Alba Mineral Resources Regulatory News (ALBA)

25 Oct 2006 09:00

Alba Mineral Resources PLC25 October 2006 Alba Mineral Resources plc ("Alba" or "the Company") Acquisition of Additional Swedish Exploration Licences Alba Mineral Resources plc, the UK based exploration company with a diversifiedcommodities portfolio, announces the award of three exploration licences fornickel, copper, cobalt, gold, silver, platinum and palladium (totalling 4,863hectares) in southern Sweden. These acquisitions form the second part of astrategic partnership with Altius Minerals Corporation (TSX-V: ALS) to explorefor magmatic nickel sulphide deposits in Scandinavia. Work programmes havecommenced and field programmes are scheduled for early Q2 2007. Highlights • Three new exploration licences awarded to Alba in areas consideredhighly prospective for nickel, copper, cobalt, gold, silver, platinum andpalladium with mineralization showing comparisons to previously worked mines inScandinavia • The licence at Kleva contains a past-producing nickel-copper mine (ca.54,000 tonnes of ore with a grade of 1.9% Ni) that has an associated magneticanomaly and anomalies of a similar magnitude remain untested within the licencearea. Michael Nott, Managing Director, Alba Mineral Resources commented; "We are veryexcited by the untested magnetic anomalies on the Kleva licence, especially whenyou note that one magnetic anomaly is coincident with the former nickel mine.Our new southern Swedish licences present further excellent targets for Alba'sactivities in Sweden, complementing our four previously announced properties inthe north of the country. The Company now has seven licences in Sweden, totaling9,363 hectares, giving us a strong ground position in prospective geologicalareas. I believe our ground in Sweden, in conjunction with our Arthrath nickelproject in Scotland, which is worked in partnership with Inco, means Alba isfast becoming a significant player in nickel exploration in Europe at a time ofrecord nickel prices". Granting of Exploration Licences A work programme has commenced with database construction and detailed targetgeneration studies with field sampling programmes planned during the first halfof 2007. The licences award Alba the rights to explore for nickel (Ni), copper (Cu),cobalt (Co), gold (Au), silver (Ag) and platinum group metals (PGM). The threeawarded exploration licences in the Jonkoping District, southern Sweden, are asfollows: • Kleva (4400 hectares) • Lindas (209.5 hectares) • Bjorkmossa (253.5 hectares) In accordance with the Swedish mining law, licences can only be explored by aSwedish registered company. Alba Mineral Resources Sweden AB has beenestablished as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alba to comply with this law andconduct this exploration work. Alba has two further licences under application in Sweden for Ni-Cu-Co-PGM. Onelicence is located in the Jonkoping District, and the second is in the VindelnNickel Belt of the Vasterbotten District. A further announcement will be maderegarding the status of these licences. ENDS For further information contact: Michael Nott, Managing DirectorAlba Mineral Resources plc Tel: +44 (0) 207 499 8334 Justine Howarth/ Victoria ThomasParkgreen Communications. Tel: +44 (0)20 7493 3713 Liam Murray City Financial Associates Tel: +44 (0)20 7090 7800 Notes to Editors Alba Mineral Resources plc is a committed explorer with a diversified commodityportfolio, primarily nickel, gold, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals,focussed on the Appalachian-Caledonide trend, a zone extending from the easternseaboard of North America to Scandinavia. Alba currently has interests in anumber of well researched properties in Scotland, Ireland and Sweden, owned inits own right or in conjunction with other parties. Geology and Mineral Potential of the Licences The three licences awarded in the Jonkoping District are underlain by ca. 1.85Ga mafic (gabbronorite, gabbro and diorite) intrusions which make up theTrans-Scandinavian Igneous Belt. This belt of mafic intrusive rocks extendsnorthward into Norway and hosts the former Espedalen nickel mine (1000 tonnes ofnickel with an average grade of 1.0%). The Kleva licence is centred on theformer Kleva nickel-copper mine, sporadically mined between 1845 and 1920, whichproduced a total of 1200 tonnes nickel and 500 tonnes of copper from ore with anaverage grade of 1.9 % Ni, 0.2 % copper and 0.8 % cobalt. The ore occurs astwo zones of massive sulphides in irregular pipe and stock-like bodiessurrounded by disseminated sulphides in the gabbronorite. Airborne geophysicsflown by the Swedish Geological Survey (SGU) identified a magnetic anomalyassociated with the Kleva mine and several anomalies of a similar magnituderemain to be tested on the licence. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange