27th Jun 2007 07:01
Medusa Mining Limited27 June 2007 MEDUSA MINING LIMITED CORNERSTONE INVESTOR JOINS MEDUSA TO FUND EXPANDING EXPLORATION PROGRAMME Medusa Mining Limited ("Medusa" or the "Company"), the Australian based companyoperating and developing gold mines in the Philippines, is pleased to advisethat Gallagher Holdings Limited ("Gallagher") has become a cornerstone investorin Medusa via the placement of 17,500,000 fully paid shares at A$1.15 per shareto raise A$20,125,000 before costs. Gallagher will own approximately 12.32 percent of the issued share capital of the Company following the placement. Inaddition 7,000,000 un-listed options exercisable by 1 February 2009 at a priceof A$1.60 will also be issued to Gallagher subject to shareholder approval at ameeting in August 2007. Gallagher, the investment company of Mr Alisher Usmanov, holds strategicinvestments worldwide, including being a substantial shareholder in Mount GibsonIron Limited. Mr Usmanov is also the principal shareholder in the unlistedMetalloinvest Group, which is Russia's largest iron ore producer with 39% oftotal concentrate, pellet and hot briquette production and the country's fifthlargest steel producer, with two integrated steel operations. The funds raised will be utilised as follows: • Early repayment of the deferred vendor debt of A$5 million which resulted from the completion of the Philsaga Transaction in December 2006; • Fund the future porphyry copper drilling programme focusing initially on the Lingig discovery; and • Fund expanding exploration activities which are expected to be proposed on completion of the Regional Exploration Initiative. Lingig Porphyry Copper Discovery The project is located to the east of the Company's main tenement block. It wasdelineated as a result of an aid program between Filipino and Japanesegeologists and technicians in 1972 to 1974 over eastern Mindanao. An initial3,000 km(2) prospective area was located by geological and geochemical surveysand this was subjected to additional geological mapping and geochemistry. Asmaller 170 km(2) area was selected and subjected to detailed geological mappingand geochemistry followed by Induced Polarisation ("IP") geophysical surveys.Subsequently a programme of five holes was completed on five different targetswith hole DDH1 intersecting quartz diorite porphyry containing: • 0 - 100 metres Altered rocks • 100 - 200 metres 100 metres @ 0.40 % Cu • 200 - 248 metres 48 metres @ 0.50 % Cu, 0.1g/t Au • 248 - 250 metres (End of Hole) 2 metres @ 4.93 % Cu, 0.5g/t Au Finalisation of tenements over the Lingig prospect is being prioritised by theCompany to enable drilling to commence as soon as possible. Regional Exploration Initiative For several months the Company has been undertaking an assessment of thenorthern section of its tenement portfolio. The assessment is utilising remotesensing techniques including satellite imagery, aerial photography andaeromagnetics, compilation of information from surveys conducted by previousexplorers as well as field checking involving regional mapping and surfacesampling where appropriate. Results from a large number of samples are expectedin the coming weeks and results will be reported when available. ENDS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
MML.L