Mining Licence Update One-time Conversion Payment

 

 

11 August 2014

 

AMUR MINERALS CORPORATION

(AIM: AMC)

 

Mining Licence Update

One-time Conversion Payment

 

Amur Minerals Corporation ("Amur" or the "Company"), the nickel-copper exploration and development company focused on base metal projects located in the Far East of Russia, is pleased to report continuing progress in its efforts to attain the Kun-Manie production licence.  In August 2014, Russian authorities issued a newly updated calculation of the one-time payment for the forthcoming mining licence.  The calculation is derived from the reserves registered by Amur with the GKZ (State Committee on Reserves) as well as anticipated production volumes, average grade, mine life and recent metals prices.  The one-time payment is 23,610,272 rubles (US$655,000).

 

Whilst the Government has been calculating the updated payment, the Company has been working with Russian authorities in finalising the terms and conditions of the production licence.  The finalised terms and conditions along with the required one-time payment calculation will be submitted to the Ministry of Economic Development ("MED") for its review and approval. 

 

MED's approval of the payment and terms and conditions of the application, will allow Rosnedra to forward the application to the Ministry of Natural Resources, its parent organisation, and then onward to the Government of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for final approval.  Government approval will not include review by the Foreign Investment Advisory Council.

 

Concurrent with the ongoing finalisation of the terms and conditions effort, the application is in advanced stages of review by the state security organs of the FSB and the Ministry of Defense ("MOD").  Updated reports include the period since September 2013 when the FSB and MOD provided their last reviews.  The Anti-Monopoly Board ("FAS") has already completed its updated review.

 

Highlights:

 

·     Amur Minerals continues to advance in obtaining its production licence for Kun Manie with the issuance of the updated one-time payment.

 

·     The one-time payment of 23.6 million rubles ($655,000, down from $818,000 estimated in May 2013) must be made within one month of the registration of the mining licence.

 

·     The payment is a key part of the terms and conditions for the mining licence and the package will be shortly sent to the Ministry of Economic Development for its approval.

 

·     The mining licence application for Kun Manie is also in late stage review by the FSB and the Ministry of Defense.  With MED approval and the updates by the FSB and MOD, Rosnedra and the Ministry of Natural Resources will prepare documentation for forwarding of the application to the administration of the Prime Minister for the final review and approval.

 

Robin Young, CEO of Amur Minerals Corporation, commented:

 

"Amur continues to work closely with the Russian government to convert our licence from exploration to production and  the updated one-time payment calculation is another important step in that direction.   Obviously it is in the interests of the Russian state to get paid for the mining rights and move the project towards its logical goal, which is large scale production at the earliest possible date;  And that is what our shareholders desire.  We are grateful for the professionalism of our counterparts in the Government who are crucial to achieving a positive outcome at Kun Manie."

 

Enquiries:

 

Company Amur Minerals Corp.	Nomad and Broker S.P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Public Relations Yellow Jersey
Robin Young CEO	Ewan Leggat Laura Harrison	Dominic Barretto Kelsey Traynor
+44 (0) 7981 126 818	+44 (0) 20 3463 2260	+44 (0) 77 6853 7739

 

Notes to Editors

 

The information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and approved by the CEO of Amur, Robin Young. Mr. Young is a Geological Engineer (cum laude) and is a Qualified Professional Geologist, as defined by the Toronto and Vancouver Stock Exchanges.

 

For further information, see the Company website.

www.amurminerals.com. 

 

The website has been updated to include Company events with the following link.

http://amurminerals.com/events/past/?action=tribe_list&tribe_paged=1

 

Discussion

 

The Kun-Manie exploration licence area is approximately 950 km² and is located 700 km northeast of the city of Blagoveshchensk located on the Chinese border. Amur commenced seasonal field work on the licence in 2004 and issued a JORC compliant statement covering the three deposits of Maly Kurumkon, Vodorazdelny and Ikenskoe in 2007. 

 

Since 2007, exploration and drilling has been conducted on an ongoing basis and an updated resource estimate has been compiled in in late 2013 wherein resources are reported from five deposits located along the prolific Kurumkon Trend. 

 

The five deposits contain a total Measured, Indicated and Inferred resource of 120.8 million tonnes averaging 0.54% nickel and 0.15% copper.  The total contained tonnage of nickel is estimated to be 650,600 tonnes with copper being 178,400 tonnes.  This equates to 1.4 billion pounds of contained nickel and 0.4 billion pounds of copper.  A total of 16.9 tonnes of platinum and 18.0 tonnes of palladium are also present as by product metals.  A total contained nickel equivalent is indicated to be 830,000 tonnes using 2 December 2013 metal prices.  Metal prices utilised to determine the nickel equivalent value were US$13,378 per tonne for nickel, US$7,009 per tonne for copper, US$1,350 per ounce for platinum and US$714 per ounce for palladium.

 

The estimation of the resource has been compiled by SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd ("SRK") using geostatistical methods and has been reported using the JORC Code.

 

Further, SRK has undertaken sufficient work studies to determine that all of the reported resource has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction.  A detailed summary of the SRK resource estimate is presented at the end of this announcement.  The summary provides information by deposit and resource category as set forth by JORC resource reporting standards. 

 

The Company is in the process of undertaking further work to update its previous technical studies and facilitate producing a reserve statement in due course. This will incorporate newly estimated Q1 2014 updated capital and operating costs, the higher metallurgical recoveries derived in 2012 by SGS Minerals, and lower net profits tax.  The study will also assess alternative power generation options, road design considerations and alternative considerations such as heavy lift zeppelins, and the potential of generating near final marketable product on site and the determination of specific metallurgical test work required to assess the final configuration of the operation.

 

JORC Resource Estimate - 2 December 2013

(zero cut off grade)

 

Orebody	Tonnage	Ni	Ni	Cu	Cu	Pt	Pt	Pd	Pd
	Mt	%	t	%	t	g/t	kg	g/t	kg
Kubuk
Measured	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Indicated	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Subtotal	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Inferred	20.6	0.58	118,900	0.16	32,900	0.1	3,000	0.1	2,400
Total	20.6	0.58	118,900	0.16	32,900	0.1	3,000	0.1	2,400
Gorny
Measured	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Indicated	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Subtotal	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Inferred	7.6	0.31	23,900	0.09	7,000	0.2	1,600	0.2	1,900
Total	7.6	0.31	23,900	0.09	7,000	0.2	1,600	0.2	1,900
Ikenskoe
Measured	14.9	0.52	77,100	0.13	19,700	0.2	2,700	0.2	3,000
Indicated	7.7	0.39	29,800	0.10	7,800	0.1	1,100	0.2	1,300
Subtotal	22.6	0.47	106,900	0.12	27,500	0.2	3,800	0.2	4,300
Inferred	11.5	0.62	70,800	0.14	16,300	0.2	2,300	0.2	2,500
Total	34.1	0.52	177,700	0.13	43,800	0.2	6,100	0.2	6,800
Vodorazdelny
Measured	0.8	0.57	4,700	0.17	1,400	0.3	200	0.3	200
Indicated	4.8	0.66	31,200	0.17	8,200	0.1	600	0.1	600
Subtotal	5.6	0.64	35,900	0.17	9,600	0.1	800	0.1	800
Inferred	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	5.6	0.64	35,900	0.17	9,600	0.1	800	0.14	800
Maly Krumkon
Measured	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Indicated	21.8	0.58	126,100	0.16	34,900	0.1	2,400	0.1	3,000
Subtotal	21.8	0.58	126,100	0.16	34,900	0.1	2,400	0.1	3,000
Inferred	31.1	0.54	168,100	0.16	50,200	0.1	3,000	0.1	3,100
Total	52.9	0.56	294,200	0.16	85,100	0.1	5,400	0.1	6,100
Total Measured	15.8	0.52	81,800	0.13	21,100	0.2	2,900	0.2	3,200
Total Indicated	34.3	0.55	187,100	0.15	50,900	0.1	4,100	0.1	4,900
Sub-total	50.1	0.54	268,900	0.14	72,000	0.1	7,000	0.1	8,100
Total Inferred	70.7	0.54	381,700	0.15	106,400	0.1	9,900	0.1	9.900
Grand Total	120.8	0.54	650,600	0.15	178,400	0.1	16,900	0.1	18,000

 

Glossary

 

DEFINITIONS OF EXPLORATION RESULTS, RESOURCES & RESERVES

EXTRACTED FROM THE JORC CODE: (December 2012) (www.jorc.org)

 

A 'Mineral Resource' is a concentration or occurrence of material of intrinsic economic interest in or on the Earth's crust in such form, quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. The location, quantity, grade, geological characteristics and continuity of a Mineral Resource are known, estimated or interpreted from specific geological evidence and knowledge. Mineral Resources are sub-divided, in order of increasing geological confidence, into Inferred, Indicated and Measured categories.

 

An 'Inferred Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a low level of confidence. It is inferred from geological evidence and assumed but not verified geological and/or grade continuity. It is based on information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes which may be limited or of uncertain quality and reliability.

 

An 'Indicated Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a reasonable level of confidence. It is based on exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes. The locations are too widely or inappropriately spaced to confirm geological and/or grade continuity but are spaced closely enough for continuity to be assumed.

 

A 'Measured Mineral Resource' is that part of a Mineral Resource for which tonnage, densities, shape, physical characteristics, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a high level of confidence. It is based on detailed and reliable exploration, sampling and testing information gathered through appropriate techniques from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes. The locations are spaced closely enough to confirm geological and/or grade continuity.

 

An 'Ore Reserve' is the economically mineable part of a Measured and/or Indicated Mineral Resource. It includes diluting materials and allowances for losses which may occur when the material is mined. Appropriate assessments and studies have been carried out, and include 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 could reasonably be justified. Ore Reserves are sub-divided in order of increasing confidence into Probable Ore Reserves and Proved Ore Reserves.