Atalaya Mining Regulatory News (ATYM)

30 Nov 2009 07:00



AIM: EMED 30 November 2009

RIO TINTO MINE

COMMENCEMENT OF INDEPENDENT CERTIFICATION FOR REGULATORY APPROVALS

WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR THE START-UP 

EMED Mining Public Limited ("EMED Mining" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that independent experts have commenced the due diligence investigations for certifying the Company's operating and rehabilitation plans as part of the regulatory approval process. 

Commencement of Independent Certification Reports for Regulatory Approvals

Geotechnical drilling has now commenced to check the integrity of the tailings dam wall under the supervision of EPTISA which is also certifying tailings dam capacity. Other mandates include those issued to EYGEMA for the rehabilitation plans, ECA for the tailings dam inspections, AMC Consultants for detailed mine plans and APPLUS + for the Occupational Health and Safety Systems. 

Widespread Support for the Start-Up

On Friday 27 November 2009 the Company was featured at a forum on the Mining Industry conducted at the Rio Tinto Municipal Council. The forum was entitled 'Mining as the Engine for Development' and was hosted by UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores), the labour union associated with the ruling socialist party (PSOE) and which represents personnel at the Rio Tinto Mine and at the nearby base metal mine Aguas Teñidas.

Attendees included representatives of local, provincial, state and federal governments along with union leaders and representatives of the mining industry. A number of important statements were made regarding the mining industry's revival in Andalucia and specifically of EMED Mining's interests. Some of these are reported below along with other recent statements:

Head of Provincial Government (Manuel Alfonso Jimenez) on 24 November: " If the Company (EMED Tartessus) complies with all that is necessary to start-up the mine, we would be delighted to have this carried out and that the Rio Tinto Mine starts up," and

Provincial Heads of Government (Manuel Alfonso Jimenez) and ruling Socialist Party (Mario Jimenez) on 30 September 2009: "The Junta de Andalucia encourages and supports the plans of EMED Tartessus (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company) to start up production at PRT subject to full due diligence and regulatory compliance in all respects".

All local Spanish media reports of the past few days have been uploaded to the EMED Mining website along with translations into English. Refer www.emed-mining.com/site/table/media-articles/ 

EMED Mining Managing Director, Mr Harry Anagnostaras-Adams said "The world demand for copper continues to increase and Spain has, in recent times, granted operating permits to more metal mines than anywhere else in Europe. Europe now has an official policy to become more self-sufficient in metal production. 

The Rio Tinto Mine is the largest known copper deposit in Spain and getting it back into operation is expected to be relatively quick and low risk. The restart of the Rio Tinto Mine would make a significant contribution to the local economy over a long period of time. 

The first step has always been to clean up its ownership and lay out a well-founded improvement and modernisation plan. Unfortunately, this has taken us longer than we anticipated. This is now behind us and we are now activating the completion and submission of all remaining regulatory documentation on detailed operating and rehabilitation plans. We want all documents to be submitted by the end of Q1-2010 so we can stick to our timetable for commissioning to start at the end of 2010 and production to settle down in 2011. "

Enquiries

www.emed.tv

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 an initial 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:

The copper-mining districts of Cyprus and Spain which are probably among the best known in the world for their base metal endowment. The Company's first priority is to start-up production in Spain and to commence generating profits as from 2011. Since entering Spain in mid-2007 the Company has progressed the Rio Tinto Mine project in the following manner:

Completed geological investigations and verified Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves in compliance with the JORC Code;

Completed base case plans for operating a 14-year mine plan to extract ore reserves and to invest in drilling and other activities with a view to expanding and improving the project;

Acquired 100% of the project (the mine, its associated land and the associated mineral rights along with the plant and its associated land) from vendor company Mantesur Andavalor via (now) wholly-owned subsidiary EMED Tartessus SL;

Settled with the vendor company's principal creditor MRI Group which is now a shareholder of EMED Mining and has been appointed sales and marketing agent for the project;

Terminated all involvement in the project by previous controllers of the vendor company and commenced legal proceedings for their non-performance and criminal offences. EMED Mining group is not involved in any litigation other than litigation it has initiated; 

Established support for the Company's plans from the communities and the Government; and

Determined approach with the various authorities to assimilate regulatory changes and keep to timetable. Received clearance from the regulatory authorities to submit the full set of detailed reports and applications for permission to start-up.

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 open-pit bulk mining concepts. The principal targeted mineralisation style is low-grade, bulk-mineable porphyry gold. The Company has announced a significant gold discovery at Biely Vrch and, with its mining consultants AMC Consultants (UK) Ltd, has completed a positive scoping study on its potential development.

Exploration in Turkey and Saudi Arabia via 29%-owned KEFI Minerals Plc. KEFI Minerals owns carefully selected licence areas in Turkey, as well as an extensive proprietary database of regional and specific exploration data providing a pipeline of further projects to evaluate. It is the operator of joint ventures in Turkey with Centerra Gold Inc of Canada and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with local construction and investment group ARTAR. See www.kefi-minerals.com 

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