Ovoca Bio Regulatory News (OVB)

19 Oct 2007 09:28

Ovoca Gold PLC19 October 2007 NEWS RELEASE 18 October 2007 Operational Update and Placing Ovoca Gold Plc, the London AIM (OVG.L) and IEX (OVX.IR) ("Ovoca") is pleased toannounce that on 15 October 2007 Mr Nikolai Dudov, the Governor of MagadanRegion, visited the Goltsovoye construction site and met with Mr. Yuri Radchenkoand Mr. Sergey Salamatin, the Chairman and General Director respectively ofOvoca Gold's wholly-owned subsidiary CJSC Ayax Prospectors Artel ("Ayax"). Governor Dudov also met with employees at Goltsovoye and expressed hissatisfaction with progress on site and stated that he looked forward to seeingthe mine with a full complement of local employees and generating tax revenues.He also expressed his optimism for the future of the project by stating: "Minerstoday are already looking to the long-term potential of Goltsovoye. In parallelwith the construction of the mine, the ore body's flanks are set to be explored" Ovoca Gold's CEO, Leonid Skoptsov, comments: "I am delighted that localgovernment is taking an active interest in Goltsovoye and the work of Ovoca. Asa company we understand the importance of maintaining good relations with thelocal community in which we work. We see the development of Goltsovoye as aninclusive process, involving our shareholders, workers, community officials andgovernment. We are looking forward to begin mining ore next winter and go tofull production capacity in 2009." Ovoca Gold is also pleased to announce the conclusion of a private placement toraise £1,258,356. The placement was a unit offering of one share and one halfwarrant per unit, with a total of 15,729,450 shares and 7,864,725 warrantsissued. The placement was issued at 8p per share, a 6% discount to the averagemid closing market price of 8.51p per share on the ten trading days before 18October 2007, and strike on the warrants is 10p, exercisable by 15 October 2008.The warrants, which are transferable, will not be quoted on any market. The funds raised are to be deployed primarily on the evaluation and developmentof the silver deposit Goltsovoye, located in the Magadan Oblast of north-eastRussia, in addition to advancing the company's other projects in the KolaPeninsula and for working capital purposes. The Russian directors, who joined the Ovoca Gold Board following the approval ofthe acquisition of the interest in Ayax, subscribed £618,356 of the £1,258,356private placement for 7,729,450 new shares in order to support the Company andmaintain their relative holdings in the Company at 49.14%. Ordinary Ordinary Shares Warrants Shares After After placing Placing Before Placing Shares in Issue 360,913,263 376,642,713Warrants 32,004,226in issue * 39,868,951 Salyco Trading Company Ltd** 61,687,718 17.0921% 61,687,718 16.3783% 6,086,957Pickco Trading Company Ltd*** 45,710,533 12.6652% 45,710,533 12.1363%Subishico Trading Company Ltd 29,692,293 8.2270% 37,421,743 9.9356%**** 9,951,682Clonico Holdings Ltd 11,862,400 3.2868% 11,862,400 3.1495%****Hagico Holdings Ltd* 11,862,400 3.2868% 11,862,400 3.1495%***Leonid Skoptsov 8,270,625 2.2916% 8,270,625 2.1959%Yury Radchenko 8,270,625 2.2916% 8,270,625 2.1959% 177,356,594 49.1411% 185,086,044 49.1410% 16,038,639 * The warrants in issue before the placing will expire on 27 November 2007,leaving 7,864,725 valid until 15 October 2008, of which Subishico TradingCompany Ltd will own 3,864,725. ** controlled by Mikhail Mogutov *** controlled by Yury Radchenko **** controlled by Leonid Skoptsov An application is being made to the Irish Stock Exchange and the London StockExchange for the placing shares to be admitted to trading on IEX and AIMrespectively Admission is expected to occur by 26 October 2007. Ovoca Resources Plc is an international exploration company with dual listing in London (OVG.L) and Ireland (OVX.IR), exploring for Precious and base metals in Russia, Sweden and Ireland For further information please visit www.ovocagold.com or contact:Leonid Skoptsov - Ovoca Gold Plc Nick Bias / Alex Buck - Buck Bias (UK PR) Tel + 7 (0)495 648 2646 Tel: +44 (0)7887 920 530 / +44 (0)7932 740 452 Email: leonid.skoptsov@ovocagold.com Email: nick@buckbias.com / alex@buckbias.com John Frain - Davy John O'Connor - Ovoca Gold Plc Tel : +353 (0)1 679 6363 Tel: +353 (0)1 633 0523 Email: john.frain@davy.ie Email: john.oconnor@ovocagold.com This announcement has been issued through the Companies Announcement Service of The Irish Stock Exchange This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange