Slovakia Update

26 Jul 2005 11:45

Eastern Mediterranean Res. Pblc LD26 July 2005 26 July 2005 MAJOR EXPLORATION LICENCE GRANTED IN SLOVAKIA Paste the following link into your web browser to download the PDF documentrelated to this announcement: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3024p_-2005-7-26.pdf The Board of Eastern Mediterranean Resources Public Limited ("EMED" or "theCompany"), announces that it has been granted a major licence covering asubstantial portion of the world-class Stiavnica-Hodrusa mineral district inSlovakia. Underground mines in this district have historically yielded fromnarrow veins an estimated total of 2.4 million ounces of gold, 120 millionounces of silver, 70,000 tonnes of zinc, 55,000 tonnes of lead and 8,000 tonnesof copper. EMED will be the first Company to test systematically for largebulk-mineable, near-surface disseminated styles of mineralisation in thisprolific district. EMED has also been granted a licence over the Zlatnicky prospect in Slovakiawhere prospecting has revealed gold mineralisation at surface, providingattractive, early targets for drilling. Slovakia Exploration Overview The Company is assembling a portfolio of mineral properties withinlong-recognised belts of mineralisation. One such belt in which EMED isprospecting commences in Slovakia and extends through the "Golden Quadrilateral"in neighbouring Romania and continues through Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey toIran. EMED's activities to date within Slovakia are indicative of the approach beingadopted generally by the Company in the region. To date, the Company hasachieved the following in Slovakia: • Completed preliminary reviews of historical exploration and identified target mineralisation styles; • Refined search to a few prospective target areas; • Applied for exploration licences in two selected target areas: S tiavnica-Hodrusa and Zlatniky, which have now been granted; • Integrated all available digitised historical databases into the Company's GIS (Geographic Information System); • Incorporated a wholly-owned, Slovakian subsidiary of Eastern Mediterranean Resources; and • Established a core team (see Appendix A) to progress the Company's projects in Slovakia. Harry Anagnostaras-Adams, Managing Director of EMED, commented: "Stiavnica-Hodrusa is a world-class mineral district with huge historicalpolymetallic production. Remarkably, it has not been tested for severalmineralisation styles that are prominent in major mines internationally,especially near-surface disseminated gold styles such as the porphyry-skarn typeof mineralisation. "On the other hand, Zlatniky has little past production and much less historicaldata to analyse, but field reconnaissance has revealed evidence of potentialdrilling targets for gold at shallow depths. "This year we will integrate more information into our database and commencefield work in both licence areas, including soil and stream geochemistry,geological mapping and surface sampling as a prelude to drilling selectedtargets. Our entry into Slovakia has been a text-book case of investment beingfacilitated by a well organised regulatory and national administrative system." Stiavnica-Hodrusa Licence Area EMED's licence area covers a large portion of the Stiavnica-Hodrusa miningdistrict in central Slovakia. It extends over an area of 106 km2 in the centralzone of a large Neogene andesitic stratovolcano, within a caldera about 20 km indiameter. The district remains largely untested by modern exploration methods. EMED plansto apply modern mineralisation models, low-detection geochemical techniques, newgeneration geophysical methods and powerful data processing. Gold will be the primary target and geological models to be tested includeporphyry-skarn mineralisation, high-sulphidation epithermal mineralisation,low-sulphidation epithermal mineralisation, and Carlin-style limestonereplacement mineralisation. The Stiavnica-Hodrusa district has delivered the bulk of the country's historicgold production, as well as containing the largest known remaining gold resourcein the country at the nearby Kremnica deposit (1 million ounces of gold) held byanother company. Despite the substantial past production, the potential of the district isconsidered to be largely untapped. Production has been primarily sourced fromnarrow quartz veins and magnetite skarns. Many styles of mineralisation have notbeen investigated. For example, gold was not explored for during the Communistera as it was not considered to be a needed commodity. For maps of the location of EMED's license areas in Slovakia and the geologysurrounding the Stiavnica-Hodrusa mining district, download the PDF version ofthis release from the hyperlink above or the 'Releases' section ofwww.emed-resources.com Zlatniky Licence Area The gold placer deposits near the village of Zlatniky have produced an estimated60,000 ounces of gold. The bedrock source of these deposits has not been found. EMED's license area covers 44 km2 of the potential provenance area of theseplacer gold deposits. Stream sediment sampling, using low detection gold assaymethodology, is planned for the whole tenement area and may lead to thedefinition of areas of mineralisation. Previous soil sampling along ridges andvehicle tracks in a limited area has produced anomalous gold assays using "semi-quantitative" assay methods. Inspection of the anomalous areas by the Company has indicated the presence offloat fragments of plutonic intrusives and vein quartz which may representsource lithologies for the soil gold anomalism. Soil sampling is required toconfirm the anomalism previously reported and systematic grid based soilsampling will follow if the anomalism is confirmed. This may lead to earlyshallow drill testing. Enquiries Eastern Mediterranean Resources Nabarro Wells Parkgreen CommunicationsHarry Anagnostaras-Adams Nigel Atkinson / Justine Howarth / David Nabarro Ana Ribeiro+357 9945 7843 +44 (0) 7710 7400 +44 (0)20 7493 3713www.emed-resources.com APPENDIX A Exploration Team - Slovakia Project The Company's Slovakian exploration team has now been assembled and is led byJuraj Knesl (Senior Geologist) and Jim Cran (Project Manager - SlovakiaProgram). Mr Juraj Knesl has over 30 years' experience as a field exploration geologist,mainly with former State-owned enterprise, Geologicky Prieskum Spisska Nova Ves.In the 1970s he prospected for copper in Zambia, in the 1980s for goldmineralization in Slovakia and in 1994 he co-founded Aurex Trade s.r.o. whichalso focused on prospecting and exploration in Slovakia for disseminated goldmineralisation. Mr Jim Cran has 25 years' experience as a base metal and gold explorationgeologist and has worked for: Gympie Gold Ltd in Australia; Newcrest Mining Ltdin Greece, Indonesia, and Australia; Newmont Australia Ltd in Australia, PapuaNew Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Fiji; Anaconda Australia Inc and AquitaineAustralia Minerals Pty Ltd in Australia. He was involved in: the discovery ofthe Tolukuma epithermal gold deposit in Papua New Guinea; open pittable, bandediron formation hosted gold deposits at Randals in the Archaean of WesternAustralia; and the Viper epithermal gold deposit at Sappes in Greece. This Slovakian team is supported by the Geological Survey of Slovakia and by theCompany's Cyprus-based team including Bronwyn Witham (Database Manager), SteveWebster (Geophysics Consultant) and Kristine Kristensen (Environmental Officer).The team integrates practical experience of many mines globally with localexpertise in Slovakia. References in this announcement to geological data or exploration potential havebeen approved for release by employees of the Company - Mr Ron Cunneen, Mr JamesCran and Mr Juraj Knesl who each have more than 5 years relevant experience inthe field of activity concerned and have consented to the inclusion of thematerial in the form and context in which it appears. APPENDIX B Background Information on Slovakia Profile The Slovak Republic ("Slovakia") came into existence in 1993 when the formerCzechoslovakia agreed peacefully to separate. Czechoslovakia had been formed in1918; after the Second World War it became a communist nation but Sovietinfluence collapsed in 1989 and Czechoslovakia regained its independence.Slovakia joined both the European Union and NATO in the Spring of 2004. It hasa population of approximately 5.3 million. Geography Slovakia is a land-locked state located in central Europe, south of Poland, withwhom it shares a border of approximately 450km. Its other borders are sharedwith Austria (90km), the Czech Republic (215km), Hungary (675km) and Ukraine(100km). The capital, Bratislava, is located in the south-west of the country,near the border with Austria. Politics Slovakia is a parliamentary democracy with a unicameral National Council of theSlovak Republic (the Narodna Rada Slovenskej Republiky) which has 150 memberselected by proportional representation to serve a four-year term. Electionswere last held in September 2002 and the next are scheduled for September 2006.The Prime Minister is Mikulas Dzurinda. Economy Slovakia has largely succeeded in transforming its economy from one of centralcontrol to being market orientated. Major privatisations have taken place andare nearly complete with the privatised sector accounting for approximately 80%of GDP; the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands; and thegovernment has helped facilitate a foreign investment boom withbusiness-friendly policies including labour market liberalisation and a theintroduction of a 19% flat tax. Slovakia's economic growth exceeded expectationsin 2001-04, despite a general European slowdown. Unemployment was 15% in 2003-04and remains the economy's Achilles heel. The Slovak Republic has the following ratings from the major internationalconsultants: • Moody's Investors Service: A3 • Standard & Poor's: BBB+ • Fitch Ratings: BBB+ This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange