Rosebank Regulatory News (ROSE)

3 Aug 2006 07:02

Vane Minerals PLC03 August 2006 VANE Minerals Plc (AIM: VML) Update on Uranium Assets Acquisition of New Uranium Prospects & Receipt of Drilling Permits VANE Minerals Plc ("VANE") today announces that its uranium subsidiary VANEMinerals (US) LLC ("VANE (US))" or "the Company") has successfully acquiredexploration rights for an additional three breccia pipe prospects, Cholla, NCP-7and CP-14, all located on Federal lands in northern Arizona. These newacquisitions bring the total number of breccia pipe prospects in VANE'sportfolio to 22, with the total number of uranium projects in the ColoradoPlateau Uranium District now standing at 25. These 25 projects consist of 131Federal mining claims and 5 State permits. The breccia pipe district in northern Arizona is a relatively new district whichproduced approximately 23 million pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8) prior to thedecline of uranium prices in the 1980's. Individual economic mineralised brecciapipes generally contain between 1 million and 6 million lbs U3O8 (based onhistorical data reported by Energy Fuels Nuclear, Inc). VANE plans to undertake a drilling programme to define the value of the brecciapipes in its suite of uranium properties and prioritise their development. TheCompany has now received approval on drilling permit applications for its Millerand Red Dike breccia pipes, two of the previously reported properties acquiredby VANE that are located on Arizona State lands, and plans to conduct deep drilltesting on these pipes. Drilling permit applications have been submitted on 9additional pipe targets located on Federal lands in Arizona. VANE (US) has also received approval to drill at the North Wash Project locatedin Utah. As previously reported on the acquisition of the project in November2005, this project contains an inferred resource of 150,000 pounds of U3O8 basedon data from holes drilled between 1977 and 1979 by Cotter Corporation. Assaydata also from Cotter Corporation indicated high vanadium to uranium ratios andreported vanadium oxide grades ranging from 1.5% to 15.2%. Drilling is expectedto further define the vanadium oxide grades. This programme is planned tocoincide with drilling at the Happy Jack Project, also located in Utah, where areview of previous exploration work has identified nine targets. VANE (US)geologists have conducted an internal conceptual study of these properties whichdetermined that each property could have the potential to produce up to onemillion pounds of uranium oxide. Moving forward, VANE plans to continue permitting for drilling on all itsuranium properties. The Company continues with its programme of propertyacquisitions and is in various stages of negotiation on several projects. Michael Spriggs, Chairman of VANE commented, "We are pleased with the furthergrowth of our uranium portfolio. As a result, we now have a substantial assetbase and are very well placed to capitalise on the increasing interest in theuranium and nuclear markets. We have built up a strong land position in a keyuranium district, within a stable geopolitical environment, and are now lookingat various options which will enable us to accelerate the development of oururanium assets." Kristopher K. Hefton, Chief Operating Officer VANE Minerals (US) LLC, BScGeology, who meets the criteria of a qualified person under the AIM ruleguidance for mining, oil and gas companies, has reviewed and approved thetechnical information contained within this announcement. 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 discovery of potentially much larger projects. VANE is well on its way toachieving this objective as production began at the Diablito silver-gold mine inMexico in November 2005. The Company is using the revenue generated by thisproducing mine to help fund exploration work across its attractive portfolio ofgold, silver, copper and uranium assets in Mexico, Paraguay and the US. For further information, please review: www.vaneminerals.com. Enquiries: VANE Minerals Plc Ambrian Partners LimitedMatthew Idiens Richard Brown+44 (0) 20 7667 6322 +44 (0) 20 7776 6417 Parkgreen Communications Daniel Stewart & CoCathy Malins / Annabel Leather Dan Willmott+44 (0) 20 7493 3713 +44 (0)20 7776 6550 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange