Mr. Stahlbush was previously the Project Feasibility Manager and later Engineering Manager for Kinross Gold's World-Class Kupol Mine in Russia
January 5, 2010 (Vancouver, British Columbia). Hana Mining Ltd., ("HMG" or the "Company") - (TSX-V: HMG) (Frankfurt: 4LH) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Fred Stahlbush as HMG's new VP Engineering.
As a mining engineer with over 30 years of experience in both operating environments and in mine construction/development, Fred brings valuable project engineering experience to the Company. Fred's previous experience includes positions with B2Gold Corp., Kinross Gold Corporation, Stillwater Mining Company, Echo Bay Mines Inc., and Hecla Mining Company. Much of Fred's experience has been in senior roles, in technical services and mine development engineering, in both surface and underground mine configurations, and across multiple projects, notably the Kupol Project in extreme northeast Russia.
Fred will join the Company in his new role next month, and has been granted 250,000 incentive stock options by the HMG Board. The options are exercisable at $1.23 per share and expire on January 5, 2015. All securities issued upon exercise of the options are subject to a hold period expiring four (4) months after the date of grant. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the options will vest each quarter, commencing on the date of grant. The options are subject to the terms and conditions of the Company's Stock Option Plan.
Hana Mining's President/COO, Jim Sullivan, commented as follows:"I am personally most pleased to welcome Fred to the management team at HMG. Fred has an ideal background to contribute the engineering and technical mine development leadership that we now require to transform our geologic copper-silver resource through feasibility into an economically mineable reserve. His recent experience, including Kupol, included responsibilities associated with metallurgy, mine engineering, construction cost estimation, infrastructure design/engineering and environmental permitting---exactly the tasks we have ahead for our resource and mining concept development work, for development of a PEA, and later a pre-feasibility study for the Ghanzi Project."
About Hana Mining's Ghanzi Copper-Silver Project in BotswanaThe Ghanzi Project is located in the center of the Kalahari copper belt in northwestern Botswana. The Ghanzi property covers 2,200 sq. km., and contains sediment-hosted copper-silver deposits with a demonstrated cumulative mineralized strike length of 25.7 kilometres. This favourable geology extends over the entire strike length of 600 kilometres 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 2.0 billion lb of copper and 34.9 million oz of silver from 60.4 million tonnes. This resource estimate is based on a 0.75% Cu cutoff grade, and averages 1.51% Cu and 17.98 g/t Ag. The Banana Zone represents 40.7 million tonnes of this total resource (67%), and is the current focus of the Company's drilling efforts and development focus for 2009 and 2010.
The Banana Zone exhibits certain areas of high grade Cu and Ag mineralization, particularly in the fold nose at the northern end of the zone, which represent an opportunity to locate starter pits and mine initial tonnages at higher than average grades. These +2% Cu pockets tend to be well within open pit depth parameters and represent opportunities to improve early cash flow and overall returns in development.
The project will benefit from contemplated rail/power infrastructure expansions, along with proximity to local population centers and workforce. A feasibility study is currently underway (funded by the World Bank and the governments of Botswana and Namibia) to support completion of a rail line link that would connect Botswana with the Namibian port of Walvis Bay, on the Atlantic coast. The closest existing railhead (to port) is at Gobabis, in Namibia, approximately 550 km from our property. A planned 600MW expansion of the government-owned Moropule Power Plant continues to advance, with US$825 million project funding secured in May 2009, and key supply contracts awarded. Currently, our project is served by the paved Trans-Kalahari highway, which passes within 15 km of the property.
Hana Mining is focused on demonstrating that the Ghanzi property represents one of Africa's premier future copper-silver resources.
For Further Information, contact:Marek Kreczmer, Chairman & CEO
Hana Mining Ltd.
Tel: (604) 676-0824
Email:
info@hanamining.comWebsite:
www.hanamining.comThe 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.
You can also view this News Release on our website at:
http://www.hanamining.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=379090