Amur Minerals Regulatory News (AMC)

15 Jan 2007 07:00

Amur Minerals Corporation15 January 2007 15 January 2007 Amur Minerals Corporation ("Amur" or "the Company") Kun-Manie Valuation Surges to $100M US Amur Minerals Corporation's (AIM: AMC) "in the ground" valuation has increasedby 43%. The valuation is now in the range of US$90-$110 million and is based onSRK Consulting's (SRK) December 2006 resource update for the Kun-Manie nickeland copper licence located in the far east of Russia. In summary:- • SRK's "in the ground" valuation now stands at US$90 to US$110 million, versus US$60 to US$80 million at admission less than a year ago. This is a 43% increase. The valuation is based on $5.80/lb nickel and $1.40/lb copper. • The overall resource has increased to 53.3 million tonnes. The average grades for nickel and copper are 0.48% nickel and 0.14% copper, respectively. This represents 254,500 tonnes of nickel and 73,000 tonnes of copper. The year end 2006 JORC compliant resource statement prepared by SRK follows. Orebody Tonnage Ni Ni Cu Cu (Mt) (%) (t) (%) (t) Total Measured 3.7 0.61 22,700 0.16 5,800 Total Indicated 32.7 0.47 153,100 0.14 44,500 Total Inferred 16.9 0.47 78,700 0.13 22,700 Grand Total 53.3 0.48 254,500 0.14 73,000 Robin Young, Amur's Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are extremelypleased with the US$100 million "in the ground" valuation and to have reportableMeasured Resources at Kun-Manie. We look forward to continued success in thiscoming year's field programme because there is significant potential to increaseresources in the areas we have drilled and other vast areas where ourinformation is still limited." The increased value is attributable to two key factors arising from this year'sdrill programme which follow: • Discovery of the Maly Krumkon deposit. SRK has estimated this newly discovered orebody to contain an Inferred Resource of 11.0 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.45% nickel and 0.14% copper containing 50,000 tonnes of nickel and 15,200 tonnes of copper. These resources are located along a length of 800 to 1,000 metres and can be observed at the surface. Geological mapping confirms the zone continues for at least 2 more kilometres which must be explored by trenching and drilling. Prospectivity on this deposit remains high. • Increased confidence in resource statements. The drilling of holes on a closer spacing at Vodorazdelny and Ikenskoe has confirmed the presence of the zones in both thickness and contained metal. SRK has therefore upgraded portions of the resource to categories of higher confidence. Presently, both Measured and Indicated resources have been enlarged over previously calculated resource estimates by SRK. Increased categories of higher confidence equates to lower risk. The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved onbehalf of SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd by Managing Director, Dr Mike Armitage, CEng,CGeol. Dr Armitage is a qualified professional geologist. Enquiries: Amur Minerals Corp. RBC Capital Markets Parkgreen CommunicationsRobin Young Andrew Smith Justine HowarthCEO Martin Eales Erica Nelson+44 (0) 7981 126 818 +44 (0) 20 7029 7881 +44 (0) 20 7851 7480 Notes to Editors About Amur Minerals Amur's principal asset is the 100% owned Kun-Manie exploration licence, anickel-copper deposit located in the Amur Province in the far east of theRussian Federation. The Kun-Manie licence area is approximately 950 km(2) andis located 700 km northeast of the capital city of Blagoveshchensk and is 750kmnorth of the Chinese border. In April 2004 ZAO Kun-Manie, a wholly ownedsubsidiary of Amur, was granted a licence to explore for nickel and relatedmetals, including copper and platinum, in respect of the Kun-Manie licence. Work carried out to date on the Kun-Manie licence including diamond coredrilling, trenching and geological mapping has identified four mineralisedtargets; the Vodorazdelny, Ikenskoe, Maly Krumkon and Falcon zones, each ofwhich warrant further exploration. The four zones are located within a 15kilometre long segment of the 40 kilometre long Krumkon Trend. This trend isthe primary exploration target within the licence area. An additional twotargets identified as Chornie Ispelene and Kubuk (also referred to as Ata) havebeen identified within the trend and also require additional geologicalinvestigation and drilling. In combination, the six zones are located alongapproximately 50% of the length of the Krumkon Trend. The remainder of thetrend also contains additional potential based on geochemical sampling andgeological mapping which has identified anomalously mineralised host structuresneeding additional reconnaissance and detailed exploration work. To date, detailed exploration and an independently calculated resource estimatecompiled by SRK Consulting indicates the presence of Measured, Indicated andInferred resources. These are contained within the three deposits, theVodorazdelny, Ikenskoe and Maly Krumkon zones. An update to the ResourceEstimate within the Competent Person's Report of the Amur Admission Document nowindicates these three zones contain a total of 53.3 Mt at a mean grade of 0.48%nickel and 0.14% copper containing 254,500 tonnes of nickel; and 73,000 tonnesof copper. This is summarised in the following table. SRK Consulting's 2006 Year End Resource Report Orebody Tonnage Ni Ni Cu Cu (Mt) (%) (t) (%) (t) Vodorazdelny Indicated 5.9 0.71 41,800 0.20 11,800 Ikenskoe Measured 3.7 0.61 22,700 0.16 5,800 Indicated 26.8 0.42 111,300 0.12 32,700 Sub-total 30.5 0.44 134,000 0.13 38,500 Inferred 5.9 0.49 28,700 0.13 7,500 Total Ikenskoe 36.4 0.45 162,700 0.13 46,000 Maly Krumkon Inferred 11.0 0.45 50,000 0.14 15,200 Total Measured 3.7 0.61 22,700 0.16 5,800 Total Indicated 32.7 0.47 153,100 0.14 44,500 Total Inferred 16.9 0.47 78,700 0.13 22,700 Grand Total 53.3 0.48 254,500 0.14 73,000 Amur also owns the Anadjakan gold-copper exploration licence in Kharaborvsk Krainear the well infrastructured city of Elban and chooses not to report any valueon this asset until it concludes its comprehensive review of all information andverifies existing Russian results. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange