8th Mar 2006 07:03
Pan Pacific Aggregates PLC08 March 2006 Pan Pacific Aggregates plc 8 March 2006 Progress Report Pan Pacific Aggregates plc (the "Company" or "PPA") is pleased to report thatsignificant progress is being made, on all fronts, to develop its Mining Projectin Sechelt, British Columbia. The Company's operations are divided between theSechelt Carbonate Project and the Southern Skarn Project. The Sechelt Carbonate Project is located approximately 15 km north of Secheltand is being developed to produce high purity limestone and dolomite for PacificRim markets, primarily in California. The Southern Skarn Project is located approximately 3km north of Sechelt, and isbeing developed to produce garnet and wollastonite skarn materials. In addition,the Company will produce gabbro, a hard granite type rock, which is used as aconstruction aggregate, and for dimensional stone. The primary markets for theseproducts are the West Coast of North America and Pacific Rim. Permitting, Environmental Assessment and Community Relations The Company began the Environmental Impact Assessment study ("EIA") and theprocess to apply for a large producer mining permit in August 2005 and filed theProject Description for The Sechelt Carbonate Project on 23 November 2005. TheCompany remains on track to submit its large producer mining permit applicationin January 2007 which would allow it to produce up to 6 million tonnes perannum. As part of the permitting process PPA and the Environmental Assessment Officefor British Columbia ("EAOBC") and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency("CEAA") held a joint orientation site tour and meeting on 7 February 2006.Representatives from a number of Provincial and Federal regulatory agenciesattended and supplied useful and positive feedback to PPA management on theSechelt Carbonate Project. Following the agency meeting, PPA held a community Open House and moderatedDiscussion Forum for the Sechelt and area communities on 8 February 2006. TheOpen House was attended by 86 people and the Forum was attended by 161 people.Representatives from the EOABC and CEAA were on hand to answer questions fromthe community. The Community Open House and Open Forum were both successful in providing thelocal community an opportunity to address questions directly to theenvironmental agencies, and provided the Company with useful feedback from thecommunity, for future consideration in its planning process. Exploration Program In February, PPA completed an extensive program of helicopter airbornegeophysics over the most geologically favourable portions of the Secheltproperty. Utilising the DIGHEM system operated by Fugro Airborne Surveys, 720line kilometres of magnetometer and 7 channel electromagnetic (resistivity)surveys were flown at 125 metre line spacing. The final report from Fugro is expected at the end of March, however,preliminary survey results were much better than expected. Carbonate rocks andskarn (garnet/wollastonite) areas showed distinct signatures in both magneticsusceptibility and electrical conductivity of these rocks. These signatureshave allowed us to extend known areas of mineralisation and identify several newareas with excellent exploration potential. Exploration programs for 2006 will follow up and assess the airborne resultswith geological mapping, ground geophysics in selected areas to further definegeological contacts and core drilling to assess mineral quality and quantity. Geology Assessment Report and Compilation Pan Pacific Aggregates Limited is pleased to announce that preparation of itsAssessment Report for its activities during 2005 is near completion, and will befiled with the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, BritishColumbia later this month. This report is a detailed description of all activities and results of thoseactivities that took place during the 2005 exploration season and runs to some750 pages of detail describing geological mapping, ground geophysics,infrastructure development and diamond drilling. The report was prepared andreviewed by Canadian certified, Qualified Persons and is fully compliant withCanadian 43-101 reporting standards. A resource update will be prepared andissued in the near future. A compilation of all historical and current mineral exploration work on theSechelt property has now been substantially completed. This investigation included analysis of all available work by previous operatorsand exploration companies, the preparation of geological plans andcross-sections showing surface mapping, diamond drill holes and relatedchemistry/assay results, and resource estimates. This key information greatlycomplements the results from the 2005 exploration program and will assist indirecting the 2006 exploration program. Marine Transportation and Logistics The Company is currently in discussions with a major international shippinggroup to provide marine transportation and logistics capabilities for theSechelt Project. These discussions include the possible purchase of land for adeepwater ship loading facility, construction of a barge and ship loader, andthe construction of new barge and Panamax class vessels to access the Californiaand Pacific Rim Markets. Potential barge and ship offloading depots in theGreater Vancouver and San Francisco markets are also being identified and willbe evaluated. Market and Marketing Developments A looming construction aggregates shortage in California provides a majoropportunity for PPA. The state's growing shortage of construction aggregatescoupled with the Governors recent announcement to embark on highway, governmentbuilding and other multi-billion dollar public works projects, could not havecome at a better time for PPA. Against this market background, prices forconstruction aggregates are expected to remain firm for the foreseeable future. PPA continues to hold discussions with potential strategic partners in thePacific North West and San Francisco Bay Areas to secure future supplyagreements for construction aggregates and industrial minerals. Significantinterest has been expressed in the Sechelt Project by a number of largeconstruction materials producers and consumers of aggregates and industrialminerals on the West Coast of Canada and the United States. Steady progress isbeing made by the Company to develop customer relationships in order to securelong term sales contracts. The Company will also be exhibiting at the IndustrialMinerals Congress in San Francisco, 26-29 March 2006. PPA is also in discussions with potential partners, who are market leaders, tocommercially develop its higher value minerals, including garnet andwollastonite. A non-disclosure agreement has been signed with one major producerto allow more substantive evaluations and discussions to take place. In addition to the garnet and wollastonite products, PPA plans to producedimensional stone and is exploring opportunities to form a possible jointventure with a leading producer and supplier of dimensional stone products inChina. PPA's high quality gabbro (black granite type rock) is very attractivefor the production of granite countertops and tiles, which is a high value andgrowing global market where the Chinese are becoming a major player. Samples ofblack granite tile produced from PPA's Sechelt gabbro will be showcased at the2006 International Stone Fair being held in Xiamen, China on 3-6 March 2006. Summary Good progress is being made on all fronts. We look forward to making furtherupdates as appropriate over the coming months. Enquiries to: Alan Whitehead, Chief Operating Officer 001 604 637 7581 William Voaden, Non-Executive Director 020 7628 3989 Louis Castro/Alex Collins, Insinger de Beaufort 020 7190 7000 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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