2nd May 2006 15:37
Allied Gold Limited02 May 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2 May 2006 Allied Gold Limited - Admission to AIM •Gold mining and exploration projects in eastern Papua New Guinea •Core project production target - first half of 2007 - estimated 75,000 ounces per annum Allied Gold Limited (ticker "ALD") ("Allied Gold" or the "Company"), the ASXlisted Company developing the Tabar Islands gold project in Papua New Guinea,today announces the commencement of trading on AIM. Mirabaud Securities Limitedis acting as broker with Beaumont Cornish Limited as nominated advisor. Allied Gold's main assets are located in the eastern Papua New Guinea TabarIslands, a group of Islands consisting of the Simberi, Tatau and Big TabarIslands. The Company is focused on the near term development of its key asset,the Simberi Oxide Gold Project, as well as exploration for gold and copper onthe adjacent Tatau and Big Tabar Islands. Allied Gold joins AIM with £21 million of funds previously raised in Europe andAustralia. The Company will use the funds to progress construction andcommissioning of its wholly owned Simberi Oxide Gold Project. Funds will also beallocated to the continuation of exploration and evaluation of identifiedmineralised targets on the Tatau and Big Tabar Islands and for the acquisitionof additional assets. Ongoing exploration work conducted throughout 2005 confirmed proven and probablegold reserves within designed pits on Simberi Island comprising 17.066 milliontonnes @ 1.30g/t for 711,000 ounces of gold (in compliance with JORC Code 2004).Annual treatment of 2 million tonnes of ore producing 75,000 ounces of gold ison target to commence in the second quarter of 2007. Commenting on the introduction, Allied Gold's Managing Director, Mr WayneLoxton, said: "The introduction to AIM will raise Allied Gold's profile in Europe and widenour shareholder base outside Australia. Our London AIM quotation and theestablishment of a European presence will significantly improve our profile aswe make the transition to gold producer. The first step in Allied's growthstrategy going forward is to bring the Simberi Oxide Gold Mining project intoproduction. The anticipated robust project cashflow will provide a foundationfor continued exploration on Simberi and to explore for both gold and basemetals throughout the Tabar Islands Group." -End- For more information:+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+|Wayne Loxton |T:+61 8 93533638 || | ||Managing Director | || | || | |+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+|Abigail Singleton / Leesa Peters |T: +44 (0) 20 7429 6606 || | ||Conduit PR - FPR |M: +44 (0) 77 39461061 || | || |Emails: [email protected] || | || |[email protected] |+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+|Roland Cornish |T: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 || | ||Beamont Cornish - Nomad | |+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+ The Tabar Islands Gold Project The Tabar Islands lie in the eastern part of the New Ireland Province in PapuaNew Guinea, covering an area of approximately 270 square kilometres. Modernexploration of the Tabar Islands commenced in 1981 after minerals title wasawarded to Nord Pacific Ltd. Allied Gold holds 100% interests in a granted mining lease on Simberi Island andan exploration licence which covers the remainder of the Tabar Islands Group.Allied originally acquired control of these licences through a Plan ofArrangement which was completed in September 2004. Pursuant to the Plan, Alliedacquired full ownership of Nord Pacific Ltd whose principal asset was aninterest in the Simberi Mining Joint Venture (SMJV) and an interest in the TabarExploration Joint Venture (TEJV) with PGM Ventures Corporation. Subsequently,Allied bought out the remaining interests in these joint ventures and it nowowns 100% of the Simberi Oxide Gold Project. Simberi Island - Oxide Gold Project - Development All of the currently identified gold resources and reserves are located onSimberi Island, the northern most of the mineralised islands forming the TabarIsland Group. Allied Gold is the sole owner and operator of the Simberi OxideGold Project and the Company is committed to progressing project development andcommissioning as rapidly as possible. During April 2005, Allied Gold mandated RMB Resources Limited ("Rand") toprovide project finance for the development of the Simberi Oxide Gold Projectand Allied recently announced the acceptance of a Credit Approved ProjectFinance Facility arranged by Rand. The Company believes that the relationshipwith Rand is a major step forward for the fast-track development of the project,particularly in light of Rand's demonstrated commercial and technical operationsexpertise gained from its existing presence in PNG. Based on recent Feasibility Studies, Allied Gold proposes to develop open-cutmining operations and transport ore to a centrally located processing facilityvia an aerial ore conveying system and by trucking ore from nearby satellitepits. Allied Gold has landowner, local community, Provincial and National Governmentsupport and has permits and approvals already in place to facilitate thecommencement of production in 2007. Directors and Senior Management Mark Caruso - Chairman Mark is a Director of Simto Australia Pty Ltd which is involved in mining,earthmoving and civil engineering construction earthworks. He is also a Directorof Mineral Commodities Limited (since September 2000) and CI Resources Limited(since October 2003). Former Directorships of public listed companies in thelast 3 years are Fortescue Metals Group Limited (June 2002 until November 2003)and ORT Limited (August 2003 until August 2005). Wayne Loxton - Managing Director Over the last twenty six years Wayne has held executive positions for a numberof companies including Managing Director of three publicly listed companies.Wayne's experience lies within the gold and base metal industries in bothunderground and open-pit mining operations in North America, Ghana, Philippines,Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe and Fiji. Wayne is a Mining Engineer withextensive project development and operations experience. He has also completedproject finance agreements and implemented hedging strategies and capitalraising programs. Jeff Moore - Non-executive Director Jeff has more than 20 years of exploration and mining industry experience forAustralian publicly listed companies since graduating as a geologist in WesternAustralia. During the last 15 years he has held board positions for several ASXlisted companies gaining exposure to a range of commodities. Between September1989 and January 2004, Jeff was a Director of Mount Burgess Mining NL. Gregory Steemson - Non-executive Director Gregory is a qualified geologist and geophysicist with an extensive backgroundin exploration, development and management of mining projects. He is also aDirector of Mineral Commodities Limited (since January 2001) and SandfireResources NL (since June 2003). Between June 2002 and July 2003, Gregory was aDirector of FMG. Ross Hastings - Project Manager Senior Project Manager Roles at Ok Tedi and Misima Gold Mines in PNG from 1983to 1994. Ross has been involved with the Tabar Islands Project since 1996. Note: The technical information contained within the announcement has been extractedfrom the Appendix which has been prepared in accordance with the AIM Rules. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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