Shearwater Regulatory News (SWG)

13 Dec 2005 11:42

Aurum Mining PLC13 December 2005 For immediate release 13 December 2005 AURUM MINING PLC ("Aurum" or "the Company") Re potential acquisition of majority stake in Geocentr Aurum Mining plc (AIM: AUR), the company formed last year to acquire gold andother mineral extraction projects in the Former Soviet Union (FSU), announced on29 October 2005 that it had entered into a conditional agreement with LoyalWealthy Limited ("Seller") to purchase 51 per cent of the issued share capitalin Open Joint Stock Company Geocentr ("Geocentr"), a Russian company that ownsan exploration licence in the Russian Far East. Further to that announcement,Aurum announces today that the acquisition of Geocentr has not completed withinthe conditional agreement's terms and therefore will not proceed. Aurum is disappointed that it was not possible to complete the acquisition butthe Company will continue to focus on its existing asset in the Kyrgyz Republic,where the exploration potential has increased as described in an explorationupdate announced on 6 December 2005. The Company will also continue to pursueits strategy of seeking further acquisitions in the FSU, with the objective ofcreating a portfolio of gold and other mineral assets. As part of the conditional agreement entered into with Geocentr's Seller, it wasagreed that if the acquisition did not complete then the benefit of anoutstanding loan of $170,000 to Geocentr would be assigned to Geocentr's Seller.As the acquisition has not completed, this loan will be reassigned. Mark Jones, Aurum Mining's Chief Executive, said: "Geocentr represented aninteresting exploration opportunity and the Board is disappointed that theacquisition could not proceed but it is critical that we select only projectsthat meet our stringent criteria. Meanwhile, we continue to be excited by ourAndash gold and copper project in the Kyrgyz Republic, which is both increasingin exploration potential and moving closer towards production." For further information: Aurum Mining plc Tel: 020 7478 9050Sean Finlay, ChairmanMark Jones, Chief Executive W H Ireland Tel: 0121 616 2101Tim Cofman Buchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000Mark Court/Amy Rajendran Notes for editors About Aurum Mining Aurum Mining joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in May 2004 withthe strategy of seeking, evaluating and acquiring gold and other mineralextraction projects in the Former Soviet Union (FSU). In January 2005 theCompany completed its first acquisition, giving the Company an explorationlicence over a gold and copper project in the Kyrgyz Republic. In its StateRegister, the State Commission of Resources of the Kyrgyz Republic has included21.7 million tonnes of C1 and C2 reserves from the project, amounting to goldand gold equivalent of more than 1.5 million ozs. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange