announcement, page-3

here you go screech A.
ASX / MEDIA RELEASE 4 MARCH 2008
FOCUS APPOINTS MINING CONTRACTOR, SIGNS TOLL TREATMENT AGREEMENT AHEAD OF MAIDEN GOLD POUR
Australian-based gold and nickel company Focus Minerals Ltd (ASX: FML), through its Redemption Joint Venture (RJV) with Canadian-based Committee Bay Resources (TXV: CBR), is pleased to announce the appointment of well-known and experienced mining contractor, Barminco Limited, to develop and mine the Company’s flagship Perseverance Gold Deposit located in the world-class Coolgardie Gold region in Western Australia.
Barminco gained access to the Perseverance site last week and mobilisation is now complete. Preparatory site works have commenced for the establishment of the underground operation, where an eventual workforce of up to 40 staff will bring Perseverance online as a fully-functioning and producing mine.
Additionally, Focus has finalised arrangements for the priority toll treatment of first ore mined from Perseverance through an agreement with Higginsville Mining Pty Ltd to treat Perseverance ore at its Greenfields mineral processing plant at favourable rates, which is located adjacent to the RJV’s fully-permitted 1.2mtpa Three Mile Hill processing facility.
The processing agreement – for the guaranteed treatment of up to 480,000 tonnes of RJV ore per annum – gives Focus the opportunity to treat smaller tonnages and gain early cash flow, prior to the need to have its own Three Mile Hill treatment plant on line.
Under the terms of the agreement, Higginsville Mining will toll treat RJV ore at the Greenfields plant, at competitive rates and on a priority basis.
The appointment of the mining contract and signing of the toll treatment agreement represent the final stages required to bring the Perseverance deposit into production, with first gold due to be poured in April.
Other recent milestones for the Perseverance Project include the completion of a positive Feasibility Study in December 2007 and the recent announcement (refer ASX release 19 February 2008) of a 28% increase in Indicated Resources to 490,700 tonnes @ 7.5grams/tonne for 118,500 contained ounces.
The longer-term development objective at the Coolgardie Project is to ramp up production to a sustainable level of 80-100,000 ounces per annum from FY2011 onwards from multiple deposits within the development pipeline, with ore to be processed at the Three Mile Hill plant.
ENDS
COMPETENT PERSON’S STATEMENT
The information in this report relating to Resources and Reserves are based on work supervised by Mr Chuck McCormick who is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Mr McCormick has the relevant experience as a “Competent Person” as defined in the 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves in relation to the mineralisation reported on. Mr McCormick is Exploration Manager of Focus Minerals Ltd and consents to the inclusion of the material in the form and content in which it appears.
Perth Office – Level 3, 105 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia 6000
P: 61 8 9215 7888 F: 61 8 9215 7889
W: www.focusminerals.com.au E: [email protected]
ACN 005 470 799
Released by:
On behalf of:
Nicholas Read/Jason Cunningham
Don Taig, Chairman
Peter Williams, Managing Director
Read Corporate
Focus Minerals Ltd
Telephone: (+61-8) 9388-1474
Telephone: (+61-8) 9215-7888
www.readcorporate.com.au
Web: www.focusminerals.com.au
BACKGROUND INFORMATION – FOCUS MINERALS LTD
Focus Minerals Ltd (ASX: FML) is an Australian-based exploration and development group whose focus is to become a significant gold and nickel producer in the Coolgardie-Kalgoorlie-Widgiemooltha region of Western Australia.
Focus Minerals, through it’s 50% interest in the Redemption Joint Venture, is the largest landholder in the Coolgardie Gold Belt located in Western Australia, 560km east of Perth and 35km west of the ‘Super Pit’ in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. More than 2.6 million ounces of gold has been produced from the Coolgardie gold belt alone since 1892. Focus holds the mineral rights to more than 210sq km of tenements including Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources exceeding 1.65 million ounces of gold as well as the 1.2mtpa Three Mile Hill processing plant.
Focus Minerals is presently in exclusive negotiations to acquire the balance of the 50% interest in the Redemption Joint Venture held by its partner, Committee Bay Resources Ltd.
Focus Minerals is also fast tracking development of its wholly-owned Nepean Nickel Project (current estimated resource totalling 591,300t @ 2.2% Ni) located 25km south of Coolgardie. Focus has a view of recommencing mining operations from the historic production centre in 2008.
Perth Office – Level 3, 105 St Georges Terrace, Perth, Western Australia 6000
P: 61 8 9215 7888 F: 61 8 9215 7889
W: www.focusminerals.com.au E: [email protected]
ACN 005 470 799