Amur Minerals Regulatory News (AMC)

6 Jul 2006 07:00

Amur Minerals Corporation06 July 2006 6th July 2006 Amur Minerals Corporation ("Amur" or "the Company") SRK Consulting Confirms Kun-Manie Open Pit Potential Amur Minerals Corporation (AIM:AMC), the nickel copper exploration company withassets in far east Russia, announce that it has received SRK Consulting'sconceptual mining study on its Kun-Manie nickel project located in the AmurProvince. Results of this study confirm that the indicated and inferredresources within the Vodorazdelny and Ikenskoe ore bodies have the potential tobe recovered using conventional open pit mining methods. This conceptual studyprovides the beginning of the basis for establishing several of the keyoperating parameters including potential nominal plant capacities, miningproduction fleets and schedules and infrastructure requirements. Theseoperating parameters will be used in the final Request for Proposal ("RFP") forthe Pre-Feasibility study to be compiled over the next 12 to 18 months. The results of this study are based on the indicated and inferred resourcedetermined as at 31 December 2005 which is contained within the CompetentPerson's Report by SRK Consulting ("SRK"), reported in accordance with JORC Codedefinitions and guidelines as set out in the Company's March 10, 2006 AdmissionDocument. In summary, SRK's resource estimate comprises an Indicated MineralResource of 28.4Mt with mean grades of 0.47% nickel and 0.13% copper and anInferred Mineral Resource of 17.7Mt with mean grades of 0.43% nickel and 0.12%copper together containing approximately 209,000 tonnes of nickel and 58,500tonnes of copper. Commenting on the results of the study, CEO Robin Young stated, "We areextremely pleased with the results obtained by SRK Consulting's conceptualevaluation of the open pit potential of the Kun-Manie project. This work servesas a major milestone for the Company. It allows us to go forward withconfidence that certain assumptions within the planned Pre-Feasibility study arereasonable and that the mineralisation contained within the two ore bodiesidentified to date represents a substantial base for determination of theeconomic potential of Kun-Manie. It is also encouraging that the potential ofthis area is contained along only five kilometres of the 40 kilometer longKrumkon trend. The remainder of the trend contains additional mineralised zonesrequiring drilling and additional geological investigative work. In fact, thisyear the Company has drilled one of these targets (Maly Krumkon) located to thewest of Vodorazdelny and are awaiting the final analytical results." The Company requested three conceptual pits be derived based upon the resourcesstated above, existing preliminary metallurgical test work and potentialoperating costs taken from a historical database of flotation process plantscompiled by Western Mine Engineering Inc. ("WME"), USA. The open pit conceptualstudy included both indicated and inferred resources. According to the JORCCode, inferred mineral resources cannot be converted to ore reserves but wereincluded in this conceptual mining study in order to highlight to the Companythe potential of the two orebodies defined and where further exploration wouldbe warranted in order to improve the confidence level on the resources. Table 1presents the operational parameters used in the conceptual study. Table 1 Conceptual Ultimate Pit Parameters Parameter Base Increased Increased Source Metal Price Operating Cost Case Scenario Scenario Final pit slope angle 50 degrees 50 degrees 50 degrees AMUR Metallurgical recoveries Sibsvetmetniproyect Nickel(1) 85.4% 85.4% 85.4% (Preliminary metallurgical test work) Copper 82.1% 82.1% 82.1% Platinum 85.0% 85.0% 85.0% Palladium 85.0% 85.0% 85.0% Cobalt(2) 80.0% 80.0% 80.0% Operating costs Western Mine Engineering Inc. Mining US$1.40/t US$1.40/t US$1.75/t (2004 Reference Manual) Processing US$6.00/t US$6.00/t US$7.50/t General and Administration US$3.00/t US$3.00/t US$3.75/t Commodity Prices SRK Nickel US$8,800/t US$11,000/t US$8,800/t Copper US$2,200/t US$4,000/t US$2,200/t Platinum US$500/oz US$950/oz US$500/oz Palladium US$100/oz US$250/oz US$100/oz Cobalt(2) US$20,000/t US$40,000/t US$20,000/t Notes: 1 Nickel smelter and refining charges factored into pit optimisation by reducingeffective metal recovery to 57%. 2 Cobalt is included in the pit optimisation parameters to define the final pit;however, it is not included in the SRK resource estimate and therefore notreported in any subsequent tables. 