Atalaya Mining Regulatory News (ATYM)

13 Nov 2006 07:01

EMED Mining Public Limited13 November 2006 AIM: EMED 13 November 2006 Kefi Minerals Plc ("Kefi" or "the Company") Proposal to Admit to AIM in December 2006 EMED Mining Public Limited ("EMED", formerly Eastern Mediterranean ResourcesPublic Limited) announces that Kefi, the holding company formed by EMED tomanage its assets in Turkey and Bulgaria, will seek admission to AIM in December2006. WH Ireland Limited will act as Nominated Adviser and Broker to theCompany. Highlights • Formed by EMED and Starvest Plc ("Starvest") to focus on the discovery of economic mineral deposits in Turkey and Bulgaria • Strong and experienced Board and Management team • Attractive exploration properties and a proprietary database • Initial interests include tenements in established mineralised districts: • Turkey's Artvin District with similarities to the Madneuli District in nearby Georgia which has hosted major base and precious metal mines • Turkey's Gumushane District which has been identified as prospective for precious metals based on field prospecting including low-detection geochemistry • Bulgaria's Lehovo tenement where reported economic mineralization warrants verification and further testing. EMED currently has a 71% interest in Kefi and intends to retain a significantstake in the Company. Starvest, an AIM-quoted natural resources investment fund,holds 24% and Kefi Directors and management hold 5%. Kefi's admission to AIM isconditional upon a placing of new Kefi shares raising up to £1.5 million.Existing Kefi shareholders have indicated their intention to participate. EMEDhas also committed its technical support and mining expertise to Kefi. Mr Jeffrey Rayner, EMED's Head of Exploration in Eastern Europe has beenappointed Kefi's Managing Director. The Board will also include Mr HarryAnagnostaras-Adams (EMED's Managing Director) as Non-Executive Chairman,Professor Ian Plimer, mining company director and geologist of internationalrepute and Mr John Leach, an experienced resources company director. Commenting on the imminent flotation of Kefi, Mr Anagnostaras-Adams said: "Kefihas the benefits of a strong Board and Management team, EMED's existing skillbase and the financial backing of Starvest." -Ends- Enquiries EMED Mining Nabarro Wells Parkgreen CommunicationsHarry Anagnostaras-Adams Richard Swindells Justine Howarth / Ana Ribeiro+357 9945 7843 +44 20 7710 7400 +44 20 7493 3713www.emed-mining.com www.emed.tvKefi Minerals WH Ireland Bishopsgate CommunicationsJeff Rayner Laurie Beevers/Katy Mitchell Maxine Barnes/Nick Rome+357 9920 6404 +44 161 832 2174 +44 20 7430 1600www.kefi-minerals.com Notes to editors About Kefi Minerals Plc • Kefi resulted from the work conducted over the past two years byEMED's project-generative teams in and around Turkey and Bulgaria. Its formationas a stand-alone entity was triggered when sufficient critical mass had beenestablished in assets and opportunities. • Kefi will focus primarily on Turkey which has emerged as a mineralsindustry location of intensified activity. Siginficant discoveries have beenmade and many mining and exploration companies are now investing in Turkey. • To become a leading discoverer of mineral deposits in Turkey andBulgaria, Kefi has been designed with certain competitive advantages: o It will have a well-qualified and incentivised team with a record ofdiscovery o The team is led by a Managing Director with a record of discovery, who moved from a major mining house to Eastern Europe seven years ago because herecognized the potential to create shareholder wealth in its minerals industry.Jeffrey Rayner led the exploration team that brought Gold Mines of Sardinia intoproduction and has, more recently, made an immediate contribution to EMED wherehe led the team that made a gold discovery in Slovakia in EMED's first drillingseason in that country o Kefi will have the support of EMED's systems and teams as appropriate.This is expected to bring to Kefi advantages in both efficiency and cost. It isnotable that EMED has the largest exploration team in Georgia and that teamidentified North East Turkey's Artvin District for Kefi's tenement acquisitions o Kefi will have a proprietary database which summarises the field workin over 100 Turkish locations conducted over some years by a highly experiencedexploration team including Kefi Deputy Chairman Professor Ian Plimer, Mr GavinThomas (now Managing Director of Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd) and Mr John Nethery(now Managing Director of Nedex Pty Ltd). All are exploration geologists ofinternational repute with a track-record between them of internationaldiscovery, notably at the world class +20 million ounce Lihir Gold Mine now inoperation in Papua New Guinea. The mineralised belts of Turkey have analogieswith those of the Pacific Rim. This team also includes Professor Omer Akinci whohas also consulted for international mining companies in Turkey. Kefi has been "in the making" for some time. Its focus, its cost-effectivestructure and its relationship with EMED will give it quantifiable strengths.The formal agreements setting out the relationships between Kefi and EMEDinclude non-compete provisions. About EMED Mining Public Limited EMED listed on AIM in May 2005 following an initial public offering of itsshares. The company is headquartered in Cyprus and has a strong commitment tothe region. The Group's region of interest is the Mesozoic to Tertiary age tectonic beltthat winds over 3,000km from Eastern Europe to Iran. The strategy is to rapidlyevaluate exploration opportunities in several jurisdictions throughout thisquality mineral belt with a high rate of project turnover. EMED has now established a strong position in the following zones within itsarea of interest: • Cyprus/Middle East exploration is centred on the Troodos ophiolitecomplex. The targeted mineralisation style is volcanic-hosted massive sulphidecopper deposits under shallow cover, similar to the larger Cyprus copper mines -three of which exceeded 10 million tonnes of ore, at grades between 1% and 4.5%.EMED is undertaking a preliminary feasibility study on mining copper-zincresources in the Klirou District. • Eastern Europe exploration areas are centred on a cluster of volcaniccentres in Slovakia and Romania. Low-detection geochemical methods are beingapplied to these areas for the first time together with open pit bulk miningconcepts. The targeted mineralisation styles are high-grade epithermal gold, orbulk-mineable epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold. The company announced on23 October 2006 a gold discovery in Slovakia. • Caucasus exploration areas, and options over additional prospects,form a cluster of gold prospects centred in Georgia. EMED Mining's mainprospects are within the Upper Racha Licence with reserves and resources(Russian classification) of 2.4 million ounces of gold. A field program is inprogress and a progress report will issue as results are assembled andinterpreted. • Turkey/Bulgaria exploration areas being transferred into 71% ownedKefi Minerals Plc which is to be listed within 12 months. Kefi holds, via itsTurkish and Bulgarian subsidiaries, two clusters of tenements in Turkey and theLehovo tenement in Bulgaria, along with an extensive proprietary database. For further information on the Company's activities, visit www.emed-mining.comor www.emed.tv About Starvest Plc Starvest plc under the leadership of Bruce Rowan, Chairman and CEO, invests insmall businesses. Most are pre IPO opportunities with a commitment to supportthe company at the public offering and sometimes beyond. Since January 2002,Starvest has supported twenty-four companies of which eighteen are in thenatural resources sector exploring for a variety of minerals in all parts of theworld. Starvest is a committed medium term investor. Starvest ordinary sharesare AIM-quoted ( AIM:SVE). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange