MMS.L Regulatory News (MMS)

7 Dec 2006 07:00

Maghreb Minerals PLC07 December 2006 MAGHREB MINERALS PLC Acquisition of permits with extensive fluorite resources Maghreb Minerals Plc ("Maghreb" or the "Company") (MMS.L), the AIM-quotedexploration company developing base and precious metal deposits in North Africa,today announces a significant expansion of its Tunisian operations. • Maghreb has been awarded four exploration permits in the Zaghouan fluorite district of Tunisia with extensive proved mineral reserves. • The Office Nationale des Mines ("O.N.M.") estimates that the four permits contain undefined mineral resources totalling in excess of 4.8 million tonnes (Mt), with mineral reserves of fluorite of 1.2Mt. • This region was in the past one of the most active mining regions in Tunisia. Lead, zinc and fluorite were mined over a long period at several sites. The Maghreb directors believe the region holds excellent potential for additional discoveries of lead, zinc, barite and fluorite mineralisation. N.B. all mineral reserves and mineral resources quoted in this announcement arenot to JORC, NI 43-101, the Reporting Code or other international reportingstandards. Maghreb has been awarded four exploration permits in the Zaghouan fluoritedistrict, located 60 km south of Tunis. The four permit areas, Zriba-Guebli, Kohol, Mesella and Sidi at Taia, cover an area of known fluorite, lead and zincmineralisation and historic mining operations. The Zriba-Guebli permit covers the Zriba mine and the Guebli deposit, which isconsidered an extension of the mineralised layer mined in Zriba mine. Mineralisation is stratabound, with mineralised layers in the order of 1 and 10metres thick. The Zriba mine, a simple room and pillar mining operation,produced approximately 4Mt of ore, grading 25% fluorite (CaF2) and 1-2% Pb/Zn(lead/zinc), between 1967 and 1992, when it was closed due to low mineral pricesat that time. The lead and zinc were not recovered and the ore was dumped in thetailings dam close to the plant. The fluorspar production was used to supply the Tunisian aluminium fluorsparindustry. Tunisian current internal market consumption is approximately 80,000tonnes per year valued at around US$18 million, all supplied by imports. The O.N.M. estimates the remaining mineral resources in the south part of Zribamine and at Guebli to be of the order of 4Mt, including 850,000 tonnes in themineral reserve category. The three additional permits are all adjacent to the Zriba-Guebli permit. On theKohol permit, the O.N.M. has identified a mineral resource of 600,000 tonnesincluding 400,000 tonnes of proved mineral reserves grading 35 % CaF2, 2-5% Pb/Zn. On the Sidi at Taia permit, the O.N.M. has identified mineralisation of theorder of 25,000 tonnes grading 15 % CaF2, 10% BaSO4 (barite) + SrSO4 (strontiumsulphate) and 3.5% Pb/Zn. On the Mesella permit, zinc oxide and zinc sulphideand fluorite mineralisation is hosted in fractures and has been mined on a smallscale in the past. The area has seen little exploration for lead and zinc mineralisation. Thedirectors of Maghreb therefore believe that, in addition to the potential fordiscovery of additional fluorite resources, there is the potential forsignificant lead zinc mineralisation on these licence areas. Industry analysts expect the fluorspar market to remain tight and prices toremain high for the foreseeable future. Whilst Chinese fluorspar exportscurrently represent less than 30% of total output, domestic consumption levelsremain high in China so that the availability of Chinese fluorspar on the worldmarket continues to decline. The result has been a significant increase inprices; in September 2006 the quoted price for acid grade fluorspar CIF (cost,insurance and freight) US ports had reached US$230-240/t, compared with anaverage of US$180/t in 2005. Gordon Riddler, Executive Chairman of Maghreb Minerals plc, stated: "We are excited by this new opportunity to advance the Company from anexploration to a mining company. The resumption of fluorite mining in Tunisia,represents a significant opportunity for import substitution in the country, andhas the support of the government and the domestic end user. The domestic marketconsumption is around 80,000 tonnes per year and is valued at US$18 million. Maghreb has commenced a programme to verify the mineral resources and to movemineral resources into the mineral reserve category at the Zriba mine. We havealso entered into discussions with a possible joint venture partner, withexperience in industrial minerals, with the goal of fast tracking thisopportunity for investors. Given the excellence of the work of the O.N.M., we are confident that theacquisition of these permits represents an opportunity for the Company to becomea significant industrial mineral producer and there is also the potential forthe discovery of additional fluorite, lead and zinc resources." The technical content of this press release has been reviewed by the ExecutiveChairman of Maghreb Minerals plc, Gordon Riddler, BSc, MBA, FIMMM, CEng, CSci,CMkt, MCIM, MCMI who has 40 years of experience in the mining sector and is aFellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, a recognisedprofessional association. ENQUIRIES: Maghreb Minerals PlcGordon Riddler, Executive Chairman Tel: +44 (0) 20 7556 7038 Hanson Westhouse LLP Tel: +44 (0) 20 7601 6100Tim Metcalfe / Anita Ghanekar Bankside Consultants Tel: +44 (0) 20 7367 8888Michael Padley / Michael Spriggs About Maghreb Minerals PlcMaghreb Minerals Plc is an AIM listed exploration company developing both baseand precious metal deposits in Tunisia and Algeria where it holds the rights toseveral licence areas. The Company is targeting base metals, mainly lead andzinc, but has also identified areas containing barite and fluorite in Tunisiaand gold and copper in Algeria. Glossary of Technical Terms CIF A shipping term which indicates that transportation charges include cost, insurance and freight) fluorspar The mineral calcium fluorite (CaF2) mineral A 'Mineral Reserve' is the economically mineable part of areserve Measured and/or Indicated Mineral Resource. It includes diluting(Reporting materials and allowances for losses, which may occur when theCode material is mined. Appropriate assessments, which may include(October feasibility studies, have been carried out, and include2001) consideration of, and modification by, realistically assumed mining, metallurgical, economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments demonstrate at the time of reporting that extraction is justified. Mineral Reserves are sub-divided in order of increasing confidence into Probable Mineral Reserves and Proved Mineral Reserves. proved A 'Proved Mineral Reserve' is the economically mineable part of amineral Measured Mineral Resource. It includes diluting materials andreserve allowances for losses, which may occur when the material is mined.(Reporting Appropriate assessments, which may include feasibility studies,Code have been carried out, and include consideration of, and(October modification by, realistically assumed mining, metallurgical,2001) economic, marketing, legal, environmental, social and governmental factors. These assessments demonstrate at the time of reporting that extraction is justified. mineral A 'Mineral Resource' is a concentration or occurrence of materialresource of economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form,(Reporting quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects forCode eventual economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade,(October continuity and other geological characteristics of a Mineral2001) Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge. Mineral Resources are subdivided, in order of increasing geological confidence into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories. stratabound Confined to layers within a sequence of rock strata - used to describe mineralisation This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange