Goldstone Resources Regulatory News (GRL)

7 Mar 2008 14:15

Goldstone Resources Ltd07 March 2008 GOLDSTONE RESOURCES LTD ("GoldStone" or the "Company") PROGRESS REPORT GoldStone announces that the Company appointed Snowden Mining IndustryConsultants (Pty) Ltd ("Snowden") to oversee its upcoming planned explorationprogramme for the Swartdoring Diamond Project, with the objective of generatinga bankable feasibility study on the project. In April 2007 GoldStone conditionally agreed to acquire a 70% interest in XanaduMining (Pty) Ltd ("Xanadu") (the "Acquisition"). Xanadu indirectly holdsprospecting rights over the Swartdoring Diamond Project. Completion of theAcquisition is conditional on the listing of GoldStone on the AlternativeExchange of the JSE Securities Exchange ("ALTx"). The Board's criteria for this new project were that it should be relatively lowcost, low risk and have the potential to provide early cash flow to the Company.The rationale for the Acquisition was that the Board estimated that aninvestment of approximately US$500,000 would fund the direct explorationexpenses for the completion of a mining feasibility study on the InferredResource of 12 million tonnes and that this satisfied the criteria set for thenew project. The estimate was based on an exploration programme which wasdesigned in conjunction with an independent geological consultancy agency. Snowden has, in preparation for the mandate, reviewed the planned explorationprogramme. Snowden has recommended that the programme be redesigned so that theexploration be undertaken initially on only part of the Inferred Resource inorder to maximise the value of the drilling and sampling programme whileminimising risk. Such a programme would be expected to provide an IndicatedResource in compliance with JORC standards of up to 1.9 million tonnes, out ofthe total 12 million tonne Inferred Resource, in an area of approximately 250metres by 1,000 metres with mining commencing in 12 to 18 months. The Board anticipates that the revised exploration programme would require aninvestment substantially in excess of US$500,000. The increase in explorationcosts coupled with the substantial reduction in the potentially IndicatedResource, has led the Board to conclude that the criteria set for theAcquisition are no longer satisfied. GoldStone accordingly decided to terminatethe Acquisition and this has been accepted by the vendor, GeoQuest HoldingsLimited. Despite the termination of the Acquisition, the Company intends to complete theprocess of listing the Company on the Alt-X. The Board continues to pursue other opportunities, with a particular focus onpalaeoplacer and hydrothermal gold prospects in order to leverage the Company'sexpertise in this field. The experience of Dr. Hendrik Schloemann, who hasrecently been appointed Exploration Manager, will be valuable in identifyingexploration opportunities in these geological environments. The Company hascommenced an assessment and review of international opportunities in this field. Dr. Lawrence Minter, who has a PhD in palaeoplacer sedimentology, has read andapproved this conten of this announcement. Enquiries: GoldStone Resources Ltd +27 21 794 4004Nico van der Hoven(Chief Executive Officer)Hanson Westhouse Limited + 44 20 7601 6100Tim Feather This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange