Re Joint Venture

3 Feb 2006 11:27

African Eagle Resources PLC03 February 2006 African Eagle Resources plc NEW JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENTS IN MOZAMBIQUE AND TANZANIA PROGRESS ON THE LUNGA PROJECT NEW COPPERBELT LICENCE GRANTED African Eagle Resources plc (the Company, ticker AFE) is pleased to announcethat it has signed exploration joint venture agreements with African AdvancedMetals Limited (AAML) and MSA Projects Limited (MSA). Under the firstagreement, AAML will explore African Eagle's Majele and Muazua licences inMozambique, while under the second agreement, MSA will explore AFE's diamondproperty in central Tanzania. The Company also announces that, in the Lunga area in Zambia a comprehensivesoil geochemical survey by farm-in partner MSA has revealed highly significantanomalies, including three large areas which show potential for copper-golddiscoveries. The Company is also pleased to report that it has been granted a prospectinglicence around the old Mokambo Mine, situated 15km northeast of Mufulira in theZambian Copperbelt. The Mokambo Mine was partially re-evaluated during the mid1970's and was then reported to host a resource of 41 million tonnes of ore atan average grade of 1.72% copper. Managing Director Mark Parker comments "The two new farm-in agreements are inline with the Company's policy of leveraging its local knowledge and networks toacquire promising exploration properties, while limiting its own exposure. Thediscovery of extremely promising geochemical targets by our partner on the Lungalicence shows that this strategy works well. The Mokambo area, with its knowncopper resource, is a very significant addition to African Eagle's Copperbeltassets, which already include the 480km2 Ndola licence". AAML Agreement African Eagle has been exploring the Majele licence for gold and base metals andthe Muazua licence for nickel and platinum group metals. The area is alsoprospective for tantalum-niobium deposits and AAML owns and operates the Muianetantalum mine which lies just 10km from African Eagle's licences. Under the Agreement, AAML will spend a minimum of US$250,000 within 18 months ofsignature, to undertake an agreed exploration programme on the two licences.Thereafter, the two companies will explore jointly, with AAML able to earn 80%of any tantalum, niobium or uranium discovery by funding the development costsand African Eagle retaining 80% of any discovery of other commodities. Diamond Agreement The diamond agreement covers African Eagle's licences and other interests withina specified area of central Tanzania. The parties to the agreement are AfricanEagle, MSA and Mr Rob Bowell, who will initially hold 45%, 45% and 10% interestsrespectively Under the Agreement, MSA will manage the exploration programme andMr Bowell will contribute intellectual capital and expertise. MSA Projects is a Johannesburg-based company with an impressive track record ofdiscovering economic mineral deposits, including diamond mines. Since 1992,exploration conducted by MSA Projects has led to three mines being brought intoproduction in South Africa: the Messina platinum mine, the Marsfontein diamondmine and the Klipspringer diamond mine. MSA Projects is a farm-in partner onAfrican Eagle's Lunga project in Zambia. Lunga, Zambia MSA Projects has delivered to African Eagle the results from its large-scalegeochemical soil survey covering the whole of the Company's 1956km2 Lungalicence area, which it is exploring principally for Kansanshi-type copper-golddeposits. The results revealed some very significant anomalies, including threeextensive copper-gold targets. MSA has commissioned an airborne geophysicalsurvey to investigate these, and plans follow-up surface surveys and drillingduring 2006. Mokambo licence award, Zambia The Mokambo licence is situated 15km northeast of the Copperbelt town ofMufulira and 25km northwest of African Eagle's 480 square kilometre NdolaCopperbelt licence. It covers an area of approximately 30 square kilometres, inthe form of a 20km strip along the frontier between Zambia and the DRC, andcontains geological units which host many of the Zambian copper deposits. The historic Mokambo Mine copper deposits lie in the central part of thelicence. A Romanian company, Geomin, partially re-evaluated the deposits in themid 1970's, drilling more than 40 boreholes and sinking a vertical shaft to adepth of 130m. Geomin reported "probable and possible ore reserves" of 41million tonnes at an average grade of 1.72% copper, using a cut-off of 1.2%copper. Reported intersections from the drill programme included 3% copper over4.5m. A map on the Company's web site www.africaneagle.co.uk/projects-mokambo showsthe location and geology of the new licence. African Eagle has started a thorough review of all existing data and willshortly begin a field exploration programme, including geophysical surveys anddrilling, to evaluate this extremely promising area. John Park Chairman African Eagle Resources plc 3 February 2006 About African Eagle African Eagle is a mineral resources company with a tight focus on eastern andcentral Africa. It operates in Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, all countrieswith highly prospective geology and low above-ground risks, which have all beenrecent destinations for major successful investments in the metals and mineralsindustries. The Company has a highly motivated team, proven management and an experiencedboard. Its principal operations are the Miyabi gold project in Tanzania and theMkushi and Ndola copper projects in Zambia. It has discovered a large ironoxide copper gold (IOCG) system at Eagle Eye in Zambia and holds a well-balancedportfolio of promising early stage projects. For further information, see the Company's web site www.africaneagle.co.uk orcontact one of the following: Mark Parker Managing Director +44 20 7248 6059 +44 77 7980 1159 Chris Davies Operations Director +44 20 7248 6059 +44 78 6672 9959 Leesa Peters or Pam Spooner Conduit PR +44 20 7429 6600 +44 78 1215 9885 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange