EGU.L Regulatory News (EGU)

3 Sep 2008 09:59



European Goldfields Limited

Updated Mining Permit for Certej Project 

3 September 2008 - European Goldfields Limited (AIM: EGU/TSX: EGU) ("European Goldfields" or the "Company") is pleased to announce further progress of its Certej project in Romania.

Technical Feasibility Study now approved and Mining Permit updated

The National Agency for Mineral Resources ("NAMR") has approved the Technical Feasibility Study for the project recognising the quality of the work invested into the Certej project by Deva Gold. The NAMR has also now confirmed the official approval and registration of the project's resources and reserves. This completes all the approvals required for the project from NAMR and is a very significant step forward in the development of the Certej project, as it effectively updates the mining permit and allows the reserve as outlined in the Technical Feasibility Study to be mined.

New Urbanisation Certificate issued 

The environmental permitting process is now in its latter stage and its successful conclusion will allow for construction and full scale operation of the project. As part of that process, Deva Gold has received an updated Urbanisation Certificate from the Hunedoara County Council, renewing that issued in October 2006. The new Urbanisation Certificate, which incorporates all the modifications to the project since 2006, is valid until 2010 and can be extended further. The award of this new certificate, which legally confirms the designated land use of the project site, again demonstrates the continued support of the Romanian authorities for the development of the Certej project. This confirmation of Certej as a designated industrial mining area also clearly attests to the local community's support for the project

The Way Forward

The permitting process is now in its final stages. Deva Gold has already submitted an Environmental Impact Study ("EIS") and a Zonal Urbanisation Plan ("PUZ") to the relevant Romanian authorities. Deva Gold has advanced the planning procedures for the next step, the PUZ approval, including two public meetings with the affected local communities.

Following the approval of the PUZ, the EIS will also then be subject to the last requirement for public consultation prior to the issuance of the environmental permit. This is expected in late 2008.

These are the final approvals required for the construction and operation of the plant, the tailings design and other related infrastructure. 

New exploration licence

The Company is also pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, European Goldfields Deva SRL, has obtained a new exploration licence for the Magura Tebii area located along the Certej Brad belt in the historic gold producing area of the "Golden Quadrilateral" area of Romania. This location has been subject to historic early stage exploration by Romanian state-owned entities and data from that period indicates potential for gold-bearing mineralisation.

  Commenting on these developments David Reading, Chief Executive Officer of European Goldfields said:

"The issuance of an updated mining permit for our Certej project is a very significant step forward. European Goldfields is on track to achieve its objectives in Romania this year. Certej is an important project at the heart of our portfolio whose progress is achieved with considerable support from both the Romanian authorities and the local community". 

Certej Project Background

Certej is an epithermal gold/silver deposit located within the "Golden Quadrilateral" area of the Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania in Western Romania, 12km from the regional town of Deva. 

European Goldfields owns 80% of the project through its subsidiary, Deva Gold. There is an existing open pit that was operated by the Romanian State mining entity, Minvest, until 2006 for which Deva Gold holds a valid and updated operating permit.

Deva Gold has advanced the planning procedures for approval of the PUZ including two public meetings with the affected local communities. The regional Environmental Department from Timisoara has received an official letter from the local Council of Certej giving its full support to the project, recognising the sustainable development and benefits which the project brings to the local economy. 

On 23rd July the Company announced the completion of a definitive feasibility study for the Certej project.

About European Goldfields

European Goldfields Limited is a resource company involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Greece, Romania and South-East Europe.

Greece - European Goldfields holds a 95% interest in Hellas Gold S.A. Hellas Gold owns three major gold and base metal deposits in Northern Greece. The deposits are the polymetallic operation at Stratoni, the Olympias project which contains gold, zinc, lead and silver, and the Skouries copper/gold porphyry project. Hellas Gold commenced production at Stratoni in September 2005 and started selling an existing stockpile of gold concentrates from Olympias in July 2006. Hellas Gold is applying for permits to develop and build the Skouries and Olympias projects.

Romania - European Goldfields owns 80% of the Certej gold/silver project in Romania. The Company submitted in March 2007 a technical feasibility study to the Romanian government in support of the necessary permit applications to develop the project. In March 2008, European Goldfields submitted the Environmental Impact Study to the Romanian environmental authorities to start the assessment of the environmental impact of the Certej Project.

For further information please contact:

Resources & reserves parameters

For additional information on the resource and reserve estimates quoted in this news release, please refer to the Company's Resources & Reserves Declaration at www.egoldfields.com/goldfields/resources.jsp. Patrick Forward, General Manager, Exploration of the Company, was the Qualified Person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 responsible for reviewing the disclosure of resource and reserve estimates quoted in this news release.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements and information contained in this document, including any information as to the Company's future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance, constitute forward-looking information under provisions of Canadian provincial securities laws. When used in this document, the words "anticipate", "expect", "will", "intend", "estimate", "forecast", "planned" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs and timing of development of new deposits, permitting time lines and expectations regarding metal recovery rates. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The Company cautions the reader that such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual financial results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from its estimated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements and the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to: changes in the price of gold, base metals or certain other commodities (such as fuel and electricity) and currencies; uncertainty of mineral reserves, resources, grades and recovery estimates; uncertainty of future production, capital expenditures and other costs; currency fluctuations; financing and additional capital requirements; the successful and timely permitting of the Company's Skouries, Olympias and Certej projects; legislative, political, social or economic developments in the jurisdictions in which the Company carries on business; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; the speculative nature of gold and base metals exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; the risks normally involved in the exploration, development and mining business; and risks associated with internal control over financial reporting. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and material factors or assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements, see the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended 31 December 2007, filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.