Rosebank Regulatory News (ROSE)

17 Nov 2005 07:01

Vane Minerals PLC17 November 2005 VANE Minerals plc (AIM: VML) Acquisition of North Wash Uranium Property in Utah, USA VANE Minerals plc ("VANE" or "the Company") today announces that itswholly-owned subsidiary, VANE Minerals (US) LLC, has acquired the North WashUranium Property located along the east flank of the Henry Mountains inSoutheastern Utah, USA, in the Colorado Plateau Uranium District. The North Wash Project, at present, contains an inferred geologic resource of150,000 pounds of uranium ("U3O8") based on data from more than 100 rotary andcore holes drilled between 1977 and 1979. The resource is contained in 35,000short tons in a tabular deposit grading 0.22% U3O8 with an average thickness of5.5 feet. Limited vanadium assay data indicate that the vanadium to uranium ratios, fromthree assays in one drill hole on the property, ranged from 7:1 to 69:1 whilethe ratios in three drill holes nearby varied from 8:1 to 32:1. This representsvanadium oxide ("V2O5") grades of 1.5% to 15.2% or 30 to 304 lbs V2O5/tonrespectively. With the price of vanadium oxide at a current high of $12/lb, VANEplans to establish the actual vanadium oxide grade with further work. The North Wash Project consists of four unpatented Federal lode claims, whichcover the known mineralisation, and an additional 62 claims along trend locatedby VANE during the due diligence period. The total land position coversapproximately 1,363 acres (551 hectares). The property carries a productionroyalty of 6% on the four original claims and 1.2% on the additional claims. The resource is hosted in the Salt Wash Member of the Jurassic MorrisonFormation, which is one of the two major host rocks for the tabular uraniumdeposits on the Colorado Plateau. There are several holes not included in theresource that contain ore-grade mineralisation that have not been offset. VANE is in the due diligence period on a further two properties in SoutheasternUtah and is actively pursuing additional breccia pipe uranium properties inNorthern Arizona; details will be announced when they become available. Michael Spriggs, Chairman of VANE commented, "This acquisition is anotherimportant step in VANE's growth, further strengthening our position within theuranium sector. Our projects are still in the exploratory stages, but all havesignificant upside. We will continue to seek additional holdings as we believethis is a market which will deliver substantial added value for ourshareholders." Enquiries: VANE Minerals plc Seymour Pierce Limited Parkgreen CommunicationsMatthew Idiens Sarah Wharry Justine Howarth / Cathy Malins020 7667 6322 020 7107 8000 020 7493 3713 About VANE Minerals VANE Minerals was founded by the former international exploration team ofFreeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., one of the world's largest producers ofcopper and gold. The team negotiated exclusive access to Freeport McMoRan'sglobal exploration database, made up of 7,000 plus files generated over nearly100 years of exploration and, following the review of these files, VANE isideally placed to capitalise on project acquisition opportunities. The Companyhas assembled a highly qualified and experienced management team with a proventrack record in exploration and development, who have spent their entire careerssearching for and defining large scale mineral deposits. The Company's principal objective, as set out at the time of its listing in June2004, is to be a self-funding exploration company. As such, the initial focushas been to identify high grade gold-silver projects which can be brought intoproduction as quickly as possible in order to provide revenue towards fundingthe development of potentially much larger projects. VANE is well on its way toachieving this objective as commercial production began at the Diablito mine inMexico in November 2005. The Company will use the revenue generated by thisfirst producing mine to help fund development work across its attractiveportfolio of gold, silver, copper and uranium assets in Mexico, Paraguay and theUS. For further information, please review: www.vaneminerals.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange