Vissim Pt Project Results

Eurasia Mining PLC 11 September 2001 EURASIA ANNOUNCES POSITIVE RESULTS FROM THE VISSIM PLATINUM PROJECT Eurasia Mining is pleased to announce that it has discovered high concentrations of platinum and chromite in bulk samples of dredge tailings from two rivers within its Vissim licence in the Southern Urals of Russia. The average recovered mineral content of the three bulk samples is 218 mgm fine platinum per cubic metre plus 141 kilograms, (approximately 10%), chromite per cubic metre. If confirmed to be of general application by drilling, these concentrations of platinum and chromite would be likely to be substantially in excess of those needed to justify the construction of a medium-sized mining operation using a dredge or floating wash plant. The Vissim project forms a part of the Urals Platinum Project, a 50-50 joint venture with Anglo Platinum Ltd, the world's largest platinum producer. The project is funded entirely by Anglo Platinum. Preliminary data indicates that the chromite from this area is of a quality that would be expected to be suitable for production of ferrochrome. Russia currently imports substantial quantities of chromite much of which is processed in the Urals within 200 kilometres by rail of Vissim. A local source of chromite production should have substantial transport, foreign exchange and potentially quality advantages over external sources. In view of the high potential value of the chromite, in addition to the metallic platinum that was the initial (and successfully located) target of the sampling, Eurasia is initiating a wide range of parallel studies to establish the economic parameters for a combined operation. A key element of these studies will be the chromite marketing. Drilling is scheduled to commence later this month to confirm that comparable platinum and chromite grades extend throughout the tailings column. The drilling will also yield an estimate of the volumes that could be mined, and will recover the material needed to prepare a substantial parcel of chromite concentrate for the marketing studies. Historic data indicates that in excess of 25 million cubic metres of alluvium were mined in the Vissim district prior to 1940 from which about 5 million ounces of platinum were recovered. The Joint Venture programme is concentrated on the upstream portion of the tailings from these operations where the highest concentrations of chromite and residual platinum are considered to remain. The tailings in this area lie at or near the surface and have an indicated thickness of 5-6 metres. The processing of the bulk samples used standard Western cleaning and gravity methods. These yielded 311 mgm per cubic metre of Platinum Group Metals concentrate containing approximately 70% (218 mgm) fine metallic platinum. It is considered likely that similar methods could be scaled up to a commercial sized operation. Such a concentrate should be saleable to a refinery without further treatment. The chromite concentrate was liberated during the course of the platinum processing. In a commercial operation this concentrate would probably require some additional cleaning using standard technology prior to sale. Cleaned samples are being prepared for further analysis and for the initial marketing discussions. Exploration continues within the licence for other areas of Platinum and Chromite concentration. Dr Michael Martineau, Executive Deputy Chairman, said, 'Rights to the Vissim alluvials were only granted in June 2001. The strong concentrations of platinum and chromite that we have discovered in our initial sampling at Vissim clearly demonstrate the value of the fast track approach that Eurasia has adopted on all its projects. In view of the high potential unit value of these materials it is appropriate that the Joint venture initiate the parallel exploration, processing, and marketing studies that are an essential pre-requisite to evaluating any future operation.' 11 September 2001