Kemin Resources Regulatory News (KEM)

7 Nov 2006 08:05

GMA Resources PLC07 November 2006 7 November 2006 AIM: GMA GMA Resources Plc CONSTRUCTION UPDATE GMA Resources Plc ("GMA" or "the Company") is pleased to announce an update withregards to the construction of the Tirek / Amesmessa Gold Project ("Tirek /Amesmessa" or "the Project") in Algeria. GMA owns 52% of ENOR spa ("ENOR"), theAlgerian operating company for Tirek / Amesmessa, with the remainder owned bySonatrach, the Algerian state-owned oil and gas company. Major Equipment All preparations for the delivery of the major equipment for Tirek / Amesmessaare progressing well with orders currently in process. As of today, allequipment relating to the Phase 1 Leasing contract with Arab Leasing Corporationis at site. This includes 6 CAT 735 articulated trucks, 2 CAT 980 wheel loaders,1 CAT D-8 bulldozer, 1 CAT 930 wheel loader, 1 CAT 365 shovel and 2 TamrockPanterra 1500 drills. Equipment for Phase 2 of the Arab Leasing Finance isawaiting documentation in the Port of Marseilles, France. Processing Plant Pre-shipment inspections of the Summit Valley equipment (supplier of the carbonabsorption, carbon regeneration and acid wash systems, as well as theelectrowinning circuit and equipment for carbon handling and gold refining) willbe completed within the next week. A pre-shipment inspection of the Roc Impactequipment (crushing and agglomeration equipment) is also complete. Assay Laboratory The pre-shipment inspection of the equipment for the modular assay laborary,supplied by Unit Electrical Engineering Ltd, will take place during the secondweek of November. Quoted availability for shipping is mid November 2006. Pipeline Preparations for the construction of the pipeline to supply process water to theTirek Mines are progressing. The pipe will be supplied by AB Alvenius of Swedenand shipments from Alvenius' factory are now scheduled to begin in mid November,with the final shipments expected to be made in mid January 2007. Thepre-shipment site visit to Sweden is complete. The modular water pumping stationwill be shipped from Utah in USA during November. Tirek Mine - Ball Mill With regards to the expansion of gold production at the existing Tirek Mine, GMAis pushing ahead with the objective to more than double existing processingcapacity. A new 9ft x13ft, 525kW ball mill for the Tirek Mine processing planthas been purchased from New Concepts Projects of South Africa. The ball mill iscurrently in Johannesburg, where an engineering assessment has been completedand work has started to bring the ball mill to a fully refurbished state.Delivery of this to site is now expected in March 2007. Heap Leach Liner The heap leach liner fabrication is complete and the material is ready forshipment to site from Spain. Installation is expected to commence in lateJanuary 2007. Power Generation The first group of generators will be ready to ship from the UK in December. Heap Leach Pad Construction Earthworks started at Amesmessa site in October. Amesmessa Base Camp Construction is well advanced on the camp and office facilities at Amesmessawith the camp currently lodging approximately 70 construction workers. A 250 mancamp facility was purchased from ATCO in September and will be ready to shipfrom Indonesia in late December 2006. Also, VSAT wide band communication hasbeen established at both Tirek and Amesmessa. Exploration While the Company's main focus is currently progressing construction, GMA isalso keen to progress exploration, particularly given the untapped potential ofthe Project. The Company has now appointed an exploration team, comprising ofthree highly experienced geologists, committed to the development of newresources at Tirek / Amesmessa. To that effect, they are presently beginning a$1,000,000 regional exploration programme over the next year. Apart from thepotential to find many previously undiscovered high grade veins, the team islooking to identify lower grade, bulk mineable targets. These lower grade areaswould have been ignored by previous exploration work carried out on the Projectover the past 25 years concentrated on the identification of high grade areasonly. Column tests are presently being run on material grading 2-3 grams per tonto confirm the leachability of the ore. Douglas Perkins, CEO of GMA, commented: "The recently announced positive column test results combined with ouraggressive construction schedule mean that GMA has a very exciting year aheadwith first production commencing at Amesmessa in the first quarter of 2007. Iwould like to direct interested parties to view photos of the constructiondevelopments at our newly designed website: www.gmaresources.co.uk." Enquiries: Douglas PerkinsGMA Resources+1 514 806 6788dperkins@gmaresources.co.uk Grant ThorntonPhilip Secrett+44 (0)20 7383 5100 Parkgreen CommunicationsCathy Malins / Annabel Leather+44 (0)20 7493 3713 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange