7th Feb 2007 12:00
European Goldfields Ltd07 February 2007 For Immediate Release 7 February 2007 European Goldfields Golden China Orders an Extra 130,000 Tonnes of Olympias Gold Concentrates 7 February 2007 - European Goldfields Limited (TSX / AIM: EGU) is pleased toannounce that its subsidiary Hellas Gold S.A. has entered into a second off-takeagreement with Golden China Resources Corporation (GCX: TSX; ASX) for the saleof 100,000 tonnes of gold bearing pyrite concentrates previously produced at theOlympias mine in Greece. This concentrate will be treated over a three yearperiod on an equal profit share basis at Golden China's new dedicated bacterialoxidation plant in Shandong, China, which is expected to be commissioned inSeptember 2007. In May 2006, Hellas Gold signed an initial contract for the sale of 18,000tonnes of concentrates by April 2007 for processing at Golden China's existingbacterial oxidation plant in Shandong. This initial contract has also beenextended for the sale of an additional 30,000 tonnes of concentrates between May2007 and 31 December 2008. Olympias benefits from an existing stockpile of gold concentrates comprising areserve of approximately 258,000 tonnes grading 23.3 g/t gold (containing193,000 oz of gold). An additional 9,000 wmt of concentrates (containing 6,000oz of gold) is also located at Hellas Gold's port facility in Stratoni. Following today's announcement, Hellas Gold has now secured the sale of a totalof 184,000 tonnes of Olympias concentrates (containing approximately 130,000 ozof gold) to four different off-takers - Golden China, MRI Trading, CelticResources and Euromin - with expressions of interest to sell up to an additional132,000 wmt of concentrates if the initial shipments are successful. Hellas Gold plans to resume underground mining operations at Olympias afterpermits are awarded, producing more gold bearing pyrite concentrates for sale toexisting and new off-takers. The prices payable for the concentrates vary with the prevailing gold price. Theagreements produce an attractive return for Hellas Gold at a gold price ofUS$500/oz. The monthly shipments may be suspended if certain profitabilitythresholds are not met. Commenting on the announcement, David Reading, CEO of European Goldfields, said:"We are delighted to have renewed our contract with Golden China for the sale ofan extra 130,000 tonnes of gold concentrates from Olympias. We have now soldvirtually the entire stockpile, and are pursuing similar opportunities for thesale of new gold concentrates to be produced at Olympias when productionresumes." About European Goldfields European Goldfields is a resource company involved in the acquisition,exploration and development of mineral properties in Greece, Romania andSouth-East Europe. Greece - European Goldfields holds a 65% interest in Hellas Gold S.A. HellasGold owns three major gold and base metal deposits in Northern Greece. Thedeposits are the polymetallic projects of Stratoni and Olympias which containgold, zinc, lead and silver, and the Skouries copper/gold porphyry body. HellasGold commenced production at Stratoni in September 2005 and selling an existingstockpile of Olympias gold concentrates in July 2006. Hellas Gold is applyingfor permits to develop the Skouries and Olympias projects. Romania - European Goldfields owns 80% of the Certej gold/silver project inRomania. European Goldfields is completing a feasibility study for submission tothe Romanian government in Q1 2007, in support of a permit application todevelop the project. For further information please contact: European Goldfields: website: www.egoldfields.comDavid Reading, Chief Executive Officer e-mail: [email protected]: +44 (0)20 7408 9534 Buchanan Communications: e-mail: [email protected] Morse / Ben WilleyOffice: +44 (0)20 7466 5000 Renmark Financial Communication: website: www.renmarkfinancial.comTina Cameron e-mail: [email protected]: +1 514 939 3989 Forward-looking statements Certain statements and information contained in this document, including anyinformation as to the Company's future financial or operating performance andother statements that express management's expectations or estimates of futureperformance, constitute forward-looking information under provisions of Canadianprovincial securities laws. When used in this document, the words "anticipate","expect", "will", "intend", "estimate", "forecast", "planned" and similarexpressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements or information.Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates andassumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherentlysubject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties andcontingencies. The Company cautions the reader that such forward-lookingstatements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors thatmay cause the actual financial results, performance or achievements of theCompany to be materially different from its estimated future results,performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-lookingstatements and the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of futureperformance. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are notlimited to: changes in the price of gold, base metals or certain othercommodities (such as fuel and electricity) and currencies; uncertainty ofmineral reserves, resources, grades and recovery estimates; uncertainty offuture production, capital expenditures and other costs; currency fluctuations;financing and additional capital requirements; the successful and timelypermitting of the Company's Skouries, Olympias and Certej projects; legislative,political, social or economic developments in the jurisdictions in which theCompany carries on business; operating or technical difficulties in connectionwith mining or development activities; the speculative nature of gold and basemetals exploration and development, including the risks of diminishingquantities or grades of reserves; the risks normally involved in theexploration, development and mining business; and risks associated with internalcontrol over financial reporting. For a more detailed discussion of such risksand material factors or assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements,see the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended 31 December 2005,filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company does not intend, and does notassume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statementswhether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except asrequired by law. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
EGU.L