Atalaya Mining Regulatory News (ATYM)

15 Mar 2007 08:50

EMED Mining Public Limited15 March 2007 AIM: EMED 15 March 2007 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Directors of EMED Mining Public Limited ("EMED Mining") are pleased toannounce that all proposed resolutions were duly passed at its annual generalmeeting held today in Nicosia, Cyprus. Set out below is the formal address given by Ronnie Beevor, new Chairman of EMEDMining, at the meeting. The presentation given at the meeting by HarryAnagnostaras-Adams, Managing Director, is available on www.emed-mining.com . -Ends- Enquiries EMED Mining Nabarro Wells Parkgreen CommunicationsHarry Anagnostaras-Adams Richard Swindells Clare Irvine+357 9945 7843 or +44 (0) 20 7710 7400 +44 (0) 20 7850 7480+61 412 369 710www.emed-mining.comwww.emed.tv Chairman's Address Welcome to the 2006 Annual General Meeting of EMED Mining Public Limited. I amRonnie Beevor one of the founding Directors of EMED Mining. First, let me announce a statement from Gordon Toll. "I apologise that I amunable to attend today. It is with some regret that I need to stand down asChairman of the Company's Board of Directors due to my private commitments inother parts of the world. In essence, I am no longer able to devote the timerequired to fulfil my responsibilities as Chairman of this fast-growing andsuccessful organisation. I have discussed this situation with my fellowDirectors and, as of now, my colleague Ronnie Beevor will assume the role ofNon-Executive Chairman of the Board of EMED Mining. I will continue to supportthe Company as a Non-Executive Director." On behalf of the Board and shareholders of EMED Mining, I thank Gordon for hiscontributions and efforts as founding Chairman of EMED Mining. I would like to now introduce EMED's Directors present here today and ourCompany Secretary: •Andreas Panayiotou is a geologist, a Non-Executive Director, Chairman of the Physical Risks Committee; •Harry Anagnostaras-Adams is the Company's founder and Managing Director; and •Ana Rossides is one of our legal advisers and represents our Company Secretary, Inter Jura Cy (Services) Limited. The Managing Director will introduce the executive team later in the proceedingsduring his informal presentation. Your Company continued to implement its strategy and made rapid progress during2006, our second year of operation. EMED Mining is rapidly progressing abalanced portfolio of geographically diverse opportunities. Our aim is to add value to our projects and create wealth for our stakeholdersthrough the cost-effective discovery or acquisition and subsequent developmentof mineral resources. Developing our "social licence to operate" at every stepof the way is crucial to turning our projects into profitable mining operations. We take our role as a corporate citizen very seriously as the Company works hardto achieve its aim of establishing the feasibility of two projects by the end of2007 and of advancing one project into development in 2008. Having our senior management team based in Cyprus, the centre of our region ofinterest, has worked well. This location enables the leadership team to betterunderstand this rapidly evolving region, travel frequently to our projects andpotential projects, as well as being able to spend time with our families whohave all relocated to Cyprus. Key Achievements Key achievements during 2006 were a significant gold discovery at the Biely VrchProspect in Slovakia, the satisfactory completion of a preliminary feasibilitystudy on the Klirou Copper-Zinc Project in Cyprus, first-pass assessment of goldprospects in Georgia and the formation of KEFI Minerals. In Slovakia, our first drilling program discovered gold from surface to over250m depth at the Biely Vrch Prospect in the Detva Licence. This significantdiscovery confirmed that utilising leading edge low-detection geochemicalmethods and modern geological modeling is an appropriate effective approach fordetecting the targeted gold-copper mineralisation styles. In Cyprus, a resource of 6.6 million tonnes at 0.7% copper-equivalent wasidentified at the Klirou Copper-Zinc Project. A Preliminary Feasibility Studyconcluded that the project has an encouraging range of net present values at acopper price of $US2/lb and a zinc price of $US1.00/lb. A Feasibility Study tobe undertaken during 2007 will aim to extend the resources by further drilling,complete detailed operating and environmental plans and to seek regulatoryconsent to develop the project. Drilling of deeper and much larger exporationtargets is also planned. In Georgia, a large number of the gold prospects were sampled and severalattractive and never-before-tested outcropping gold targets were identified. Theresources (Russian classification) at the Zopkhito Prospect of 1.0 millionounces of gold were also verified. The untested potential of the area clearlyjustifies systematic prospecting and EMED Mining has renewed its licence, thelargest in Georgia, until 2018 as an exploration and mining licence. KEFI Minerals was formed in October 2006 for the purposes of holding EMEDMining's exploration interests in Turkey and Bulgaria with a view to creatingshareholder value through the discovery and exploitation of gold and copperdeposits in those countries. KEFI Minerals was floated on AIM in December 2006and EMED Mining retains a 34% ownership. People are Key The collapse of the former Soviet Union and the integration of Eastern Europeancountries into the European Union has given EMED Mining an attractive entrypoint into countries with very little modern mining and exploration. Rapid exploration progress over such a large region is made possible by thediverse skills and talents of our multicultural team. Our people are attractedby the region's untapped potential and EMED Mining's culture combining thescientific approach of a major company with the "just do it" approach of ajunior company. Our approach of combining international and local expertise has effectivelyestablished an organisation culture appropriate to the Group's area of interest. More team members will be added during 2007 as the Company progresses beyondbeing purely an exploration company. This expansion will further complement thealready extensive experience of our Directors and Senior Management inexploration, development, financing and operation of natural resources projects. Effective Strategy Our regional strategy has not changed and our priority is to follow theprospective mineral belts through the region. Once a prospective opportunity hasbeen identified, then we assess the commercial and sovereign risks beforeinvesting further time and money. Since EMED Mining entered the region two years ago, another thirty listedexploration and mining companies have done likewise - more than doubling thenumber of companies involved across the large number of countries in the region.However, EMED Mining is perhaps the only company employing the business modelof: • basing all leadership in the region; • building a portfolio across several countries; and • rapidly moving beyond exploration and into development planning. We see many advantages in being an early mover in these countries with anincreasingly positive environment for exploration and development in theminerals sector. Our efforts towards developing positive relations withcommunities, regulators, governments and non-government organisations have beenrewarded with open dialogue and, for the most part, strong support received. This highly prospective region is rapidly changing - the former Soviet Unioncountries are rapidly emerging from the inefficiencies of a state-ownedindustry, some countries are adjusting to recent or planned membership of theEuropean Union and some other countries are using unprecedented wealth from oiland gas revenues to trigger economic expansion. EMED Mining is pleased to be anearly mover in the revitalisation of the region's metal production industry. Our formation of KEFI Minerals reflects the care given to ensuring our businessstructures suit the needs of the region. Turkey has recently emerged as alocation of global significance for metal production and now has attractedinvestment from more than fifteen international exploration and miningcompanies, including many "majors". KEFI Minerals is designed specifically tosucceed in Turkey with a strong local management team, an extensive proprietarygeological database and will in due course develop local ownership. During 2007its priorities include the scout-drilling of priority targets, the expansion ofits portfolio and the identification of further synergistic opportunities wherevalue can be quickly added. EMED Mining has a 34% shareholding and has the firstright of refusal on any joint venture proposed by KEFI Minerals. Outlook for 2007 The Company has made significant progress in establishing its projects,strengthening its management and field teams and has rapidly overcome theexpected start-up difficulties. The Company's exciting portfolio of prospects on the books and the quality ofopportunities in the pipeline indicates that rapid progress will continue in theyear ahead. The strategic objectives for 2007 are to: • Establish large mineral resources in three diverse locations; • Expand the capital base to match the exploration portfolio as results andopportunitieswarrant; and • Achieve sufficient progress in Cyprus to trigger the Company's firstdevelopment in 2008 It is the focus, commitment and loyalty of our team that has made EMED Mining'srapid progress possible. We are very fortunate to have such a high-quality teamand I thank our diverse team for their efforts. -Ends- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange