2nd Jun 2005 07:01
Peter Hambro Mining PLC02 June 2005 2 June 2005 ACQUISITION OF VERKHNE-ALLIINSKIY DEPOSIT BY OMCHAK The Peter Hambro Mining Group ("PHM" or the "Group") announces that its 65%Joint Venture Omchak has been successful in the auction of the combinedexploration and mining licence over the Verkhne-Alliinskiy gold property inChita Region of Russia, held in Chita on 30 May 2005. Omchak paid RuR 60 million (c.US$2.2m) for the licence, which is estimated tocontain gold reserves and resources of 76,000 oz and 593,000 oz in Russiancategories C1 and C2 respectively and silver reserves and resources of 138,000oz and 752,000 oz in Russian categories C1 and C2 respectively. The deposit is located 30 km east of the town of Baley in the Chita Oblast,Russia, with which it is connected by road. The nearest railroad station islocated c.50 km from the deposit. The licence area covers 15.6 km2, with mining contemplated to a maximum depth of450m. The deposit was discovered in 1980 and preliminary exploration was carriedout in 1984-85. The deposit comprises steeply dipping quartz-sulphide veins andmineralised zones. Three principal zones of potential economic interest wereexplored by trenching and drill holes to a depth of 400m. Undergroundexploration, by adits and crosscuts, has been carried out on two of the zones.Gold grades at the deposit vary from 0.8 to 332 g/t. The ore zones are open atdepth. Russian category reserves and resources for Verkhne-Alliinskiy deposit have beenestimated from existing exploration data by the geological instituteChitageologiya in 1990 as follows:- Category Ore Gold Content ('000 t) (kg) ('000 oz) ------------ ---------- -------- ---------- --------Gold C1 201 2,360 76 C2 1,401 18,460 593Silver C1 4,300 138 C2 23,400 752 Grades (all in grammes per tonne)--------------------------------------------Gold C1 11.7 C2 13.2 Total 13.0Silver C1 21.4 C2 16.7 Total 14.6 ------------ ---------- ---------- Detailed exploration will be required to further delineate the three principalore zones already defined and to investigate the more than 50 additional mineralanomalies which have been identified within the licence area, on some of whichgold grades up to 5g/t have been recorded. Metallurgical tests have shown thatrecoveries of 96% of gold and 91% of silver can be achieved, but development ofan extraction method will be required, to produce low-arsenic concentrates. All information on the deposit was provided by Federal Subsoil Agency whichconducted the auction in accordance with the auction plan published earlier thisyear. Peter Hambro, Chairman of Peter Hambro Mining plc, commented:"This is an interesting acquisition by our Joint Venture Omchak and is part ofits acquisition programme for assets with which to diversify and expand." The Omchak Joint Venture produced last year 88,900 oz of gold of which 57,000 ozwere attributable to Peter Hambro Mining. Through its subsidiaries Berelekh andNelkobazoloto, Omchak currently operates two enterprises producing gold throughunderground and alluvial mining. Enquiries:Alya Samokhvalova Peter Hambro Mining PLC +44 (0) 20 7201 8900 Tom Randell / Maria Suleymanova Merlin +44 (0) 20 7653 6620 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
POG.L