avm-back in town, page-7

re: xmas approaching... and Bill found a present for our HMS pant...

Mr. Bill Turner reports

ANVIL MINING TO ACQUIRE 70% INTEREST IN MUTOSHI COPPER-COBALT PROJECT, KOLWEZI
REGION, DRC

Anvil Mining Ltd. has entered into an agreement with La Generale des Carrieres
et des Mines (Gecamines), a state-owned mining company in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), and Emiko sprl (Emiko), a DRC private company, to
acquire a 70-per-cent interest in the Mutoshi copper-cobalt project in the
Kolwezi region of the DRC.

Under the terms of the agreement, Anvil will pay a total of $12.5-million (U.S.)
in cash and shares for its 70-per-cent interest in the project with $3-million
(U.S.) in cash and $750,000 (U.S.) in shares payable on closing. Subject to
approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the shares are to be issued at a price
based on the average price of the previous five days trading on the TSX
immediately preceding the closing. When issued, the shares will be subject to a
four-month hold period in accordance with Canadian securities regulations. The
remainder of the purchase price will be paid in cash as follows: $2-million
(U.S.) 90 days after closing; $1.25-million (U.S.) six months after closing;
$1.25-million (U.S.) 12 months after closing; and $4.25-million (U.S.) in 18
equal monthly payments beginning four months after the start of commercial
production.

The Mutoshi project includes the Mutoshi mine, the Kulumaziba coarse
rejects/tailings deposit, the Mutoshi Northwest deposit, the Nioka deposit, the
Kamukonko cobalt prospect and some highly prospective ground situated on the
relatively underexplored southern edge of the Kolwezi Klippe, a prominent
geological feature in the area. The total area covered by the agreement is
136.92 square kilometres.

The company proposes to focus initially on evaluating the Kulumaziba deposit,
estimated to contain five million to seven million tonnes of mineralized
material at an average grade of 2 per cent to 4 per cent copper. This estimate
was determined using historical data provided by Gecamines and from the results
of subsequent work including 140 pit samples taken from the Kulumaziba deposit
under a previous joint venture. The pit samples were assayed at the Antech
laboratory in Zimbabwe using acid digest and AAS finish. No more recent data or
more recent estimates of mineralized material are available to the company.

The company believes this historical information is relevant in considering the
Mutoshi acquisition. However, the company has not done the work necessary to
verify its accuracy and therefore does not consider the information to attain
the standards required by National Instrument 43-101. Accordingly, the company
cautions that investors should not rely on this historical information. Further,
investors are cautioned that the potential quantity and grade of the Kulumaziba
deposit must be considered to be conceptual in nature, as there has been
insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource on the property. It is
uncertain if further exploration will result in the discovery of a mineral
resource on the Kulumaziba property.

The company has already commenced metallurgical testwork on a 200-kilogram
sample taken from the coarse reject/tailings of the Kulumaziba deposit. This
work is being carried out at Independent Metallurgical Laboratories Pty. Ltd.
(IML) in Perth, Australia, and is aimed at confirming the results reported from
previous testwork, which showed that processing these gravel/tailings through a
heavy media separation (HMS) plant could produce an oxide concentrate averaging
approximately 30 per cent copper. Should results of current metallurgical test
work at IML be sufficiently encouraging, the company would expect to initiate
the construction of an HMS plant to treat this mineralized material. Such a
plant would be expected to be in production within 18 months and have an annual
production rate of at least 15,000 tonnes of copper contained in concentrate.
This HMS plant would be similar to, but on a larger scale than, the HMS plant
the company initially employed at its profitable Dikulushi mine.

Concurrent with the evaluation of the Kulumaziba deposit, the company will
commence an aggressive exploration program to evaluate the Mutoshi Northwest and
Nioka deposits. The company also intends to begin an evaluation of the southern
edge of the Kolwezi Klippe, a region of significant potential for widespread,
high-grade stratiform copper and cobalt mineralization. The surface strike
length of favourable Roan mines group rocks contained within the Nioka mining
permit alone is estimated to be 15 kilometres, most of which is very
underexplored. The Kamukonko cobalt prospect will also undergo early preliminary
evaluation. It lies within a separate permit of 7.65 square kilometres within a
major fault zone immediately to the south of the Kolwezi Klippe.

"The Mutoshi project represents first-class exploration upside," said Anvil's
chief exploration geologist Terry Lemmon. "The Mutoshi mining site is located on
the Kolwezi Klippe, an extremely well-mineralized region which has historically
accounted for approximately 70 per cent of the copper production from the entire
DRC copperbelt, which in 1986 reached an annual production rate of approximately
500,000 tonnes of copper."

"The participation in these new projects in and around the Kolwezi Klippe
represent the next logical step towards our goal of building a mid-tier,
low-cost copper producer based on the well-recognized and enormous mineral
potential of the DRC," said Anvil president and chief executive officer, Bill
Turner. "This participation provides Anvil with the kind of resource potential
needed to meet the company's long-term growth objectives. The project also lends
itself to a staged development that could generate cash flow quickly from the
Kulumaziba deposit with a modest initial capital investment. Furthermore, we
intend to use our success at Dikulushi and our experience in the DRC since 1996
to target additional opportunities that best suit our strategy for growth, as
this emerging country opens its vast mineral wealth to foreign investment."

The properties included in the Mutoshi project will be held in a special purpose
joint venture company, SRM sprl (SRM), the shareholders of which will be
Gecamines and Emiko. Gecamines will retain a 20-per-cent carried equity interest
in SRM, plus a 2-per-cent net smelter royalty (net of smelting, refining,
transportation, assay and selling costs). The cost of Gecamines's 20-per-cent
interest will be carried by Anvil and be recovered by Anvil from future cash
flows of the project.

Emiko, which acquired its interest in the properties as compensation for debts
owed by Gecamines for past contracting services, will hold an 80-per-cent
interest in the project. Upon completion of the transaction, Anvil will hold an
87.5-per-cent direct equity interest in Emiko. The current sole shareholder of
Emiko will receive $7-million (U.S.) of the total purchase price and retain a
12.5-per-cent interest in Emiko of which 80 per cent will be carried by Anvil,
to be recovered (together with financing charges) by Anvil out of future
dividends from the project.

Anvil has until Dec. 16, 2004, to conduct legal and technical due diligence to
its satisfaction. The agreement with Gecamines and Emiko has received the
approval of the Ministry of Mines of the DRC. Approval of the TSX to issue
shares to the vendors is required.