3 Ore losses and dilution were not taken into account as part of this study. The results of the base case scenario final pits are summarised below in Table2. In summary, out of the total indicated and inferred resource of 46.1Mt inboth orebodies some 35.5Mt (77%) fall within the final pit limits. Theseencompass some 83% of the contained nickel and 82% of the contained copper inthe total resource. For both orebodies combined, the overall stripping ratio ofwaste to ore is approximately 3.4:1. Table 2 Base case final pit results Orebody Tonnage Ni Ni Cu Cu Pt Pt Pt Pt (Mt) (%) (t) (%) (t) (g/t) (kg) (g/t) (kg) Vodorazdelny SRK Resource 10.7 0.61 65,400 0.17 18,700 0.2 1,800 0.2 1,600 Ore in pit 9.0 0.64 57,800 0.18 16,400 0.2 1,500 0.2 1,400 Waste 10.1 Total material in 19.1 pit Strip ratio 1.1 Ikenskoe SRK Resource 35.4 0.41 143,600 0.11 39,800 0.1 4,600 0.2 5,600 Ore in pit 26.5 0.44 116,600 0.12 31,600 0.2 4,000 0.2 4,700 Waste 111.1 Total material in 137.6 pit Strip ratio 4.2 Total SRK Resource 46.1 0.45 209,000 0.13 58,500 0.1 6,400 0.2 7,200 Ore in pits 35.5 0.49 174,400 0.14 48,000 0.2 5,500 0.2 6,100 Total Waste 121.2 Total material in 156.7 pits Strip ratio 3.4 The results of the increased metal prices on the final pits are summarised belowin Table 3. In summary, out of the total indicated and inferred resource of46.1Mt in both orebodies some 38.9Mt (84%) fall within the final pit limits.These encompass some 89% of both the contained nickel and copper in the totalresource. For both orebodies combined, the overall stripping ratio of waste toore is approximately 3.9:1. Table 3 Increase metal price scenario results Orebody Tonnage Ni Ni Cu Cu Pt Pt Pt Pt (Mt) (%) (t) (%) (t) (g/t) (kg) (g/t) (kg) Vodorazdelny SRK Resource 10.7 0.61 65,400 0.17 18,700 0.2 1,800 0.2 1,600 Ore in pit 9.6 0.61 58,700 0.18 16,700 0.2 1,600 0.2 1,500 Waste 10.9 Total material in 20.5 pit Strip ratio 1.1 Ikenskoe SRK Resource 35.4 0.41 143,600 0.11 39,800 0.1 4,600 0.2 5,600 Ore in pit 29.3 0.43 126,500 0.12 34,700 0.1 4,300 0.2 5,000 Waste 140.8 Total material in 170.1 pit Strip ratio 4.8 Total SRK Resource 46.1 0.45 209,000 0.13 58,500 0.1 6,400 0.2 7,200 Ore in pits 38.9 0.48 185,200 0.13 51,400 0.2 5,900 0.2 6,500 Total Waste 151.7 Total material in 190.6 pits Strip ratio 3.9 The results of the increased operating costs on the final pits are summarisedbelow in Table 4. In summary, out of the total indicated and inferred resourceof 46.1Mt in both orebodies some 31.6Mt (69%) fall within the final pit limits.These encompass some 77% of the contained nickel and 76% of the contained copperin the total resource. For both orebodies combined, the overall stripping ratioof waste to ore is approximately 3.0:1. Table 4 Increased operating cost scenario results Orebody Tonnage Ni Ni Cu Cu Pt Pt Pt Pt (Mt) (%) (t) (%) (t) (g/t) (kg) (g/t) (kg) Vodorazdelny SRK Resource 10.7 0.61 65,400 0.17 18,700 0.2 1,800 0.2 1,600 Ore in pit 8.3 0.68 56,600 0.19 15,900 0.2 1,500 0.2 1,300 Waste 9.4 Total material in 17.7 pit Strip ratio 1.1 Ikenskoe SRK Resource 35.4 0.41 143,600 0.11 39,800 0.1 4,600 0.2 5,600 Ore in pit 23.4 0.45 104,800 0.12 28,800 0.2 3,600 0.2 4,100 Waste 86.8 Total material in 110.2 pit Strip ratio 3.7 Total SRK Resource 46.1 0.45 209,000 0.13 58,500 0.1 6,400 0.2 7,200 Ore in pits 31.7 0.51 161,400 0.14 44,700 0.2 5,100 0.2 5,400 Total Waste 96.2 Total material in 127.9 pits Strip ratio 3.0 Ends Enquiries: Amur Minerals Corp. Nabarro Wells & Co. Limited Parkgreen CommunicationsRobin Young John Wilkes Justine Howarth /CEO Director Victoria Thomas +44 (0) 7981 126 818 +44 (0) 20 7710 7400 +44 (0) 20 7493 3713 Notes to Editors The Amur Group's principal asset is the 100% owned Kun-Manie explorationlicence, a nickel-copper-PGM deposit located in the Amur Province in the fareast of the Russian Federation. The Kun-Manie licence area is approximately 950km(2) and is located 700 km northeast of the capital city of Blagoveshchensk andis 750km north of the Chinese border. In April 2004 ZAO Kun-Manie, a whollyowned subsidiary of Amur, was granted a licence to explore for nickel andrelated metals, including copper and platinum, in respect of the Kun-Manielicence. Work carried out to date on the Kun-Manie licence including diamond coredrilling, trenching and geological mapping has identified three mineralisedtargets, the Vodorazdelny, Ikenskoe and Falcon zones each of which warrantfurther exploration. The three deposits are located within a five kilometerlong segment of the 40 kilometre long Krumkon Trend which is the primaryexploration target within the licence area. An additional three targetsidentified as Maly Krumkon, Chornie Ispelene and Kubuk have been identifiedwithin the trend and require additional geological investigation and drilling.In combination, the six zones are located along approximately 50% of the lengthof the Krumkon Trend whilst the remainder of the trend also contains additionalpotential based on geochemical sampling and geological mapping which hasidentified anomalously mineralized host structures needing additionalreconnaissance and detailed exploration work. To date and within 10- 15% of the Krumkon host structure, detailed explorationand an independently calculated resource estimate compiled by SRK Consultingindicates the presences of Indicated and Inferred resources. These arecontained within the two deposits of the Vodorazdelny and Ikenskoe zones. Asdisclosed in the Competent Person's Report within the Amur Admission Documentdated 10th March 2006, these total some 46.1Mt at a mean grade of 0.45% nickel,giving 209,000 tonnes of contained nickel; 0.13% copper, giving 58,500 tonnes ofcontained copper. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange