solely for the use
of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
If you have received this email in error
please contact the sender on 020 7851 7480.