eEnergy Group Regulatory News (EAAS)

28 Nov 2007 12:49

Alexander Mining PLC28 November 2007 Alexander Mining plc 28th November 2007 Corporate and Operations Update • Martin Rosser promoted to Chief Executive Officer• Emil Morfett joins the Board as Non-executive Director• Significant interest shown in AmmLeachTM technology: • In discussion with over thirty companies • Seven companies have signed confidentiality agreements, with more anticipated • Two companies have commissioned metallurgical test work• Good progress made on bank finance for Leon Project• Jorge Palmes appointed as the Leon Project Manager• Initial resource on Arbol Solo expected shortly Alexander Mining plc ("Alexander", the "Company"), the AIM-listed copper, goldand silver mining company with projects in Argentina and Peru, today announcedthe following corporate and operations update. Corporate Martin Rosser, Chief Executive Officer Martin Rosser (aged 47) formerly Director of Business Development, has beenappointed Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") with immediate effect. Martin has 25years' practical industry and financial markets experience since graduating witha Bachelor of Science Degree in Mining Engineering from the Camborne School ofMines in 1981. Initially, he spent five years working as a mining engineer inAustralia, both on underground and open pit gold mines, including time withWestern Mining Corporation as Shaft Superintendent at Central Norseman. In 1987,he returned to the UK and thereafter, until joining Alexander in June 2005,worked in the City of London. During this time his career spanned stock broking,mining analysis, natural resources consultancy, corporate finance and investorrelations. Martin is a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng.) and a Fellow of The Institute ofMaterials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM). Emil Michael Morfett, Non-executive Director Emil Morfett (aged 49) has been appointed a Non-executive Director of AlexanderMining Plc, with effect from the 28th November, 2007. He has over 28 years' ofrelevant experience, with 8 years in the mining industry and twenty years inmining finance. He graduated with a B.Sc. in geology from the University of London and workedfor Rio Tinto in Saudi Arabia. As a mature student, he completed an M.Sc. inmineral exploration at Queens University, Ontario, Canada. He then worked inJohannesburg for Goldfields of South Africa, first as a geologist and then avaluator in the mineral economics department. In 1987, he moved to London to work as a mining analyst for Laurence PrustStockbrokers and subsequently, in 1988, Smith New Court. In 1993 he became theGlobal Head of Mining Research at Bank Paribas and left in 1997 to become VicePresident and Head of Mining Research for J P Morgan in London. During thisperiod he was involved in many major mining transactions with a variety ofresponsibilities. In 2001, he founded his own consulting business (Millstone Grit Ltd., of whichhe is Managing Director), providing both equity and debt focused mining researchand strategic advice. He continues to provide independent, bespoke research andfinancial analysis of mining companies and projects to select hedge funds,merchant banks and mining companies. He is currently a non-executive director of Toronto Stock Exchange and AIMlisted Greystar Resources Ltd., an explorer preparing for the feasibility studyon a world-class gold deposit in Colombia. The Company announces that there is no additional information required fornotification in accordance with Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM Rules. The board has approved the granting of an option over 250,000 Ordinary 10p Shares in the Company to Emil Morfett. The option has an eight year life, after a two year vesting period, and an exercise price of 20.5p each share, which was the Company's closing mid-market share price yesterday. Matt Sutcliffe, Executive Chairman, said: "I welcome Martin's promotion to ChiefExecutive Officer. We have worked together since June 2005 and during this timeI have been impressed with Martin's depth of knowledge of the mining sector andgeneral business acumen. I am confident that he will drive the growth of theCompany. I also welcome Emil to the Board of Alexander and believe that theCompany will greatly benefit from his comprehensive skills and experience". Richard Rossiter and Terence McConnachie Richard Rossiter and Terence McConnachie have, because of the extraordinarilysuccessful growth of Sylvania Resources Limited, where they are respectivelyChairman and Chief Executive Officer, resigned forthwith from Alexander Miningplc as Chief Executive Officer and Non-executive Director respectively. TheCompany would like to thank them for their valued contribution whilst on theBoard. Operations Update Martin Rosser, CEO, said: "The Company has achieved remarkable success with itsinnovative AmmLeachTM technology in a very short time. The buoyant internationalmining industry means that the desire to embrace new technologies isintensifying. AmmLeach'sTM major commercial potential is reflected in thegrowing number of companies that have either signed confidentiality agreementsor are in discussion with the Company. Meanwhile, progress is being made on the bank financing for the Leon Project. Inaddition, management believes that a more pragmatic corporate attitude prevailsfor achieving growth by merger or acquisition. Moreover, the AmmLeachTMtechnology adds an extra dimension to business development opportunities. Welook forward to the future with confidence." AmmLeach Limited The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, AmmLeach Limited, has made significantprogress with its new AmmLeachTM mineral processing technology business. Inaddition to the successful work carried out to date on copper oxide ores, recenttestwork has been highly encouraging, with potentially significant breakthroughsin leaching and processing technology for other metals and sulphides. The Company has developed a new processing technology based upon its AmmLeachTMprocess (provisional patents applied for) for the treatment of zinc oxidedeposits that: • Leaches common zinc oxide minerals with very high extraction efficiencies; • Offers a potentially economic processing route for many zinc oxide deposits that are currently economically unviable; and • Test work results indicate a new solvent extraction and electro-winning process for zinc. The Company believes that this technology will be of considerable commercialinterest to both mining companies and zinc metal producers because it has thepotential to be a highly competitive economic alternative to the processingtechnologies currently available. The company has also been testing new leaching technologies for metal sulphides.It has already had considerable success, specifically in leaching: • Copper sulphide minerals (including >95% dissolution of chalcopyrite - CuFeS2, a refractory copper mineral responsible for around two thirds of the world's copper production, within 24 hours); • Nickel sulphide concentrate (including >95% dissolution in 1 hour); and • Zinc sulphide minerals. The Company's proprietary hydrometallurgy technologies have the potential forthe development of new metal sulphide processing routes to produce high puritymetal on site. These include difficult to process ores and concentrates thathitherto have not been treatable on site. To date, potential applicationsinclude: • Heap leaching of low grade nickel sulphide ores on site; • Leaching of gold rich arsenopyrite (FeAsS) ores; • Selective extraction of copper sulphides from base metal concentrates prior to sale to smelters; • Leaching enargite (Cu3AsS4) ores prior to leaching gold. The only viable option available at present is to produce a floatation concentrate, high in gold that is sold to smelters. However, there are only a few smelters in the world that will accept this product and the penalties imposed are very onerous. This process route also has the potential to provide an environmentally acceptable disposal route for the contained arsenic. Currently, there is a world-wide trend to add value upstream at the mine site.This is driven by transport and downstream treatment costs, combined with highsmelting/refining charges and large cost penalties for deleterious elements andminerals in the concentrates. The effect of these changes is that typically amine will receive 50% of the revenue for the contained metal mined. The Companybelieves that its technology will have strong appeal to both miners andproducers because of the ability to: • Significantly add value at the mine site; • Provide a treatment and processing route for difficult and costly to treat ores in a significantly more environmentally acceptable way; and • Provide an economically viable treatment process for ores for which no viable treatment process is currently available. Leon Project Jorge Palmes has agreed to join the company as the Leon Project Manger. Jorgehas already been consulting to the Company on an ad hoc basis, including work onthe finalisation of the Environmental Impact Assessment. Jorge is a mining andmineral processing engineer with extensive international mining experience at asenior level, especially in Argentina, including Minera Alumbrera Ltd (Xstrata),Veladero Project (Barrick), Pascua Lama Project (Barrick) and Gualcamayo goldproject (Yamana Gold). The Company welcomes Jorge and looks forward to benefiting from his extensiveinternational and Argentine experience. Further to the signing of a mandate appointing Standard Bank plc, London, as theexclusive Arranger and Underwriter, subject to due diligence, negotiation andexecution of a detailed term sheet, for a Leon project loan facility, theCompany and Standard Bank are progressing with the financing process. Detailedengineering work on the treatment plant and leach pad continues. Leon Regional Exploration All regional exploration is currently being focussed on the area between theLeon Project and Arbol Solo, which are 23km apart in a north-south line, withthe objective of proving additional resources to those at the Leon Project. An initial resource estimate for the northern structure of Arbol Solo isexpected soon. Detailed surface mapping continues on the southern structure, wheremineralisation occurs in sandstones. Two zones of continuous mineralisation,totalling 1,450m have been recognised on surface. Also a number of sporadicoutcrops of mineralisation separated by soil cover have been mapped. If theseare found to be continuous under the cover, this will give a further 1,870mstrike of mineralisation and thus a potential total strike of 3,320m. The onlycopper values to date in this zone are from a trench sampled in December 2006which gave a value of 0.42% Cu over a true width of 32m. The portable Sandydiamond drill rig is currently evaluating the near surface mineralisation onthis structure. Detailed surface mapping and sampling is in progress in the Vera Cruz zone 12kmto the north of Arbol Solo. Numerous sporadic outcrops of mineralisation insandstone occur separated by zones of soil cover. Should the mineralisationprove to be continuous it has a potential strike of between 900 and 1,200m. At 3km to the south in the Filo Puntudo zone of the Leon Project, surfacemapping and trenching of mineralisation in sandstones is currently beingundertaken. Initiative with Sociedad Terral SA (Terral) in Chile Further to the announcement made last September, Alexander has received a positive independent consultant's report on small scale copper mining opportunities available for it in partnership with Terral in Chile. Several exciting opportunities were discussed at a recent meeting between Company executives and Terral's managing director. One particular project was reviewed and it was agreed to pursue our joint interest in this as a priority. We hope to be able to report on this in due course. Qualified person Angus Innes, Alexander's Head of Latin American Exploration, has reviewed and approved this news release as the Company's qualified person. Angus Innes holds a degree in geology from the University of Witwatersrand inSouth Africa and has over 30 years' experience in exploration and mining geology. Prior to joining the Company in 2005, he was, for six years, a consulting geologist to mining companies in South America. He has also worked as Exploration Manager for Billiton in Argentina and Bolivia. Before moving to South America, Angus was employed as a Senior Geologist for Gencor in SouthAfrica in the Witwatersrand sedimentary basin. He has extensive exploration and mine geology experience in sedimentary hosted and hydrothermal copper deposits in South Africa and Namibia. For further information please contact: Martin RosserChief Executive OfficerAlexander Mining plc1st Floor35 PiccadillyLondon W1J 0DW Tel: +44 (0) 20 7292 1300Fax: +44 (0) 20 7292 1313Email: mail@alexandermining.comWebsite: www.alexandermining.com Nominated Advisor and BrokerAlasdair Younie/John PriorArbuthnot Securities LimitedArbuthnot House20 Ropemaker StreetLondon EC2Y 9AR Tel: +44 (0) 20 7012 2000 Public/Media RelationsTim BlackstoneBritton Financial PR62 Britton StreetLondon EC1M 5UY Tel: +44 (0) 20 7251 2544Mobile: +44 (0) 7957 140 416 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange