Vane Minerals PLC
24 April 2006
VANE Minerals Plc (AIM: VML)
Freeport Agreement Extended to June 2007
VANE Minerals ('VANE' or 'the Company) is pleased to announce a further
extension of its exclusive agreement with Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc.
('Freeport'). The agreement, originally signed on 1 October 2002, has again been
extended by a further 12 months to 30th June 2007. Under the terms of the
agreement VANE Minerals, through its wholly owned subsidiary AVEN Associates
LLC, has exclusive access to Freeport's global exploration database, excluding
Indonesia, containing more than 7,000 files dating back to1907.
The Freeport files have been preliminarily examined and several potential
prospects are currently under evaluation. The opportunities arise where targets
become viable by application of new metallurgy, advances in geological concepts,
changes in metal prices or other technological advances.
The files are also an important reference tool in evaluating opportunities
brought to VANE as potential targets. The database provides invaluable
additional information on local geology, prospectivity and historical work
undertaken on projects located within relevant geographical regions.
Enquiries:
VANE Minerals Plc Ambrian Partners Limited
Matthew Idiens Richard Brown
+44 (0) 20 7667 6322 +44 (0) 20 7776 6417
Parkgreen Communications Daniel Stewart & Co
Justine Howarth / Cathy Malins Alex Davies
+44 (0) 20 7493 3713 +44 (0)20 7776 6550
About VANE Minerals:
VANE Minerals was founded by the former international exploration team of
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., one of the world's largest producers of
copper and gold. The team negotiated exclusive access to Freeport McMoRan's
global exploration database, made up of 7,000 plus files generated over nearly
100 years of exploration and, following the review of these files, VANE is
ideally placed to capitalise on project acquisition opportunities. The Company
has assembled a highly qualified and experienced management team with a proven
track record in exploration and development, who have spent their entire careers
searching for and defining large scale mineral deposits.
The Company's principal objective, as set out at the time of its listing in June
2004, is to be a self-funding exploration company. As such, the initial focus
has been to identify high grade gold-silver projects which can be brought into
production as quickly as possible in order to provide revenue towards funding
the development of potentially much larger projects. VANE is well on its way to
achieving this objective as production began at the Diablito mine in Mexico in
November 2005. The Company will use the revenue generated by this first
producing mine to help fund development work across its attractive portfolio of
gold, silver, copper and uranium assets in Mexico, Paraguay and the US.
For further information, please review: www.vaneminerals.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange ND
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