Atalaya Mining Regulatory News (ATYM)

AIM: EMED 2 February 2010

PRELIMINARY REVIEWS ISSUED BY TWO OF THE FOUR RELEVANT REGULATORY DEPARTMENTS

FOR THE RESTART OF THE RIO TINTO MINE (or "PRT")

EMED Mining Public Limited ("EMED Mining" or "the Company"), the AIM quoted mine development and exploration company, is pleased to advise that the Department of Culture and Heritage ("Culture&Heritage") along with the Water Authority of the Junta de Andalucia have reported the outcomes of their preliminary reviews of the Company's plans. These are two of the four regulatory authorities with responsibility as regards PRT.

BACKGROUND

In 2005 Culture&Heritage prohibited any works on the PRT site.

In 2009 Culture&Heritage and the Water Authority acknowledged the plans submitted by the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary EMED Tartessus, conducted site inspections and reviews with management.

EVALUATION

Culture&Heritage: The Company's plans for PRT are positively evaluated, provided that the restart allows the conservation of heritage items that depict the mining history at the site.

Water Authority: The Company's plans for PRT, when it is in operation, properly maintain it as a closed system with managed levels in each dam, controlled filtration ponds, emergency water control systems, corrective measures for run-off waters from the mine, waste dumps and process plant, including the treatment of waters contaminated by hydrocarbons..

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS

Once the plans are in final form, they will have to be re-issued to Culture&Heritage and the Water Authority for final assessment and report. In the meantime, for the purposes of consultation the following preliminary conditions are set out:

Culture&Heritage:

·; Revegetation of the waste dumps needs to be partly restricted so as to preserve certain historic vistas;

·; Extension of the open pit and waste dumps will require prior documentation of heritage items and authorisation by the Department;

·; Parts of the disused gold processing plant should be preserved and a large-scale model built;

·; The dismantled "Alfredo Mine" headframe should be reassembled and preserved;

·; The Roman ruins outside the mineral resources and next to the pit should be preserved; and

·; Any activities affecting the items listed in the catalogue of historical site assembled by the Company require detailed documentation as well as the prior authorisation of the Department.

Water:

·; The documentation supporting the final Unified Environmental Authorisation ("AAU" or "EIA"), once refined and completed, needs to extended with more detailed maps and flow sheets for:

o industrial waters used in the mining process;

o waters used or discharged from the processing plant;

o evaporation (tailings) dams and filtration ponds; and

o run-off rain waters from waste dumps and elsewhere on the site including the introduction of evaporation ponds.

·; The existing septic system for wash-room and WC sewerage needs to be replaced; and

·; Detailed analyses and plans required for the protection of the landscape of Rio Tinto around waste dumps and the public domain waters during normal operations and excessive rainfall events.

Department Innovation and Industry ("Innovation & Industry") and Department of Environment ("Environment"): Innovation&Industry will co-ordinate the overall process with Environment and take into account all required reviews such as those aforementioned by the Culture&Heritage and the Water Authority and Environment's requested expanded AAU incorporating the recent regulatory changes.

EMED Mining Managing Director, Mr Harry Anagnostaras-Adams said,

"The preliminary conditions set by the Department of Culture and Heritage reflect a pragmatic approach to seeking the right balance between heritage, environmental and operational agendas.

"The preliminary conditions set by the Water Authority seem straightforward and the recent exceptional heavy rainfalls at Rio Tinto serve to highlight the need for the site to be improved in several respects as soon as permitting allows.

"We will be pleased to continue to report to shareholders any regulatory clarifications and other material developments in the process towards starting production in 2011."

Notes to Editors: About EMED Mining Public Limited

EMED Mining was admitted to trading on AIM in May 2005. The Company is committed to responsible development of metal production in Europe, with a focus on copper and gold. 

The Group's region of interest are the tectonic belts spanning across Europe and over to the Middle East. The strategy is to evaluate exploration and development opportunities in several jurisdictions throughout this quality mineral belt and to promote sustainable development practices through the implementation of European Union and other international standards. The Company strictly implements its Environmental & Community Policies which includes:

·; Integrating environmental management into its business, planning and reporting processes;

·; Promoting a strong environmental ethic throughout the Company and the community;

·; Complying with, as a minimum, all applicable local and European Union laws and regulations; and

·; Communicating with community stakeholders in a responsible and transparent manner.

EMED Mining has now established a strong position in the following selected zones:

Copper in Spain: The copper-mining district of Spain is probably among the best known in the world for its metal endowment. The Company's first priority is to start-up production of its wholly-owned Rio Tinto Mine which is the largest metal deposit in Spain. The mining industry is returning to prominence in Spain's Iberian Pyrie Belt and recent initiatives include start-ups in 2009 of major base metal mines at Inmet Mining's Las Cruces Project and Iberian Resources's Aguas Tenidas Mine. Lundin also operates its recent start-up Aguablanca and Antafagusta started exploration activities in 2009.

The Rio Tinto Mine site contains a fully installed and maintained operational complex - an open pit mine, copper-concentrator and waste disposal facilities. The site has been on care and maintenance since 2000 when operations were suspended due to low copper prices.

Gold in Slovakia: Exploration areas in Slovakia are centred on a cluster of volcanic centres. Low-detection geochemical methods are being applied to these areas for the first time together with bulk mining concepts for both open cut and underground projects. The Company has announced a significant gold discovery at Biely Vrch and has completed a positive scoping study on its potential development at surface and for its exploration at depth.

EMED Mining has other notable earlier-stage activities focused on copper and gold, as follows:

·; Exploration licences in the copper-mining districts of Cyprus;

·; A large mining lease in Georgia, Caucasus; and

·; A 26% shareholding in KEFI Minerals Plc which operates exploration joint ventures in Turkey and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

For further information on the Company's activities, visit www.emed-mining.com or www.emed.tv