Alba Mineral Resources Regulatory News (ALBA)

13 Dec 2007 14:17

Alba Mineral Resources PLC13 December 2007 Alba Mineral Resources plc ("Alba" or "the Company") Trading update Alba Mineral Resources plc, the UK-based exploration company, announces it hasrecommenced active fieldwork exploration following a recently completedfundraising. Mauritania Ventures Ltd (MVL), in which Alba has a 50% interest, is pleased toannounce that preliminary fieldwork has commenced on the licences MV9 to 13 insouthern Mauritania. These licences show the potential to hostiron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) mineralization. The Mauritanide Belt hosts the Guelb Moghrein mine (23.7 Mt grading 1.88%. Cu,1.41 g/t Au, and 143 ppm Co), which lies 260 kilometres to the northwest ofMVL's southern licences. Paste the following link into your web browser to download the map in PDF formatrelated to this announcement: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/8638j_-2007-12-13.pdf MVL has also recently submitted a further licence application (MV14) to explorefor rhyolite-breccia hosted uranium mineralization in the north of the country.This licence was selected based on favourable geology and a coincident airborneuranium anomaly. Detailed fieldwork will take place on the northern licencesin the first quarter of 2008. The Company will continue to undertake all fieldwork within its currentfinancial resources. Michael Nott, Group Managing Director and Chairman, commented, "We are pleasedto report that our fieldwork in Mauritania has recommenced, and look forward toreporting the results of our reconnaissance work on the southern permits. Webelieve Mauritania to be under-explored and that the country has excellentpotential to host additional economic mineralization.'' The Company's overall corporate and exploration strategy will continue to be oneof developing a portfolio of well-researched, promising and prospectiveexploration properties that will be pursued further, either in the Company's ownright or in conjunction with other parties. 13 December 2007 ENDS EnquiriesMichael Nott, Managing Director and ChairmanAlba Mineral Resources plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7495 5326 Liam Murray, Nominated AdviserCity Financial Associates Tel: +44 (0)20 7492 4777 Notes to Editors Alba Mineral Resources plc is a junior explorer with a commodity focus onuranium, nickel and gold. Alba currently has interests in a number of wellresearched properties owned in its own right or in conjunction with otherparties, primarily in Scotland, Mauritania and Sweden and also has gold and basemetal interests in Ireland. To create value, projects will be either sold outright (in whole or part), spunoff into a separate company, joint ventured to include a cash consideration and/or a 'Net Smelter Return' or developed into operating mines. The Company's principal focus is on the Arthrath nickel-copper-platinum groupmetals project in Scotland, uranium and copper-gold in Mauritania, and nickeland copper-gold in Sweden. Precious and base metal properties in Ireland and Scotland will continue to formpart of the company portfolio, with a view to seeking joint ventures on eachwhere warranted. Geology and Mineral Potential of the Mauritania Permits The uranium permits held by MVL and one of the uranium permits pending areconsidered by the Company to be highly prospective for hosting unconformity-typeuranium mineralization, analogous to that seen in the Athabasca region ofCanada. The permits awarded cover significant areas of an unconformable contactbetween early Proterozoic reworked granitic terrane and overlying sediments oflate Proterozoic to Carboniferous age. Airborne geophysics flown on behalf of the Mauritanian Government indicatesradiometric anomalies within organic-rich units near the base of thesesedimentary sequences, coincident with large, deep-penetrating crustal shearstructures. Uranium mineralization is known to the north and northwest of thepermit area, and is hosted in granites and rhyolites cut by these shearstructures. Airborne radiometrics has been shown to be an effective technique inuranium exploration in Niger where radiometric anomalies are associated with allknown uranium deposits in the area surrounding the Arlit and Akouta uraniummines in the east of the country. Niger, some 2000 km east of MVL's current exploration activity, is the world'sthird largest producer of uranium after Canada and Australia. Dr Sandy M. Archibald (B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.) Technical Director of Alba hasreviewed the information contained herein. Dr. Archibald has sufficientexperience, which is relevant to the style of mineralization under considerationand to the activity he is undertaking as a qualified person as defined by theGuidance Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies under the AIM Rules forCompanies. END This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange