FOCUS MINERALS LTD (ASX: FML)
FOCUS APPOINTS MINING CONTRACTOR, SIGNS TOLL TREATMENT AGREEMENT AHEAD OF
MAIDEN GOLD POUR
Australian-based gold and
nickel company Focus Minerals Ltd (ASX: FML),
through its Redemption Joint Venture (RJV) with Canadian-based Committee Bay
Resources (TXV: CBR), is pleased to announce the appointment of well-known and
experienced mining contractor, Barminco Limited, to develop and mine the
Company’s flagship Perseverance Gold
Deposit located in the world-class Coolgardie Gold region in Western
Australia.
Barminco gained access to
the Perseverance site last week and mobilisation is now complete. Preparatory
site works have commenced for the establishment of the underground operation,
where an eventual workforce of up to 40 staff will bring Perseverance online as
a fully-functioning and producing mine.
Additionally,
Focus has finalised arrangements
for the priority toll treatment of
first ore mined from Perseverance through an agreement with Higginsville Mining
Pty Ltd to treat Perseverance ore at its Greenfields mineral processing plant
at favourable rates, which is located adjacent to the RJV’s
fully-permitted 1.2mtpa Three Mile Hill processing facility.
The processing agreement – for the guaranteed
treatment of up to 480,000 tonnes of
RJV ore per annum – gives Focus the opportunity to
treat smaller tonnages and gain early cash flow, prior to the need to have its
own Three Mile Hill treatment plant on line.
Under the terms of the agreement, Higginsville Mining will
toll treat RJV ore at the Greenfields plant, at competitive rates and on a
priority basis.
The appointment of the
mining contract and signing of the toll treatment agreement represent the final
stages required to bring the Perseverance deposit into production, with first gold due to be poured in April.
Other recent milestones
for the Perseverance Project include the completion of a positive Feasibility
Study in December 2007 and last week’s announcement of a 28% increase in
Indicated Resources to 490,700 tonnes @
7.5grams/tonne for 118,500 contained ounces.
The longer-term
development objective at the Coolgardie Project is to ramp up production to a sustainable level of 80-100,000 ounces per annum
from FY2011 onwards from multiple deposits within the development pipeline,
with ore to be processed at the Three Mile Hill plant.
ENDS
COMPETENT PERSON’S STATEMENT
The
information in this report relating to Resources and Reserves are based on work
supervised by Mr Chuck McCormick who
is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Mr
McCormick has the relevant experience as a “Competent Person” as
defined in the 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral
Resources and Ore
Reserves in relation to the mineralisation reported on. Mr McCormick is Exploration
Manager of Focus Minerals Ltd and consents to the inclusion of the material in
the form and content in which it appears.
Released
by:
|
On
behalf of:
|
Nicholas Read/Jason
Cunningham
|
Don
Taig, Chairman
Peter
Williams, Managing Director
|
Read Corporate
|
Focus Minerals Ltd
|
Telephone: (+61-8) 9388-1474
|
Telephone:
(+61-8) 9215-7888
|
www.readcorporate.com.au
|
Web: www.focusminerals.com.au
|
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION – FOCUS MINERALS LTD
Focus Minerals Ltd (ASX: FML) is an Australian-based exploration and
development group whose focus is to become a significant gold and nickel
producer in the Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie-Widgiemooltha region of Western Australia.
Focus Minerals is the
largest landholder in the Coolgardie Gold Belt located in Western Australia, 560km
east of Perth and 35km west of the ‘Super Pit’ in
Kalgoorlie-Boulder. More than 2.6 million ounces of gold has been produced from
the Coolgardie gold belt alone since 1892. Focus holds the mineral rights to
more than 210sq km of tenements including Measured, Indicated and Inferred
Resources exceeding 1.65 million ounces of gold as well as the 1.2mtpa Three
Mile Hill processing plant.
Focus Minerals is also
fast tracking development of its wholly-owned Nepean Nickel Project (current
estimated resource totaling 591,300t @ 2.2% Ni) located 25km south of
Coolgardie. Focus has a view of recommencing mining operations from the
historic production centre in 2008.
READ CORPORATE
Public
Relations Corporate Communications
T: (+61-8) 9388-1474 | F: (+61-8) 9388-1472 | E: info@readcorporate.com.au | Web: www.readcorporate.com.au
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