Alba Mineral Resources Regulatory News (ALBA)

3 Jan 2007 12:16

Alba Mineral Resources PLC03 January 2007 Alba Mineral Resources plc ("Alba" or "the Company") Award of Licences and Trading Update Alba, the UK based exploration company announces the award of a further fiveexploration licences and one permit across its diversified commodities portfolioand provides an update of progress in Aberdeenshire. Highlights • New exploration focus for 2007 • Alba's 50 per cent. owned UK subsidiary Mauritania Ventures Limited (" MVL") awarded third uranium exploration permit in Mauritania • Crown Estate Commissioners award Alba four gold and silver exploration licences in Scotland • Alba awarded nickel exploration licence at Milletorp in southern Sweden • Companhia Vale do Rio Dolce ("CVRD") of Brazil waive option and withdraw from Scottish exploration in Aberdeenshire Mauritania: Award of third exploration licence The Company is pleased to announce that MVL has been awarded a third uraniumexploration permit (313), which covers an area of 1,493 km(2), in northernMauritania. MVL's three uranium exploration permits in Mauritania now total4,465 km(2), with three additional uranium exploration permits pending thatcover 4,478 km2. In addition, two gold and base-metals exploration permitswithin the same target area and covering approximately 2,985 km(2) area alsopending. http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9093o_-2007-1-3.pdf Work programme development has commenced on the uranium permit areas inMauritania with database construction and detailed target generation studiesusing remote sensing (Landsat and ASTER). Field-based exploration work willcommence in January 2007. Sweden: Award of eighth exploration licence The Swedish Mining Inspectorate (Bergsstaten) has recently granted Alba aneighth nickel exploration licence in southern Sweden. The Milletorp Nr1 licencecovers an area of 4.96 km(2), and is centred on a gabbro intrusion that containsdisseminated sulphide mineralization. Milletorp is situated 24 km south of KlevaNi-Cu-Co mine near Vetlanda, a past producing mine, where the Company hasanother exploration licence located nearby. Several of the granted licencesdemonstrate potential for other metalliferous targets, which the Company willalso evaluate. Scotland: Crown Estate Commissioners issues gold and silver exploration licences The Crown Estate Commissioners have issued four gold and silver explorationlicences in Alba's favour at Aberfeldy and Ochil Hills, both in Perthshire,Kilmelford in Argyllshire and at Arthrath in Aberdeenshire. Each licence represents a different style and age of mineralization: Dalradianmesothermal-vein (Aberfeldy), Devonian epithermal (Ochil Hills) Devonianintrusion-hosted (Kilmelford), and Ordovician mafic intrusion (Arthrath). Landaccess negotiations are underway and upon conclusion of access agreements it ishoped that field programmes will be initiated during Q2 2007. Agreement with CVRD Alba have been advised by INCO (Europe) Ltd, whose parent company were recentlyacquired by CVRD, that they will not be exercising their option to continueexploration activities at the Company's Aberdeenshire property in Scotland. This decision is based partly on their interpretation of recent geophysicalresults where moderate and low conductors were established over the 7 km strikelength of the project area, and CVRD's criteria for continued involvement. Albawill continue to work on the property and the wider regional area, with a viewto assessing the potential of the known area as a large tonnage, economicallyviable deposit. Managing Director's Statement Michael Nott, Managing Director, Alba Mineral Resources commented, "We areparticularly pleased to have been awarded a third uranium exploration permit inMauritania where we have established a large ground position now totalling some4,465 sq kilometres on especially prospective ground. We will commence ourground exploration work employing surface radiometrics and lithogeochemicalsampling in January 2007. Whilst we are disappointed that CVRD have decided to withdraw from the agreementin Scotland, the Company believes that the nickel project in Aberdeenshire, withestablished infrastructure, continues to have economic merit when compared toother sulphide nickel occurrences throughout the world. Alba will continue withan exploration programme, both locally and regionally, to explore the economicpotential of this known area of mineralization. In addition to our work in Aberdeenshire and Mauritania, the licences in Swedenand Scotland offer the Company significant opportunities to carry forwardadditional projects with the positive goal of establishing economically viabledeposits. We plan to focus our exploration efforts on these areas within the constraintsof the financial resources available to the Company and the Company will belooking to raise additional funds in the foreseeable future to enable it tocontinue to advance the development of its project portfolio.''. ENDS Enquiries Michael Nott, Managing DirectorAlba Mineral Resources plc Tel: +44 (0) 20 7499 8334 Justine Howarth/ Victoria ThomasParkgreen Communications Tel: +44 (0) 20 7851 7480 Liam Murray City Financial Associates Tel: +44 (0) 20 7090 7800 Notes to Editors Alba Mineral Resources plc is a committed, technically driven explorer with acommodity focus on uranium, nickel and gold. Alba currently has interests in anumber of well researched properties owned in its own right or in conjunctionwith other parties, primarily in Scotland, Mauritania and Sweden. The Companyalso has gold and base metal interests in Scotland and Ireland. 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. To create and realise value, projects will be either sold outright (in whole orpart), spun off into a separate company, joint ventured to include a cashconsideration and/or maintaining a 'Net Smelter Return' or developed intooperating mines. The Company will have a principal focus on the Arthrathnickel-copper-platinum group elements project in Scotland, uranium andcopper-gold in Mauritania, and nickel and copper-gold in Sweden. Alba will actively assess, as a priority, the uranium potential of the threeuranium permits awarded in Mauritania, and are fully committed to continuingnickel exploration in Sweden as part of a collaborative exploration effort partfunded by the Altius Minerals Corporation of Canada. Precious- and base- metal properties in Ireland and Scotland will continue toform part of the Company portfolio and will be carried forward on a timelybasis, with a view to seeking joint ventures on each where warranted. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange