FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September
9, 2008 - Toronto - Pele
Mountain Resources Inc. (TSX Venture: GEM)
("Pele" or the
"Company") announced today that the Company
has submitted the Project Description for its Eco Ridge Mine to the
federal government's Major Projects Management Office and the Canadian
Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The submission of this document
initiates the official permitting process for the Company's planned
uranium mine and processing facility near Elliot Lake in Northern
Ontario.
The
Project Description details Pele's approach
to sustainable development at Eco Ridge. The mining, processing,
and waste management plans make innovative use of proven technologies
to build a modern, state-of-the-science facility, significantly more
advanced and environmentally-friendly than historic operations in the
Elliot Lake region.
The
underground mine will be developed by ramps from surface, using
trackless development and longhole slashing
to leave more than 60-percent of the broken ore underground within
designed containments for bioleaching. Underground bioleaching was
used extensively for commercial uranium production in the Elliot Lake
region during the 1980s and 1990s.
The
balance of development material (less than 40-percent) will be trucked
to surface and deposited on a heap leach facility ("HLF"). The
leach cells will be designed to fully contain the leach solutions and
to allow for progressive decommissioning. The HLF will be
operated, decommissioned, and reclaimed using methods successfully
employed at other modern mine sites around the world. No tailings
pond will be required at Eco Ridge.
Environmental
impact will also be minimized by relying on underground and surface
bioleaching and through a processing operation that recycles leachate in a closed circuit until it is piped to
the uranium recovery facility where it will be clarified and processed
in a solvent extraction circuit. The uranium will then be
extracted in a stripping circuit, and then washed, dried, and packed
into drums for shipment.
Preliminary
analysis of this design indicates that the Eco Ridge Mine can be
operated in a manner that generates no liquid effluent requiring
treatment. As a contingency, to address the unlikely event that
some water may require treatment before release, a "standby"
water treatment facility designed to use best available technology is
proposed, including adequate back up storage capacity.
In
October 2007, Pele received a positive
scoping study for its Eco Ridge Mine which outlined NI 43-101
compliant resources of 6.4 million pounds of "indicated" U3O8 (5.68
million tonnes grading 0.051-percent U3O8 ) and
36.1 million pounds of "inferred" U3O8
(37.26 tonnes grading 0.044-percent U3O8), which
provided the basis for an economically-viable,
environmentally-compliant uranium mining and processing operation.1
A pre-feasibility study for Eco Ridge, led by SRK
Consulting in collaboration with SNC-Lavalin,
is expected to be completed in the spring of 2009. The Project
Description provides target dates for completion of the licensing and
permitting activities by year-end 2010, the beginning of construction
in early-2011, and the commencement of uranium production in late-2012.
Pele President and CEO Al Shefsky stated, "The submission of our Project
Description represents a significant milestone in the development of
the Eco Ridge Mine. We look forward to working closely with all
levels of government, as well as First Nations and stakeholders, to
ensure a transparent and accountable process as we advance this
exciting venture. The Project Description demonstrates our
commitment to develop an economically, environmentally, and socially
sustainable uranium mine which, we believe, will deliver long term
benefits to the region and to Pele
shareholders."
More
than 300 million pounds of U3O8 were mined from
conglomerate beds near Elliot Lake by Rio Algom
and Denison Mines from 1956 to 1996, earning the region the title
"the Uranium Capital of the World". Pele
management believes that as an established mining region with excellent
infrastructure, well-understood geology, and a politically-stable and
mining-friendly jurisdiction, Elliot Lake is an ideal location for the
development of a secure and reliable long-term uranium supply.
About Pele Mountain Resources
Pele Mountain Resources is committed to the
sustainable development of the Eco Ridge Mine in the historic Elliot
Lake mining camp. The company is developing a safe, secure, and
reliable uranium mining operation in order to deliver lasting benefitsto local communities and its
shareholders. Pele also holds a diverse
portfolio of gold, diamond, and base metal projects in Northern
Ontario. Pele stock is listed on the TSX
Venture Exchange under the symbol "GEM".
For
further information please contact Al Shefsky,
President, at (800) 315-7353, or visit the Pele
website at www.pelemountain.com.
1. The Scoping Study
is preliminary in nature and includes both indicated and inferred
mineral resources. Inferred mineral resources are considered too
speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to
them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral
reserves. There is no certainty that the preliminary assessment
will be realized.
The TSX-V has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Some of the
statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements,
such as estimates and statements that describe Pele's
future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that Pele or management expects a stated condition or
result to occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events
and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and
uncertainties. Actual results in each case could differ materially from
those currently anticipated in such statements. The economic viability
of the 43-101 mineral resources at Pele's Eco
Ridge Mine has not yet been demonstrated by a pre feasibility study.