SVE.L Regulatory News (SVE)

18 Sep 2006 07:01

Eastern Mediterranean Res. Pblc LD18 September 2006 18 September 2006 AIM: EMED EMED FORMS NEW SUBSIDIARY- Keffi Minerals Plc - Highlights • Keffi Minerals Plc ("Keffi" or "the Company") has been formed by EMED and Starvest Plc ("Starvest") to build on EMED's assets in Turkey and Bulgaria • Keffi will have a strong and experienced Board and Management team • Intention to list Keffi on AIM. Eastern Mediterranean Resources Public Limited ("EMED") announces that it hasformed Keffi as a UK-registered holding company for the purposes of holding itsinterests in Turkey and Bulgaria. EMED has 71% and intends to retain asignificant stake in the Company. Starvest, a natural resources investment fundholds 24% and Keffi Directors and management hold 5%. EMED will bring its technical support and mining expertise into Keffi. Starvesthas contributed seed capital to Keffi and has confirmed its intention to supportthe Company's IPO. In Turkey, Keffi's interests will include clusters of tenements in well-knownmineralised districts: • the Artvin District with similarities to the Madneuli District in nearby Georgia which has hosted major base and precious metal mines; and • the Gumushane District which has been identified as prospective for precious metals based on field prospecting including low-detection geochemistry. In Bulgaria, Keffi's interests will include the Lehovo tenement where extensivegold mineralization warrants follow up. Subject to future stockmarket conditions, Keffi will seek admission to AIMwithin the next 12 months. It is the intention that WH Ireland be appointed asNOMAD and Broker. Mr Jeffrey Rayner, EMED's Head of Exploration in Eastern Europe will beappointed as Keffi's Managing Director. The Board will also include HarryAnagnostaras-Adams, EMED's Managing Director, as Keffi's Non-Executive Chairman,and Professor Ian Plimer, mining company director and a geologist ofinternational repute who participated in the discovery of the 20 million ounceLihir Gold Mine which is within a mineralised belt analogous to parts of Turkey. Commenting on the formation of Keffi, Mr Anagnostaras-Adams, Managing Directorof EMED said: "EMED has exploration licences in Turkey and Bulgaria which atthis stage are non-core assets for the Company. The formation of Keffi willcombine our existing skill base with the financial backing of Starvest and allowus to drill these assets much earlier than anticipated, with no interruption toEMED's current activity. We are confident of the potential within these assetsand believe that Keffi will be able to enhance their value". -Ends- Enquiries Eastern Mediterranean Resources Nabarro Wells Parkgreen CommunicationsHarry Anagnostaras-Adams Richard Swindells Justine Howarth / Ana Ribeiro+357 9945 7843 +44 20 7710 7400 +44 20 7493 3713www.emed-resources.com www.emed.tv Notes to editors About Keffi Minerals Plc • Keffi emerged from the efforts over the past two years of EMED's project-generative team and its formation as a stand-alone entity was triggered when sufficient critical mass had been established in assets and opportunities. • Keffi will focus primarily on Turkey which has emerged as a minerals industry location of global significance. Many mining and exploration companies are now investing in Turkey. • To become a leading discoverer of mineral deposits in Turkey and Bulgaria, Keffi has been designed with certain competitive advantages: • It will be led by a Managing Director who moved from a major mining house to Eastern Europe 7 years ago because he recognized the potential for discovery. Jeffrey Rayner led the exploration team that brought Gold Mines of Sardinia into production and has, more recently, made an immediate contribution to EMED • It will have a well-qualified and incentivised exploration team with a record of discovery • Keffi will have the support of EMED systems and teams as appropriate. It is notable that EMED has the largest exploration team in Georgia and that team identified North East Turkey's Artvin District for Keffi's tenement acquisitions • A proprietary database recently acquired by EMED (which will be transferred to Keffi). This data summarises the field work in over 100 Turkish locations conducted over some years by a highly experienced exploration team including Professor Ian Plimer, Mr Gavin Thomas and Mr John Nethery, exploration geologists of international repute with a track-record between them of international discovery, notably at the world class +20 million ounce Lihir Gold Mine now in operation in Papua New Guinea. The mineralised belts of Turkey have analogies with those of the Pacific Rim. Keffi has been "in the making" for some time. It's focus, cost-effectivestructure and relationship with EMED will give it certain strengths. About Eastern Mediterranean Resources Public Limited EMED listed on AIM in May 2005 following an initial public offering of itsshares. The Company is headquartered in Cyprus and has a strong commitment tothe region. The Group's region of interest is the Mesozoic to Tertiary age tectonic beltthat winds over 3,000km from Eastern Europe to Iran. The strategy is to rapidlyevaluate exploration opportunities in several jurisdictions throughout thisquality mineral belt with a high rate of project turnover. EMED has now established a strong position in the following three areas withinits area of interest: • Cyprus/Middle East proceeding in accordance with the publishedschedule and EMED has commenced a Preliminary Feasibility Study for thedevelopment of the Klirou Copper-Zinc Project. This production proposal couldpotentially start up in 2008. Resources identified to date contain in-situ metalcontent of +£100 million. Nearby additional target zones are also being tested. • Eastern Europe exploration areas are centred on a cluster of volcaniccentres in Slovakia. Low-detection geochemical methods are being applied tothese areas for the first time together with open pit bulk mining concepts. Thetargeted mineralisation styles are high-grade epithermal gold, or bulk-minableepithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold. A drilling program is in progress. • Caucasus exploration areas and options over additional prospects, forma cluster of gold prospects centred in Georgia. EMED's main prospects are withinthe Upper Racha Licence with reserves and resources (Russian classification) of2.4 million ounces of gold. A field sampling and verification program is inprogress. About Starvest Plc Starvest plc under the leadership of Bruce Rowan, Chairman and CEO, invests insmall businesses. Most are pre IPO opportunities with a commitment to supportthe company at the public offering and sometimes beyond. Since January 2002,Starvest has supported twenty-four companies of which eighteen are in thenatural resources sector exploring for a variety of minerals in all parts of theworld. Starvest is a committed medium term investor. Starvest ordinary sharesare AIM-quoted ( AIM:SVE). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange