A
NORTHAIR GROUP COMPANY
SUITE
860
- 625
HOWE STREET Ÿ
VANCOUVER, BC Ÿ
V6C 2T6 CANADA Ÿ TEL:
(604) 687-7545 FAX: (604) 689-5041
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Dec 7, 2007
#07-35
Sherwood reports Groundwork has Commenced on Carmacks to
Stewart Transmission Line
Lower Cost Grid Power scheduled for Minto Mine by the End
of 2008
VANCOUVER, BRITISH
COLUMBIA - Sherwood Copper Corporation (SWC: TSX-V)
reports that Yukon
Energy (?YEC?) has received all the permits and certificates needed to
proceed with the surveying, clearing
and construction of Phase 1 of the Carmacks to Stewart transmission line. The
access and land use permits were issued by the Selkirk and Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation governments late last month, and the Yukon government?s
certificates and permits came earlier this week. As a result, the high grade Minto
copper-gold mine should have access to grid power by the end of 2008,
significantly reducing mine operating costs and providing potential for material benefits to
Yukon
stakeholders.
?With all the necessary permits issued and groundwork
underway on the Carmacks to Stewart transmission line, the Minto Mine is on
schedule to switch from diesel to hydro electric power by the end of 2008,? said
Stephen P. Quin, President of Sherwood Copper. ?This is a major step towards creating
significant benefits to both Sherwood?s shareholders and Yukon stakeholders. Shareholders will benefit from significantly reduced energy costs while Yukon
stakeholders gain significant benefits from incremental energy sales,
infrastructure development and taxes while reducing the generation of greenhouse
gasses in the Yukon.
We appreciate the hard work
and support of both the Yukon and First Nation governments in making
this happen.?
Yukon Energy has reported that crews of
Challenger Geomatics, Yukon Energy?s survey contractor, have begun their work.
They will spend the next few weeks marking the line route between Carmacks and
Pelly Crossing. Brush clearing will begin later this week and will continue
until late February or early March. Line construction is expected to start in
March, and substation construction is planned for later in the spring. The transmission and spur lines should be in
operation by late 2008.
As announced May 29, 2007, the Yukon
Utilities Board approved the amended
power purchase agreement (?PPA?) between Sherwood?s wholly owned subsidiary
Minto Explorations Ltd. (?MintoEx?) and Yukon Energy Corporation. Under the terms of the amended PPA,
MintoEx has agreed to a fixed rate to the
end of 2012 of 10c/kwh, which rate would escalate on an annual basis in
accordance with an inflation measure, and a take-or-pay provision of $12 million over four years. Yukon Development Corporation has
provided a guarantee to Yukon Energy
Corporation of the financing risks related to the Minto capital contribution
payments. Yukon Development
Corporation will also be responsible for any risk that the amount of the Company?s contribution for the main line may increase beyond $7.2 million agreed
to in the PPA. As previously disclosed, YEC has advised MintoEx that
the latest estimated cost to complete the spur line to the Minto Mine is now
$8.8 million, versus $3.8 million previously reported. The cost increase is a result of cost
escalations related to construction, material and equipment costs, as well as
increasing the capacity of the spur line to accommodate a mill throughput rate
of up to 4,200 mtpd. The impact of
these cost increases should be somewhat mitigated by (a) increased power demand
related to higher process plant
throughput planned under a pre-feasibility study (see below), (b) the debt
repayment structure, which has interest only payments for three years after
completion of the grid connection, and principal and interest payments for four years
thereafter on the main line, while the spur line has principal and interest payments commencing upon
completion of the grid connection for a seven year period and (c) a potential
two year extension to the spur line repayment terms.
Pre-feasibility
Study
The independent pre-feasibility study being undertaken by SRK
Consulting (Canada) Inc. is essentially complete
and should be released early next week.
Completion has been delayed by incorporation of a number of developments
post-completion of the August 2006 feasibility study, including, but not limited
to, (a) conversion of a portion of the Area 2 resource to reserves, (b)
improved geotechnical information
enhancing pit optimization, (c) conversion of the mine planning model to an NSR
basis from an in situ copper grade basis, (d) increased mill throughput from
2,400 tpd to 3,500 tpd based on a coarser primary grind, (e) provision of grid power by late 2008, and (f) update of the Minto mine cost assumptions
based on actual contract terms for mining services, explosives supply,
concentrate trucking, concentrate off-take, etc. All components of the study are now
complete and are being vetted by the appropriate
Qualified Persons as required by National Instrument 43-101 prior to
release.
Minto
Project
The Minto Mine is a high-grade open pit copper-gold
deposit located in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Sherwood acquired the Minto
project in June 2005 and, in just two
years from its acquisition, completed a bankable feasibility study, arranged
project financing, and built a $100
million open pit copper-gold mine. Commercial production commenced on October 1, 2007. In parallel with these development
activities, Sherwood has been running an exceptionally successful exploration
program that has resulted in multiple
discoveries of high grade copper-gold mineralization across its Minto Mine
property.
Sherwood
Sherwood?s successful consolidation of the ownership of
the Minto project provides a unique investment opportunity ?
participation in a high-grade, open pit copper-gold mine located in Canada
with tremendous exploration potential on the property.
Additional
Information
Additional information on Sherwood and its Minto Project can be obtained
on Sherwood?s website at http://www.sherwoodcopper.com.
On
behalf of the board of
directors
SHERWOOD COPPER
CORPORATION
?Stephen P.
Quin?
Stephen P.
Quin
President &
CEO
For further
information please contact Stephen
Quin, President of Sherwood Copper
Corp.
or Investor
Relations at (604) 687-7545 or (888) 338-2200
**
INTERNET ADDRESS: www.sherwoodcopper.com **
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not
accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This news release may contain forward
looking statements which are not historical facts, such as ore reserve
estimates, anticipated production or
results, sales, revenues, costs, or discussions of goals and exploration results, and involves a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but
are not limited to, metal price
volatility, volatility of metals production, project development, ore reserve estimates, future
anticipated reserves and cost engineering estimate risks, geological factors and
exploration results. See the
Company?s filings for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact
expected results.