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CANATUAN MINE OPERATIONS UPDATE:
TVI'S SULPHIDE PROJECT PROCESS ENGINEERING
PROGRESSING; GOSSAN OPERATIONS CLEANUP AND CONVERSION CONTINUE
. Sulphide
Project Moving Ahead
. Gossan
Facilities Cleanup And Conversion On Track
. Gossan
Project Q1 Performance Reported
TVI Pacific Inc (TSX:
"TVI" or the "Company") today provided an update for
the Canatuan Mine, which is located in Southern Philippines and operated
by the Company's affiliate, TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc ("TVIRD").
This news release should be read in conjunction with the Company's
interim consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and
Analysis for the period ending March 31, 2008, which have been filed with
certain securities regulatory authorities in Canada and are available on
SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on the Company's website (www.tvipacific.com).
Certain statements in
this News Release constitute forward-looking statements, including
statements respecting the timing of commencement of construction of the
next segment of the sulphide dam at Canatuan, completion of the gossan
cleanup phase and the time frame for ongoing environmental rehabilitation
activities at Canatuan. Readers should refer to the cautionary
statement that appears at the end of this News Release.
Sulphide Project
Advancing
The Company reported
that activities are onging in relation to the engineering, development
and construction of a copper-zinc flotation plant to process ore from the
lower, sulphide portion of the Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide deposit
located at Canatuan. The sulphide portion of the ore body underlies
the oxidized, gossan zone, which has now successfully been mined at the
TVIRD Canatuan site.
TVIRD has contracted
an Australia-based engineering and management firm, Intermet Engineering,
to assist in finalizing and optimizing the process design and engineering
specifications for its Sulphide Project production facilities at
Canatuan. New senior personnel have been recruited to oversee the
engineering, development and construction of the sulphide plant, the
improvement of the road leading to and from the port and the construction
of port facilities to support the shipment of copper and zinc
concentrates.
TVIRD procured an
additional ball mill in 2007, which, when added to the existing equipment
at Canatuan, brings the initial capacity of the milling equipment sourced
for the sulphide project to 1,300 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") per
day. Completed works include an additional warehouse and, most
importantly, the foundation of the sulphide dam for the copper-zinc
tailings. Construction of the next segment of the dam (required to bring
it to initial operating height) is scheduled to commence shortly.
On the social and community side, TVIRD has extended its
information-education-communication campaign among the residents of
communities in and around Canatuan to provide additional information
about the project.
Cleanup Of Gossan Facilities And Conversion For The Sulphide
Project
Since grinding operations concluded on April 9, 2008, TVIRD has
conducted an extensive cleanup of its gossan facilities, harvesting
residual metal from all circuits. The last dore shipment was made on
April 24, 2008.
As well, the operations team has stepped up its efforts to convert
gossan-related facilities to sulphide operations. The cleanup and
conversion activities include, among other things, the refurbishment of
the crushing plant and the conveying system, the relining and
refurbishment of the ball mills and the overhauling and conditioning of
conveyance equipment for use in the processing of sulphide ore. The
cleanup phase is expected to be completed by the middle of May 2008.
Environmental rehabilitation activities, which began in 2004 when
TVIRD commenced its gossan operations, continue to be undertaken, and are
scheduled to be sustained through 2013. These activities consist
primarily of revegetation, reforestation and structure
improvements. TVIRD has planted over 100,000 trees in Canatuan
since 2004.
TVIRD has determined that the Sulphide Project will require a
smaller organization and a different set of skills than the Gossan
Project. Accordingly, effective April 18, 2008, TVIRD initiated a
major reduction of manpower by 168 personnel; those who occupied
positions that are not needed during the transition period and when the
sulphide operations begin.
Gossan First Quarter 2008 Operations Performance
The Canatuan Project processed more ore in the first quarter of
2008 vis-a-vis the same period in the previous year. It processed
176,101 dmt in Q1, 2008 versus 172,129 in Q1, 2007. However, due to
expected lower metal grades and recoveries, the project produced 5,067
gold equivalent ounces ("AuEqOz") in the first quarter of 2008,
down 38% from the 13,308 AuEqOz in the same quarter last year.
Production in the first quarter consisted of 4,466 ounces of gold
("Au") and 32,128 ounces of silver ("Ag"), compared
with 8,930 Au and 214,282 Ag in the first three months of 2007.
Additional information on Q1,2008 performance can be found on the
Company's website at www.tvipacific.com.
"The Gossan Project performed better in the first quarter of
2008 than we had anticipated as a consequence of successful mining
practices and appropriate cost reductions," said Clifford M. James,
TVI President and CEO. "We had expected our gossan operations to
cease by the end of March, but were able to extend the extraction of gold
and silver to the second week of April as a result of clean up
operations. The additional period of operations generated
incremental metal production and cash flow. Looking forward, in
addition to the construction of the Sulphide Project, we have begun to
consider the possibility of using the heap leaching technique of metal
recovery, a low-cost method of processing ore, for the remaining
low-grade ore at Canatuan. We believe that this process could be
viable, given the current price of precious metals."
About TVI Pacific Inc. (TSX: TVI)
TVI Pacific Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian mining company
focused on exploring for and producing precious and base metals within
district scale systems in the Philippines. The Company's interest in the
Canatuan Mine and its other Philippine assets are held through its
affiliate, TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Ltd.
Further Information: Clifford M. James, President
and CEO, TVI Pacific Inc.
Paul Moon, Director, Corporate Communications (403) 265-4356
Certain information set out in this News Release constitutes
forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are often,
but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek",
"anticipate", "plan", "continue",
"estimate", "expect", "may",
"will", "intend", "could", "might",
"should", "believe" and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions and expectations
of management of the Company as at the effective date of such
statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations
reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable
assumptions, it can give no assurance that those expectations will prove
to have been correct. Forward-looking statements are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties (known and unknown) that could cause
actual outcomes to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by
such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not
limited to, such things as the volatility of prices for precious metals
and base metals, commodity supply and demand, fluctuations in currency
and interest rates, inherent risks associated with the exploration and
development of mining properties, ultimate recoverability of mineral
reserves, timing, results and costs of exploration and development
activities, availability of financial resources or third-party financing,
new laws (domestic or foreign), changes in administrative practices and
changes in exploration plans or budgets. Accordingly, readers
should not place undue reliance upon the forward-looking statements
contained in this News Release and such forward-looking statements should
not be interpreted or regarded as guarantees of future outcomes.
Forward-looking information respecting the timing of commencement of
construction of the next segment of the sulfide dam at Canatuan, is based
upon progress made to date on the construction of the foundation for the
sulfide dam, advice received from third-party contractors with respect to
the timing of various components of the construction project, prior
experiences of management with construction activities at Canatuan, the
current development plan for Canatuan and the Company's current budget
and overall strategy for Canatuan, which plans, budget and strategy are
all subject to change. Forward-looking information concerning the
completion of the gossan cleanup phase at Canatuan is based upon progress
made to date in relation to the gossan cleanup initiative, the current
development plan for Canatuan and the Company's current budget and
overall strategy for Canatuan, which plans, budget and strategy are all
subject to change. Forward-looking information respecting the
timeframe for ongoing rehabilitation activities at Canatuan are based
upon rehabilitation activities carried out to date at Canatuan, the
current rehabilitation plan for Canatuan and the Company's current budget
and overall strategy for environmental rehabilitation at Canatuan, which
plans, budgets and strategy are all subject to change. The
forward-looking statements of the Company contained in this News Release
are expressly qualified, in their entirety, by this cautionary statement.
Various risks to which the Company is exposed in the conduct of its
business (including exploration activities) are described in detail in
the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31,
2007, which was filed on SEDAR on March 27, 2008 and is available under
the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com. Subject to applicable
securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to
publicly revise the forward-looking statements included in this News
Release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
The Toronto Stock
Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the information
contained herein.
2000, 736 - 6
Avenue S.W. Calgary, Alberta T2P 3T7
Tel: (403)
265-4356 Fax: (403) 264-7028
Website: http://www.tvipacific.com E-mail:
tvi-info@tvipacific.com
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