1st Feb 2005 07:00
Frontier Mining Ltd01 February 2005 1 February 2005 Results of metallurgical test work confirms copper is recoverable from oxide ore at Beschoku and Yubileiny deposits Highlights • Metallurgical test work on four 300kg bulk samples from both deposits confirms oxide copper is amenable to solvent extraction using SX-EW technology • Yubileiny ore ultimate recovery reaches 75% at -40 mm crush size • Yubileiny ore recovery was 63% and 69% within 50 days • Yubileiny ore consists mostly of malachite and azurite • Beschoku ore ultimate recovery reaches 50% at -40 mm crush size • Beschoku ore will require crushing to -20 mm to achieve higher recovery • Beschoku ore recovery reached 40% within 50 days • Beschoku ore consists of malachite, azurite and chrysocolla • Acid consumption was low for both Beschoku and Yubileiny • Four kilograms of copper cathode were produced from solution obtained during metallurgical test work • Additional larger-scale test work and validation is being undertaken Brian Savage, CEO of Frontier Mining, comments, "We have confirmed ourexpectation that copper is recoverable from Beschoku and Yubileiny oxide oreusing low cost SX-EW technology. The metallurgical test work showed the oreleaches quickly with low sulfuric acid consumption and we expect the ultimaterecovery could be up to 75%. Additional test work is being undertaken includingwork to determine the optimal crush size. We believe we have excellentpotential to develop a low cost copper mine and produce cathode copper on site.Our next task will be to drill and prove up reserves." The Company Frontier Mining Ltd. ("FML") is a mineral exploration and development companythat was incorporated in the state of Delaware, USA, on August 5, 1998 for thepurpose of exploring and developing gold and copper deposits in the Republic ofKazakhstan. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, FML locates, evaluates,acquires, explores and develops mineral properties. FML has two licenses, over a total area of 4,326 km2, owned by its wholly ownedsubsidiaries in Kazakhstan. They are the Naimanjal exploration and mininglicense, held by FML Kazakhstan, and the Baltemir exploration license, held byBaltemir LLP. FML is currently focused on 3 gold projects with more than 2million ounces of oxide gold resource and 2 copper/gold projects with more than1 billion pounds of copper resource. FML was admitted to the Alternative Investment Market of the London StockExchange on September 2, 2004. FML has 61,094,221 ordinary shares issued and19,579,457 outstanding options and warrants, giving 80,150,368 fully dilutedordinary shares. Beschoku Management estimate a preliminary inferred geologic resource (P1) of 2.48million tonnes of contained copper. Of this amount, approximately 1.86 milliontonnes is contained in sulphide ore and 620,000 tonnes is contained in oxideore. Yubileiny Management estimate a preliminary inferred geologic resource (P1) of 150,000tonnes of contained copper. Of this amount, 112,500 is contained in sulphideore and 37,500 is contained in oxide ore. Metallurgical Test Work Two 300kg bulk metallurgical samples were collected from Beschoku oxide copperore with copper grades of 2.90% and 1.84% and two 300kg bulk metallurgicalsamples were collected from Yubileiny oxide copper ore with copper grades of1.16% and 0.48%. The ore was crushed to -40 mm and leached in laboratory columns made of rigidPVC plastic, 1.2 meters high and 210 mm inner diameter. The ore was leachedwith sulphuric acid solution and maintained at a pH of 1.2 to 1.5. The columnleaching is still continuing. The results of the test work are summarized below. The main conclusions arethat the ore leaches well, acid consumption is low, and Beschoku ore willrequire crushing to approximately -20 mm. 2.5 cubic meters of pregnant solution with average copper grade of 2 grams perliter collected during the leach tests were used to produce four kilograms ofcopper cathode. The cathode was produced at the pilot-scale solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX-EW) plant at Base Metal R&D Institute in Ust-Kamenogorskwhich has been operational since 2001. Enquiries Frontier Mining Ltd Brian Savage 020 7849 6530Numis Securities John Harrison / Nick Westlake 020 7776 1500Parkgreen Communications Cathy Malins / Annabel Leather 020 7493 3713 Chemical Composition of Ore Samples (%) Element Beschoku -1 (B-1) Beschoku -2 (B-2) Yubileiny-1 (Y-1) Yubileiny-2 (Y-2) Cu 2.90 % 1.84% 1.16% 0.48% Fe total 7.37 5.77 1.97 0.58 CaO 1.06 1.99 0.98 0.11 MgO 1.76 1.93 1.84 0.18 Al 7.32 8.56 6.86 9.10 Zn 0.10 0.08 0.33 0.06 Ni 0.027 0.022 0.039 0.016 Co 0.0031 0.0029 0.0015 0.0025 AsRelated Shares:
FML.L