CRC.L Regulatory News (CRC)

23 May 2005 07:01

Copper Resources Corporation23 May 2005 23rd May 2005 COPPER RESOURCES CORPORATION ("CRC" or "the Company") COPPER RESOURCES ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF SIR SAM JONAH AS NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN Copper Resources Corporation (AIM: "CRC", the "Company"), whose principal assetis the Hinoba-an Copper Project in the Philippines, is pleased to announce theappointment of Sir Sam Jonah as a non-executive Chairman of the Company. Mr. Mitchell Alland, currently Executive Chairman of the Company, will assumethe position of Executive Vice Chairman. Sir Sam Jonah is president of AngloGold Ashanti Limited, a NYSE listed company(Symbol: "AU") which is one of the world's largest gold companies with a marketcapitalization of more than US$8.5 billion. Prior thereto, he was appointed tothe position of chief executive officer of Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited in1986 and oversaw its growth and listing as the first operating Sub-SaharanAfrican company on the NYSE. He became president of AngloGold Ashanti in May2004, when Ashanti was acquired by AngloGold Limited. Sir Sam Jonah has beendecorated with many awards and honours (including an honorary Doctor of Science)and in 2003, was conferred with an Honorary Knighthood by Her Majesty QueenElizabeth II of Great Britain. He is a member of numerous advisory committeesincluding President Thabo Mbeki's International Investment Advisory Council ofSouth Africa, President Kufuor's Ghana Investors' Advisory Council, and theUnited Nations Secretary General's Global Compact Advisory Council. His currentdirectorships, and past directorships over the last five years, are as follows: Current Directorships Past Directorships (5 Years)AngloGold Ashanti Limited Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited African Minerals Ltd Lonmin plc Anglo American Corporation of South Defiance Mining CorporationAfrica Ghana AirwaysAnglo American Platinum CorporationLtd (Amplats) First Atlantic Bank Transnet Ltd Metropolitan Insurance Company Equator Exploration Limited Ecobank Transnational Inc. Titanium Resources Group African Banking Corporation Ltd. New Africa Investments Limited Mitchell Alland, Executive Chairman of CRC, commented: "We are honoured to haveSir Sam Jonah join as non-executive Chairman of our Company. His success,experience and long-standing relationships in the mining industry will provideinvaluable assistance to the Company as it advances the Hinoba copper project tobankable feasibility study and seeks other acquisition and explorationopportunities. " There is no other information to be disclosed in accordance with AIM Rules. Forfurther information please contact: Copper Resources Nabarro Wells & Co. ODL Securities Mitchell Alland, Vice Chairman John Robertson Tony Clements +44 (0)787 569 5563 +44 (0)20 7710 7405 +44 (0)20 7903 6281 Background Information on Copper Resources Corporation Copper Resources is the ultimate holding company of a group of mineralexploration, development and operating companies. The Group effectively has a92.5 per cent economic interest in the Hinoba-an Porphyry Copper Project (the "Project"), subject to a 3 per cent net benefits royalty payable to the originalclaimowner. The Project is located on the island of Negros in the Republic ofthe Philippines, approximately 700 km south of Manila. The Group's interest in the Project is held under an Integrated Mining andOperating Agreement with Colet Mining and Development Corporation, which holdsmining leases over 90 hectares and approximately 2,900 hectares of mineralclaims (collectively, the "Colet Claims"). The Colet Claims cover two knownporphyry copper deposits, the Don Jose deposit and the A1 deposit, whichcomprise the Hinoba-an property. Over the years, a significant amount of exploration and metallurgical testworkhas been performed on the Hinoba-an property with its previous owners havingspent approximately C$14.7 million. The Hinoba-an property has been subject toapproximately 48,000 metres of diamond drilling and 11,000 metres of reversecirculation drilling. Pre-feasibility studies indicate that the two depositsare well drilled and that all due attention has been paid to core handling,sampling and assaying. A scoping study undertaken in 1998 envisioned a 15 year mine life for the ColetClaims based on a geological resource of 254 million tonnes at 0.46 per centcopper at a 0.30 per cent copper cut-off. The study showed that the depositscould be profitably mined by open pit method with the ore processed in aconventional flotation milling operation to produce approximately 2 billionpounds of recoverable copper and other by-products. Annual production wasestimated at 56,000 tonnes of recoverable copper with an average cash cost(including smelting, refining and by-product credits) of US$0.48/lb of copper. The Company will complete additional infill core drilling on the property and afeasibility study within the next 18 months. Upon completion of the feasibilitystudy, and assuming favourable economics, the Group plans to develop a potential15 million tonnes per annum open pit copper mine on the Hinoba-an property. Thedevelopment of the Project will be dependent on obtaining future financing. In addition, the Copper Resources Group owns 23 unpatented lode claims coveringapproximately 186 hectares in the state of Colorado. The copper deposit on theproperty has historically been mined as an underground operation. The Groupplans to undertake exploration and evaluation on these claims within the nexttwelve months. The exploration and evaluation stage includes a drillingprogramme that will be commenced in early 2006. 23rd May 2005 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange